- The actress presented a menu called “Biography” with a sequence of Iberian dishes, a hake in green sauce with a pil pil emulsion and a quince jelly with cand hazelnuts.
- Anabel takes the winner’s trophy, an intensive weekend course at the Basque Culinary Center and donates the 25,000 euros of the prize to the Pequeño Deseo Foundation
- La Terremoto, second place winner, wins the applause of the judges and guest chef Pedro Subijana, with a menu dedicated to artists called “Carretera y Manta”
- The last episode of the season recorded a record share of the edition (10.6%)
10 January 2023.- It was her third adventure in ‘MasterChef’, but never before had she been so focused on cooking. Anabel Alonso wins the first edition of ‘MasterChef Christmas Special’. “It has been your best edition, because to cook well you have to cook happily and you have done it. You have cooked for your mother and for your girl”, Jordi Cruz confessed to the actress. After five programmes in which there has been a mix of Christmas atmosphere, fun and haute cuisine, Anabel takes the winner’s trophy in a thrilling final duel against the Terremoto de Alcorcón. The last episode of the season registered a record share of the edition (10.6%), gathering a total of 4,007,000 unique viewers and almost one million viewers on average.
“She came to ‘MasterChef’ for the first time six years ago, but it has been in this edition where her dishes have reached a higher level. As well as being a versatile actress, she is an unbeatable companion and an example of effort, talent and determination”. This is how Pepe Rodríguez presented Anabel Alonso on her arrival at the final duel. And she did not disappoint. Despite her nerves, the actress charmed the judges and guest chef Pedro Subijana with her menu called “Biography”. For the starter, Anabel prepared a sequence of Iberian cured meats with ham consommé and loin toast with cured bacon. For the main course, the actress prepared a skewered hake in green sauce and pil pil emulsion. The menu closed with a dessert of dulce de leche curdled with caramelised hazelnuts.
A menu that revisits the most important places in his life.
With the strength given to her by the visit of her wife Heidi and son Ígor, Anabel presented her creations, all inspired by the “places in her life”, to Pepe Rodríguez, Samantha Vallejo-Nágera, Jordi Cruz and Pedro Subijana. The starter, called “Hasta los andares”, was a tribute to her parents’ family, from Nava de Béjar and Ledrada, “two villages very close to Guijuelo”. Anabel highlighted the value of the pork products and the assessment could not have been better. Pedro Subijana was the first to speak, saying that he could not find any fault with it because “everything is just right”. After the guest, Jordi was the next to take the floor: “It is an unbeatable letter of introduction for a menu that speaks of you. It has no flaws”.
For the main course, Anabel stayed in her homeland, in the Basque Country, to present a dish with hake on a skewer as the central element. “I was born in Bilbao and there is nothing better to define me than this”, confessed the winner of ‘MasterChef Christmas Special’. Such was the level of the work presented that Pedro Subijana said that “he might have copied the spicy touch of the recipe”. Pepe Rodríguez described the dish as “tradition made art”.
After moving from Salamanca to the Basque Country, Anabel transported us to Argentina to close the menu. In the words of the actress, this dulce de leche with caramelised hazelnuts and white chocolate air was “the perfect tribute to a land where the women in my life are: my mother and my wife”. Samantha highlighted the perfect balance of the dessert, so that Pepe closed the evaluations with a nod to the Argentinean people: “It’s delicious. It’s so good that you came, Anabel!
In addition to the winner’s trophy, Anabel won 25,000 euros, which she donated to the Pequeño Deseo Foundation, and a weekend intensive course at the Basque Culinary Center, the prestigious Faculty of Gastronomic Sciences in San Sebastián, along with a companion.
“Carretera y manta”, La Terremoto’s tribute to artists
La Terremoto was clear that she was returning to ‘MasterChef’ to make the most of this second opportunity, “filling these kitchens with excitement, laughter and, above all, fantasy, but also with dishes and preparations of exceptional quality”, as the jury recalled. To face this great final duel, La Terremoto opted for a menu that pays tribute to the artists, called “Carretera y manta” (Road and blanket), which she presented with a great mise-en-scène. As a starter, she prepared a mollusc with blue sea water and ginger oil; as a main course, a deluxe sandwich filled with foie gras and caviar with gold and truffle; and, to finish, a dessert with creamy black sesame, raspberry ice cream and yoghurt spheres. With her dishes, the runner-up won the applause of the judges and guest chef Pedro Subijana.
