Returning to the kitchen with the goal to win: "No matter what I did, in the end I am 'Jackie from MasterChef'"
13 years after becoming one of the most identified contestants with "MasterChef", Jackie Azulay returns to the kitchen to complete what she didn't succeed at then. In an interview with +12, she talks about the fear of criticism after years of hearing only compliments, explains why she has nothing to lose, and clarifies that no contestant scares her: "If my 'life' in the competition depends on someone else, I don't see obstacles."
In many ways, Jackie Azulay became an almost immediate association when thinking about MasterChef. Azulay, who many consider the true winner of the third season in which she participated, returns to MasterChef: Dream Team with the goal of completing the mission she didn't succeed at. This time she does it with much more experience, which joins the confidence that she never lacked (the new season starts tonight, Monday, on Keshet 12).
If you ask her, she doesn't have a definitive answer as to why she decided to return to the cooking competition, but she does admit that it was hard for her to say no when the offer arrived. "It is ultimately the place where I started. No matter what I did, in the end I am 'Jackie from MasterChef'. I am very competitive, I didn't take first place last time, so I came to try again," she declares in an interview with +12.
Did it cross your mind, why do I need this again? "In a sense yes, because I deal with food, that's what I do day-to-day. We are here before judges, and my fear is that I haven't had a dish judged in 13 years. Since then, I always heard 'this is tasty', no one said it's not tasty. There is some anxiety here that someone will suddenly say that what I do, that my businesses, maybe it's not 100%. There are hesitations, but in the end I am confident in my hand and know that I cook well."
Azulay is what is known as a pepper, in the best sense of the word. But pepper can also be spicy — and Jackie addressed the chance that she will get angry in the competition. "I don't think I will get angry at the chefs. I very much respect their opinion, and think that in the field everyone has something to learn and develop. I will take it as constructive criticism but I won't get angry," she said, but admitted: "I can get angry at contestants, but not if one of the judges tells me the dish is not 100%. If there is a competition where my 'life' in quotation marks depends on someone else, then I don't see obstacles. I am very competitive. I won't get angry, maybe I'll take his ingredients."
Do you think you will help another contestant if they need help? "I will give because I believe that when you do good, you will receive good. Food is from God, and it's hard not to give. I don't think I will sabotage someone if I have an ingredient on the station that they need and I don't. I believe in karma and that good will return to me because of it."
Are there contestants that you are afraid to compete against? "No one scares me. There are very good contestants, and there is a very high level. But, it only challenges me, it doesn't scare me. I am not in the place of a contestant for the first time. I have already made a path, and I will return also to my path, but yes there are contestants that are very challenging. You can't be complacent, at home I look, check and research. I don't come with full confidence, I am always preparing."
Since she participated in the program, Azulay became a chef, opened a restaurant and participated in programs — and from her perspective, a lot has changed since the last time she was in the hottest kitchen in Israel. "If we talk culinarily, then it's clear that many things have changed. I arrived here Jackie from the cooking with the pots, which I don't underestimate the value of, but I developed and got out of my head. I hear, see, learn. I also dealt with a lot of things. I was asked to cook things that I am not usually used to, and when it's a client you have to. I am more open, and the moment you are open to receive, then the sky is the limit."
Do you think you have something to lose? "I think that thank God, and really thank you very much, it's not taken for granted, it's a gift and a blessing from God that I have some kind of mark outside. I know who I am, know myself, and today I have much more confidence to come and say: 'I can come here, compete, and even if I fail - it won't destroy me outside'. If I thought that I wasn't good enough, and it could destroy me outside, which is my livelihood in the end, I wouldn't risk it. But no, that couldn't have been."
How did family and friends react? "I spoke with my son in the morning, I told him I was at the filming. He asked if I already cooked and if I am in first place. When I told him that they don't know yet he said: 'Give me the one who decides, tell him that if you are not first place, I know where he lives'. The family is very happy, they didn't get to see me enter something big in recent years. My children and partner are very supportive."
Do you see your children following you? "There is nothing that I don't support. Everyone can do what they want, of course it's within limits but why not? They already cook at home. Yes, it will hurt me, from my initial experience, if they try to prepare something tasty and they are told it's less tasty. You need to go through a path so it won't hurt you, and I don't want it to hurt them, but beyond that why not?".
Interviewer: Noa Barkai
