Masterchef Inspiration

The call from Masterchef Australia appears genuine. So, with less than 8 days, Noodle Cook rushes to cookbooks by top chefs for inspiration, like Neil Perry's "The Food I Love, Beautiful, Simple Food to Cook at Home".

BEAUTIFUL plays some importance, but it appears success lies in the word SIMPLE, after the lessons learnt in the artistic "United Heart" (同心) creation, a French style dish which utilizes Australian desert limes and Chinese ingredients like dried oysters, onion hearts, and Chinese celery. The flavours prove too complex for the tasters. In particular John, the villain in this blog,  proclaims the dish inedible (sob, sob, sob) after the other tasters try not to grimace.


Australian Desert Lime jelly and oyster avocado mousse, fused together as united hearts, garnished with onion hearts (flowering stalks with buds) twisted in a knot. A chilled appetizer or cheese course served with a beet root fruit sauce and an oyster flavoured cream.

The dish that Noodle Cook creates must be simple, beautiful AND withstand summer heat. With so many ideas running through the head, Noodle Cook's cool, level head, starts to puff up like a Michelin Chef, and then deflates, as stage fright takes over: the chill goes down the spine and the feet suddenly feel cold. There's no time to perfect "beautiful, simple food" like Chef Neil in 8 days!