Maggie Beer, 77, reveals why, despite being one of Australia’s most famous chefs, she was never able to be a candidate for MasterChef
She has appeared as a guest judge on MasterChef Australia several times and will return to the franchise in Monday night’s episode.
But Australian chef queen Maggie Beer admitted on Monday that despite being a regular on the cooking show, she could never hack it as a contestant.
“Personally, I could never be a candidate [on MasterChef] because I don’t do well under this pressure. The pressure I put on myself cooking is bad enough!’ the 77-year-old told New Idea.
“I don’t do well when I’m cooking under pressure!” Veteran chef Maggie Beer (centre), 77, told New Idea on Monday she could never run as a candidate for MasterChef Australia. Pictured with judges Andy Allen (left), Jock Zonfrillo and Melissa Leong (right)
Maggie, who will challenge contestants on Monday’s episode to cook a dish using ingredients from her own pantry, revealed the experience was “so much fun”.
“It was amazing to see how differently they approached the challenge and the dishes they created,” she said.
Although Maggie has no formal training as a chef, she has had a distinguished career spanning nearly five decades and has no plans to slow down anytime soon.
Under pressure: Maggie, who has appeared as a guest judge on MasterChef Australia several times and will return to the franchise on Monday night’s episode, explained that the pressure she puts on herself while cooking is “bad enough”.
She previously told The Daily Telegraph that MasterChef candidates shouldn’t be there for “fame” but simply for the “love of food”.
“There can be a romantic dream of a future in nutrition. You can have rose-colored glasses about how tough it is in the industry,” she said.
“As long as they don’t want to do this for fame, but for the love of food, learning and creativity (they will excel). The fame thing can get in the way.”
Wisdom: Maggie previously told The Daily Telegraph that MasterChef candidates shouldn’t be there for ‘fame’, but simply for the ‘love of food’.
In it, for all the right reasons: “There can be a romantic dream of a future in nutrition. You can have rose-colored glasses about how tough it is in the industry,” she said. Pictured with deleted MasterChef judges from left to right: Matt Preston, George Calombaris and Gary Mehigan
Maggie, who also serves as a judge on The Great Australian Bake Off alongside Matt Moran, said MasterChef offers a valuable experience for home cooks.
“MasterChef Australia gives them the food equivalent of a sea change – to see if it (a career in food) is just a hobby or if they want to continue.”
The best-selling cookbook author went on to reveal that she sees no point in retiring when she’s enjoying her job so much.
Maggie’s guest appearance on MasterChef Australia airs on Ten tonight at 7.30pm.
Passionate cook: The best-selling cookbook author went on to reveal that she sees no point in retiring when she enjoys her job so much