MasterChef UK ™

Baker:

Season:

Week:

Simi

MasterChef UK ™ Season 23

5

Challenge Type:

Persian Lamb Shank, Tachin

Persian-spiced braised lamb shank with tachin (a rice cake layered with yogurt, eggs and barberry) and a traditional Shirazi salad of cucumber, tomato and herbs.

Simi is a retired nursery teacher originally from Iran, now living in the UK for 30 years. Her dream is to run a Persian supper club.

Simi: "It's lamb shanks with tachin and Shirazi salad. Rice cake - rice mix, yogurt, egg yolks, saffron and rose water - baked until it looks like a cake. Persian food is about flavours. It's about patience. It's about love. It's bringing everybody together."

Anna: "Simi's tachin: first Simi is going to par-boil her rice, add in her eggs, her yogurt, her other flavours, and then put it in a tin and bake it in the oven until it's super caramelised. It can't be dry. If it's burned, it's game over."

Anna: "Your tachin, there's a sour, there's just verging on a bitterness that I really love. I like your lamb. The cinnamon, the sweetness, and then there's the sourness of cardamom. But it's tougher than I would have liked." Grace: "I'm getting the barberries, saffron, cumin, and turmeric. The salad brings a really refreshing relief, but it is so delightful for me — this is a really wonderful introduction to Persian food." Simi did not win an apron in this round.

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