A chat with Kumar Pereira of Master Chef

Kumar Pereira of MasterChef arrives in the country next week to embark on his debut culinary journey, hosted by experts in experiential travel specialists SriLankaInStyle in partnership with Jetwing Hotels.

Kumar Pereira’s Culinary Journey will be between 15 and 24 January. The 10 day itinerary takes place at luxurious locations: Jetwing Lagoon in Negombo, Jetwing Vil Uyana, The Park Street Mews, Jetwing St. Andrews and Jetwing Lighthouse.

The first event takes place at the serene location of Jetwing Lagoon with poolside cocktails, followed by a live demonstration of a dish inspired by the area’s local fresh seafood. Diners then get to sit down to a four course meal designed by Kumar.

In an email interview with Kumar, we learn about what led him to food as he reflects on some of his most memorable experiences at MasterChef Australia. Following are excerpts: 

Q: You’ve had decades of experience as a creative designer, what led you to food and MasterChef?

A: Food has always been a part of my life and I loved cooking from a very early age, I suppose being a creative person, food is a creative process and I know many designers who are great cooks as well. I have a sense of adventure – always had – which has taken me to the countries I have lived in, I also (in 1981) sailed across the Atlantic in a very small boat – so adventure always appeals, and I thought MC would be an adventure, it was.

Q: What were the most important factors in your decision?

A: I watched some of season one and two and the UK version, and loved the challenges and felt it was worth a go. Eventually my family said I had to, so decided to see what would happen and applied for the fun of it to see how I would fare.  

Q: Looking back, what were your favourite experiences at MasterChef?

A: Meeting with some of the world’s best chefs (international and from Australia) and being inspired by what they do and did, and learning from them. Rising to the challenges, coming up with ideas quickly and carrying them out and learning new techniques.

Q: And what were some of your least favourite experiences?

A: The stress of the challenges and the restrictions (time/ingredients), the long hours, the waiting, and the pressure.

Q: You’ve spend a long time away from ‘home’, but have lived considerable lengths in different parts of the world, where is home for you?

A: Home is where you are at the moment, and right now it is Sydney

Q: Have you passed on the cooking talent to any of your kids?

A: I think I have passed on a love and appreciation of food and entertaining, which involves cooking – I hope that they take it on and do even more than I have and get as much pleasure from it as I do.

Q: What aspirations do you hope to achieve one day in your new food career?

A: That is funny – I don’t have any aspirations or dreams of doing anything else but what I am doing now: teaching people to cook, growing my own produce – I guess I would like to have a residential cooking school where a small group of like-minded people will gather for a weekend and cook using produce from the garden.