Tête-à-tête with the Australian MasterChefs!

MasterChef Australia's judges Gary and George, comes across as two people comfortable in their own skin - confident and at complete ease. They have a great chemistry going and can talk to both children and adults and their charm, can light up a dark room (Ok, I am exaggerating a bit there). They take turns to speak, when one pauses mid-sentence, the other pitches in, adding a funny anecdote or an extra point. They laugh a lot, and make the audience laugh with them.

Watching them speak to a group of invited guests at the event ‘Gary and George Unplugged’ was like seeing a well edited show, and I did think to myself that those two were the greatest showmen!

Interview Excerpts: (Watch the story here @ 10:15 min)

That's George and Gary, Unplugged!

JuniorMasterChef Australia is a wonder show. It surprises me no end how those little children can prepare the things they do…

Look who is cooking too!!

George Calombaris: Well, their families have brought them up in an environment where food is the main focus. I grew up in a family where food was the center of our world and it was at the dinner table that we argued and cried and laughed. When we sit down at the table, we don’t start eating until mom sits down and we don’t leave until dad finishes. Little rituals like these that surround food, makes it exciting. Similarly, these are a select bunch of kids who belong to families that allow them to cook, and not cook to become chefs but cook to celebrate. We are there just there to inspire and guide them.

We measure, we chop, we cut and we cook.

Gary Mehigan: In Australia, many, are what we called 'Helicopter Parents', they keep hovering around their children, worried if they would get hurt, fussing about them... but it is really when you let them be, that they explore their creativity, enjoy what they do and also grow. Take the parents out, and then if they get hurt and have to put on a band-aid, they think of it as a trophy.   

 I have a dream

Is that why your show focuses only on food and stays clear of propaganda and gimmicks.

George Calombaris: If you came to us and said, ‘I want to be on TV’, then we’d probably just turn away. We want to know a person’s dream. It’s an amazing opportunity, a person gets to spend seven months in the MasterChef kitchen meeting some of the greatest chefs in the world and going on to live their dream, and if that dream is to build a pastry shop, doing one cake top at a time or a canteen, it doesn't matter. As long as they have a dream and a clear idea, we want to see them change their life for the better.

On the show, all the contestants appear very friendly, but are they really that good to each other?

George Calombaris: Working with different people is difficult, but they live with each other in a house, and so they have got to get along. It takes them a couple of weeks, but they soon learn that when they are together they do better and also learn from each other. And that helps in the kitchen, for example, Philippe Mouchel who was in Season 4, was great with bread and soon everyone was asking him how it could be done.

Gary Mehigan: It is interesting really. When they come into the show, they believe they can learn off us or from the other chefs in the show, but they soon figure that they learn as much from each other as they do, from any of us.

Victory celebrations at the MasterChef kitchen

Things follow a predictable pattern these days, and we know how it will turn out. The show is shot over six-seven months, so if you are in the top four, then you have been living in the same house with each other for six months. First day: Top 50 is ecstatic, and couldn't imagine anything happier than this in life; soon they form groups... and before long they become disillusioned and wonder why they were even doing this. They have forgotten why they went on the show in the first place, and then we have to sort of help keep things in focus for them.

Most of them think that they can come on the show and just cook, but in reality television is a slow and intricate process, and at times we have to sit them down and let them know that what they have got here is a whole life experience. It is preparing them for something new – it teaches them how to behave on television, how to interview, how to do a photo-shoot. It’s after they realise this, that they relax and begin to really enjoy being on MasterChef.

From what is seen on MasterChef is one to presume that people in Australia eat elaborate or fancy meals?

MasterChef Australia Special

Gary Mehigan: No, people lead simple lives actually, but MasteChef has taught them how to look at everyday things and create something new using them. The trick is to shop differently, because then you don’t have to go into the kitchen and see the same old things every day. The reality is that there is only so much that you can do, but if you bought things like Chinese black vinegar or soya sauce or mustard oil then you can cook differently.

MasterChef Australia did spark an overdrive of cookery shows. In fact we had MasterChef India, but that was a disaster…

George Calombaris: Maybe it is a great show, and you guys were not giving them a chance, because every journo we spoke to has told us that it was a disaster.

Gary Mehigan: We met Ajay Chopra three days ago, and he is a great chef. He said that the worst thing for MasterChef India was that the expectations from it. But from what I have heard, they had approached the show differently. It was a little harder, authoritarian and sterner. But we have always been encouraging - giving constructive feedback, one negative and always two positives. I think that is the secret of getting the best out of people. And I also think it is indicative of the way people and society is, like in Australia we have a different way of living, which encourages people through schools, colleges, and the whole support network and we try not to be negative. This is a very Aussi characteristic. And we treat everybody the same.

Firing up an appetite

MasterChef Australia has also sparked the love for good food, wouldn't you agree?

Gary Mehigan: I don’t think there is anything more topical than food. Let’s be honest, it is food and water and we want to know where our food comes from, whether it was grown property and if it’s sustainable. Also if we can go on eating the way we do, for centuries to come. And there couldn't have been a better time, that globally food has become such a hot topic.

And what would you say to the idea of adding a bit of food history to your show, maybe explore the concept of food metaphors and origins, historically I mean.

George Calombaris: Matt Preston does a lot of that. We try and connect dishes with history, where it is grown, some nostalgia and childhood memories. Because when you try and cook something on the show, it comes from somewhere, and there is a personal story.

Gary Mehigan: And you know what, we have got to make it entertaining. We are very popular with the middle demographics and children. So we have got to make that show appealing and entertaining and we have to follow the stories of the contestants and make them cook. 

So if you want a food history show, then you can flip the channel, watch it and take notes and do all of that, but when you are talking to an audience that is 8-12 years old, like we do on MasterChef Australia, you've got to make food fun and when you are talking to an audience who cooks very simply, you have got to make the idea of cooking something elaborate, fun - which is what we try and do.

Enthusiastic 8-12 year olds @ the kitchen

And with that, they were gone – whisked away by the organisers to judge the 'Creative Cooking for Kids' competition organised as part of Oz Fest India. 

PS: Picture credit goes to google.