Buddies unite - a Paisley chef is to appear on the TV tonight, going head to head against three other chefs to appear in the quarter finals of Masterchef.
Sagar Massey, 23, is to show off his culinary prowess on the 15th series of the hit BBC One show at 8pm tonight as he vies to get through to the next round of the competition.
He learnt his trade at West College Scotland and now works as a senior sous chef at the prestigious Marine Hotel in Troon.
Originally from Bulandshahr near New Delhi, Sagar has lived in Paisley since 2014. He has described his appearance on Masterchef as being “the biggest culinary challenge I could have possibly entered”.
He continued: “It’s the top competition in the UK. I have watched closely over the years at how successful previous contestants have become and I wanted to experience this competition for myself. I wanted to test my skill level as well and get feedback on my cooking style from the culinary masters – the judges.”
After completing his training, Sagar went on to work as a commis chef at the Martin Wishart restaurant, in Loch Lomond, and also worked as a pastry chef at the Isle of Eriska Hotel, near Oban.
He described his cooking style as being “Indian style food using Scottish/British ingredients”, adding that “influences on my cooking style are from my childhood food memories from India and my mum and dad’s food.”
Sagar hopes he’ll go on to win the competition and add another accolade to his already impressive résumé, which includes awards as the Young UK Seafood Chef of the Year, 2018 and a Gold Medal in Young Scottish Chef of the Year, 2019.
Sagar will be judged by by acclaimed chef Anna Haugh, Michelin-starred chef Marcus Wareing and MasterChef judge Gregg Wallace in tonight’s heat, where he will have to navigate a ‘skills test’, followed by the ‘signature menu’ cook-off. Two of the four contestants will make it through to the quarter finals to face off against the winners of Tuesday night’s heat.
Michelin starred chef and judge Marcus Wareing said: “The hunt for the 2022 champion is on and we’re ready to push these chefs as far as they can go. The sky’s the limit as far as I’m concerned and that trophy is just waiting to be claimed.”
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