FOR new mum Ruth Sheppard, appearing on a television show was never on the cards, but with her husband Tom’s (29) online food videos spotted by TV scouts, she now joins him and her parents Deb (60) and Gary (62) on the Nine Network’s new reality TV series Family Food Fight.
The show, which kicks off on Monday night, shows families go head-to-head in a mix of fast-paced cooking fun as they strive to claim the coveted top spot and take home a $100,000 prize.
The Victoria Park resident who has a love for cooking said she began working in the kitchen from a young age.
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READ NOW“My love of cooking comes from my family, in particular my mum and dad,” she said.
“From a young age we were taught to help in the kitchen.
“I used to watch mum from the age of about 11; we were expected to cook a family meal every week – it was our job.
“When we were down at my nanna’s farm in the west of WA I’d make cookies and cakes with her or I’d just cook the family meal with mum and dad.”
The 28-year-old said viewers of the show could expect to see lots of different feasts in the kitchen where they would also show off their love of WA produce and seafood.
“We were told someone would be coming for a particular meal and we had to cook for them,” she said.
“There are lots of different meals and lots of different things to expect from the competition.
“We spent a lot of our time in the south of WA, we love our seafood, we love our meat, we love our fusion food.
“But our signature dish would involve cooking with blue manna crab.
“We love it; we get them fresh off the beaches of WA and it’s something we like to work with and it was a great experience to hear what the judges thought of our food.
“I was excited to see are we on the right track, is our food as good as we think it is and I think we made WA proud that’s for sure.”
The mother-of-one, who is also a nurse and midwife, said following their TV experience she and her husband would look to do something in the industry.
The show features five other Australian families from different cultural backgrounds cooking their famous family recipes and judged by celebrity chefs Matt Moran, Hayden Quinn, Anna Polyviou and food critic Tom Parker Bowles.
Family Food Fight premieres on Monday, October 30 at 7.30pm on Channel Nine.
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