Top 24 MasterChef contestants

AAP General News (Australia)
04-26-2010
Top 24 MasterChef contestants

SYDNEY, April 26 AAP - From 8000 applications, 50 were chosen for the second series
of MasterChef Australia.

After a week of competition, it's now down to the final 24.

And in 14 weeks time one of these people will be named Australia's new MasterChef.

ADAM LIAW

Age: 31

Occupation: Lawyer

Home town: Adelaide (currently living in Tokyo)

Marital status: In a relationship

Cooking style: Asian

- "The weirdest food I've ever eaten was shirako, which is basically the sperm sac
of a fish. It was disgusting..."

AARON HARVIE

Age: 37

Occupation: Band manager

Home town: Sydney

Marital status: Engaged

Cooking style: Rustic and robust Italian and Asian

- Aaron's first love is music but his dream is to open a restaurant specialising in
pasta and to produce a line of pasta sauces.

ADELE FRAGNITIO

Age: 49

Occupation: Hairdresser

Home town: Adelaide

Marital status: Married

Cooking style: Italian

- Growing up in an Italian family, Adele learnt to cook at a very early age with her
mum and remembers there were always people crowded around their dining room table.

ALVIN QUAH

Age: 35

Occupation: Scientific affairs manager

Home town: Sydney

Marital status: In a relationship

Cooking style: Asian

- Alvin's cooking is influenced by his Malaysian background and his mum. "She would
never use measurements, her cooking was instinctive."

CARRIE JOHNSTON

Age: 34

Occupation: Ex human resources manager

Home town: Sydney

Marital status: Married

Cooking style: Rustic Italian

- Californian-born Carrie fell in love with food during a trip to France in her 20s.

"I became obsessed with the way they incorporate food into their culture."

CALLUM HANN

Age: 20

Occupation: Student

Home town: Barossa Valley

Marital status: In a relationship

Cooking style: Modern Australian

- The youngest contestant in this year's competition, Callum is inspired by his father
who passed away a few years ago. "I like to experiment with food and that's what my dad
liked to do - see what's in the fridge and try out new things."

CLAIRE WINTON-BURN

Age: 31

Occupation: Lawyer

Home town: Melbourne

Marital status: In a relationship

Cooking style: Classical dishes with a modern twist

- Claire bought her first cookbook at age 17 and cooked her way through every recipe,
before deferring her first-year university studies to travel to Europe and attend a cooking
course.

COURTNEY ROULSTON

Age: 29

Occupation: Bar manager

Home town: Coogee, Sydney

Marital status: In a long-term relationship

Cooking style: Fresh, healthy food

- Courtney is hoping for second time lucky after applying to become a contestant on
season one and never following it through.

DANIEL AULSEBROOK

Age: 32

Occupation: Recently made redundant

Home town: Melbourne

Marital status: In a long-term relationship

Cooking style: Asian

- Daniel's chicken tagine is a favourite among his mates, but Asian is his specialty
and he loves to experiment with fish.

DEVON HEADLAND

Age: 30

Occupation: Builder

Home town: Gold Coast

Marital status: Engaged

Cooking Style: Hearty country

- Devon, who fondly remembers afternoons spent in his grandma's kitchen watching her
cook old favourites like roasts and carrot cakes, postponed his wedding to his childhood
sweetheart to take part in the series.

DOMINIC CORRIGAN

Age: 46

Occupation: Company director

Home town: Sydney

Marital status: Married

Cooking style: Family friendly

- The father of four loves Asian foods and spices. "... but not all my kids agree with
me, so sometimes I find myself doing hot versions and then a calm version of the dish."

FIONA INGLIS

Age: 24

Occupation: Student

Home town: Melbourne

Marital status: In a relationship

Cooking style: Classic home style

- As a child Fiona ate only bland foods, but moving out of home at 19 opened her up
to new foods. "I took a turn and started tasting all these fresh foods that I'd spent
years missing out on."

