MasterChef evictee returns to cooking the books

Eliminated MasterChef contestant Matthew Caldicott admits he still can’t bring himself to watch the TV show’s London Week episodes.

“They went there straight after I left so it was pretty hard to hear about,” he said.

Ever since the 22-year-old was controversially rejected from the program last month, Caldicott has barely seen an episode of the hit Channel 10 series, although he said this has more to do with being busy than any resentment he feels towards the show and itscontestants.

He might not have won, but the MasterChef dream is only just beginning for the Killara local, who has been keeping busy with work experience at Neil Perry’s Spice Temple and Rockpool restaurants, after meeting the entrepreneur on the set of the show.

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“Of course leaving the show was disappointing, but what happens, happens,” said Caldicott, who was eliminated in a taste-test challenge on June 17 when he incorrectly identified an ingredient in carrot cake as being dried apricots rather than apricot jam.

Caldicott’s fans were incensed and claimed he had been robbed of the chance to win, despite creating the best dessert as part of the show’s Qantas A380challenge.

“I was shattered when the judges told me I was eliminated but I never knew that (the controversy) was going to happen,” he said.

“A lot of people kept asking me what I thought of the result but what’s done is done.”

Caldicott had hardly seen the show on TV when he was encouraged to apply by a group of friends at one of his dinner parties (he served quail ravioli, his signature dish of beef fillet with pumpkin puree, and a red wine jus and mango parfait with a mango sorbet). “They suggested it to me and I watched a couple of episodes online and thought ‘I could do that’,” he said.

Daily family dinners with parents John and Lisa and older sister Alison were non-negotiable when he was growing up, but it wasn’t until Caldicott was studying for a business degree at UTS Lindfield, majoring in finance and accounting, that he started cooking with a passion.

A third-generation numbers man (his father and uncle are accountants, as was his grandfather), he was working for one the big four firms when MasterChef came calling.

He took an eight-month leave of absence to compete and despite his family’s initial doubt (he said they’ve since come round to the idea), he was selected from 8000 applications to make the chosen 24 and finally the top 10.

“Looking back at the chefs I’ve cooked with is a bit surreal, I’m only a young guy, I was only 21,” he said (he celebrated his 22nd birthday in the MasterChef mansion a couple of months ago). “But it’s definitely opened a few doors that wouldn’t have opened to meotherwise.”

He’s yet to decide whether he will return to accounting, although he said he has been in demand as a caterer.

“Accounting is a pretty solid foundation but I do want food to be a focus.” he said. “Perhaps I’ll open a restaurant in two or so years, but MasterChef has taught me I’ve got a lot to learn.”

Lane Cove local Jonathan Daddia remains in the competition. MasterChef screens weeknights and Sunday nights on Ten.

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