The Aussie chef that makes Matt Moran melt
Celebrity chef Matt Moran prides himself on being a little rough around the edges. But the boy from Blacktown melts like icing on a hot cake when the subject turns to one of Australia’s most beloved cooks.
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Celebrity chef Matt Moran prides himself on being a little rough around the edges. But the boy from Blacktown — who loves to box and credits his Western Sydney upbringing for a lot of his success — melts like icing on a hot cake when the subject turns to one of Australia’s most beloved cooks.
“There are very few people you meet in your life like Maggie Beer,” he tells Insider of his The Great Australian Bake Off co-host. “She cares about people, she cares about life and everything around her and she’s one of the most incredibly hard-working people I’ve ever met in my life.”
Sitting in his trailer on the grounds of the historic Yaralla Estate in Sydney’s inner west, where Foxtel’s Bake Off is filmed, it’s obvious Moran’s deep admiration for Beer is genuine.
But don’t think for a minute that means the restauranteur doesn’t enjoy a joke at her expense every now and then.
“People always ask me ‘what’s Maggie Beer really like?’ and I say ‘oh that sour old cow’ and it’s like someone killed Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy in one go,” he laughs. “I only do it to get a reaction out of them and she knows I do it. I love her to death.”
In reality, Moran says what you see of Beer on television is exactly what you get.
Indeed when Beer, who recently sold the remaining stake in her eponymous gourmet food business, is asked about her thoughts on some of the more
‘nasty’ cooking shows, she gives out a knowing chuckle but won’t be drawn on it.
“We know those (but) they shall remain unnamed,” she says, instead pointing out what makes Bake Off special.
“We just find the people that come in, they’re not super experienced in any kind of way, they’re just home bakers so they have this lovely persona about them,” she says, back in her trailer after shooting a judging session that saw the group reduced to the final four.
“We have never had anything that isn’t a homogeneous group.”
Filming a show like Bake Off can be gruelling. Some days require the judges, competitors and crew to be on set for 15 hours and there’s an emotional element that comes with any series of this nature.
Both Beer and Moran spend one on one time with competitors and provide advice to steer them through what can be a challenging time — a sometimes exhaustive but essential process, they both say.
The long hours and hard slog are nothing new to Beer and Moran says she handles it better than others.
“She has got the energy of a 30-year-old, no question whatsoever, she’s absolutely a powerhouse,” he says.
Despite that energy Beer talks about slowing down a little with her work and focusing more on family and her foundation, which aims at improving the food experience of older Australians.
Maggie Beer has an interesting interpretation of “slowing down”.
“I want more time to do simple things like more time in my garden, more time with my family, more time singing and being involved in music, more time to travel, more time for my foundation and for my grandchildren,” she says.
What it does mean is that she will be much more selective in the projects she takes on and not have the stresses that come with running a large business.
“I love doing my one or two appearances a year on Masterchef because they’re really cooking and these youngsters turn their lives around to do that incredible journey — it’s not nasty and they’re learning,” she says. “And I love doing Bake Off just because it’s warm and caring and yet out of it I continually learn.”
That softer side to the show, which is unique in the way competitors help each other to get through their challenges, is also what keeps tough-guy Moran coming back.
“It’s for everyone, everyone can do this so that’s why it’s got such a broad appeal,” he says. “For the show itself, we don’t want the bitchiness — it’s Maggie Beer!”
* THE GREAT AUSTRALIAN BAKE OFF, LIFESTYLE, WEDNESDAY, 8.30PM
Originally published as The Aussie chef that makes Matt Moran melt