Melissa Leong breaks down in tears during heartfelt tasting

Showcasing her signature warmth and deep connection to food, Melissa Leong shared a heartfelt moment with a contestant while tasting his dish.

MasterChef judge and fan favourite Melissa Leong poured her heart out to a contestant while tasting his dish tonight, breaking down in tears when hit with a wave of nostalgia over his food.

In the final round of this season’s “returning contestants” week, Eric presented a Chinese dish of tea smoked eggs, cold tofu in spring onion dressing and fried peanuts with seaweed.

But on tasting his food, a usually bouncy Mel was speechless for a moment, blinking back tears as she collected herself.

“What we have here is an opportunity, with cooking like this on this level, is to tell stories and to share our history,” she began, before her voice cracked and she began to cry.

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Mel was momentarily lost for words as she tasted Eric’s food. Picture: Channel 10

Eric was taken aback at first by Mel’s reaction. Picture: Channel 10

“I watched Jock plating up and I could smell the smells and I started to really feel it.”

Going on to critique the dish through tears, she praised his technical skills and the simple yet complex flavour balance.

“Starting with the peanuts … It’s just such a Chinese thing no matter where it’s been spread across the world,” she said.

“The egg, the jamminess of the yolk, and then you go on to the cold tofu. There’s such humility in its plainness and its ability to take on flavour.”

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Mel gushed over Eric’s presentation of traditional Chinese cuisine. Picture: Channel 10

Pausing for a moment, she said: “My heart’s beating,” before concluding: “It’s history. It’s meaning. It’s life.”

As the camera flashed to Eric, he was visibly emotional too, wiping away tears of his own.

The contestant was in tears by the end of the critique. Picture: Channel 10

Mel has never shied away from her deep connection to food, offering full of praise for MasterChef contestants who represent themselves and their cultural backgrounds on a plate.

Speaking to news.com.au last month, she said:

“I think what’s really great that we’ve seen in an overwhelming capacity this year is (the contestant’s) ability to present food that speaks to who they are very quickly. They’re all able to express themselves and their perspectives on the plate. To see these home cooks do that with a huge degree of eloquence is very cool to see,” she said.

“What surprised me is a real celebration of South Asian, Sri Lankan and Indian cuisine presented with a level of sophistication that Australia really needs to see and pay attention to,” she added.

Mel has always made her deep connection to food apparent while judging dishes on MasterChef. Picture: Channel 10

During last year’s Back To Win season, Mel was similarly gushing with pride when a challenge saw five cooks from an Asian background fighting for an immunity pin.

“To look at those faces and to look at that picture and to know what it will mean for each one of them, individually, their families and their communities, and then everybody else who doesn’t know them but who has a similar story. That’s potent,” she told us.

“These are our shared stories. Our recent migrant heritage in the last 100 years, the contributions that so many people have given this country are important, and they’ve been pivotal, and they are common. There are so many of these stories.

“I believe it’s 10 – 12 per cent of Australians have an Asian background and, Australia, I think a lot of people forget, is part of Southeast Asia. We need to get on board a little bit more about what representation means in mainstream media,” she said.

MasterChef Australia continues Sunday from 7.30pm on Ten

Originally published as Melissa Leong breaks down in tears during heartfelt tasting