Loreto Riera from Alicante made history at the age of 8 MasterChef Junior 10 He became the youngest winner of the TVE program, surpassing his 12-year-old partner Jesús in cooking. The chefs’ daughter and granddaughter are already thinking about presenting a “surprise meal” to her father’s restaurant, Les tapes de la iaia, in Mutxamel.
You were doing your best in the repechage, but were you so sure you would win?
I wasn’t so sure but I dreamed it because I cook good food, I put love into it and the result is almost always good.
What do you think about being the youngest winner of the program?
I feel very good, the excitement of breaking the record… I’m fine.
The jury gave your dishes a 10, right?
I think so too. I made it very well because I tried it and they were really delicious.
You dedicated the dishes to your grandmother and her friends. To whom did you dedicate this award?
To my father and grandmother, because my father cooks thanks to my grandmother, and I cook thanks to my father (laughs).
What did you learn? MasterChef?
Making many avant-garde techniques such as spheroids, curtains, airs, foams…
“I would like to work at my father’s bar or Jordi Cruz’s restaurant”
Will you continue to implement all these?
Clear!
Do you see yourself as a cook in your father’s restaurant?
Even though I wanted to be a pediatrician, I would see myself. Pediatrician or cook.
So, if you were a chef, where would you like to work?
At my dad’s bar or at Jordi Cruz’s restaurant ABaC.
And Dabiz Munoz [que juzgó sus platos]NO?
I went to StreetXO [otro restaurante de Dabiz Muñoz] and the kitchen was very nice, there was a bar where you could see the kitchen and hear a little shouting. It’s not that I don’t want to cook there, but I don’t like yelling.
But to be a chef, you have to put up with the pressure. Did you tolerate this well in the program?
Yes.
How were you welcomed at Mutxamel?
Super good. The mayor welcomed me and my colleagues… Everyone is very happy. Now I walk on the street and they take my photo, I like it very much.
Are you proud to be the first mutxamelera to win the program?
Yes, very happy.
“Now I walk on the street in Mutxamel and they take pictures of me, I like it very much”
Do you want to go back to your school (CEIP El Salvador)?
Yes, the truth is that I love school. What I don’t like is waking up early.
Will you consider the dishes and recommend them to your father?
Yes, we are already looking at a surprise dish to see if we can put it on the menu, and I think we will reveal some more over time.
Will you cook them too?
Yes, although my father will help me because gymnastics, school, music… I have a lot of things!
Where and for whom would you like to cook? Would you like to own a restaurant?
I’d love to cook at Jordi’s ABaC, and if I had my own restaurant, I’d want it to be a medium-sized restaurant, not too small and not too big, so I could put in spheroids and all that fancy stuff.
So who would you invite?
to Alex Masterchef 11The ones I really like are Martín Berasategui and Jordi Cruz.
Do you plan to continue cooking, playing the saxophone, and doing gymnastics?
Yes, I’m not letting anything go right now.
So, are you successful in your studies?
Really good.