Stuart gets himself a taste for success

Scottish dentist appears on hit BBC One show

Appearing on national television to be put under the culinary spotlight by two eager-eyed and acid-tongued food critics is not to everyone’s taste.

But for Glasgow dentist Stuart McGrow (29), appearing on hit BBC One show MasterChef was the culmination of a lifetime’s ambition. And, even though he didn’t make it through to the next round, he hasn’t been put off his favourite pastime and he still hasn’t ruled out entering again in the future.

Stuart, a clinical teacher at Glasgow Dental School and an associate at the Berkeley Clinic in the city, realised his passion for the kitchen when he was a young boy and cooked his first Sunday lunch for his family aged just 11-years-old.

After breezing through the Scottish preliminaries Stuart was whisked off down to London in June where he cooked pork in a reduced

white wine marinade, served with potatoes crushed with butter, lemon and parsley and accompanied by sautéed shredded cabbage.

Stuart said: “I was happy that I didn’t get any major criticisms. I didn’t blow them away but that was never my intention. After watching my fellow

contestants being criticised to varying degrees I felt confident that I could progress to the next stage.”

But, despite the judges commenting that his pork was cooked to perfection he wasn’t chosen to go through to the next round. “It wasn’t to be and I am still a bit disappointed. I feel that I could have been given a shot in the next stage because I showed that I could cook, wasn’t flustered in a pressure situation, and didn’t put that one flavour too much on the plate that has been done so many times before,” he said.

Stuart also believes there are some similarities between dentistry and cooking: “Both are relatively stressful yet fulfilling. As a dentist I pride myself on my time management and planning, and I transfer that to my cooking.

“An old dental teacher of mine said that he wouldn’t put anything in someone’s mouth that he wouldn’t have in his own! I use that as a motto now and I think that it works for cooking too!”