'I hope to cook 'malai kofta' and 'daal'

Kitchen tales

Her childhood memories largely comprise the days she spent eating the best tasting cake made by her grandmother. Growing up, her connoisseur skills took a turn when she moved to London from Australia, with just $ 500 in her pocket.

With no much money to eat out, she sorted out the ingredients for herself and began to cook. The tryst with cooking that began here as an 18-year-old, has now taken Jessie Spiby, one of the strong contestants of ‘Masterchef Australia Season 7’, by leaps and bounds. Jessie chatted with ‘Metrolife’ recently about her journey so far.

Recalling her first few days on the show, she says, “I am a confident person and was trying to be a bit more confident on the show. I noticed a change in myself and started cooking what I wanted to cook as opposed to what the judges wanted to see me cook. I had to trust myself a little more and that helped me and is still helping me to do better.” With many more creative and interesting home cooks on the show, she says she loves everything about the show — be it the challenges or the criticisms.

It wasn’t always that Jessie had a passion for cooking. It is only after moving out of her comfort zone, when she had to cook for herself and when she encountered people from different cultures that she realised her passion for cooking. “While travelling, I saw people who grew their own plants in the porches and use them as ingredients for cooking. This inspired me the most and in the process, I realised my true passion for cooking,” she explains.

While she considered herself to be an expert in South-East Asian cuisine, she realised her new love for making desserts after her entry into the culinary show.

She loved what went behind making desserts and she says, “The passion for preparing desserts is what I realised during the contest. The show brought out a whole new creative side of me and I look forward to exploring that even further.”

Ask her what her favourite recipe is and she does not take a second to think and say, “It is my grandmother’s recipe of the cake. It is very close to my heart as it has a lot of meaning behind it.”

She says she looks forward to criticisms as the show goes on, “They do not offend me, but make me much better. I did not have any terrible experience, yet criticism is a part of the course and I pretty much enjoy it.” But the spotlight during the elimination round could be a little of a nightmare, isn’t it?  “No one wants to go back home and none of us want anyone else to go home either,” she says. “Everyone cooks as best as they can and at the time of elimination rounds, I cook what I usually cook at home. Emotional nerves get the better of you and at the time of sweating, you do not want to go home, but push yourself for the best.”

She shares a nostalgic feel for Indian cuisine as she grew up eating ‘malai kofta’ and ‘daal’ prepared by her parents who had visited India and were  here for sometime. “I hope to cook ‘malai kofta’ and ‘daal’ some day,” she says with a smile.

A graphic designer, she wants to get back to designing after the contest even as she is perfecting her craft in the kitchen.