MKR's dinner parties are crazy. Here's how Colin Fassnidge handles them
'This year, Manu and I have had to tell a few people off,' Fassnidge concedes. 'We're getting old. There is some massive personality [this season]. You've got the self-confessed 'Meat Master', who will be a meme in his own right. And then you've got the other stronger girls around the table.
'It's like a Christmas dinner. It starts off nice, and then they all have a couple of reds … But I enjoy working with friends. I enjoy eating different cuisines, meeting different people. And it's not your normal job because at 52, if I was a chef still standing in the kitchen 16 hours a day, I'd be a very grumpy and not very nice man.'
The contentious contestant to whom Fassnidge refers is Michael from Queensland, who, with his partner Reilli, presents a dish containing the flesh of an animal that is set to 'divide the nation'. 'Look, I'm open to everything,' says Fassnidge. 'I was fine. I reckon 90 per cent of the table were not hungry.'
Competing with her cousin Mel is Jacinta, a vegetarian nutritionist from NSW who refuses to even taste meat.
'At the start, I was a little bit thrown,' says Fassnidge. 'But then food is like religion. You can't pigeonhole everybody. And the way we live and run restaurants now, vegetarians and vegans are a huge part of what we do … Chefs used to be quite arrogant and think that the world revolves around them and not the customer. When you run your own business, you realise everyone's money is the same.
'So, yeah, the vegetarian option was like a last-minute, whatever. And now, there's a lot more veg and other options than there are meat options. And that's because meat has become so expensive. And people are eating lighter now.'
A snapshot of the other contestants this 15th season includes best mates Justin and Will from NSW, who bring South African and Tongan flavours; Greek mother and daughter Anne and Maree from Victoria, cooking family recipes; and best friends Lol and Lil from the Brisbane satellite city of Logan, who have never left Queensland.
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