I always had a passion for cooking, but it was never clear whether I wanted to go full board on this. When a friend of mine mentioned that the auditions were coming up and all I had to do was fill up the form and submit, I jumped to it straight away thinking, why not? I was in a job that I was beginning to despise, time to venture into something else.
I sat down at a coffee shop to get some peace and quiet from all that's going on at home and at work and filled up the forms and submitted. That was done and so off I went into the World Wide Web and started researching all kinds of recipe at the same time MasterChef Australia was running in the background.
I sat down at a coffee shop to get some peace and quiet from all that's going on at home and at work and filled up the forms and submitted. That was done and so off I went into the World Wide Web and started researching all kinds of recipe at the same time MasterChef Australia was running in the background.
I have always love watching MasterChef since I found out about it, went and stream it, and studied it for fun and my own knowledge. Never thought I would ever be in it. At the same time, I improvise on the food I cooked all the time and was figuring out what should I cook if I do get called for the auditions.
The call came in after like a month since I submitted the forms, and by this time, I have already quit my job and started looking for a new one. I was called for the auditions at KDU. And what I was going to bring was my all time dish that I would cook every time there was a party to attend or have, Lasagna. I have always loved Italian food, and it's hard to find really good Lasagnas here in KL. I did try out the timing for cooking the dish and I did it within an hour. So off I went to KDU with my dish. I even made a special casing for one portion as to make a whole tray would not be feasible and it would not harden in time for a beautiful presentation.
It was a Friday, so traffic was a little hectic since I had to leave early to be there by 9.30AM. Went there with all my stuff smiling like a retard the whole way. It felt great to think that some of the top Chefs in Malaysia will be tasting my dish. Got there, and I turned a few heads since I was carrying my dish in my 5 inch heels (Yes, I'm obsessed with heels and wear them everyday! :P) but that's just me :) Registered myself, my number 5029. Was ushered into the KDU Multipurpose Hall where we have 5 minutes to set up the dish, reheating and plating. The crews were very friendly and helpful. 5 minutes up and my dish was plated.
Beef Lasagna served with Garden Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette and Garlic Bread (It's not Italian if there's no garlic :P). And so I waited and waited for the judging session, was a little nerve wrecked because I was going to meet Chef Joe and Chef Zubir. Chef Joe has been known in the food industry as one of the Chef with more than 30 years experience and Chef Zubir, Executive Chef at Le Meridien and I have dine there before and it was gastronomical!
Finally our numbers were called, 5027, 5028 and 5029. 3 of us, all girls went in together, one girl with Shepherd's Pie and another with Chicken Tajine, So we had 1 minute to introduce ourselves and why we selected the dish to be presented to them, The judges were Chef Joe, Chef Zubir and Josephine, one of the top people in the production for MasterChef Malaysia. When it was my turn, I had a little trouble speaking in Malay because I have always communicated in English 80% of the time, forgive me, I have improved now :) I explained how this would be the dish everyone would request for me to prepare whenever there is a gathering or parties to attend and the pasta is also made fresh and I have always loved Italian cooking.
Chef Zubir was whispering to Chef Joe about the pasta and both of them nodded while Josephine was taking a second bite of the Lasagna. I took it as a good sign that they liked it. Smiles! Chef Joe said that it's good that the portion is big but to big for one person but taste good and he was impressed with the fact that the pasta sheets were made fresh and if I do get through to the cook off, he would like to see me make the pasta sheets on that day. In my head 'Crap, this is gonna be challenging!' as I've only tried doing it with fresh pasta 3 times and 2 times I exceeded the 1 hour limit. All 3 of us received our comments and we left the room. Now on to the next room.
This time there were 3 rooms, 2 for interviewing session and one for waiting session. The interview session was about getting to know our personalities and our characters. It is a reality show, so they would need to find people who had an interesting background. These rooms, we entered alone. 3 interviewers were in there room, Azlin, one of the Astro people, Syikin, from Double Vision and Rudy from Harian Metro (as I remembered him from when I was working PR and frequented Harian Metro).
Taken from MasteChef Malaysia Facebook
They started asking me a lot of personal questions which I rather not divulge into :P They were not convinced at first, Rudy already said no but Azlin said yes (gosh it felt like I was in American Idol for one second) and it was down to Syikin, she said I have 30 seconds to convince her. I blabbered on and she said yes! Phew!
Taken from MasterChef Malaysia Facebook
On to the next room, the waiting room! Here we wait while they gathered a bunch of the files of the contestants and evaluate. In this room is where I first met Zery Zamry, one of the Top 24 contestants. We all had a chat, it took the judges a while, I think it was like half an hour before they came in. And I was ready to just drop. I've never been so nervous in my life! They announced 2 names that got through to the cook off then Azlin gather all the papers and just smiled at us, and said 'Unfortunately...' My heart drop, my smile went away... 'All of you have to come back this Sunday for the cook off because all of you made it through!!!!!' All 8 of us! Happy again, gosh she gave me a shock! We were all celebrating, cameras came in, took pictures and videos of us cheering and happy and I went home with the biggest smile on my face! Cook off, here I come!
Love,
Leena
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