Debra and Eva centre stage
Kelly Ramsay and Chloe James went close in last year’s series as runners-up despite being branded catty and mean. And who could forget the cooking cousins, vivacious Italians Daniela Pirone and Stefania Muscara, who finished third in 2011.
As crunch time approaches, two of WA’s three teams are fighting on, led by workmates and spice girls Eva Lean and Debra Ch’ng, who had the highest score in MKR history in the instant restaurant redemption round.
The judges were so impressed they received perfect scores for their prawn cakes entree and main, a Keralan fish molee recipe passed down from Lean's mother. Their score of 98 out of 110 beat the previous best of 95 by Greek twins and 2014 series semi-finalists Vikki and Helena Moursellas.
All the spice girls’ dishes drew inspiration from their South-East Asian heritage as they played to their strengths.
“We’re really proud of ourselves, we didn’t expect to do so well,” Ch’ng said. “We’re just two little short girls and it was intimidating having so many impressive cooks around but we drew from our heritage and have been honest about our flavours.”
The pair, who both have Singaporean backgrounds, also have Indian and Malaysian influences in their families and it was the reason they first bonded over food.
“We’re quite similar and we’ve been working together for four years at Kleenheat Gas,” Lean said. “During our lunch breaks we would talk about the Asian meals we were craving, and the decision to apply for MKR was born from there.”
They decided to have a go and see where it led.
“Eva and I watched it religiously,” Ch’ng said. “So we thought why not? We came into the show being good friends and we treat each other like sisters, so we could see that it might work for us. But when we got the call-up, we were surprised — we honestly didn’t think we’d be chosen.”
During several months of filming, emotions have run high for all the local cooks, whose relationships have been put to the test through demanding challenges and critiques from some of Australia’s most accomplished chefs and TV cooks.
“It’s an extremely stressful process,” Lean said.
“The whole crazy experience was hard work, physically, emotionally and mentally. We never gave up, we put in 100 per cent every time, but it was worth it.”
