Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Suzie’s top of the pots
» Hit BBC cookery show serves up Ulster winner » ‘Dream come true’ for modest mum of two
NORTHERN Ireland woman Suzie Arbuthnot has tasted success after being crowned this year’s winner of Britain’s Best Home Cook.
The 36-year-old from Lisburn, Co Antrim, beat fellow finalists Sarah Woods and Georgia Salamat last night.
The self-employed accountant, who came out on top after eight weeks of the hit BBC show, said: “I never believed that this would ever be possible.
“I am so happy right now, this is a dream come true.”
Suzie stunned Michelin-starred chef Angela Hartnett and produce expert Chris Bavin with Mary Berry’s ultimate three-course dinner party – a starter, main and dessert.
Angela said the winner had upped her game in the final, cooking her “best” food of the competition.
Chris added that she “barely put a foot wrong” in the final when she displayed “absolutely tremendous” cooking skills.
Head judge Mary said the new champion fully deserved the crown and believed they had come to the right decision.
And while Suzie may have won, her appetite to stay humble shone through.
She insisted the very fact she was given the opportunity was a blessing.
The former Wallace High School student has been cooking since she was young when she used to help out in her family’s Chinese takeaway.
She said: “It is surreal, knowing that I won the competition. I can’t believe it honestly.
“I would have been happy enough getting to cake week, which I would have seen as a success, but to win the entire thing is unbelievable.
PROUD
“And when they told me during the show I had reached the final three, they couldn’t believe my reaction.
“It looked like I was unhappy about reaching the final but it was because it hadn’t sunk in.
“I couldn’t believe what they were telling me, it felt like a big dream and I was preparing myself to wake up.”
Suzie, who also plays hockey for Lisnagarvey Hockey Club and sings with Lisburn Harmony Ladies Choir, wouldn’t have applied for the show if a pal hadn’t notified her of the deadline.
She explained: “My friend tagged me in a post on Facebook on the final day for applications and at the time I was having a really bad day at work.
“I was only back from maternity leave and I thought, ‘Why not?’, and so I filled out a full-blown paper application.” The mum of two added she owed a lot of her success to her mother, who died when she was 16. She said: “When my mum passed away everything sort of fell apart in my life. I had completed applications for cooking schools Prue Leith and Cordon Bleu.
“My life took a different path but she would be delighted with the path I am on now and I think she would be proud I decided to give this whole cooking thing a go. She loved cooking herself and was talented, so that’s where I get it from.”
Mum would be proud I decided to give this cooking thing a go SUZIE ARBUTHNOT YESTERDAY