Local cooking show champ talks about her recipe for success
Melina Schein admits her success on a TV cooking show has wet her appetite to pursue more opportunities in the culinary and performing arts worlds.
The Vernon resident, who is an opera singer, out-baked three other contestants to win the inaugural episode of Wall of Bakers on Food Network Canada on Monday, a show that was taped in Toronto last June.
Melina Schein (Photo credit: Food Network Canada)“It has always been a dream of mine to have my own network show that combines my passions and my career of singing with cooking and the culinary world. I don’t know, maybe the Operatic Chef,” laughed Schein.
Schein, who trained at the renowned Julliard School while growing up in New York, also sees a lot of similarities between food and music, calling them ‘universal languages that unite people and bring us together.”
“I would love to do a show about that, and host, and have all kinds of musicians, sharing their most favourite recipes. There is so much nostalgia around food. We all have stories about it,” she told Vernon Matters.
Schein was named the show’s grand champion, winning $10,000, which she is still considering what to do with.
“There is the angel and the devil. I want to blow it all on something extravagant, maybe a blast chiller and deep fryer for my kitchen [appliances she used while on the show], but not having worked for 18 months as a singer, I feel like the responsible thing would probably be to pay off a little bit of debt. But that’s not fun at all, is it?”
The show is a spin-off of the popular Wall of Chefs that saw Schein compete against three other amateur bakers, with all being watched and critiqued by “a wall” of 12 of Canada’s most accomplished pastry chefs.
Schein survived the opening crowd pleaser round with her Turkish and banana date tart, and won the final round with a black-and-white cookie.
Schein said she gained new perspective on the show, by watching the final version.
“I had forgotten so much of what actually happened on that day because it was just so busy and so adrenaline-packed and so much running around the kitchen like a crazy person so I didnt really know what was going around me with the other contestants,” she told Vernon Matters.
“I only found out what they actually baked at the very last moment when we played it for the judges. But I had no idea of any of the technical issues they had had, so it was really interesting to watch that that part of it and also to hear the judges’ deliberation for the first time, because, of course, we had not had access to that.”
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Schein says one of the greatest joys about being on the show, and winning, has been all the support from the community.
“I tell you: we live in just the best community and being a New York girl, I never knew what I was missing all those years living and growing up in New York, from what a small town really is.”
Schein, the mother of singer Justin J. Moore, says she has received hundreds of messages of support and love, which she calls “heart-warming.”
“It was an extraordinary experience. I wish I could go back and do it all again so that I could embrace more of it and take more of it in. There is so much that you miss because it’s so chaotic, but I loved it.”
People can watch Schein’s episode of Wall of Bakers on Stack TV which is part of Amazon Prime. You can also watch it On Demand if you subscribe to the Food Network.
You can find out more about Melina Schein on her website: thesaucysoprano.com, her Facebook page, or on Instagram @bigappleproductionsvernon @thesaucysoprano.