Have you ever found yourself watching MasterChef Australia contestants bring up dish after dish and wondered what happens to all the leftover cooked food?
We’ve all seen the judges absolutely scoff down plates of food like little culinary piggies. But quite often they’ll just have a nibble and toss it aside for the next delectable morsel.
Even so, they couldn’t possibly eat ALL the food. Unless there’s some sort of stomach stretching training program we don’t know about.
Well, as it turns out, after the judges have a taste, the contestants are allowed to eat the food. They’re even encouraged to take it home in doggy bags. We’re drooling just thinking about the insane leftovers.
Former contestant Simon Toohey once said the cooked dishes are put into the compost bin “or they get spread around to people like us and the crew”.
“There is actually zero waste within the MasterChef kitchen, which is unreal,” he quipped.
Leftover produce and perishables from MasterChef‘s ginormous pantry are donated to SecondBite, a not-for-profit food rescue organisation that helps end food waste and food insecurity in Australia.
Do the MasterChef Australia judges really eat the food?
MasterChef Australia 2023: Secrets and Surprises judge Melissa Leong dished to stuff.co.nz about what happens when it’s time to taste the food.
“I taste enough to inform my judgment,” she said. “Sometimes when something is especially tasty it is very difficult not to go back for a second, third or fourth bite.
“But part of the job is exercising restraint.
“There are definitely days where I do not need to have dinner or lunch because I do most of my eating on camera.” Just think of the coin she’s saving by eating her at work for free!
Is the food cold by the time the MasterChef judges taste it?
Thanks to the magic of editing, it looks like judges get to dig in straight away. But in reality, that’s not the case.
Former contestant, Alice Zaslavsky told Mamamia in 2017 the plates are whisked away and filmed from various angles.
“Once you finish cooking, they take your plate away and shoot it with an overhead camera so it looks fresh,” she said.
When contestants’ names are called, they walk up to the judges, who “put a fork in, eat a mouthful of the cold gloop”.
Former judge George Colombaris shed some light in 2015, saying the judges “go around the room” eating “everything hot” straight out of the pot.
“It looks sexy on TV but it takes time to film,” he said. “So when you see us tasting at the end – it’s cold. But I’ve already made the decision, I already know what it tastes like.”
Yeah…not quite as glamorous as it looks on TV!
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