Masterchef’s Anna Haugh: “Appalling treatment of restaurant staff makes my blood boil”
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Anna Hogg, good morning. Welcome back to the show.
Good morning. Delighted to be back.
So, Anna, I used to introduce you as chef owner of Myrtle Restaurant in London, but now I also need to say and presenter of BBC's MasterChef.
What recent changes has Anna Haugh experienced as a MasterChef presenter?
So you're going to give us some tips on stress-free hosting over the summer. But tell me first, so you're about, what, a month into MasterChef?
Oh, it's all done now. The final was last night. So the champion has been named.
Okay, right, I missed that. Okay, so come here. The reviews are saying that you and Grace Dent successfully reinvented MasterChef. So how did you find it?
I loved it. Like it was really hard work. But I think when you're doing something good, it should be hard work. I don't think it should be easy.
How did Anna Haugh find her first season of MasterChef?
I think it should feel like you were, you know, paying attention. So it really was hard, but I loved it. I thought it was great. I thought the contestants were phenomenal. Like just for home cooks, I was like, these guys, I wouldn't want to be cooking against these. They're so good. You know, like they were just, they just worked so hard. They kept kind of inventing new things and pushing themselves. It's like, it's amazing.
Yeah.
So when you say it was incredibly hard work, is what you mean to say that you made it incredibly hard work for yourself? I'd say you're that type, are you?
Yeah, I'm a glutton for punishment. But when you're judging, when you're looking at people's food, you're not just eating it. You really are trying to see everything about the dish and the thought process behind it so that when you're critiquing them, because sometimes someone only gets to cook for you once. And you want to be able to give them as much as what they've put into that dish. You give them everything back. So you see all the good bits they've done and you see all the bad bits they've done. You think that people don't want you to tell them what they've done wrong, but you see them nodding when you're saying the stuff they're nodding. And they feel like it's respect that they're not always wanting you just to, you know.
just say good stuff.
What challenges did Anna face while judging contestants on MasterChef?
They want the honest truth. And that is, you have to be really focused. Like the minute they down their tools, I would leg it around the kitchen and I'd try my best to taste the food when it's hot or especially if it was like something deep fried. So then I can describe the texture of it.
Yeah, because that can be frustrating sometimes. It felt as if like the food had been sitting there for a while. So, yeah.
Oh, yeah. Half an hour while they take photos.
It was about respecting what they had put into it and you giving them that respect, which is fair enough. Yeah. So listen, I think everyone agrees anyway, you successfully reinvented the franchise because I'd say there was a bit of pressure taking the job given the kind of, will we call them the legacy issues around the previous presenters?
Yeah.
Listen, I think it's gas all the praise that Grace and I get. There's 50 people who make the programme. There was a load of people gambling on Grace and I, two little horses, two little ponies in the front of the camera. And they did everything to allow us to be ourselves, you know. So, you know, being very nervous and, you know, which obviously you can't tell. But, you know, we would have been very nervous, you know, just being in front of the camera. And they didn't put words in our mouth. They didn't try to kind of, you know, make me sound more English or make her sound more posh. We were allowed to be ourselves. And that is from a great production. You know what I mean?
That's great support. Yeah. So you were able to be authentic, which, yeah. Now, you say like nervous in front of the camera, but you have done TV before and you had guested on MasterChef before. You did a thing last year on BBC TV, Anna Haw's big Irish food tour, wasn't it? I know, it's a big mouthful. Yeah. Come here. Were you heartened by what you saw of the Irish food scene as you travelled around? Phenomenal. It's phenomenal.
And also, like when I was a kid, we went on holidays.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:14
2
What recent changes has Anna Haugh experienced as a MasterChef presenter?
0:14–0:49
3
How did Anna Haugh find her first season of MasterChef?
0:49–1:56
4
What challenges did Anna face while judging contestants on MasterChef?
1:56–11:51
5
What insights does Anna share about the Irish food scene?
11:51–12:06