Justin Narayan won the title of MasterChef Australia season 13 this year. The 27-year-old Narayan won $250,000 (₹1.86 crores) of prize money, beating out fellow finalists Pete Campbell—the first runner up and Kishwar Chowdhury—the second runner up.
The MasterChef Australia’s grand finale was split into two days.
For the first round, they went with the classic MasterChef move, the Mystery Box challenge. The ingredients were selected by professional chefs who had graced the MasterChef kitchen throughout the season. Narayan cooked a passionfruit-glazed duck with pickled kohlrabi and pine mushrooms.
In the next round, the contestants’ family members, in Narayan’s case his mother and his fiancée Esther, selected mystery ingredients and cooking methods for him to follow. With ruby grapefruit and the fusion technique, Narayan added his personal style on his mother’s fish curry, with poached snapper in an Australian native broth.
The first day concluded with two challenges with Pete finishing in the lead on 53 points, ahead of Kishwar on 51 and Justin on 50.
In the final challenge, the three finalists had to cook two dishes of Australian chef Peter Gilmore: a savory dish from the Quay menu shaved southern squid with koji butter and shiitake custard and his brand-new dessert, golden crackle from his Bennelong menu.
Narayan’s background
Narayan comes from a multi-cultural background, born and raised in Perth, Western Australia. His Fijian and Indian ancestry mix can be seen in his cooking. In his MasterChef Australia season 13’s journey, Narayan impressed the judges by cooking some of his Indian-inspired dishes like Indian Chicken Curry, pickle salad, Indian Chicken Tacos, Charcoal Chicken with Toum, and Flatbread.
Narayan became the second Indian-origin contestant on the show to take home the trophy. Before him, it was prison guard Sashi Cheliah, who had won the show in 2018.