The latest season of Masterchef Australia ended recently and while contestants Sarah Todd and Declan Cleary didn’t win the trophy, they did win each other’s hearts during the show. To celebrate their new relationship, the couple is currently having a sensory and culinary adventure in India, and they sit down exclusively to talk with us.
Sarah Todd and Declan Cleary are on a nine-day trip here, which started in Mumbai and they are currently in Delhi. While Sarah has had her base in India for almost a decade, this is Declan’s first trip here and he is having an incredible time as “I have got the best tour guide with me”. Sharing his experience, he says, “As soon as we got off at the airport, the big waft of heat, the screeching of the horns all the food stores on the side of the road, just amazed me. And after 26 hours of travel, we straight away went in for a thali.”
Sarah says, “I wanted him to try something very authentic to start with, and he’s never had a thali before. So it was a double whammy.” Suddenly, remembering the meal, Declan breaks into a chuckle: “They just loved me, and the moment I took a scoop from one of the little bowls, there were seven people around already to fill it up again. That little side of jaggery and the kheer were very nice.”
Having had her own restaurant in India, Sarah shares this trip hits different. “I feel so proud because the love that Indians have always shown me, now I can see them showing it to him. There is so much history and nostalgia for me with some of these places and it’s been really nice to share it with him now,” she says, while Declan adds that he is loving the flavours of Indian food: “The only authentic Indian food I have had in Australia has been what’s Sarah’s cooked at home, and coming here, it’s just an explosion of different flavours in my mouth. It’s been only three days and I am never not full.”
Ask him to share his favourite dishes and he says, “The thali and dosas. but I am so excited because there is so much more to try.” Sarah already has her checklist ready of the food items she wants to make him try–Vada pav, bhutta, chole bhature in Delhi, the classic daal, bhel puri. “I am also testing how much spice level he can handle,” she quips, adding that they have already had a pani puri challenge.
Sarah’s cooking has had a huge influence from India and she acknowledges it gratefully. “I was always told to find my own cooking style and I felt it was impossible. But in India, I finally found that. Every city that I go to, I fill it with another tool or memory or a story or a dish and when I cook, it’s like pulling them out and putting it into a dish. India has completely changed my way of cooking and thinking. The love, care and hospitality is something I have learnt from India,” she says, adding that now even Indians see her as one of their own.
Declan playfully adds, “Someone told me that for Indians, I’ve become the sister’s husband (jiju). Sarah is like a sister of India, so now I am the jiju.” Reflecting on the love he is getting here, he says, “It’s very liberating. I went on to the show with the intentions of just to be myself and cook to bring joy and smile to the people around me on the show. Seeing the impact it has had here with everyone just loving who I am as a person, it’s amazing. Cooking just comes with it, it’s so much more than that. And now, I also found love on the show,” he ends with a laugh.
