MasterChef winner: My pals didn’t even know I cooked!
KENNY Tutt has been crowned the winner of MasterChef after seven weeks of battling it out in the kitchen.
The bank manager and father of two – who has admitted that his love of cooking is somewhat of a secret – fended off competition from Nawamin Pinpathomrat and David Crichton in the final episode of the series.
Tutt, 36, impressed judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace with three final dishes inspired by his MasterChef journey – a roast scallop and smoked cauliflower starter, a squab pigeon breast main with spiced cherries, and a bitter chocolate and ale ice cream dessert.
His dishes were praised as being “quality restaurant-style perfection” by Wallace, while Torode said Tutt’s main course was “make-my-heart-thump fantastic”.
Tutt said his friends and family will be “blown away” at his achievement.
“Most people didn’t even know I did a lot of cooking,” he said. “I just kept my head down and they probably didn’t even know if I could boil an egg.
“There are only certain people I know who are real foodies, who I’d really talk to about cooking with... so there’s going to be a lot of people going, ‘what the hell just happened?’ and be bamboozled by my win.”
He added: “I’m quite looking forward to that. I always like surprising people!”
He said he is “massively” surprised at how much he has learned and developed since his first day in the MasterChef kitchen.
“I would call myself a chef now because I feel like I’ve got a level of understanding and a level of calmness around food, where I could take something and make it special.”
Tutt’s plans for the future revolve around possibly setting up his own gastro-pub, but he has not formalised a plan as yet.