IT’S great to see our North West MasterChef contenders have the sweetest touch in the kitchen. Exose Lopo-Ndinga has just stormed into the final six of the current MasterChef: The Professionals with a dish that had the judges swooning.
The Chorlton-raised chef de partie at James Martin Manchester impressed with his combo of chocolate and orange mille feuille (puff pastry, cardamom ganache, orange diplomat, orange gel, candied zest, torched segments and blood orange sorbet, but the crowning glory was his accompanying chocolate bar with orange feuilletine base and orange liqueur caramel (end image).
“Great chocolate work” was judge Marcus Wareing’s verdict. That would surely apply too the post-Masterchef venture of Stockport’s David Crichton (above), a finalist in the non-pro version in 2018. Following the summer release of The Careless Collection, four bars created from the world’s most luxurious chocolate, the former Thomas Cook pilot has launched a new range, entitled The Black Collection.
The first new creation is a combination of Valrhona-spiced orange and thyme, while the second bar is flavoured with Guittard-pink peppercorn, mango and passion fruit. The third option contains Amedei-saffron, cardamom and pistachio cremino and finally the fourth bar is flavoured with Michel Cluziel-toasted cream caramel, banana and malt.
The whole package is visually stunning, too. Presented in a midnight blue and gold embossed box, each rich, glossy bar is topped with a contrasting burst of differently coloured chocolate. The Black Collection is priced at £20 a box. Buy one here.
The Careless Collection was inspired by one of the MasterChef tasks where contestants had to create a dish for an idol. David took inspiration from George Michael's song 'Careless Whisper' and Cadburys’ classic chocolate bar Wispa.
Commenting on his new collection David said: “Creating chocolate is both an art and a science, and because of my own taste palette I tend to experiment with very bold flavours. My first range, The Careless Collection, certainly got people talking as they just hadn’t experienced those types of colours, textures and flavours all together. With this new range, I wanted to push the boundaries further and create something even more luxurious.”
