How two budding chefs went from regional Australia to national TV

From a young age, Luke Harris felt a magnetic pull to letting his creativity run wild in the kitchen.

"[At the shops] Luke would pick all of these things from the shelves. I had no idea what these ingredients were, but we'd bring them home and he'd cook us up a beautiful feast," his mother Eugenie Harris said.

Now the 20-year-old is heating up competition on a national stage as the youngest contestant on this year's season of MasterChef, a television show where the country's best up-and-coming chefs battle it out in the kitchen.

"It does feel a bit weird … a year ago I was just some random bloke who likes cooking and now I'm on TV,"

Mr Harris said.

Cooking more than a hobby

Mr Harris said there were many people who encouraged him to follow his passion of cooking.

"My love for cooking definitely came from Mum and Dad, but there was definitely a few people who kind of fanned the flame into a full-blown fire,"

he said.

Growing up in Geraldton, 400 kilometres north of Perth, his family said it was school where their son began to test the boundaries of his cooking ability.

Mr Harris said a catalyst moment was at school when he was tasked to make Indonesian-style fried rice.

"That was the first time I reckon where I didn't have someone [completely] watching over me [when cooking]," he said.

"I got to experiment and put my own spin on it."

His former food technology teacher, Derek Goforth, said Mr Harris was always on a path of his own.

"One of his strengths, but also one of his weaknesses, was working under his own inspiration," Mr Goforth said.

He said in one lesson where students were tasked with creating their own meat box, Mr Harris said he would "play it by ear".

"What [Luke] produced at the end, I don't know what it was, it certainly wasn't a meat box and it certainly wasn't edible," Mr Goforth said.

"But this was the same period where off his own back he also made a croquembouche … and it was absolutely phenomenal."

Mr Goforth said his former student had a knack for turning a simple dish into something magnificent.

"He wouldn't be one to make a simple cheese sandwich. It would have to be a croque monsieur," he said.

"It wouldn't be just a cake, it would have to be a macaron … nothing was too complicated."

Now proudly watching on national television, Mr Goforth said his former student was going to be "a big star".

"[Luke] has far surpassed any skill that I could teach him. I would just encourage him to be exactly who he is," Mr Goforth said.

"Regardless of where he finishes [on MasterChef], whether it's 10th, fifth or first, I think he's got a massive future."

Regional connection

Mr Harris's parents, Khim and Eugenie, said raising their son in Geraldton had a major influence on his cooking.

"Geraldton was a great place for things like crayfish … [our friend] would turn up on our doorstep with a bag full of crays," Ms Harris said.

"It was complete chaos in the kitchen, but then Luke would [cook up] the beautiful crays.

"It takes a village to raise a child and Geraldton was that village."

Also battling it out on MasterChef is Esperance local Hannah Johnson, who hails from the coastal town 696 kilometres south of Perth.

Ms Johnson previously enjoyed cooking for farmers during seeding and harvest.

"I always think when someone's out there working long hours, food is always something people look forward to," she said.

"So I always wanted to make the meals [for farmers] quite diverse and different every day, so they're not getting the same thing.

"[The farmers] would often give me feedback, so maybe that was my starting point of my MasterChef journey of getting critiqued on food."

Ms Johnson said going from cooking for farmers during seeding to critically acclaimed chefs now was a big change.

"It's a little bit of a sea change … a bit of a challenge, but it's been pretty amazing," she said.

"I do think maybe my food journey is heading into a different direction now after MasterChef."

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