Courtesy of MasterChef Australia" border="0" height="349" width="510">Courtesy of MasterChef Australia

Born and raised in a family that ran a culinary business meant that there was no red carpet treatment for Reynold Poernomo when he stepped into the industry.

Sydney-based Reynold Poernomo said his parents had always second-guessed his intention to step into the culinary business, regardless of his natural gift for cooking and his knowledge of the field from running Artplate patisseries in the city.

However, cheered on by his girlfriend, the 20-year-old decided to join the MasterChef Australia cooking competition Season 7, aired on the Lifetime channel in Indonesia, to get recognition.

“At first I didn’t want to [take part in the show] because I wasn’t so sure that I’d be in. But once I was in, I realized that food had always been a thing that I wanted to do and it’s my dream,” Reynold told selected media, including The Jakarta Post, during a phone interview recently.

The kid brother of one of Indonesia’s celebrity chefs, Arnold Poernomo, who is also a judge for MasterChef Indonesia, further said that his family had never supported him getting into the business.

“The culinary industry is tough. Growing up, my mother wasn’t really there for me because she worked all the time. Every time I got home, sometimes there was food, sometimes there wasn’t. My brother works in this industry, too, and so my parents think that this is a tough field,” said Reynold, adding that that was the very moment when he started to cook for himself with simple dishes like fried noodles.

“They didn’t think I could make it,” he added.

Moving to Australia at age 6, Reynold, who was born in the East Java city of Surabaya, watched as his parents worked in the hospitality business and as his two elder brothers later entered the industry.

Nevertheless, Reynold is passionate about food and has been working on his skills — cooking after school and picking up tips from his mother, as well as from cookbooks and the Internet.

The guy also cooks for his girlfriend.

“I often cook for my girlfriend if she comes to visit me. She’s always impressed by my cooking. So when the MasterChef application got out, she kind of pushed me to apply because she said, ‘If you don’t apply, I’ll do it for you, anyway’,” said Reynold, who studies nutrition at the University of Western Sydney.

Courtesy of MasterChef Australia

Born and raised in a family that ran a culinary business meant that there was no red carpet treatment for Reynold Poernomo when he stepped into the industry.

Sydney-based Reynold Poernomo said his parents had always second-guessed his intention to step into the culinary business, regardless of his natural gift for cooking and his knowledge of the field from running Artplate patisseries in the city.

However, cheered on by his girlfriend, the 20-year-old decided to join the MasterChef Australia cooking competition Season 7, aired on the Lifetime channel in Indonesia, to get recognition.

'€œAt first I didn'€™t want to [take part in the show] because I wasn'€™t so sure that I'€™d be in. But once I was in, I realized that food had always been a thing that I wanted to do and it'€™s my dream,'€ Reynold told selected media, including The Jakarta Post, during a phone interview recently.

The kid brother of one of Indonesia'€™s celebrity chefs, Arnold Poernomo, who is also a judge for MasterChef Indonesia, further said that his family had never supported him getting into the business.

'€œThe culinary industry is tough. Growing up, my mother wasn'€™t really there for me because she worked all the time. Every time I got home, sometimes there was food, sometimes there wasn'€™t. My brother works in this industry, too, and so my parents think that this is a tough field,'€ said Reynold, adding that that was the very moment when he started to cook for himself with simple dishes like fried noodles.

'€œThey didn'€™t think I could make it,'€ he added.

Moving to Australia at age 6, Reynold, who was born in the East Java city of Surabaya, watched as his parents worked in the hospitality business and as his two elder brothers later entered the industry.

Nevertheless, Reynold is passionate about food and has been working on his skills '€” cooking after school and picking up tips from his mother, as well as from cookbooks and the Internet.

The guy also cooks for his girlfriend.

'€œI often cook for my girlfriend if she comes to visit me. She'€™s always impressed by my cooking. So when the MasterChef application got out, she kind of pushed me to apply because she said, '€˜If you don'€™t apply, I'€™ll do it for you, anyway'€™,'€ said Reynold, who studies nutrition at the University of Western Sydney.

Up close: MasterChef Australia judge Brett Graham of The Ledbury in London (left) checks on Reynold'€™s smoking bonito bones.(Courtesy of MasterChef Australia)

He may not have won the MasterChef title but from the competition, he was awarded the title of Dessert King for serving up mouthwatering dishes for the show'€™s judges.

Desserts have always been Reynold'€™s forte. He claims that he'€™s good at making anything from chocolate to materials with tropical flavors for people with a sweet tooth.

'€œI feel like dessert is more challenging '€” in terms of plating up or applying different techniques. You have to be precise in all things '€” you can'€™t be wrong about it,'€ said Reynold, who looks up to great chefs such as Grant Achatz, Martin Benn, Darren Robertson and Ryan Clift.

'€œI don'€™t eat that many desserts, but I love the artistic way of desserts. You can make chocolate look like wood or dirt,'€ said Reynold, who seriously started learning how to cook at the age of 14 years.

Dreaming of opening his own dessert bar that offers matched cocktails in the future, Reynold said that he might focus on finishing his studies first.

It is hard, though, for him to finish up at nutrition school because he isn'€™t really into the subject.

'€œI don'€™t even know if I can finish it after all. I feel like I'€™m being forced to get my degree. I'€™m not really enjoying it,'€ he said.

Courtesy of MasterChef Australia

Reynold finds cooking a fun yet challenging activity.

'€œIf the dishes go really well, I feel super happy. But when things go the other way around, I get a bit frustrated,'€ he said.

'€œI feel like I want to fix it, make it perfect. So, I love to practice, especially now that I serve people '€” a thing that I had never done before. So, yes, serve people, and see them smiling over the food.'€

Reynold, who is learning to cook Indonesian food with famous sambal chili, is certainly lucky to have his big brother backing him up while climbing his ladder of success in the industry.

'€œ[Arnold] told me that it'€™s going to be long hours and that I'€™ll get tired, but I just have to be myself and be prepared.'€