“MasterChef” contestant from Peters Township advances to top 14
Caitlin Jones of Peters Township is one of 14 contestants remaining the in “MasterChef” competition.
Caitlin Jones, who grew up in McMurray and is a Peters Township alumna, is competing in Season Eight of Fox’s television show “‘MasterChef.”
Caitlin Jones has danced her way into the top 14 in the television competition “MasterChef.”
Jones, 24 from Peters Township, doesn’t have a professional background in cooking, but that hasn’t stopped her from succeeding in the competition.
Originally from McMurray and now living in New York City, Jones is a professional dancer. In the past, she’s danced for the Brooklyn Nets in the NBA, and her dream is to be a Radio City Rockette.
“MasterChef,” which is in its eighth season on FOX, is hosted by award-winning chef Gordon Ramsay. Starting with the season premiere in May, 40 contestants from across the country traveled to Los Angeles to win the contest for $250,000, a cruise and the “MasterChef” trophy and title.
Despite her success to make it into the top 14, Jones is going to keep the same mindset she’s had throughout the competition.
“With everything I like to take my goals one step at a time,” Jones said. “Yeah, it’s the top 14, and it’s really exciting. But there’s still a lot of cooking to be done. I’m only thinking about next week and what I’ll be cooking. I think (that mindset) has served me well so far.”
Jones said working with Ramsay isn’t always easy, but it’s definitely helped her grow as a chef.
“I love working with and around Gordon,” she said. “He’s hard, don’t get me wrong. Some of those team challenges, specifically the last team challenge with the blue team he really hashed it out with one of my teammates, and it was a little crazy not wanting to get in the middle. But it means that much more when he has something positive to say.”
Jones said during one of the competitions when she cooked a rack of lamb Ramsay was complimentary of her dish.
“He told the other competitors that I was a contestant to be feared in the kitchen,” Jones said. “That meant so much to me. Coming from someone else that would still be a huge compliment, but when Gordon says something (about) you as a competitor in a positive way (you think), ‘Wow, Gordon actually has some respect for me or is expecting something great from me.’ It means a lot.”
As most reality television shows, interaction between contestants is a central part of the show.
“I think for the most part what’s on the TV is a pretty accurate reflection of what’s going down,” Jones said. “We’re all there for the same reason and we’re competing with each other, but we’re pushing each other to be better. I know it’s not what everyone wants to hear, but we are close and are all rooting for each other…A lot of contestants are moving forward into the culinary world and that’s great. We’re all rooting for each other.”
Jones said about a quarter of the show’s competitions are team competitions, while the rest are individualized. She said communication is a crucial skill to have and something she’s learned throughout the competition.
“The team challenges can totally be your anchor and sink you to the bottom immediately if you don’t know what you’re doing,” she said. “I think as an individual, confidence is key, but so is humility. You have to be sure of your abilities that you brought into the kitchen, but you have to learn as well. None of us are perfect. If any one of us were as good as a chef as Gordon Ramsay already, we wouldn’t be there.”
As a dancer, Jones’ cooking style is health-centric. The diet she follows is known as the “paleo diet,” which is a diet based on not eating grains or dairy and only eating natural foods. Jones runs a blog where she posts paleo recipes for her followers. Recently, she released her first e-book called, “Paleo Summer Picnic Guide.”
Since she doesn’t typically eat grains or dairy, that could cause complications with pasta or bread baking challenges, she said, as she doesn’t have experience cooking those types of dishes.
“I’ve been pretty lucky so far. There hasn’t been a pasta or bread baking challenge,” she said. “I think if there were, though, it would probably be the most difficult for me.”
“MasterChef” will continue to air on FOX each Wednesday at 8 p.m. until the season finale in September.
Aside from the rack of lamb, Jones’ favorite dish she’s made so far on the show is a hometown dish based on Primanti Bros.
The “Pittsburgher,” she called it, was a hamburger with Primanti’s classic french fries on the burger.
“It was an homage to Pittsburgh,” she said. “It was a really good dish, and the judges did comment that the french fries were really unique and that they liked my culinary perspective.”