MASTERCHEF: The Professionals was left in chaos after a chef’s dessert exploded in an ‘absolute disaster’.
The most recent episode of the BBC cooking show saw the semi-finals get underway with eight chefs still in the competition.
The first challenge saw them create a dish showcasing the flavours of salt and pepper, and Tom decided to make a pink peppercorn chocolate tart.
But things didn’t go to plan when he decided to vac the air out of the chocolate he had in a glass bowl.
He put it in the machine but after a couple of seconds there was a loud noise and when he opened the lid, the glass bowl had exploded inside.
Chef and judge Marcus Wareing came over to find out what had happened, and a flustered Tom replied: “I was vaccing the air out of it, and the bowl exploded.”
He added: “I didn’t think glass would explode, I’ve done it at work so many times.”
An unimpressed Marcus told him he’d need to clean everything up, as well as get another chocolate filling for his tart on the go, with the clock ticking.
Miraculously, Tom managed to pull it out the bag despite the drama, and delivered a stunning tart to the panel.
The tart featured black pepper pastry, pink peppercorn and blood orange pate de fruit, orange segments, orange gel, with a caramel, salt and pepper popcorn and a tellicherry pepper ice cream.
Fellow judge Monica Galetti praised his “wonderful presentation” while Gregg Wallace complimented his “really good pastry”.
Meanwhile Marcus analysed the dish and described it as “fabulous” before adding: “You practically blew up the vacuum pack machine that had to be thrown away.
“You started again, yet you still come to the table with a dessert that absolutely nails the brief.”
Sharing the moment on the show’s official Twitter account, the video caption read: “The measure of a great chef is how they respond to setbacks. Tom suffered an absolute disaster in the kitchen but he kept working and produced a dessert like this…”
However some Masterchef viewers were not impressed by the way Marcus spoke to Tom in the heat of the moment after the explosion.
One wrote on X: “How angry was Marcus ??? He didn’t explode the bowl on purpose. I guess he never made any mistakes ….”
Another tweeted: “I think Marcus got out of the wrong side of the bed today!”
A third raged: “Why did Marcus sound so cross at Tom, how dare he speak to him like that, well done Tom you smashed it, sorry for the pun.”
Masterchef: The Professionals airs on BBC One and is available on BBC iPlayer.
