Globe-trotter on top of the world with Masterchef win
BRUMMIE chef Dan Lee has been crowned the winner of MasterChef: The Professionals 2021 – after a lifelong food journey which began when his aunt challenged him to “eat intestines and fish eyeballs” when he was little.
Dan trained at the College of Food at University College Birmingham (UCB) before setting off on 10 years of travels, but when the hospitality industry was shut down by Covid in 2020, he took a job in a supermarket stacking the fresh foods section to keep busy.
After putting those days behind him to become the 15th winner of BBC’s MasterChef: The Professionals, an emotional Dan said: “It’s an overwhelming feeling. This competition has meant everything. It’s built my confidence and now I really know what it means to back yourself.”
Michelin-starred chef Marcus Wareing said: “I think Dan is a fantastic chef. For me, he is a star in the making.”
In a world looking to celebrate diversity more than ever, Dan could be in the right place at the right time as a well-travelled, Brummie-born chef who announced in the first programme that he was “half Cantonese, a quarter English and a quarter Irish, where my nan’s from... but I’ve never been to Ireland”.
He has become best friends with foraging chef Matt Willdigg, his Walsall-born semi-final rival from Cannock, who also reached the final six – only to get knocked out of the competition in the first of the three finals episodes.
Now the series has ended, the dynamic duo are going to try to see if their distinctive styles can be fused to create a whole new way of cooking.
Dan revealed he has big plans for the future – including launching a street food truck and restaurant.