Singapore-born man wins MasterChef Australia with record 93 points
Singapore-born winner of Australian reality show started cooking because he missed the dishes he grew up with
Singapore-born Sashikumar Cheliah did not start cooking regularly until he moved to Australia in 2012 and found himself missing the taste of Singaporean dishes he had grown up with.
This week, however, the prison officer, popularly known as Sashi Cheliah, became the winner of the 10th season of reality cooking show MasterChef Australia.
Mr Sashikumar, 40, who has no formal culinary training, said: "Cooking for my family almost daily for the last six years gave me the confidence to take part in the show.
"Being on the show gave me the opportunity to focus on cooking and improve my knowledge and skills within a few months."
Mr Sashikumar, who lives in Adelaide, spoke to The Straits Times on the phone from Melbourne where he arrived yesterday for media interviews.
Filming for the show wrapped up in late May, but only his family members who attended the grand finale on May 29 knew he had won.
His mother, aunt and sister had flown from Singapore to watch him go through the last two rounds of the grand finale.
His dishes of sambal prawn and fish curry in the first round, and his re-creation of a complicated dessert by renowned British chef Heston Blumenthal in the second round earned him an overall score of 93 points - the highest received by a winner of the show.
But Mr Sashikumar could not share news of his win until the final episode aired on Tuesday.
PRAISE
During the show, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay praised his entry of roast lamb with beer-battered cauliflower and reduction of lamb and beer, calling it a dish "worth travelling 17,000km for".
Mr Sashikumar picked up basic cooking skills at age 10, when he used to watch his mother cook in their four-room flat in Hillview.
When he got married and moved to Woodlands, he seldom cooked as it was easy to eat out or buy takeaway meals.
Mr Sashikumar, who was a police officer in Singapore for 12 years before he moved to Australia, said: "When my wife and I decided to move to Australia, it did not cross my mind to get recipes from my mother and aunt.
"In Singapore, we had taken for granted how convenient it was to buy food outside."
Within a week of arriving in Melbourne where he lived for two years, he called home to get recipes from his mother and aunt.
In recent years, as his cooking got better, his mother and aunt have begun calling him instead to get his versions of family recipes as well as for cooking tips.
Every year, when he returns for a visit to Singapore, his relatives would ask him to cook mutton briyani for them.
His wife, a 38-year-old nurse, their two sons, aged 10 and 12, as well as his colleagues have been supportive of his participation in the reality show.
Mr Sashikumar and his wife became Australian citizens last September.
His sons are Singapore citizens who will return to do their national service.
Mr Sashikumar's dream is to open a restaurant serving Indian and South-east Asian cuisine and provide employment for former convicts.
He intends to be based in Australia, but does not rule out the possibility of starting a food business in Singapore.
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