UNPACKED REALITY - MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA - STEVE

It's in the news today, but it was actually on TV.

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Hey guys, welcome back to TV Reload. I want to thank you for clicking and downloading on today's episode with Steve, the ninth eliminated contestant on mastershef Australia for twenty twenty four, which is on Network ten from Sundays through to Wednesday nights at seven point thirty. Steve's experimentation in the kitchen saw him stand out to the judges, his fellow contestants,

Lot throughout his time on the show.

One of my favorite things about Steve was when I was trying to do the research for this interview, I found this story about how he had a collection of cookbooks and that it all started with his mum gifting him the Australian Woman's Weekly Cookbook when he was at the age of eighteen, which of course he still uses as a resource to this day, something that he really treasures. Steve is a father of two, He's got two Boys. Steve has been fortunate enough to travel the world with

Hey Steven, How are you good?

Staking How about you?

Yeah, I'm very happy to be catching up with you. A little bit surprised because I kind of feel like saying this to you, but you kind of were one of the biggest characters of the season.

Yeah, I am a bit surprised myself.

That's how it goes, I guess, isn't it.

Well, your elimination to me was the most emotional so far. Was it hard not to let it out? Am I right by saying that when I was watching your face in that elimination that you were trying to hold a lot in?

I was definitely trying to hold lot in because I found it very difficult because the week before that, you know, the elimination before that I was in, I was standing next to je and One and I are very good friends.

Would have got a very good.

Friendship from that show, from that competition, spending that time together, cooking every day, you know, our social time we spent together. And I found it extremely difficult standing next to Hugh for that elimination, and then the very next one I was in, I was standing next to Alex, who also was very close. So you know, there were three people that I'd say I was really close with and that was pezzat Alex a one and I had.

Two of them in basically a week.

And to be honest, I didn't want Alex to go because you know, she's young, she's given up a job, is hoping for a career, and I was.

Quite upset for her. But at the same time, I didn't want to go. I was very torn.

I'm wondering whether because like I just think about it from my perspective, if I were standing in your position and forgetting all of those relationships that you've built, you know, whatever emotion has been created by being a part of this show. I just wonder if anyone's ever been unconsolable, do you know what I mean? Like, I wonder if they've ever had to cut to a long break and pull that person together before finishing off their sendoff.

Yeah, I don't know.

It was very difficult, I have to say, standing there. So I did find it a real challenge In some ways. I was thinking, Okay, well, I'd be rather go than Alex. I would rather sacrifice my spot than her. But then I'd spent so many years, you know, thinking I should have done this on the first view and here I am now, and I thought, well, you know, like it's at my age, it's hard to get opportunities, you know

It's interesting you say that because I was having this conversation with a friend of mine the other day, and we are in our mid forties, and he said that he's starting to see the effects of this is the peak of my career. I have nowhere else to go from here because of my age, and it seems like that has happened far too quickly.

You know, to discount one.

For their age at forty four, you know, to stop them from the ridiculous. But you know, this is why I love seeing people like you on this show. And I know that then it seems like I'm singling you

Yeah, that's I mean, that's all part of why I did the show, you know I did. When I got offered that position on Marster Chef, I was very cautious, you know, because I thought, gee, you know, like all the other people that were cooking, you know, in the tryouts, were all in their.

Twenties and thirties.

Yeah, and I just wondered how I would be able to relate. You know, I knew that potentially you couldn't be gone for months, and how that was going to affect me mentally.

You know, could I relate with these people?

You know?

Would they accept me for what I am? So that was all part of it, and I have to say they were great. It was really good.

But I wanted to prove, I guess, to myself and to people my generation that you know, I've got quite a few brands, especially after to COVID, you know, because the tourism in three were sick badly where suddenly unemployed, you know, they've been doing the same sort of thing for the last thirty years and no work, and you know, you can't just give up. You just have to keep on going. The way I look at it, you never turned out an opportunity, just take it and do your best.

I think there's something really powerful in that. And I'm here to tell you as well, which I think is something off the back of what you were saying about the other younger people in the show. I've been chatting to everyone as they've come out, and I can't exactly remember who said what and how they've said it, but your name has come up more often than not when it comes to reflecting on the other participants in this show.

