Adi Nevgi was beyond excited when she was accepted into season 14 of MasterChef Australia in 2022 – that was, until the Omicron wave of COVID made other plans for her.
A doctor of general medicine and endocrinology, she was desperately needed on the frontline of a busy Melbourne hospital during the pandemic and had to put her dreams of winning MasterChef on hold.
“There was no guarantee I’d be able to get on any subsequent seasons if I applied again,” explains Adi, 31. “I was worried this was my one shot and I’d thrown it away. I was gutted.”
Despite the decision to turn down the opportunity, this “pause” only boosted her passion for cooking.
“During COVID, work was very demanding,” she says. “Sometimes I’d be so stressed out about somebody sick that it would be on my mind all night. After long hours, I’d come home and would need an outlet.”
For Adi, that outlet was cooking. She would watch the season of MasterChef that she was meant to be on and cook along with the kitchen challenges. In a strange way, it helped prepare her for this season.
“Things turn out the way they’re supposed to,” she declares.
Although she grew up in an Indian household, where she ate well and has travelled to 55 countries with diverse cuisines, Adi admits she was always a surprisingly “fussy eater”.
Celebrating Diwali with her parents in 2016.
It wasn’t until later in life that she realised how “creative and academic” food could be. It’s from there her love of food grew.
“I taught myself to cook,” Adi tells. “I learned everything I know just in the past few years.”
Her next step is to move into food education.
“I feel strongly that cooking is something anyone can learn to do – you just need to understand some fundamentals. I’d like to get everyone feeling more confident about cooking.”
MasterChef Australia screens 7.30pm Monday to Thursday and 7pm Sundays on TVNZ 2.
