Yotam Ottolenghi Serves Up a Tasty Challenge on MasterChef Australia 2021

With superstar week underway on MasterChef Australia 2021, some of the aspiring cooks have already been subjected to a pressure test from Nigella Lawson, who requested a recreation of her rhubarb meringue cake.

Next up, is world-famous British-Israeli chef Yotam Ottolenghi, who returns (virtually) to the MasterChef kitchen once more.

Ottolenghi is the author of eight hugely successful cookbooks, which often hero vegetables. The chef’s simpy and delicious approach to food has made him a fan favourite as his Middle Eastern recipes bring to life the flavours of his Jerusalem home.

The famed culinary master studied at Le Cordon Bleu and has won numerous awards for his books and restaurants, including a prestigious James Beard award for Jerusalem. Ottolenghi, 52, has also co-owned six delis and restaurants in London, bringing his simple and delicious Middle Eastern meals to the masses.

Ottolenghi has two chidren with his husband Karl Allen —  Max who was born in 2013 and Flynn whom they welcomed in 2015. In 2013, Ottolenghi wrote a heartfelt and humourous opinion piece for The Guardian in which he detailed the journey to becoming a parent — or, as he called it, “the long, hard road to gay parenthood.”

He may be wildly successful now, but Ottolenghi’s parents weren’t too thrilled when he first told them he wanted to pursue cooking as a career after completing his Masters in Comparative Literature in 1997. Suffice to say, they have probably since come to terms with his choice!

Having made his debut on MasterChef Australia in 2017, the superstar chef only agreed to appear on the series as he felt it was more about “the personal development of the contestants more than the competition.” He has previously turned down multiple opportunities to appear as a guest judge on various other cooking competitions, so we are thrilled that MasterChef Australia made the cut.

Ottolenghi has 1.5 million followers on Instagram where he shares mouth-watering photos of his delicious food.