A chef who works on superyachts for a living said he felt "wounded" after failing to make it through to the quarter finals of MasterChef: The Professionals. Mathew Griffiths, from Wrexham, was among four chefs hoping to impress judges Marcus Wareing, Gregg Wallace and new judge Anna Haugh. But, despite showing his skills, some issues with his dessert led to one of the judges calling it a "no-no".
The latest season is in full swing, with the fifteenth season having kicked off on November 2. Over the course of six weeks, 32 chefs from across the UK will battle it out to be named MasterChef: The Professionals 2022 Champion. This year, Matthew Griffiths is one of two Welsh hopefuls appearing on the show.
The 32-year-old has worked in restaurants in Spain for 14 years and relocated to north Wales where he worked as a private chef aboard superyachts. Speaking about his love of cooking, Matthew said: “I’m passionate about cooking and working as a chef because of the environment. I absolutely love it and cannot get enough of cooking at a very high level and making my customers and guests happy.”
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The last four hopefuls went before the judges in this episode, and two of the contestants were faced with preparing a pigeon, served with Madeira sauce and baby leeks for their first task. But judge Anna Haugh said that there was "plenty that could go wrong".
Mathew was given just 20 minutes to complete the task and, despite saying he had prepared pigeon before, Anna was concerned with the size of knife he had chosen to prep the bird and was "really disappointed" that he used a cold pan to caramelise the meat. Despite finishing the task on time, the liver that Mathew served as part of the meal was raw and judge Marcus said the pigeon was "undercooked", saying he "would struggle to eat [it]."
"You started off really well. You decided to throw in all the trimmings into the sauce [...] You did so many things right," Marcus said. Opting to taste Mathew's sauce from the pan rather than the plate, Marcus said: "That's not half bad." Anna added: "This is not an ideal plate of food, but through your mistakes you can still see you have some skills."
"There were just little errors in there I should have picked up myself," Mathew said after a slightly rocky start. "In the next round, I just need to make sure it's perfect." The chefs were able to show off their talents with a signature two course meal - one main, one dessert - but only two of them would go through to the next round.
Mathew's courses consisted of poached Dover sole, poached clams, Parisian potatoes, asparagus and a lemon butter sauce. For his dessert, Mathew aimed to make a strawberry mousse set in the shape of a strawberry - but timing was crucial.
When asked by Greg Wallace why he had put himself under so much pressure, Mathew said: "You get given the opportunity once so just go for it". However, Mathew ended up running around the kitchen, with Marcus saying that he needed to "slow down, take a breath and control what he's doing." But would his efforts be enough to impress the judges?
While Greg and Marcus said his potatoes could use some seasoning, Anna said: "All in all, a pretty dish, just needs the final details to make it perfect." But his dessert wasn't exactly what he set out to do - the ambitious strawberry shape for his mousse didn't work out, as the mousse didn't set in time.
"It's like it's been left out for a couple of days and has just gone stale," Marcus said of the sponge, adding the the mousse was too "bouncy." And while Mathew believed he had put elderflowers on the plates, Anna informed him it was actually wild garlic flower.
"The main dish I think was great. Maybe with the dessert I was trying to be maybe a little bit too clever. If my strawberry would have set, I think it would have been a totally different result," Mathew said. While the judges deliberated who they should send home, Marcus said of Mathew's dishes: "Mathew's main dish was classical in every sense, the butter sauce was good, the fish was well-cooked, but the dessert was just completely no-no. It wasn't right."
"In a group of chefs like this where the standard is so high, the errors, I'm afraid, are sticking out like a sore thumb," Greg said. Anna added that she thought the dessert was "too technical" and that he couldn't get it done in time. Unfortunately, the errors cost Mathew his place in the next round.
"I'm feeling a bit wounded from it but at the same time I gave it my all," Mathew said.
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