- She beat Verónica in the final duel with a menu that told the story of who she was with the flavours and typical products of the places where she has lived.
- Winning menu: almadraba tuna and tomato and manzanilla juice; marinated langoustine on cap i pota juice; and pistachio and matcha tea sponge cake, lychee sorbet and an air of lychee and yuzu.
- The final led its time slot and up to 4,871,000 people followed the programme at some point.
She is 32 years old, has a real passion for cooking and her veins are full of Hong Kong and Cadiz blood. María Lo, the winner of ‘MasterChef 10’, always had clear objectives: to learn, improve and grow as a person and as a cook. She won after a duel with Verónica in the grand final of the programme, which had an average audience of 1,769,000 viewers and an audience share of 17.8%, with 4,871,000 followers at one point. The final was the leader in its broadcasting time slot and achieved the most watched minute on La 1 at 23:54, with 2,068,000 viewers and a 20.7% share, on a day in which La 1 led the late night with 17.6%.
The tenth season of ‘MasterChef’ has obtained an average linear audience of 1,641,000 viewers, 14.6% share, which rises to 2,102,000 and 17.2% when adding the deferred audience.
María Lo, new MasterChef España
The judges and Ferran Adriá tasted the duelists’ creations. María Lo cooked a menu that told the story of who she was with the flavours and typical products of the places where she has lived, while Verónica opted for seasonal products from the four seasons. “It was one of the closest and most exciting finals in our history. Two strong women fighting for their passion, to prove that there is no other way to success than through hard work and effort. Both of you have worked with great concentration and organisation, with incredible neatness and cleanliness, you have prepared two brave and ambitious menus”, the judges acknowledged.
Last night, María Lo was finally able to lift the MasterChef España trophy and the briefcase with the 100,000 euro prize. In addition, her recipe book will soon be published and next year she will attend the Master’s course in Cooking, Technique and Product at the Basque Culinary Center. This institution will also train Verónica, with a Master’s degree in Patisserie, and David, with an eight-week specialisation course in avant-garde culinary techniques.
Ode to Cádiz, Galician-Catalan fusion and aromas from the East
María Lo began the service with an ode to Cádiz. Her starter ‘Essences of the South’ was composed of tomato and manzanilla juice, almadraba tuna, pickled spring onion and fake piparra caviar. “Your cuisine already expresses who you are in a very clear way. You have created a very balanced dish, where you don’t overdo the flavour of the tuna, and with a lot of good sense. It’s nice to find an amateur chef who already has clear ideas”, congratulated Jordi Cruz.
For the main dish, she brought together two places that are very important to her: Galicia, where she left at the age of 18 “looking for her way”, and Catalonia, where she lives. She designed ‘Sabores del norte’, a marinated langoustine on cap i pota juice, celeriac spheres, caviar lentils and Iberian ham powder. “It’s tastier than I thought it would be. You have managed to make the dish elegant, beautiful, rich… Without flaws or fissures. You have made it clear that langoustine is a top-quality product and that lentils can be too, as can cap i pota”, said Jordi Cruz.
To finish, he offered ‘Aromas of the Orient’, a pistachio and matcha tea sponge, spicy white chocolate cream, pink pepper crumble, lychee sorbet and an air of lychee and yuzu. Ferran Adriá praised this “vertical tart” and liked the lightness of the lychee. The winner did not want to forget her oriental roots, that part “so deeply rooted” in her, but which she did not identify as a child “for fear of being different”. Pepe Rodríguez advised her to get rid of that “fear”, because she perfectly united “the West with the East”.
Risk and courage
Last year, Verónica was just one step away from entering ‘MasterChef’, but she didn’t give up. “I came to ‘MasterChef’ to prove to myself that I could do this and now I have all the ingredients to get out of here, put it into practice and make it real,” said Verónica after the great duel.
Her starter, ‘Primavera’, consisted of a pea smoothie, sautéed elvers, morels confit, garlic foam and white asparagus air. With his main dish, ‘Verano’, he paid tribute to Ribadesella, “his summer land”, made with lobster, seaweed and shellfish soup, crustacean gelée, coral sponge cake, cider gel and egg yolk sauce. And to close, he served a chocolate sponge cake with spiced pumpkin cream, celeriac and lime ice cream, chestnut crumble, and salted tonka bean toffee christened ‘Autumn and winter’.
