Meet Alex Crisp: MasterChef Star and Fellow Dane

Those who know me, know how much I enjoy meeting new people and finding a connection with someone, especially someone who shares my love for food. But those that know me well, also know I love to meet people who share my Danish heritage. So… let me introduce you to my friend, Alex Crisp - though Alex hardly needs an introduction, as Alex was a contestant on this year’s season of MasterChef Australia!

When Alex and I first met, her bright personality and passion for cooking immediately stood out. As we talked, we discovered that we both have Danish roots - Alex’s mother is Danish and she grew up with many of the same food traditions that, to this day, I hold dear. For all of us expats, there’s something really special about meeting someone who has a deep connection to your homeland, especially when you’re living across the other side of the world.

Raised in Fremantle, Western Australia, by her Danish mother and South African father, Alex’s journey with food is nothing short of inspiring. Her approach to cooking is a beautiful fusion of cultures and her time on MasterChef gave her a platform to showcase her creativity, authenticity and her connection to her Danish roots. I must admit, I watched this season of MasterChef feeling a great sense of pride - not only watching all the contestants create incredible looking dishes (and taking notes too!) but also knowing Alex was proudly representing our fellow Western Australians and our shared Danish heritage.

A fun-filled conversation with Perth’s own Alex Crisp

Recently, Alex and I sat down for a good old chat about her foodie journey, her love of Danish traditions and how she brings a touch of hygge into her home as well as to her cooking.

While we chatted, Alex also shared a delicious summer drink recipe, which is perfectly Nordic by the way, plus some inspiration for creating an incredible Australian summer dining table. It was so lovely to chat with Alex and hear her stories - while she reminds all of the power of food and the ways in which it brings people together, connecting us to our past, no matter where we find ourselves in the world.

Mette - Thank you so much Alex for spending the afternoon with me, I loved watching you create amazing dishes on this year’s season of MasterChef bringing your cultural background to the fore with traditional Danish dishes with your own spin on them. That experience must have been like you were living in foodie heaven! Am I right that your journey with food started at an early age? Can you please share your story and what sparked your love for cooking and creating amazing dishes?

Alex - I fell in love with food at a young age, when I decided I could no longer handle my mother’s lack of interest for cooking. Most afternoons, after completing homework or soccer training, from as early as age 8, I would spend time in the kitchen preparing a family meal for dinner. It started off with the basics - roasts, salads and stews and I was quick to master these sorts of meals. I moved out of home quite young too, 16/17, and that sparked a further interest as now I didn’t have to cater to people’s requests or Mum’s selection of ingredients. I’ve always been a creative soul, and so being in the kitchen was almost additive for me. It allowed me to experiment and express myself. My cooking would bring the family together, no matter what the day would throw at us, and so it became a very special and spiritual thing for me.

Mette - Food has a special way of doing that. Being a Perth local, growing up in Fremantle and having a Danish mum and South African dad, how did their cultures influence the way you view food and cooking?

Alex - Having immigrant parents heavily influenced my cooking. Growing up, I wanted to fit in with all the other Aussie kids at school. Those who ate vegemite sandwiches for school lunches and meat and three veg for dinner. Not appreciating the value of my dad’s oxtail stews or Boerwors brais, nor my mother’s potato and herbed sour cream or leverpostej and beetroot open sandwiches. So that’s what I started cooking at home. With every year I grew older, and having lost three of four of my grandparents (who lived overseas), I found learning about their cultures through their cuisine, was something so special. It brought to me a sense of connection, belonging and pride. From that little girl who just wanted to fit in with the other kids in the playground, to now being the biggest advocate for food that sings authenticity and cultural heritage. It has been a revelation and one that I am so glad to have turned a corner for.

Mette - Oh, I can completely relate to that! For me, there is something really nostalgic about those simple, familiar flavours coming together. The taste of tangy sour cream, poured generously over hearty potatoes and combined with fresh herbs like chives and dill - it is a dish that always reminds me of home. I often use chives, dill and parsley - those three herbs are staples in my kitchen. In fact, they inspired the herb blend in my Viking Herb Dip Mix, which works perfectly in a traditional Danish potato salad. Speaking of which, are there any other traditional dishes or ingredients you remember from your childhood that you still love to cook with or eat today?

Alex - I love Danish food. In fact, Leverpostej and beetroots on rye bread has got to be one of my most favourite meals on Earth. Pickled Herring, Flaesksteg, my Mormors knaekbroed (crackers). I really love the simplicity of Danish cooking and it is always such a treat when I get to eat it, which is usually at our annual ‘Viking Fest’.

Mette - A ‘Viking Fest’? That does sound like fun!! I’d love to hear how you approach developing recipes. What or who inspires you?

Alex - Guilty! I hate using recipes. I am very much an intuitive cook. Go with flow and adjust as you go. I am definitely inspired by the beautiful photos in cookbooks and having grown up watching every cooking show to mankind! Rick Stein, Nigella Lawson, Hughey, Jamie Oliver, Anthony Bourdain. Just to name a very few!

