Singaporean David Tan in MasterChef Australia’s Top 22

SINGAPORE – “You are absolutely mad.” 

That was Michelin-starred French chef Jean-Christophe Novelli’s pronouncement upon tasting David Tan’s pumpkin soup with cocoa cream.

For a few tense moments, the Singaporean contestant held his breath. 

Then Novelli continued: “On a day like today, to escape from elimination, you’ve come up with something like this.” 

“And it’s brilliant,” he declared, breaking into a grin and slapping the table. 

“You pulled it off,” agreed British celebrity judge chef Jamie Oliver on air. “That was so easy to get wrong.” 

Pairing sweet with savoury in a dish he had never made before the MasterChef competition was a bold move, but risk-taking is pharmacologist Tan’s bread and butter. 

“My approach is very different from the rest of the contestants. A lot of them are cooking what they know and trying to jazz it up for MasterChef. They come from a place of comfort, but my approach is: What can I do that I’ve never done before? How can I push this dish forward?” the 30-year-old told The Straits Times over a Zoom call from Melbourne. 

As a clinical trials administrator working in cancer research – where drugs have only a 20 per cent chance of making it to the market – the Australia-based Singaporean is used to trial and error.

He has learnt how to think outside the box, remain calm under pressure and pivot when ingredient combinations do not work. All these skills stand any aspiring cook in good stead. 

Now, the former Singapore Polytechnic student has traded his chemo gown for a white chef’s apron as he vies for glory on the 16th season of MasterChef Australia, which will air on the Lifetime channel (Singtel TV Channel 302 and StarHub TV Channel 514).

Only one Singapore-born contestant has won so far: prison officer Sashi Cheliah, who took the crown in 2018, on the show’s 10th season.

So far, Tan’s unique brand of experimental cooking has served him well, clinching him a place in the Top 22 – not bad for someone who picked up a spatula just seven years ago. 

Like many Singaporeans, much of Tan’s life revolves around food.

His family, who live in Pasir Ris, loved to host dinner parties and regularly drove to Malaysia over weekends for lunch.

The youngest of three children grew up watching his father and grandmother cook, but did not get many chances to assist them in the kitchen. 

“My dad would let me cut the garlic, but that was about it. And when I asked my grandma how she cooked, she would just tell me, ‘Oh it’s very easy – you just throw everything into the pan.’” 

“I didn’t really learn much from my grandmother,” he says with a laugh. “I just ate her food.” 

It was only when he moved to Australia to study pharmacology at Griffith University in 2017 that he was forced to pick up the skill to survive. As a cash-strapped student, he would scour the supermarket aisles for discounts and bulk-buy deals. 

“I would end up with 5kg of rice and jars of sauce, and I would eat quite similar meals throughout the week,” he recalls with a grimace.

Once he entered the workforce, he could purchase higher-quality ingredients and whip up dishes like steak and Vietnamese pancakes for friends.

As his interest in food grew, he sought to learn more about local produce and attended the Scenic Rim Eat Local Month, an Australian food festival with masterclasses and farm tours showcasing local produce, where representatives from MasterChef encouraged him to apply for the show. 

“I wanted to see where I was as a cook, and I wanted to dedicate time away from work to focus on cooking,” he says. 

He says he has no regrets. “It’s the most stressful thing that I’ve done, but also the most fun.” 

Much of that is thanks to the company. Aside from meeting Oliver and the other award-winning chef judges on the show, the highlight of the competition has been getting to know the other contestants. 

“There’s a lot of camaraderie. It’s kind of like time in national service in Singapore, when you’re stuck together through a gruelling process, and you pull through together. But here, it’s more fun.” 

There are also echoes of Singapore in his cooking on the show. In the first episode, Tan made his version of Hainanese chicken rice. It differs slightly from the familiar local dish: the chicken has been cut into neat discs, the skin separated and crisped. 

Some of these changes were born of necessity. “I had only 75 minutes to make this dish, so that’s when all the science techniques kicked in.” 

While the stock of chicken thigh and bones was boiling, he cooked the chicken breast sous vide so it would be done in time. In the meantime, he baked the skin in a sandwich press. 

Tan’s dream is to open a casual bistro in Australia, serving French food with a Singaporean twist. He envisions it as a place where diners can relax with good food at good prices. 

“I want it to be the kind of place where you can afford to dine at every week, and which serves food that is tasty enough to eat every week.”