Zaleha Kadir Olpin, MasterChef UK 2018 contestant, was in Australia in 2004 when she started watching the most popular culinary show now.
It was then that the idea of being in that big kitchen, wearing the apron with the MC logo emblazoned on it, started simmering in her head.
However, the 48-year-old former accountant from Petronas, who hails from Kuantan, Pahang, did not have much time nor opportunity to make it a reality as life with an expatriate husband took her to six countries over 18 years — a period of time during which she honed in on her passion of cooking traditional Malaysian food as well as learning local culinary skills wherever she was.
“Friends and family kept telling me they enjoyed my cooking and once back here in the United Kingdom, I applied to see whether I was good enough,” said Zaleha, chuffed that she actually found herself cooking in the pressure cooker that was the set of MasterChef, at the start of the 14th series.
She was even more amazed to find that she had made it to the quarter final as one of the final 16 amateur cooks, having survived a gruelling series of culinary challenges, the harshest food critics and working under the constant gaze of the camera lens.
And not to mention, of course, the persistent visits of MasterChef judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace, whose twitch in the corner of the mouth or a grimace would be the first indication of whether you are on the way out or would remain in the heat, so to speak.
“The pressure was intense”, recalled Zaleha, having to keep her composure while slicing onions or kneading dough for her murtabak, while having to answer questions from the two judges.
“You just want to tell them to go away because you want to get on with your cooking,” laughed the mother of two girls, who had just settled in Bristol with her family where she has diversified her passion for cooking by joining ventures with two Malaysian friends to start a Malaysian Supper Club.
Zaleha is among the many Malaysians abroad who have put Malaysian food on the culinary map.
The passion for cooking runs deep in her veins, having grown up with a mother who taught her the art of cooking traditional Malaysian dishes from a tender age.
Her father, who was with the British army, came from India and that explained the richness of her cooking styles.
She helped with the family catering business and as she spread her wings after her marriage, she gathered more skills along the way.
While waiting for the elimination rounds after the quarter finals this Sunday and looking back at what she described as “an experience not for the fainthearted”, Zaleha recalled the most daunting 10 minutes for the market challenge.
“You are in the kitchen with the basket and you have to decide what ingredients to get. You have 10 minutes to decide what to cook,” said Zaleha, who instantly thought of murtabak when she saw the chicken on offer.
The murtabak saw Zaleha swimmingly through to the next round where she and other remaining contestants had to cook for special guests, which included MasterChef 2010 winner Druve Baker.
While her starters of Malaysian fish cakes served with mango and pepper salad and sweet chilli sauce drew nothing but praises from the guests, it was the tomato rice and chicken Gulai Pahang that clinched it for Zaleha; one guest said he would queue an hour for the curry. Another said she had ticked all the boxes and Wallace, who was earlier pestering the unperturbed Zaleha with questions, admitted, “that lady has done that chicken a great honour”, while Torode said he had spicy sweat on his eyebrows.
The food, they all agreed, was cooked by someone who had an enormous amount of pride in whatever she did.
“It has been an amazing experience and I have made a lot of friends with other participants. MasterChef is very good, supplying us with halal ingredients, knowing that we will have to taste the food, the crew was wonderful.
“Whether I make it or not, I will continue to pursue my passion,” Zaleha, who like others, would love to get hold of the MasterChef trophy in her hands, said.
A book of Malaysian traditional food is certainly on the way and in the meantime, the Supper Club that started in Bristol is already fully booked. For someone so determined and full of passion, it is not an impossible dream.
For someone whose cooking had flavours swimming in the judge’s mouth, the former accountant will battle on in the kitchen with doctors, pharmacists and dentists to get the MasterChef UK 2018 title.
She could very well be in the footsteps of Ping Coombes from Ipoh, whose reinvention of the nasi lemak made her MasterChef UK winner of 2014.
Tonight, I will be sitting on the edge of my seat, glued to the programme on BBC One as Zaleha and other contestants continue their battle in the elimination rounds.