Kitchen Journeys 14th July 2018 Episode Hd Video Gordon Ramsay Special Guest : Gordon Ramsay, the world-famous British chef might drop a few trademark f-bombs when he will be seen at the Saturday night episode of the TV reality show MasterChef Australia, or the Cook the Difference but he was on his best behavior with his good and old friend George Calombaris.
Kitchen Journeys 14th July 2018 Episode
“Gordon’s an absolute pro, a great bloke,” says Calombaris, the Melbourne restaurateur who co-judges the show with Matt Preston, the food journalist chef/food writer Gary Mehigan. “But he doesn’t swear at me. I’m no commis chef, I’ve done my time.”
Calombaris, 39, has done his time with MasterChef, also and he was there at the starting and commencement and still loves the show which is now into its 10th season.
“We’re the number one show in Australia and I’m pretty excited about it. We’ve stuck to our core values throughout,” he says, adding that the show first and leading and foremost is about people and making them happy from side to side with cooking and food.
It was Ramsay’s first appearance on MasterChef Australia, but Nigella Lawson, another British food icon, also marks her comeback in the TV reality show, MasterChef Australia.
“I’m close to Nigella, too,” says Calombaris. “She’s a beautiful lady and a top-flight home cook. What she does is simple but at a very high level.”
Perhaps the best-known guests, although, were Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall who will appear very soon in this season of the TV show, MasterChef Australia.
The all participator will have to cook and get an opportunity to cook for the royal couple in a challenge set in the tropical city of Darwin.
“Charles was an absolute gent and Camilla’s a great fan of the show, and really gracious,” says Calombaris, who wouldn’t be drawn on details about what contestants cooked for the royal couple. “That would spoil it for your viewers.”
MasterChef Australia takes a group of keen home cooks who are all aspiring chefs and guides them through a series of challenges and those aspiring chefs will be taught by the mentor Shannon Bennett, and guest chefs which this year include an elite group from past seasons who have achieved and attain culinary success from generation to generation.
Each week, the competitor faces a judging audition until one wins the coveted and the desirable MasterChef apron.
On top of that, this year the ultimate champion will win A$250,000 alongside a column in a leading food magazine.
A lot of it is about attitude, says Calombaris.
“Cooking is just a process, like being a plumber or a carpenter. We are looking for people who are respectful, with talent and desire, who are ambitious.
“They need to stay focused and practice, practice. I’ve probably filleted more fish in my life than you’ve had hot dinners, for example.”
That makes chefs professional, quantifiable and professional. “They can serve the same thing, in the same way, every single day,” he says.
Calombaris was inspired and enthralled by food from an early age and was inspired by his mother and grandmother.
He was born in the south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Mulgrave but his Greek heritage probably brings his interest towards cooking and food.
He completed an apprenticeship at a top Melbourne hotel and it wasn’t long before he was leading member of a team of chefs at a restaurant owned by Gary Mehigan, who is now one of Calombaris’ fellow MasterChef judges.
Calombaris won The Age’s Young Chef Of The Year, In 2004, and soon became a guest chef on TV.
in 2008, He was named one of Australia’s Top 100 Most Influential People.
Today, he still works at his restaurants, notably Melbourne’s award-winning The Press Club, and the street-food inspired Gazi, Jimmy Grants, Mastic and The Hellenic Republic.
“You won’t catch me peeling carrots though. I’m more of a conductor, a scriptwriter for my executive chefs,” he says.
Calombaris has penned in the literal sense, too. He has been writing five cookbooks, staying true to his upbringing with titles such as Greek Cookery From The Hellenic Heart and Greek, which contains a chapter of his mother Mary’s recipes.
The Greek chef shared his favorite food with the various media?
“Cheese on toast with a green pickle, possibly a ham and pineapple pizza with a bottle of beer.”
MasterChef Australia, TVNZ 1, Thursday, Friday.
