Masterchef winner Sherina Permalou talks about her kitchen mistakes

The MasterChef winner admitted he's a disaster in the kitchen “all day, every day”.

Sherina Permalou, from Southampton, won the cookery show in 2012, with judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace saying she “brought sunshine to the plate”.

She has since published a cookbook, opened a restaurant, and returned to the show as a guest judge.

But the British-Mauritian, who has made a name for himself by popularising Mauritian recipes, said all chefs are prone to making mistakes, especially when trying to refine new recipes.

“Just because I cook for a living doesn't mean it's any less of a problem – I think it's even more of a problem,” Permalou told the BBC's Lena Annoville.

“When we think of ourselves as good chefs and something terrible happens in the kitchen, it can feel like our self-esteem takes a huge hit,” she said.

“But it happens all the time, especially when I'm recipe testing. I test recipes every day for clients or companies or whoever commissions me, and tweaking that particular recipe that I make every day is probably the hardest.”

Even writing down the rice recipe is “the hardest,” she says.

“Most of it is judged by eyes, memory, smell and taste. Someone asks, 'Tell me how many grams of rice you used,' and you say, 'A handful.'”

Parmaloo's winning menu on Masterchef included octopus salad for starter, mutton curry for main and mango cannelloni with lime curd for dessert.

“When I was doing the show, I didn't think my food was good enough,” she said.

“At the time, no one in the British culinary world was cooking my food, so it was a total shock when John and Greg announced I was the winner.”

She said continuing to cook food that is true to her traditions keeps her “grounded.”

“I think I was 11 years old the first time I went to Mauritius,” she explained.

“So from age zero to age 11, food was something that brought me closer to my culture.”