Ten MasterChef Ireland hopefuls were awarded aprons on the show last night by judges Dylan McGrath and Nick Munier as this year’s final 16 contestants were confirmed.
Seven managed to secure a direct yes from the pair after cooking and plating up one dish within 55 minutes. They were Terry Lyons from Mayo who cooked classic herb-crusted rack of lamb, Dublin-based Nick McClune who served up rabbit and black pudding roulade, Yorkshire native Andy Spencer won his apron for a pan fried fillet of turbot dish, Simon Morris sailed through with his coffee-rubbed fillet of pork dish, while Jacinta Caraher from Monaghan wowed with her seafood-stuffed courgette flowers served with cauliflower purée.
Also through was Dani Quinlan from Kildare with her trio of rabbit dish and Dee Casey from Dublin with her corned beef hash. Five contestants got the call-back to cook again with Cathy Gerrard, Nicha Maguire and Fidelma Boyce all winning an apron after their second dish.
The 16 finalists will now embark on the competition proper from next week with a series of tough challenges ahead.
Check out all the MasterChef Ireland recipes here.
