The three new judges on ‘MasterChef Australia: Back To Win’ have brought a different touch to the show, one aspect being Melissa Leong’s incredibly eloquent and engaging commentary.
As a food writer it’s no surprise she has an extraordinary way with words, but her flair for delivering incredibly descriptive and emotive critiques (that rival any Hallmark card script) has been unique to the series, and not gone unnoticed by contestants and viewers.
“I loved just the way she talks about food,” Poh Ling Yeow told HuffPost Australia, saying it’s “very on my level as well”.
“I love that emotion that food can throw out and so she’s really good at capturing all that with words and I really love that. I love that she was constantly contextualising my food.”
Just to indulge you with some examples that will either make you drool or pick up a dictionary in awe, here you go:
““Those two flavours were very, very discernible and really cohesive. The texture was like aerated velvet. It was just, you know, you want to wrap yourself in it. It’s absolutely gorgeous. And then the rest of the components, that turbo chicken jus was just, it was finger lickin’, kind of lip smackingly rich."”
- Melissa Leong
““In terms of the flavours here... it’s tart, it’s refreshing, but it’s also anchored by richness and smoothness as well. Those fennel flavours really kind of give it a lovely, earthy grounding. I thought the presentation was lovely. Having the different textures and different colours to kind of suggest the idea of Autumn leaves.””
- Melissa Leong
““The balance of acidity and brightness that it needed to counteract the richness was really, really masterfully done. All of those elements, they were harmonic. I think you did an extraordinary job.””
- Melissa Leong
Viewers have also been admiring the way Melissa speaks about food:
This year, Andy Allen, Melissa Leong and Jock Zonfrillo have replaced former judges Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris and Matt Preston.
Poh was eliminated from the show on Sunday night, placing her in sixth place in the all-stars season. The remaining contestants are Reece Hignell, Reynold Poernomo, Callum Hann, Emelia Jackson and Laura Sharrad.
‘MasterChef Australia: Back To Win’ continues at 7:30pm on Channel 10.