And Gregg Wallace added: ‘What a thrill to get these kitchen doors open again and welcome a new generation of professional contenders. I’m ready to be dazzled and ultimately reveal the next incredible cooking talent.’

Ingredients from the Scottish land and lochs underpin dishes that are carefully cooked, full of flavour and classically based with a subtle modernity." It was such a delicate thing, in the shell that was balanced on a bowl of coals. The lemon, yeast and fig sauce was subtly fresh and balmy.The antidote might be a trip to Ardkinglas Estate, where Welsh chef William Hamer - whose experience includes a stage at Hisa Franko, a two Michelin-starredrestaurant in Slovenia - is doing his soul food thing with Wild Kabn Kitchen.

All the chefs I have worked with have influenced me in some way, Philip Britten at the capital used to drag us down the veg market at 5am to hunt out the best fruit and vegetables. Tom Aikens – sheer hard, hard, work, determination, and the ability to extract every ounce of flavour out of everything. Courgettes, nasturtiums, potatoes, green beans and tomatoes grow in the polytunnel, while in the greenhouse there is an array of grapes and figs. If you’re staying over, you can holiday in one of the two Kabn Company cabins, on the shore of Loch Fyne, and a trip to the Wild Kabn Kitchen is part of the experience. As for standing the heat in the MasterChef kitchen, he added: ‘I always watched the series and thought ‘the pressure can’t be that bad’. Oh, how silly I was! It was a test for me. I never feel pressure even in the hardest heat of service, I’m just always so calm. But wow, MasterChef was such an experience. I can’t put into words what the pressure in there does to you. It’s like nothing I have ever experienced before – but very good for any chef to go and give a bash. I wouldn’t change a second of it.’ He said: ‘I got into cooking because my mother was and still is, a very good cook. From a young age I used to swing off my mother’s leg and ask a thousand questions about what she was making and why she made it a certain way. From there it just grew and grew and I began cooking all the time.

Ahead of MasterChef: The Professionals 2022,which airson BBC Oneevery Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 2 november,we find out more about the chefs taking part. I then travelled around France for a little, whilst seeing their culture and love of food and how it was a way of life in France. There is also the Fig Room, where guests are invited to dine amongst the large leaves and sweet and savoury aromas of the figs themselves. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, including where you are today, professionally, and what got you here? By doing this, I have the privilege to use some of the most beautiful ingredients from Jerusalem Artichokes, courgettes, wild strawberries and tomatoes – all grown just a matter of minutes from the outdoor kitchen.’

What differences do you find working with local produce as opposed to non-local produce in terms of what you can create and flavour? He joined St. James’s Hotel and Club in central London as executive chef andlaunched the hotel’s Seven Park Place restaurant on September 1, 2009.The following year, Seven Park Place gained a Michelin star which has been retained ever since. In the summer, my cooking style tends to be lighter, with more olive oil, lots of vegetables, tomatoes etc. In the winter, the flavours become stronger and more intense. In 2010, Seven Park Place gained a Michelin star which has been retained ever sinceYou know, the bling oneswhere you feel obliged to take pics for social media and it’s all a bit American Psycho. From there diners are taken to the walled garden (weather permitting) or to a charming glasshouse lined with old growth vines, before being treated to a five course meal served at a communal dining table. I don’t really have a signature dish, we have some fantastic ingredients and the dishes change with the seasons. Michelin-starred chef William Drabble has worked in some of England’s most influential Michelin-starred hotels and restaurants.