Masterchef UK Professionals

Cider Cured Salmon Fillet with Mustard Glazed Belly, Cauliflower Stalk and Pickled Walnut Puree, and Burrata Brine Sauce 

Luke, a Portsmouth-born head chef known for his precise cookery and broad technical range, built his no-waste dish entirely around salmon and its byproducts. {name}: "I quite enjoyed doing this, actually, because I really had to think about it. I took inspiration from things on my menu at the moment and thought, how could I use them more? I'm basing the dish around salmon. I'm using the fillets, the belly, and the bones. The sauce is made from the milk that the burrata comes in. I've used only the pancetta skins to flavour the sauce. The puree is cauliflower stalks only." A judge noted: {Judge}: "Luke's approach I found really interesting. He's curing the salmon fillet in cider." Another added: {Judge}: "Salmon belly, glazed with a little bit of mustard, is fattier than the main part of the salmon itself, bringing that lovely rich flavour to the dish. He's got a cream sauce going to be split with lovage oil. He's using the brine that the burrata comes in. Quite unusual, so I'm interested to see how strong that flavour is once it's been reduced down." A third judge warned: {Judge}: "He's got a cauliflower and pickled walnut puree. Pickled walnuts will blow your head off. They are really punchy. This dish lives and dies on whether he can get that balance right." The narrator described the completed dish: Luke served cider cured salmon fillet and English mustard glazed salmon belly topped with diced apple, celery and pickled mustard seeds, cauliflower stalk, pickled walnut and raisin puree topped with toasted pumpkin seeds, finished with a sauce made from burrata milk, pancetta skins and salmon bones, split with lovage oil.