Porter Ranch Kid Makes Top 14 On 'MasterChef Junior'

NORTHRIDGE, CA — Ever since he was 3 years old, Porter Ranch local Cruz Ramirez loved cooking. He started by helping his mom in the kitchen and eventually learned how to cook on his own.

Ramirez, now 11, was 8 when he saw there were auditions for the Fox reality TV series "MasterChef Junior" and decided to take a shot.

"One thing I love about cooking is you get to be yourself. You get to be creative on how you cook the dish. You get to be really creative and free on however you want to do it," Ramirez said.

On Thursday, Ramirez progressed into the top 14 out of the 16 initial contestants. In this week's upcoming episode, Ramirez will compete in his first "field challenge" as contestants are split into two teams to prepare medieval-themed dishes, according to a representative at Fox.

Ramirez is ultimately vying to be crowned America's eighth MasterChef Junior, a title that comes with a trophy and $100,000 in prize money.

Filming the show included many challenges, such as working with teammates and constantly competing against the clock. But Ramirez still had a lot of fun, he said.

"I was in awe when I saw the kitchen itself. ... I was really excited. My experience in 'MasterChef Junior' was amazing," he said. "It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to cook with three of some of the most famous culinary chefs in the world. I met a lot of friends — I got to learn their personalities and how they saw food. It was really fun."

Ramirez's season of "MasterChef Junior" was filmed nearly three years ago, but its premier was delayed because of COVID-19. Watching himself at such a young age has been interesting and at times nerve-wracking, Ramirez said.

"It was really cool seeing how young and how different I looked being on the show when I was 8 years old," Ramirez said.

Ramirez learned a lot during his "MasterChef Junior" journey. But his most memorable lesson will remain forever imprinted on his thumb, he said.

"Never open an oven without gloves," Ramirez said. "I still have a scar on the side of my thumb. It wasn't big, but I learned from that day that I shouldn't rush when using an oven. That's one thing I'm always going to remember."

Since the season debuted on March 17, Ramirez has enjoyed some local celebrity around Porter Ranch. His friends at school like to pretend they're his bodyguards, and his whole advisory class watched the season premiere together at school, he said.

For Ramirez, cooking is a creative process. He prefers to cook savory foods because they allow for more freestyling than sweets, Ramirez said. He particularly loves to cook seafood and meat.

When he started the show, Ramirez's signature dish is papa a la Huancaina, a Peruvian dish that includes cheese and a sauce over boiled potatoes. But in the years since, he has added a new Peruvian dish to his repertoire: lomo saltado, which is similar to a beef stir fry with fried potatoes and rice, Ramirez said. He learned both dishes by trying them at restaurants and getting help from his parents.

"[With] meat or seafood, you get to be kind of creative with how you want to cook it. You've got to make sure it's edible, but you get to be creative with [whether] you put sauce, no sauce, how you season it or how you should put it with rice or some vegetables," Ramirez said.

Ramirez has always wanted to open a restaurant and work as a food critic, but since competing on the show he has found a new outlet for his creativity. Driven by his love for Legos and Minecraft, Ramirez could see himself becoming an architect as well, he said.

"When I was young, owning a restaurant sounded like a really cool and fun job to do," Ramirez said. He added: "[Since] a young age I've loved building with Legos and being creative and following the instructions to build these really cool pieces of architecture. [With] Minecraft I get to be creative and build whatever I want in my own style, and there's no guidelines."

After such a formative experience, Cruz has a message for his peers and his viewers.

"Even when times get tough, and you feel like you're going to mess everything up, don't just quit. You've got to keep on trying. You're going to manage, and ... it might not always be perfect, but it's going turn out pretty good sometimes," Ramirez said. He added: "Just be yourself."

You can watch Cruz Ramirez compete every Thursday at 8 p.m. on Fox.