Sri Lanka’s ‘Sav’ Perera features on MasterChef Australia 2024 Finals

It’s the final week of MasterChef Australia 2024, and fans are on the edge of their seats as the competition reaches its thrilling climax. 

The top three finalists battling it out for the title are Savindri Perera, Josh Perry, and Nat Thaipun. Each of these chefs has showcased remarkable skills and creativity throughout the season, making the finale a must-watch event.

Sri Lankan born Savindri Perera or Sav as she is best known, made her journey on MasterChef nothing short of spectacular drawing the attention for her Sri Lankan dishes throughout the competition.

Describing her cooking style as rustic, generous and colourful, Sav’s love of cooking amped up around age 12 after discovering Nigella. 

She lists onion, garlic and curry leaves as her holy trinity, nothing happens in Sri Lankan cooking without them.

Last round she Prepared Sri Lankan Chicken curry.

She said “My version of Ammi’s Chicken Curry – Spice rubbed pan roasted chicken breast | Ala kiri hodi potato puree | Picked leaf salad with pickled onions

I always knew this was going to be my hardest cook in this kitchen — and it was. 

Seeing my mum’s photo in the little wooden chest just made me remember just how much of her is in me. In the photo my mother was making chicken curry, ala kiri hodi, rice & a kale sambal loaded with red onion.

I decided I wanted to do a version of my mum’s chicken curry that looks nothing like a chicken curry. The thinking process for me was to show how l’ve changed in the competition. Sav on day 1 wouldn’t have dared to do this. 

I wanted to capture the flavour profiles I love and present them in a different way.

While I managed to do that, a big part of me feels like I let myself down & let myself Mum down even though that’s not necessarily true. 

I wanted more time to refine the chicken, my potato puree was not smooth because I baked the potato instead of boiling it as I usually do. I am happy to openly admit these errors because there’s no shame in admitting your short comings. 

The presentation is not executed how I intended — to be honest with you for a while it felt like I couldn’t even move because of how bound by grief I was in that moment. The whole point of this dish was to change how l’m doing things.

Furthermore, Sav recently shared a vulnerable post on Instagram and said that she was grieving her mother’s death at the time of auditions, which further led her to question her decision to go on MasterChef.

“One of the hardest battles I had to overcome before competing was severe body dysmorphia,” Sav penned on social media.

Sav revealed that she’s been in therapy for her body dysmorphia, but still struggles to come to terms with it.

“It is sometimes really really hard for me to watch myself purely because of the intense fatphobia I have towards myself,” she explained.

“The hatred I have towards my body at times is awful. Years of therapy later & it’s better but it’s not easy. That self loathing manifested in a way that led to me convincing myself that I don’t deserve to take up space in this world. Sometimes I see comments online that often talk about how I don’t smile, how my voice is awful, how my smile is awful.. and whilst I don’t engage with these things, I still see it & while I can ignore it on most days, after a while I wonder if it’s actually true when I know it isn’t.”

The MasterChef contestant said that she decided to share her story in the hope that it would help others who are going through something similar.

The MasterChef Australia tables will be turned with the top three challenging MasterChef Australia judges Andy Allen, Poh Ling Yeow and Jean-Christophe Novelli with a mystery box on Sunday (14). Pezza, Nat and Sav will then compete against Andy, Poh and Jean-Christophe in a MasterChef Australia classic: the team relay. Sofia Levin and three returning contestants will decide which team reigns supreme.

Monday (15) is semi-final day and the final three will take on a massive service challenge. Pezza, Nat and Sav will have to prepare a three-course menu to impress the judges, guest chef Curtis Stone and 60 diners.

For one contestant, it will be the end of their MasterChef Australia journey, with the two top cooks winning their place in the grand finale.

Tuesday is the MasterChef Australia grand finale. The top two will go head-to-head over two huge rounds and in the final challenge of the season internationally renowned chef and Michelin star trailblazer, Clare Smyth, will set an unforgettable four-hour pressure test.

Only one home cook will emerge triumphant, being named the winner of MasterChef Australia, taking home $250,000 and a residency at Crown Melbourne’s ALUMNI restaurant.

What will the winner of MasterChef 2024 get?

The winner of MasterChef Australia 2024 will receive a massive USD 250,000 cash prize, as well as bragging rights.

--With agencies inputs--