Fife chef dodges quick exit after judges disagree

Masterchef: Viewers see Cupar man progress to tonight’s quarter-final

A Fife man still has the recipe for success after narrowly making it through to the next round of the BBC food show MasterChef.

Brodie Williams, who was raised in Cupar, spoke of his relief after qualifying for tonight’s quarter-final of the UK’s biggest amateur culinary competition.

The 27-year-old lingerie store designer was part of the final group of eight wannabe cooks hoping to prove themselves in last night’s show.

Viewers first saw Brodie face a tricky opening ‘market challenge’, where contestants had 10 minutes to pick from a range of ingredients – including venison, lamb mince, kidneys, scallops and langoustines – and come up with a meal.

Hosts John Torode and Gregg Wallace cast doubt on Brodie’s ambitious take on a Rogan Josh curry with basmati rice and a lemon and pistachio yoghurt, as the Scot used kidneys and lentils instead of lamb.

It looked like Brodie was headed for an early exit as Torode tore into his dish.

“I really don’t like it at all – the sauce is over reduced and acidic and I don’t like the flavours of the kidneys running through the whole lot,” he said.

However, Wallace loved it, and Brodie escaped the first elimination.

The second stage gave contestants liberty to cook their own dishes, with Brodie opting for back-to-back curries as he aimed to impress the judges – 2006 finalist Daksha Mistry, 2016 finalist Juanita Hennessey and 2012 champion Shelina Permalloo.

His devilled crab with melba toast starter gained largely positive reviews, but his butter chicken masala with basmati rice and bhaji failed to wow the trio – and again it was touch-and-go.

Despite that though, in a tense conclusion, Brodie did just enough to progress.

“It seems like a massive cliché but the more you are in the competition the more you want to stay,” he said. If there’s a way to squeeze through to the next round of the UK’s biggest amateur culinary competition, then by heck Brodie Williams found it last night.

To be fair, all of his creations looked absolutely amazing.

And that’s not just because my dinner pinged after three minutes.

But it’s clear from last night’s show – and John Torode’s face at times – that the Scot will have to up his game if he is to make it any further.

Back-to-back curries didn’t wow the judges, but I get the feeling we haven’t seen the best of Brodie yet.

Brodie Williams’ Rogan Josh curry was criticised on last night’s show.