Paddy for MasterChef 2025 / BBC
Age: 22
Occupation: Professional Bassoonist
From: London
How would you describe your style of cooking?
“My food is inspired by my travels with a very big Italian influence. My Irish heritage has a huge influence in the way I select my produce for each meal. All my ingredients have to be of the highest quality and travels with my family has the greatest influence on my cooking.”
What is your favourite ingredient to cook with and why?
“Pasta – It is highly versatile, you can make savoury and sweet things with it, and it is a huge carrier of flavour.
“I have been perfecting ravioli for a while, making sure the pasta is of the correct thickness and the parcels having enough filling. The first time, many of the ravioli broke when being cooked in the boiling water. Since then, however, whenever I have made ravioli, none of them have broken.”
Why did you enter MasterChef this year?
“I wanted to give myself a challenge. My parents always said I was a good cook so why not try and prove it! Through the competition, I want to enhance my skills and techniques as a cook, to eventually provide my family and girlfriend with meals that are restaurant standard but for half the price. As I am entering into a master’s degree in classical music where a path as an orchestral musician could be a tricky one, a career in food might be for me!
“I think my cooking has improved a massive amount over recent years, from watching many MasterChef episodes and many tutorials on social media notably by the chef Adam Byatt. I have always doubted my abilities but over the last year I have taken over as family head chef and believe I have what it takes to go far in this competition.”
MasterChef continues Wednesday and Thursday at 8pm and Friday at 8.30pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
