A master of MasterChef in La Mesa

La Mesa’s Claudia Sandoval is one of the top-three finalists for this season of MasterChef, a cooking show on the Fox Network. She stands to win a book deal and $250,000. When she was picked to compete, she knew some training was in order.

“It’s hard to prepare for having a camera in your face and having massive amounts of light shining in your eyes while world-renowned chefs critique your food,” says Sandoval, 31.

Since setting up that kind of scenario in her home kitchen seemed impractical, she resorted to other methods of getting game-ready. “I had friends come over with bags of food — a protein, vegetables, and a starch — and I would turn that into a meal within 30 minutes.”

The quick-take meals paid off: Sandoval beat out 19 other contestants to make the top 3 last Wednesday.

Adding to the difficulty level for Sandoval was her lack of professional kitchen experience. “My dad was a chef, and he was able to give me tips such as a kitchen crew always works back to front, not front to back,” says Sandoval. “Also, he told me to take chicken off the heat when it was five degrees below what it was supposed to be, because it continues to cook.”

Sandoval is happy she listened to her dad but admits she had some lucky breaks. “I made a Tomato Napoleon for one challenge where we were limited to one ingredient plus the basic pantry staples such as eggs, butter, or spices,” she said. “I was very lucky. I actually dreamed that recipe the night before.”

Mexican food looms large in Sandoval’s flavor profile. If she wins the title of MasterChef, she plans to use her foodie fame to change misconceptions of what Mexican food is. “Like Italian food, there are different regions of Mexican food. What they serve in Cancun is different than Oaxaca.”

Although MasterChef host Gordon Ramsay is known for screaming at the top of his lungs to chefs who screw up, Sandoval wasn’t bothered by the hot-headed celebrity chef. “If you’ve ever been a kitchen, you’ll see the chefs are passionate and have strong personalities,” she laughed. “If they were mellow, that would be weird.”