Tom Mosby, MasterChef 2009
Many people cried when Tom Mosby left MasterChef. His gentleness, warmth and generosity had made him a television favourite. He was described by other contestants as a true gentleman.
ourbrisbane.com caught up with Tom to find out more about his experience on the popular show and life after MasterChef.
OB: What are the best things you learnt on MasterChef?
Tom: The best things I learnt were the little techniques that refined the way I cooked during the competition and that I continue to use at home. For example, I learnt a new way of dicing onions in the onion chopping challenge in the top 50 week. The technique allows control over the size and evenness of the dice and is a much faster way of chopping, which comes in really handy, particularly if you have a lot of onions to prepare.
OB: Any favourite recipes from your time on the show?
Tom: The dish that I enjoyed preparing the most was the baby snapper in one of the mystery box challenges. That challenge allowed me to combine my knowledge and love of Asian flavours with a Torres Strait style of cooking, which is strongly influenced by Asia.
OB: How did it feel to leave MasterChef?
Tom: I was disappointed leaving MasterChef when I did. At the time, I really felt that from a purely skill and food knowledge level, it wasn’t my time to go. Having said that, it was the luck of the draw and, unfortunately, my time was up.
OB: Is it true you’re working at Ecco now?
Tom: I have been undertaking some preliminary work experience in the kitchen at Phillip Johnson’s Ecco under his head chef Mathias. The work involves basic preparation and observation of plating in the different stations in the kitchen. This experience is invaluable as it gives me an insight into working in a professional kitchen. Whilst MasterChef hones contestants’ cooking skills, it doesn’t provide us with knowledge of the reality of working and running a professional kitchen. The Ecco experience balances the MasterChef experience.
OB: Is there more or less pressure in a busy restaurant than there was on MasterChef?
Tom: There is certainly more pressure in a busy restaurant than in MasterChef with regards to ensuring quality and consistency of dishes. MasterChef, however, also has its pressures, for example having to cook a dish with limited ingredients (usually 10 ingredients) within a strict timeframe (usually one hour). In MasterChef, you also face elimination, which is an added pressure.
OB: Please tell us a little bit about growing up in the Torres Strait.
Tom: I was born on Thursday Island and undertook primary schooling there. My family moved to Cairns when I started secondary school. However, I still have extended family in the Torres Strait, who I try and visit as often as I can. My food memories growing up in the Strait (and Cairns) revolve around major feastings (weddings, tombstone opening celebrations, etc) where you would expect hundreds of guests and a wide range of food both traditional and western. However, the cooking is communal and everybody pitches in to help, with food preparation starting days before the actual event. Traditional cooking includes the underground oven in which pig, turtle and damper are cooked, as well as sop sop, a dish consisting of root vegetables (potato, pumpkin, taro etc) mixed with coconut cream and wrapped in banana leaves. I also have fond memories of reef and beach fishing with the catch shared amongst households.
OB: How did you develop your love for cooking?
Tom: My love for cooking developed over time. As a child, I was interested in cooking but, with older sisters, I did not have the opportunity. I graduated from high school and started University in Canberra when I was 16. I basically had to learn how to cook to feed myself. I was fortunate that first degree (Conservation/Art Restoration) consisted of a number of mature age female students. I credit them with introducing me to different flavours and cooking styles. Having said that, I don’t discount my Torres Strait food background and culture, which revolves around food and feasting.
OB: Are you happy to have left Law behind you?
Tom: I have not left law behind. MasterChef was an opportunity that came along at a time when I was ready to try something new. Whilst I am open to opportunities that may arise because of Masterchef, my legal career is still very important to me.
OB: We understand you have a love of fine art – can you tell us more about that and any connections you see between art and cooking?
Tom: Because of my art conservation background, and with my partner still involved in the arts, I have maintained a love of the visual arts. I curated the first exhibition of Torres Strait art in 1997, which toured nationally. I am currently developing a proposal for a follow up exhibition on contemporary art from the Torres Strait, for the Queensland Art Gallery. To me, art as well as law have been passions that I have personally, but on a different level, they also allow me to promote Torres Strait people and culture to a wider audience. Going on MasterChef was also partly driven by this desire – on the one hand having an indigenous face on prime time commercial television, but, hopefully, also to send a message to the indigenous communities that anything is possible.
OB: Have you kept in touch with any of the other MasterChef contestants?
Tom: I have been in regular contact with Michelle and Melissa. I have also been in touch with Geni but, because she lives between Brisbane and Melbourne, it has been hard catching up with her. However, she still owes me a bottle (or two) of Moet for a bet that we had while on the show, and I will be holding her to that.
OB: Please tell us some of your favourite places to go/eat in Brisbane.
Tom: I have a number of places that I go to in Brisbane on a regular basis. Piaf in Grey Street, South Bank, is an all time favourite as well as the Garage coffee shop, which is around the corner from Piaf – great coffee and, more importantly, fantastic service. I have also discovered the Crosstown Eating House in Woolloongabba, which serves great tapas style food and a great wine list. Of course Ecco is a fantastic fine dining experience, and I highly recommend the rabbit when on the menu (also because it is one of the dishes that I help prep).
OB: How long have you lived in Brisbane and what do you like most about the city?
Tom: My partner and I moved to Brisbane in June 2007 from Melbourne. I love Brisbane in Autumn and Winter. While the nights are cool bordering on cold, the days are beautiful and crisp. With the wet weather recently, everything is so green, and the light in Brisbane (sharper and clearer – less pollution) really draws out the colours.
OB: If you were catering your ultimate dinner party, who would you invite and what would be on the menu?
Tom: For my ultimate dinner party, I would have my partner and all of my family, both immediate and extended, alive and deceased (parents, great aunt, grandfather), and the menu would be Torres Strait traditional with everybody cooking together and sitting down to eat together.
