This season of MasterChef Australia is perhaps the most intense one yet. MasterChef Australia: Fans and Favourites has marked the return of 12 past competitors — our Favourites, to the show, meaning that the Fans have some pretty stiff competition.
Not only do the Favourites have more professional experience in the hospitality industry, they’ve also been on MasterChef Australia before, and some of them — Julie Goodwin, Sashi Cheliah and Billie McKay — even won their seasons.
Victorian banking analyst Steph Woon believes she’s up for the challenge.
In a Q&A with The Latch, Woon said that although she’s “100% an introvert”, she’s “not afraid of going outside [her] comfort zone”.
“Also, I’m definitely one of those people who’ll put in everything I’ve got when I decide to do something,” she added.
Woon’s passion for cooking developed as she spent time travelling around Japan. Woon studied Japanese at high school and university and spent several months in the city of Kanazawa doing an exchange program. In the years since, she’s returned to Japan many times and loves exploring the delicacies of each new region she travels to.
Now, Woon dreams that one day she’ll be able to open her own patisserie, where she’ll serve Japanese and southeast Asian inspired cakes and pastries. In fact, her favourite food memory is “lining up in front of the Hidemi Sugino store in Tokyo, Japan with [her] sister for over an hour waiting for the patisserie to open… and then ordering all their cakes when [they] got in!”
Food was always a big part of Woon’s life, though. Her parents immigrated from Malaysia, and Woon says that cooking big family meals — she’s the oldest of three girls — always brought them together.
Before Woon can live out her foodie dreams, though, she’ll need to do one thing: impress the MasterChef Australia judges, Jock Zonfrillo, Andy Allen and Melissa Leong.
Her favourite judge? She can’t decide!
“They all bring something different to the show,” she explained. “Andy with his experience in the MasterChef kitchen, Mel and her compassion and poise, and Jock with his fine-dining background!”
Will Woon be able to cook her way to Finals Week? Only time will tell. Until then…
MasterChef Australia airs at 7.30pm Sunday-Thursdays, only on 10 and 10 Play on Demand.
Want more MasterChef Australia? Read here.
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