MasterChef contestant opens up about love for cooking

The contestant made it through to the quarter-finals of the show, but was eliminated before he could make knock-out week, after serving up a chicken ballottine and sticky toffee pudding.

The 33-year-old IT project coordinator, who grew up in Bilston, said he was disappointed to have not made it to the next round, but had relished the opportunity to showcase his culinary skills.

Matthew, a former pupil of St Thomas More Catholic School in Willenhall, said: "It was gutting and tough to take when I got knocked out, especially after getting so far in the competition and receiving all the positive feedback.

"But I'm using it as a life lesson to learn in my development to become a better chef.

"The main thing I wanted to do was show that Jamaican cuisine can be more attractive which I think I've achieved. I would love to go into private dining and ultimately open a Michelin standard Caribbean restaurant.

"Although it feels like a dampener, I say failure is just the beginning of success. This is the start of my chefs' journey."

Matthew had shocked judges in the previous episode, making an Ainsley Harriot-inspired jerk chicken with pineapple coleslaw and mac and cheese, even impressing renowned foodie William Sitwell.

He developed the dish from watching the TV chef's programmes as a kid.

In an exclusive interview, he said his love for cooking started with making dumplings with his late grandad Walvin Samuels as a child, progressing to cooking during the Covid lockdown.

Matthew said: "It wasn't a massive thing, cooking with my grandad, but it was a lot of small chores, I was quite young, he would have me rolling up the dumplings and he would cook corned beef and I would watch him and take notes.

"I didn't get into cooking until lockdown, where I started experimenting with foods, and it was mostly Caribbean foods because that was my grandad's favourite. He's passed now so it's really in honour of him.

"As soon as lockdown started everyone was starting the Netflix shows and stuff. I thought I can cook but I've never explored it, so let me just try. The response I got from friends and family was overwhelming."

Matthew continued to wow judges in the layered course of the second episode with his coconut and mango mille-feuille – adding a unique Caribbean twist to the popular French pastry.

The amateur chef continued: "I love Caribbean food, it is my roots, I love the smell and taste and I thought I would go down the Caribbean route and mix it with French and Italian cuisine and give it that fine dining look.

"I thought this is what I could bring to the show. You do get a lot of Caribbean restaurants, but you just get them in containers, but we are in a world now where food can look beautiful. I thought I would do it with Caribbean food because it tastes amazing, but let's make it look better."

Matthew added: "When we came out of lockdown, I started doing barbecues and doing food for my friends, and they would all say 'You should go on MasterChef and I thought 'No, they're proper chefs'.

"It's been unreal on the show, my family and friends have been watching it. It was my Mom's first time watching it. She cried and screamed and all the stuff a mom usually does. I even saw my Dad well up. It's fantastic."

Matthew continued: "It is very very stressful. When I'm cooking in my kitchen you have the time to put the music on; I kind of just wind down and enjoy myself. In the competition, there's no music or anything.

"They call the half an hour bell and you think 'Really, half an hour gone'. Just cooking and the pressure and the time constraints and them talking to you, just adds to the pressure, and you have to learn to adapt quickly, but it is very stressful in the kitchen."

Matthew now wants to use the platform to encourage more people to chase their dreams and try their hand at cooking what they love.

Matthew continued: "If you have a dream that you wanted to cook or be a chef, just do it, or anything, just believe in yourself. After hearing all the feedback I needed to believe in myself.

"I believe the best things in life are waiting on the other side of fear, so if you are scared, push yourself to do it and believe in yourself."

Follow him on Instagram via instagram.com/stories/cassidyskitchenn *MasterChef is on BBC1 on April 18 and iPlayer.