A professional DJ and an “outstanding” St Albans cook whizzed straight through to the next round of BBC1’s MasterChef last night (April 27).

Tyttenhanger local, Lyndsay Evans, joined the other contestants to serve at Roux at Parliament Square for the first task - she cooked up a seabass with salsify, mushrooms, cavolo nero, and red wine sauce.

She described the challenge as “fast and furious”, a “baptism of fire”, and a “learning curve”.

For the second half of the show, the candidates were given an hour and 20 minutes to prepare one dish, judged by Michelin star chef Tom Kitchin.

Lyndsay made venison with pickled blackberries, crumbed with toasted hazelnuts and black pudding, glazed carrots, cavalo nero, parsnip purée and parsnip crisps - which Tom Kitchin described as “outstanding”.

He said: “The venison is cooked to perfection, the purée is beautiful, the blackberries work fantastically with the venison. The attention to detail, for an amateur cook, you should be very, very proud.”

Judge Gregg Wallace said: “Tom loved it, he was in raptures about her - the way she cooked the meat, the quality of her sauce, her choice of accompaniments.”

The next episode will air tonight (April 28) at 8.30pm.