A LOT of people out there might think of themselves as a Michelin-starred cook, but one TV chef from the North East has now challenged “keyboard cooks” to “put up or shut up” in a technical food challenge.
After getting to the quarter-final of MasterChef in 2016, Matei Baran has called on food bloggers from the North East to “cut the chat and cook” by challenging him to a food-based test each month.
In recent times, Mr Baran has opened a new restaurant, ‘Posh Street Food’, in Seaburn to rave reviews, but that hasn’t stopped the outspoken chef from claiming that there "seem to be more bloggers out there than ‘proper cooks".
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Now that he’s in the position to give people an opportunity to challenge him and prove they know their curries to their chowders and their mussels to their mackerel, the Romanian-born chef knows all too aware that ill-informed criticism by “keyboard cooks” can have a devastating impact on other businesses.
Mr Baran said: “Sometimes they damage a restaurant’s reputation even though they don’t have a clue.
“I wonder how they would react if they worked in a kitchen, cooked for guests and being told face-to-face whether or not they liked your food.”
To put his theory to the test, the chef is inviting one blogger a month to take part in a cook-off at his ‘Posh Street Food’ restaurant at STACK Seaburn.
From there, it will then be down to members of the public to decide who wins the contest during a blind tasting.
Mr Baran added: “On the few occasions I’ve seen bloggers cook, I’ve not been impressed.
“Their white scrambled eggs didn’t look very white; their asparagus was far too green, and their short rib was too short.”
To many who know the chef, this recent challenge offer might come as no surprise; he’s no stranger to controversy.
Two years ago, the owners of the Little Chef brand threatened to take legal action against him after they discovered he was planning to call his children’s cookbook “Big Chef Little Chef”.
They refused to back down, even though all Little Chef roadside restaurants were closed and proceeds from the book’s sale were going to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust – a charity that is close to the chef’s heart. Mr Baran’s young son, Armin, was born with the life-limiting disease.
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In the end, the book went ahead with a last-minute change of name: “Big Chef, Mini Chef”.
Aside from owning the ‘Posh Street Food’ restaurant, which opened in October, Mr Baran also runs a café at the Stepney Banks Stables in Newcastle.
He moved to the UK from Romania in 2009 to complete his cooking education, and now he concentrates on helping others through food.
The chef has created a successful project called the Kitchen Therapy project, which uses cooking and team-working to help adults and children develop their skills and self-confidence.
Throughout lockdown, Mr Baran, in partnership with Middlesbrough Football Club’s foundation, also made and delivered hundreds of meals to key workers as well as vulnerable people around Teesside.
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