MasterChef semi-final hopefuls cook up a storm on Royal Navy warship HMS Diamond in Portsmouth

Tonight’s opening round of semi-final challenges will see the nine contestants travelling to Portsmouth Naval Base.

Working from the galley of £1bn destroyer HMS Diamond, one of the world’s most advanced warships, they will cook a three-course meal for the vessel’s annual Trafalgar Night celebration dinner.

A spokeswoman for the navy said the contestants were ‘put through their paces’ under the watchful eye of some of the Senior Service’s top cooks and faced hurdles unique to serving food on an operational warship, from different equipment to climbing up and down ladders to get around.

Split into three teams of three, they face the enormous task of trying to replicate Royal Navy fine cuisine, cooking - and serving – the food to120 of the ship’s company in Diamond's hangar.

Each team will have to recreate a dish from the menu, designed by Diamond’s head chef, Petty Officer (Catering Services) Russ Aitken, with a starter of seared salmon in brine, asparagus emulsion, pan-fried asparagus, kale chips with chive beurre blanc followed by a lemon and lime sorbet, kicking things off.

The main focuses on roasted venison loin, crispy oyster, bone marrow mash, braised carrot, Brussels sprouts, carrot top gei and a port jus, with a dessert of blackberry mouse, caramel poached pear, blackberry pâté de fruit, spiced pear purée, elderflower gel, tempered white chocolate, white chocolate soil and freeze-dried blackberries to round off the evening.

The navy spokeswoman added it was a fantastic experience for Diamond’s crew and said: ‘The ship’s company, and in particular the catering services team, were really pleased to welcome the team on board and show them life on board a naval warship.

‘The food they produced is typical of the standard of cooking that our talented chefs can produce for special events and the episode clearly demonstrates the pressure of mass catering in small confines that our teams experience every day.’

The first semi-final episode will be shown tonight at 9pm on BBC One.

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