Photo: MasterChef
In case you’ve been wondering why the blog hasn’t been updated since December last year, well – as the photo shows, I’ve been away shooting MasterChef 2014. It’s been a crazy ride and I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone that’s supported me and gotten behind #teamtash.
Just for fun, here’s some things you probably didn’t know about me:
1. My pet cause is animal rescue – you can read more about my rescue cats and fostering here.
2. I’m allergic to some seafood, including mackerel.
3. I love puns (refer to #1 above).
4. I love board games and have quite the collection.
5. I am obsessed with kitchen gadgets – I have a commercial meat slicer, a deep fryer, ice cream maker, sous vide circulator… in fact, you could probably run a small restaurant out of my kitchen.
I have to say that I didn’t think I would miss blogging as much I do; I’ve missed sharing recipes with you guys heaps. I’ll be posting some of my favourites soon – gua bao and burgers – I have been obsessed with burgers ever since Daniel Wilson posted his Huxtaburger recipe.
In the meantime, please drop by, say hi or connect with me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.
Cheers,
Tash.
Aww, Tash, so sorry to hear you’ve been eliminated. I would have placed you in the top 3 easily. I’m looking forward to reading new blogposts by you. Best wishes in all your future endeavours!
Thank you! Not quite my year to make Top 3, but it’s great to be back to blogging. I’ve really missed it.
Hi tash this is sue my son VIN (7years old ) is a huge fan of yours every time you were in elimination round he was praying all time to save you and repeatedly was always asking me ” mum what is tash cooking ?” And he was always crossing his sleep time just to make sure you r safe before he goes to bed ,, but he was quite sad last night !!! 🙁 but then he couragly said mum she will win in 2015 … So I was here to say hi and see I have told you whole story but welcome Back and good luck for your future
Oh Sue, that story just made my day! Say hi to VIN for me and thank him for sacrificing sleep time to watch me on TV. 🙂
I love you Tash!!! You were our favourite contestant from the very beginning! Everyone in my family thought you were the brightest and strongest of them all, being such a versatile cook with many skills and great inner strength. I was amazed by your determination and composure throughout the competition while others were just bawling incessantly. I’m glad you’re out of that stressful environment now (the arrogance and cliquey-ness of certain contestants was painfully obvious) and can focus on your personal aspirations and food dream. You are much-loved all around the world!
Greetings from Denmark <3<3<3
AWww, thanks so much Anna! *blush* I’m very flattered. It’s been so nice to have public support after what was a bit of a rough time for me, but I shan’t dwell on it – on to other things now.
love from India. You were amazing!!
Thank you! <3
you were my fav contestant. and i really wanted you to win.. and you are a much better cook than most of them.. this sucks! good luck to you..
Hey Tash!!! 🙂
Really glad your back. You were amazing on MC and I hope you have such a wonderful career ahead of u! Your pet cause is amazing, I love and adore cats 😀 Good on you!
Thanks Shani! Anyone who loves cats is a friend of mine 🙂
Does that mean you don’t make it back into the MC kitchen? 🙁 I really hope u do…I haven’t even watched the show since you left haha no one interesting left there!
love your dignity
Haha, thanks Robbie. To be honest the thing I was most disappointed about was that none of the contestants were named Jesse – I really wanted to say on TV ‘Jesse, we need to cook!’
So glad that you are back for blogging! Will miss watching you in Masterchef show!
I’ve really missed blogging – once a blogger, always a blogger hey? 🙂
Hi Tash,
I’m in awe of your strength, talent and confidence. Especially given how alone you seemed many a time on Masterchef. It really upset me to see you go yesterday – but I was proud (strange emotion to feel for someone you don’t know, eh?) of how you carried yourself. No sob stories, no drama, just letting your talent do the talking. It’s the other contestants loss not to have known you better. And maybe your strength put them off. Anyway, that’s not the point.
I’m sure things will work out great for you. All the best!
Love
-P
Aww P, it’s strange (but kind of cool) to think that I’ve made someone who I havent met yet proud 🙂 Puts a big ‘ol smile on my face.
Hi Tash! I just wanted to let you know that you did an absolutely amazing job and I was so sad to see you go! You idea’s were amazing and I can’t wait to see more of your blog!
Aww, thanks Clover 🙂 There’s lots more coming to the blog soon. Stay tuned.
