Soggy bottom seals Brodie’s MasterChef fate

Venison Wellington leaves judges decidedly unimpressed

Fife’s Brodie Williams has crashed out of MasterChef after going from a burnt bottom to a soggy one.

The 27-year-old failed to make finals week on the BBC show after serving up a lacklustre venison Wellington.

The remaining six contestants had been challenged to cook a dish for four critics – William Sitwell, Tracy MacLeod, Amol Rajan and Jay Rayner.

The Cupar man accompanied the Wellington with a pumpkin and celeriac gratin, buttered spinach and a perigourdine sauce.

However, he admitted he had not practised the techniques needed to cut the cooking time down to the allotted 75 minutes.

He said: “The issue is you have to get it cold before it goes in the oven, which I’ve been using the blast chiller for – which obviously I haven’t practised for.

“This was the first thing that jumped out at me and once one has something in one’s head, it’s quite difficult to shift it.”

On paper the dish appeared to appeal to the critics. However, they soon found fault with its execution.

And judges Gregg Wallace and John Torode were equally critical.

John branded Brodie’s dish as “a bit flabby and undercooked”, adding: “The problem we’ve got here is we’ve got soggy pastry.”

Greg added: “I don’t care much for that gratin. I could do with a big crack of pepper in there.”

Speaking after being voted off, Brodie said: “It’s annoying, so close to the final. There’s no doubt I’m a much better cook than I was when I started.”

“I’ve learnt a lot and I’m sure that, given time, I’ll reflect back and realise that I did all right.”

Brodie Williams reflects on his exit from MasterChef.