In the Kitchen with a MasterChef Junior Finalist🧑‍🍳

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Season 2: Episode 128 Description

In today's episode: ⭐ We have a celebrity in the Ten News studio today! 🧑‍🍳 Head Writer, Ryan Willard, is sitting down with Master Chef Jr. Season 8 Finalist, Grayson to talk about how to become a chef and what it’s like to cook competitively on TV. ✔️ Tessa Tidbit: what's better than one food fun fact... five food fun facts! And, test your food knowledge on today's Trivia on the Ten. ✅

Sources

20 Weird Food Facts You Probably Didn't Know | Bored Panda

Cheese Is Most Stolen Food Item in the World (esquiremag.ph)

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TRANSCRIPT:

Ryan Willard  0:04  

Oh yeah, that's the stuff. Bethany is gonna love these.

Bethany Van Delft  0:08  

Oh my gosh, Ryan! What is that smell? It smells like stinky feet and old mushrooms.

Ryan Willard  0:16  

I'm baking Funfetti cupcakes for today's special guest.

Bethany Van Delft  0:18  

Dude, it's making my nose hairs hurt. Ry, we have someone from MasterChef Junior coming by. Maybe you should learn from him and then try to make something. 

Ryan Willard  0:29  

Yeah, you're probably right. What if I brought back the Nutella fish tacos?

Bethany Van Delft  0:33  

No, please don't. Let's leave the cooking to our guest. Okay. I'm Bethany Van Delft. It's Tuesday, June 21st. And this is the Ten News.

Various Voices  0:44  

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. 

Bethany Van Delft  0:52  

Ten'ers, I am so excited. We have another celebrity in the studio. MasterChef Junior season eight finalist Grayson is here. Head writer Ryan Willard sat down with Grayson to talk about how to become a chef and what it's like to cook competitively on TV. Take it away, Ryan.

Ryan Willard  1:13  

Thank you so much, Bethany. I am incredibly excited because we have a MasterChef Junior season eight finalist here today. The first question I have who are you? Where are you from? And what do you do?

Grayson  1:27  

My name is Grayson Price. I'm from Austin, Texas. And I was a finalist on MasterChef Junior season eight.

Ryan Willard  1:36  

Very cool. Now I'm an actual adult, and I can't cook very well. How did you learn to cook at such a young age? And how did you get good enough to be on MasterChef Junior?

Grayson  1:47  

So I've always been very interested in cooking, I was around people who cook from a very young age, both of my grandmother's really enjoyed cooking. And so I had that exposure. And then from there, I got really interested in it. And I sort of just started reading cookbooks, watching video tutorials online and sort of starting teaching myself and just trying new things, picking up new ingredients from the grocery store and seeing what I can make with them. 

Ryan Willard  2:15  

And, cooking isn't easy, right? It's not easy for everyone. What is it like cooking in a competition on television?

Grayson  2:24  

It's really, truly amazing. It's everything that I thought it would be and more. I think the favorite part for me was just getting to meet all the other young cooks, and talk with them and learn from them. Because a lot of people don't have that experience of getting to meet 16 other kids who are super interested and focused on the same passion as you. And so I'm really grateful for that opportunity.

Ryan Willard  2:54  

Now, in that journey, you met all these new friends, you've been on TV for going to the finals. What's the biggest lesson that you learned from being on MasterChef Junior so far?

Grayson  3:05  

I would say the biggest lesson I've learned would probably be how to organize myself in the kitchen. Before the show, I had no grasp of time management or organization. But coming out of it, I think it really taught me quickly how to organize my time and set aside enough time to cook. Whenever. Yeah,

Ryan Willard  3:31  

Very cool. I'm still not organized in the kitchen or anywhere else in my life. So I look up to you, Mr. Grayson. How are you feeling about the finale? Because you have the finale coming up?

Grayson  3:44  

Yeah, I'm really excited. It was really a joy all the way up to this point. And I'm excited for everyone to watch it. There's definitely some nerves I think naturally, it's this high stakes. And you know, I think there's definitely some nerves, but also it's the thing I've been preparing for a long time at this point. So I think more excitement than nervousness.

Ryan Willard  4:11  

I like that. So you take those nerves, and then you turn into excitement and then you just do what you do.

Grayson  4:16  

Exactly. I think that's how you sort of have to approach it or else the nerves will just get a hold of you and the outcome won't be as good.

Ryan Willard  4:25  

Couldn't agree more. Okay. I know there are a lot of kids who look up to you. And I don't know if you know that, but there are adults like myself. But, what is a simple recipe that you would recommend one of our audience members, whom we call them, Ten'ers, might be able to start their culinary journey with?

Grayson  4:46  

I think, learning how to make a very simple dish, like pasta. Pasta is like a vehicle for basically anything you want to try. There's so many variations, so many different types. So that's what that was used to be one of my staples for just like trying new things is find a pasta you like or try to make it yourself even. And then just think about what you want to add to it and the dish that you want to build from there. 

Ryan Willard  5:16  

Okay, I have a couple of rapid fire questions for you ready? Breakfast or dessert?

