Chris cooks up a storm in the MasterChef kitchen and makes it to the quarter-finals

Chris Hale, 29, beat off tough competition to cook his way through to the final rounds of the popular BBC One cooking programme, judged by John Torode and Gregg Wallace.

The father-of-two produced the most talked about dish of the first episode, impressing with his Indian Sushi fusion.

Chris, a former Kettlethorpe High School pupil, said: “It was very stressful trying to produce a dish with so many elements within the one hour time frame.

“John and Gregg were unsure how Indian Sushi would go down so I was obviously really nervous.”

But the judges allayed Chris’ fears, as they enjoyed his Turmeric Prawn Tempura, Tuna and Cumin Nori rolls, Tandoori Chicken Nori rolls, Squid stuffed with mushroom Biryani, Date and Tamarind chutney and South Indian Pepper water.

Chris said: “It was a big risk, but I love being creative and Indian Sushi just works well. I love my concept of Sushi fusion.

“Gregg thinks it’ll be a new trend that takes off. So watch this space.”

The entrepreneur, who runs his own altitude training company, said: “We then had to cook a two-course meal for three of last year’s finalists.

“It was all very intense as there’s such a strict time-frame which you don’t have when cooking at home.”

He added that his first dish of Walnut Gnocchi looked like a “dogs dinner” as he found he had too little time to make the Italian potato dish with a wild mushroom sauce and a sage cracker.

Fortunately, his “theatrical dessert” went down a treat as the judges, securing the self-taught chef a place in the quarter-finals, fighting off hundreds in the audition process and 40 other contestants to be in the last 24 of the popular BBC One cooking show.

MasterChef continues on BBC One tonight (Friday) at 8pm.