A HARINGEY chef who became the youngest ever champion of MasterChef has described his life since winning as “crazy”.

Tim Anderson, 26, was revealed as the winner of the BBC contest last Wednesday, and has since been busy fielding offers from across the food industry.

Mr Anderson, who lives in Green Lanes near Turnpike Lane, battled his way through 11 weeks of challenges on the show and fought off competition from 19 other contestants.

He said: “Crazy is the right word to describe what it's been like – I run a pub outside Euston Station, so I've been juggling that with all the offers coming in.

“As well as lots of cooking offers, I've been asked to curate an art exhibition, do a lot of writing and I've had interviews to do all week.

“But I want to make the most of it as I can while it lasts, so I'm going to give up the bar, do some writing and ultimately the aim is to open my own restaurant.”

He was born in Racine, Wisconsin, America, where he lived with his parents and brother until he was 18, before going to college in Los Angeles.

After meeting his wife Laura while teaching in Japan four years ago, he discovered a passion for Japanese food. The couple moved to England two years ago and decided to enter MasterChef.

He said: “I've always loved to cook and I've always been pretty good at it – at least I thought so.

“I watched the show for a couple of years and I thought it would be fun to enter.

“The big, silly, long term goal is to have an empire, hopefully including several regional Japanese restaurants and an American-style brewpub.

“But for the moment I'm really anxious to get into some professional kitchens and work in whatever capacity I can.

“I still have so much to learn about how a kitchen and a restaurant operates, from nuts and bolts things like butchery and knife skills and sauces up to ordering, accounting and staffing.

“Then I'll be ready to open a restaurant that focuses on the cuisine of southern Japan while still allowing a few creative, personal dishes.”

Mr Anderson found out that he had won the show last December and had to keep it a secret from everyone apart from his wife until the final show had screened last week.

He said: “There were a few times that I might have let things slip, but once you've decided not to tell anyone you get into the right mindset.”

Tim will be appearing at the BBC Summer Good Food show in June, click here for more information.