Kitchen confidential

GIVEN his reputation, I catch myself holding my breath as I wait for eliminated Jewish MasterChef contestant Jonathan Daddia to answer my call.

So when I’m greeted with a “Hey Dalia” as though we’re long-time friends, I’m rather relieved. Relieved that defending this stranger to friends and colleagues over the past few months has not been in vain. It seems I was right all along — contrary to the way he came across on screen, the Moriah graduate is actually really friendly and personable.

So why do many have the perception that the Sydney-based IT consultant is arrogant and self-assured?

“There’s only a limited amount of air time, and a limited amount of editing and I think people only get to see one side of a person. They don’t see the fun we have or the joking on the set or how close we all are as friends,” he explains.

“Maybe I’m not the warmest person when you first meet me, but if people were to come up to me in the street, I think they would see that I’m not as confident as they think I am. I am ¬≠actually quite nervous and shy. There’s not much in life I take seriously.”

That is, of course, aside from his cooking.

Daddia credits a working-trip to London a decade ago with igniting his passion for food, and lists Moroccan and French cuisines as his favourites. While English chefs Gordon Ramsay and Heston Blumenthal inspire him, the 33-year-old says he much prefers cooking his own versions of traditional, comfort foods.

“I like to use modern cooking techniques to get a consistent result, which I think is what Heston does. I think he obviously pushes the boundary in terms of taste and perception and stimulating the palette. But for me, I love good home cooked meals so I think my food would sit in there slightly differently,” he explains.

Meeting Blumenthal, the acclaimed chef and founder of Berkshire institution The Fat Duck, was among the highlights of Daddia’s tumultuous MasterChef experience.

Having taken the toughest road to the top 10, winning eight sudden-death challenges, he consequently gained the nickname “the eliminator”.

“Someone said it as a joke in the very beginning and it stuck. I seemed to live up to my name and I didn’t mind it. I thought it was a bit of a joke,” Daddia says.

“The funny thing is, I look back at it, and especially when Matt [Preston] asked me at the end whether I deserved to be there, out of 24 people, I had been through eight eliminations so I had eliminated a third of the contest. When I start thinking of it like that, I didn’t realise the hard road that I had taken.”

So what of the ninth elimination challenge that ultimately saw the eliminator defeated by a complex squab dish?

“I was flying ahead in that challenge. I was probably about six to 10 minutes ahead of everyone. If you actually watch the footage, I had already cleaned down my bench, and had everything ready so I could plate up … and then I obviously carved off the breasts,” he laughs.

“It wasn’t the first time I have done that and made that mistake. That is the difference between amateur chefs and real chefs.”

Daddia presents an alternative to the drama-filled, intensity of Australia’s most popular television program ever. He reveals that, while the judges appear to only taste a select number of dishes, they have in fact already talked to each contestant and had a small sample of each plate.

“People will say ‘why didn’t they taste that dish’ but they actually do come around to absolutely everyone, they taste everything and they have a really good idea of who has done what,” he says. “They are certainly very informed.”

So what does he make of the three judges? “They are really good, they mentor and coach you a lot and talk to you a lot. What you don’t see is a lot of the fun on set and the banter between us and the judges. They try and stay at arm’s length because they have to judge our food, but at the same time they are our mentors. It’s hard.”

When asked how he took the judges bouts of anger and frustration, Daddia is practical.

“I think the judges know there are some people who can take some pretty hard criticism and we will just take it on board and learn from it,” he says.

“I think it’s because the judges really care and really see potential or they really want you to do well. I think it’s part frustration because you haven’t delivered something really good. I don’t really mind. If I got really bad criticism like that, I would approach them off camera and ask them what I could have done to fix it or I’ll go back in to my books. For me it’s quite motivating.”

While on the topic of behind the scenes action, Daddia reveals that episodes can take up to 15 hours to film, despite being edited down to just a half or one-hour package.

“We get up at five in the morning and cameras are in your face at 5.30. That’s why you are so emotional. The introduction can take a few hours and tasting for example can take 20 to 30 minutes per person. The only thing that is stuck to time is the cooking. If they say it’s an hour, it’s an hour, if they say it’s half-an-hour, it’s half-an-hour,” he explains.

The intense days meant it was impossible for Daddia to even contemplate ducking out of the MasterChef house to see his new wife Mandy, who he married during the filming of the top 50 week.

“There was no sneaking out. We did have some hours or days off, so I had some days to spend with my wife and my family. It is so quick. You have a quick lunch with your wife and run around to see everyone else and before you know it, you are back in the house.”

While he may have fallen just short of the show’s final week, Daddia says he has been “inundated with emails” and offers for various opportunities.

“I have a couple of things that I am looking at,” he reveals, admitting only that an internship at Blumenthal’s Fat Duck is not one of them.

Still, not a bad result for a contestant who had never heard of the show and signed up just days before registrations closed.

“I’ve certainly heard about the show now,” he laughs. “I think it’s one of those things. I’ve had a great experience. I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get into the finals week but overall I had a great experience and I met some great people.”

So what’s next for the Jewish community’s newest golden boy?

“I would love to open that bistro. I have been thinking about that for years now but it is overwhelming, the prospect of opening a ¬≠restaurant straight off. Just because you are a cook, doesn’t mean you should open a restaurant. I’ll have to determine that. Maybe I’ll open a small wine bar in Sydney to start, but whatever it is, it will be in food.”

And the chefs in the final week, what does he make of them? “I think Alvin is a great cook. He cooks really lovely, home-style food. It’s really beautiful,” he says, before adding, “I think Adam is one of the most underrated cooks. I think he has the most amazing food-brain on him, and whether he has shown that in all the challenges so far or not, I think he is definitely one to watch.”

The MasterChef finale is on Network Ten on Sunday, July 25 from 7.30pm.

DALIA SABLE

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