Hello! This is Dish, a cooking podcast set in Sydney, Australia - I’m Kate Gibbs your host. Today the writer and MasterChef Australia judge Melissa Leong joins me on the show.

I should preface this episode with an explanation that we refer a lot to Melissa’s Instagram profile, simply because it’s so inspiring from a food angle and such a clear perspective of what Melissa eats and how she cooks. So when we talk about her homemade hash, her “fridge dive dinners” or her “put on egg on everything” ideas, just take a peek at her Instagram grid and you’ll get what we mean. 

Melissa Leong co-hosted The Chefs' Line with chefs Dan Hong and Mark Olive for two seasons in 2017, and 2018. As of 2020, Leong is one of the new judges for MasterChef Australia, alongside Jock Zonfrillo and Andy Allen. And I’m so happy to finally get her on the podcast.

She’s the epitome of style and class and what looks like the good life, but in this episode Melissa goes into up-cycling leftovers, a recurring theme of her own cooking (and her Instagram feed). If she can inspire people to give it a go via her Instagram page then that’s a good thing, she says. 

Her top tip for the fridge dive dinners: “when in doubt, throw an egg on it”. Melissa talks about her hash - a melange of flavours that’s always great to eat and at the least a very indulgent breakfast. Her breakfasts are usually savoury, but she admits she loves a porridge with lots of bits in it. 

Melissa, who tells me she has autoimmune issues, talks about how she balances indulgence with doing good things for her insides. The way we feel is directly impacted by what we put in our body, she says. She shares the way she reboots, what she eats and just as importantly what she doesn’t eat. She eats intuitively and eats as many whole foods as she can, and she tried to find harmony with her body and what she puts in it. 

Melissa is often asked what she would cook the other MasterChef judges, she says, and she goes into how she navigates being around other amazing cooks. She cooks simply and focuses on flavour and texture. There are top chefs out there, but Melissa’s cooking is proud, packed with flavour, and always presented with pride. 

A discerning and intrepid traveller, Melissa is a regular contributor to various food and travel magazines - and we met for the first time years ago while both contributing to Australia’s delicious. magazine. We talk about where we want to travel next, covering Singapore and Europe, deep diving on what we would eat for breakfast when we finally get there. 

Heritage and the handing of recipes through the generations has long been a passion for me, and Melissa is also passionate about it. We talk about the layers each generation adds to a recipe, the power of cooking with family, and making recipes our own. 

It’s refreshing and enlightening speaking with Melissa. She’s intelligent, graceful, and I loved this episode. I hope you do as well. Enjoy.

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Manu Feildel has become one of the most popular food personalities on Australian television as co-host of the My Kitchen Rules series. And today he joins me on episode 16 of Dish, a cooking podcast set in Sydney, Australia. I’m your host Kate Gibbs. 

Manu, a cookbook author and chef, has appeared in so many television shows - from Around the World with Manu to Manu’s American Road Trip, My France with Manu, Ready Steady Cook, Boys Weekend and even Dancing with the Stars.  But today we talk food very much at home. We’re still in lockdown in Sydney, though the restrictions are slowly lifting in ways, and Manu has been impacted by this time as most of us have. He talks about how this time has impacted his home cooking, but also how he has navigated cooking and kitchen to cater to his teen son as well as his young daughter during lockdown.

Manu divulges on the quick dinners he has up his sleeve, the tricks and ideas he has gathered from his many years cooking from professional kitchens, as well as the impressive quick staples he turns to again and again. He covers meals for freezing and the basics he has up his sleeve to turn into meals when a meal is needed urgently (especially for his suddenly ravenous teen).   

This episode is about bringing your family together to eat as well as cook together, but taking into account the truth that sometimes we need a quick fix. What does Manu cook in those moments - there’s loads of inspiration for us all from a chef who is warm, knowledgeable, and brimming with ideas.  Here’s Manu Feildel. 

Episode links:

Manu on Instagram

Kate Gibbs on Instagram

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Silvia Colloca is a supremely inspiring, wonderful cook who makes me want to cook more often, and better. This cookbook author and television host describes having a soup as being “a hug from an angel”, I just love it - this episode brought immense joy into my day, my week. This is episode 15 of Dish, a cooking podcast set in Sydney, Australia. I’m your host Kate Gibbs. 

Recorded as Sydney entered yet another lockdown this Australian winter, Silvia Colloca talks about protecting her own space and finding time for herself, particularly with kids doing home schooling and little ones around the house. 

Silvia is an opera singer, brilliantly, and she talks about that side of her career.  She goes into how she moved into food as well, and talks about the idea of ‘talent’. She is not talented, she says, she is skilled. Like a doctor or a chef, she has trained to gain the skills she has - both in opera and in food. I love how Silvia talks so openly about determination and hard work, especially during a time when many dismiss celebrities as being lucky. Hard work is a huge part of her success and skill, says Silva, and of course she is right. It’s a refreshing reminder.  

She shares her favourite podcasts and espouses the importance of listening to other people’s point of view. 

We laugh about our genuine heartbreak over badly poached eggs, she teaches us how to cook pasta properly, and offers some insider “nonna” tips. She shows us how she cooks at home, simply but always well, and this episode is packed with ideas on cooking  Italian. 

To celebrate Silvia Colloca appearing as a guest on Dish, we are giving away three copies of her latest cookbook - Simple Italian: The Essentials of Italian Home Cooking. To go in the draw to win a copy, check out my Instagram on how to enter. Valid for Australian addresses only. 

I loved this intelligent, beautiful chat with Silvia Colloca, and I hope you do as well. Here she is. 

Episode links: 

Kate Gibbs Instagram - how to win a copy of Silvia Colloca’s cookbook 

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