Grayson  5:29  

Dessert.

Ryan Willard  5:30  

Fruits or vegetables? 

Grayson  5:32  

Fruits. 

Ryan Willard  5:33  

Pizza or burgers? 

Grayson  5:35  

Pizza. 

Ryan Willard  5:36  

Pepperoni or plain?

Grayson  5:39  

Pepperoni. 

Ryan Willard  5:40  

Okay, what is your favorite cuisine?

Grayson  5:43  

Um, I always, I've always had like a special place in my heart for French cuisine, just because it's like, very classic. And I enjoy how French chefs really like, just let the ingredients shine. And it's very pure, I would say compared to some other cuisines, so French, and then Japanese as well, for those same reasons. I would say.

Ryan Willard  6:06  

Now, I want to know, you have a lot of people that are following you, that are supporting you and cheering you on as you go into the finals. Is there anything you want to say to your friends, your family and all your fans who are cheering you on?

Grayson  6:19  

I would just like to say thank you for supporting me all the way to this point. It's been an amazing journey. And like one of the best parts of my life so far. So yeah, thank you so much for all the support and I'm excited for you all to watch the finale.

Ryan Willard  6:38  

Well, I'm excited to watch the finale, too. I allowed to give you a nickname and call you Grandmaster Grayson.

Grayson  6:43  

Sure, why not?

Ryan Willard  6:45  

Thank you very much. I will be trademarking that immediately. Grandmaster Grayson, thank you so much for joining us on the Ten News. You are a delight and we will be watching you in season eight of mastership junior at the finals. Best of luck, my friend. Thank you.

Bethany Van Delft  7:00  

Thank you, Ryan and Grayson, you can catch Grayson competing in the MasterChef Junior season eight finals on Fox. And since we're talking about food, Tessa Do you have any fun food facts?

Tessa Flannery  7:14  

Bethany, I don't have just one food fact. I have five. One large groups of pistachios can spontaneously combust. Two, making Nutella uses 25% of the world's hazelnuts. Wow. Three, it's impossible to overcook mushrooms. That's unbelievable. Four, bananas are technically berries. No way. And, five, you can hear rhubarb growing.

Bethany Van Delft  7:53  

All those facts are making me hungry for snacks. And now here to give us the news rundown is our head writer Ryan Willard.

Ryan Willard  8:11  

Thanks, Bethany, the US has expanded COVID-19 vaccinations to infants, toddlers and preschoolers. Big news for any younger siblings in your lives. The advisors to the CDC recommended the Vaccines for Children as young as six months old and the shots will be available beginning this week. About 18 million kids will be eligible for the vaccine that the CDC has advisory panel says offers protection from hospitalization, death and possible long-term complications from COVID. Excellent. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is in its 16th week, President Volodymyr Zelensky said he expects Russia will intensify its attacks on Ukraine and other European countries after the European Union known as the EU proposed Ukraine as a candidate for membership. Russia is opposed to Ukraine joining the EU since it aligns them with the European countries. Did you misplace your Nerf darts? Well, they might be attached to the brand new Nerf mascot. As part of the unleash the play in new campaign nerf revealed its new mascot named Murph who is an anthropomorphic character made out of hundreds of nerf darts. While nerf calls Murph a playful spirit and gifted athlete after seeing Merce's picture I am crying on the inside with terror. Check out a link to a photo in our show notes and you'll see why I Ryan Willard am scared of a nerf monster and hope my nephew's will protect me from this interesting character. You serious? I'm Ryan Willard. And that's your rundown. Back to you Bethany.

Bethany Van Delft  9:39  

Did you hear that? It's the...

Various Voices  9:46  

What, what, what's the big idea?

Harry  9:49  

Trivia on the Ten. Hey, tenors. I'm Harry from the podcast Time for Lunch on Heritage Radio Network. We love talking about food. So we're Taking over the trivia today with a foodie trivia question for you. Which food is the most stolen food? Is it a) red apples? b) Ice cream? Or c) cheese? Did you guess it? The answer is c. As much as 4% of the cheese made in the world will be stolen and not just in small packages from the grocery store. But in Big Cheese heists. What does that mean? In California, two thieves stole $50,000 worth of cheese over the course of two years. And in France, thieves took 700 blocks of cheese worth about $11,000. But in the biggest heist in Canada, a man-made off with $137,000 worth of cheese by posing as a delivery man. Do you think this is why some people call money cheddar or Gouda?

Bethany Van Delft  11:03  

That's all for today. But before we go, here's a quick note for the grownups. Thanks for listening to the Ten News. Look out for our new episodes on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and extras on Saturdays. The Ten News is a coproduction of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts and is distributed by iHeartRadio. The Ten News creative team is paying for their cheese and includes Tracey Crooks, Pete Musto, Ryan Willard, Adam Barnard, and Tessa Flannery. Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle and our executive producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. I'm Bethany Van Delft and thanks for listening to the Ten News. Good grief bananas are berries? Pistachios can combust. I'm gonna go chill out and listen to some rhubarb grow.