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Personal

Life Since MasterChef

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November 2, 2017

- Personal

It has been an awesomely busy 12 months absolutely chocka-block-full of rewarding work, tremendous opportunities, wonderful people, fascinating places and delicious food!

MasterChef has opened up so many doors for me, cemented my desire and love for creating and cooking and provided me with the platform I needed to share, educate and continue to learn about all that this industry and culinary passion has to offer.


I have taken great pleasure in continuing with my work in education. It was bitter sweet to have to leave my job at Galston High School when I entered the MasterChef house. There is a part of me so dedicated to teaching and educating that I feel wherever I end up, it will follow me, guide me and inevitably be at the heart of everything I do. I have been very fortunate to have run a number of cooking workshops and master classes for our aspiring young chefs, incredible young people, disadvantaged children in and around Sydney, teaching them all I have learned before, during and since MasterChef and sharing with them the joy, inspiration and serenity that can be found when we create and learn together. I see so much value in creating awareness about using our local produce, understanding where foods come from and how sustainability affects our world, how we can be more respectful of our ingredients and our farmers – support their industries, minimize our waste and cook with what is seasonal, local, organic and delicious! I have also been working with behavioural and special needs students teaching them leadership, hospitality skills, world cuisine, cooking techniques and home economics – they’re thriving; it is joyful and rewarding work.

Much of my day to day has been spent building this lovely new website – a hub for all my favourite food related topics, styles, ingredients, philosophies; a place to connect with my dedicated audience, fans and fellow foodies – lets build this community together. I also continue to take part in cooking demonstrations all over Australia, keynote talks to high school students and teachers and MC’ing at various foodie festivals. My continued work with charity is important to me too, this last year I have been an ambassador for FebFast, who help youth workers supporting disadvantaged youth – I gave up sugar and alcohol for all of February, which was very rewarding. I also supported BarbeCURE for Cancer and the Greatest Australian Morning Tea, all of which hold special places in my heart and I thoroughly support their on-going, vital work.

You will have also seen me in Delicious Magazine of course, sharing with you some of my favourite seasonal recipes and a few Elena insights. Working with the great team at Delicious has helped me learn so much about another side of this industry, it is a very exciting and educational process and they are so passionate about what they do. Before my work began with Delicious I also wrote a few articles for local and national papers regarding seasonal produce (I think you may have gathered I hold high regard for good seasonal produce), tips, tricks and also some recipes.

There is almost too much to mention but I’ll talk you through some of my absolute highlights both in, and out of the limelight…..

October and November last year was a pretty busy and exciting time for me. My partner Eric and I got engaged which was an unbelievably special time for both of us – so as well as everything else, wedding plans have also been at the forefront of my very full mind! I had the honour of attending the RaboBank Farm2Fork Summit on Cockatoo Island. For those of you who don’t know, the Farm2Fork Summit is an absolutely enormous coming together of the international food and agriculture industry. The primary focus is on examining the challenges of global food security, future innovation for farmers and all produce related businesses and a showcasing of groundbreaking concepts in food.

The 2016 summit also coincided with the 400 year anniversary of Dutch explorer Dirk Hartog landing on Australia’s west coast and so Dutch Royals King Willem – Alexander and Queen Maxima were invited to be the headline guests, pretty exciting for me with my Dutch heritage. I was asked to cook for them at the Summit, which was an utterly thrilling experience! It was a very proud moment indeed, to present the King and Queen with my semi final dessert of Apple, Bickies and Cheese inspired by my childhood snacks and Dutch spiced cookies. Luckily for the thousands of other punters, there was plenty to share – more than I had ever imagined creating!

Early June saw me jetting off to India for World on a Plate festival. I visited both Mumbai and Bangalore for a truly culturally rich and wonderfully educational experience, which was one of a kind. The festival is India’s biggest international food festival and celebrates the very best of local music, culture and of course food! I had the honour of joining some of the best in the business; providing cooking demonstrations, judging competitions and attending the all-important Q and A sessions along with Ranveer Brar, Janice Wong, Gary Mehigan and Adriano Zumbo. With over 7000 people in attendance at both Bangalore and Mumbai, the festival was busy, breathtaking and an intimate insight into India’s way of life. I was made to feel so welcome and was immediately embraced by the truly gracious and kind people of both cities. Their pride in their culture and history was an unrivalled inspiration to me. My favourite part of the trip, aside from all the delicious food, was connecting with the people, meeting so many passionate food fans and gathering all sorts of recipe ideas and flavor techniques for my own cooking and for sharing with all of you of course. One of the hotels in which I had the pleasure of staying served an unbelievable ground lamb omelet which I may have to adapt, perhaps it will make a debut on my website, stay tuned. The festival worked closely with several local charities both utilizing leftover food and benefiting underprivileged young people and I was very grateful to be a part of this vital work whilst I was there.

