MasterChef NZ’s Alice reveals - ‘MY SECRET WEAPON’

How cooking has helped the TV star through a difficult year

- Kelly Bertrand

It’s fair to say that MasterChef NZ contestant Alice Taylor’s dual passions – cooking and Taiwanese foreign policy – are at opposite ends of the spectrum!

Yet the plucky Dunedin foodie and Master of Politics student somehow manages to balance both sides of her life.

Alice’s secret? Her close-knit family – including her twin brother Jack.

“People don’t click that we’re twins for some reason,” laughs Alice, 22, during their fun family photo shoot. “I guess we don’t look similar and we have very different personalities, but we do have a special bond.

“We moved to Otago to study at the same time and we’ve been through the same experiences.

“It’s really nice to have someone to talk to, although now we’re doing very different things – me politics and MasterChef, while he’s studying to be an airline pilot! But I’m very excited for the day when I board a plane and hear his voice over the speaker. I’m very proud of him.”

And Alice’s whānau – including dad David, mum Sue, older brother Paul and pup Milo – is immensely proud of Alice too.

“We’re all really into food,” she nods. “Growing up, Dad did most of the cooking. He’s an exceptional cook and I feel like if he entered MasterChef, he’d win. But baking with my mum is one of my earliest memories. Cooking together was how we bonded.

“It was the same with my nan. She made a lot of Fijian food, so I’ve been surrounded with it my whole life. Food is a real family thing.”