MasterChef winner says high-pressure job helped them deal with the heat in the kitchen
MasterChef champion Eddie Scott said his experience as a Navy pilot helped him deal with the heat of the kitchen, including encountering the notoriously fierce Gordon Ramsay.
he 31-year-old amateur chef was crowned the winner of the BBC Cook-Off on Thursday after a thrilling series in which contestants took on challenges of invention and cooked for some of the world’s greatest culinary personalities.
He faced stiff competition in the finals from fellow contestants Pookie Tredell and Radha Kaushal-Bolland, all of whom displayed their culinary flair in front of judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace.
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Final 3 Embargoed until 9pm Wednesday May 4, 2022 Eddie Pookie John Torode Gregg Wallace Radha
Scott, who lives in Beverley, East Yorkshire, spent eight years as a navigator in the merchant marine, traveling the world and piloting ships on the Humber in northern England for the past five years.
He told the PA news agency: “There’s quite a lot at stake in my job. If you have an accident, the ship catches fire, you have a collision or hit something, you can cause enormous damage to the environment, the ship and other infrastructure.
“So it’s a job where you have to behave at the highest level and under tremendous pressure, navigating the ships and maneuvering, which is a tough job.
“It allows me to think coolly in high-pressure environments, and it really helps me stay calm in the kitchen and in the challenges of MasterChef.”
The Navy pilot said his “very organized person” helped him manage the stress of his job and the kitchen as he was able to methodically plan the recipe in his head.
Being able to thrive under pressure came in particularly handy when cooking with Ramsay, one of his culinary heroes.
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The celebrity chef hosted this year’s Chef’s Table at his three Michelin star restaurant – Restaurant Gordon Ramsay.
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Episode 20 Eddie Pookie Chef Gordon Ramsay Radha
Scott told PA he “wasn’t the least bit nervous” when he had to prepare some of Ramsay’s classic dishes to impress a dining room filled with some of the country’s top chefs.
He said: “I was more concerned with taking the opportunity to cook with one of my heroes, someone I really admire.
“There weren’t many nerves, you could feel the pressure, but I was really excited.”
The amateur chef says he tries to maintain his “ready for anything” attitude when cooking as he feels “when you cook with a smile, you make delicious food”.
His positivity helped him through the competition, which saw 44 other home cooks compete for the title in seven weeks of culinary challenges.
After his coronation, Scott said he felt “on top of the world” and that winning the prestigious cook-off was “an absolute dream come true”.
The newly crowned champion is now hoping to focus on his ‘true passion in life’, which enters the culinary world as he feels he has fulfilled his childhood dream of being in the merchant marine and is now ready for a new challenge .
He hopes his MasterChef title will support that ambition, stating, “I would really love to open a restaurant and show my love for food, my passion for other people and my nostalgia that shines through all my dishes.”
The chef’s style is a fusion of French and Indian cuisine, inspired by his childhood trips to France and his grandparents preparing classic Punjabi dishes for him.
Referring to the rise of fusion cuisine, Scott said he felt MasterChef was showing the “fantastic variety” of cultures and cuisines that are available as the UK becomes more multicultural.
He also hopes the show will highlight the importance of the hospitality world, which he says has been “decimated” during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Even though the worst is behind us, I think it’s still having a massive impact on the entire industry as a whole. So it’s great to promote the industry,” he added.
https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/masterchef-winner-says-high-pressure-job-helped-them-handle-heat-of-the-kitchen-41618921.html MasterChef winner says high-pressure job helped them deal with the heat in the kitchen