Former MasterChef Australia judge on Hornbill Festival Naga Chef Season 9: List of winners so far

Our Reporter
Dimapur, Nov. 29 (EMN): Former MasterChef Australia judge Gary Mehigan will be the guest judge of the Hornbill Festival Naga Chef Season 9, which will be held from December 2 to the 9th, 2022.

The event is organised by Synergy Group Entertainment (SGE) and supported by Nagaland Tourism, government of Nagaland.

Who is Gary Mehigan?

Mehigan, who is also an author, chef and restaurateur, was one of the original judges of the Network 10 series MasterChef Australia but left the show on October 23, 2019 after a long stint till the 11th season.

He received training at The Connaught and Le Souffle in London before moving to Melbourne in 1991. He had headed the kitchen in some of Melbourne’s most prominent restaurants including Browns, Burnham Beeches Country House and Hotel Sofitel before opening the award-winning Fenix in 2000 which was later seold to the Leonda by the Yarra group in 2013.

He formerly co-owned The Boathouse in the Melbourne suburb Moonee Ponds and was also selected as one of the entrants to the 2012 edition of Who’s Who in Australia.

Mehigan had co-hosted two shows on Australia’s LifeStyle Food channel, Good Chef Bad Chef and Boys Weekend, and appeared on the 2011 Good Food & Wine Show.

In July 2015, Mehigan began a new TV series called Far Flung with Gary Mehigan, where he travelled to various countries in Asia including India, Vietnam, Laos, China and South Korea to learn local cooking techniques and recipes, which he used as inspiration for a recipe he demonstrated at the end of each episode.

In 2022, he appeared on the twelfth season of My Kitchen Rules as a guest judge.

What is Naga Chef competition?

Naga Chef is a Naga indigenous cuisine competition which is organised during the Hornbill Festival, and it will enter the ninth session.

It is mentioned that prize money for the winner of Naga Chef – Season 8 “Let’s get cooking!” was INR 3 lakh.

List of Naga Chef winners

Naga Chef Season 1 (2013): Aketoli Zhimomi

Naga Chef Season 2 (2014): Sukulung

Naga Chef Season 3 (2015): Salang Yanger

Naga Chef Season 4 (2016): Renphamo Ezung

Naga Chef Season 5 (2017): Rokokhono Rhutso Nyekha

Naga Chef Season 6 (2018): Vikhuli Achumi

Naga Chef Season 7 (2019): Peteneilhu Kulimbe

(NOTE: Naga Chef competition cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic)

Naga Chef Season 8 (2021): Mutunulu Keyho