A CHEF from Liskeard has expressed his pride after finishing fourth in this year’s MasterChef: The Professionals competition.  

Charlie Walters, 22, is the head chef at the Sardine Factory in Looe, however, for the last few weeks he’s been working his culinary excellence in a new environment, the MasterChef kitchen.  

Charlie wowed judges Monica Galetti, Marcus Wareing and Gregg Wallace with a variety of creative dishes. However, Charlie has truly impressed with his fish, a staple within his cooking arsenal.  

Charlie explained that making it onto the show was a dream, even though he wasn’t initially guaranteed a place.  

He said: “It was a dream, I know it sounds cliché, but it was always something I envisioned doing in the future. When I first applied, there are a lot of stages t get through, so one by one as I ticked those off, it got ever closer and then when I finally got accepted it was great news.  

“I was originally on the reserve list, so when I finally got the call to say I was on, it was a really, really good feeling as I knew that all the work I’d put in so far was about to be worth something.”  

A highlight of his time in the kitchen, came when judge, Monica Galetti said he had “done Cornwall proud”, with his tribute to his home, Cornish steamed turbot, roasted potatoes topped with anchovy butter, honey, pickled fennel and caviar, asparagus in a seaweed emulsion, and a Cornish clotted cream and champagne sauce. 

Charlie is incredibly proud of his Cornish heritage and says this has greatly influenced his cooking. 

“I was born in Cornwall and carry that with pride. I love everything about being Cornish. It’s something I hold dear and I love to show this through my food. I trained at Saltash Cornwall College, where I had some amazing lecturers who pushed me to do competitions from a young age.” 

He continued:“I’m all about trying to use produce that’s local to us, there is so much we can get, Cornwall has offers such a high standard of produce, and being able to use that in my food — credit to the region — it makes my job a whole lot easier!”  

While Charlie has honed his own skills, he says the competition gave him the opportunity to learn from the other chefs. Not having to cook for a specific clientele, he says the chefs were really able to harness their specialities.  

“I remember saying to my family beforehand, was that I was really looking forward to being in a room with other like-minded chefs, all cooking their own style of food, and to learn from all the other chefs,” he explained. “We all do become quite close because there is a lot of time that we’re off camera just talking and we talk about food, and we share techniques, if I could be in that position every six months, I absolutely would! I haven’t had such a big learning curve in such a long time!” 

Despite growing his professional ability, Charlie says that at home, he’s not the one doing the cooking. 

“Home cooking is probably as relaxed as it can get for me, honestly, nine times out of ten my wife Leah does the cooking at home.  

“I sort of steer clear of a domestic kitchen, I find it quite small and of course, you’ve got to do your own dishes at home, and Leah definitely doesn’t like to be the one who does the pots after I’ve finished cooking. 

“But if I do do the cooking at home, ‘cowboy’ is probably the word I would use! A jar of curry sauce is about as complex as it gets for me!”  

However, in the competition, Charlie’s cooking got him all the way to the finals, something  which he says is all because of his family. 

“Getting to the finals is a massive achievement. It’s really a testament to my family — for all the hard work they’ve put into make sure I got where I needed to be. They also gave up a lot for me to be here now. So becoming a MasterChef: The Professionals finalist has made it all worth it.”

During his time in the MasterChef kitchen, Charlie had the support of people all over the county, elated to see a proud Cornishman show what the Duchy has to offer.

Speaking about the support, he said: “I know Cornwall loves to get behind something we can all support, but I was blown away by how much support I had, seeing comments on social media, and posts, and you’re talking to so many customers, it was just so humbling and such a nice recognition, to know that where I call ‘home’ everyone was backing me.”  

But what’s next for Charlie? He has his sights set on his own restaurant. 

“My ambition is to one day have my own restaurant which will eventually lead to two more.” 

You can catch up on all of Charlie’s journey on BBC iPlayer.