s n o i t a s n e Cooking S By Melissa Walsh Photos: Yanni
M
eeting down at a Mornington beach seemed the most fitting place to catch up with MKR’s Mitch and Laura Skvor, the dynamic cooking duo with a casual peninsula vibe. Sitting in a beach box chatting away, the siblings are the youngest contestants ever on My Kitchen Rules, with Mitch 21 and Laura just 19. However, fame has not rattled the brother and sister who talk candidly about their television culinary experience. When did you decide to apply for MKR? Mitch: It was a spur of the moment thing and it was mainly me. We used to watch the show all the time and one day I thought “Laura would love to do that”, and so applied. I thought it would be her and mum but it ended up being me instead.
Why did you put Laura forward for MKR? Mitch: She has a massive culinary passion. And she’s a really good cook. Given the calibre of what she cooks at home, she deserves to show off her skills.
How did you feel being accepted for the show? Laura: It was very mixed emotions – nervous and excited. It just kind of happened and so we decided to go with it. Because we were both studying we had to put that on hold for a while. (Mitch is training to be a paramedic, and Laura was doing her university degree in International studies.)
E ssence
50 | PENINSULA
AUTUMN 2016
What is your style of cooking and how did you become such amazing cooks at such a young age? Laura: We love cooking nose to tail food. We love that philosophy of the paddock to the plate, using the entire animal, no waste and just respecting our food. And if it’s at our front door we love to cook it. We love foraging and especially being on the peninsula and growing up in Somers, we would go spearfishing and foraging for mushrooms. When foraging for mushrooms it is very important to know your stuff and do research so you know what’s poisonous and what’s not. Mitch: I am working on a farm so get a lot of fresh lamb and different meats. We just always loved cooking from the time we were young. We would help mum in the kitchen. Mum’s a good home cook, and taught us to get what we can seasonally and grow a lot of stuff. Dad doesn’t really like the whole nose to tail philosophy though. He’s like “why would you bother having offal if you can have steak?”
Why do you think you have already been so successful on the show? Laura: We definitely are not afraid to push the boundaries with our style of cooking. We also use our imagination a lot to create dishes that are different. I think being young actually helps with that. Despite people not being that into nose to tail eating, we have been determined to stick to our cooking style and philosophy and show them that it can be something really special.