Matt about food

MOST of us know him as the flamboyantly-dressed judge of MasterChef Australia, but Matt Preston is also a well respected food journalist, restaurant critic, and author of three best-selling cookbooks.
Together with chefs Gary ­Mehigan and George ­Calombaris, Preston has been part of the popular Australian edition of this competitive cooking reality show since 2009.
He was also the most sought-after guest at the recent History Con 2017, which took place in Kuala Lumpur from Aug 4-6, and there was no doubt that Preston knew how to work the crowd and the media.
Looking sharp in a mint green suit and multi-coloured ascot around his neck, Preston said he dresses the same way on his TV show.
"This has become my ­trademark when I am judging. It is about showing respect to the contestants," said Preston, who added that he appears in jeans and shirt during masterclass sessions.
"I live in Australia. This is what you wear going out, as this is Sunday best. This has been the 'master chef' persona ... since I was 17."
Preston met Masterchef Asia fan favourite Jasbir Kaur at the History Con 2017, and the two hit it off.
"It is a bit like grandpa and auntie meeting," he says and laughs. "It is wonderful that ­MasterChef has become this huge ­wonderful family across the world.
"I just got back from ­Poland where I attended MasterChef Poland, and I attended MasterChef India this year, too.
"So it is really ­exciting to see this show that started from a shed in Sydney, ­travelling around the world and being embraced by so many different ­cultures.
"Often, you have politicians ­saying we don't have much in common, but actually when you sit at a kitchen table, you start ­talking about your mum's cooking, we are all the same. We all like flavours, we all like fun."
Preston said that Australians travel a lot and are a multi-­cultural society. So they like trying different things when it comes to food.
"People (in ­Malaysia) like their food and can be slightly obsessive about it," he added, pointing out that everyone has his/her point of view on where to get the best nasi lemak or other local favourites, and even argue over it.
"That is a mark that there is so much good food here," he said.
­On how Malaysian-born ­contestants (Adam Liaw, Diana Chan, Poh Ling Yeow, Sarah Tiong, Emily Loo, and Tash Shan) have done well after MasterChef Australia, Preston surmised that one reason is because these contestants have been brought up on a wide variety of cuisines.
So when they come to ­Australia and try more ­European cuisines, they are ­naturally curious to try them and also learn how to cook them.
"I think that (Malaysians') genuine and slight obsessiveness about food is what makes them do well (in these competitions)."
Unlike other cooking shows that focus on one or two ­interesting ­characters, MasterChef ­Australia focuses on good home cooks who have a food dream.
Preston agrees: "Remember Reynold ­Poernomo (season seven)? ­People were mad because he can't talk, but then look at how good his desserts were.
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"People in Australia and around the world fell in love with ­Reynold because he was this quiet kid with this mad skill."
Preston pointed out that ­contestants don't have to win to have a great food career afterwards.
He also said that while they try to be as transparent as ­possible, controversy often crops up when certain ­contestants get eliminated.
"[Season two's] Adam Liaw is a very good cook, but the star of that season was Marion Grasby. She was a really good cook, but she messed up on her satay sauce.
"On social media, they said it was a fix because she is half-Thai, and [that] she was given that challenge because she can do it. (But) when she got eliminated, everyone became quiet."
Malaysian-born Diana Chan winning over Ben Ungermann by one point in the show's ­season nine also drew a lot of ­controversy.
"Diana did the best pear, the best apple, and I think the best mousse," Preston explained. "But you did not see that on the cut. So only half the information was shown".
He felt more of the judges' discussions should have been shown to avert such controversy.
He understands that the editing was all for drama but believes that no one would turn off the TV if more of the judges' opinions on the desserts was highlighted.
MasterChef Australia season nine is currently showing on Lifetime (Astro channel 709) every Monday to Friday at 8pm.