Masterchef: The Professionals 2014 is back on our screens once more with new judge, Michelin-starred chef Marcus Wareing at the helm.

Each week we'll be bringing you a round up of the culinary successes and disasters as we edge closer to finding out this year's winner of Masterchef The Professionals 2014.

So he made it through the first rounds but stumbled in the quarter finals, Jethro from Dorset just couldn’t keep up with the pace expected in Masterchef the Professionals – however he was knocked out by a tasteless lamb dish and a grainy dollop of solid cream posing as pana cotta.

Those two dishes were courtesy of 25-year-old, Ollie from Norfolk. And he must know he’s scraped through by the skin of his teeth. Wowing the critics though was Brian from Aberdeen. They even went as far to say it was ‘the best dish they had tasted’ on Masterchef and the judges seemed pretty pleased with him too.

Watch out for the most nervous man in the kitchen though. Darren from Halifax keeps consistently making Marcus Wareing and Monica Galetti raise their eyebrows and nod in approval. Nothing has changed this year when it comes to the format of the show, but why would it?

As the saying goes ‘if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it’. However, unless you live under a stone you will be aware that culinary master Marcus has now joined the judging team. As we are constantly reminded throughout each episode, he has two Micheln stars, so you can’t argue with his level of expertise, and he was the youngest chef in the UK to get a Michelin star. So I’ve got to mention him – a little bit! I may be alone, but I like him, he does occasionally look uncomfortable but when the PR mask slips and you get a glimpse of his personality he’s a great element to the show.

So please, Masterchef contestants, fry more quail in the deep fat fryer – this gave Marcus such a fright I actually laughed out loud while watching him fumbling around for a diplomatic response. In his comfort zone he’s every bit the professional, watching him create the pineapple upside-down cake was mesmerising and hopefully his clear passion for precision, flavour and presentation will rub off on these hopeful chefs aiming to catch his eye for all the right reasons.

Joining him are old faithful’s Monica Galetti and Gregg Wallace , to be fair Gregg is happy as long as he has a gob-full of food with flavour, but he’s had plenty of spoonful’s of food so he knows what he’s talking about.

Monica is great at setting tasks that make the chefs flap – the sheer panic on their faces is a delight for viewers – so keep it up Monica. I want to see more Croquembouche failures and poor pasta making.

This week has entertained in parts but I’m hoping next week will pack more of a punch.

By Cara Houchen

@canteencara

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