Victoria Coffee Roaster @big.yummers

With dreams of one day becoming a food writer, Harry Tomlinson says food is her greatest comfort, and she’ll stop at little to achieve her goal of taking out the coveted MasterChef Australia trophy.

The youngest of three children with two older brothers, Harry grew up with a love and passion for food, ultimately taking over the kitchen and preparing family dinners as a teenager.

Harry works with speciality coffee and has worked in the hospitality industry since she was 16. At 19 she moved to London for several years and on returning home to Melbourne, now works at Proud Mary Coffee.

Describing herself as driven, creative and intuitive, Harry’s signature dish on a warm Saturday evening might include veal cotoletta with herb oil, burnt cabbage with tarragon cream and parmigiano, and pickled fennel.

Her food idols include Fergus Henderson, Samin Nosrat, Rick Stein and Annie Smithers, and interestingly lists one of her favourite ingredients as the often-declined offal. She loves to cook using fresh oysters, vine-ripened tomatoes and lashings of parmigiano, and describes her style of cooking as homely, but with refined flavours.

With a passion for food and a gut for taste and flavours, Harry trusts her intuition in the kitchen, and will be one to watch in mystery box cooks.

When she’s not cooking, Harry enjoys painting, still life for when she wants to practice her technique and crazy big abstract pieces when she’s feeling inspired. She also loves going on long hikes for several days at a time.