Chariya Khattiyot has been crowned winner of this year's MasterChef.
The 40-year-old, who hails from Thailand but now lives in Basingstoke, saw off 44 other amateur cooks over an eight-week process to be crowned the show's 19th champion.
In the final, she and fellow finalists Anurag Aggarwal and Omar Foster were challenged to cook their best three-course meal to win over judges Gregg Wallace and John Torode.
Chariya's winning menu began with a Thai Lotus tuille filled with coconut jelly, fried king prawns, pomelo fruit salad, flavoured with honey, palm sugar and coconut.
Her main was a Northern Thai "Khantoke" sharing platter of Wagyu sirloin steak in 'Hung Lay' curry sauce, minced lamb in a spicy tomato and shrimp paste, jackfruit and scallop salad, sticky rice and scallop crisp crackers.
Chariya finished off her meal with her take on strawberries and cream - a strawberry jelly and vanilla cremeux ring filled with macerated strawberries in strawberry liqueur, pistachio sponge, strawberry shards and a strawberry and Thai basil sauce.
Speaking after she was announced as the winner, Chariya said: "This is unbelievable. It means the world, the sun, the moon and everything to me. I don't think anything can top this. I'm so happy!
"This just proves that if you dream something and you work really hard and you never give up, you can get it. That's what my grandad said to me - never give up. He would be so proud of me!"
"Chariya's food has always been honest and from the heart," said Torode. "It's always exciting, it's always unusual and it's always been beautiful and addictive. And not just punchy, exciting Thai flavours that we saw at the start, but also exceptional, innovative and exciting technique all the way through. A proper master."
Wallace added: "Chariya is outstanding and one of the best MasterChef contestants I can remember.
"Chariya has delighted and amazed me in equal measure. Some of her creations are absolutely beautiful - almost with an artist's touch. She is one of the most creative, skillful cooks I've seen on MasterChef for a long, long time."
Applications for the 2024 series are now open online until the end of August.
Neil Wilkes
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