a chat with Poh about being ‘on the road’

Poh, congratulations on your fabulous show. We’re all so excited to be going on the road with you. What a marvellous way to showcase Australia and our wonderful produce. What was the thing that you liked bestabout being out of the kitchen and on the road?

Meeting wonderful, generous people, seeing far flungparts of australia I’ve never been to and working with my amazing crew. Outside of the kitchen I get to do some really fun stuff that I’m sure not many get to experience, like working in a dairy for a day, climbing a coconut tree, shearing a sheep, swimming with tuna. I’m usually a bit of a homebody so it’s nice to have had these challenges thrown my way. It was very challenging being on the road for the for the first half of the year though, being away from my home, partner and doggy. It can be a tenuous juggling act trying to live a normal life and one on TV. The other difficult thing about shooting in the open is that more variables creep into the process of making TV – the elements, animals, and for those reasons, you get less goes at getting it right. In the studio, it’s much easier to do more takes if you feel you haven’t covered information you might want to impart to the audience. Apart from that,Ii have nothing but gratitude for all the adventures I get to go on and be able to continually build on my food knowledge.

In one of your earlier episodes you ate oysters at Coffin Bay with Lester. I’ve been to the Eyre Peninsula myself just recently, but couldn’t open my mouth wide enough for the famous King Oyster. Did you know Lester was going to offer you an oyster that big, or was it a surprise?

It was a surprise. I call it the great mollusc-tation! Lester’s a great guy though. I immediately forgave him when I ate his Mum, Christine’s famous coffee pav on the same day. Delicious!!!

You feature quite a bit about South Australia on the show; it’s so close to your home town of Adelaide. What have been your favourite journeys in your home state?

The Flinders Ranges was unbelievable. I got to muster sheep with Jamie McTaggart and got a real slice of life from someone who comes from generations of carving a living from sheep. I also slept in a swag for the first time and it was incredible to wake up to that brilliant landscape – you can see why it totally captivated artists like Hans Heysen. I also got to have a go at shearing a sheep and it was an eye opener!

Where are you taking us for the rest of this series? You and I are from different home towns. Did you visit my hometown ofSydney? What do you like best about Sydney, my city?

King island, Singapore, Thailand, far north Queensland, Perth, Kimberley Ranges, Victorian Alps and yes I visit Sydney and spend most of my time in Bondi. It was great to experience the Bondi lifestyle. I had a swim in the Icebergs pool in mid autumn which im quite proud of and meet some fantastic people: Nahji Chu – rice paper queen, Sarah Glover – surfer, Chef, nutritionist extraordinaire and Andrew Crabbe who runs the sweetest little hole in the wall joint, wedged between the gym and sauna at Bondi Icebergs. I also got the Bondi Lifesavers to road test my chewy Anzac Biscuits.

You are such a bubbly, happy person. Who was the happiest person you met on the road?

Probably a little person named Tristan, from Tasmania. We filmed at his parents’ (Rodney and Severine) cooking school in Lachlan. He was small, 3 or 4 years old but he knew A LOT of stuff about the garden and animals and it was really delightful to see a kid just thrive in that agrarian setting.

I have to ask the question that everyone wants to ask. How has your life changed since MasterChef? Can you walk down the street without being recognised?

Well, everything has changed and nothing has changed. I am very much the same person but I’m time challenged these days and I’m answerable to many parties – the ABC, my publisher Harper Collins and my agent, so it can be really unrelenting, especially coming from a career as an artist where i had so much creative autonomy and control over how I spent my time. Yes I do get recognised but it’s just something that comes with being in the media. The Australian public has given me copious amounts of love and support, so I have huge gratitude for that.

Back to your own fabulous ABC TV show. Did you have an absolute favourite destination, or favourite produce or person that you met? For you, what was the highlight of this series?

Oh I can’t really show favouritism because the people we find to film with, they really pour their heart and soul into those few days we are with them and we are often so moved by the generosity and hospitality people show us. It can really screw with their schedules, like when we were on King Island, the Lancasters delayed the milking of their cows and went to bed really late (to milk) so we could continue to film the cows uninterrupted and were up at the crack of dawn the next day. So a huge thanks to everyone who gave their time for Poh’s Kitchen – On the Road.

Poh’s Kitchen On The Road is broadcast each Wednesday at 8pm on ABC (One) TV.