Narayan Wins MasterChef Australia

The COVID-19 pandemic hitting some states of Australia failed to deter the son of former Labasa residents from winning the MasterChef Australia competition.

The MasterChef Australia 13 winner, Justin Narayan was born in Australia and is the eldest of three children of Sunit and Alick Narayan from Fiji who migrated to Australia 30 years ago.

To serve people no matter who they are and where they come from even if you don’t have a lot to offer, you still have something to bring to the table. Justin Narayan MasterChef Australia 13 winner

He won AU$250,000 (about FJ$ 38,5552)

Proud father, Alick Narayan, who is from the North, said he was still reeling from the excitement of their son’s achievement at the competitive cooking game show.

He explained that Justin always travelled to Sydney for youth work and does online recording for Hillsong.

“When he returns to Perth, he has to be in 14 days lockdown and he would be cooking,” Mr Narayan said.

“He loves cooking. His wife and the pastor he was staying with told him to apply for the MasterChef show because he was a good cook.

“He took part for the sake of participation.”

Mr Narayan was inspired by his mother and grandmother’s cooking.

“So the first dish was mum’s chicken curry with roti and grandma’s chilli paste,” he said.

“Justin often travelled to Labasa to visit my parents, my mum is from Korowiri, Labasa and is a very good cook while my dad from Labasa Town was a cabinet maker. Now their grandson is a cook,” said the former Labasa Sangam scholar.

“My wife is from Malolo, Nadi and also loves cooking.

“Justin’s 88-year-old grandmotherValima Narayan never missed an episode of the MasterChef show.

She always supported her grandson and was overjoyed when the announcement was made.”

Meanwhile, Mr Narayan took to Instagram after winning the show: “To serve people no matter who they are and where they come from even if you don’t have a lot to offer, you still have something to bring to the table.”

The 2021 MasterChef Australia winner could not be reached because he was busy with interviews from media organisations around the globe.

The 28-year-old youth pastor married his wife Esther Narayan a month ago.

Photo: MasterChef Australia MasterChef Australia 13 winner Justin Narayan.

Photo: MasterChef Australia The Narayan family supporting Justin on the MasterChef Australia 13 show before the suspensful finale on Tuesday night , Esther Narayan, Justin Narayan, Alick Narayan, Sunita Narayan.

Photo: MasterChef Australia Justin Narayan (left), was up against two other finalists Kishwar Chowdhury and Pete Campbell, who competed in a finale across two nights.