MasterChef viewers have accused the BBC show of ‘celebrating the murder and mutilation of women’ after a contestant created a Jack The Ripper-inspired dish.
The chefs of Thursday’s penultimate semi-final for the 2024 series were tasked with preparing a ‘theatrical’ dish for judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace.
From a duck dinner that looked like a heart and lungs encased in a rib cage – complete with injectable sauce – to a panna cotta ‘dog dinner’ made from bone marrow, the contestants shocked the judges with their compelling meals.
But it was circus artist Chris who really made a statement with his Jack The Ripper ‘murder mystery’ dish – accompanied by a fire-breathing performance.
Despite his impressive display of talent, fans of the show were shocked by his choice of inspiration.
MasterChef viewers accused the BBC show of ‘celebrating the murder and mutilation of women’ after a contestant created a Jack The Ripper-inspired dish
Despite his impressive display of talent, fans of the show were shocked by his choice of inspiration
Dressed in a cloak, Chris, 44, approached the judges’ table and said: “You are detectives now and you have to figure out who I am from the clues in the box.”
Then the lights went out and he lit a fire stick, before drinking some alcohol and carrying the flame to the side of the room. Chris then blew a wild flame into the kitchen, causing an amused roar from John, Gregg and the other participants.
On the table was a box with the numbers 1888, which was a code to open the padlock. A bone marrow beef tartare dish was revealed and Gregg guessed the inspiration was Jack the Ripper, based on the clues in the text ‘Whitechapel’, ‘London 1888’ and a summary of the five murders.
But viewers were outraged by the apparent glorification of the prolific serial killer and took to X, formerly Twitter, to express their anger.
They wrote: ‘There’s nothing better than a fine piece of nosh themed around a man who committed some of the most horrific acts of assault and murder on women in British history’;
‘How wonderful to see how the murder and mutilation of women is celebrated. #BadTaste in so many different forms. Worst episode I’ve ever seen. Who at @BBCOne thought this was a good idea?’;
‘Gregg finds the anatomical dish ‘somewhat alarming’, but not the one that celebrates *murder*?’;
‘Did that just happen? A #masterchef guy just served beef tartare on a bone in honor of the Jack the Ripper dish? Murdered women’s intestines, so creative. What?’;
Circus artist Chris who really made a statement with his Jack The Ripper ‘murder mystery’ dish – accompanied by a fire-breathing performance
Dressed in a cloak, Chris, 44, approached the judges’ table and said: ‘You are detectives now and you have to figure out who I am from the clues in the box’
Then the lights went out and he lit a fire stick, before drinking some alcohol and carrying the flame to the side of the room
Chris then blew a wild flame into the kitchen, causing an amused roar from John, Gregg and the other participants.
But viewers were outraged by the apparent glorification of the prolific serial killer and took to X, formerly Twitter, to express their anger.
‘Great episode of Animal Autopsy, or #MasterChef as it is also known. A Jack the Ripper party, a souped-up barbecue and ‘conservationists’ drooling over ‘seafood’ (dead fish).”
His next theater debut was Doctor George, who brought his work to the kitchen in the form of an anatomy-inspired dish.
After getting John and Greg to put on hairnets and scrubs, George served a beetroot heart, a duck breast representing lungs and a dauphinoise potato breastbone, all encased in a parsnip-crispy ribcage. The judges then had to inject the sauce into the heart.
It then passed to farmer Louise, 43, who decided to create a savory dish that looked like a dessert, consisting of panna cotta with bacon, chorizo and black pudding, a kale and hazelnut pesto cake, pig skin tulle and a sweet tart . bag filled with chorizo and a salt-vinegar lollipop.
Keeping with the savory disguised as sweet theme, Grandmother Mary made a dessert scotch egg.
The sausage meat was made from coconut rice pudding, while it had a custard yolk and the egg white was actually lychee fruit. The whole thing was covered in breadcrumbs and dried coconut and combined with piccalilli [tropical fruit compote] and mayonnaise [coconut cream’. The dished was finished with a sprinkling of salt and pepper [browned black rice and popping candy] and served with a beer [rum cocktail].
His next theater dish was Doctor George, who brought his work to the kitchen in the form of an anatomy-inspired dish
After getting John and Greg to put on hairnets and scrubs, George served a beetroot heart, a duck breast representing lungs and a dauphinoise potato breastbone, all encased in a parsnip-crispy ribcage. The judges then had to inject the sauce into the heart
For sales associate Abi, 21, she decided to give a childhood favorite of dippy egg and soldiers a gourmet upgrade
Keeping with the savory disguised as sweet theme, Grandmother Mary made a dessert scotch egg
The last to leave was vet Brim, 28, who channeled his career by creating a ‘dog dinner’ that required John and Gregg to wear a pair of animal ears.
His “dog dinner” included a bone marrow panna cotta in a dog bone, whiskey poached peaches, a rosemary panna cotta tennis ball buried in nut chocolate earth, dog treat shaped shortbread and a blackberry sauce.
For sales associate Abi, 21, she decided to give a childhood favorite of dippy egg and soldiers a gourmet upgrade. The egg white was a solid white custard with the yolk a chilli and tomato sauce, while her ‘soldiers’ were crisps, topped with hearty flavored Welsh rarebit and pulled pork – all finished with a shot glass of Bloody Mary gazpacho.
The last to leave was 28-year-old vet Brim, who launched his career by creating a ‘dog dinner’ that required John and Gregg to wear a pair of animal ears.
His “dog dinner” included a bone marrow panna cotta in a dog bone, whiskey poached peaches, a rosemary panna cotta tennis ball buried in nut chocolate earth, dog treat shaped shortbread and a blackberry sauce.
After the jurors had deliberated for some time, it was unfortunately Dr.’s turn. George and his ribcage, which was sent home for the next round.