Catch up with Terri - one of the finalists of MasterChef 2023

(Image: BBC/Shine TV)

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Region: Warwick, originally from Northern Ireland
Age: 30
Profession: Assistant Management Accountant
Personal: Lives with long-term partner and their dog Louie

Cooking Background

“I grew up in Country Down in Northern Ireland and studied in Belfast, but have lived in Warwick for seven years. Since graduating from university, I have worked in finance in some capacity and currently work for a manufacturing company based in Warwick.

“Cooking is something I’ve always shown an interest in, since before I was tall enough to reach the cooker! It’s been approximately 25 years since I flipped my first pancake and got a taste for the kitchen. My dad was also a chef, so I guess you could say cooking runs in my family, but since he passed away I’m the only one of my siblings – I have two sisters and brother – who has carried on the cooking gene.

“Although I can’t pinpoint the exact moment I discovered my passion for cooking, I’ve always wanted to make things from scratch. I remember speaking to my Home Economics teacher in school, when I was 11 or 12, about using jars of sauce in cooking class because I wanted to be able to make my own.”

On MasterChef

“After years of watching MasterChef and being a couch critic, I decided to give it a go myself. I would always proclaim the dishes I would make in an invention test if I were on the show. Turns out it’s so much easier sat in front of the TV than it is in the MasterChef Kitchen! Cooking for John and Gregg is terrifying but amazing all at the same time. They have the best job in the world! They are really supportive, funny and, most of all, honest. In the kitchen I’m a perfectionist, so I was probably harder on myself than the judges ever were.

“Finding out I’m through to the Finals feels like I’m having an out of body experience! I’m not sure it will ever sink in that I’m a MasterChef Finalist. Being a fan of the show, I remember all of the Finalists through the years and to think that I have joined that list of amazing cooks is unreal.”

Cooking influences/ passions

“We used to have lots of cookbooks when I was a kid - people like Jenny Bristow, Delia Smith and Gary Rhodes featured on the bookshelf. However, the first TV chef I remember watching as a young adult was Jamie Oliver, until I was old enough to watch Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen.

“My favourite cookbook was a gift, as most of my birthday or Christmas presents are food related, and it’s Tom Kerridge’s Outdoor Cooking as I’m a massive fan of a BBQ and cooking outdoors in general - be it the back garden or whilst away camping. So this book is my go to for something different. Long gone are the days of barbequed burgers and sausages in my house!

“Other passions of mine in cooking include blurring the line between sweet and savoury dishes, developing recipes and coming up with new and exciting tweaks to classic flavours.”

Cooking ambitions

“It would be amazing to carry on cooking and use this opportunity to forge a career in the food industry. I would also really love to cook for Grace Dent. I listen to her podcast and love the idea of simple, satisfying food. There doesn’t have to be bells and whistles for something to be delicious and that resonates with me.”

About

MasterChef 2023 concludes with episodes on BBC One on Tuesday, 30 May at 9pm; Wednesday, 31 May at 8pm and a grand final on Wednesday, 1 June at 8pm.

Source BBC One

May 29, 2023 3:00am ET by BBC One  

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