delicious. editor-in-chief Kerrie McCallum today announced that 2015 MasterChef Australia winner Billie McKay joins delicious. as a monthly columnist starting from the October 2015 issue out today.
This is the first time delicious. has partnered with MasterChef Australia and as part of winning this year’s series of Ten’s reality cooking series, McKay signed an exclusive deal with delicious. to write a column with the brand for 12 months. She will create recipes inspired by her childhood growing up on a dairy farm, reworking nostalgic dishes with modern twists. For her debut delicious. column McKay revamps one of her favourite childhood desserts, a sago pudding with ginger and pineapple.
McCallum said: “Billie was a standout in MasterChef and clearly resonated with Australians as evidenced by the success of this year’s series. She is 24, passionate about food and fearless with her cooking, which is exciting for us. Billie is so ready to take on the food world and I think she’ll do incredibly well, I’m really looking forward to see what she will produce for us each month.”
delicious. senior editor and MasterChef judge Matt Preston said: “I’m delighted Billie is joining us on delicious. Not just because she cooked so much creative, delicious and achievable food for us on MasterChef but also because I can’t wait to see how much further she develops as both a cook and a voice under the mentorship of Kerrie and the team at delicious.”
McKay joins a stellar lineup of regular delicious. contributors who represent some of the food industry’s most respected and influential including Matt Preston, Matt Moran, Shannon Bennett, Colin Fassnidge, Silvia Colloca and Jamie Oliver.
McKay said: “The opportunity to write for one of my favourite food magazines is unreal. I never knew how much I’d love food writing! It’s incredible to share my food and my memories with people that love food and cooking as much as I do! I expected to struggle big time with writing but I could talk all day about food so putting it on paper was great. I love cooking food that reminds me of where I’ve come from and where I want to be. It’s simple, fun home cooking and I’m really looking forward to sharing it each month.”
The 2015 MasterChef Australia series had some of the strongest audience numbers to-date with the finale episode, which saw McKay take out the title, attracting an audience of 2.71million (up 26% on 2014’s finale episode).