Chef Zarah shines on MasterChef Junior

ZARAH Spriggs has always enjoyed watching the Fox culinary series MasterChef Junior. But she never imagined that one day she would end up being a contestant and having the time of her life.

Zarah, ten, was born in the US to Trinidad and Tobago mother Leela Spriggs, who moved there as a teenager.

However, the Hunting Town Elementary School fifth-grader is very acquainted with her TT heritage, thanks to her family and through books, poetry, music and cooking.

She told Newsday Kids from around three years old, she would "hang around the kitchen with mom because I loved to watch her cook.

"Then she started teaching me some recipes, so I started making eggs, pancakes. Then from like (age) six, I could make aloo pies, gourmet grilled cheese, curried chicken, curried fish, fried bake, pholourie..."

Her three favourite dishes are curried fish, pholourie and fried bake.

She is also the cousin of TT chef Natasha De Bourg.

Zarah and her twin brother Aiden also have a business called Aiden and Zarah's NumNum Cookies.

They make chocolate chip, sugar, oatmeal-raisin and snickerdoodle cookies.

She said working with her brother is nice, "but sometimes he doesn't put the labels on right."

After her mother saw an ad for children interested in MasterChef Junior's Home for the Holidays edition, they tried their luck.

Zarah said it was a "really long" process which included a lot of tasks, meetings, and even having to prepare a dish in 30 minutes via Zoom.

During this, she was also being interviewed as the producers were testing her to see if she could hold conversation and still focus on cooking.

"I made chimichurri salmon tacos," she said, adding that she used chadon beni to give it some TT flavour.

After progressing to the next round of selection, she had to go to Los Angeles to cook again, but then find out if she would be chosen to appear on the show.

"The crazy thing was they had everybody – all 27 (children) – in the room and everyone was nervous and hugging their parents and hoping they would get on the show."

This time, she said, she made rasta pasta, salmon, and roti. She had enough dough to make two rotis, so she presented one, then buttered the other one and ate it while she waited.

Officials then called the names of several children, who left the room, which increased her anxiety.

But then, an official returned to the room which now had around nine children and said, "Unfortunately..."

Zarah said she and her mother started crying, but the rest of that sentence was, "...You guys are going to have to call your family and let them know you won't be home for another five weeks!"

And the celebrations began.

Zarah said the experience of being on the show was fun but at times," a bit stressful.

"Because you're literally cooking for a whole bunch of famous chefs and I just wanted to make sure everything was perfect."

She said it was a great and surprising experience to meet UK celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, known for his stern attitude towards adults but nurturing attitude towards children.

"Someone came out in a Santa outfit and then I saw his belt and heard his British accent and I was like, 'Hey, it's Gordon Ramsay!'"

She said he was really nice to the children.

Zarah said she wants to be a professional chef when she grows up and wants to write a cookbook.

MasterChef Junior: Home for the Holidays began airing on Fox on December 10.