DURING the day, Ian Jeffery is busy helping Bolton's HIV sufferers. But out-of-hours, the 34-year-old is transformed into an obsessive cook.

His expertise in the kitchen has won Ian high acclaim on the BBC's Masterchef programme and in a new book taken from the popular series.

Keen Masterchef viewers can tune into Ian cooking up a treat in front of the cameras on June 1 - and will be able to follow Ian's battle for the coveted top title on Sundays.

And from May 17, readers will be able to follow his recipes, and cooking tips every Saturday in an exciting new BEN column.

The show is a "realisation of a dream" for Ian who began cooking only 12 years ago.

"My mum told me that one day I would probably live on my own so she taught me how to cook. Nothing exciting, but I knew how to do it. It wasn't until I began working as a waiter in a restaurant in Portsmouth that I began to take a real interest, " Ian, who is Bolton's HIV co-ordinator, said.

Ian thinks nothing about using his close friends as "guinea pigs" - in fact a visit to his Halliwell home is a real eye-opener. You'll hear his partner shouting "oh no - not more chocolate cake!"

Ian, of Harvey Street, admits to being "obsessional" about cooking. While his friends are reading hard-hitting novels and romantic fiction, Ian pours over recipes from magazines.

And his successes (and disasters) are legendary as guests at his frequent dinner parties are made to test his culinary skills.

"I can make them eat three starters, two main courses and three puddings in one meal! I just say: 'Try that out for me' - and see the look of horror on their faces."

Ian's mouth-watering recipe for TV has been featured in the new Masterchef book now out at all good bookshops.

Ian, who spent restless nights going over the intricate details of his menu, explained:"Appearing on TV was like a dream. I was as nervous as hell and virtually sick. But once I got stuck in it worked out alright - it was quite fun."

It was Ian's second attempt at getting through tough regional heats to appear on the programme.

The first time he applied in 1995 resulted in failure - but Ian had got the bug and was determined to appear on TV.

"I really worked hard to prepare for the next year after that," Ian explained: "I cooked lots and lots of food. I used to reel off ideas and got all my friends to taste dishes.

"One weekend, I decided to try a chocolate cake - after six attempts I gave up. I never thought people could complain about eating too much chocolate. But my friends did!

"I used to go to bed with my head spinning with ideas."

The regional heats for Masterchef 1997 were staged at Salford University last September.

Ian recalls: "I was so relieved to find out that I had got through. Then I had to submit three different complete menus for the televised contest. It was very frantic."

His cooking is a far cry from his day time job as HIV co-ordinator for Bolton.

Ian said: "I liaise with the department of health over many issues to do with HIV and develop and manage staff training.

"I also help develop authority policy and strategy on HIV as well as being the main co-ordinator of Bolton's contribution to World Aids Day."

And Ian's obsession with cooking is the perfect way for the local man to switch-off from his high-pressured job.

"It is hard to keep my obsession with cooking from overspilling into my every day job.

"But now that I have realised a dream, I would like to develop a career in cooking. I would give up my day job to do this."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.