Y’all bready for this? You butter believe we are! The season 16 MasterChef Australia contestants have been revealed and we are so thrilled to have sat down with Gillian Dinh.
A Wollongong local, Gill is a talented artist who has run her own lettering art business for eight years, creating logos, painting wall murals, and sign writing, and will bring a tonne of creativity to the competition.
As a long-time fan, in 2024 she will sit on the sidelines no more, grabbing life by the horns and jumping into the competition headfirst.
We asked Gill, penne for your thoughts?
How would you describe your personality?
Everyone always says, “you’re the busiest person I know”. I work hard to play harder. I’m chaotic, creative, positive, and fun, but also a realist. Very sociable, friendly, can be laidback and chill but with a burst of energy and constant cog wheels turning. Generous, caring, passionate, communicative, humorous, wild and loves to party, family oriented, supportive and resilient. Also, Sporty Spice. I bring the heat and the sport chic.
What are your three favourite ingredients to cook with?
Seafood, fish sauce, and eggs. Seafood is such a luxury, especially growing up in a big family. It’s a festive food item but resembles a feast, and I love to cook up feasts for friends and family.
Fish sauce has a salty flavour bomb and is the pinnacle Vietnamese condiment (Vietnamese is my favourite cuisine!).
Eggs are so versatile, in sweet and savoury. I’m egg obsessed. I have an egg tattoo I designed (yin and yang symbol, as two fried eggs, resembles my contrasting personality attributes).
Tell us about your favourite dish to cook.
One favourite dish is like naming your favourite song or movie, near impossible! But, for your sake, I will say that one of my favourite dishes to cook is Thit Kho (caramelized braised pork belly with eggs). Simply delicious, cost efficient and nostalgic. Takes me home, and back at the dinner table with all of us and my late father.
What is your go-to quick and easy dish?
Probably taboo, but I love to pimp up instant noodles. I always have Indomie Mi Goreng or Nongshim Shin Ramyunin my pantry, as well as shallots and eggs. Best base for any noodle/soup dish. I have plenty of ways to pimp up noodles and the 2-minute instant noodle title gets thrown out the window – quick and easy, 20-minute dish!
What’s your fondest food memory?
Too many. But most recently, I took my boyfriend Jake out for his birthday dinner and we went to Matt Moran’s Chophouse in Sydney. I splurged on a tomahawk for us to share, and his reaction to eating something as good as that, for the first time, is the reason I love food. Remembering how we felt and the taste of a dish we eat for the first time is something so special, especially a moment shared with someone you love. To be able to give him that moment, and appreciate food the way I always have, made my heart so whole. I’ll never forget his smile and the way he just sunk into the booth seat from the melt in your mouth steak.
Who inspired you to cook?
Both my parents, for different reasons. My dad always cooked very traditional Vietnamese food, true to his culture and upbringing. I learnt a lot about being intuitive in the kitchen, taste palette, balancing flavours and textures, and the main purpose, sharing a dish you’re proud to serve to the people that you love. My mum inspires me through food being her love language; when you’re sick, when she finds your favourite food items and ingredients, when you lose a loved one or when you celebrate, mum always comes through with the food goods.
Who are the five cooks or chefs you look up to and/or are inspired by the most?
Josh Niland, Luke Nguyen, Dan Hong, Marco Pierre White and Gordon Ramsay
Why did you apply for MasterChef Australia?
My sister and I thought it would be cool to be the first sister duo to compete against each other. Unfortunately, she didn’t get through, but I’m taking one for the team this year and winning it for the both of us!
What do you hope to achieve after MasterChef Australia?
I’d love to publish a cookbook. Recipes, book design, cover art, food styling, the ins-and-outs. Intertwining my lettering art with my food creations = goals! I’d also love to have a show one day where people like me, home cooks, can continue to be inspired by relatable yet creative and modern chefs. I’d love for it to become something a family watches together, or one you and your friends text each other about it.
