It’s no secret that food can play a pivotal role in helping us understand ourselves and our place in the world – a sentiment that undeniably sings true to Darrsh Clarke. While he’s only pursued a culinary-related career after competing on MasterChef 2024, Darrsh says he’s long appreciated the connection between food, culture and identity in his life.
It’s an idea he shared a year ago when he first appeared on reality TV. In an Instagram post published at the time, the son of Sri Lankan Tamil immigrants revealed three special memories in his life – his parents’ wedding, his first tooth, and ice cream with his dad. In the first slide, he explained that food has allowed him to “reclaim” part of his own culture, a relatable experience to many second-generation South Asian Australians.
“Over time, I’ve found pride in who I am: an Australian who is incredibly fortunate to have Sri Lankan and Tamil heritage,” he wrote. “Subcontinent food, language and culture is vibrant, colourful and alive, and it deserves to be celebrated.”
Listen to our podcast interview with Darrsh Clarke below:
Darrsh said in his Instagram post that this experience is “nothing special”, as it’s one that’s all too familiar to many “immigrant families from all over the world” who come to Australia “for a better life”. He added: “One of the best things we can do is to encourage them to bring their cultural identities with them, not leave them behind.”
A year on from sharing this powerful post, the now-33-year-old not only reminisces on that social media post and the impact it’s had on many, but also how it influences his time back in the kitchen – returning to the cooking show’s all-stars season called MasterChef Australia: Back To Win.
“I remember that post quite well,” Darrsh tells Draw Your Box. “The reception that I got from the post was really overwhelming from immigrant families, not just from Sri Lanka or India, but all around the world.”
We’ve already seen Darrsh cook a combination of savoury and sweet on MasterChef 2025. And no matter which flavours or cuisines he presents on a plate, he always carries a sense of pride in knowing who he is and how his experiences with culture and food have shaped the cook that he is today.
We asked Darrsh to share more about what each of those three memories mean to him. This is what he said:
Memory: Parent’s Wedding
“There’s my parents’ wedding in Sri Lanka. I think, as many people would know, particularly in ethnic weddings, [and] even European weddings, food, is… a celebration, right? There’s no shortage of food.
“In that photo, if I recall, they’re eating the food on the banana leaf. It’’s very traditional… the husband will feed the bride and the bride will feed the groom as a kind of devotion, I guess. It’s a connection I really love.”
Memory: First Tooth
“That was when I got my first tooth. The dessert, it’s got different names because it’s not just a Sri Lankan thing. I think a lot of the South Asian cultures have that. But it’s called a Kolukattai. It’s basically a kind of, like a coconut, round sugar, jaggery dumpling. I used to love it!
“So for the ceremony it’s called Kolukattai, but then my grandma used to make something called Modak which is very similar. It’s more of a dumpling shape rather than a moon shape. And then the coconut bits go around the outside to represent the teeth… they kind of look like teeth. You put it on the kid’s head, and it’s really beautiful.
“I was looking at that photo earlier today, and there’s a hand holding me, and it’s actually my granddad’s hand. He’s passed away now, but I just remember there’s another photo taken on that day, and he looked so proud. He was a man of very few words, but he was so proud – because it’s one of those life moments like, ‘Oh, the kid’s just got their first tooth, or they’re first walking’ and that was really special.”
Memory: Ice Cream with Dad
“The last photo is my dad and I. I’d always have a treat whenever I was with dad. They were never healthy, and my mum hated it. In this instance, it was a McDonald’s drive through soft serve cone, one of those 57 cent ones. I don’t know how much they cost anymore these days.
“A lot of my really fond food memories are with my dad, because, you know, he just was a bit carefree, and he didn’t really care about the calories. He just said, ‘Go for it’. He really enjoyed having those memories with food.”
Darrsh currently resides in Melbourne but he grew up in Perth. His parents were born and brought up in Sri Lanka and moved to Perth in 1989. His father’s first job in Australia involved cooking at an Indian restaurant, before he went on to become a university professor. Darrsh says his approach to cooking is strongly inspired by his late dad, and he learnt many lessons from his father that have helped him in the MasterChef kitchen.
“I get a lot of my creative spark and energy from him,” he tells us. “He really encouraged that and fostered that in me to be curious and ask questions. I remember I’d be bored, and we’d start cooking something in the kitchen – and it might fail half the time, but he was like, ‘At least you know, for next time’.
“I think that really you have to pivot so much in the MasterChef kitchen,” he continues. “And I think every time I had to do that, I was really thankful that I had a parent who made it OK to fail. It’s like, ‘OK, it’s not the end of the world. Let’s keep going, let’s figure out a way through this.’ That’s something that he’s taught me.”
Once again, Darrsh is cooking for the same judges as last year: Andy Allen, Poh Ling-Yeow, Jean-Christophe Novelli, and Sofia Levin.
He’s one of 24 cast members on MasterChef Australia: Back To Win alongside: Alana Lowes (Season 3), Andre Ursini (Season 1), Audra Morrice (Season 4), Beau Cook (Season 4), Ben Macdonald (Season 6), Callum Hann (Season 2, Season 12), Cath Collins (Season 15), Declan Cleary (Season 15), Depinder Chhibber (Season 13), Jamie Fleming (Season 6), Jimmy Wong (Season 8), Laura Sharrad (Season 6, Season 12), Matt Hopcraft (Season 7), Pete Campbell (Season 13), Rhiannon Anderson (Season 15), Rue Mupedzi (Season 15), Samira El Khafir (Season 5), Sarah Todd (Season 6, Season 14), Sav Perera (Season 16), Snezana Calic (Season 16), Steph de Sousa (Season 11), Theo Loizou (Season 15) and Tim Bone (Season 11).
We can’t wait to see the new memories Darrsh makes as he continues his MasterChef journey this year!
MasterChef Australia: Back To Win airs at 7pm on Sunday, and 7:30pm Monday to Wednesday on Channel 10 and 10 Play.
Top image source: Channel 10
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