MasterChef: The Professionals 2022 is back on BBC One later this week to put more elite chefs to the test.
The season will see judges Anna Haugh, Gregg Wallace and Marcus Wareing overseeing a host of challenges as they try to find the next star of the catering industry.
Here’s everything you need to know about the return of MasterChef: The Professionals…
MasterChef: The Professionals 2022 — when will it start?
The season will air over six weeks and begins on Wednesday, November 2 on BBC One at 9 pm and will also air on Thursday, November 3 at 9 pm and Friday, November 4 at 8 pm.
It will continue each week with three episodes and will be available on BBC iPlayer.
There is no news about a US release date as yet, but we will update this page should anything be announced.
MasterChef: The Professionals 2022 — who are the judges?
Michelin-starred chef Marcus Wareing will be back to sample the chefs' dishes alongside the show’s host Gregg Wallace. This time around their fellow judge Monica Galetti is taking a break and will be replaced by restaurateur Anna Haugh, who is a regular on Morning Live and has appeared on Ready, Steady Cook.
“It’s overwhelming and a brilliant show to be part of,” Anna tells What To Watch.
“I knew it was going to be hard work but I feel I am standing on Monica’s shoulders, she has laid the path for me. I’ve tried to be firm but fair in a way that’s good for a growing chef. We’re trying to encourage the chefs so that they become better.”
MasterChef: The Professionals 2022 — what is the format?
Another 32 chefs from a range of establishments across the country will be entering the MasterChef kitchen to take part. As always, the series begins with the heats and in each heat four contestants will endure the Skills Test set by Marcus and Anna - in the first episode, the chefs must make either oysters in beurre blanc or a fruit tart. Next the chefs must show off their creativity with their two-course Signature Menu.
At the end of every heat, two chefs will make it through to that week’s quarter-final, where they will have to use ingredients to create dishes based around a theme, which this time include everything from brunch to flavours including orange and ginger. After that, they must serve up food for critics including Grace Dent, Jay Rayner, Jimi Famurewa, Leyla Kazim, Tom Parker Bowles, Tracey MacLeod and William Sitwell.
The 10 chefs who reach the semi-finals next have to tackle tasks including a Food Memory dish and then an Invention Test. They also have to prove their mettle with a Pop-Up restaurant Challenge and cook a Desert Island Dish.
“We had pop-up restaurants and getting fine dining chefs to do street food is amazing,” says Gregg. “They relax away from the white tablecloth and get into the world of handheld food, it’s like asking a ballet dancer to do the hokey cokey!”
What are the final challenges in MasterChef: The Professionals 2022?
The final six chefs then make a dish for the notorious Chef’s Table challenge, but only four will get to finally cook at London’s Lanesborough Hotel for the likes of former Monica Galetti, Jason Atherton and Matt Abé. They then have to cook a Homeland Dish inspired by somewhere special to them, then a dish for the Showstopper where they cook for food critics and writers and in the ultimate challenge, the final three have to cook their best ever three-course meal before the winner is chosen.
“I missed Monica but she came back for Chef's Table, which was lovely,” says Marcus. “There's no competition like MasterChef: The Professionals. It's 15 series now and it just gets better. The key is finding fantastic new talent. Every year, I think, 'Who’s going to walk through that door?' And every year, they blow us away. But there's no easy road, it’s a journey for all the chefs.”
