The Final Plate

I cooked my final plate in the #MasterChefUK kitchen last week. I was the last semi-finalist standing and narrowly missed out on Finals week. It was a shame to leave but for me I was already a winner in many ways so I could leave with no regrets and with my head held high.

So here are my take-aways and why I remain grateful and joyful for this experience

Winning over wrong mindset

Watching the show for many years, I was the perfect arm chair critic, albeit a nice one who was cheering them on and wishing they wouldn’t make mistakes. I never really saw myself going on to the show; it seemed too far fetched to even consider taking my food on to the show.

The food I grew up on wasn’t mainstream yet so my first win was overcoming the mindset that it wasn’t possible. Even though I was comfortable with many other cuisines, I decided my goal was to champion my beloved Nigerian cum African cuisines.

Winning over fear

When the thought came to me to apply for MasterChef, my immediate reaction was panic and wondering why I should even bother. Before that thought took root in my heart, I started the application process.

I refused to let fear stand in my way. Afterall what’s the worst thing that can happen? Making a fool of myself on global stage isn’t that much of a biggie or is it? The ball was in my court to shape the outcome that I wanted.

Winning over my blind spots

I already knew I was a great cook in many ways but I also knew there were lots of things that I didn’t know. Once I realised I was going to be on the show, I only had a few weeks to get ready.

My first task was to list foods, techniques and cuisines that I needed to learn about. I quickly listed twenty things that I felt anyone going on the show needed to understand and I created a plan to learn them. I ended up not using most of them but making pasta and ice cream came in handy.

I studied Indian, Mexican, Japanese and Chinese cuisines like I was studying for my MBA. I was already comfortable with Nigerian, Middle Eastern, West Indian, home-level cooking of Indian and British classics. I went back to my French classics techniques just in case I needed to make sauces.

I had no real plans to delve into all these different cuisines but I wanted to be ready for any challenge and to be able to borrow some techniques.

Winning over hesitation of ‘paying the price’

For every goal that we have, there is a price to be paid. For me the price was in terms of the time and effort it took to study. During this process, my dining and centre tables were full of opened cookery books, my Larousse Gastronomique book was permanently within reach. I have had it for over twenty years and it’s a go to for my researches.

I watched and studied chefs who were masters of their crafts. I learnt and grew so much in a few weeks studying late into the night on most if not all days.

Finally I had to get some gadgets to help me. I remember speaking to my brother and telling him the ice cream machine I wanted was too expensive for me to justify buying for something that I rarely eat. His response was that I was like a student who needed to sit an exam but was unwilling to buy the text books. Well said; so the decision was made. I considered the expense to be an investment into my future.

One of the immediate paybacks was my son saying my ice cream tasted like ‘Ben and Jerry’ which is their favourite brand. That batch was my first time ever making ice cream. The other was making several flavours of ice cream in the Masterchef kitchen and receiving great feedback every time.

Winning over self-limiting beliefs

I would never have known I was capable of replicating Michelin standard food had I not gone to the Masterchef kitchen. I am the kind of home cook who loves to make delicious food and prefer to just put the food on the table so people can help themselves. Or I would invite people to the kitchen to serve themselves. So this meant, the whole idea of plating the food to picture-perfect standards was alien to me. This was a weakness that I kept working on throughout the show.

Anyone going into the Masterchef kitchen has to overcome any self-limiting beliefs but they also have to acknowledge their weak areas and work on them. We rarely ever feel like we’re good enough or ready but we can’t let that stop us.

Winning on my own terms

Going into the kitchen, I had a goal to unashamedly champion my own food using the traditional spices including the pungent ones. Yes, every cuisine has their version of stinky blue cheese, asofoetida, Durian, Kusaya, stinky tofu or fish sauce.

I had a goal to showcase what goodness and joy look like throughout my time in the kitchen and I did. I wanted to shine a positive light on my food, people and culture and show what is possible if we are willing to work for it and again I did. I re-discovered my true and authentic self in the process.

I am grateful for making the most of this once in a lifetime opportunity. The sky isn’t a limit for what comes next. Thank you all for your encouragement and support, and for sharing this post.