By FireRescue1 Staff
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — A firefighter is taking his firehouse cooking skills to the national stage by competing in “Master Chef Canada.”
Vancouver Courier reported that firefighter Michael Varga, who normally whips up gourmet meals for his colleagues at Fire Hall No. 4, will compete in the fifth season of the cooking show.
Varga was featured in the recently-aired first episode competing in an hour-long cook-off against 11 other contestants, many of which were sent home before they could finish making their dish.
“When you see them coming around, you don’t know if they are coming to talk to you or if they are coming to tap you out,” Varga said. “It got real. It got real pretty quick.”
Varga’s first dish consisted of Moroccan-spiced lamb popsicles with a North African risotto and pomegranate and scored high enough with the judges to land him a spot in the final 12.
Before appearing on “Master Chef Canada,” Vargas also competed in the “Fired Up” episode of “Chopped Canada,” where he competed against other firefighters for a $10,000 prize.
His experiences on the two shows have inspired him to one day have a show of his own centered on fire station cuisine around the world.
“This has just got me so excited about cooking,” he said. “I would love to showcase what firefighters are doing in the kitchen and hear their stories.”
https://twitter.com/IAFF18/status/983933689003261957 https://twitter.com/MasterChefCDA/status/982604038624735232