The hotter it gets in the kitchen, the more Lucy Morrow ups her game.
The Charlottetown chef advanced to the final on Monday night in the seventh episode of the Food Network Canada’s reality television show Top Chef Canada.
More than 8,000 chefs applied to be on the program. Producers selected 12 chefs from that list, and Morrow will compete for the title of top chef in Canada on the season eight finale on Monday, June 1.
While the competition was filmed last year in Toronto, Morrow said the reality of what is happening has just now begun sinking in.
“(Today) was the first day where I’m like, ‘holy (cow), after (tonight’s episode) everybody is going to see that I am a finalist in Top Chef Canada,’’ Morrow told The Guardian on Monday ahead of the episode, in an interview granted by Food Network Canada on the condition The Guardian not reveal anything before the the show aired Monday night.
“That was the first time I really got excited about it. (This) morning I was getting ready and I was like, ‘holy (cow), this is a big deal. When you’re (filming the episodes) you’re not really processing the big picture because you’re so focused.’’
Morrow, who moved to P.E.I. from her native Nova Scotia eight years ago, was coming off winning the P.E.I. challenge in the May 18 episode. Her challenge was to create a dish using mussels as the main course.
Morrow said she didn’t feel any extra pressure because she was a P.E.I. chef.
“In that moment, I knew exactly what dish I wanted to do. The extra pressure didn’t really hit me,’’ noting that her biggest worry in the P.E.I. challenge was to avoid over-thinking things or not try hard enough because she was working with a food she’s familiar with.
On the May 25 episode, the quickfire challenge involved the chefs getting a helping hand from some mini-sous representing the Boys and Girls Club of Canada. Their mission was to take a veggie that kids don’t always love and transform it into a delicious dessert.
“That was pretty fun for me because I really don’t have an idea of what kids can do, so I had a really good time with the kids.’’
The elimination challenge saw the chefs faced with the task of making fresh pasta to earn one of the three spots in the finale.
At the end of Monday night’s episode, Morrow was awarded a berth in the finale while the other two competitors were sent into a sudden-death elimination to determine the finale berth against Morrow.
The Charlottetown chef said it’s hard to sum up what she felt when the judges told her she made it to the final.
“I was not expecting it.’’
