When BBC series MasterChef set its contestants the task of cooking a qualifying session dinner at Middle Temple, it knew it would be a stern test.
With 230 barristers to feed – including two Supreme Court judges, three Lord Justices of Appeal, four High Court judges and 26 QCs – the culinary hopefuls slaved away for over eight hours to prepare their three course fine-dining experience.
Asked in last night’s episode of the show how they enjoyed the food – which was delivered by the exhausted wannabes despite a couple of significant behind-the-scenes mishaps – most barristers issued generous praise.
“I thought it was delicious, and just the right quantity of stuffed fish,” said Leolin Price QC.
“I could gush forever about it. It was really quite knock out I have to say, really quite stellar,” gushed an unnamed Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) student who appeared to have been beamed in from the 1950s.
Even the usually stern Shami Chakrabarti had positive feedback: “Substantial but very tasty. Very happy,” she said.
But Lord Justice Stanley Burnton (pictured above giving his feedback on the show) proved harder to please.
Having given viewers a hint of his AA Gill-esque temperament by labelling the starter as “too big”, Burnton let loose on the dessert – a flavoured crème brûlée. “Meant to be passion fruit and mango. I didn’t detect the mango and there wasn’t enough passion,” growled the 69 year old.
The full episode from last night is available on BBC iPlayer.