Mette - There’s nothing like watching an amazing chef at work and you’ve named some of the best. What are some family values or traditions around food, cooking and family that your Danish heritage has instilled in you?

Alex - There are lots of traditions, my Danish heritage has instilled in me. For instance, how could one ever celebrate Christmas without Pakkeleg (a gift giving and stealing game)? Or Risalamande (rice pudding style dessert)? My ‘Danish Viking’ family (Danish friends in Perth who have become family over the years) here in Perth get together twice every year to throw a Paeke-frokost (Eastre lunch) and Jule-’Viking’-Fest. They are my two favourite events of the year. We eat a traditional spread of Danish delights, in order! We start with the cold seafood, cooked meats and salad. Then we finish on cheese and dessert. With compulsory shots of snaps between courses. It is such a hoot and always leave SO full!

Mette - Can you please share with us your favourite moment on MasterChef and what this experience meant to you?

Alex - My favourite moment on MasterChef has to be the first challenge of Dessert Week! We lifted our Mystery Box Lids and there stood a massive slab of rainbow jelly. Each colour was a different flavour and we had to choose just one to hero. I chose Rhubarb and recreated my favourite Danish dessert - Rod Grod Med Flod! A tart with rhubarb jelly, creamy vanilla ice-cream, puffed black rice and a warm hibiscus sauce. To make it fun for our judges, because this challenge wasn’t already fun enough, I hid a single blanched almond in the dessert. This was to emulate the ‘Risalamande’ game we play at Christmas time. Where a single almond is hidden in the fluffy lashings of creamy rice pudding. Whoever found the almond in their portion was the winner. It’s always so much fun. The Danes are great at creating fun and games out of everything and anything! Anyway this challenge was so special. Not only because I could finally show off my heritage, but because I won and it meant I was free from elimination for the entire week.

Mette - Haha, yes us Danes are very good at having fun! I remember you creating that amazing looking dessert - from one Dane to another, I was so proud of what you created that night and of course winning. Tell me more about your MasterChef experience - having had the opportunity to work with and learn from some incredible chefs, can you please tell us how this experience has influenced your cooking style?

Alex - The MasterChef experience has definitely influenced how I cook these days. I spent a lot of time with my beloved contestant-friends learning their cooking cultures and ways and so I use a lot of what they have taught me in everyday cooking. I find myself cooking more and more Thai and Sri Lankan inspired meals. Inspired by the beautiful Nat and Sav.

Mette - I love that, we can learn so much from others. At Mette is Baking, we often refer to the Nordic concept of hygge and creating warmth and comfort through food and sharing food with family and friends. How do you interpret hygge in your own cooking and how would you describe the role food plays in bringing people together?

Alex - Hygge! My favourite word ever. To me ‘hygge’ is making too much delicious, simple and homely food and having all of my family and friends over to enjoy on a weekend afternoon. I cook so much, that they are hooked into staying for dinner to finish off all the leftovers. There is always good music and games involved. More often than not, and if the weather permitted, these lunches would be held in my yard on the lawn, like giant picnics. My chickens would free roam around us and my cat, Benson, would be so lucky (because he is so cute) to receive food hand outs from my guests. Food is such a magnet and draws people together form all walks of life too. It is a huge part of my life and I love how it is like a universal language.

Mette - Absolutely! I agree - food really does bring people together and what better way to share it as a giant picnic in the backyard. Many of our readers enjoy creating memorable dining experiences and this one would be lovely under the trees on a balmy Perth summer evening. How about when you set the table for a meal with family and friends - do you have any tips for creating an incredible Australian summer table?

Alex - A simple Australian summer table in my household, includes dainty glasses filled with rosemary, olive leaves and/or bougainvillea clippings from the neighbourhood trees. It also, always includes a delicious array of cheeses and bits and bobs to accompany them. I think for a lot of people, the thought of finding things in and around home/garden takes a backstep and often people think they need to source new things to decorate their tables. I am a person who loves character and thought. Mix-matched tableware always adds lot of personality and you can source such wonderful and interesting pieces from second-hand retailers. To me, there really is something so perfect about imperfection. We need to take the fluffiness and fuss out of hosting and enjoy the simplicity and beauty of the things we can already find and use in and around the home.

Mette - With summer fast approaching and Christmas not too far away, do you have a favourite summer recipe with a Nordic flavour that you’d like to share with our readers for them to try?

Alex - The beauty of Nordic cooking, is its focus on fresh seasonal produce and simplicity. Where the cooking really just draws attention to the freshness and the uniqueness of each ingredient. For me, I love the addition of fresh dill or fennel fronds in salads that i would serve as a side to a beautiful fillet of white fleshed fish or salmon. At Christmas, a whole side of salmon glazed in mustard and brown sugar is eye-capturing and marries perfectly with an ever so simple, light and bright potato salad that is full of creamy creme fraiche, lemon, parsley and dill. Ooo, and don’t forget a little elderflower spritz. Take some sparkling water, a dash of elderflower cordial, a squeeze of lemon and throw in some blackberries and muddled mint. Divine! The perfect Nordic summer drink.

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