Roll onto the beginning of August – I was invited by Janice Wong to attend and assist at the 20th anniversary of the Iron Chef Allstars at Sydney Opera House. To say I was excited is an understatement. For those who don’t know – The Iron Chef was a very popular Japanese TV show in the 90’s – a cook off type show (a style of show of which I am very fond of, naturally), contestants would take on one of the resident Iron Chefs in a cooking battle with a themed ingredient. You could say that the show paved the way for MasterChef. This fantastic event was the 20th Anniversary of the show’s final broadcast in 1997 and was a celebration of the incredible chefs that featured on the show and their history. The evening featured a 6 course degustation menu designed by the all-star chefs and some truly exhilarating entertainment also provided by the chefs. I was privileged to assist the food prep and plating up with some of my biggest cooking inspirations – Rokusaburo Michiba, Hiroyuki Sakai, Kenichi Chen, Masahiko Kobe, Kentaro Chen and of course my friend and pastry guru Janice Wong. What’s more is the event was held all in the aid of Opportunity International, a super charity providing families living in poverty some of the financial support they need to transform their lives.  

I have also spent some time at the William Angliss Institute – Australia’s largest centre for foods, tourism, hospitality and events training, and, where I actually auditioned for MasterChef. The institution offers a full certificate of degree programs and training. Education and being a part of educating is where my heart is, what I enjoy most. The biggest opportunity I see from my MasterChef success is this platform that it has provided for me on which I can teach and continue to learn myself. My work at the William Angliss Institute has included general mentoring of some of the students and the hosting of a delicious cook off competition which involved a lot of over indulging at an enormous buffet created by the students and then a bit of judging at the end.

Travel and food and connecting with community have been an incredible highlight through the last year.  I think I’ve seen more of Australia in the last year, while demonstrating, connecting with farmers, producers, locals, sampling local cuisine, regional produce and learning about specialty food products.  I continue to treat every activity and experience as an opportunity to learn and grow – I thrive when learning and absorbing from passionate experts in their field and I look forward to passing much of this knowledge and experience on to you.  

Most recently I have been working tirelessly to put together this foodie hub/cooking community for you all in the shape of my website. I did take 3 weeks off for a well-deserved break though. I visited America for my cousin’s wedding and did some travelling around with my fiancé and my family. I have seen so much, done so much and…..eaten so much! I look forward to filling you in on my USA adventures in a dedicated holiday blog…coming soon.

Elena

xox

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Personal

A little more of what I care about…

By on

November 2, 2017

- Personal

I feel privileged to have been born in a country with such an abundance of natural produce, which we all seem to hold so much respect for, so it is part of my duty as a chef, a member of my community, and as a human, to do whatever I can to protect and encourage environmentally mindful food consumption.Sustainability and health are my first priorities, and I aim to provide as much information on both not only through my cooking, but also through my partnerships as well.

The environment is of the utmost importance to me and as such, it is essential that my cooking follow the seasons. But never fear, this is what makes cooking exciting as it forces creativity, and provides a great atmosphere for learning. I am also passionate about people and education, and some of the most valuable wisdom you can acquire about food comes from those that farm, cultivate, and source the local ingredients we use everyday. So get out there, and start chatting with your local growers and farmers!

Having coped with a number of my own intolerances, sensitivities, and health issues for a large portion of my life (learn more about this by reading my blog I Have a Complicated Relationship with my Body), I strive to create dishes that take into consideration the many concerns that each of us feel in our individual relationships with food. You will find stacks of recipes here that are budget, environmentally and family friendly. You will also find dishes that are all about convenience and making healthy food into ‘fast food’. All of my recipes will include a multitude of options should your own intolerances require you to substitute individual ingredients. They will all naturally be things I can personally enjoy and test, so you can expect a whole range of gluten-, refined sugar, and grain-free options.

Last but by all means not least, I am deeply passionate about flavour. You will never live healthy and environmentally conscious lives if what you’re cooking isn’t tasty! One of my favourite things about MasterChef was the judges frequently referring to my dishes as flavour bombs, so you can expect that every dish I recommend is full-on, spoon-tappingly, moreishly scrum-diddily-umptious!

