A quick word with: Colin Mathura-Jeffree

Colin Mathura-Jeffree. Host of New Zealand's Hottest Home Baker. Photo / NZ Herald

You have gone from a show that turned the viewer off food entirely, to one that makes you want to devour the contents of a cake shop. What made you want to do it?

Yes, I can see the irony in it. However, baking is fashionable. And like the fashion industry, it is colourful and flamboyant. I'm Anglo-Indian, I grew up in an environment of baking, so it's like a bit of a coming home.

Were you involved in the baking as a child?

I was the bowl-licker.

What are your favourite baked goods?

Well, I love ginger crunch. And I'm one of those creatures of habit so my big problem is not trying new things. Even though I have the best intentions to do that, I can't do it.

Did the show make you try new things then?

Yeah, definitely. It was fun to look at how innovative these bakers were - and then sometimes they weren't, they were incredibly boring. And I was just going, "mmm, that's very safe".

Is this show a sign of our times?

I think these shows will be a reflection of the era. Home values are now being brought to the forefront - unity and kindness. And I think a lot of that is shown in baking. I'm just throwing a huge generalisation out there but I think, when you like someone, you bake for them. If someone said to me, "Colin, I've baked you some cookies", you just feel nice, and you feel loved.

And do you think baking's enjoying a bit of a revival?

Yes it's an undeniable revival ... all the meanest little snobs I know around town are all into baking.

Would you suggest that viewers sit down with something a little bit sweet to eat if they get peckish? Is it that kind of show?

Yeah, I think so. The food is wonderful. I loved the show it was a wonderful experience. I loved Top Model because I live that life, and I loved this too. I am a foodie. I have an interest in things that are nice and will shy away from things that aren't. It has to be colourful, shaped beautifully.

Do you wear an apron on the show?

No I wanted to. And aprons are slimming. It's just the shape of them. And aprons have a sexiness to them.

Not just the ones with the naked torso emblazoned on the front?

No, no, no. But those are hilarious and very Kiwi barbecue man.

Are you a more astute judge of baking after working on the show?

After the show, I must say, I've gone to cafes and caught up with friends and I've been judging everything. If I walk into your cafe I am giving it a rating. I must say, I love Wellington for its presentation of baked food.

You have a bit of a sweet tooth by the sounds. Was it hellish watching all these muffins and slices and cakes being paraded in front of you on set?

Well I am waiting to see the show as well, because I think my pupils might have dilated and I became a bit of an addict. You know those wild animals at a watering hole? I think I became one of those. As soon as the scene was cut, everyone would run to the food. I think I put on about 10kg filming the show.

So have you now had to up your exercise regime?

Halfway through filming I asked [producer] Julie Christie whether she was next going to put me on The Biggest Loser.

So the food on the show tastes as good as it looks then?

Yeah, some of the things were just marvellous, beautiful looking. And some weren't so beautiful but the taste was amazing. And then there was the odd experience where something looked amazing, and then you put it in your mouth and thought, "oh, I don't think that's what was meant to happen". The thing about baking as well is that it's a science and it has to be exact, exact, exact.

Does that mean you have to be a certain kind of person to be a baker?

Yes. Bakers are very analytical, very precise and they express their love through food.

Did you learn anything else from being on the show? Any tricks of the trade?

There are quite a few things we going to learn a lot from the show, but the biggest two things I learnt were the realisation of expression of love through baked food, which was so obvious through these wonderful people who were the competitors. Baking is sharing. There would be no wars in the world if everyone baked. The other thing was how dangerous I am on sugar.

* New Zealand's Hottest Home Baker premieres on TV3 on February 4 at 8.30pm.