Melissa Leong: Australian TV host, food critic, and writer on people's love of cooking shows, 'Taste of Art'

Kiwis love their cooking shows. 

Once you get past ‘The Chase’, the likes of MasterChef Australia is consistently within the top watched shows, both on TV and online.  

Recognisable from her four seasons on MasterChef Australia, Melissa Leong has moved on to host Dessert Masters, and is now fronting a new Kiwi cooking show. 

She’s partnered up with Aimsfield Head Chef Vaughan Mabee for ‘Taste of Art’, a show that pits ten Kiwi chefs against one another, aiming to create visually stunning food.  

Leong told Mike Hosking the reason food and cooking related shows tend to do well is because of the element of human connection. 

“You know, the stories that food allow us to tell about culture, about time and place and connection, all of these things are just so very enduringly human,” she said.  

"We are always going to find that compelling.”  

She says there’s something there for everyone, whether it’s a show like MasterChef that heroes the humble, homegrown cooks and recipes, or something like ‘Taste of Art’, which showcases imagination and incredible possibilities.  

“There’s something in it for everyone ... being able to share a little bit, a little part of who they are in the form of food.” 

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