MasterChef Talk: Part 2
Every week, FavorFlav publishes an interview with that week’s eliminated contestant.
The second contestant eliminated from MasterChef 2016 is the ever-cheerful Gerlach. As a waiter, he is used to pampering guests, and as a contestant he hoped to expand his gastronomic knowledge. We asked him about his experiences.
Have you recovered a little from your MasterChef adventure? Have you received many responses?
It was a short experience, but it still takes some getting used to being back. After all the preliminary rounds and all the weeks of anticipation, I do miss it. I put everything aside for this adventure. I know I have much more potential than I showed, so it still lingers in the back of my mind.
I could have expected a few responses. From now on, people will ‘take me with a grain of salt’ and say ‘you can learn to bread’. But the many comments about how I always remained so cheerful and thereby lived up to my name were especially nice. My friends and family are incredibly proud that I dared to stand there.
What tip would you give to new MasterChef contestants?
Make sure you organize everything properly in your head during the first few days, especially when you are in the studio. The cameras, the jury and the production staff constantly guiding you. Winning MasterChef is a full-time job lasting ten weeks. Those first few days are trucks full of information and experiences; you have to be able to deal with that.
‘you can learn to bread’
Would you give up your job as a waiter to work in the kitchen?
No, never. I would never want to miss contact with the guests. I couldn’t do without telling them about the dishes at the table and providing the conviviality for a lovely evening. One of the reasons I participated in MasterChef was to learn new things, but above all to master all facets of gastronomy. Working only in the kitchen would mean that I could hardly ever shake guests’ hands again and thank them for a lovely evening. I now have much more respect for all the cooks and chefs in restaurants. I have experienced what is involved, and that, as front-of-house staff, you must always be kind to the kitchen.
You learned to cook from your mother, primarily using products from your own country. What is the most important thing she taught you?
All the hard work involved and that you have to treat them with respect. I grew up on a farm in the Flevopolder. We had our own crops and fresh milk. My mother had a farm shop where we sold all these products. These products were our daily fare in two ways. It makes you appreciate all the hard work your parents put in much more. Somewhere along the way, you discover that potatoes from your own land and milk from your own cows taste much better. In fact, I find milk from a carton undrinkable.
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What was the most difficult challenge for you? And why?
The schnitzel challenge—I had a total blackout. I can make bitterballen and could have applied that technique, but at 9:00 a.m. it just didn’t happen. The team and duo challenges were difficult too. After those two fiascos, you can understand that they preferred to be paired with someone else; that naturally affected the collaboration.
Read the interview with the first eliminated contestant here.
Never miss another episode of MasterChef? Watch every weekday at 6:30 p.m. on SBS6.
Text: Mette Dijkstra
Image: SBS6 – MasterChef
