JEDDAH – MasterChef Arabia, which made its Middle Eastern debut on Feb. 17 and is airing exclusively on Saudi TV, turns up the heat going into episode five, as the 20 remaining contestants progress to the MasterChef Arabia Kitchen. 100 home cooks from all walks of life were invited to put their culinary skill to the test for a once in a lifetime opportunity to pursue their dream to become a professional chef. Contestants had to prepare their best dishes to earn the approval of an expert panel of judges and progress from ‘Bootcamp' to the MasterChef Arabia Kitchen. The ambitious contestants went to great lengths to impress the judges – one attempted to cook five dishes but was only able to present two. Another contestant garnished their meal by serenading the judges with a song. Contestants also took a ‘palate test' – having to correctly identify as many ingredients in a dish as they could, and then create their own dish from those ingredients. Shatha Al Husseini whipped through the challenge by naming 13 out of 26 ingredients correctly, while Mohammed Mahjoub made things hard for himself by naming only three ingredients. At the conclusion of episode four, only 20 contestants remain. – SG
