MasterChef 2023: What Jock Zonfrillo and other judges want from the TV show and their lives

MasterChef judge Jock Zonfrillo revealed what he really wanted in life in one of his final interviews he gave before his tragic death.

While promos for MasterChef Australia are boldly touting a series full of twists and turns from Jamie Oliver to Brent Draper returning, judge Jock Zonfrillo said it’s the return to good old-fashioned cooking that’s been the standout for him.

“The dishes that got put up, I’d be like ‘that’s amazing I’d cook that at home for my family’,” he says.

“They’re not intricate full-on, crazy dishes that would take you all day to cook.

“I kinda like that it veered in that direction.”

MasterChef judge Jock Zonfrillo (right) with chef Simon Bryant. Picture: Channel Ten

There’s only 18 contestants in the tightened 15th season of Ten’s beloved cooking show – themed Surprises & Secrets – another bonus for Zonfrillo and his fellow judges, Andy Allen and Melissa Leong.

“There were definitely less names for me to remember,’ Zonfrillo laughs.

“It’s always dread for me on the very first challenge day because they don’t have names on the apron. I’ve really got to be on the ball on those days.”

Andy Allen, special guest chef Jamie Oliver, Jock Zonfrillo and Melissa Leong for the 2023 season of MasterChef.

Before their fourth season at the helm of the reality show, we asked the trio to look back on some of their own secrets and surprises.

The show’s season premiere has now been delayed in the wake of Zonfrillo’s death which was confirmed Monday.

This interview was first published Sunday April 30.

Secret weapon dish:

JZ: I’m writing a pasta cookbook so right now it would probably be pasta. And, look, my fallback is always cacio e pepe (cheese and pepper pasta). It’s simple but, when it’s done well, it is amazing.

ML: I love making avgolemono. I think that chicken soup in any culture just brings so much love and so much comfort to people. And so making something like an avgolemono, which, you know, still has the all the essence of a soulful soup, but it has that sharp spark of lemon and the beautiful textures of that cooked-down rice. I think it’s a really special version.

Andy Allen loves cooking over fire. Picture: Mark Stewart

AA: Oh that’s really tough for me – especially as someone who cooks most days whether that’s at home or in my (restaurant) kitchen. I go through so many different phases of what I like to cook. But, you know, cooking over fire and cooking with seafood is something that I’ve always done. So, if I was challenged to produced a secret weapon dish, it would be along the lines of that.

Most surprising meal you’ve ever eaten?

JZ: This is tough. I was just saying that I don’t think there is animal on the planet that I haven’t eaten. But when I went to the Faroe Islands they have this delicacy – Bankatoskur, or Faroe Bank Cod. And this fisherman cooked it on the barbecue and it was easily the best piece of fish that I’ve ever had in my life. It was incredible.

There is something about dining solo that Melissa Leong loves.

ML: Possibly, when I took myself to Chicago to eat at Grant Achtatz’s restaurant Next. And it was a solo, multi-course dining extravaganza that started about 9pm and finished about 2 or so the next morning in a secret bar downstairs. And I just I had a really fun time because I booked this two Michelin star dinner knowing I was going by myself. There really is something about dining solo that I love.

AA: A lamb’s testicle. I was in this town and it was all about nose-to-tail cooking, And I thought it was going to be epic. They got me in the kitchen to prepare them. So I had to finely slice it, toss it in flour and then I had this pan of olive oil which was – at best – a medium heat and they just kind of tossed it around. And I’m still, like, surely this is going to be good. This is their thing, but it is actually one of the worst things that I’ve ever put in my mouth.

Surprising favourite chef:

JZ: Simon Bryant (of The Cook and The Chef fame) he’s just one of the most inspiring people that I’ve ever talked to in the world of food, and the knowledge that he is incredible just as a person, I couldn’t wish for a better friend. I hold him in as high regard as any of our Michelin star friends. He needs to be decorated in some way.

Chefs – and good friends – Simon Bryant and Jock Zonfrillo.

ML: I have great admiration for so many, but Olia Hercules just came to mind. She’s a Ukrainian chef who’s based in London and is just an extraordinary font of knowledge when it comes to Ukrainian cuisine and culture, but also watching her immobilise people and finances and support for Ukraine in this very difficult time is nothing short of super human.

AA: It’s so lame, but I still get so much inspiration from Mark (LaBrooy) and Daz (Robertson), my business partners at Three Blue Ducks. It’s really strange how they shaped me as a cook coming out of MasterChef. The best inspiration I get is when we hang out with each other and we cook together, whether it be something that goes on the menu or something that we just cook for each other. I know that’s sort of naff but I love them.

Your super power

JZ: Look, I’m pretty good in any kind of stressful situation – if it’s somebody with blood gushing over their clothes, I don’t freak out. It’s probably also why I’m able to operate on pretty minimal sleep. About four hours a night of solid sleep is the norm for me.

ML: I don’t have the Asian flush – which I don’t know is a superpower. But I hold my alcohol incredibly well for, you know, for an Asian person or just in general. I think it’s just many years of practice and I have the enzyme that breaks down the alcohol in my system.

