Thank heavens for the furlough scheme, says Matthew Moore in The Times – without it we would not have the new MasterChef winner, Tom Rhodes. The 31-year-old amateur cook from Newcastle only applied to the programme after being furloughed from his front-of-house role at Nando’s. Now he’s planning to quit the job and “set off on a new path”.
The chicken chain’s loss is our gain. Rhodes’s trio of oysters was deemed “a revelation” by the judges, Jon Torode and Gregg Wallace. They thought his ribeye steak with seaweed and beetroot “absolutely fantastic”. But it was his olive oil ice cream that garnered the most praise. “You start off with sweet, creamy ice cream, and you end up with peppery olive oil and a little bit of salt,” said Wallace, who declared Rhodes’s pudding a “work of absolute genius”.
Ingredient of the week: wild garlic
“Once the season arrives, I can’t get enough of wild garlic in my cooking, such is the appeal of its versatility and flavour – and wow, does it pack a punch,” says Rosie Birkett in The Sunday Times. “It’s an ingredient that sings to you of spring.” Add it to everything from salads and soups to savoury bakes and sauces.
“Any serious cooking turns wild garlic into a green slurry,” warns Mark Diacono in The Guardian. Use it to make pesto or toss it in scrambled eggs. Alternatively, chef Robin Gill suggests using it “like spinach” as a finishing touch to a risotto or broth. You can also fold wild garlic into softened butter to cook with lamb or mushrooms, or add it to a leafy salad with shredded mint.