TV Review: The dishes on Masterchef: The Professionals may be impressive, but the series feels repetitive and dull

Masterchef: The Professionals, BBC One, Monday

No-one will ever refer to me as a culinary queen, not least my husband and children, who know only too well the very limited expertise I possess in the kitchen.

Maybe one day that desire to rustle up something creative or even just enjoy cooking will come.

But for now I'm quite happy to watch the process unfold on my television screen.

Despite my lack of cooking knowledge, I still enjoy watching those more talented than me make their way round the kitchen.

So this week, my viewing took me to the return of Masterchef: The Professionals, the spin-off from the main Masterchef series aimed at professional working chefs.

The series has 32 up-and-coming chefs battling it out to become professional Masterchef champion, with the first episode seeing the return of Monica Galetti, who is reprising her role as judge and mentor.

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The Samoan-born New Zealand chef took a step back from the show last year to focus on her family, including her teenage nephew who was diagnosed with cancer. 

With the same no-nonsense attitude she is known for, Galetti joins regular judges Gregg Wallace and Marcus Wareing, with the episode beginning with the chefs facing a skills test – replicating dishes cooked by the judges in just 20 minutes.

Marcus's test for the contestants sees them poach and pan-fry a portion of guinea fowl, make a sherry hollandaise and serve it with a bitter salad.

And Galetti's skills test is to prepare and cook a fillet of brill and serve it with a turnip garnish and a coconut sauce.

Dara, originally from Limerick, is among the first two hopefuls.

Despite clearly having 'cooking in his blood' – his father recently retired after 52 years as a chef – Dara appeared to let his nerves get the better of him.

His hands shaking constantly throughout, he says: "I don't know why I'm getting so nervous", before Galetti tells him: "You need to get those nerves under control."

Even Wallace comments on how tense the young chef is: "I didn't know whether to stand up and help you or give you a hug."

The next round saw the contestants serve up a two-course signature menu, with one chef leaning on his Scottish roots in the hope of impressing the judges.

Cameron's dish of venison loin with crispy haggis, followed by a whiskey panna cotta, is what he described as "me on a plate, these are the flavours I love".

Dara's menu of lamb with black garlic, with an apple and rhubarb themed desert, was inspired by his childhood in Ireland, while Catrin draws on her Swedish heritage to create her own version of 'Old Man's Mix' of boiled eggs, potatoes and pickled herring with her own 'salad cream flavoured herring sauce'.

Fast forward to the all-important taste test and it's chef Himanshu's lamb dish, created using his Indian heritage and French cooking experience, that draws the most scepticism.

"That is not cooked anywhere near enough for me," says Wallace.

"I would send it back, I'm afraid."

Galetti tells a tearful Himanshu: "It's a shame as I was really looking forward to this."

But his dessert, his own take on the Indian street food dish Falooda, fares better, with Wallace describing it as an "opulent, elegant, tasty dessert".

The dishes may have been impressive, but the programme, now in series 16, feels repetitive and dull.

There's an inevitability about it that has become boring and lacking in any fun or creativity.

There's also the funny reality as well that, with up to three episodes a week, I could potentially spend more time watching other people cooking than I actually do myself.