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.