Vegetables were centre stage on prime time television last week as judges chose ‘vegetarian’ as the quarter final theme on cooking talent show MasterChef.
Guest judge and restaurant critic Tracey MacLeod told the four heat winners, Simon, Pete, Sarah and Charlotte, that she wanted “vegetables to be the star”. “I want to see real invention,” she said, on the BBC One show last week.
Mushrooms in particular won media attention after judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace, along with MacLeod, complained that Simon’s wild mushroom duxelle ravioli wasn’t “mushroomy enough”.
But watchers of the show had a different bone to pick.
“Mushrooms are NOT a vegetable,” one watcher Tweeted, while another added: “Mushrooms aren't a vegetable they are a fungi.”
The plant-based aspect of the show received much applause on Twitter, with many Tweeting that it was a nice change to see vegetarian cooking.
Other vegetable dishes served up by the four hopefuls include potato raviolo with salsa verde, zucchini fritti (courgette chips), vegetable ramen and beetroot served roasted, steamed and pickled.
