The prospect of a home cook going up against a professional chef on a competitive culinary game show seems daunting and terrifying. But Melissa Leong, food writer and one of three judges on the recently-launched show, The Chefs’ Line, doesn’t think it’s an uneven playing field. The Australian cooking show that premièred last week on Zee Café, has a unique premise: in 13 episodes across the season, home cooks battle against professional chefs, focusing on a specific cuisine for each episode.
“On the surface, you think that professionals going against amateurs is a no brainer. But we can’t forget that home cooks bring with them generations of handed down knowledge, love, passion and technique about their culture, or, in some cases, they have fallen so in love with a particular cuisine that they have devoted a lot of time to learning about it,” says Leong, who has a background in journalism and radio broadcasting.
Judge’s corner
Hosted by famed Australian food personality Maeve O’Meara, The Chefs’ Line is judged by Leong, along with native ingredient expert and chef, Mark Olive, and renowned restaurateur and chef, Dan Hong. When asked about how she got involved with the show, she says, “Hong pitched the idea and I found it interesting. The idea of passion versus profession is a lot more evenly matched than you think. You’re in for a few surprises in terms of what people produced on the show,” says Leong who is making her television debut with the show.
Shot over a span of six weeks, the culinary challenge showcases a range of global cuisines, each chosen to reflect the breadth of Australia’s multicultural make-up. “We were shooting for long hours during the summer, sometimes shooting two episodes over a day,” Leong says, adding, “The question that we asked ourselves as judges was ‘Was it delicious? Would I go back for more?’”
Down the generations
The show’s emphasis on authenticity was not very stringent. “Every family cooks differently,” she says, explaining how it’s possible for the same dish to be handed down over generations with slight variations in spice levels and ingredients. “What we wanted to judge was the passion. We all have a dish we’re extremely proud of — one that we showcase by saying ‘this is the dish that my mother taught me to cook.’ The deliciousness of those dishes is what we were judging.”
The dishes that stood out for her were the Vietnamese crème caramel from Vietnamese week and a butter chicken from Indian week. “These dishes had so much soul and heart, and it felt like I was eating something that was lighting me up from inside,” she says.
For Leong, who has built a successful career out of the love and joy of food, home cooking forms the cornerstone of her culinary life. “My greatest qualification for working in food is the fact that my parents are Singaporean Chinese,” she says with a laugh. “The greatest pastimes for Singaporeans are eating and shopping, which is actually shopping for what you’re going to be eating next. I was immersed in real food from a young age, and living in an incredibly multicultural country like Australia means access to authentic ingredients and cuisines,” adds Leong.
Her own ‘go to’ home cooking dish is her mother’s Hainanese chicken rice. A close second is her husband’s (Time Out’s 2017 Bartender of the Year, Joe Jones) ragout. “He is Italian, and we love making ragouts, soups and stews and his dish is one of the best I’ve had.”
Now in India
The Chefs’ Line, which premièred with a showcase of Vietnamese cuisine earlier this week, will continue to air for 11 more weeks. “We are so excited to bring it to India,” says Leong. “The show was a showcase of some of the greatest cuisines of the world, and every contestant came with a really honest and open way of showcasing their love for food. It makes me so happy to share the joy that comes through the show with a wider audience. There are lots of exciting things that you’ll have to wait and see,” she concludes.
The Chefs’ Line airs on Zee Café from Monday to Friday at 9 pm
