THE tragic death of Masterchef: The Professionals star Matt Campbell, who collapsed some four miles from the end of the London Marathon, has shocked the food world.
Just 18 days before, as guest chef at the Real Junk Food Project Manchester, he had created from rescued food waste six entrancing dishes. Displaying immense charm in support both of their ethical aims and the vegan direction of food, his future was obviously in the vanguard of British cuisine.
With the Manchester, then the London Marathon ahead of him, he seemed living proof of the advantages of the ‘Nutritional Gastronomy’ he championed as a freelance chef.
By bizarre chance, on the day he died, Guardian food critic Grace Dent, writing about her own plant-based tendencies in the Observer Food Monthly, paid this tribute to 29-year-old Matt: “When I sit on that table of gargoyles on MasterChef waiting to judge whoever comes through the door, I’m simply not that impressed by another plate of barely dead roe deer avec pommes noisettes all lying in a puddle of Bambi’s blood.
“So when on a recent MasterChef: the Professionals Matt Campbell served Gregg Wallace a raw, vegan, cacao delice encased in a jerusalem artichoke rosti tuile I knew this was a chef wit a certain level of swagger Chefs such as Campbell are brave and exciting to me because to even pepper a menu with the term ‘vegan’ is to bang up against decades of culinary prejudice.”
A variant on that dish concluded his Real Junk Food menu at their Oxford Road Cafe, as we reported: “coffee and the nutty artichoke compote an inspired match”.
We also loved the wit of the only protein-led dish there, remarking “His ‘Coconut Nando’s Chicken’ was influenced by his peripatetic path to fame, working as a private chef across the globe. A peanut crumb on top, a roasted aubergine satay below, the moulded chicken was sumptuous. Maybe an Indonesian chef wouldn’t have added blobs of mango to the plate but, following the brief, Matt was utilising what was fresh and to hand on the day.”
Such improvisation the mark of a great chef in the making, evident on MasterChef, where he unluckily exited at the semi-final stage. Learning his trade at Cartmel’s 2 Michelin starred L’Enclume in his native Cumbria, he had finished second in the BBC’s Young Chef.
Mark Birchall, former L’Enclume head chef now chef patron at Moor Hall, led the social media tributes to Matt, tweeting: "This is so sad. Matt was an absolute gent and a great talent. My thoughts are with his family.”
He was running both marathons to raise money for the Brathay Trust, which inspires vulnerable young folk to make positive changes in their lives and in memory of his father, who died nearly two years ago. The plan was to raise £2.500 for the Trust. His JustGiving Page jas now received over £30,000.