Mum just misses out in TV challenge
HINCKLEY MUM KNOCKED OUT IN HER BID TO REACH SEMIS
A mum-of-three missed out on a chance to get into the final four of MasterChef in Monday night’s episode.
Madeeha Qureshi, 39, of Hinckley, had impressed the judges throughout her time on the show with dishes inspired by her upbringing in Saudi Arabia.
Madeeha was born in Pakistan, but moved with her family when she was three months old.
Being raised in a multi-cultural country introduced her to all sorts of different flavours and dishes, which has inspired her with her cooking.
One dish in particular was based on Saudi Arabian street food, and helped her get into the Finals Week of MasterChef, from a shortlist of 40 people.
In Monday night’s episode, the chefs were given their most daunting task yet - to prepare a five-course lunch at Plaisterers’ Hall in the centre of London.
The diners were 20 lockdown heroes – members of the hospitality sector who delivered thousands of meals to frontline workers through the first lockdown.
Despite her best efforts, Madeeha was not chosen for the final four.
She said: “It’s been phenomenal in every way. It has been a bit of a bumpy ride at times, very emotional, but just an incredible experience.
“It’s such an honour to serve some of the best food critics in the industry, especially John Torode and Gregg Wallace!
“I just cannot believe I reached the final week. It’s been really hard this year, the competitors have been so tough and deserve nothing but success in the future.”
Madeeha’s cooking is heavily inspired by her upbringing.
She said: “The inspiration for cooking goes way back, it’s in my DNA. I come from a big Pakistani family who are all creative and passionate about food – but it was also a big help being raised in Saudi Arabia for 18 years of my life.
“It is a multi-cultural place, and my dad working there meant he met all kinds of people from around the world which introduced me to cuisines from Europe, east Asia, Africa and America.
“I was always in and around the kitchen growing up, with lots of different ingredients and experimenting with flavours – cooking was embedded into me in my childhood.
Madeeha would love to have her own cooking show in the future, and is looking at writing some cookery books in the meantime.
She said: “I would love to take this country on a culinary journey – to places that we don’t often try or cook, such as Saudi Arabian and Yemeni dishes.
“I’d love to do a travelogue or cooking show and explore these dishes – that would be a dream come true.
“I have a few ideas in my head at the moment that I want to kick into action as MasterChef ends.
“I want to focus on writing about cooking, but I would also love to cook more for TV.”