How Leicester's BBC One MasterChef hopeful fared in knockout week
Leicester’s MasterChef hopeful Dinta Thakkar is one step away from the semi-finals of the BBC One series. The GP had to overcome her “worst nightmare” to secure a spot cooking in a professional kitchen.
The Leicester-based GP, who grew up in Kenya, was back in the MasterChef kitchen on Wednesday (May 8) for knockout week where she and remaining contestants were tasked with an invention test from a larder-full of ingredients. However, Dinta was far from happy, saying: “I’m very much a planner and when I got the brief this was an invention challenge, I literally froze and thought ‘Ah!’. It’s my worst nightmare. It’s the unknown.”
Despite that, Dinta created a rich chocolate and cinnamon ganache tart with berry compote and a spun sugar spiral which pleased sweet-toothed judge Gregg Wallace. He said: “That pastry is really good. Ganache is really good, your sugar work is really light. I mean it’s a perfect colour. Looks great, taste great, showing a really good touch.”
READ MORE: Mark Morrison agrees 'multi-million dollar deal' for rights to his music
Fellow judge John Torode was impressed with Dinta’s work, but felt the dish didn’t quite work. He said: “Your berry coulis mixture doesn’t quite work with your chocolate tart. That needs cream because you’ve got no respite from the rest of the dish. But I’m really impressed by the work.”
Despite the critiques, Dinta secured a spot into the professional kitchen round where she was working under the tutelage of Jose Jara at London’s JOIA restaurant - an eatery which celebrates traditional Spanish and Portuguese dishes.
Dinta was amazed to get the opportunity to work at the restaurant which overlooks Battersea Power Station. She said: “Going into a kitchen is something that I thought I’d never do in my life. It’s almost too good to be true.”
The going was tough though as Dinta was tasked with cooking the restaurant’s vegetarian starter - leeks two ways - for a full service of paying customers. The deceptively simple dish, which featured roasted and crispy leeks alongside a romesco sauce, was one of the “most popular” on the menu according to Jose and required much multitasking.
Dinta, whose only previous Spanish food experiences were tapas, was confronted with prepping 4kg of leeks for the dish to get them just right. While she appeared on top of things at first, the presentation was a let down for the Leicester-based GP. After knuckling down though, she began to turn out better dishes to the delight of John and Gregg.
Gregg said: “Those leeks are absolutely perfect. They are buttery soft and just falling apart.” John agreed, saying: “They taste absolutely delicious. I think Dinta’s done a really good job.”
A problem surfaced towards the end of service though as Dinta miscalculated how many leeks she needed and ran out, putting her behind on orders as she needed to prep more for paying customers. She overcame the hurdle though and won high praise from chef Jose.
Speaking after, Dinta said: “That was super stressful. I’m so buzzed. It was such a rush and it was really pressured. But I totally enjoyed it.”
Dinta and the remaining contestants must now impress with one more dish to bag themselves a semi-final spot, with the episode airing at 7.30pm on BBC One on Friday (May 10). The cook-off and all previous episodes can be streamed now on BBC iPlayer.