Who is chef Elena, MasterChef: The Professionals 2021 quarter-finalist?

Introducing Elena, one of 32 chefs taking part in MasterChef: The Professionals 2021, airing on BBC One every Monday, Thursday and Friday from November 8th through to December 24th.

The chef impressed judges Marcus Wareing, Monica Galetti and Gregg Wallace in both her skills test and with her signature dishes, allowing him to progress to the quarter-finals, where he will present two dishes to three food critics William Sitwell, Grace Dent and Tom Parker-Bowles in the hope of securing a spot in the semi-finals.

Elena is a 25 year-old head chef at a London restaurant - Meadow Restaurant, according to The Sun, though we could not verify this.

The daughter of an Italian mother and father, Elena has a brother and a twin sister, who is a trained pastry chef and owns a cake company.

Elena learned to cook from her grandfather.

For her signature dishes, Elena prepared a pan-roasted loin of lamb, aubergine and cumin purée, caramelised Roscoff onions topped with a garlic crumb and a garlic sauce.

Her dessert was a caramelised popcorn parfait with a feuilletine crisp, caramel popcorn, popping candy and sweetcorn shoots.

In these challenging times…

The Staff Canteen team are taking a different approach to keeping our website independent and delivering content free from commercial influence. Our Editorial team have a critical role to play in informing and supporting our audience in a balanced way. We would never put up a paywall and restrict access – The Staff Canteen is open to all and we want to keep bringing you the content you want; more from younger chefs, more on mental health, more tips and industry knowledge, more recipes and more videos. We need your support right now, more than ever, to keep The Staff Canteen active. Without your financial contributions this would not be possible.

Over the last 12 years, The Staff Canteen has built what has become the go-to platform for chefs and hospitality professionals. As members and visitors, your daily support has made The Staff Canteen what it is today. Our features and videos from the world’s biggest name chefs are something we are proud of. We have over 500,000 followers across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and other social channels, each connecting with chefs across the world. Our editorial and social media team are creating and delivering engaging content every day, to support you and the whole sector - we want to do more for you.

A single coffee is more than £2, a beer is £4.50 and a large glass of wine can be £6 or more.

Support The Staff Canteen from as little as £1 today. Thank you.