MasterChef Australia

With Season 12 starting this Monday we asked previous contestant Jimmy Wong to give us a behind the scenes look into the show.

Jimmy Wong appeared on MasterChef Australia Season 8 as one of the top 24 contestants.  Since appearing on MasterChef Australia, season 8, he has carved out a niche as a Food Photographer, Brand Ambassador and Private Cook collaborating on everything from food demonstrations, food pop-ups and  TV show appearances.

Jimmy’s cooking style has been influenced by his travels, love of eating and his working experience in kitchens such as  Bondi Icebergs, Quay, Marque, Salaryman, Koi and Flour & Stone. 

We put some interesting questions to Jimmy to find out what life is really like on the MasterChef Australia set.

• Is the food eaten cold by the judges? The time it takes for the judges to try the food varies, however the team does a great job in keeping the food either hot or cold for the tasting.
• Do you have more time on the clock than what we see? The time you see is the time we have. The show does a great job in maintaining the time. You really have to be on your toes, thinking about your dish, grabbing your ingredients and equipment, preparing your ingredients, cooking and plating.
• Who was your favourite judge? This is a really hard question, but I am going to say Matt, for the time he shared with us, before and after our cook in the kitchen, I really appreciated his feedback. 
• Living in the MasterChef house, was there any drama? What happens in the house stays in the house, I reflect back and can honestly say, I had a blast!
• Did you have to wash all the pots and pans? In the house we had to do all our dishes, but in the Kitchen we were very lucky to have this incredible team we lovingly called the cleaning ninjas…. so efficient!
• What if you couldn’t think of anything to cook? This very rarely happens as most of us had a dish or two  up our sleeves that we could use to suit most of the times in the kitchen, or just turn on those creative juices.
• How do you know how to use all the equipment? Honestly, we don’t know how to use everything in the kitchen, but as you progress through the show, you learn. Just hope its not the moments when you could be going home!