INTERVIEW As a melting pot of different ethnicities and cultural backgrounds, will Malaysians live up to the slogan, 'Malaysia Truly Asia?’

Out of 15 finalists in the very first Masterchef Asia, two Malaysians made it to the Top 3 to vie for the title as the first winner of the competition.

Woo Wai Leong, 27, from Singapore is among the final three in the Masterchef Asia.

Masterchef Asia is presided over by three judges: Audra Morrice, a Singapore-born Masterchef Australia finalist; Susur Lee, a celebrated Hong Kong-born chef who is now based in Canada and Bruno Menard, a three Michelin star chef who owns one of the top French restaurants in Japan.

Gruelling in kitchen and adding some final touches to present the best dish to the judges of Masterchef, two Malaysian contestants, Marcus Low and Jasbir Kaur, made it to the Top 3 in the competition.

In an interview with Malaysiakini , Low, a 24-year-old bank employee from Kuala Lumpur, shared his excitement to be among the Top 3. Dubbed ‘Dessert King’ by the judges, Marcus certainly lived up to his name.

Asked about getting a Michelin star one day, he said getting such recognition is not his main intention but sharing his love for cooking.

Low: My mum is my inspiration

"I don’t want to hype with all these recognitions. For me, as a cook, you cook what you want and what you love. I feel that a dish that celebrates with its ingredients also tells a story about who the chef really is.

Is the King of Desserts also the first ever #MasterChefAsia? Catch the thrilling #MasterChefAsia semi-finals on 3 Dec, Thu 9pm (SIN/HK), first on Lifetime Asia

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"That is really what makes a dish beautiful on its own. It’s not about getting a 3 Michelin star. I want to tell a story and when people get it, that is a satisfaction," Low said.

Low ( photo ) started picking up his first try in the kitchen when he was 15 years old, and his first dish was an appetiser.

He made simple bruschetta - diced tomatoes, onions and garlic served on top of a toasted bread and the first 'judge' he had to face was his father.

"My dad tried my first dish, and until today my dad still remembers fondly that dish I made when I was 15 years old. I thought to myself then that cooking is not that hard," Low said.

Crediting his early exposure to cooking to his mother, despite getting barred from entering the kitchen, he admitted being rather 'rebellious' in taking the first step into the culinary world.

Food is an art of creativity

"It all started with my mum and she is a good cook. Food has always been a part of my family and it’s interesting how my mum never let me step into the kitchen.

"She was the one telling me, 'Marcus, don’t go into the kitchen. There’s a lot of gas, a lot of oil. Just make sure you stay away from it.' The funny thing is, the more you tell kids not to do something, that’ll get them excited to give it a try. And that’s how it started with me," he said.

According to Low, the start of his 'real' adventure in culinary arts began when he was studying in Melbourne. He felt that cooking was one way he could show off his creativity.

"It is kind of like a jive with food and creativity. I knew this is something I wanted to do all along, but the question was, when would I start it?

"Being on the show, just let everything out so that’s where I am right now," he said.

Jasbir, the Queen of Spices

Despite being the eldest in the competition, Malaysian homemaker Jasbir Kaur, 55, never felt that her age would be an obstacle for her to fight through her way to win the competition.

She came from Singapore and has been living in Kuching for the past 29 years, after her marriage, and is blessed with three children. Jasbir has never looked back and enjoyed every moment of the Masterchef Asia competition.

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"I always love food and my biggest inspiration were all the Masterchef shows. My family encouraged me a lot and you will always need that little push to do it.

"For me, being given the name as the Spice Queen, I think it fits me because I use a lot of spices in my cooking. I quite enjoy having the name - and at least some people do think that I’m the ‘queen’.

"At least, that is a name I can live up to, just like Marcus Low, the King of Desserts," Jasbir told Malaysiakini in an interview over Skype.

Uniting Malaysians with food

Both Jasbir and Low hold the view that food can bring all Malaysians together under one roof. Taking pride in the cultures of Malaysia, telling stories from their dish comes with love and sincerity.

"I think we Malaysians are blessed with a lot of different cooking ingredients. I will try to incorporate Malaysia in a dish, bringing in ingredients people don’t commonly know about.

"For example, I have this one dish I make once in a while, incorporating ‘buah salak’ (Snake fruit) into it. It’s interesting to tell people that Malaysia is not all about durian.

"It is always about bringing that one Malaysian ingredient and ‘marrying’ the other Malaysian ingredient to highlight the whole thing.

"I think the world needs to know that Malaysia is not all about hawker food but the cooking ingredients that we were brought up with. It is what we are blessed with in this beautiful country," Low said.

As for Jasbir, living in Sarawak for the past 29 years gave her a very colourful experience alongside her local Sarawakian friends of many different ethnicities.

"My favourite food? It's definitely the Sarawak laksa! Food brings people together, just like in Sarawak, one family may come from many ethnicities and religious backgrounds.

"Food will definitely unite everyone under one roof," she added.

What it takes to be the next Masterchef?

Being among the Top 3 out of the initial 15 contestants around Asia, the two believe that it all comes down to determination, passion and the love for food to be the next Masterchef Asia.

Low said watching the show from the couch may seem to be an easy task to criticise, but the 'real deal' challenge in the competition is to create the best dish within the time constraint.

"It’s really down to your passion for food because in a competition like this, you really need to push yourself. It looks easy when you watch it on TV, but it is actually a lot harder than it looks. Time is against you.

"There’s always that thought about going home, every single slip-up will send you home so you need to be on your ‘A’ game from day one.

"At the end of the day, it is a cooking competition. We are all great cooks and what sets you apart from someone else is your determination and the energy that drives you. That’s what will bring you to the finish line," he added.

To the aspiring contestants for the next title of Masterchef Asia, Jasbir advises them not to be hesitant in making their decisions but to chase after their dreams to be a chef.

"I would say, don’t think so much about it but just do it. Go out there and do what you love do to. Don’t think that you’re over 40s or 50s and that you can’t do it.

"Look at me, I’m 55 and I’m one of the Top 3 at the moment! Don’t hesitate to chase your dreams!" Jasbir said.

The Top 3 episode will be aired tonight on the Lifetime Asia channel (Astro Channel 709) at 9pm. We will find out tonight whether they will make it to the top 2 finale next week.

This interview was jointly conducted by Norman Goh and Nadia Azam.