The shoot with Marcus Wareing was very much themed toward his TV critiquing presence on Masterchef Professionals. Jonny Ensall, intrepid Deputy Editor of Time Out, had the daunting task of presenting a batch of home-baked mince pies to the chef to taste. Not famed for biting his tongue in such situations, Marcus delivered a tirade of good-natured abuse toward the crumbling, over baked, mince pie, eventually citing the conclusion that Jonny had ruined Christmas.

Oh well.

However, following the outrage, came a host of constructive, helpful tips for improvement which left Jonny opting to try again, only with matured mince, and a less deep pan (I was listening in of course for my own baking progress).  The whole session was really good fun and certainly put me in the Christmas spirit. Marcus, though blunt at times, is a really good-natured man with a twinkle in those piercing, blue eyes.