Author: Minal D'Rozario

By Minal D’Rozario, Co-Founder and Director

From Gary’s one killing look on plating and assessing efforts to George’s unique set of tweezers and detail for perfection to Matt’s lifetime experience and knowledge of every flavour across the globe. And finally to that breath-taking 5 seconds silence on their feedback on every morsel, were strangely the simplest things that kept you hooked on to the show for 11 straight years. 

What if they weren’t a part of it? Unimaginable right?

Masterchef Australia was not just any other cooking show. It has stirred conversations and discussions for many to dream bigger. Whether it is to start their own cafe, or just to start cooking as a source of healing.  It has enabled cultures to come together and bond over food and flavours, to revisit relationships and learn about food, people and life. These 11 years have not only impacted contestants, but also each one sitting across the screen to initiate their passion for food or any other fields of interest. 

Rationale thinking would suggest that since the judges had been around for so many years, it was time for a change. New faces, fresh perspectives and renewed thinking. But there has been something which has kept these gentlemen glued not only to the show but also to its viewers and the community at large. In my personal opinion, the emotion of a contestant living their life through an entire series was so impacting. Winning was manifested in several ways and it changed how people approached their own lives.

Their recipe for success was made up of a simple formula- Passion, Perseverance and Perfection. The three P’s have helped millions to put things into perspective as suggested by every judge. Any one missing ingredient makes it a one time dish but put all three together and you’re looking at a timeless remembrance.

Passion is the child-like behaviour to embrace the freshness and the new aromas of life. It’s the things that get you excited and curious. It’s the love for building or creating something beautiful and hoping people will love it just as much as you do. This ingredient allows you to champion your vision of your creation. It’s not an easy task since your passions may or may not be unique from the millions that exist.  But it definitely allows you the ability to explore and push you enough to try it out. 

Now here is a hard one- Perseverance. This requires a lot of patience and motivation to keep trying and come close to your vision of what you dreamt or imagined. There are the hard calls, the ability to move forward at times and not being able to be excited every day. But the most important part of this is the right choice of equipment/tools and a lot of learning to strive towards the constant need for perfection. Doubts, confusion and challenges may strike, and most importantly, the choice to achieve perfection. Is it always the right one? 

But during the course of this journey, the people, environment, culture and your past play a huge role to continue working without trying too hard to impress anyone but yourself. 

Perfection is that selfless experience of closure and inching towards a possible result, which can make or break the response or reaction. It’s that stage wherein you take a deep breath and see your final result- whether it is an exact replica of your vision or somewhat close to it. It’s the stage where you question whether you are relevant to the end-user of your product, or if you have done everything in your hands to give your best. To be worthy of a smile and joy to the person who is the consumer of your passion.

The combination of Gary, George and Matt have helped us understand the importance of passion, perseverance and perfection coming together to form a humble yet beautiful dish. Every day, hour and minute, there are millions getting inspired to show you the world from their own perspective. And it all comes down to the 5 seconds and the experience you give or get when you build something you love. 

We will miss every word, learning and experience which you have given us all these years!

Love from millions who dream every day.

By Minal D’Rozario, Co-Founder and Director

A state of mind of multiple choices, decisions stack up to create layers of opinions and elements of confusions. After being part of many such casual discussions with my fellow colleagues and friends to possibly find solace or must I say looking for support, this is a natural behavior pattern for most of us. After every goal is achieved, there comes a phase of multiples. The question that lies is? do we keep adding up to these and increase the volatility of the situation to get to a point of clarity or start segmenting to accept and move forward of another journey towards a defined destination (Goal) or exploration (Purpose)? Where am I getting at? Possibly an answer even, I don’t have at this point in time. 

I had a terrible day at work the other day, and with the above situation of multiples, it all came daunting on me with an element of overdose. This has been pretty much in a nutshell how things have been, it goes smoothly for some time and blows the earth beneath my feet all at once, at times in pleasant ways and at times not in such a good way. So, generally, I work it out, sorting it all out one by one. Over time, things have been better and life starts to move forward for the short term. Anyways going back to my bad day, I must admit I did not take it too well for the first half of the day. But thankfully something changed my thought process, that sinking feeling of it all disconnecting, turned into a feeling of positivity. While literally cleaning my closet, I sorted my clothes into various groups/stacks, trying so hard to keep the ones I have memories and get rid of the ones I don’t want or need. Some of them aced it in many ways, but some didn’t; a feeling of a little girl’s excitement came into me “That if I don’t let these go, there will be no place for new ones!” The colors and variants will be just the same, and I will not have that feeling of multiple choices and occasions, which make me, stand out for a party, conference, dinner or just a coffee. 

The next day at work, that learning took me a long way, as I identified the haves and have not, and as the day progressed; the feeling of multiples was not confusing anymore! We strive to grow in our career or things we like to do, but we tend to forget the immense value of things and thoughts which are new and old, as you have to make a place for something old to be replaced with something new to break the monotony and be relevant. We also have to keep some old habits to stick to our core and still make sense, as it will always be very new to you. Sometimes, the simplicity is in the basics which starts with cleaning the closet!