Masterchef Season 5. Auditions

Sooooo, I was super excited several weeks ago upon receiving an email from the casting team at Masterchef Australia asking me to toddle on over to Melbourne for the season 5 auditions. I had submitted an application after considering it for some time (try 4 odd years...) and couldn't believe my luck when I was selected!




Possibly the most exciting email I  have ever received, including that one advertising 10% off
at Kitchen Warehouse!

Though it was a bit of a distraction, what with arriving right in the middle of my studying for exams, after several weeks of twiddling my thumbs and sacrificing precious sleep as I ran through all the possible dishes I could bring to the audition in my head I was eventually flown over last week for a couple of days of pure stress, mayhem and excitement! 

Let me first say, no, I didn't make it through to the TV stage of things. The producers seemed pretty 'slash happy' and of the group I was in only 3 made it through to a one-on-one interview with producers and of them only 1 was called back to cook for the cameras the next day!

Naturally I was disappointed to have had the experience end so quickly, but to my surprise I still felt really good! The people I met at the auditions were all incredibly friendly and just plain awesome individuals and having tasted everyone's food I knew there was absolutely no shame in 'losing' to such delicious competition (not that my own little tart was without its own charm!)





My audition dish -  Nectarine and Spiced Ricotta Tart!

Having tasted everyone's food and listening to what the producers told other contestants I think it is fair to say that it wasn't so much the food that the producers were interested in on the day (it was pretty clear that everyone there COULD cook!) but rather the back stories and personalities of the applicants which would make them appeal to the TV audience. That said, I is going to be really interesting watching the series when I airs and being able to say "I shared a shuttle bus with them!" and "that guy borrowed my spatula!"

So, all in all, though I was disappointed not to get through... what an experience!

I had the chance to see behind the scenes of one of my favourite TV shows, got to meet Janelle Bloom (she was one of the food producers on the show and also appears on Ready Steady Cook!), met some amazing people from all over the country and taste their fabulous food, had a FREE holiday and I survived my first experience travelling alone despite:

• Missing my flight
• Getting a hotel room with a broken oven, and
• Having to battle an upset stomach, two infected eyes, shuttle buses which refused to appear when scheduled (and for all I know were meeting up at some underground shuttle bus driver's poker tournament), crazy taxi drivers and an inexplicable heat wave!

Rant over. Going to look back over all the cool photos I managed to snap in just two days.

Cook on!  xo