Britain’s Well-Loved Celebrity Chef Ross Burden

New Zealand chef Ross Burden, who became a celebrity in the UK after reaching the final of BBC MasterChef in 1993, has died in Auckland, aged 45 of an infection relating to treatment for leukemia.

Burden went on to appear for a decade on the programme Ready Steady Cook, first alongside the host Fern Britton and later with Ainsley Harriott.

His film star good looks and winning smile led the tabloids to bill him Britain’s most eligible bachelor and the tastiest man in Britain.

Napier-born Burden was also one of the first television chefs to advocate seasonal produce, particularly in Britain, questioning why we buy certain fruit or vegetables throughout the year when they are out of season and artificially preserved. He reflected this passion in his recipes.

“I remember the two weeks in the year when I could pick and eat my granny’s raspberries and how much sweeter they tasted after waiting a tantalising 50 weeks to eat them.”

During his career in the UK, Burden’s fame won him several well-known private clients for catering events, including the Princess Royal and the actress Joan Collins, and he went on to set up his own catering company, serving fine food to the rich, famous or royal. Collins joined him in a healthy-eating video.

Having carved a career and fame in the UK, Burden returned to New Zealand in 2009 to be a judge on New Zealand MasterChef.

Original article by: Phil Davison, Herald Scotland, July 26, 2014

Photo by: TVNZ, Masterchef