Renfrewshire chef Sagar Massey is tantalisingly close to tasting glory after making it into the very final episode of this year’s edition of Masterchef: The Professionals.
The Paisley Daily Express has been following Sagar’s process avidly and reported earlier this week how the former Paisley Grammar School pupil had made it through to finals week on the hit BBC One show.
Last night, the latest episode of the show was aired with Sagar, 23, competing against the other three remaining contestants.
The Masterchef hopefuls had to prepare a dish that was inspired by somewhere close to their heart and Sagar, who moved to Scotland from New Delhi, India in 2014, chose to showcase the culinary potential of his adopted home.
Sagar, who moved to Paisley in 2014 and now lives in Johnstone, told the judges: “I’m not taking you too far, just up to Scotland. When I think of Scotland, it’s rain first of all. The mountains. Beautiful scenery. Seafood and whisky. When I came to the country, it was the first time I had fish in my life. I had salmon.”
Inspired by his first taste of Scottish fish, Sagar served the judges a lightly smoked salmon and salmon belly tartare with tuna mayonnaise.
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Accompanying it was an apple and whisky gel, compressed apple and whisky, compressed melon and melon liqueur, and a dill, cucumber and chilli sauce.
One third of the judging panel of Anna Haugh, Marcus Wareing and Gregg Wallace was delighted with the outcome.
Gregg said: "The salmon is lovely. It's really soft in the middle. The whisky warmth with the apple freshness is beautiful. That's absolutely divine."
However, Sagar’s progress in the competition looked in doubt when Anna and Marcus were underwhelmed by the dish.
Marcus said: "The tartare is beautifully made, the buttermilk is lovely, I can taste the nutmeg, that’s delicious. I can taste the apple, but I’m not getting whisky, and I can’t taste the melon liquor. There is a lot of work gone into this but a few areas in here that I was so looking forward to, they’re not there.”
A downbeat Sagar said: “It didn’t go exactly to plan. The judges' feedback has made me feel nervous.”
Sagar would have another chance to prove his worth to judges in the next challenge.
The contestants had to cook a show-stopping dish of their own creation for a dining room full of some of the UK’s leading food critics, including Jay Rayner, William Sitwell, Leyla Kazim, Jimi Famurewa and April Jackson, who would help judges decide who would go through to the final three.
Sagar served up coffee and Asian-spiced duck breast, braised fennel, kumquat, chicory dressed in fig vinegar, spiced pressed duck leg and a spiced orange duck sauce.
Daily Telegraph restaurant critic Sitwell was a fan. He said: “The cumquat with the duck works really well. And I really like the fennel.”
Guardian food critic Rayner said: "I'm getting a lot of big, boisterous spices – cardamom, pepper, cinnamon – that are not actually overwhelming the duck but giving it a little bit of a turbo-charge."
Former Miss Jamaica Universe and now established food writer Jackson added: "This dish has the spices, it has the acidity, it has the sweetness, and I love food that is just hitting every corner of your palate in glorious ways."
Ultimately, Sagar would be selected to be one of the three to make it through to the next and defining round of the contest.
Speaking after finding out he’d made it through, he said: “Today was hard, but it was a good day. I can’t express what I’m feeling just now, it’s just amazing.”
Sagar will have one final chance to impress the judges, in the concluding episode of the series, which will be aired on BBC One and iPlayer at 6.15pm on Sunday, December 11.
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