It’s been 15 years since Masterchef Australia burst onto the small screen and changed our food landscape forever. We’ve watched ambitious wide-eyed home cooks evolve into some of the sharpest chefs in the country, seen judges and mentors come and go, and fallen in love with the charmingly supportive environment that is unique to Masterchef in a sea of dog-eat-dog competitive cooking shows.

It has also been 15 years since MasterChef’s newest judge, Sofia Levin, began her career in food journalism. Joining judges Andy Allen, Poh Ling Yeow, and Jean-Christophe Novelli, Levin has made the move from long time fan, to The Dream Job and has witnessed the undeniable shift in Australian culinary culture while reporting on it in real time. 

So after 15 years of careers launched, bittersweet viewing and a croquembouche or two, why should we tune in for 2024? According to Levin, “the most obvious answer is that it is completely new, but with familiar faces as well. A whole new cohort of contestants are coming through and they’re incredibly talented. The journeys that they go through both in terms of their culinary skill set, as well as personally, is mind boggling.”

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Illustrated time and again, the success of the series relies in equal parts on the human element of judges and competitors alike, and of course, on bringing up to the moment food trends, big celebrity names, and lesser-known talent to the masses.

“People who enjoy or are even just slightly interested in food should tune in because Masterchef Australia really is at the forefront of food. It’s incredibly on the pulse and that includes everything from guest chefs – who range from Jamie Oliver to people like Josh Niland. [Masterchef] takes not just what’s trending, but what’s happening now and delivers it to a huge audience. And I think that’s really cool.”

As for hints as to what food trends we might see on our screens, Levin is appropriately tight-lipped about the upcoming season, however a little birdie tells us that the seemingly simple yet endlessly challenging omurice of one chef Mikiko Terasaki will be blowing up in a big way. “Without giving too much away, anyone who’s familiar with her work and her restaurant will know what she does.” And we’ll leave it at that.

MasterChef Australia season 16 will premier Monday April 22 at 7:30pm AEST on 10 and 10 Play.

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