“I remember eating all of the off-cuts of pastry when she would make a variety of pies, she was a very traditional Aussie cook … I loved her apple pies and her steak and kidney pies. I tried to recreate it when I was practicing in the MasterChef house but I don’t think anything will ever come quite as close to it.”
Elena’s nan, along with her parents and other close family and friends still reside in Noosa, where she grew up and now regularly visits throughout the year.
“Growing up Coastal was such a joy and I’m so grateful for that. My parents owned a scuba diving business and we had our shop along the Noosa River, we had a jetty there, so getting off the school bus and being able to go for a swim was pretty special,” she shares.
Mum didn’t really enjoy cooking, but still to this day I think she is an incredible cook. She taught me how to maximise flavour and nutrition for a family which I really appreciated and am always grateful for.”Now living in the New South Wales Blue Mountains, the former school teacher and her partner are planning to move a little closer to home and are looking at properties anywhere from the south coast of Sydney up to the Noosa Hinterland, with the goal of being able to grow a lot of their own produce. “We can grow a little bit here, but we’d definitely love a bit more space and be able to have somewhere I can cook and teach and produce out of, that would be ideal,” Elena says, sharing when she’s back on the Sunshine Coast she always enjoys making delicious discoveries.


Elena will be at the Noosa Food and Wine Festival on 20 May, as part of The Queensland Seafood Experience, at Peppers. For more information and tickets, visit noosafoodandwine.com.au
The new season of MasterChef returns on WIN (Channel HD80 and Channel 8) in coming weeks.]]>