Kingsborough Community College Culinary Student In The Spotlight On Fox’s “MasterChef”

A student of Kingsborough Community College’s budding culinary program, Shelly Flash, is competing on the hit Fox television show “MasterChef,” making it past the third round as a finalist last week.

Flash – already a perfect celebrity chef name – is on break from her studies at the five-year-old program at Kingsborough, instead cooking it up on television. The competitive cooking reality show anchored by Gordon Ramsay pits amateur and home chefs against one another in ingredient-based challenges.

Flash barely won the first round of the contest, coming out on top in the final moments. In the second and third rounds, she cruised by on a pass after her team won the group culinary competitions. You can watch as she passionately argues why she deserves the win (which has Gordon convinced):

She arrived at Kingsborough after completing a summer culinary training program at the Center for Economic and Workforce Development Northeast Resiliency Consortium in 2013. Previously, she worked as a radio personality in Florida.

Born in Jamaica, Flash writes that she has a “lifelong passion for cooking” on her blog. Her signature dish calls back to her West Indian roots: escovitch chicken with mashed sweet plantains.

Her teachers and fellow students at Kingsborough are rooting for her.

“You could see that Shelly was extremely eager to get started learning,” said Chef Thomas Smyth, who heads up Kingsborough’s culinary program. “She has a wonderfully effervescent spirit and a unique, undeveloped talent for cooking, which serves her well as a MasterChef contestant. We’re proud of her, and are rooting for her all the way.”

The MasterChef winner will receive $250,000, his or her own cookbook, and a MasterChef trophy.

MasterChef’s next episode airs tonight on Channel 5 at 8pm. She and fellow contestants will be surprised with a crab challenge – something we think has amazing potential with a Caribbean spin. Let’s go, Flash!