FORMER Masterchef contestant, Paul Shaw, was given the task of reviewing a range of products from the newly reopened food store, COOK in Westbourne.

Paul who lives in Westbourne with his wife Kate and sons Harry, 13, and George, 11, was a BBC Masterchef contestant in 2009 in which he was narrowly pipped to the quarter finals, and was invited back on to the programme in 2010.

He invited Taste writer Nicky Findley and her family to join them for dinner.

Everyone arrived with growing appetites and the menu kicked off with a selection of crostini and filo canapés. If satisfaction and appreciation was measured in the time that it took to clear the plate of canapés it would be rated extremely highly.

Next was a starter of handmade pates, which Paul served with wholemeal toasted bread.

His wife Kate said she wasn’t expecting the kids to enjoy the venison and pistachio paté. “I thought it might be too gamey for them but they wolfed it down! It has quite a sweet flavour and was absolutely delicious, as was the salmon one too.”

Paul then presented the main course, which included slow-cooked rump beef with brandy, cooked with chestnut mushrooms and a rich sauce, served with creamy dauphinoise potatoes, asparagus and carrots.

Paul said he was very impressed with the quality of the ingredients and the texture and flavour.

“The beef had obviously been cooked slowly for a very long time, it was really tender and melted in your mouth.”

He added: “I really love cooking myself and taking the time to prepare and create dishes. “However, there are many occasions when COOK comes in to its own – if you’re time poor, entertaining unexpectedly or simply haven’t learnt to cook to a standard that you’d be happy to for a dinner party for your friends and are trying to impress.

“COOK allows you to be really flexible in your catering as you can mix and match dishes and you can add your own personal touch. For example, I made the caramel sauce to accompany the dessert.”

The choice of dessert was Chocolate and Salted Caramel Pavlova and Mango and Passion fruit cheesecake. Finally, once space in everyone’s stomachs was found, a stunning array of cheeses were served. They had been supplied by Westbourne delicatessen, Badger & Bumble. The choices included, ‘Black Bomber’ Snowdonia’s extra mature cheddar, ‘Mayfield Swiss’ a Swiss style cheese made in East Sussex and ‘Valencay’, which is an unpasteurised goats milk cheese.

Paul concluded: “This evening’s food was a real treat. It certainly surpassed my expectations and the simplicity, speed and ease of preparation was fantastic. We shall definitely be using COOK again, particularly when it’s Kate’s turn to cook!”