Very sorry to see you go Tash – I was impressed by your calmness and graciousness in what seemed like a tough situation. I wish you well in the next stage of your “food journey”.
That’s so sweet Sue – thank you, it’s so lovely to have your support.
Hi tash. I saw you at master chef. It’s a shame you go home yesterday. But you is a great cook. I love everthing that you cooked at master chef. 🙂
Thanks Silvia! 🙂 Stay tuned to this blog for more recipes.
I could tell from the amount of attention you were getting this week from the camera crew that you were going to leave very soon, though as I watched both eliminations I was secretly praying they were doing a fakeout, as I thought you were the best contestant by far in the group. If you’re back to blogging, I’m assuming that this year they didn’t do a ‘bring a contestant back’ event like last year? I was hoping that you or Emily could come back and win the whole competition. Though I’m not sure if that’s for the best now, as it was clear that you were struggling with the other contestants after Steven left, and I thought it was very unprofessional of Emelia to cry for Brent as to facilitate your departure. Best wishes for your future, I hope Ezard has been or is treating you well.
Thanks Andy – it’s pretty amazing what viewers can pick up on, even with editing. I can’t comment on what may or may not happen (you know the deal:) Emily was pretty awesome, and a damn good cook as well. Ezard was amazing and I now have a new respect for the stupidly long hours that professional chefs do.
YAY TASH YOU’RE BACK ON AKITCHENCAT!!!
I was so sad to see you go, it seemed like you had a tough time in MC 🙁 But do you think you’ll be sharing your MC experience anytime soon on this blog?
(Also, will I be able to see you in Ezard if I go there?)
Thanks Joy 🙂 I did have a bit of a rough time, and it means a lot to me that people have noticed it too. I was at Ezard on the weekend – sorry about the late reply, was super busy. I’m not allowed to talk about MC really, so probably not.
Hi Tash.. Congratulations on your wonderful stint on Masterchef. I believe that your connection with food speaks for itself and needs no drama to support it.
Will sorely miss you on the show, though!
Good Luck! 🙂
Thanks for your kind words, Eraj 🙂 I’m so lucky to have supporters like yourself!
Dear Tash,
This is Soumick from India.
I admired you so much, and I think you deserved to win.
Episode in which you got eliminated hasn’t been aired in India.
But I keep on following via wiki.
And I was so sad, as well as so shocked to see you got eliminated.
Lost my reason for watching masterchief anymore.
All the best in your life ahead. Lots of Love 🙂
Aww, thanks Soumick! 🙂 Hoping to visit India sometime, love the food as well as the culture so who knows, we might meet in the future.
Hi Tash,
I was sad to see you left the Masterchef kitchen last week. It has not much to look forward to the show since then. Well, I’m sure you would do well in the future as you’re so talented. By the way, I love reading your blog posts too. Keep up the good work. All the best.
Fifi
Thanks for your support Fifi, back to blogging for me – I’ve missed it heaps. I’ll be working on some other exciting projects too, stay tuned 🙂
Love from New Zealand! Sad (and surprised!) to see you go. Thankfully I have discovered your wonderful blog. Super excited to use one of your recipes. By just reading the dulce de leche post I am now convinced I NEED a pressure cooker – hah!
Thanks Maraea. And you so do need one. Trust me! I use mine every week – just going to test a recipe for creme brulee in it too 🙂
Hi Tash,
I don’t have anything new to add to the comments above. Well done on your amazing efforts and thank you for giving Canberra such an amazing person to support. Everyone I know thinks you were great, including my wife and daughters! 🙂
Thanks Elias, It’s been so great to have the homeground support – go #teamcanberra! Now I’ll be onto to projects that hopefully start to show Australia that Canberra does have a foodie culture 🙂
You’re an Amazing cook and sorry to see you eliminated from Masterchef. You would have for sure made it to the finals. Have been following your blog and love every post , pictures and now looking forward to see more of your posts and your shows. Good Luck
Thank you <3
Hi Tash,
We were watching MC all the way across the world in Europe, and you were hands down my favourite to win. Absolutely genius and impeccably presented dishes! Best of luck and look forward to seeing your recipes here on the blog 🙂
Thanks so much! Didn’t actually realise how popular Australian MC is in Europe 🙂
Well done tash. You stood out among the rest. You were poised, calm, never teary nor over bearing with petty personal sob story hoping to curry favours from the judges. Its MC’s lost not yours. Hoping to see you clinch another chance in the return just to prove those cry babies that you stand out above them. You’ve done proud to Malaysia & Australia.
