Christine Ha is the first ever blind contestant and Season 3 Winner of the competitive amateur cooking show, MasterChef USA, on FOX with Gordon Ramsay, Graham Elliot and Joe Bastianich. She defeated over 30,000 home cooks across America to secure the coveted MasterChef title, a $250,000 cash prize and a cookbook deal.
“The lady has an extraordinary palate, a palate of incredible finesse. She picks up hot ingredients, touches them and she thinks about this image on the plate. She has the most disciplined execution on a plate that we’ve ever seen. But the palate is where it’s just extraordinary. And honestly, I know chefs with Michelin stars that don’t have palates like hers.”–Chef Gordon Ramsay, MasterChef judge
“She’s kind of amazing.” –Joe Bastianich, restaurateur and MasterChef judge.
Christine also has a Master of Fine Arts from University of Houston’s nationally acclaimed Creative Writing Program. During her time there, she served as Fiction Editor for Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts and is currently working on a memoir. Christine’s first cookbook, Recipes From My Home Kitchen: Asian and American Comfort Food from the Winner of MasterChef Season 3 on FOX (Rodale), released on May 14, 2013. Since winning, she has made a guest appearance on the inaugural season of MasterChef Vietnam and travels across the country to give inspiring keynote addresses to audiences numbering in the hundreds. Christine lives in Houston, Texas and plans to open establishments both locally and abroad.
Christine Ha’s Social Media Pages
As MasterChef USA 2012: facebook.com/MC3Christine | @MC3Christine
As food enthusiast: www.theblindcook.com | @theblindcook
As writer: www.christineha.com | @ChristineHHa