A lack of knowledge about Spanish food saw Pahiatua cook Michelle Berry eliminated from the top 10 on TV1's Masterchef on Sunday.
The amateur chefs faced an invention test on Sunday night's show, under the scrutiny of the judges and guest chef Peter Gordon. They prepared four tapas dishes using fourcore ingredients: Chicken, prawn, chorizo and potato.
"I haven't cooked Spanish food before and I haven't been to a Spanish restaurant so I was feeling pretty nervous," Mrs Berry said.
"If it had been a Japanese, or a Dutch, challenge I would have been fine, but I just didn't know anything about Spanish food and that let me down."
Mrs Berry lives in Mangatainoka as an equity sharemilker with her husband on a 900-cow dairy farm and works part-time as a chef at Hiwinui Country Estate near Palmerston North, an opportunity which was a result of Masterchef.
She said working at the estate "fits in with the farm and the family".
"I have never wanted to be a seven-days-a-week head chef in a busy, full-on restaurant so having a job that fits in with my lifestyle is working out really well."
Being a part of the Masterchef team was not the only thing new to her, as she had also never been flatting before. "I moved straight out of home and got married so it was a real eye-opener for me, but lots and lots of fun."
She was pushed into applying for the show by her brother, and said it was a "fantastic experience. He knew I loved cooking, so I applied and I got through the interview and then I got to cook and I was absolutely stoked to make it into the top 10."
Despite "the most stress I've ever been under in my life", she said she would do it again.
Her next step is to go overseas to learn more about international food: "I think after hearing everyone's stories about travel, I just want to go to Spain. I definitely want to get out there and to learn about food all over the world."
