“What was difficult for me was learning how to cook, smile to camera, have a bit of a laugh and not cut my fingers off. That was hard.” So says – with trademark Australian humour and candidness – Justine Schofield, a television personality enduringly popular enough to have just wrapped yet another season of Everyday Gourmet , a studio-based show garnished with an international-travel element.
“We’ve been doing it for 14 years,” she says by Zoom from her home in Sydney, “and the last eight or so we have added an international trip, not only to put into Everyday Gourme t but to make up [a separate] eight-part series.” In 2019, Macau – “incredible food and heritage!” – supplied the grand stage on which Schofield created her versions of Macanese and Chinese dishes. This time, the destination is Malaysia, to which Schofield had been keen to return – and to an extent, still is.
“Many years ago I went to Kuala Lumpur and then to a small fishing village on the east coast,” she says. “I was dipping my toe [in Malaysia]; that was in my 20s, almost 20 years ago. But Penang had always been on my bucket list.
“It’s hard work making a travel show: you’re up sunrise to sunset and sometimes even further into the night to film – and sometimes it’s disappointing. You don’t want to put a dampener on it, but you want to see more of Penang, or Sabah or Sarawak and you don’t get to, because you’ve got to get on a plane and go to the next beautiful place.” Is it difficult to remain upbeat for every “take” in every episode? “I’ve been doing it for so many years, so I guess I’ve trained myself to be ‘up’ all the time – no one wants to see a Debbie Downer on TV!” she says.
“I just generally like travelling and cooking; and when I get to do them together it’s a wonderful experience.” Combining twin passions and becoming a national television star in the process sounds like a dream job. And for the newly graduated Schofield, a dream is all it was ever likely to be.
“I had a bad experience when I was younger – work experience, in a hotel restaurant. All the chefs there were miserable and hated their job. They told me, ‘Don’t get into this industry, it’s hard work, you won’t have your weekends.
’ As a 16-year-old, I was completely turned off working in a kitchen,” says Schofield. “So that was it, I was going to study, go into business, go into that world.” A successful business career, however, would soon prove to be off the menu.
“I did a hospitality degree, then a tourism degree specialising in business. Then after university I tried to get a job in that industry – and apart from working in an office selling package [holidays] ..
.” she trails off. “It wasn’t for me at all.
I couldn’t find anything I loved. I was 23 and selling security cameras because I couldn’t find a job in tourism.” Home, in a roundabout way, was about to provide a solution.
Schofield’s mother, who is French, ran a restaurant in Bowral, southwest of Sydney. “French food is the food I grew up with and love,” says Schofield, “and in all my shows, whether I go to Malaysia, Macau, Japan, you will always see a French-style dish with local ingredients. “I’d decided I wanted to go overseas to follow a cooking career and I was on my way to France to work in a restaurant.
Then,” she says, “ MasterChef happened.” In 2009, Schofield was selected as a contestant on the augural series of reality television show MasterChef Australia . “I didn’t even come in the top three – I was fourth – but because it was the first series it was the biggest phenomenon back then.
Because of that I started a catering business, which I did for a couple of years, then I was approached to do a late daytime cooking show,” she says. “Network Ten wanted to start a new one, a sponsor-driven show and they wanted someone who wasn’t a chef.” Schofield was en route to becoming a household “face”, even though it didn’t always seem that way.
“The first two years I was wondering, ‘Why are they still renewing this show?’ because I felt like I was just running around all over the place,” she admits. “But then you learn how to do it and it happens naturally now.” Taking the show on the road has always felt like a natural extension of the format for Schofield, who says: “Food is always No 1 on the list for me before I pick a destination.
Malaysia was the perfect place to explore, because its complex and layered food is like a huge, rich tapestry, entwined with Indian, indigenous, Malay and Chinese influences. It’s all there – and I just touched on it.”.