Andy Allen when he won MasterChef 2012. “I definitely wasn’t the most skilled cook in the kitchen.”

AA: I think it’s being able to deal with pressure. Like, I think that looking back at MasterChef, I wasn’t meant to win that competition. I definitely wasn’t the most skilled cook in the kitchen. But, really, it comes down to who can deal with the pressure the best. And then that’s really followed me throughout my career. Never did I think that I would get into restaurants. It wasn’t it wasn’t on my radar.

What’s the biggest surprise people discover about you when they get to know you?

JZ: That all it takes to make me happy is a cup of tea. I’ll always say yes to a cup of tea. And I mean if you throw in a Tunnock’s biscuit – like a teacake – I’m a very happy man.

Melissa Leong says she not always as serious as she appears on TV. Picture: Justin Lloyd

ML: When people meet me they often say ‘you’re a lot more approachable that I thought you were going to be’. And I suppose it’s the version that people know of me is on MasterChef and that’s Mel as a presenter, and doing a job and being more of a serious person. I guess a lot of people don’t take me for being a silly person, but if you watch the three if us when we are not doing a take, we are the silliest people you’ll ever meet.

AA: I think that I just am who I am. You know, a lot of people think TV people are going to be quite different to what they are, and maybe there are people that are. I’m back at my parents’ house now. I’m going to do a big Travla (his beer) launch at my old basketball club on the weekend. I still love where I come from.

Most surprising ambition?

JZ: I’d love to live a super, super simple life. A small house in the middle of nowhere with kids, pets. Just a really simple, uncomplicated life away from everyone. But still part of a community in that remoteness I guess. But not the flashy extravagant lifestyle you’d expect from a TV person.

Jock Zonfrillo would love a really simple, uncomplicated life. Picture: Eugene Hyland

ML: If this palaver all goes away, I’ll go to law school. It’s always been in the back of my mind and I might still do it. I really like problem solving through a set of rules. And, yes, I am aware that every job has it’s non-glamorous side too – I don’t think that being a lawyer is like one long episode of Suits. But, to me, critical problem solving and attention to detail is something that I really admire.

AA: It’s just to make those three things – Three Blue Ducks, Travla and MasterChef – that I have ownership in as successful as they could be. After MasterChef, so many different things come your way, but I always wanted to be a part of something. And with the Ducks, we’re ever growing and it’s a difficult game, the same with Travla. It’s not like you put a beer on tap and it flies out the door. You have to really push those things.

Secret you kept from your parents:

JZ: My nanna was a smoker so she always had a packet of cigarettes in her handbag, and so whenever she used to come around, I used to nick one out. There’s a heap of cigarettes in a packet, so she was never going to miss one, right. I would have been about 10, and then we used to sell them at school to make enough money to buy a packet of cigarettes.

ML: I learned classical piano for many years from the age of four, and Mum used to sit next to me when I was practising for examination time. She’d sit there with a chopstick and if I made a mistake, she’d crack me over the knuckles with it. So one day when my cousins were visiting from Singapore, I stole all the chopsticks in the house and put them in an opaque urn in the lounge room. It had a lid. And dinner time rolled around and everyone’s asking if they are in the dishwasher or the sink? And I stayed quiet. I didn’t tell anyone – not even my brother. And it became quite the joke because no-one would give it up. After a week, I put them all back.

Andy Allen needs a family mystery solved.

AA: There’s this secret that has never been uncovered in my family. When I was born, my Pa gave my mum a bottle of Para Port. And he wrote on it ‘When Andy is 18 open’. So it got stashed away in a cupboard. And then one day, mum was cleaning and she only found the box – there was no port in it. And obviously everyone thought it was me – and I swear 100 per cent it wasn’t. Mum and Dad swear black and blue it wasn’t them. And, to this day, my sisters haven’t owned up. So, if you could find out – that would be great.

How are you with surprises?

JZ: I’m a hyper, hyper-vigilant person, right? So, whenever there has been a surprise going on, I kind of pick up the vibe and it makes me f**king paranoid. And then I get a sense of dread. And then when the surprise comes, I love it. I’d much rather be doing surprises for other people than being on the receiving end of one.

Melissa Leong would rather be in on the surprise.

ML: I’d rather be in on the surprise. I like being part of surprising other people. But in terms of surprises happening to me, I am getting better at just going with the flow. If something surprising happens, you know, good or bad, you have no control over that. So there’s no point trying to exert any control over it, you know, just go with it. And hopefully there are more positive surprises than negative ones.

AA: Look, not great. I ruined my surprise 21st. Mum and Dad were having a party for me at my house. I knew there was something up because my friends wouldn’t take me home to see them. So I was like ‘OK, let’s go to the pub’ And we got blind drunk and turned up at my surprise 21st quite under the weather. I don’t think Mum and Dad have forgiven me.

MasterChef Australia: Secrets & Surprises will air on Network Ten at a later date.