Rotorua mum in MasterChef | Rotorua News | Local News in Rotorua

Rotorua's Charlene McGechan has made it into the top 25 of the latest series of MasterChef New Zealand with her signature dish - a fusion of cuisine from New Zealand and her home country of Fiji.

The 34-year-old, who has lived in New Zealand for nine years, said she likes to "chill out" by going into the kitchen after work to cook for her husband Rob and two children Hannah, 5, and Andrew, 3.

It was her passion for cooking which led Mrs McGechan to audition for the third series of MasterChef New Zealand and on last night's first episode she made it into the top 25.

"I was thrilled," she said of her achievement.

Mrs McGechan admitted she came from "very humble beginnings" when it came to cooking. She said when she first met Rob he looked in her fridge and found Grain Waves, sour cream and Fanta.

"That was my gourmet cooking."

She said it was difficult to cook new dishes in Fiji as food was so expensive but with food so fresh and affordable here, her love of cooking grew.

The show was filmed from August to October last year and Mrs McGechan, who works for the Ministry of Social Development, auditioned in Wellington.

For the audition, she lightly pan-fried snapper then poached it in coconut milk which she made by squeezing "the living daylights" out of a coconut. The snapper was rested on a bed of kumara mash with drizzlings of balsamic vinegar and oven roasted cherry tomatoes.

Mrs McGechan said she was very nervous watching the poker-faced judges McVinnie, Simon Gault and Josh Emett taste her dish.

"You first think 'oh, they hate it'," she said.

Mrs McGechan was to watch the first episode with her family and friends on a big screen at Seismic Gastrobar last night.

As for how far she makes it through this year's series? That's a closely guarded secret.