In this week's mystery box challenge, the Top 7 must create an Asian-inspired dish that centers around one of the most prominent utensils in culinary history - chopsticks! The winner gets a huge advantage moving forward, leaving the remaining home cooks to compete in a pasta-themed elimination challenge.
The Top 11 are given a bag of live crawfish and have to cook them in order to extract the most meat possible. The six weakest cooks go head-to-head in an elimination challenge, during which they make a crawfish dish created by Gordon Ramsay. Then, the Top 10 face a chicken-and-potato team challenge.
The kitchen is transformed into a full dining room to welcome purveyors of local ingredients, including butchers, vegetable farmers, beekeepers and herb growers, when the contestants split up for a team challenge using their guests' products. Later, the losing team must prepare cannoli as part of a pressure test.
This week on MASTERCHEF, the cooks take part in a challenging skills test, during which they must prepare racks of lamb with fine artistry. Those who fail to impress the judges will face an elimination challenge that includes recreating Gordon Ramsay's signature lamb chop dish. It is then up to the judges to decide who will leave the kitchen.
In the Season Eight premiere episode, 40 of America's best home cooks travel to Los Angeles to compete in the MASTERCHEF Battle for a White Apron challenge, during which they will face off against each other to try to earn a place in the Top 20. Judging the battle rounds will be Gordon Ramsay, Christina Tosi, and new judge and award-winning chef Aarón Sánchez, who will taste for flavor, creativity and presentation. After each battle, the judges will decide whom they think deserves to make it to the next round and a chance to compete for the coveted title.