West Stockbridge — Cecelia Clary, seventh grader at the Montessori School of the Berkshires in Lenox Dale, will be a contestant on Food Network’s show “Chopped Junior” this Tuesday, Nov. 19, at 8 p.m. The theme of the episode will be Thanksgiving leftovers. The guest judge will be actress Alanna Masterson of “The Walking Dead.”
The format of “Chopped Junior” is similar to that of the adult version of “Chopped,” and is also hosted by Ted Allen. Four contestants aged 9 to 12 who have demonstrated their knowledge of food and skill in the kitchen are given “mystery baskets” of ingredients they must include in dishes they create on the spot. Over the course of an hour, contestants cook in three timed rounds, making an appetizer, entrée and dessert. One chef is eliminated — chopped — at each stage. The winner is awarded $10,000.
Lena Mugridge Neilson, Lila Juska and Zadie Juska, Cecelia’s schoolmates, sat down with her to find out more about the experience of being on the show, how it has affected her and the origins of her love of cooking.
When did you start cooking?
Cecelia Clary: I started cooking when I was 7.
What inspired you to start cooking?
CC: I was inspired by my grandmothers and my mom; they cook a lot and they taught me.
What is your favorite dish to make?
CC: I like to make both sweet and savory dishes. Really, I like to make pretty much everything, but I like to make homemade pizza and pasta best.
How often do you cook?
CC: I cook about once a week. I cook more during the summer when I have more time.
How did you get onto “Chopped Junior”?
CC: It was really a long audition process. I [first tried to] audition when I was 9, [but] the show went off the air for two years and I had completely forgotten about it until my mom mentioned she’d gotten a call from a casting agent one day last spring. I [still] wanted to audition, so I sent in a photo of a three-course meal that I made, and I [was accepted] into the next round of auditions. Then I had a FaceTime interview with one of the producers, and [after] a lot of pictures and paperwork and a lot of auditions, I made it to casting [where] they choose four out of eight kids to be on an episode.
Can you describe this experience?
CC: It was both really fun and stressful. It was a cool experience to cook in the “Chopped” kitchen, and to meet all of the judges and the host, but it was really stressful because you have to cook under a time limit. Overall, the whole experience was fun and exciting, and it was interesting to experience the process of how they made the show. I’m really grateful I got to do it.
Has this changed the way you cook?
CC: I don’t think it has. I think it’s changed me, but not the way I cook. I think it has made me more excited and given me something to look forward to. A lot of people ask questions about it, and sometimes that can be annoying, but mostly I like to answer questions and talk about the experience because it was really cool.
How has this affected the way you see yourself?
CC: When I first went on the set, I was really nervous, and I think it’s made me less nervous to be on camera and to be around cameras. It’s made me braver around people.
What was it like to be on reality TV?
CC: It was really fun. It was interesting to see how they make the show and what their tricks are, and it was really cool to be a part of the process. It gave me a better understanding of what happens on reality TV. It was really interesting.
What did this experience teach you about how you deal with stress?
CC: I used a lot of the stress-relief methods that I learned about at my school, the Montessori School of the Berkshires, like taking deep breaths, and being as confident as I can on camera. School’s taught me a lot about coping with stress.
What was your relationship like with the judges and your fellow contestants?
CC: The producers asked us to call our competitors “friend-petitors” because we needed to get along, but they also want you to be like, “I am better than you.” With the other contestants, we were able to relate to each other [about] getting onto the show and our processes. It was interesting to see the different backgrounds of the [other] cooks I was competing with. It was really cool to meet the judges. We got to take a lot of pictures with them and I could hear what they were saying when I was cooking, which made me a little nervous, but at the same time, gave me confidence just to be near them.
When you cook, do you like to use recipes, or do you like to make it up as you go along?
CC: I use recipes, but on “Chopped,” you don’t get any recipes, you have to just cook. They start the cameras and you have to start cooking, so I’d practiced cooking without recipes a lot at home. Also, I made one of my own recipes for the show, a signature dish, so I worked a lot on my own dishes and that helped me become [more confident not using recipes. That’s the main thing people struggle with on the show.
Do you think not being given recipes added to the stress?
CC: I think it did, because sometimes I was so stressed about what to do that I would forget how to, like, make a vinaigrette. I think recipes would have helped, but I also think it was really cool to cook without, because I don’t normally do that.
Do you have any advice to give to people who are interested in cooking?
CC: Practice, cook for people whom you love, enjoy it, and make up things along the way!
