MasterChef: Banbridge cook serves up dippy eggs and soldiers

A MasterChef contestant who made it arsenic acold arsenic the last 4 of the TV nutrient amusement says she drew inspiration from her family's location cooking successful Northern Ireland.

Terri Fearon, primitively from Banbridge successful County Down, won a spot successful the last week with a posh mentation of her granny's "dippy eggs and soldiers".

But the 30-year-old accountant kept her household wholly successful the acheronian astir her quality connected the amusement until the past imaginable moment.

"It was a precise hard concealed to keep," Terri tells BBC News NI.

"I perfectly emotion my household but the crushed I didn't archer them is due to the fact that they can't support a secret.

"There's hundreds of america - cousins and aunties and uncles - and everybody would archer idiosyncratic but say: 'It's a secret, don't archer anyone.'

"And earlier you cognize it I deliberation the full municipality would know."

Terri stayed tight-lipped passim filming and amazed her household conscionable earlier the archetypal occurrence was broadcast.

"They didn't judge me. The archetypal happening my Nan said really erstwhile I told her - I said I had immoderate quality to stock and she did the: 'Oh, you're pregnant?'

"I was like: 'No, no, I'm not. I'm going to beryllium connected TV,'" she laughs.

"So it was rather a surreal moment. I did person to amusement her a representation of maine with the MasterChef awesome successful bid for her to not deliberation I was winding her up."

Now successful its 19th series, the TV contention pits immoderate of the UK's champion location cooks against each different arsenic they consciousness the vigor successful nonrecreational kitchens and their nutrient is critiqued by apical chefs.

Terri, who moved to England successful her mid-20s, thought astir entering the contention for a mates of years earlier applying to the show.

"I'm 1 of those sofa critics who benignant of sits astatine location and watches the TV and claims I'd marque each these astonishing things successful an invention test," she explains.

One of her astir striking dishes was influenced by her County Down childhood.

When presenters John Torode and Greg Wallace asked the semi-finalists to nutrient "something theatrical and fantastical," the Banbridge pistillate opted for a twist connected an aged household favourite.

"When I was a kid, connected a Saturday I'd spell to my Nan's location and she'd marque maine dippy eggs and soldiers for lunch," she told the Masterchef hosts.

Having to beryllium she could bash overmuch much than boil an egg, Terri created tempered cocoa shells, filled with coconut mousse and a mango puree, representing the ovum achromatic and yoke.

The eggs were served connected a meal tray with soldiers made from churros, an orangish and mango cocktail and a coagulated cocoa spoon.

"It's a crockery that lends itself to the playfulness of seeing 1 happening and eating another," she said.

A emotion of cooking spans the generations successful Terri's family.

Her precocious begetter worked arsenic a cook and showed her however to marque pancakes erstwhile she was a child.

He died successful a car clang erstwhile she was 8 years aged and though she ne'er got the accidental to prime up galore culinary skills from him she believes she inherited his passionateness for food.

"My past memories of him was him going disconnected to enactment successful his chef's whites truthful I deliberation it's decidedly had an power connected my emotion for nutrient and however overmuch I subordinate the room with him," she says.

"For maine cooking is astir keeping that small spot of representation live of my Dad - that's however I spot it.

"But besides it's thing that I bask doing and it's a large portion of who I am."

Even arsenic a schoolgirl the budding cook was already challenging herself successful the kitchen, objecting to the usage of shop-bought condiment portion being taught to navigator spaghetti Bolognese.

"I was annoyed due to the fact that I wanted to larn however to marque a condiment from scratch and that was erstwhile I was 11," she recalls.

Terri attended St Mary's Primary School successful Banbridge and past St Mary's High School successful Newry earlier studying astatine the University of Ulster.

The location economics section astatine her erstwhile precocious schoolhouse watched her MasterChef travel with interest.

"I was a large instrumentality of location economics successful St Mary's actually, it was 1 of my favourite topics," says Terri.

"I've had truthful overmuch enactment from everybody backmost home, it's been amazing.

"From each my household and friends; from teachers from superior schoolhouse close done to university, I've had messages from radical that person had immoderate powerfulness successful my beingness on the way."

Her erstwhile maths teacher Denise Crawley is present the main of St Mary's High School, which posted a connection connected Facebook celebrating her success.

"Terri was a large pupil and a large girl," remembers the headteacher.

"We're precise arrogant of her and her achievements connected the show."

Denise feels her erstwhile pupil stayed "super calm nether pressure" during the series.

Despite her pasta crumbling into pieces during her audition, and kebabs burning during the last week of contention successful Istanbul, she appeared to instrumentality culinary calamities successful her stride.

"People support telling maine this - I had nary thought I was arsenic calm oregon unflappable," says Terri.

"I find the room conscionable a truly relaxing situation to beryllium in."

Thanks successful portion to her maths teachers, Terri works arsenic a systems absorption accountant for a manufacturing company.

She missed retired connected a spot successful Thursday expansive final, with chap contestants Anurag, Chariya and Omar near to navigator for the title.

Although gutted not to person made it to the last three, Terri hopes 1 time to harvester her caput for figures with her emotion for nutrient - and she inactive cannot rather judge she tin telephone herself a MasterChef finalist.

"It doesn't rather consciousness real, adjacent though I've already lived it," she says.

"The calibre of cooks connected the amusement I deliberation conscionable gets amended and amended each twelvemonth and I've conscionable loved each minute.

"I've loved learning from from each the different contestants; getting tips from John and Greg.

"The full acquisition has been perfectly life-changing."

The MasterChef last volition beryllium broadcast connected BBC One and the BBC iPlayer astatine 20:00 BST connected Thursday.