After six weeks of filming, art teacher Lorena Decristofaro has finished filming the TV show, MasterChef Latinos, for EstrellaTV.  Aired on Feb. 10, MasterChef Latinos is a competitive cooking show taking place in Mexico for Latinos living in the United States. One episode will be released per week, for 16 weeks. Each episode is two hours long, starring judges Benito Molina, Adrián Herrera, and Claudia Sandoval.

Currently, the YouTube channel MasterChef Latinos has been posting trailers, including clips from interviews with the chefs, one of which is an entire video of just Decristofaro. 

She signed up for MasterChef Latinos two years ago and received a call-back in fall of 2021. She participated in a phone interview and later a Zoom interview with the show’s producers. Decristofaro answered questions regarding her passion for cooking as she cooked in her own kitchen. They then flew her out to Mexico City with 50 other participants. Only 16 chefs received their white apron. 

Decristofaro was unaware of the cash prize until she was chosen. “Originally, I just wanted to show up, cook, and be on TV then go home. I didn’t really understand what a competition meant. I didn’t know what I’d be getting myself into . . . I didn’t know there was a money prize, . . . but it’s $100,000 if you win. That made it more stressful because there were people in it for the money to win, and there’s people in it because they want to be on TV: TikTokers, influencers, Instagram people,” said Decristofaro. 

Decristofaro shared she became timid amongst the other chefs, a stark contrast to her normally extroverted personality. 

Each day her schedule was different. The show would pick the contestants up at 5:30 a.m., and they would return to their hotel rooms at 11:00 p.m., rushing to the only open restaurant so they would have dinner for the night. Nightly routines included a shower, a call home, and prepping for the next day with YouTube videos and research. On a lighter day, they would leave at 7:30 a.m. to return at 9:00 p.m. Decristofaro found the isolation intense and difficult. “It was either I shower or call home; or I can watch a video for what tomorrow will bring; or I can sleep,” said Decristofaro.

Decristofaro never forgot her audience. She maintained her composure on account of her position as a role model for her students. She avoided times where she wanted to be petty or fight back for the sake of her students. Some of the competitors knew the judges personally. “They’d been to their weddings. I’d lose sleep over it. It made me withdraw more because I was so upset. I didn’t want to be a sore loser, so I didn’t complain about those things,” said Decristofaro. 

Time was her biggest struggle during the competition. Because of the ingredients they were given as part of the challenge, Decristofaro had little time to think. “It’s not your kitchen, it’s not your stove, it’s not your gas, it’s not your water. There’s drips of water and [the pot] is not filling up, and you’re running out of time. People start yelling, ‘Instead of filling up the pot, you should be peeling the potatoes!’ You’re like, ‘Oh my god, that’s true,’ but you’re so stressed that it’s never going to get filled,” said Decristofaro. “Creating things out of a box? That I can do. It’s just the time and the people around you, knowing it’s a competition.”

Notably her “least disappointing” dish, she was most proud of her paella. “I think that was my favorite episode, too. I cried and ugly cried, but I think it was the most meaningful. It was like a family moment,” she said. 

Decristofaro shared she would not like to repeat the experience. “Compete like that? No. Be on TV? Yes. I was on a PBS episode called Check Please, and I went to three different restaurants. All I had to do was eat and talk about the food. That I loved because there wasn’t stress. I didn’t have weird attention-hogging people yelling at me telling me what to do.” 

The competition grew intense as she was absorbed in this world away from her life. “I would go in shaking; my stomach would hurt. It was super nerve-racking. I was broken. They broke me,” she said. 

Despite the new experience, Decristofaro didn’t learn much as a chef. “When they would do demonstrations, I would realize how much I actually know. Now I just obsess more over the presentation of my dishes if I’m going to post them on my social media. I can plate pretty. I just need the right ingredients.” Decristofaro may not have learned much about cooking, but she did learn a lot about herself. 

Be sure to follow Decristofaro’s journey by streaming the show. MasterChef Latinos is available using the app or on the EstrellaTV channel. You can also find the show on EstrellaTV.com.