MasterChef: Tassie duo Amy Luttrell and Kristina Short tackle TV gourmets

TASMANIA’S MasterChef contestants have pushed aside parochialism in a bid for culinary glory.

LOOK out MasterChef – team Tassie has arrived.

The seventh season of the reality juggernaut kicked off this week and Tasmania will be represented in the top 24 by hairdresser Amy Luttrell, 29, of Launceston, and 28-year-old customer service manager Kristina Short, of Mt Stuart.

Ms Short made it through on Tuesday night with her sarsaparilla pulled chicken tacos and said going into it she was more nervous than when she went skydiving.

“With my audition I almost didn’t make it to Melbourne because I missed the emails asking me to come up,” she said. “I ended up cooking something that I’ve cooked for my family and my friends and they really loved [it].”

Ms Luttrell made it through last night with her dish of crispy skin duck breast with a charred leak and parsnip puree and a burnt sage butter – and is relishing the experience.

“I’ve always loved cooking, I just never thought that I was actually very good at it,” she said.

The two spur each other on with cries of “team Tassie” when they’re cooking.

The pair have even put aside the North-South divide and hope – through the power of cooking – they can bring Tasmania closer together.

MasterChef airs today at 7.30pm on TDT.