Dessert queen, 35-year-old Skye Craig, chats to us about her friendship with Alvin and her new business venture.
What was the easiest part about being on the show?
The easiest thing about being on a show like MasterChef was two things. Number one was learning from some of the best chefs in Australia and across the world. [And secondly, working with] the contestants, judges and the crew. I've made some life-long friends, that's for sure.
Everyone I've spoken to has said you guys all get along. Is there anyone that you're particularly close to?
I was really good mates with Alvin, I think from the first minute that we met each other in the top 50 we were fairly inseparable. We just really got along like a house on fire. We just always had a really good laugh together. There were a lot of giggles and carrying on in between the series and the show. I got along very well with everyone but particularly Alvin, Adele, Claire and Marion.
Do you think you guys will catch up in the future?
Oh definitely. I've actually organised to do a charity event. I'm flying over to Adelaide with Adele on August 22. She's doing a fundraiser for kids with special needs. We're all donating our time and Adele is doing some amazing things. She's doing a lot of charity work and if I can support her in any way, shape or form then that feels really good. I mean all the contestants are great but Adele has got the biggest heart and I want to get out there and give her a hand.
She definitely came across as lovely on screen, and no-one has really had a bad thing to say about her.
Yeah, she's actually very strong. I know that it looks like she cried a fair bit but you've got to remember there's almost 16 hours of filming a day so she is actually quite a strong woman. She's really an amazing character and it'll be very interesting to see how these charity events go because they're obviously very worthwhile and it feels really good to be working on it.
I know you guys were away from your loved ones for a while, and that must have been hard. Were there any aspects of the show that you found difficult?
Yeah, basically the auditions are in October, top 50 is in November and then top 24 starts in December. Except for Christmas I was in Sydney until April. I think that with anything in life when you're challenging yourself with something new you've just got to accept that there'll be highs and lows.
I think it's a wonderful opportunity for us all to immerse ourselves in cooking. When you think about all of the kids out there that are doing apprenticeships; we've all worked in kitchens now through MasterChef.
I think we're all very lucky to have gone through it the way we did. When I think of the young kids that work in kitchens and make hardly any money and work up to 16-hour days, day in and day out, we've all been given a pretty amazing opportunity to learn from the best. We're all really just home cooks so it's a pretty amazing opportunity for experience and I'm very grateful.
What was the most important thing that you learnt from being on the show?
It's sort of tricky because we've learnt so much, but I think the biggest thing is to really trust myself. It's actually made me a lot stronger too because you're faced with these huge challenges where you think it's virtually impossible, such as that P&O cruise challenge and being team captain. It was nerve wracking!
But you came across so calm.
Yeah, the thing is that I might have been really nervous but you have to tell yourself over and over again, "I can do this and it's going to work" and with that in mind if you go into anything in life with that mindset, then you can achieve anything. It really does give you the best opportunity to do well.
It doesn't necessarily mean that every time you're going to do well [laughs] but if you believe in yourself and everyone around you believes in you too then it is possible. Something that I don't think came across on TV was I had times where I was so nervous the night before and I hadn't had much sleep but I just went for it because I thought, "I've got to be confident and then they'll be confident, my team will be confident".
Is it hard switching between supporting each other in the team challenges and then remembering that you're all competing against one another?
I think in the team challenges we all look at it like we're a total team. We really bond and there is no separatism. We just all get in there and it happens to get your team across. It's very much a team environment and letting go of the individual.
Which is another skill that would be important if you ever go on to work in a kitchen anyway?
That's it. It's very important to be able to work in a team because you're definitely going to work that way in the kitchen anyway.
A lot of the other contestants have said they want to do their own restaurant. Is that something you want to try one day? With raw foods? Or have you got another ultimate food dream?
I've actually already started my business. I'm just getting it happening right now. I'm starting very small. My business is called Wild Sugar and it's a dessert business because I love desserts. So basically, I'll be creating unique and decadent desserts. I've actually got a website, www.wildsugar.com.au.
We'll be making sweet treats that quite simply make you smile. We'll use Australian native fruits and spices which is great for people who care about their health. I'll source the ingredients as close to home as possible. Organic or spray free wherever we can so that they can take care of their bodies as well as the planet.
That's made me feel really hungry! What sort of business will it be? Will people be able to buy them online or will you open a shop?
I want to start really small. I'm going to do the Northey Street Organic Market in Brisbane. I'm going to set it up so I can get my desserts out there and I'm really interested in receiving feedback from people and seeing what they like. Also, because it's the markets I can let people buy them at a reasonable price too. Plus they'll be organic and from there I might end up putting out a range of products. Or I'd like to write a dessert cookbook.
I'm going to start at the markets and that will be like a testing place for my desserts. Some of them I've already made on MasterChef so it'll be fantastic to actually get the desserts out in the public and see what people think of them. I'm going to go for quite simple but really tasty, beautiful desserts. The desserts I'll be making are like lemon, lentil and raspberry semifreddo, chocolate, avocado and wattle seed mousse.
The avocado with chocolate mousse sounds really interesting! I'd love to try that.
[Laughs] Well hopefully I'll end up with a range and you can try some out there. You can't actually taste the avocado but the benefit is that it tastes like a really rich chocolate mousse. And the wattle seed is an Australian native product and it tastes like coffee so you've got chocolate and coffee and it's really creamy.
It's all raw so it hasn't been cooked and it has all of the nutritional benefits. So the reason for raw food is you're retaining all the natural nutritional content and it hasn't been cooked out so there's a real vitality and freshness about the raw food and that in turn makes you feel good. There will also be lime tart with fresh finger limes.
That sounds amazing as well. I can't cook at all; my biggest kitchen success is probably toast.
[Laughs] You know what, when I'm at home and I get busy I'll often just have toast and a few eggs and that's about it.
Do you get much time to cook for yourself at home?
Yeah, I do cook a lot but at home it tends to be a lot simpler and a lot healthier then the stuff I did on MasterChef. I love MasterChef because the way I live is the 90/10 principal which is 90 percent of the time I eat well and then 10 percent of the time or whenever you really feel like it you just have food that really just makes your palate sing and that's what MasterChef's all about.
Have you been watching much of the show back as it airs?
Yeah, I have.
What has it been like seeing yourself on TV?
The first couple of weeks it seemed very strange. I think as human beings we're all really hard on ourselves but in actually watching myself on TV. I've realised it's really about being a bit more forgiving of yourself and a bit more gentle. So often you can watch yourself and you can be really hard on yourself and unforgiving but that's something that it's taught me. That we're all human and we all have triumphs and we all make some mistakes so it's about being a little bit gentle with yourself.
Well everyone I've spoken to has said it was weird seeing themselves on screen. Do you think they've all come across fairly accurately?
I think so. There's people that are made to look mean, like Jonathan but he's a lovely man. MasterChef has done a great job in casting everyone. I really like all the contestants.
