The Lanarkshire chef who showcased his culinary skills on MasterChef: The Professionals has told how he “absolutely loved” the experience of cooking for expert judges on the prestigious TV programme.
William Rocks, who is originally from Coatbridge, appeared in the first week of the current series, progressing from his heat and reaching the quarter-finals.
Although he was then eliminated following a brunch-themed invention test round, he says he gained valuable advice from the feedback of top chefs Marcus Wareing and Anna Haugh and will be using their suggestions to help develop future dishes.
Chef de patron William’s debut in the opening episode of the series saw him make a summer fruit tart in the skills challenge, followed by a two-course meal of roasted venison followed by Tonka bean and white chocolate panna cotta.
It was followed by the 70-minute quarter-final brunch test which saw him devise a sweet-and-savoury combination of puff pastry, heritage tomatoes with citrus dressing and bacon-infused whipped cream with a port and berry sauce.
The 24-year-old was attracted to the “big, exciting challenge” of appearing on the 15th series of show, and said: “You always watch the show as a chef and think, ‘can it be that bad?’ - then you go down and do it and it’s intense, stressful and great fun.
"I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland, he said: “I absolutely loved the whole experience, the TV side of things and being able to be so vocal about cooking and having to tell a story; taking all the feedback from the judges, I’m starting to implement that into my cooking.”
He said of the judges’ feedback: “It’s very fair and really helpful – you can take that away and learn from it [as] they gave me some good pointers so it gives me time to go away and work on these things.
“The big thing for me was to give them something they hadn’t seen before, a big play on flavours, and playing with sweet and savoury is a common thing that I do normally. My goal right from the get-go was I was never going to try and play it safe.”
Michelin-starred chef Marcus called William “incredibly professional, young, vibrant [and] fearless” following his performance in the opening challenge and said: “I like your attitude and I love your approach to the kitchen.”
William added: “That test is based around classic skills you have in the background and it’s just whether you can draw it up under the immense pressure [on] your introduction to the judges and the show, so it’s quite a daunting one. It felt like it was over in a flash but I enjoyed being under the pressure; it was great fun and something different.
“The response is absolutely great – people have said I came across just the same [as] always, smiling and bubbly, so I’m happy that I came across on the show the same way as in person.”
William was inspired to begin cooking after watching his talented mum at home in Coatbridge as a youngster, and trained at Lanarkshire catering school at the Bentley Hotel in Motherwell.
Now chef de patron of his Tigh an Truish restaurant near Oban, he said: “Bookings have shot up and there have been people popping in saying, ‘is William about’; on the show I put out my food so people know if they come here it’s the same style that they’ll get.”
Customers and new fans alike praised his performance on the venue’s Facebook page, with posts commenting on how they had been “rooting” for the chef as he prepared his tasty TV dishes, promising to “book up now for a meal!” and saying how they had previously enjoyed his “beautiful food”.
Don't miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here.
And did you know Lanarkshire Live is on Facebook? Head on over and give us a like and share!
