USQ caught up with Billy Law, Bachelor
of IT graduate, with a hungry appetite for
becoming a chef. If the name sounds familiar,
you’re not going crazy! Billy was a contestant
on Season 3 of Masterchef in 2011 and has
since continued chasing new flavours with
his culinary passion. After trading in the
computers for cutting boards, Billy will be a
special guest at this year’s USQ Bookcase
event on Friday 22 and Saturday 23 July.
CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND
AND HOW YOU CAME TO BE WHERE YOU ARE
TODAY?
I am originally from Malaysia and came to Toowoomba to
study a Bachelor of Information Technology back in 1996.
Once I graduated, I landed my first job as a web designer
in Sydney, then worked as an Art Director at various
advertising agencies for over 10 years. While working in
the online industry, I also started my own food blog, A
Table For Two, back in 2008 and it has slowly built up
a strong contingent of followers and is now one of the
most influential blogs in Australia. My love for food and
cooking landed me on Masterchef Australia in 2011 and
since then, my career path has totally changed.
WHAT WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE LIKE WITH USQ?
It was a huge step for me to leave my home country
and start my own life in a foreign country a thousand
miles away. I was pretty lucky as my experience at USQ
was wonderful, I settled in pretty quickly and living
with fellow uni students from the same country made
homesickness more bearable.
HOW DID THAT EXPERIENCE HELP YOU WITH YOUR
COOKING CAREER?
Cooking at home during uni days was my way for stress
relief. I found cooking relaxing and therapeutic when my
mind was not thinking about algorithms or programming
but instead being stimulated with flavours and the
aromas from the cooking.
WHAT IS YOUR QUICKEST RECIPE THAT OUR
STUDENTS COULD WHIP UP?
Quickest, possibly the Coca Cola Chicken in my Have You
Eaten? cookbook. You heard me right, chicken, soy sauce,
some ginger and shallot, and a can of Coke! Cheap and
tasty, it was a staple at our house during my USQ days.