Julie Goodwin, now known as MasterChef of Australia
They said she couldn’t do it and so the wonderful Julie Goodwin went and proved the critics wrong.
Goodwin, 38, is the winner of the inaugural series of the Australian reality TV cooking show MasterChef.
So much for the naysayers, the newspaper pundits (one of whom declared today “the fix is in” if Goodwin won) and professional dish lickers who dismissed her as the accidental home-cook finalist.
The same prejudice was in place when the fabulously talented Susan Boyle walked on stage earlier this year in Britain’s Got Talent. Book judged by cover. How wrong was that?
Who’d have thunk there’d be two Susan Boyles in the space of a few months?
Like Boyle, Goodwin has talent.
Like Boyle, Goodwin has personality.
Like Boyle, Goodwin did not put on any airs and graces.
Like Boyle, Goodwin didn’t change her style or looks or values to cater to the perceived cafe latte wisdom. She was confident enough and strong enough to believe in herself and know when she did well and when she could have done better.
Julie Goodwin is who she is and she’s not ashamed of it. Clever woman – for there is nothing to be ashamed of. She can cook. She spent three months learning and taking notes and watching and listening and her finale was a tour de force.
Sure, her Matt Moran chocolate assiette was not as pretty as artist Poh Ling Yeow’s but it was, according to four very knowledgeable judges, much better. That’s what counts. Food = taste = pleasure.
MasterChef finalists Julie Goodwin (r) and Poh Ling Yeow (pic courtesy Channel 10)
Respected food critic Simon Thomsen told ABC radio on Friday that he thought Goodwin was the “dark horse”. Compare that to The Sunday Telegraph (my alma mater) which today declared “the fix is in” if Goodwin wins.
The paper’s food critic claimed Goodwin (who will publish a cook book with Random House) would win on popularity. How could she get it so wrong? What show was she watching? Yes Julie was popular, but did she really think the judges would put their reputations on the line over popularity? Sheesh. Doesn’t say much for what she thought of the judges, now, does it?
But here’s the thing: the thing that made the show so successful was the one thing that is fundamental to us all (well, most of us) – decency. Everyone was decent – even the judges.
There was no fix.
The food was cooked, the dishes were served and the criticism was noted and it was constructive, not destructive and, most importantly, there was a sense of fun about it. Well, most of it. Apart from the flood of tears towards the end, which we could have done without.
The thing that stood out about MasterChef was the feel-good nature of the show as Miranda Devine pointed out weeks ago in The Sydney Morning Herald – long before other opinion columnists had cottoned on to why MasterChef was a ratings juggernaut.
“Then there is the niceness of the show, which naturally appeals to children more than anyone, as they generally prefer adults to behave well.”
Don’t they ever?
Perhaps The Sunday Telegraph’s scraps scribbler will issue an apology to Cook Goodwin (and the judges, too, who deserve one)? If not, I suggest she does the dishes in her kitchen for a month as penance.
