Birmingham chef Dan Lee (see Blog 192) who works as a private chef won through to the semi-finals of BBC1’s Masterchef The Professionals in a programme broadcast on 12 November. After a problematical start where the competing chefs were required to produce a high quality dish from preserved and tinned foods of their choice Lee went on to produce two excellent dishes in the next challenge in which his work was served to professional food critics, including William Sitwell.
The first challenge saw him serving up a dish felt to be disappointing and unambitious which was made up of spaghetti, a tomato and basil sauce made from tinned tomatoes, olives, anchovies, preserved lemon and capers and then, with something to prove, his two course meal for the critics started with salmon kinilaw (a Phillipines version of a ceviche), marinated and compressed cucumber served with crispy salmon skin, coconut, kombu sauce and chilli oil. This was warmly appreciated by the critics and judging chefs. His main course was a fine-looking and perhaps too slightly generously portioned soy marinated beef with pak choy in oyster and soy, a spring onion mash, pickled shiitake and crispy lotus root, all of which he felt, reflected his Irish-Chinese heritage. The dish was very well received.
So Birmingham and the West Midlands has one of the first two chefs through to the semi-finals which seems like a very fine start to this series of Masterchef. I have to say that Dan Lee’s food does indeed look very appealing. There are so many promising chefs in the area that it seems reasonable to conclude that dining round these parts is going to be a continuing pleasure for years to come.
Michelin Guide Twitter watch.
12 November - Upstairs By Tom Shepherd, Lichfield - new restaurant. See Blog 188.
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