Tash Shan – we meet Canberra’s first MasterChef

Posted on 13 June, 2014

She’s currently cooking up a storm on Australia’s television screens as the ACT’s first MasterChef (although we claimed Queanbeyan’s Rishi Desai as our own last year), and Tash Shan is being tipped as a front runner to take out the title of ‘Australia’s Best Home Cook’.

It’s an intense journey that audiences are now familiar with – a pressure cooker of living in the same house as up to 20 others, long hours in the kitchen, invention tests and Mystery Boxes…and the opportunity to cook with some of the country’s (and the world’s) best chefs. It’s not for the faint-hearted, but the reality television show attracts people from all backgrounds and occupations, united by a love of food.

For Tash, all her best childhood memories were shared around the family table.

“My mum loves to tell the story of when she fell asleep and woke up to a two year-old Tash rubbing talcum powder all over her dresser,” she recalls.

“When asked what I was doing, I emphatically told her ‘making roti canai’. Apparently I loved to cook from a very young age, and when I was 14 I told my parents that I wanted to study at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.”

But growing up in Malaysia in a very poor family in commission housing, security and stability was a priority for Tash’s parents, and she pursued a double university degree in Law and Communications in Melbourne, aged 19. Her passion for cooking was borne out of necessity.

“In my first year at uni, I ate meat pies and wedges for about eight months before I conceded that I had to learn to cook for myself. And that’s when I really started to learn to cook.”

For five years, Tash watched MasterChef and wished it was her auditioning, but without Australian citizenship it was just a pipe dream. But once she had that all-important piece of paper, though, there was no stopping her. So what steered her towards MasterChef rather than other reality cooking shows?

“I loved MasterChef for so many reasons, and it may seem trivial but one of them was cultural diversity. As an international student, it was one of the few shows that translated the cultural diversity I saw on the streets of Australia to the TV screen. And it wasn’t reality TV for the sake of it, there was no nastiness.”

I’ve been an avid MasterChef fan since the first series, and one of my most common ‘screams at the tv’ is ‘why didn’t you learn to fillet a fish/make pasta dough/temper chocolate’? So I was relieved to hear that Tash took the challenge seriously, and prepared for her time in the competition.

“In a perfect world I’d have done a lot more practice, researched more recipes, gotten into a lot more commercial kitchens, But the reality of it is that there’s only a few weeks between when you know you’re in the Top 24 and when you have to go film in Melbourne and much of it was over the Christmas break,” she says.

“I went to see one of my favourite chefs, Ben Willis at Aubergine, who kindly let me into his kitchen for a couple of days. And because I’m a rather hopeless Indian cook (despite being ¾ Indian), I popped into Jewel of India and asked them to teach me the basics of making curry.”

Tash made an impression on the judges from the very first audition, but things didn’t go according to plan. She was determined to avoid being typecast as ‘that dessert girl’, and had planned a completely different signature dish (seared scallops in a nahm jim dressing with peanut praline). But before the audition, the producers gave contestants some pointers – ‘show us technique, use the whole hour, really show us what you’re capable of’ – and so Tash went back to the drawing board.

“I had less than 12 hours to come up with a new dish so I threw together a few things that my family and friends know and love – chocolate fondant, chocolate mousse – was that too much chocolate? I thought I’d cut some of the richness with something lighter – a chocolate granita,” she says.

” I wanted to show my pastry skills so I threw in butter shortbread and a tuille and that’s how the Chocoholics Platter was borne. It’s a little less idyllic when you imagine all this happening at 2am in a tiny kitchen. Auditions were at 7am the next day so I was tremendously sleep-deprived when I showed up!”

And then the stuff of dreams happened. Tash was selected as one of this year’s top amateur chefs…and now she’s down to the final 13. So what about the reality of the MasterChef kitchen…are the judges really that lovely?

“They are every bit as fabulous and friendly as they seem, and we are so lucky to have them as mentors! They really give the show its honest, down-to-earth family feel. They’re not only great chefs, restaurateurs and food critics in their own right but they genuinely care about each and every one of the contestants,” says Tash.

“They’re invested in us from the moment they hand us that white apron. You’ll often see them consoling contestants when they’re having a bad day – they really do want us to succeed. And it’s not just for the show, they’ve made it clear to contestants that they are available to them for help and advice even after they’ve been eliminated.”

And it wasnt’ just Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris and Matt Preston helping to hone contestants skills. For Tash, highlights of the experience were cooking for an immunity pin against Ben Cooper (she just lost by four points) and learning from acclaimed chef Teage Ezard, which also drove home the reality of cheffing.

“It’s a foodie’s dream to walk into a two-hatted restaurant and have the head chef show us how to cook his food. We’re hardly chefs, just enthusiastic home cooks. TV doesn’t match the reality of a real service.”

One thing is for certain, Tash will be returning to a city with a vibrant food culture and many opportunities, with more and more eateries being added every day.

“I am sick of people assuming that Canberra doesn’t have a food culture. We do, and I’m very proud of it!,” she says.

“There are so many great places to eat out in Canberra – much more than when I first came two years ago. Temporada is at the top of my favourites list at the moment, Chris is a very talented chef and I think the food is very well-priced. It’s also no secret that I think Aubergine is one of the best value fine dining places in Australia. And of course, Canberra’s favourite ice cream man, our own Willy Wonka, John Marshall at Frugii!”

So what’s next for Tash? She’s still on our tv screens and has Canberra behind her as she continues in the competition, but what about her post MasterChef dreams?

“I’d still love to have my own café – definitely in Canberra, but it requires finances and I worked for a not-for-profit so I’m yet to work through that part. Know anyone looking for a cook with a concept?”

Want to get a taste of Tash’s amazing food? Pop over here for a recipe from her food blog akitchencat.com.au