By Derek Schlennstedt
MasterChef contestant Tati Carlin has returned home to Sassafrass with grand plans of selling her now-famous peanut crackers.
The curry connoisseur was eliminated from the television cooking contest’s latest series in July, despite the judges heralding her curry as the best recipe of the season.
The 49-year-old made the top 10 but tumbled after battling to recreate a complex apple crumble in a challenge from renowned pastry chef and chocolatier Kirsten Tibballs.
Tati said her life had revolved around cooking and that the show had given her new-found confidence.
“My peanut crackers were definitely a highlight,” she joked.
“The hardest judge to please was probably George because I know Gary loves Indian cuisines and Matt even more so.
“When I did my peanut crackers, Gary was the first one who came to my bench and tried that.
“He picked it up and ate it … came straight back, pinched another one and then after he said ‘Tati, make some more’.”
Tati was humbled to have had the opportunity to draw attention to Indonesian cuisine.
That attention also earned her thousands of fans in Indonesia, where she became an instant hit.
Tati is looking forward to her next culinary venture.
“I’m working at Proserpina (Bakehouse in Sassafras) a couple of times a week, because I realised that my experience with sweets and desserts and pastry is really little,” she said.
“I also started cooking curry over there as well.”
