How MasterChef guest judge Shannon Martinez gets viciously trolled by vegans because she’s a vegan chef who eats meat… but she claims that’s the secret to her incredible success
Shannon Martinez is one of Australia’s most successful vegan chefs.
But the 38-year-old isn’t actually vegan herself, which caused quite a stir when she appeared on MasterChef as a guest judge this week.
While the news sparked some backlash on social media, Shannon insists that the discrepancy is actually the secret to her success.
‘It’s about changing the perception of what people think vegan food is’: Shannon Martinez has raised eyebrows for being a successful vegan chef, despite not being a vegan herself
‘Vegans can bag me [for not being vegan], but my life is vegan food. It’s about changing the perception of what people think vegan food is,’ she explained to Delicious back in March.
Shannon, who runs the vegan restaurant Smith & Daughters in Melbourne, says that 70 per cent of her customers are meat-eaters.
‘My food replicates non-vegan dishes. My thing is understanding how to replicate fats and mouthfeel. People say, “Why do vegans have to eat things called chicken?”
‘It’s the most boring question. It’s not hard to understand – vegans aren’t vegans because they hate roast chicken. They’re vegan because they don’t want things dying.’
‘My food replicates non-vegan dishes’: Shannon, who runs the vegan restaurant Smith & Daughters in Melbourne, says that 70 per cent of her customers are meat-eaters. Pictured in 2019 with Duncan Balwood
Earlier this year, Shannon told My Plant Life Balance that she enjoys the challenge and complexity of creating delicious vegan food.
‘It’s a real challenge and that constant experimenting with things really does it for me,’ she said.
‘I want a meat-eater to eat our food and not be able to tell the difference. Where they think, “Hey, if I could eat like this every day, I would totally be vegan.” At the end of the day, my main goal is trying to target meat-eaters to eat less meat, and lower consumption across the board generally.’
Surprising: Shannon caused quite the stir after appearing on MasterChef as a guest judge on Wednesday. Pictured with judge Melissa Leong (left)
Shannon received some backlash on Wednesday after appearing on MasterChef Australia to host a vegan challenge.
Judge Melissa Leong pointed out the fact that Shannon is a meat eater, which caused her to awkwardly respond: ‘No. I’m not [vegan]. Shock, horror.
‘But I think that lends itself to sort of why I make the food that I make, you know?
‘I’m coming at vegan food from a non-vegan perspective, I guess. Understanding mouthfeel, textures, flavours.’
‘It really unsettles me’: Some viewers were frustrated after seeing a non-vegan host a vegan food challenge on MasterChef
But many fans thought it was odd for a chef who specialises in vegan cuisine not to actually be vegan.
‘It really unsettles me that the owner of Smith & Daughters isn’t vegan,’ tweeted one disgruntled viewer.
Another added: ‘A vegan chef that isn’t vegan? What is she doing with her life?’
Explanation: ‘I’m coming at vegan food from a non-vegan perspective, I guess. Understanding mouth feel, textures, flavours,’ Shannon said