Canada's Top 2 Home Cooks Revealed Ahead of MASTERCHEF CANADA Season 3 Finale on June 19

– Matthew, a digital design consultant from Pitt Meadows, B.C., was eliminated on tonight's episode of MASTERCHEF CANADA –
– On the Season 3 finale of MASTERCHEF CANADA, airing next Sunday, June 19 at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CTV and the CTV GO app, the Top 2 home cooks in the country go head-to-head in a three-course challenge that will determine the winner of MASTERCHEF CANADA Season 3 – 
– Casting is now open for aspiring home cooks for MASTERCHEF CANADA Season 4 at CTV.ca/MasterChefCanada –

To tweet this alert: http://bmpr.ca/1sxHnGi

TORONTO, June 12, 2016 /CNW/ - In a gruelling Pressure Test, three modern desserts led to the end of Matthew Astorga's journey to the MASTERCHEF CANADA finale, as judges Michael Bonacini, Alvin Leung, and Claudio Aprile eliminated the Digital Design Consultant from Pitt Meadows, B.C. On the Season 3 finale of MASTERCHEF CANADA next Sunday, June 19 at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CTV and the CTV GO app, the Top 2 home cooks in Canada, Jeremy Senaris, a Building Plan Examiner from Winnipeg, Man., and Mary Berg, an Insurance Broker from Toronto, Ont., go head-to-head with the hope of winning $100,000 and the life-changing title of MASTERCHEF CANADA.

Tonight's episode of MASTERHCEF CANADA saw Top 3 home cooks Mary Berg, Jeremy Senaris, and Matthew Astorga battle it out for a spot in the MASTERCHEF CANADA finale. The trio were presented with one of the toughest challenges in MASTERCHEF CANADA history – cooking for 13 of Canada's most influential chefs. Presented with the same 13 ingredients the home cooks received for their first Mystery Box Challenge of the season, the trio had only 90 minutes to create 16 individual plates.

Matthew served up butter poached arctic char with pickled vegetables and carrot purée, and received praise for his presentation. Mary presented her take on fish and chips, with pickled lentil tartar sauce and blueberry ketchup, and her creativity impressed the judges and chefs. Lastly, Jeremy shared his steamed clams with green lentil and potato gnocchi in a white wine sauce. Although the judges enjoyed Jeremy's clams, he didn't prepare enough gnocchi for all 16 plates. With input from the 13 chefs, the judges announced Mary as the winner of the Mystery Box Challenge automatically advancing her to the finale.

With Matthew and Jeremy left to battle it out for a spot in the finale, they faced a high stakes Pressure Test that required them to recreate three modern citrus-infused desserts. The dishes they had to replicate were a white chocolate ganache, a lime choux with crunchy coconut sable, and a matcha green tea tart. While both Matthew and Jeremy struggled at various points throughout the challenge, they presented the judges with their three desserts. Matthew forgot to place his grapefruit loaf croutons on his chocolate ganache, and the judges found Jeremy's choux pastry lacking in lime flavour. After taking into account the accuracy of the replications, the plating, and the taste, the judges revealed that Matthew would be going home.

On the Season 3 finale of MASTERCHEF CANADA (Sunday, June 19 at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CTV and CTV GO), the Top 2 home cooks in the country, Jeremy Senaris, a Building Plan Examiner from Winnipeg, Man., and Mary Berg, an Insurance Broker from Toronto, Ont., go head-to-head, creating an appetizer, entrée, and dessert course for the judges while their families and former competitors cheer them on. The winner receives $100,000 and the life-changing title of MASTERCHEF CANADA.

MASTERCHEF CANADA is looking for home cooks who want to pursue their culinary dream for its fourth season. Casting is now open, and details on how to apply for MASTERCHEF CANADA Season 4 are available at CTV.ca/MasterChefCanada. Canadian home cooks have until 11:59 p.m. ET on Saturday, August 6 to show their interest, and with interviews taking place in June and July applicants are encouraged to apply early to meet producers when they are in their region. Casting will come to an end with an Open Casting Call in Toronto on Saturday, August 6, with additional details to be announced this summer.

For more on MASTERCHEF CANADA, fans can visit CTV.ca/MasterChefCanada for exclusive content, including must-see videos with the home cooks and the judges, bios, full episodes, sneak peeks, and extras.

New episodes of MASTERCHEF CANADA are available following their broadcast premiere on demand at CTV.ca and on the CTV GO app, and encore Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on M3, Saturdays at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CTV Two, and Sundays at 5 p.m. ET/PT on CTV.

Viewers can watch Matthew live on CP24 BREAKFAST (Weekdays 5:30 a.m. ET), CTV News Channel (9:45 a.m. ET/PT), and CTV MORNING LIVE VANCOUVER (Weekdays at 6 a.m. PT) on Monday, June 13 as he discusses his experience on MASTERCHEF CANADA.

The MASTERCHEF format and finished programmes are represented internationally by Endemol Shine Group, and is based on a format originally created by Franc Roddam.

MASTERCHEF CANADA is produced by Proper Television in association with CTV. President of Proper Television, Guy O'Sullivan is executive producer, along with Proper's Vice-President and Creative Director, Cathie James. For Bell Media, Tina Apostolopoulos is Production Executive, Factual and Reality, Independent Production; Robin Johnston is Director, Factual and Reality, Independent Production; Corrie Coe is Senior Vice-President, Independent Production; Mike Cosentino is Senior Vice-President, Programming, CTV Networks and CraveTV; Randy Lennox is President, Entertainment Production and Broadcasting.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:

Twitter: #MasterChefCanada
@CTV_PR
@CTV_Television
@MasterChefCDA
Michael Bonacini – @MichaelBonacini
Alvin Leung – @TheDemonChef
Claudio Aprile – @ClaudioAprile
Jeremy Senaris – @chefonfiyah
Mary Berg – @mary_berg3

Facebook:
facebook.com/ctv
facebook.com/MasterChefCDA

Instagram:
@MasterChefCDA
@BellMediaPR
Michael Bonacini – @chefmichaelbonacini
Claudio Aprile – @claudioaprile1
Jeremy Senaris – @onfiyah
Mary Berg – @mary_berg3

About CTV
CTV is Canada's #1 private broadcaster. Featuring a wide range of quality news, sports, information, and entertainment programming, CTV has been Canada's most-watched television network for the past 14 years in a row. CTV is a division of Bell Media, Canada's premier multimedia company with leading assets in television, radio, digital, and Out-of-Home. Bell Media is owned by BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE), Canada's largest communications company. More information about CTV can be found on the network's website at CTV.ca.

SOURCE CTV

Tonia Addison, CTV Networks, 416.384.2194 or [email protected]; Ama Sechere, CTV Networks, 416.384.2066 or [email protected]; Christy Sullivan, CTV Networks, 416.384.3624 or [email protected]