Is that fair to.

Say that you showed some of these young people that it's important to take risks?

Well, I think so. I mean, I've stuck to my guns on my cooking. So look, a lot of the you know, they came in there, they had their their suitcases, full of cookbooks and you know, we're all cooking on the weekends together, and you know, it was a great social thing as well as a learning experience. You know a lot of them were just recreating what they're reading and learning.

It, which is great, you know, and they're learning the recipes off by heart.

They could go into the kitchen if they had opportunity use that particular recipe. They knew it, they were comfortable with it. They could cook a beautiful meal and do something really successful. But I made a commitment to myself that it's such an important opportunity for me that I decided that I wasn't going to do that. I was going to do every dish I cooked was going to be my original. You can't google that recipe. It's my recipe. If you want to cook it, you have to get it from me.

Sorry to jump in there, but you know, that's what this show should be about.

Really.

I mean, we are all at home books and what separates us all making you know, following a recipe and doing the bait. I think if this show is to continue to work in this space, it needs to be that level up from home cooks, someone who can take what you could normally do at home and elevate it and inspire the people at home. And I think that's, you know, the inspiration of the show is the magic, it's the currency of it.

I agreed completely.

I mean, that's that's exactly why I watched the show, because that's what I wanted to see, and I want to see people building new dishes from their own experiences in life and be experimental. And I guess, you know, in some ways, that's why although I was disappointed to go when I did, I wasn't devastated because I stuck to my guns, and at the end of the day, if I go, it's because the dish I made myself

I've done it. I've actually done.

It with other dishes, and I've cooked on the show which weren't as successful as I thought they were.

I've actually recreated those dishes.

Out of hours and perfected them, not to cook them again on the show, but to say, okay, well let me make that dish work now.

It didn't work from let's make it work. So it's about the love of giving food. How can I explain this?

It's about me with you.

I've been saying this a lot throughout these exit interviews, and I think there's something really powerful and amazing and cooking for someone and putting good food in someone's belly.

That's exactly what it is.

It's that pleasure, the look on their face when they're enjoying the meal and you know you've made that, you know you've created that dish. My friends, when they come to dinner, I always call my meals. I call them my thirty second artworks, because I've said it's like a piece of art, but in thirty seconds it's gone. So I said, you get to view that artwork for thirty seconds.

But they're standing at your house well pretty quickly.

So you know that's what I do, I guess, and it's a pleasure I get from fooding people, giving them beautiful food.

Was I right to say that you were pretty much cast, locked and loaded to do a very early season of Master Chef and then something put in a way? I mean, how many times do they circle back and ask you to do the show? Or were they waiting for you to go through the application process again.

It's a funny story because my wife actually applied for me on the very first show, Master Chef number one, Wow, And I didn't know at the time. And this is when we were living in Port Douglas and we were actually out sailing one day and we're sailing back into port and my phone rings with some phone number. I didn't recognize it, and I answered the phone and someone started talking to me about, Oh, you've been selected to come and try out for Master Chef's Series one. You'd

The airport closed.

But the main thing that happened is we had a big landslide between Port Douglas and Cairns which used to often happen, and the road closed and just couldn't get out of town. So it was about about a week the road was closed for and I completely missed the first season.

So the actually of the road sixteen years.

You get out that well funnyness that may actually offered me an opportunity to do the second season. Because I rang them and told them what's happened. They said, well, that's fine, Look, don't worry, we're going we have to continue shooting, so we're happy to have you come for season two. So they told me they'd emailed me well and truly before the show the season started, so I could come for season two.

And my wife's English and we're in the UK. They emailed me to my work email.

Address, and of course we're in the UK for four or five weeks.

Got back and.

We're sitting in the lounge room and suddenly I see them advertising Mastership and I told them to my wife and I said, Jilly, I said, they said they're going to tell me all about it it she goes they did, and I said, that's weird. So I went to work the next morning and sure enough in the deleted emails was the email from mastershif no yeah, so someone was obviously on my desktop. They saw the email come through while I was on holidays and just thought, don't mail.

