Humber marine pilot Eddie Scott wins MasterChef
IT IS a simple contest which tests amateur chefs to the limit.
And last night marine pilot Eddie Scott, from Beverley, in East Yorkshire, triumphed in the MasterChef final, beating two fellow amateurs, 23-yearold law graduate Radha Rü, from Bradford, and Pookie, a 46-yearold former beauty salon owner from Solihull.
Mr Scott took on fierce competition from 44 other amateur cooks through seven weeks of challenges and an exhilarating final cook-off.
He was awarded the MasterChef trophy by judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace.
Mr Wallace said: “I think we’ve just seen the birth of a future great chef. Eddie impressed from the moment he set foot in this kitchen. He’s hardly put a foot wrong throughout the competition.”
The competition culminated in a challenge to cook the best three-course meal.
Mr Scott’s winning menu started with turbot, topped with caviar, tempura oyster, cucumber compressed in dill oil and a champagne beurre blanc.
The main course was a hyderabadi dum – a caraway and nigella seed pastry-topped chicken biryani, spiced basmati rice with crispy onions, chicken thigh cooked on the bone, all flavoured with saffron, Kashmiri chilli powder and cardamom, with a cucumber raita.
To finish his menu, he served his take on the classic French dish, St Emilion au Chocolat – chocolate mousse with a prune purée centre, prunes soaked in Armagnac, almond frangipane, and an almond and Armagnac crème Chantilly.
Mr Scott lives with his fiancée, Nami. He spent eight years as a navigation officer in the Merchant Navy travelling the world and has piloted ships on the Humber for the last five years.