Thanks Avanti, my parents taught me to work hard, no shortcuts – plus, I’ve had a pretty good life. No sob stories from me.
Semi-watching this come-back episode of MC on tv right now – it looks like you won’t be back in the game judging from the air time the show’s given you. Never mind that though! Masterchef 2014 was only good because of you. I’ve no one to root for anymore!
Aww, thanks! Yeah, lots of crying not enough cooking seems to be the public opinion.
All the best Tash! Yes plenty of us very observant viewers out here :).. just wanted to add ourselves to your huge fan-base & to let you know we pretty lost our motivation to watch masterchef now that’s all :D, all the very best to you!!
Thank you 🙂 I’m so chuffed with everyone’s lovely comments!
Hi Tash,
You are such a creative and intelligent cook and I was very sad to see you go. I thought you carried yourself very well approached every challenge with a very calm and focused mind set. The MasterChef experience must have been rough, I guess we never really leave high school huh? I wish you all the best in your apprenticeship and I know you will go far. I like your style.
Jo
Ahh yes, so true – I guess we never really leave high school. And for some of us that didn’t have a great time in high school (I was one of those), it wasn’t much fun. Thanks so much, Jo!
Tash,
You were my favourite on season six, and I’ve stopped watching after your elimination. Masterchef to me has gone downhill after season three, with tacky sob-stories and hopeless cooks leveraging on alliances to get ahead – season six was no different.
The fact that your talent managed to cut through all that bullshit and reach viewers nonetheless was a breath of fresh air, and speaks volumes of what an amazing cook you are – I thought incorporating chilli into a dessert was such a clever idea, I could never have deboned and cooked a Harissa-stuffed mackerel in thirty minutes like you did, and I just wanted to eat up your entire chocolate audition dish through the TV screen. Your versatility in savouries and sweets, and your ability to conceptualize ideas that extend beyond just Malaysian cuisine, is so, so, impressive.
I think you’d have been a better fit for Masterchef in season two, when there were more lawyer-engineer-accountant types of contestants, who probably wouldn’t have felt as intimidated by your intelligence during team challenges as the contestants in season six obviously did, and when Masterchef hadn’t yet degenerated into a self-indulgent crying competition.
In any case, you have the skill and strength to do whatever you want to do in the food industry, and to do it better than 95% of the remaining contestants in season six – and, for what it’s worth, I think that journey is going to be so much more worthwhile and so much bigger for you, than a reality television show.
All the best from Singapore.
Gosh, thanks Mahirah – this just made my day. It means so much to me that people can read between the heavily edited lines. It has definitely been rough at times, you’ll never hear me whinge about it, but it’s hard to leave family to go onto a show that turns out to be not that much about cooking after all. When I auditioned, I was told that this season wouldn’t be like past seasons, it’s about the cooking, etc etc. And I believed it, after all that’s why I (and the world) fell in love with MasterChef in Season 1.
But onwards and upwards, I can now use my public profile to do a lot of the charity work that I believe in, and I’m sure it’ll open more doors down the road. Thanks for your well wishes. I like to think that people who leave comments are like friends that I haven’t met yet – and KL isn’t that far from Singapore, so who knows, we might meet up for roti canai one day 🙂
Tash you’re a legend and should use your current fame and public support to crowd-source funding for your cafe/restaurant. Seriously! Lots of Canberrans want to come and eat at your venue. Do it!
Really? There are so many new places opening up that I’m not sure now is the right time, but I’m still looking at pop ups to suss out interest levels in food. We’ll see 🙂
Fair enough – you know the industry and I don’t 🙂
I just know I would put dollars in to support you, and I know others would too, and we all want to eat your food.
But best of luck whatever you decide!
I promise if I do a pop up, I’ll make sure you’re the top of the invite list 🙂 I’m very flattered that you would back me, I will actually start keeping an eye out for locations, but as to the bigger picture, I need to consider my partner’s career too.
