Masterchef UK Professionals

Sel approached the dish calmly and with evident experience, starting with a fennel pickle using apple cider vinegar, peppercorns, allspice and fennel seeds. He chose to make a Jerusalem artichoke purée rather than Gary's two-way preparation of discs and crisps, but the artichokes were too hard to cook through in the time available. He pivoted to pickling raw artichoke — a creative but unsuccessful alternative. He steamed his razor clams and wisely reserved the cooking liquor for his beurre blanc, which was well made with good seasoning. However, he did not wash the clams before cooking, leaving grit in the dish, and critically did not trim them — leaving the stomach and mouth parts attached rather than presenting only the main clam meat. He showed strong composure for the first ten minutes but lost his way toward the end, running out of time to plate properly. The judges had to prepare the clams themselves during tasting.