tibet and news

Watch: Dalai Lama makes appearance on cooking show down under
AFP/Relaxnews
Tuesday, 26 July 2011

Seven amateur chefs on an Australian cooking show got the chance of a lifetime when their mystery dinner guest turned out to be the Dalai Lama.

In an episode of MasterChef Australia, which crowns the best amateur chef in the country, the remaining seven competitors were tasked with preparing a vegetarian meal for the spiritual leader of Tibet in a powerful segment that made both competitors and judges visibly giddy with excitement. The episode aired last week.

Throughout the three-hour cookout challenge, celebrity chef Kylie Kwong, a practicing Buddhist, coached the competitors on the Dalai Lama's favorite foods which include coriander, mushrooms, cheese and tofu.

Contestants were told to cook a dish inspired by the Dalai Lama's philosophies and came up with Japanese noodle consommé, a Middle Eastern feast with flatbread, a Sri Lankan vegetarian curry with roti, "Buddhist's delight," with mushrooms and coriander dumplings, a goat's cheese tortellini, and a steamed coconut pudding with mangosteen and a coconut crème anglaise sauce.

Though he sampled every dish, he refused to pass judgment as it goes against his beliefs.

"As a Buddhist monk, I have no right to prefer this food to that food. Anything I am offered, I must accept."

When one of the competitors breaks down in tears while presenting her dish because of a kitchen ‘disaster,' the Dalai Lama takes her hand and bows, moving Kwong and others to tears as well.

The Dalai Lama was in Australia after a whirlwind tour in the US where he gave a media interview to Ann Curry of NBC's Today Show and spoke with President Barack Obama.

To watch the video, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3opo_C-Aa8k.