Hi tash,
great to finally find your blog…..fallen in love with your eye pleasing deserts….following you on twitter now….and you have been fabulour on MC. I ready from your blog that you got eliminated……aw! shucks! that’s yet to air in goa, india….all the best and i am sure looking forward to some awesome recipes and chit chat on your blog…..my daughter who is 10 also backs you on MC…by the way, we have 3 cats (PEPPER, COOKIE & GINGER) and a dog (SHADOW)….
Thank you. Great to hear you have such a big fur-family and oh my goodness, I love Goa! Can’t wait to come back – amazing food, beautiful beaches – one of my favorite places in India!
You were my favorite contestant, Tash!! I loved to see that there was a girl in the competition, under so much pressure but always kept her cool and did her best! I loved that you didn’t cry..LOL! You are a truly amazing cook! I so admired your strength..I aspire to be like u..:)
Thanks Ashie, there were good days and bad days, and days I just wanted to walk out and leave but sometimes it’s just about focusing on the task at hand and doing your best in that moment. Much the same with life as it is in the MC kitchen.
Hi Tash. You really do have fans worldwide. Greetings from Washington DC, USA. It was very disappointing to see you eliminated, but it is great to see that you have so many supporters. I think there is a welcome waiting for you around the globe. If you ever get over here it would be great to get together (my wife is an amazing Chinese cook!). I know many people have suggestions, but I would love to see you cook your version of banchan..
Hi Nigel, one of my closest friends is from DC – I can’t wait to visit. Also, I must have real American BBQ. What’s banchan? Maybe I know it under a different name? Thanks so much for stopping by – it’s still amazing to me that I’ve got so much support 🙂
Banchan are the many small dishes that come with a Korean meal – they can be whatever you are inspired by (pickled vegetables, spicy fish cake, bean sprouts, etc). You would be amazed by the evolution in American BBQ – it is now really international BBQ inspired by American. In this city you can eat classic North Carolina BBQ (vinegar and hot pepper), Chinese BBQ (HK style) and Korean BBQ (great sandwiches). It is a nation of immigrants that just takes the best from each cuisine and comes up with their own version…
I must say Korean is a big gap in my food knowledge. Australia has a great migrant food culture too, actually.
Hi Tash,
I am always somewhat relieved when good contestants are eliminated early from cheesy reality tv shows. I mean Australian Idol has been won by people like Shannon Noll (no offense Shannon) while artists like the incredible Bobby Flynn did not make the final three – thank goodness. Winning reality tv shows is rarely about talent, or even hard work. Anyway, you were wonderful to watch and I was darn sorry to see you go. Also sorry your experience in the house wasn’t all it could have been.
Maybe you should have made up a good sob story and burst into tears more often 🙂 they seem to like that kind of thing on MC 🙂
Hi Simone, Thanks for your kind words – it’s true though, everyone from 24th place to second place gets to make it on their own with the publicity they’ve drummed up post MC. I LOVED Bobby Flynn, and of course, Matt Corby is also a past Idol contestant. Fir me, time to amp up the hard work side of things, I think 🙂
Hey Tash,
I remember you from our Missionette days in church! When I saw you on MasterChef this year I was super excited and was rooting for you. It’s really unfortunate that you got eliminated so early in the competition. I thought you should have been in the top 10 because you are a very strong cook! Anyway, all the best in your culinary journey and MC drama aside, I hope that you will have an amazing future because you deserve it! 🙂
Btw, I love your blog! Can’t wait to try some of your recipes! 😀
Hey Tash, I’m from Pakistan. Just learnt here that you were eliminated. 🙁
You were one of my favourites there. Just googled your blog because you were amazing on masterchef. The episode of your elimination hasn’t been aired here yet. But you were amazing. Keep up the good work, and good luck with your career. Always loved your food presentation, lol, spectacular. Cheers! 😀
Hi Tash,
I was your biggest fan in the competition and was rooting for you throughout! And your chocolate dishes, YUM <3
I know this comment is a little late, but your elimination in MasterChef just aired in Pakistan today. And it was unfair, because I was positive that you would make it into the top five and I don't see the point in watching anymore!
I loved it that you had so much strength throughout and never cried. You were my absolute favourite!
And because you are a blogger, high five! I blog too, though it's mostly on books and stuff 😀
Love you Tash!
Nirvana <3