I just deleted it so I never saw it.

And then they said to me, look, there's always next year.

Because I ran on the top of what happened. They said, there's always next year. But then life, I think life got in the way. You know, things got busier.

It's a bit like you're saying with your friend. You know. I was in my forties and I was seeking these are my important years to make some money, make my career. And by the third year came around and just thought, no, I just can't give up work now. It's too critical. So I didn't do it. And it was only series sixteen where I thought to myself, you know I could do this again. I thought, it's my last chance at my age, I said, but I couldn't do it again.

I jumped on and they see it.

It's started filling it out and they said, I noticed you know, you put details in about being in number one, you being applied for number one, and they said, oh, I'd love you to do fill out the application and come to the try it anyway. So in the end I thought, yeah, why not, I'll do it, so I did.

Well.

I think it's really great that you've done this because I think when people look back at seasons of shows, they kind of remember certain people. And I know that this will sound strange to you because you're watching it through that your your own lens, your own self critical lens, and you know, however it else did you see it? But I think that people are going to remember you from this show more than anyone else. There's just something

And I think that's something to be proud of.

Oh look, and I agree with you.

I think, you know, like I think I look, I'm so happy with what I did. Funny enough, I was talking to my wife about it this morning. I'm saying, look, I didn't. I just didn't stick with any genre of food. I was happy to do anything, and I think that's becoming rare, you know, Like I think people in the show tend to be you know, they either do their tie or they do their their Indian, or they do their you know, South American or and they don't experiment enough.

Yeah, you can.

Cook good Indian food is huge for me. I love it and cooking it yourself, if you can do it well, is a real skill.

Yeah.

Well, my wife seems to think I'll do the best.

Indian now, so because your wife is at though, because my partner loves to tell me that I cook really well, and that's just so that I do it and that he doesn't happen.

No, no, not really.

Well, I do all the cooking anyway, I always have, so I don't think she really needs to do that. I think I think my Indian is pretty good.

I'll get pretty good feedback from my friends.

They all tell me that our house is the best restaurant on Bribe Island, so I love it.

Well.

It'll be remiss with me not to ask a few quick questions about that final cook.

I mean, but I was curious to know about Andy and Poe.

What's it like working alongside these two chefs that have been contestants in the show. Are they more accessible to you being first time cooks in the Master Chef kitchen because they've done it, and are they able to help you in a way that's more relatable.

It's interesting, It's an interesting comment. So Andy's quite an interesting character. I would say Poe was definitely more accessible than Andy, and he was nice enough, you know, and good with feedback. But Poe I walked out thinking I've got a friendship rather than a judge who was really easy to get along with. But then John christa an amazing man, very passionate. I don't think I've met someone

A good dish.

Well, yeah, it's interesting though when you're getting these people with different personalities trying your food. And someone the other day was trying to put out like a bit of a MythBuster about master chef and that the food can be tried as you're cooking by those by those judges, so that it's not reliant on just you know, tasting

No, So it's a catch twenty two situation in the kitchen because.

You've got limited time, and you really do have limit.

I mean most of the dishes you were cooking, or certainly dishes that I were cooking at home, I would take twice the time to cook those dishes, you know, just because I've got.

All the time in the world.

But in the kitchen you can't. But you can't cook a simple dishes quick and easy, because that's the quickest and easiest.

Way to end up having.

They did come around and taste components of your dish, so they walked around, you know, and taste bits and pieces as you were cooking. You didn't really get any feedback from that period, So I guess that for them that's.

Important because you know, they don't want to give away how you're going.

And although they gave us advice, they didn't tell us how to cook our dishes. There was no information regarding, oh, you should do this or you should do.

That to improve the favor.

You know, you made your own decisions in that kitchen, and they didn't really discuss how to improve the dish. They did taste it, so they weren't getting I guess, a certain feel to how that dish might be. But sometimes, you know, certainly in my case, I'd end up with such a small amount of food they couldn't taste it, you know, like the eggs. So I did have planned an extra egg to try at the bench and see how it works with the source.

But I break that egg peeling it, so and I didn't.

