A Stirling woman navigated her way through the opening round of hit TV cookery series Masterchef this week.
Zoe Fraser appeared on Monday night’s opening episode of the newest series where she won her way to the next round after impressing judges Gregg Wallace and John Torode.
She served up a lavish dish of lobster risotto topped with a lobster emulsion with truffle sauce, served in a lobster bisque garnished with chives and samphire stalks.
The 26-year-old, originally from Aberdeen, works as a manager in a tech start up. She studied in Edinburgh and now lives in Stirling with her fiancé Matteo.
After sampling Zoe’s food, judge Gregg said: “I’m really impressed by your knowledge and ambition.”
Following that dish, she was not automatically moved on to the next round and was forced to cook again.
For her second dish she faced the dreaded ‘Masterchef invention test’, serving up pasta stuffed with mashed potato and goat’s cheese, Parmesan, basil and mint.
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Judge John Torode said that he “liked it a lot”, whilst Gregg Wallace said he was “impressed” once again.
That dish was enough to seal her a spot in the next round.
In the second epsiode of the series, which aired in Tuesday night, she served up cabbage leaf tacos filled with roasted celeriac, roasted tomatoes, date jam and feta cheese, served with corn ribs and chipotle mayonnaise.
That saw her remain in the competition - but she would have to cook again.
The second challenge saw the homecooks make a dish with layers. Zoe dished up an open seafood lasagne - containing crab and mussels.
However, the pasta dish wasn't enough to convince the judges and she was sent home.
Zoe said: “My everyday style is a sort of Scottish/Italian fusion. Living in Scotland, we have access to such amazing, fresh ingredients, and I love to incorporate locally grown produce in my cooking. The Italian side of my cooking is inspired by my Italian fiancé.
“We visit friends and family in Italy quite a bit, and our trips are often focused on the food, sampling our way around the country and tasting all the traditional grub.”
She added: “From such a young age, I can remember sitting at the breakfast bar in our kitchen watching my mum chop and prepare tea. As the years went by, I slowly started to get involved and help, and cooking dinner together became our time to catch up and connect. We always look forward to our wine and chopping time now whenever we get the chance.
“My parents have a place on the Isle of Skye, and growing up we would spend a lot of time there over summer. I have very fond memories of catching fish with my dad and papa, and preparing our catch over an open fire for breakfast.”
Speaking about appearing on the show, Zoe added: “I was very reluctant at first, but my fiancé forced me to submit my application and so eventually I gave in! In many ways I probably entered for validation that my home cooking was actually enjoyable. However, don’t get me wrong, I’m very competitive so will be giving this everything I’ve got.
“I’d love to have my own seafood restaurant one day. But, for the time being I want to keep experimenting, and cooking food that makes me and my friends and family happy.”
Zoe follows in the footsteps of previous contestant from Killearn, Lisa Addison, who appeared on the show last year.
