New judge Anna Haugh, Marcus Wareing and Gregg Wallace presideover the UK's most revered cooking competition, as 32ambitious chefs from across the country compete to become the2022 champion.In tonight's opening heat, the first fourprofessional chefs step into the MasterChef kitchen. Toprogress in the competition, they must impress in twochallenges: the infamous Skills Test and the Signature Menuround.The first two chefs face a Skills Test set by Anna, whogives them 20 minutes to open oysters and serve them poachedand smoked in a beurre blanc sauce. Can the chefs keep theirhands steady enough to open the tricky shellfish without damageand demonstrate enough classic cookery knowledge to show theyhave what it takes?The remaining two chefs are set a pastrySkills Test by Marcus. Their task is to make a summer fruittart with jam, crème pâtissière and piped Italian meringue.Who will be able to draw on their experience in pastry to puttogether the well-executed and sublime dessert the judges arelooking for?Finally, all four chefs have one last opportunityto stand out when they cook their own two-course SignatureMenu. This is their chance to show off their style and flairwith a tried and tested main course and dessert.Only the bestchefs will go through to the quarter-final and move a stepcloser to being crowned MasterChef: The Professionals champion2022.
