MasterChef Singapore’s latest 2-part Special episodes, benefitting President’s Challenge and Social Service Agencies are very special to me. It is a show of commitment (pun intended) from the MasterChef Singapore family, something we all truly believe in. MasterChef Singapore has become a platform for every person in Singapore with an F&B dream irrespective of the background or circumstance. The episodes are about food, the food-people with, an element of surprise, rules that
When I say that I am passionate about contributing to eating fresh, eating right and eating better, I mean it. Here is one way I want to walk the talk. I feel, cooking classes are a great way to influence people on their approach to a healthy lifestyle. When she started cooking, I was inspired by the flavours of India. I followed the recipes then of course added a modern, healthier twist to it. The twist also included the way the dish was cooked especially because I was work
Episode 5: This week there was something special in store for us. We were up really early for this challenge. Still groggy, taking naps between nooks and corners, we entered into a Cold Storage for this challenge. Judge Bjorn explains that this is a team challenge where we have a super-sized pantry, the entire store to our disposal!! Judge Damian briefs us that we have 60 minutes to prepare a main course and dessert and work within a budget of $50 to buy the ingredients. It i
Episode 4: This week we entered the MasterChef Kitchen and saw the big “Famous” boxes. It was the mystery box challenge!! With mixed thoughts and feelings, we all stood at our respective stations. Judge Audra explained that the mystery box is composed of very different ingredients but they all represented one basic taste. We opened the boxes and saw 8 varieties of traditional sugars: Jaggery, Candied Winter Melon, Palm sugar, Goji berry, Chinese Rock sugar, Granulated orange
Episode 3 Episode 3 This was a massive challenge, of elephantine proportions. I told my mind, “you are in charge today, don’t let any other part of the body tell you otherwise.” We were split into two teams of 4, @AaronWong - Blue team captain and @NicholasKoh - Red team captain. We were all booted for our first exposure into a commercial kitchen. I was in the Blue team with @ZansNhl, @ShamsydarAni and Captain Aaron. Aaron as a team leader is one of the best I have known. The
Episode 2: I had lost track of time, day and date. I was spending an unreasonable amount of time with nine others. I was getting to know way too many details about them in such a short amount of time. A fun bunch of people, I had an eerie feeling that I would be stuck with them for life. The Top Ten: I saw myself nodding to everything they had to say about themselves. It was bizarre. It felt like they were describing me. I realised that I was with nine others who were as idio
Episode 1: 18 is a magic number as it ushers you into adulthood. MasterChef Singapore was a coming of age for me. I was confirmed to be in the top 18. The casting team took care of us through a hard and gruelling day. As our custodians, they were continually carrying our water, wallets, phones and tending to our wellbeing while we performed our challenges. The top 18 are a fun bunch, each a brushstroke to the canvas that became the very frame of season 1. I struggled to remem
What happened before Episode 1 The call, my calling. All I needed was a little nudge, encouragement from my friends and colleagues to channelise my end-less food talk into eight website pages worth of application. I hit the “life-altering” submit button, unaware of the unknown that would soon become a reality. I was in yet another boring endless meeting when I received a call from a Singapore landline. Well after the boring concluded, I decided to step out to call the number
If there is one thing tougher than being a MasterChef contestant, is being a part of the production crew. Long hours, gruelling schedules, lack of sleep and extreme physical strain. You suddenly have a newfound respect for every 10 seconds of media production that you watch over a microwave popcorn. The cameramen, who could easily have an alternative career in weightlifting, manoeuvring standing on small wooden crates to wide or narrow down perspectives. Strapped “audio guys”