Masterchef UK Professionals
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Roast Fillet of Beef with Cardamom and Star Anise Carrot Purée, Fondant Potato, Charred Leeks and Spiced Red Wine Jus
Ola's signature dish combined his British classical training with his Nigerian heritage. A fillet of beef was seared for colour and roasted, then basted with butter and garlic before resting for the final 10 minutes. A fondant potato was slow-cooked with butter and seasoning. The carrot purée was flavoured with cardamom and star anise. Charred leeks accompanied the dish. The red wine jus was spiced with pimento and Sichuan pepper, inspired by Nigerian pepper soup - a dish his mother would make when he was ill as a child.
{Ola}: "Fillet of beef with fondant potato, carrot purée, and a spice red wine jus to go with it. Simple British ingredients with a bit of Ola in there."
{Ola}: "We have this soup called pepper soup in Nigeria. As a young kid, if I was ill, my mum would make it for us. But it's really spicy, so I've got some pimento in the jus. Sichuan pepper. For me, I enjoyed it because it would just numb my whole face. I love the flavours. It brings me home every time."
{Ola}: "The carrot purée should be the best carrot purée they've ever tasted."
{Marcus}: "Ola's got a beautiful piece of fillet of beef. He's trimmed it up. Great colourisation. Gently cooked just right. Fondant potato is about beautiful colour. Slow cookery with loads of butter and seasoning. Let it do its thing. It's got to be melt in the mouth." "
{Marcus}: "Star anise and cardamom, those are the two flavours that work beautifully. A carrot purée needs to be like silk and smooth, but I want to taste those flavours. Cardamom and the seed and of course the carrot itself."
{Matt}: "Ola is using different types of peppers in his sauce. We've got Sichuan, we've got black and white pepper as well."
{Monica}: "I love the idea that he's bringing all those Nigerian flavours to that sauce, and hopefully that will make it sing."
{Marcus}: "But is it going to be a strong flavour? Is it going to be enough?"
{Ola}: "I feel confident on this dish. Something that I practice, something that I know I can execute and get on the plate." Eliminated after this round.
{Matt}: "Ola - presentation, very neat, very precise. Your beef, seared on the outside, slightly more undercooked on the inside. The fondant potato - it is just cooked. The grilled leeks, lovely."
{Marcus}: "The sauce was inspired by a Nigerian pepper soup, and that's what I was expecting. And it's not got that hit of heat that I was hoping for. You've downplayed it a little bit, and that's a shame, because that's the one thing I was looking forward to. The purée, on the other hand, is the one thing I kept going back to. The star anise and cardamom coming through beautifully."
{Monica}: "The star of this show is that carrot purée. It's absolutely delicious. I like the sauce, but I agree with Marcus - I think it could have had more."
{Ola}: "Could have been better. I felt like I ate it too, and I should have just gone crazy with the spice."
In the judges' deliberation: {Matt}: "The beef - the cooking wasn't right all the way through."
{Marcus}: "The cardamom and star anise carrot purée was sensational."
{Monica}: "We were all expecting that sauce to be a bit more punchy and to bring that dish together, and it really didn't."
Note: All three judges singled out the carrot purée as exceptional but were unanimously disappointed by the lack of heat in the jus. The beef was slightly undercooked. Ola was eliminated.
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