"The magic Guernsey dust" - local lawyer sees MasterChef success

Tuesday 12 February 2019

A Guernsey lawyer has made it through to the quarter finals of 2019's series of MasterChef, after a successful first appearance on the popular TV show.

Lisa Bailey, an Associate at Carey Olsen, was in the first heat of the programme last night, and for her opening dish cooked mackerel with a potato rosti and cream sauce.

Pictured: The first dish Lisa Bailey cooked on 2019 MasterChef. 

Judges Gregg Wallace and John Torode were impressed with the skill Ms Bailey demonstrated in cooking the dish, and said her presentation was good, and while they found some things she could improve on, they thought she had done enough to go through to the next round.

For this, the contestants had to cook two courses for three Masterchef participants from last year, all of whom had done particularly well. Ms Bailey's dish choices were scallops with a pickled cucumber, apple and fennel salad. Then for her main it was seared duck breast and soy chicory.

But for her starter, she had a special ingredient, she told the judges: "[This is] the magic Guernsey dust - well I go foraging for seaweed on the shoreline and I make it into a dust, and then put it on the dish. It gives it a little extra crunch." 

When tasting it, Judge Torode said the dust worked, adding a "little bit of saltiness" to the plate. 

Pictured: The main course Ms Bailey presented to the former MasterChef contestants. 

Ms Bailey received positive reviews all round, from both the judges and the former contestants, and according to Judge Wallace, she "did more than enough to get a place in the quarter finals". 

While she remains tight-lipped as to how she got on over all, Ms Bailey said: "It was an incredible opportunity to participate in one of my favourite shows on TV. I am a huge MasterChef fan and I am delighted I was lucky enough to take part in MC2019." 

She is one of 56 amateur chefs to have made it through to the televised stages from thousands of initial applications. She will next appear later this week, going head to head with the other successful contestants from her heat and from tonight's. 

Pictured top: Lisa Bailey on MasterChef 2019.