MASTERCHEF winner Gary Maclean will star in a new show that aims to prove you can cook a three-course meal for just £15 with items bought from your local corner shop.
The Corner Shop Cook-Off will showcase the skills of some of Scotland’s best chefs as they battle out to show that last-minute convenience shopping doesn’t mean disappointing diners.
“It’s kind of Antiques Roadshow versus Masterchef on a budget,” laughed Gary as he summed up the show’s concept.
He continued: “Everything about this show is completely different.”
Hosted by former Altered Images singer and actress Clare Grogan, the show will see Gary travel to corner shops all over the country where he will take part in a cook-off with chefs.
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Each has only £15 to create their three best courses before local shop customers come in to rate their plates.
“The surprise for me and the other chefs involved was what we came up with,” Gary said.
He added: “We had some shops, where absolutely 95 percent of the shop wasn’t food that we could use.
“Then there were others that were totally amazing that would match any big supermarket, so it was just finding that in between.
“Throughout the show, I think you will see how well we do with £15.
“You have to think about it, you have to plan and strategise.
“When you see us walk into that shop and meet that shopkeeper it’s all real, we have not been in it before. We haven’t seen it, half the time we don’t even know where we are so there is that mystery where even the chefs are kept in the dark.”
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Although the show is competitive, it places the corner shop at the heart of it to reflect its importance in communities.
Gary said: “The corner shop is something that we are losing but it is still the absolute heart and soul of these rural communities.
“The shopkeepers are like superheroes in these areas. Everyone knows their name, there is high fives, kisses, and cuddles.
“It was just amazing to witness that when we were not shooting.
“It was just lovely to see and it was a real sense of community.
“You could tell they were right at the heart of it. It was really special.”
Gary, 48, has come a long way since winning Masterchef: The Professionals in 2016.
He became Scotland’s first-ever National Chef the following year, a role that includes promoting Scottish produce to the world stage.
He continues to train budding chefs at Glasgow Clyde College which he combines with a TV career and running a family with five kids - he is dad to Cameron, 23, Ewan, 19, Laura, 18, Findlay, 7 and Harris, 6.
And despite balancing his various commitments, he did not lose his edge on Corner Shop Cook-Off.
“Chefs are competitive, always,” he smiled.
He added: “The calibre of chefs I was up against was a real challenge. It was real competition for every single plate of food that went up. It was nail-biting stuff.
“There was a wee bit of, dare I say it, some of the chefs would buy things in order for the other chef to come in and not get it. So there was a bit of game playing and a bit of fun that way.
“I also believe there was one of the chefs in someone’s back garden nicking rhubarb.”
Part of the charm of the show for viewers is presenter Clare Grogan whose bubbly personality draws you in from the get-go.
The Glasgow-born star helped set the tone for the show as Gary explains.
“I got on great with Clare, she was an absolute barra of laughs.
“She set the tone for the show with her craziness and she doesn’t take things too seriously.”
He added: “Clare is a real foodie as well.
“She was on Celebrity Masterchef, she loves her food and she owns restaurants.
“She has a real strong food background, every time she would say something to you, you were always second-guessing yourself.”
Having settled into the limelight comfortably since his Masterchef win, Gary admits that TV is something he loves.
He said: “I have never been nervous on it ever.
“I had a training ground on the Riverside Show on the STV Glasgow channel which is live and that was nerve-wracking.
“When you do 40 of those shows, you soon forget the cameras are there.
“I think that helped with Masterchef.
“I am never really that fussed with cameras when it is recorded.
“The secret is just to try to be yourself because the edit is you and that is all you can do.”
Watch Corner Shop Cook-Off on BBC Scotland on Wednesday at 8 pm.
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