Carl "Pen" Wippert was born in Los Angeles County, CA. He was the youngest son of seven children. After several moves around the U.S. he settled in Boise, ID where he raised his son. When his son turned 18 he pursued his culinary dreams and auditioned for MasterChef in Portland, OR. He was chosen to be in the top 100 out of over 40,000 people. He is owner of Pen Productions, a multimedia production company that specializes in Books, Film, and Podcasting. He is also the author of the book Gourmet for Everybody, a cookbook he wrote before appearing on MasterChef. Show less «