MasterChef Junior interview: Grayson Boudreaux on elimination, tie-dye waffles, and more
We’ve arrived with the first MasterChef Junior exit interview of the season! Throughout the coming weeks CarterMatt will feature interviews from the latest contestants sent home from the Fox cooking competition about their experiences, working with the judges, and their future goals in the food world.
Today, we begin this series with Grayson Boudreaux, a young home cook from Louisiana who showed off a ton of creativity and passion during his time in the kitchen. That including making tie-dye waffles for the chicken-and-waffles themed elimination challenge this past episode. While this did lead to his elimination, he certainly did enough to become one of the most memorable contestants this season so far.
Take a look below for some of his thoughts on being a part of this season and where he sees his future in food going from here.
CarterMatt – What made you want to be a part of this competition in the first place?
Grayson – I really enjoy competing and meeting new people. Being from Louisiana we really take pride in our cooking! I wanted to compete against others and represent Louisiana in the show. I really enjoy hunting and fishing and then cooking the fresh fish or game the same day they were swimming in the Gulf of Mexico or running in the woods.
Did being in the kitchen live up to your expectations?
Yes, it was great. I learned how to cook a lot of new things. They also had a lot of great cooking tools and the judges were very friendly and helpful.
What was one of the biggest challenges that you faced doing the show?
The biggest challenge was juggling my school work and filming the show. I also missed a few of my cross country meets and missed being able to hunt and fish!
With your waffles the biggest question I’ve had ever since seeing them is pretty simple: How did you get so many different colors in there?
Well I took a bunch of different dyes and mixed them in with my waffle mix. In the summer at our camp in Grand Isle, Louisiana, I like to cook tie dye waffles for my little sister! She really likes art so she gets excited when I cook them. I left the first waffle I cooked on too long and I was running out of time. I made a second waffle but didn’t get to stir the dye in well so it settled into the bottom and wasn’t as firm as it was supposed to be!
Where does your sense of creativity come from?
I get my creativity from my mom. She has a clothing boutique near LSU and she is always coming up with something new and creative!
How is being a part of the show helping you achieve your dreams in life now?
Being on the show was a great experience. I met a lot of people from all over the country and I have kept in touch with some of them. When you are able to be chosen to be one of the top 20 young chefs in the country it definitely shows you that you can compete against anyone, anywhere!