Dr Matthew Hopcraft’s passion for cooking saw him leave his job with the Australian Dental Council to become . . . the dental MasterChef.
Being a contestant on MasterChef was an all-encompassing experience. You live in a house surrounded by people who love food as much as you do. Everyone is thinking about cooking 24/7 and any down-time is spent practising cooking. All the contestants spend hours discussing food and recipes while attempting to improve their skills in order to beat each other at the next challenge.
“The three judges [Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris and Matt Preston] are amazing mentors. On top of that, you get to meet and cook for foodie legends such as Shannon Bennett, Marco Pierre White, Heston Blumenthal and Maggie Beer—to name just a few!
“One of the hardest things was being away from family. There is limited phone and no internet access in the MasterChef house, and everybody is just totally
focused on the show. My kids are 14 and 12 so they were able to handle it pretty well but it was very hard to be away from my family for so long.
“It gets very exciting as you make it further and further through the series. We started with 50 contestants and my initial goal was not to be the first one eliminated. I made it to the top 20, then the top 15, then the top 10. I eventually made it to the top six before I was eliminated. By that time, I had a genuine belief I could go all the way. Equally, every time you cook, you’re up against some amazing dishes cooked by some very talented people.
“Appearing on MasterChef and getting as far as I did in the competition was a fantastic experience. I would love to do more with food and put into practice what I learnt from the show. Recently, I’ve been running a pop-up restaurant in Melbourne with Jamie Ward and Anna Webster [two other contestants on MasterChef] and it’s been going very well. I’m trying to get experience in a professional kitchen and I’m about to launch a website with some recipes and instructional videos. I’m also doing a bit of dental work to pay the bills.
“People often come up to me and say, ‘Oh, you’re that guy from MasterChef. Can I have a photo?’ The fans are very passionate about the show and cooking in general. They love to talk about all aspects of food and they usually tell me about their favourite contestant on the show. MasterChef really was a fascinating experience.
