MasterChef Australia Andy Allen: Only scratched the surface of Indian cuisine

From an electrician with a passion for food, winning the fourth season of MasterChef Australia in 2012 to judging the show (starting from 2020), Chef Andy Allen’s journey in the culinary world has been a wild one. He says, “It has definitely snowballed since I was a contestant. Not in my wildest dreams did I think that I would come out the other side and be able to have such a successful career in the hospitality industry, let alone come back and be a judge on the show.”

Allen who was in the country for a visit to launch a range of chocolates with the Australian Macadamia Society, has been “enjoying researching and learning” about Indian regional food. He says, “I love to cook curries back home, but, for me, coming to India, I [realised I have only] just started to scratch the surface of what Indian cuisine is. I always knew it was very regionalised and the food differs, from Mumbai to Bengaluru to Delhi. I plan on coming back to India and learning more, so I can bring some dishes back to Australia and put my own spin on it.”

Allen opines that “Indian food is having a bit of a moment” in Australia and around the world. He adds, “Sometime back, a local publication listed their top 10 dishes of 2023 and two of them were Indian dishes. So I think that shows how popular Indian food is in Australia. Indian food is always going to be respected, loved and wanted because it is so colourful, vibrant and full of flavour.”

MasterChef Australia has collected quite a fan-following in India. And even though Allen hasn’t watched the Indian version, he is aware of the popularity the contestants and chefs enjoy in India: ”I still can’t put my finger on why the show is so successful over here and in Australia as well, which has a large Indian population. It took me coming to the country to realise how big the show is [in India] and it makes me want to spend more time here because there are so many people who love us and the show.”