JAKE BUJAYER

Age: 29

Occupation: Cement renderer

Home town: NSW Central Coast

Marital status: In a relationship

Cooking style: Seafood

- Jake admits he's obsessed with fishing and has had some great catches. "From snapper
to kingfish, I like to get out onto the water and catch something at least once a week"

JIMMY SEERVAI

Age: 31

Occupation: Food ingredient researcher

Home town: Sydney

Martial status: Engaged

Cooking style: Indian

- Born in India, Jimmy admits most of his cooking knowledge is about hot and spicy
food. "I am convinced my parents used to put masala in my baby formula to add some flavour..."

JONATHAN DADDIA

Age: 33

Occupation: IT consultant

Home town: Sydney

Marital status: Married

Cooking style: French Moroccan

- After buying an ice-cream machine in Milan, Jonathan set out on a mission to make
the perfect ice-cream. "... I have experimented a lot with it, even using savoury flavours."

JO ZALM

Age: 37

Occupation: Mum

Home town: Sydney

Marital status: Married with two children

Cooking style: Lebanese

- During the audition tour, judge Gary Mehigan liked Jo's Lebanese sweet doughnuts
so much that he ate a whole plate of them. "People tell me my food is good, but I am my
harshest critic."

KATE NUGARA

Age: 30

Occupation: Teacher

Home town: Melbourne

Marital status: In a relationship

Cooking style: Sri Lankan

- With Sri Lankan heritage, Kate learnt to cook watching her mum and over time became
the primary cook in her household. "I used to love to make up menus for the family for
dinner and put them on the table with flowers."

MARION GRASBY

Age: 27

Occupation: Student

Home town: Adelaide

Marital status: In a long-term relationship

Cooking style: Thai

- Having completed a Masters of Gastronomy course, the former journalist and her partner
Tim, who works in the wine industry, have developed an idea for a rustic wine garden restaurant.

MATTHEW CALDICOT

Age: 21

Occupation: Accountant

Home town: Sydney

Marital status: Single

Cooking style: Modern Australian with French influence

- The third-generation accountant says he's creative in his cooking. "When I'm cooking,
it's an escape for me to do something creative and I try to make my food look as beautiful
as possible..."

PETER KRITIKIDES

Age: 29

Occupation: Lawyer

Home town: Melbourne

Marital status: Married

Cooking style: Greek

- Peter's cooking is heavily influenced by his Greek family and heritage. "My mother
and grandmother were my inspiration. They were single-handedly responsible for my childhood
weight!"

PHILIP VAKOS

Age: 27

Occupation: Auditor

Home town: Hobart

Marital status: Single

Cooking style: Greek

- Philip says he learnt from an early age the first rule of Greek cooking: food fixes
everything. "No matter how bad things are, when you get everybody together and have good
Greek food, everything is fine..."

SARAH CARMICHAEL

Age: 30

Occupation: Police Detective

Home town: Melbourne

Marital status: Married

Cooking style: Varied, but loves Italian

- Growing up Sarah's mum wasn't a keen cook so she looked to her neighbours for food
inspiration. "... my next door neighbour was Malaysian and they'd always have beautiful
Asian food."

SHARNEE RAWSON

Age: 21

Occupation: Law student

Home town: Brisbane

Marital status: Single

Cooking style: Eclectic and loves making desserts

- When friends came to visit, a teenage Sharnee would get them all into the kitchen.

"... my friends would be like, `why do you want to cook?' I just thought that's what everyone
did."

SKYE CRAIG

Age: 35

Occupation: Graphic designer

Home town: Brisbane

Marital status: In a relationship

Cooking style: Sustainable, organic raw cooking

- Skye loves to cook with native Australian ingredients and is a big advocate of using
raw, organic and sustainable foods. "There's a real vitality and freshness about that
kind of food."

AAP nf/it

KEYWORD: MASTERCHEF (FACTBOX) (PIX AVAILABLE)

� 2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.