Gregg Wallace: I’ve never been to a good barbecue
MASTERCHEF star Gregg Wallace serves up a searing judgment to anyone who’s had him over for a barbecue – claiming they cannot cook.
Gregg, 56, says he has never experienced a good barbie and they bring out the worst in men.
He adds: “Men who only ever go into a kitchen to throw beer cans away suddenly seek to perfect one of the most difficult cooking techniques known to man.
“Every barbecue
I’ve ever been to was rubbish. I turn up and find the same lump of uncooked meat on a paper plate and I have to try to cut it with a plastic fork in one hand and a drink in the other.”
It’s a shame he has not sampled the barbecued bounty of Aussie co-judge John Torode – they admit they have never cooked for one another.
John says he cooks outside all year long to avoid food smells filling his north London home...a surprising confession from a professional chef.
And he too believes barbecues are “the most difficult culinary process”, mostly executed by male amateurs.
The 55-year-old says: “People rush outside and start to cook all sorts of different meat – some on the bone, some not, some in foil, some marinated, mostly not.
“They do it all at the same time...and all for the same time. Unsurprisingly, it’s a disaster.” The judges, all set for next week’s final, give their barbie tips in the Radio Times.
Gregg, from Kent, suggests that we take inspiration from the Greeks. And John encourages everyone to continue experimenting, as they’ve been doing in lockdown.
Reflecting on MasterChef, he adds: “I really hope it carries on.”
●●Radio Times is on sale today. The MasterChef final is on BBC1 on Monday at 9pm.