Whitney Miller ('MasterChef')
Thursday, September 16 2010, 12:00pm EDT
By Lara Martin, News Editor
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American MasterChef winner Whitney Miller
Fox
At the tender age of 22 years old, student Whitney Miller triumphed in the kitchen last night to be named America's first ever MasterChef! The amateur chef from Poplarville, MS scooped the $250,000 prize and her own cookbook publishing deal after a final cook-off with runner-up David Miller. So, what is next for America's best home cook? We gave her a call to find out!
Congratulations! How does it feel to be America's first ever MasterChef?
"It feels like a dream come true because when I first tried out I had it in the back of my mind, 'You can do this, you so can win' but knowing now after all the hard work of every challenge, to win and make it to the finale was just amazing!"
Was it hard keeping the result a secret from your friends and fans?
"Oh my gosh, that was the hardest thing ever! It's been so long and it's like keeping the hugest secret of my life! I had a huge finale party at a restaurant and everyone almost from my town and the surrounding area, my friends and my family from Memphis drove down. It was amazing."
We have to ask you about the chicken incident... What was going through your mind?!
"Oh my gosh! I was definitely like, 'No way you can not let this title slip through your fingertips!' [But] when I dropped it, it could have been a good thing because the next chicken, Gordon said it was perfect and they loved it."
Did you even know if it was cooked or were you going on faith?!
"I was definitely going all on faith! I didn't even touch it! No time was spent! I took it from the pan, put it on the plate and served it to them!"
How was it working with Gordon? We all know him from Hell's Kitchen but he seemed like a different person here...
"I was expecting him to be a little rough but he was sweet and he really nurtured us throughout the whole competition. Everything he told me I just soaked in and thought, I can use this to improve myself."
Do you think the other competitors might have underestimated you at the very beginning because of your age?
"I definitely thought they probably looked at me and thought 'You're young'. Maybe that's why I didn't get chosen for more of the group challenges, but they underestimated me. I have been cooking since I was 12 years old so I have a lot of experience that they didn't know about... Age is just a number and if you have the talent then you have what it takes. That's the same for anything and I want to inspire everyone to go for their dream no matter how old they are."
What advice would you give amateur cooks or people who might want to appear in a future season of the show?
"Just stick with whatever type of food you love to cook. Don't venture off too much because you have to stick to what you love to do and what food you love to eat, and for me that's Southern food and that's what I stuck to throughout the competition."
So will we see plenty of Southern-inspired recipes in your cookbook then?
"Hopefully that will be out towards the end of the year but people can already see some of my recipes from the show in the MasterChef cookbook... I've already stared trying to gather recipes up [for my own cookbook] and come up with ones that I know will be easy for people to do but also really look good on a plate and for them to serve to their friends and family. It's important for me to share this love of cooking I have with everyone."
What was your favorite recipe from the entire season?
"My favorite dish would probably have been the white chocolate soufflé in the finale because it just totally happened! Gordon was like, 'What are you doing?! You are like switching gears in the finale!' But that's what it was about, pushing myself to do my best and that was something the judges could see took a lot of talent to put out."
Do you think the 'Pastry Princess' nickname will stick?!
"I think it definitely will and my strong suit is definitely desserts so there will either be a cookbook centered around desserts or I will cram-pack a lot of dessert recipes in my Southern hospitality cookbook."
Apart from the cookbook, what else would you like to achieve in your culinary career?
"I would definitely love to have my own cooking show. I've always loved to watch them and the chance to have my own would be the pinnacle of the experience of MasterChef."
Have you got any plans for the prize money?
"I would love to use it to travel. I don't even have a passport and I need to get the experience of trying different foods from all around the world and the United States. I want to go to Italy because I love Italian cuisine and Joe was the one who I was most nervous preparing food for. When he asked for a traditional chicken parmesan I was like, 'Oh my goodness!' You have to make it close to the original but give your own twist to it."
So what is up next for you in the immediate future, apart from planning the cookbook?
"I have my own cafe in my hometown and I'll just be thinking about plans to expand. Definitely catering is something I love doing. I love catering to people's individual needs and putting a lot of attention on a wedding [or something like that]. There is so much out there and I can't wait to experience it all."
MasterChef airs on Fox and was recently renewed for a second season
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