29, Economic Researcher, NSW

Born and raised in Sydney, Alice Han grew up with an east meets west mix of language, culture and food, following her parents’ emigration from Shanghai, China. While code-switching between her two worlds wasn’t always easy, Alice feels enriched by her dual heritage and has a deep connection to her culture.

A gifted academic, Alice earnt a bachelor’s degree in history and economics at Harvard University and followed this with a Master of Arts in East Asian Studies from Stanford University. Alice is now employed as the Director of China Research for a macroeconomic and geopolitical risk advisory firm, and her academic work has been published in the Wall Street Journal and alike. She also speaks four languages fluently – English, Mandarin, French and German.

Whilst at Harvard, Alice recreated her mother’s exceptional Shanghainese cooking to feel closer to home and continues to be inspired by her mother in the kitchen. Alice sees food as connection: with people, the past, tradition, culture and community.

With a meticulous eye, a love for exploring the traditional and adding a modern, fusion flair, expect Alice to showcase her skill across not only Chinese cuisine, but French and Italian too, with skills spanning both sweet and savoury.

For Alice, food represents a challenge to balance the cerebral with the creative, being inspired by her varied food idols, including Fuschia Dunlop and Nigella Lawson, to the more niche including Peruvian chef and scientist siblings Virgillo and Malena Martinez, and pioneering French bakers, Pierre and Lionel Poilâne.

Away from the kitchen, Alice works out every day, enjoying kickboxing, yoga, running and pilates, and loves playing piano, singing and travelling.

Alice feels ready to pursue her long-held dreams to enter the culinary field as a cook, writer and entrepreneur. She dreams of curating a food history cookbook and documentaries - part food and part anthropology - as well as starting her own café “salon” where people can meet to exchange ideas and enjoy pastries and coffee.

Bringing an unparalleled work ethic to the MasterChef kitchen, Alice is a competitor not to be underrated.