''MasterChef Romania'' is the

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n version of the television

cooking Cooking, also known as cookery or professionally as the culinary arts, is the art, science and craft of using heat to make food more palatable, digestible, nutritious, or Food safety, safe. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from ...

game show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...

, open to amateur and home

chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

s. The first series started in March 2012 and was broadcast by

Pro TV PRO TV (, often stylized as PRO•TV since 2017) is a Romanian free-to-air television network, launched on 1 December 1995 as the fourth private TV channel in the country (after TV SOTI, Antena 1, and the now-defunct, but online Tele7ABC). It is ...

channel in

. The show was hosted by

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

Răzvan Fodor Răzvan Fodor () is a Romanian singer and actor, and TV personality. He was born on June 22, 1975, in Bucharest, Romania. He was the lead singer for the Romanian rock group Krypton (band), Krypton (''also spelled Kripton'') from 2000 to 2006, as ...

. The panel was completed by Cătălin Scărlătescu, Sorin Bontea and Florin Dumitrescu. They were replaced in season 4 by Patrizia Paglieri,

Adrian Hădean Adrian Hădean (born 4 September 1977, Arad, Romania, Arad) is a Romanian chef. He grew up in Baia Mare, a city in northern Romania, where he also made his debut as a professional Cook (profession), cook. Today, he is a well-renowned Romanian ch ...

and Florin Scripcă Starting with the 6th Season, the MasterChef panel has been replaced by

s Răzvan Exarhu, Samuel le Torriellec and Liviu Popescu. Seventh season had the panel was once again replaced by Joseph Hadad, Cosmin Tudoran and Silviu Chelaru, former participant of the show.

Challenges

Of all the amateur chefs who audition nationwide, one hundred are chosen to cook their signature dish for the three judges. Each judge takes a taste of the dish and gives his opinion before voting a "yes" or a "no". At least two "yes" votes are required to earn a white ''

MasterChef ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking show television format created by Franc Roddam, which originated with MasterChef (British TV series), the British version in July 1990. The show aims to discover the culinary talent of chefs of varying sk ...

'' apron, allowing the competitor to advance. In the Mystery Box challenge, contestants receive a number of ingredients of which they are to make a dish of their choice. The contestants are allowed to use any number of the ingredients they wish, and are free to leave any ingredients out. Once the dishes are finished, the judges choose three of the dishes to taste. The winner receives an advantage in the following elimination challenge. The off-site team challenge involves the contestants being split into two teams, blue and red, which consist of equal numbers and are given a task, for example, running a restaurant or catering for a party or wedding. After the task has been completed, the teams are given the results, which can be determined by third party votes. Members of the losing team compete in an elimination challenge. A "pressure test" challenge involves competitors who failed in a previous challenge (i.e. the three worst performers in an individual challenge or the losing team in a group challenge). The competitors are given a dish that they then must create in a particular time frame. Once the contestants have finished cooking, the dishes are taken to the judges to be tasted, who then criticize, vote and eliminate one or more contestants.

Seasons

Series summary

Overview

The first episode aired on 20 March 2012. The winner was 23-year-old

office manager Office management is a profession involving the design, implementation, evaluation, and maintenance of the process of work within an office or other organization, in order to sustain and improve efficiency and productivity. Office management is ...

, Petru Buiucă, who defeated Mimi Nicolae in the grand final. Buiucă received a cheque of 50,000 euros. The second season started on 5 March 2013. The grand prize was won by Aida Parascan, a housewife that lives with her family in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, but came especially back to

to take part at the show. The prize remained the same, 50,000 euros. The third season started on 18 March 2014. The fourth season started on 15 September 2014. The winner of this season was announced on 23 December 2014 and is Ciprian Ogarcă. The fifth season started on 14 September 2015. The winner of this season was announced on 14 December 2015 and is Andrei Voica. The sixth season was on air in spring 2017. The winner of this season is Robert Petrescu.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MasterChef Romania 2012 Romanian television series debuts

Pro TV original programming Romanian reality television series Romanian television series based on British television series