Coming in as one of the younger contestants in MasterChef this year, Eric Mao most certainly gave the competition everything he had, and throughout it all he managed to find a “shared connection” with one of the judges.
WATCH BELOW: MasterChef’s Eric Mao on what’s next after leaving the show
One of two children born to his immigrant Chinese parents, Eric went on the show in the hopes of sharing his passion for regional Chinese cuisine with Australia.
Speaking with New Idea, Eric reveals that while his time in the MasterChef kitchen was cut short, he wanted to showcase just how special and how interesting Chinese cuisine is to everyone watching at home.
“True authentic regional Chinese cuisine is something that is very underappreciated in Australia – or not really known about – and I think that’s what I wanted to showcase on the show,” he tells us.
Having been born in Australia with a Chinese heritage, Eric talks of an “identity struggle”, and how it helped him resonate with judge Melissa Leong.
“We kind of had this shared connection through with the fact that we were both Chinese-Australian and we grew up in Australia and I think that identity struggle kind of was something that both of us had to go through,” the 21-year-old says.
“We kind of had a connection and I think the way we both found a link to our Chinese heritage was through food and it was a very unique connection that we had there.”
And while he resonated with Mel in particular, Eric adds that all three of the judges are equally as great to work with.
“The judges are exactly like what they are in real life as how they appear on TV,” he says.
“They’re just so gracious and full of candour and integrity and think they really just want to see you exceed and so they were incredibly helpful with their advice and their comments.”
Eric also adds that while he didn’t really appreciate the importance of his family’s background and culture when he was younger, it was within the past three years or so that he really connected with the Chinese part of his heritage.
“The way I do that is through the food, it’s sort of the way I communicate,” he says.
“Showcasing that through food and bringing more awareness to it in the broader Australian context is something that I’m incredibly passionate about and that’s what I’m going to be doing moving forward.”
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