She is a best-selling cookbook author who gets the most pleasure out of knowing people are cooking her food. Chelsea Winter tells Rebecca Fox about her transition from corporate life to cook and writer.
The former MasterChef New Zealand winner appears to be well on her way to achieving that goal, with her third cookbook sitting at No1 on the bestseller list since it was released in October.
Her first two cookbooks also spent time at the top of the list.
The success has come as quite a surprise to the former bank worker, who never thought of cooking as a career option.
She credits her mother for instilling in her a healthy passion for food.
''Mum taught me a whole heap. She was a really intuitive cook who could pull a whole lot out of the fridge and put this delicious freshly cooked meal on the table.''
There was an emphasis on real food: less processed and using good whole ingredients.
It was a philosophy she continued to follow, eating 99% home-cooked meals with the odd treat thrown in.
'' I stay away from packaged premade food as much as I can.''
As a result she was not a fan of food trends, as by their very nature they ''came and went''.
''Delicious food will always be fashionable.''
Her latest book was a twist on the classics, such as mince pie, custard square and her own version of fried chicken, she said.
''It's exciting food. People feel they can connect with it.''
This was part of the reason for the success of her books, she believed. They could be used every day, the ingredients could be found at the supermarket, the recipes were easy to follow and they worked.
''The food comes out how it looks in the book. It's food you want to eat and make.''
While she grew up spending time in the kitchen, it ''never clicked'' she could do it for a career.
''I was successful, but deep down it wasn't who I was though. I was a country girl who spent summers at the beach. I was creative, into art, writing and drama, yet all of a sudden I was in this buttoned-down world.''
Then along came MasterChef, although the first time she was encouraged to enter she chickened out of going to the interview.
''I thought I needed to focus on my career and not indulge in silly fantasies.''
When the next series came along her boyfriend (now husband) urged her to give it a go again, saying she had nothing to lose.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