I just didn't have time to do multiple eggs.

You just don't have the time.

You can do possibly one extra egg and if that egg breaks and it doesn't work well, then that's your opportunity gone. And you know it doesn't get checked until the end, So yeah, it's a cash twenty two. Do you have a bit extra so they can taste things while you're cooking, you know, mixed the fire to see what it's like. But then you don't finish the dish because you've tried to do too.

Much or do you just do enough? You know, So that's a.

Competition, and you know all competitions you have to make that judgment call.

But if you got back for an All Stars, would you try and do that more?

Like?

Do you think there is a priority in making sure that there's enough sort of to the side for the judges to be journalized in your cooks?

I think it's really important because yes, I probably would more than I did in this show because the times that I was not successful, you know, like I wouldn't say UNSECX. Well I was unsuccessful obviously with the egg dish, But I think if they could have actually tasted that dish the way it was meant to be, I think I would have still been there. Because there was other dishes that didn't work on that day. For example, you know Pez's to flay that just didn't work.

It was completely flat.

I mean, it wasn't a tooo flay, but he had all the flavors on the plate, so I guess I could taste what that concept could have been rather than not taste what it could be. And that's where it was the difference, I guess between him and me.

You know, like there.

Wasn't enough egg yoak to go into the sauce to make the sauce complete, so they couldn't really taste what it could have been like. And they couldn't taste what it could have been like on the bench because I didn't have the X egg.

But I'd like to bring this sort of stuff up on the podcast because I know people who are going to go on the show do listen back and pick out some tips and write like a.

Bit of a Dorsier on what needs to work.

And I think that really was what might have separated you and might have had you out of the competition, even though you were a big personality and someone who had had achieved probably more than some of the other people that are still left in the show, you know, So I think it's a key thing to highlight.

Yeah, definitely, But it's a competition, you know, and it's like all competitions when you get to the pointy end of the competition, you know, like just one small mistake that lets you down. And if it's a mistake on the wrong day, you know, like if that cook had been the day before, I wouldn't have gone home the next day.

I could have done a great cook.

I have been asking everyone so just very quickly, we'll do this and you have to only pick one, which is very scary, but can you give me your favorite judge and can you give me who is left in the kitchen who you would like to see?

When I have to say my judge was Poet because she's hung from the same roots, you know as the other contestants, and she's done so well with her career, and she's always got a smile on us, you know, like she's just a kind hearted person.

I'll take it. And our contestant, I'd love.

To see Alex win because she's such a last person and I really think she needs to win, you know, she wants to have a career in the industry, and I think it's important and I'd like to see how let's win.

It's a good one. I'll take it.

And the last question I ask everyone who joins the podcast, Steve, is what is something from behind the scenes, something that we didn't get a chance to see, kind of like a behind the scenes secret from your time in the Master Chef kitchen.

That's a chippy one here. I was surprised our friendly, our approachable, and what a sense of humor Jamie Oliver has, you know, I was very surprised that he's just down to a bloat that enjoys a good laugh like all of us, and he enjoyed having a laugh in us and making a joke for things.

I wonder how many contestants have ever tried to like email him or keep in touch and ask him to come around to their place, like next time you're in Queensland, come around.

He certainly said some messages to me about the show and push my best you know, and say as John.

Christoph and so as Coe.

They've all been very kind and approachable, so you know, I wouldn't be surprised. I mean, you know, eacham you wants to come out of a holiday and bribe you on.

He's welcome at Mayass.

It's starting to sound very inviting. I think anyone listening to this podcast at the moment is would like an invitation there.

Oh it's a beautiful place to live. It's a beautiful place.

Amazing.

Look, Steve, I have thoroughly enjoyed chatting with you today. I think that you're an amazing person. I think you should be super proud of this whole experience on Master Chef, and I think I feel like finishing this by saying I don't feel like Australia has done with your story.

I feel like we will see you in that.

Kitchen again, or something's going to happen, and.

I hope so I hope something happens because I don't want to go back to croc andiles.

There's more to you than that.

Thanks very much, have a nice day.

Yeah you too, mate,