Pasta Masterclass
Five competitors go for gold as they attempt to create an orinal, delectable dish.
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fter an intense competition in the morning, only five competitors remained in the game for the second heat of the live pasta class. They had 30 minutes to prepare, cook and present two identical portions, using any dried pasta of their choice. As the second heat began Judge Dan Arratoon told us what they were looking for: “Competitors really need to consider their timing – a lot of this morning’s dishes weren’t cooked through; people think pasta cooks much quicker than it does,” he said. As ever, the judges have high expectations for the presentation too, a sprinkling of ‘green fairy candy’ a top one dish didn’t cut earlier that morning, but as John Rutter begins layering a circular spinach and ricotta lasagne into a tiny, delicious tower it didn’t look as though they would be disappointed. Two competitors took a daring step
and prepared ravioli, leaving no alternative than to make the pasta themselves, (using dough made previously). This is particularly risky – not least because it is so time consuming, and Titus, (whose dish consists of butternut squash and chilli ravioli served on a bed of spinach and rocket) quickly fell behind. He was still rolling sheets of pasta when
dicted by the judges, Titus Chege didn’t dish up in time, though in testament to his cooking skills, he still came away from the competition with a silver award in spite of a time penalty. Ellis Masters, who demonstrated exceptional attention to detail, going as far as placing his plates above the oven to warm through, received the much deserved best in class. Using a medley of deliciously colourful and fresh ingredients he prepared Devonshire white crab and spring cannelloni with mango and avocado puree, balsamic glaze and parmesan to finish. He attributed his success to his choice of ingredients (as opposed to his experience as a head chef, working for Sodexo multiple times and opening restaurants in between) “As soon as you start over complicating things and adding too many ingredients it doesn’t work anymore. I only used about seven things, but super fresh flavours like crème fraiche, lemon zest and herbs. The puree was obviously quite sweet with the mango, but combined together it works really well.” he said, and looking at it, we certainly wouldn’t say no to a serving.
“As soon as you start over complicating things it doesn’t work anymore.”
Dan Gee served up two generous portions of tagliatelle with pork and herbs. Judge Dan Arratoon explained how difficult fresh pasta can be to prepare under strict time constraints: “Even if he rolls it very thinly, where the joins are it’ll still be thick and undercooked if he keeps to the clock” he said. It was an intense heat, with Dan Gee having served and cleaned down his station before other competitors had their pasta boiling – the judges were certainly in for some seriously al dente dishes. The pace didn’t drop, with two more chefs serving up with only thirty seconds to spare, to huge audience applause. Unfortunately, as pre-