Other than being a mouthful, what is environmentally mindful food consumption? I think it is very much open to interpretation but fundamentally, when we choose what foods to grow, buy, prepare and eat there are many ways we can be a little more considerate of ourselves, each other and our home – Earth. Here are just a few items to consider:

A passion for plants– aim for at least half of every plate you consume to be plant based, this quite happily aids our bodily functions and enriches the environment. It generally means there’s less processing involved too, so less water and electricity used in their creation, and more natural foods headed straight towards our mind and body for the best fuel possible.

Minimal meat– consider lots of different sources of protein intake including eggs, nuts, and seeds.  If and when you choose to consume meats including but not limited to beef, pork and lamb, be mindful of their treatment, growth, and their potential environmental impact. Consider the diet of the animal and how that may affect your diet; for example, I try to only consume grass fed, organic beef (if it’s grain free, so am I) and, whenever possible, be in contact with either the butcher or farmer responsible for it reaching me.

Sustainable seafood– all seafood is a super precious gift, however, some species of fish are at extreme risk of being overfished and potentially extinct if we continue to consume them at the rate we are. Apps like Seafood Watch, created by the incredible Monterey Bay Aquarium, make choosing our dinner easy with giving us a rating of ‘best’ choices to those, which should be ‘avoided’. Wonderful news from the staff at the aquarium who have been seeing some species of fish become more abundant and off the danger list, within the app’s short life – so they’re doing a great job. I’ve got lots of thoughts on seafood so I’ll return to this topic in greater depth soon.

Keep it close – and when I say that I mean shop as locally and naturally as possible.  If your food is grown within 10-50kms, it’s likely to be fresher, had to travel less thus having less of a footprint and if you buy it from a farmer’s market, it’s most likely organic too.  The best thing about markets is that you get to speak to the farmers – the absolute experts in their field, the people who are most passionate about what they do.  They often have tricks and tips for understanding optimum ripeness and they may even have a few recipes up their sleeves for you to try. You’ll also feel more compelled to utilise every last skerrick of every vegetable more wisely, when you know the huge effort which the farmers have gone to, to nurture your veggies (keep your eyes peeled for my tips on pickling wilting veggies). Another great option is to join a food co-op, there’s plenty around Sydney if you do a quick search and hopefully some in your area too.  Third and finally, you can’t get much more local than your backyard, so grow whatever you can within your capability and space. Herbs are especially easy to grow and can make such a huge difference to flavor.

Sweet and seasonal – Fruit and vegetables are at their best, most nutrient dense and abundant when in season.  Get a little experimental when you have 1kg of asparagus, just because you can. Eat some carrots now, and pickle some for later.  When in season and abundant, fruit and vegetables are often more budget friendly – you get more for less. This is not rocket science people! Fortunately for us Australian residing people, we have a lot in season all year round!

Respectful and reflect – it’s easy to get caught up in a quick meal, trying to swallow things whole in attempt to regain a few minutes in each busy day. But it really can’t hurt, in fact I encourage you to take a few moments to really enjoy and consider what you’re eating. Be grateful for the energy you’re being provided and respectful of the nourishment the earth has given us. Taking some time to stop and truly be in the moment can slow us down, offer us perspective and, we may even require a little less food because our bodies can catch up and alert us of when we’re full.

Be on waste watch – this may mean reusing bags, containers, wraps etc., upcycling eggshells, avocado skins and coffee grounds. It may mean you invest in a tumbling compost barrel, you may get some laying chickens that, along with a worm farm, pretty much enjoy most scraps.  Aim to send less and less to landfill!

In terms of the effects on our individual, community and ‘whole earth health’, all of the above benefits us all.  We thrive when consuming minimally disrupted, natural foods; they nourish us, they can act as anti-inflammatories and they have medicinal benefits.  Whilst I’m not a doctor (more about that in my blog), I can give you some hints about what foods can assist in alleviating a whole stack of unwanted symptoms. Most of which has been known for centuries; so I send a very grateful thank you to our many and wondrous ancestors.

Keep an eye out for my glorious and exciting partnerships.  

Two brains are better than one and I love to collaborate, providing I’m working with philosophically like-minded individuals, groups, organisations and companies. And you know, we all love a give-away, and I can’t wait to pass on some awesome treats!

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