“Winning MasterChef Season 16 feels like a fever dream, the culmination of a wild, often chaotic journey through flavors, emotions, and self-discovery,” Nat Thaipun – the newly christened winner of Masterchef Australia’s season 16 penned in her thank you note. Also known as Nat Wolf, the winning chef trained as a barista for 7 years before she decided to explore her passion for cooking and celebrating her Thai roots. Known to put her own modern flair on traditional Thai cooking, the Australian-born chef took home the grand prize of $250,000.
Bagging what was the season’s only immunity pin, Nat decided to cook up the Sai Ua Scotch Egg for the first round that needed to showcase peppercorns. Although the judges found some short comings in her rendition of Clare Smyth’s four-time Michelin star chocolate dessert during the second round, Nat emerged a winner by scoring a total of 71 points – three points higher than her competitor, Josh ‘Pezza’ Perry.
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In her winning note, Nat not only acknowledged her Australian and Thai influences, but also thanked the multiple family, friends and colleagues who helped her achieve this landmark win. Sharing her upcoming plans of travelling to London for her next project, Nat signed off on a heart-warming note by thanking her Thai ancestors. “I can feel it becoming the vessel that allows me to be part of the conversation about the changes I want to see in the food scene. I envision a world where people are more open-hearted and willing to embrace the exciting new chapters of food that are coming their way,” she said.