A participant on MasterChef displayed a rather unexpected reaction to one of the challenges presented to the contestants.
Saray Carrillo was competing on the Spanish version of the show when the judges assigned her and her fellow contestants a task that truly embodied the ‘farm to table’ concept.
The goal was to demonstrate their culinary skills by preparing a dish from scratch, starting far earlier in the process than most people typically experience.
Most consumers purchase meat and poultry that are already filleted, skinned, gutted, and boned, depending on the type of cut.
While many enjoy meat, they are often quite removed from the reality of the animals that their meat originates from.
The contestants faced a harsh reality when they were tasked with cooking a partridge, a type of game bird, for the judges.
However, there was a significant twist with the ingredients provided.
Instead of receiving pre-prepared birds, the aspiring chefs were given the partridges whole.
Yes, this means the birds arrived unboned, ungutted, with feathers intact, and heads included.
The contestants were required to pluck and gut their birds prior to cooking them in any manner they chose.
Options included roasting them whole, extracting the breast fillets, or removing the legs for confit preparation.
In essence, they had numerous choices, but the initial step involved preparing the bird.
Unfortunately for Saray, she had a pronounced aversion to handling and processing poultry, making this challenge particularly daunting for her.
Saray found herself unable to handle the task of processing a bird from start to finish.
In response, she decided to present the judges with her partridge still fully feathered, placed on a bed of spring onions and tomatoes.
One judge, evidently shocked, remarked in Spanish: “This is never seen in MasterChef.”
The clip of her presentation went viral on social media, amassing around 1.8 million views.
Unsurprisingly, the judges were not impressed by her approach, and Saray was subsequently eliminated from the show.
However, Saray seemed unfazed, casually saying ‘bye bye’ as she exited.
That’s certainly a memorable way to leave the competition.
It’s worth noting that plucking and gutting a bird is not a task everyone can handle.