2019-09-01 Woolworths Taste

PORTRAIT

MARK ROPER

INTERVIEW

LORI COHEN

The hardest part

of being a judge on

MasterChefAustralia

is sayinggoodbyetocontestantswhen

we’renotreadytoseethemgo.Wehavea

verystrictrulethattheworstdishis theone

togo.Ourviewersexpecttransparency,and

theyunderstand,likeinGameofThrones,the

heromayleavetheshow.Butthat’swhat

makesit socompelling.Upuntilthelastthree

years,thefavouriteneverwon.Theeasiest

partis eatingcake,whichwedoa lotof.

WetalkaboutMasterChefbeing

aboutknowledge,technique,and

talent,butdealingwithpressureis really

crucial.InseasonninewehadSarahTiong

andKarlieVerkerkwhowerethebestcooks

we’ve ever seen in theMasterChef kitchen.

atthebackofthefridge? We turn that into

somethingamazing.

I cooka lot,butI’mnota chef,

I’ma homecook.Thegreatskillof

a chefis tobeabletobalancealltheorders

andmakesurethatthedishescome

outwhenthey’reready.Whenwegoto

a restaurant,weexpectthefoodtobe

onthemoney.That’sa crazy amount

ofstress.I couldn’tdoit.

Chefsentera flowstateinthe

kitchenwherethey’retotally

focused,whichcanbegoodandbad.

Whenchefsgetintothatstate,theyget

stressed,andthere’sresearchthatshows

stressaffectsyourabilitytotastesalt.Soyou

tendtogetstressedchefsoverseasoning.

ThetweezersyouseeGeorgeCalombaris

usingcametoprominencewithchef

AndoniAdurizwhohasa restaurantcalled

MugaritzinSanSebastian,Spain(no.9 on

theWorld’s 50 Bestlist).Heusesa lotof

flowersonhisdishes.Heintroducedthe

tweezersnottomaketheflowerslook

pretty;it wastoslowthechefsdown.

Mycomfortfoodis mymother-

in-law’slambstewcookedin

pineapplejuicewithwalnutsthrowninat

theend.It’ssweetandsour;it’sgota bit

ofcurrypowder.It’sreal,classicAustralian

cooking.Whensettlerscameoverfrom

Europe,theyoftenstoppedinCalcuttaand

theystockedup,whichis whyyoufind

a lotofoldcountryAustralian recipes

usecurrypowder.

Ofmytwograndmothers,one

wasa goodcook,theotherwasa bad

cook.I equallyloveeatingthedishesthe

badcookmadebecause they bring back

memoriesofher.

I thinkthere’sa rolethatour

memoryplaysintastingfood.

There’sa wonderfulscientistcalled

DrCharlesSpenceofOxfordwhoexplores

thingslikethis.Asa kid,I usedtolove

stickingmyfingerinthepeanutbutterjar.

I realisedI didn’tlikedoingit anymoreas

anadult.I askedhimwhy,andheaskedme

if thebottlehadchanged.Ofcourse,thejar

wasplastic,nolongerglass.This changed

thewayit tastedforme.

Follow @mattscravat on Instagram

Theybothtoldmetheywoke

uponthemorningtheywere

eliminatedandthought“today’s

theday”.Theyblewup.The

pressuregottothem.Diana

Chan,whowonthatyear,was

superfocused.It’shard,but

wealwaysfeelthat the right

personwins.

Whenwedoan

inventiontest,there’s

nowaywecantaste

thefoodwarm.Eachtasting

takesabout 15 minutessoafter

thefirstdish,they’recold.To

getaroundthis,wetastewhile

they’recookingandwhenwe’re

walkingaroundandthenatthe

endofthecook,wegoaround

totastetheelementsandcheck

themeatis cooked.It’sthe

onlywaywe’ve found to make

it work.

HestonBlumenthal

taughtmea brillianttrick.

Whenyoufryyouronionswitha head

ofstaranise,it givesthema meatyflavour.

It makesnosense,butit works.He’sbeen

onalmosteveryseason;welovehaving

Heston.It’salwaysa buzz.Heis amazing,

inspiring,andsometimesimpossibleto

understand.He’sa truegenius, and he’s

becomea goodmate.

Weallwastesomuchfood.

I’dloveeveryonetothinkabouthaving

“LeftoverSundays”usingwhat’sleftover

inyourfridge.Whenyouputleftoversin

yourfridge,putthemateyelevelsoyou

canseethemandremembertoeatthem.

Inmyfamily,wedo“AmnestyWednesday”.

Anyfruitthat’slookinga bitsadinthefruit

bowlgoesintoa crumble.Thatrandom

baby marrow and few mushrooms sitting

TABLE TALK

WHATI KNOW NOW

Matt Preston

AshepreparestoexittheMasterChefkitchen,heoftheflamboyant

cravatsdishesupsometastybehind-the-scenesinfo,sharesa genius

trick by Heston Blumenthal and makes a case for Leftover Sundays

38 TASTE SEPTEMBER 2019