Masterchef UK Professionals
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Spiced Lamb Chop with Herb Crust
Spiced Lamb Chop with Aubergine and Herb Crust, Lamb Scotch Egg, Anchovy and Wild Garlic Salsa, Asparagus and Tamarind Sauce.
Ismail's starter for the Critics Round combined the food he grew up eating with what he cooks day to day in his gastropub. Spiced lamb chops were beautifully seared and topped with a roasted aubergine and herb crust — the aubergine softened, mixed with spices and wild garlic. A lamb scotch egg encased spiced lamb mince around a quail egg, deep-fried to a crispy exterior with a runny centre. An anchovy and wild garlic salsa and charred asparagus accompanied the dish, with a tamarind sauce providing sweet acidity.
{Ismail}: "I'm making spiced lamb chop, pulled aubergine and herb crust. I roast the aubergine until it's nice and soft, mix it with all the spice and everything. And wild garlic and anchovy salsa, asparagus and quail egg scotch egg."
{Ismail}: "In the kitchen, I cook the food I grew up with, but this dish is what I grew up eating, plus what I do day to day in my gastropub."
{Marcus}: "A lamb chop is about great butchery. Beautifully seared and just gently cooked. You want to break down the fat, so you want it to be pink and flavoursome. The scotch egg takes a lot of time and a lot of skill. There's a huge amount of work, but the key is that the lamb mince is cooked, it's crispy on the outside, and the centre of the scotch egg is running."
{Monica}: "The tamarind sauce — he believes this will work wonders with lamb chop. You won't need very much of this, because tamarind is quite a strong flavour."
{Leyla Kazim}: "It looked big and generous on the plate, and that's what it tastes like. It's well spiced. I think the scotch egg, the lamb scotch egg, is beautifully done. It is a big and lovely plate of food."
{Jimi Famurewa}: "The lamb chops are just so beautifully cooked, and I'm adoring the spicing around it as well. The aubergine on its own is kind of really salty, but when you have a little bit of the lamb, it works really nicely. Love the bright acidity of that tamarind sauce. It needs that."
{Tom Parker Bowles}: "I just love how Ismail has just absolutely gone for it. It's full-throttle flavour. It's foot down on the accelerator, and it's a lot of fun."
{Monica}: "My goodness. That was delicious. The lamb cutlet, beautifully cooked. The spices wrapped around it. The aubergine on top. It worked a treat."
{Marcus}: "Beautifully cooked quail egg. The tamarind sauce is sweet and fabulous, and it may not look the pretty picture, but it doesn't half taste good."
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