London, United Kingdom: Santosh Shah, a participant in the prestigious ‘MasterChef UK The Professionals 2020’, broadcasted by BBC, has become the runner-up of the competition.
In the competition held on Thursday evening, 25-year-old Alex Webb of the United Kingdom won the title.
Santosh Shah, who was seen in a Nepali dhakatopi in the grand finale episode, became second. Before his presentation, a BBC-produced video about him was played in which he displayed Nepal’s national flag.
In the competition for the grand finale, Santosh cooked spiced buffalo, beef short rib sat on sauteed morning glory, potato masala cannelloni, gooseberry chutney, and a paratha bread filled with buffalo milk paneer, finished with buffalo sauce. Along with food, he also served ‘Aila’, a popular liquor in the Newari community.
🍽 Spiced buffalo beef short rib
👨🍳 Santosh
🗣 “I thoroughly enjoyed this… it’s delicious” – @MGaletti01#MasterChefUK pic.twitter.com/wk0kv8AM9o— MasterChef UK 🍴 (@MasterChefUK) December 17, 2020
The journey to the finals of the first Nepali Chef to participate in the world-renowned cooking competition with Nepali food was impressive.
Dozens of original Nepali dishes including yomari have succeeded in winning the hearts of millions of Nepalis from all over the world.
Santosh Shah of Siraha Karjanha, who entered India at the age of 15, has reached this place after a long struggle and hard work. In this process, he has gained experience from five-star hotels in India and the United Kingdom, as well as from reputed Michelin star restaurants.
Stating that his main goal is to introduce the originality and diversity of Nepali food to the world, Santosh said that he will continue to be involved in the promotion of Nepali food in the future.
Many discussed Santosh, who has been getting enthusiastic responses from the judges since the beginning of the competition, as a contender for the title.
“Even if I don’t win the title, I’m not sad,” he told Annapurna Post in London after the final results of the competition, “because I’ve never taken MasterChef UK as a competition. This was an opportunity for me to introduce our Nepali food to the world. I am very happy to have the opportunity to make the most of it”.
How about…
“I’ve always dreamt of one day sharing the beauty of Nepalese cuisine to the world. It has been a long and amazing journey to this point. From being a young boy growing up in Nepal, and then travelling to India & learning to cook. Eventually making my way to London pic.twitter.com/mj7HxSYct0— Santosh Shah (@chefsantoshshah) December 17, 2020
Santosh Shah, who remembers every moment spent on MasterChef UK’s journey, says that the episode of cooking for his own mother was the most special. He said that he will never forget the love and good wishes received from Nepalis around the world.
