BBC Masterchef: This is how the Doncaster born amateur cook Claire got on in round one
A woman who was born in Doncaster and has inherited a love for Scandinavian flavours appeared on last night’s BBC One cookery show Masterchef where she competed against five other contestants.
Mum of two Claire was born in Doncaster and lived in Yorkshire as a child. She went to university in Lancaster during the late 1990s and then lived in Canada for 12 years where she met her husband, Paul. She now lives in Newark-on-Trent.
Claire, aged 46, who works as a copywriter, says most of her favourite meals involve cooking with garlic, said: “My husband really pushed me to apply for MasterChef so that I could celebrate how much cooking has meant to me in the last nine years during a tricky time in my life.
“I would love to write a book that compiles delicious family recipes with life and cooking tips that have saved me during a hard time.
“I think teaching people to cook on any budget is a very powerful tool and a dream would be to push for a national cooking programme in conjunction with a budget supermarket.
“So much of our health and wealth starts at the dinner table.”
MasterChef returned to TV screens on Wednesday this week after a difficult period for the show.
Its presenters, Gregg Wallace and John Torode, were both sacked last month after a report into conduct on the programme upheld allegations against them.
The BBC decided to still show this year's amateur series - filmed before they were sacked - saying it was “the right thing to do” for the chefs who took part.
In the first heats this week, six contestants faced the “basic to brilliant” round where they prepare a dish showcasing one particular ingredient in an hour and 20 minutes.
Later, the cooks served a two-course meal for a panel of previous finalists, with three then progressing to the quarter finals.
Claire said: “I’m so excited to cook and get going. I belong in the kitchen.”
She chose peas as her basic ingredient and as the cooking got underway she said: “I’m playing music in my head so it’s like cooking at home.
“We didn’t have tons of money growing up so we made food go as far as possible.
“I always have lots of peas, growing them, podding them. Peas are a really important basic for families.”
Claire made pea and ham croquettes with pea custard and mint and lemon mayonnaise.
“I cook every day, every single day,” she continued. “There’s nothing that you can get from a take out that you can’t make better and cheaper yourself.”
Presenter John said: “Your croquettes are crispy and salty on the outside, the lovely richness of the ham then the marrowfat peas starting to explode inside and the sharpness of the lemon mayo singing underneath. It’s a joy to eat.”
Gregg said: “Your pea custard is lovely, the sweetness of the peas throughout. Well done.
“You’ve got technique, you’ve got a good eye for detail, I’m really impressed.”
Claire reacted: “I’m over the moon to hear that they like what I did and could appeciate the technique. It was more than I could hope for.”
The first Masterchef apron and a place in the next round went to Claire, John added: “Congratulations that was great.”
“The first name that was called out was mine,” said Claire. “That’s what dreams are made of.
“Getting through in the first round really piles on the pressure because I didn’t get that extra cook. I’ve got to cook something else well.”
For her main she made roasted cod and cauliflower with a prawn bisque and chilli and lemon courgette nests.
She explained: “My dad’s a keen fisherman and he took us fishing when I was little. If I could could cook one thing forever it would be fish and vegetables.
“My dessert is a bit of a love letter to my husband really because he grew up with a Danish Canadian mum so I’m making Aebleskiver, a Danish pancake, and I’m going to fill it with rum sauce and serve that with caramelised salted bananas and a bit of whipped cream.”
Among the comments from the judges were: “The cooking of the fish is exemplary”, “beautiful little strands of courgette, it’s a very decent dish”.
And for the dessert: “I love the saltiness and the sweetness of the banana, it’s beautifully balanaced”.
Claire was chosen as a quarter finalist and concluded: “It was so much fun and so stressful simultaneously. I hope the guest judges could see how much love was in there.”
The quarter finals start tonight, Friday August 8, at 8pm.
Previous MasterChef episodes are available to watch on iPlayer.