MasterChef Australia 2019: Patterson Lakes bar manager Blake Werner hopes hospo stint will be winning ingredient

Blake Werner is hoping a quail dish that mixes his Italian past with his Spanish present will kickstart his food journey.

Blake Werner on MasterChef 2019.

A bar manager from Patterson Lakes is a step closer to his food dream after gaining a chance to compete for an apron on TV cooking show MasterChef Australia.

Blake Werner, 23, auditioned for the Channel 10 show after some good-natured nagging from his mates.

“I think they got sick of me clogging their Insta news feeds with food photos,” he said.

“So I decided to have a go.”

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Mr Werner, who grew up on the Mornington Peninsula, said his audition dish was inspired by his Italian grandmother and his parents’ Spanish restaurant Peurto in Patterson Lakes.

“My mum is Italian and her mum grew up with quails in the backyard. They used to have quail bolognese,” he said.

“I served quail wrapped in jamon with romesco and a smoked goat’s cheese. It was a mix of both Spanish and Italian.”

Mr Werner said he cooked the dish so many times in the lead up to the competition that his family and friends were now “not keen” to have it again.

“I practised and practised. I wanted it to be perfect.”

Mr Werner said managing the bar at Peurto had shown him a “true picture” of hospitality industry.

“It’s so much tougher than people realise. Working in my parents’ restaurant has given me a good grounding,” he said.

He said cooking had been a passion for years.

Blake Werner loves to forage for mushrooms around Red Hill

“When I’m not working I love to get back to the Mornington Peninsula and forage for mushrooms or go fishing,” he said.

“I love the idea of pulling something from the ground or the bay and using it to create a dish.

“Ultimately I would like to have a restaurant of my own.”

Werner will have an hour to produce his speciality dish for judges Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris.

If all three judges like their dish, he’ll receive an apron and entry into the MasterChef competition.

MasterChef Australia premieres tonight Network 10 at 7.30pm.