Clark cooks with confidence after ‘MasterChef’

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/04/2016 (3629 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jacqueline Clark’s “MasterChef Canada” journey may be over, but the experience on the hit reality television show is already opening doors for her culinary dreams.

While her day job is an accountant in Abbotsford, B.C., Clark is now also working part-time at Season 2 winner David Jorge’s restaurant in Langley.

Clark, who was born and raised in Brandon, made it to the Top 9 before she was eliminated earlier this month.

“The thing I took out of it the most, was I was so happy to meet so many people that had the same passion that I did, and we’re really holding onto those friendships,” Clark said, adding that she and fellow B.C. contestant Matthew Astorga get together almost every week.

“When I went out to Toronto, I got together with quite a few of the other contestants … definitely friends for life.”

Looking back, Clark said there were a few main highlights when it came to her personal achievements — the first being her grilled Spanish mackerel dish, which drew rave reviews from judges Claudio Aprile, Michael Bonacini and Alvin Leung during an episode that aired in March. It featured beets, pickled radishes, charred green onions and roasted tomatoes.

“It went over so well, that it got me the team captain position for the next team challenge,” Clark said. “I was really proud of that dish because I’ve never plated anything that beautiful before and everything worked, which was nice.”

Her ultimate achievement was serving as team captain, and leading her team to victory. In that episode, the home cooks were challenged with creating a three-course lunch “for 16 of Canada’s fashion elite” in the gardens of Casa Loma in Toronto after previewing Pink Tartan’s spring collection. Each team had to create one vegetarian, one seafood and one meat dish.

That was an extra special episode for Clark, as she was home in Brandon for the Easter weekend and was able to watch it with family. Clark said it is still surprising when she is recognized on the street.

“It just kind of blows my mind that a complete stranger would know who I am,” she said, adding many fans have kind words to say.

“The one comment I have gotten a lot is they really enjoyed watching me gain confidence throughout the episodes that have aired and seeing me kind of start really rising to the challenges and trusting my abilities.”

An Oktoberfest challenge led to Clark’s demise on the show, which was aired on April 17. Cooking for 250 people, each team was responsible for seasoning, stuffing and grilling their gourmet sausages, as well as preparing toppings and a side.

Clark said the team she was on fell behind due to their focus on complex flavour components combined with the fact that none of them had made sausages before.

“We had over-stuffed the first batch of links we made, and then when we went to actually turn them into links and twist them, they started bursting because the casing was too full and that also set us behind,” she said.

Next came the dreaded Pressure Test, which proved to be one of the most challenging in the show’s history. The home cooks had to prepare fresh ricotta cheese and then use it to create handmade ravioli as well as gnudi, which ultimately led to Clark’s elimination.

“I think they’ve really stepped up the difficulty of the challenges this year because everybody is so incredibly talented, and I think they felt as though they needed to push us harder,” she said.

“I’m really actually excited to see what happens now, because I have no idea and if it was that difficult at Top 9, I can’t even imagine what’s coming up next.”

So what’s next for Clark and her culinary dreams? Her short-term goal is to start up a food truck on weekends at farmers markets.

“Instead of being able to produce the local produce, cooking with it is still getting to interact with the local producers and the locals that come and support the market,” she said.

Clark’s dream is to own a small farm and grow heritage variety vegetables as well as raise pigs.

“I still want that to be my life, but it’s a little bit further away now,” she said. “So I just need to keep working towards it.”

The competition continues Sundays on CTV. The winner will receive $100,000 and the title of Canada’s next MasterChef.

» jaustin@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @jillianaustin