A West Cork chef is cooking up a storm after bringing a dash of Irish flavour to TV’s MasterChef UK.

Emily Haworth (50), from Ballydehob, was a contestant in the most recent series of the popular cooking show, surviving all the way to episode five when she was voted off.

Home cook Emily, who was born in Manchester, said: ‘It was a very exciting experience and definitely the bravest thing I’ve done in my life. For me it’s one of those bucket list things you get to do only once.’

Emily said that after being voted off the show by judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace, she felt down for a while and even thought about giving up cooking for good. ‘You get through those emotions and I’m back cooking like I’ve never done before,’ Emily said.

‘It took six to seven months of work before I was selected and before filming started. During that time I was in my kitchen with lots of post-it notes to write down recipe ideas and ingredients,’ said Emily.

‘It’s very intense and you’re under a lot of pressure. In the first heat I burnt my asparagus but managed to go through. The production team look after you really well.’

During the filming of the show, Emily became close to contestants Gabriel, Olivia and Peter. She says she was lucky to make friends for life on the show, recently meeting up with the three for a reunion in London.

Included in her cooking are the flavours of Italy, where she lived for a couple of years north of Turin and in Bergamo, the home of stracciatella ice cream.

The dishes Emily prepared on MasterChef were inspired by Irish folklore and food stories, with ingredients such as fuchsia nectar in a fuchsia cream and Carrageen Moss in puddings.

And besides cooking, the Ballydehob chef has worked as an advanced podiatrist with a focus on diabetes for the past 25 years, including for the NHS in Swansea and most recently for the HSE.

‘Sunday is my favourite day of the week, spending time with my three children and developing new plates and dishes,’ she said.

A traditional Irish favourite and a staple in her kitchen is Haddock Chowder with soda bread made with buttermilk. And she revealed that much of her cooking takes inspiration from the artisan food producers and markets in Schull, Bantry and Skibbereen.

Emily’s next project is hosting a series of secret supper clubs in West Cork and Kerry, and she has other culinary plans bubbling, yet to be revealed.