Julia

Date: 4/05/2009

Favourite chef? Frank Camorra, Ferran Adria and Shannon Bennett.

What’s your favourite restaurant?

MoVida and Cummulus Inc.

What's your favourite ingredient and why?

Pancetta - everything tastes better with bacon.

What's your favourite utensil and why?

Spork - it’s not quite a spoon, not quite a fork.

What’s your favourite meal of the day – breakfast, lunch or dinner?

I love them all equally. It’s like trying to choose which of your children you love the most.

What do you prefer, chicken, beef, seafood or tofu, and why?

Beef, particularly the cuts like the cheek or shin. Though I love a good steak too.

What dish would be the way to your heart?

The Cecine at MoVida (air cured wagyu beef with truffle foam and poached egg). It’s worked before. But I’m also charmed by anything made with a bit of love, and especially for me.

What’s your favourite tune to cook to?

I like to cook to ‘60s pop songs.

Describe how you felt during the MasterChef audition?

Bored of most of it, to be honest, until I was cooking and in front of the judges, then I was about to wet my pants.

Tell us about your journey into the Top 20:

It’s been a wild surreal ride. Watch the show to find out more!

What do you think you’ll learn from being on MasterChef?

Hopefully some more basic skills and a bit more confidence in my cooking.

Are you nervous about cooking for the judges and why?

Always. Presenting food to two great chefs and a food critic, all of whom you respect incredibly, is a mind-blowing, nerve-wracking experience.

Tell us about how you got into cooking and how old were you?

I’ve always enjoyed cooking but I wasn’t interested in eating food until I was about 18, when I was taught to try and enjoy by my now mentor, John Maiorana. He taught me that strange foods can be just as delicious, if not more. I haven’t looked back since.

What’s the first meal you remember cooking and was it a success or a disaster?

My first dish was chocolate chip cookies and they were crazy awesome. My first dinner was pasta with tomato and olive sauce and it was ridiculously mediocre. I got better...

Who do you cook for the most?

Me, and anyone who happens to be near me.

What do you love and what do you hate about cooking food?

I love everything and hate nothing, except cleaning up.

What three ingredients would you take with you to a desert island and what would you cook with them?

Salt, pepper and olive oil, hopefully I can find some animals on the island.

If you were having any three people, alive or dead, over for dinner, who would they be and what would you cook for them?

David Bowie, Douglas Adams, and Eddie Merckx. I’d cook something f-ing amazing.

What inspired you to go on MasterChef?

I love to cook. This is a great opportunity to do that. Enough said.

And how do you like your eggs?

Poached.