How Leicester’s BBC One MasterChef hopeful fared in eliminator week

Leicester’s MasterChef hopeful Dinta Thakkar is one step away from the semi-finals of the BBC One series. The GP had to overcome his “worst nightmare” to secure a place to cook in a professional kitchen.

The GP from Leicester, who grew up in Kenya, returned to the MasterChef kitchen on Wednesday (May 8) for knockout week, where she and the remaining contestants were tasked with an invention test from a pantry full of ingredients. However, Dinta was far from happy, saying: “I’m very much a planner and when I got the brief it was an invention challenge, I literally froze and thought ‘Ah!’ It’s my worst nightmare. It’s the unknown.”

However, Dinta created a rich chocolate cinnamon ganache tart with berry compote and a spun sugar spiral that delighted adoring judge Gregg Wallace. He said, “That pastry is very good. Ganache is very good, your sugar work is very easy. I mean it’s a perfect color. It looks great, it tastes great, it looks great touch.”

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Fellow judge John Torode was impressed by Dinta’s work, but thought the dish didn’t quite work. He said: “Your berry coulis mixture doesn’t quite work with your chocolate tart. It needs cream because you have no respite from the rest of the dish. But I’m very impressed with the work.”

Despite the criticism, Dinta secured a place in the professional kitchen working under the tutelage of Jose Jara at London’s JOIA restaurant – a venue that celebrates traditional Spanish and Portuguese cuisine.

Dinta was amazed to have the opportunity to work at the restaurant which overlooks Battersea Power Station. She said: “Going into a kitchen is something I thought I would never do in my life. It’s almost too good to be true.”

The going was tough, as Dinta was tasked with cooking the restaurant’s vegetarian entrée – leeks two ways – for a full service of paying customers. The deceptively simple dish, which featured crispy fried leeks alongside a romesco sauce, was one of the “most popular” on the menu, according to Jose, and required a lot of multitasking.

Dinta, whose only previous Spanish culinary experiences were tapas, was challenged to prepare 4kg of leeks for the dish to get them just right. While she appeared early on, the presentation was a disappointment for the Leicester GP. After giving up though, he started cooking better meals to the delight of John and Gregg.

Gregg said: “Those leeks are absolutely perfect. They’re buttery soft and just fall apart.” John agreed, saying: “They taste absolutely delicious. I think Dinta did a very good job.”

A problem arose towards the end of the service though, as Dinta miscalculated how many leeks she needed and ran off, putting her behind in orders as she had to prepare more for the paying customers. She overcame the hurdle and earned high praise from Chef Jose.

Speaking afterwards, Dinta said: “It was super stressful. I’m so excited. She was in such a hurry and was under a lot of pressure. But I totally loved it.”

Dinta and the remaining contestants now have to impress with one more dish to book a place in the semi-final, with the episode airing at 7.30pm on BBC One on Friday (May 10). The cook-off and all previous episodes can now be streamed on BBC iPlayer.