OAKLEAF – Although just 9 years old, Landon Brown wasn’t intimidated by Gordon Ramsay, a celebrity chef with a reputation for his fiery temper.

“Actually, he’s pretty nice,” he said. “But he will criticize you if you mess up.”

Landon should know. He was one of nine contestants picked from more than 12,000 applicants to cook on “MasterChef Junior: Home For The Holidays” this weekend.

The incredible journey started with a lengthy and detailed application. The show’s producer interviewed Landon on a Zoom call, and he gave the Oakleaf Village Elementary fourth-grader 30 minutes to cook a meal. Landon prepared blackened salmon with mango salsa and cilantro lime rice. His skills and personality earned him the trip to Hollywood.

“I like cooking pasta dishes and seafood dishes, fancy food fish,” he said. “You could put a lot of color and flavor in it. I really like using that stuff.

“I learned cooking from YouTube. I watched a lot of videos and learned from my family. And I love teaching myself sometimes because I can really show creativity and different things.”

The trip to Southern California had one important caveat: he couldn’t tell anyone. This week, the show said contestants could talk about being on the show but weren’t allowed to say how they did. Everyone will have to wait until 8 p.m. on Sunday and Monday to watch the show on FOX30 and find out. The show also will be streamed on Hulu.

“He was in LA for a month,” said his father, Alan Brown, a physical education teacher at Oakleaf Village. “That’s when they filmed it. So it’s been long anticipated. We’re definitely excited for it to finally come out on TV.

“Everything was holiday season oriented. We’re Jewish, so he did a lot of Jewish dishes. Everybody had their own heritage and cultural types of food.”

Now home, he said his favorite dish to prepare is fettuccine with a creamy pink sauce and shrimp.

Landon hopes the show will be the beginning of a long and successful cooking career. He wants to start by owning a food truck, and from there, he wants to earn Michelin stars at several prominent locations around the country.

“I want to open a food truck and go to festivals and stuff,” he said. “Hopefully, I can make enough money and open a restaurant by the time I’m 19. I want to have Michelin-star restaurants in every major city.”

Whatever happens, CAMO will be close by. The iguana from the 1997 Beanie Baby line is always with him at the stove. He had a small chef’s hat on the stuffed animal during taping, and it often was on his shoulder while he created gourmet dishes.

“This is my sous chef, CAMO,” Landon said. “He’s a big part of the show. He’s always cooking with me. Gordon Ramsay said a lot of funny stuff about CAMO.”

MasterChef Junior is open to children between 8 and 13. The judges were Ramsay, his daughter Tilly Ramsay, Daphne Oz and Aaron Sanchez. The young cooks had to prepare seasonal delights with Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Lunar New Year themes.