Cecil Planet: My Classmate on Masterchef Australia Series 6

Photo from Daily Mercury

Sarah Todd, one of the top 10 contestants on Masterchef Australia series 6, also my classmate at Le Cordon Bleu London! I am proud of her. And thank you Sarah to teach me how to shell a lobster at the practical class.

外國的廚藝實境節目相當風行，之前在藍帶上課的時候，我就有在想也許哪一天，我的同學會是其中的參賽者，結果這一天果然來臨了。

To be honest, I didn't chat much with her at school. Because I did the basic course in Paris, not in London, I only had the chance to be at the same class with her in intermediate course. The first impression she gave me was pretty, tall, and confident, all are necessary to be a model, which she is. She was quite talkative at school and not afraid to ask questions. I was very surprised to know she has a son, while I thought she was a 20-year-old student. Another surprise to me was that she is from Australia. I know she speaks perfect English without any discernible accent (to me), so I thought she was from the US. I asked her, "Where in the states are you from, Sarah?" And she answered me brightly, "Australia." Luckily I was not that idiot to think that Australia was one of the states in the US.

At the practical class of the lobster risotto, she forgot to bring the recipe, so I shared mine with her. Without her notes, she was still organized and composed. She worked much faster than me. The only problem she had at that class was that when she finished the lobster sauce, she didn't know what was the sauce for. She asked me that, and I told her the sauce was for the risotto.

After the school, I heard that she worked at a restaurant, and at the end of last year before I went back to Taiwan her best friend at school, Maggie, told me that Sarah might have the opportunity to compete on Masterchef Australia.

There she is. I watched some episodes. She cooked clean and effectively as usual. She squeezed into final 24 and got the Masterchef apron with her name on it. Although she was eliminated once, she made a beautiful comeback by her nicely cooked chicken dish. I am happy to see that she is on her way to her dream to own a restaurant. Maybe one day I'll visit it.

If you want to know her more, go check her website: http://sarahtodd.com.au/

莎拉是個爽朗的澳洲傻大姐，一開始因為聽不出她有英文口音，我以為她是美國人。然後很驚訝看起來二十出頭的她其實已經當媽了。在教室上課的時候我習慣坐的位置離她和其他幾個同學組成的聊天團比較遠(立雯對於聊天團這個詞應該深有同感)，所以其實我沒有和她很熟，唯一印象深刻就是龍蝦燉飯那堂課她沒帶筆記看我的卻能神速而井然有序出菜(請參見藍帶中級料理課12)，然後她還很熱心教我怎麼正確把龍蝦敲裂去殼，真的是人美心善良，不過太久沒做菜，我現在可能已經忘記要怎麼幫龍蝦去殼了吧。

看著她一步一步朝著自己夢想前進，心裡很感動，希望有朝一日她能真的擁有屬於自己的餐廳。看著認識的人在節目上真的很神奇，也讓我又懷念起那段美好的學生時光(其實一直很懷念，不過我真的不適合在時間壓力下做菜)。雖然我也曾經想過如果台灣有這種節目，我去報名以我的資歷應該面試可以過吧，但到時候在節目上想必呈現手忙腳亂、桌面亂七八糟、然後速度很慢做不完的窘樣，還是等我之後當幾年煮夫磨練一下才行。

附上中級班結業照，證明她真的是我同學喔。