Harrogate woman reaches knockout week of Masterchef and sets her sights on going even further in the BBC One cooking competition
Harrogate contestant Abi has won a place in knockout week of BBC One’s Masterchef after impressing the judges again with her “absolutely standout” dish in the quarter final – and is aiming to go even further in the competition.
In Friday night’s episode, all six of the quarter finalists were set a brief by food critic Leyla Kazim, who challenged them to “create a dish that you would make for someone who was feeling a little bit under the weather or in need of a pick-me-up – something that is going to nourish and restore them”.
Abi made an Asian take on a beef and carrot stew with wasabi mash, tempura enoki mushrooms and garlic green beans, saying she wanted her dish to taste like a Chinese takeaway but also look and feel like a stew.
“I took the brief almost as like a hug in a dish,” she said.
"I think mashed potato is one of the most comforting things you can eat, and I always aim towards Asian flavours.”
Giving her critique, Leyla described it as “a very tasty meal”.
Judge John Torode praised her “perfectly smooth mashed potato”, adding: “We have got the flavours of Chinese duck with gravy and mashed potato and wasabi, and I think you’ve done that really well.”
Fellow judge Gregg Wallace described her dish as “very, very, very clever”.
He said: “I think this is fantastic. I think your flavours are daring and you’ve balanced them really well.”
Speaking afterwards, Abi said: “I definitely want more than knockout week – you can’t just get to knockout week and get knocked out, that’d be rubbish!”