The fires are lit and the competition for the new edition of masterchef. This Monday and Tuesday, the gastronomic reality show on Telefe had 53 applicants to be a part of this season. Chefs Donato de Santis, Damián Betular and Germán Martitegui gave the green light to some and fired others with a 5-minute mini-test. AND many already stand out.

Between the 24 selected (of which 16 will eventually remain in the official competition), they are already there some who showed talent, charisma and good life stories starting to shape the cycle now led by Wanda Nara.

Among the new amateur cooks there is a variety of personalities, necessary to give rhythm and color to the programme, beyond the recipes, also thanks to their life experiences.

The ones that stood out at the start

From a biochemist to various housewives, including a mother of four, a prison clerk, a surgeon and various influencers, the map of the new participants is more than interesting.

One of them is Carlo. a truck driver who has traveled thousands of kilometers on the roads for many years of Argentina. Carlos presented a typical bodegón dish or one of those places in the middle of the road where truckers usually eat: a milanesa alla napoletana with french fries.

The dish was strong, as was Carlos’s presence. Spontaneous and nonchalant, he convinced the chefs who decided to open the door for him to continue, albeit with an amusing warning from Betular’s mouth, when he handed him the white apron: “Be careful of overdoing the trucker”.

Another who has presented himself with good possibilities is Antonio, a young man from Salta who is studying Nursing at the Red Cross and who carries gastronomy in his blood, encouraged by his family, to make his dream come true.

With a traditional dish of humita, sauteed vegetables in a sweet and spicy sauce, honey and goat cheese, Antonio surprised the jury and even made Donato crymoved by the story of the young man and his strong bond with his place of origin.

“My whole life has passed me by. I see your age, your enthusiasm. Everything arrives and, moreover, the dish is delicious. Talk about yourself, your land“, the chef told him before handing him the apron to qualify him for the next stage of the competition.

For her part, Gabriela, from Córdoba, is another of the participants who moved the jury twice. She works as a housekeeper and has cooked a very homely dish: meatballs with mashed potatoes.. The woman said her kitchen is her refuge, a place where she finds some joy, especially after the death of one of her daughters.

“It was my other daughter who encouraged me to participate, because I had lost my passion,” she said through tears. Moved by Gabriela’s story of loss and resilience, the jurors gave her a chance, thanks to the delicious recipe that, according to what he says, he inherited from his grandmother. “It’s a home-cooked dish and also a tribute to her,” he said.

Fiamma is also promising, a 26-year-old girl who presented herself before the jury with a sweet recipe: a key lime pie. She openly admitted that she only made it twice. But, even so, the participant was able to cool the cake live, in an upside-down bain-marie, unmold it without problems and decorate it, which left the chefs very surprised.

But beyond the fact that the key lime pie was very popular, the chefs were finally convinced to include Fiamma in the programme, which presented itself as an influencer when told the story of her six-year-old daughter, who suffers from cerebral palsy.

After detailing that she started working with the networks 9 years ago, she assured: “I started showing my life with my daughters following the birth of my first daughter with paralysis. She’s almost six, but she can’t walk, she can’t talk, she can’t sit, she can’t hold objects,” she said.

Given the emotion his story aroused, he highlighted: “But he’s super intelligent, he has a long memory. It is the light of my eyes”. And finally he has created the long-awaited white apron that opens the door to masterchef. From now on, each recipe will be a challenge for each of them and for the others, which they will have to overcome step by step.

This Wednesday, four of the 24 applicants will leave the programme.