Elisha for MasterChef 2025 / BBC
Age: 24
Occupation: Dispatcher
From: Kingston Upon Thames via Zimbabwe
How would you describe your style of cooking?
“My style of cooking is fine dining which is inspired by my love of art. Refining any dish can leave room for error, but I find so much the technical aspects. I’m a firm believer in eating with your eyes first and nothing comes closer to that than fine dining. Presenting my food with a delicate touch just like a work of art. If the food doesn’t taste as good as it looks then I know I’ve underdelivered and back to drawing board, I go.
“I’m influenced by many cuisines. I liken myself to being a chameleon in the kitchen. I’m able to use various techniques I’ve developed while staying true to the flavours of any specific dish from any part of the world. I’m very particular with my methods and based on feedback from people I’ve fed, it’s worked out well for me so far.”
What is your favourite ingredient to cook with and why?
“I absolutely love cooking with fruits. Fruits are extremely versatile because of the endless methods than can be used to manipulate or enhance their flavour. They work in both sweet and savoury dishes. You can use them at the different stages of ripening. From unripe, ripe to overripe – there’s use for them in many ways. Fruit skins can be pickled or dehydrated into powders and so much more. My creative juice start flowing when I have an abundance of fruits because I get to play around with different methods. It grinds my gears when people don’t know what to do with their fruits and they end up going waste, especially bananas.”
Why did you enter MasterChef this year?
“I entered MasterChef to test myself under real pressure. I’ve always been a fan of the competition, and I wanted to share a piece of my story and inspire someone just like me to express themselves through food. I want to show young boys and men like me that cooking is more than consumption and survival. Cooking can improve your organisational skills, it’s an expression of creativity, it’s a show of love and most importantly, it’s empowering.”
MasterChef continues Wednesday at 8pm on BBC One.
