MasterChef 2014: who should win?
The final four: Angela, Jack, Ping and Luke. Who will be crowned MasterChef champion 2014? Read more about the competitors, then have your say.
Angela Langford
Bio: A Somerset lass, aged 43, who owns an organic skincare company. She grew up in the restaurant her parents opened in 1969. Angela loves working with local ingredients and includes Thai, French and Spanish among her favourite cuisines.
Best bits: Angela has been described by judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace as “a solid cook”. Her fish dishes often impress, including a poached scallops and prawns number with “majestic” sauce.
Worst bits: Not the best at presentation. “Angela seems incapable of serving a posh dish,” said Gregg one week.
Jack Lucas
Bio: 22-year-old geography graduate Jack is from Solihull in Birmingham, and only entered the competition after his girlfriend Abi persuaded him. He prides himself on a large appetite, and is currently travelling the world during his gap year.
Best bits: A perfect apple tart, beautiful homemade pasta, and one-handed quenelles have all impressed the judges. He’s a perfectionist and his food has been called both “utterly delicious” and “spectacular” by John and Gregg.
Worst bits: Given his young age, Jack has only been cooking for five or six years and sometimes the more experienced MasterChef contestants pip him to the post.
Ping Coombes
Bio: 33-year-old Ping, from Bath, is originally from Malaysia and takes much inspiration from her birth country’s cuisine. She describes both her mother and grandmother as “terrific cooks”. Ping entered MasterChef after being made redundant from her hotel manager job.
Bet bits: Ping excels at Asian-style food. Gregg described her Asian pork belly sandwich served in bamboo steamers as “fabulous” and “the best ever Chinese spare rib sandwich”. She also made an impressive spicy noodle and beef broth from just leftovers and vegetable peelings.
Worst bits: The judges, especially John, have asked Ping to incorporate more heat into her Asian dishes on more than one occasion.
Luke Owen
Bio: Luke is a 31-year-old sales engineer for a robotics and automation company. He’s from Manchester and stumbled across cooking years ago in an attempt to impress a girl. Luke actually hates people watching him cook.
Best bits: John literally applauded one of Luke’s invention test dishes, tofu tacos with a sesame seed coating. He “completely nailed” fish and chips, too.
Worst bits: Luke is perhaps the quietest of all the contestants, and so sometimes shrinks into the background. He can be inconsistent too.
Have your say
Who do you think should take home this year's trophy? Vote in the poll below and have your say in the Comments section.
The MasterChef semi-final airs on Wednesday May 14 at 9pm, on BBC One, when four contestants will become three. The final airs on Friday May 16 at 8:30pm.
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