While she might not be a household name - yet - Leong is kind of a big deal in the foodie world. As a freelance food (and travel) writer and recipe editor, she’s been responsible for helping some big name chefs, like Colin Fassnidge and Dan Hong, bring their cook books into fruition. Plus, she started Fooderati, a website that fuses her love for food and style (this woman has taste).
Aside from being a wordsmith, Leong is a presenter and has appeared on radio, TV and podcasts talking about what she finds rather delectable. Taking a detour from the food writing world, Leong spent five years as a restaurant marketing, public relations and digital consultant.
For the new MasterChef host, food has been a passion ever since she was that kid “who brought the weird lunches to school”.
“Food’s always been central to who I am because it really forms such a core part of a Singaporean identity,” Leong told the Head Ovary Heels podcast.
“I was born in Australia but my parents are from Singapore and, you know, you eat and you shop and that’s about it… food is very much at the centre of every conversation, it’s how we communicate with family.
“Food has always been part of my existence and identity and I feel lucky to now call it a core existence of what I do in a professional capacity.”
She’s a champion for diversity
Leong has long been campaigning for more diversity, particularly in her area of food journalism, saying we need to “encourage a more inclusive and balanced perspective” when it comes to writing about cuisine from different ethnicities.
“It’s fair to say there’s a general dissatisfaction across the board when it comes to the current media state of play,” Leong wrote for Hospitality magazine earlier this year.
“Does it explain the amount of published pieces irately forwarded to me from chefs and restaurateurs, or why I sometimes feel a sense of cringe when I read a piece about the food I grew up with written by a writer who doesn’t quite seem to get it? Is it the overly knowing tone, a lack of diversity in voices and backgrounds or just terrible journalism that’s bothering us?”
She’s critiqued MasterChef in the past
Now, here’s where things get a little spicy; long ago tweets have surfaced where Leong takes a bit of a dig at the whole MasterChef franchise.
In another from 2012, she retweeted a tweet that disparaged the show: “HAHAHAHAHAHA RT @hierohero The biggest mistake an amateur chef can make is going on #masterchef”.
When quizzed about it last night on The Project, the new host wasn’t fussed or flummoxed and refused to back down from her comments.
“We're all humans and we all have perspectives on things that change over time. Why should I scrub all of my social media clean of former opinions that I've had?” she said.
“I may not believe the same things that I did before, but I also don't believe in presenting a sanitised version of myself that is highly edited because that is not who I am.”
Yes, we’re sold on this woman already.
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