Network Ten’s MasterChef Australia 2016 features some of the best amateur chefs of the country facing gruelling challenges in the kitchen.

Season eight’s contestants will be constantly put to the test by famous chefs and show judges Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris and Matt Preston.

This year’s pack has raised standards, taking skill and creativity to a whole new level while presentation is fine-dining Instagram material.

The aspiring chefs put their black aprons on to go head-to-head in coming up with inspired, mouthwatering creations and replicating intricate five-star dishes to avoid elimination.

As well as the $250,000 award, Australia’s MasterChef 2016 winner also receives a monthly column in Delicious food magazine.

The class of 2016 will have to prove themselves before Heston Blumenthal, Marco Pierre White, Nigella Lawson, Luke Nguyen, Curtis Stone, Maggie Beer, Kylie Kwong and many more internationally-acclaimed chefs.

Among the talented favourites of the season are three contestants of Greek background. Let’s meet them.

CON VAILAS, 31, RESTAURANT SUPERVISOR
Growing up in a close-knit family, Con learnt most of what he knows in the kitchen from his talented mum. Along with dad, who immigrated to Australia at a young age, Con has learnt the values of family and hard work from his parents.

With three sisters, Con says cooking was always a big part of family life. Growing up in Hobart, Tasmania, their Greek heritage meant that food was always central to bringing people together.

After high school, he began working in hospitality and has spent many years honing his skills across multiple disciplines, including working in front of house, housekeeping, bartending, menu planning and, most recently, in his role as a restaurant supervisor. It was while working at a Hobart hotel in 2012 that Con met his now wife Sarah, a colleague. The pair moved to Melbourne in 2014 for him to explore opportunities in both the food world and his other life-long passion, music.

Being a talented musician whose band Lavista, in which he plays lead guitar and is the songwriter, Con has supported several popular Aussie bands over the years, including Tame Impala and British India.

Describing his cooking style as contemporary with a European influence, Con looks up to the likes of Shane Delia, Shannon Bennett, Scott Pickett, Marco Pierre White, Jamie Oliver and Ben Cooper.

After he sees where the MasterChef Australia journey takes him, he says he would love to work under chefs who inspire him and ultimately, open his own café, an inviting space that would showcase his passion for food, coffee and fresh local produce.

What draws you to cooking?
I find cooking is a great creative outlet for me. I love experimenting and trying new things. Cooking allows me to do that, and I love being able to share with others in the process.

How connected are you to your Greek heritage?
I am very connected to my Greek heritage. I’m proud of where my parents have come from and visit family in Greece regularly. I want my children to one day share in the beautiful culture I have been brought up with.

Are you a fan of Greek cuisine?
I love Greek food. I don’t necessarily cook Greek as I would prefer my mother’s cooking but I do eat it all the time. As long as there is no lamb I will pretty much eat anything Greek.

What made you give MasterChef a go?
I must admit it was my fiancée Sarah who talked me into giving MasterChef a go. I was too scared as I thought I wasn’t good enough, but her support was amazing and made me believe I deserved to be there.

What sets you apart from the other contestants?
I feel it’s my creativity that makes me different. My skills might not quite be there yet, but my willingness to take risks and try really different things makes me stand out. Oh, and definitely my plating. For me food needs to look equally as good as it tastes.

How different is cooking in front of a camera to at home or at work?
It is so weird at first as everything is under the microscope, literally. Once you get used to it though it’s not that bad. In fact, when I now cook at home I miss talking my way through what I am doing.

Where do you see yourself after the show?
I see myself persevering to live my dream and open the café I always speak of. Whether this is in Melbourne where I am currently living or back home in Hobart I’m not sure.

What is your strength and your weakness in the kitchen?
My strength is definitely my creativity, I love both sweet and savoury and have a huge willingness to learn. My weakness is baking.

Who do you think is the most ‘dangerous’ contestant?
Without a doubt it has to be Matt. Great ideas, skill, execution and the fact that he really is an amazing human make him my favourite to win.

ZOE KONIKKOS, 31, SALES MANAGER
Zoe has reached a now-or-never moment. Talked out of becoming a chef by her mum as a teenager, she is now determined to make food her future.

From a Greek Cypriot background, Zoe’s paternal grandparents immigrated to Australia in the 1950s to flee the war in Cyprus, while her maternal grandparents immigrated here in the 1960s to also seek a better life. She describes her upbringing with mum and dad as very European, not speaking English until she went to kindergarten. As her parents both worked full-time, she spent a lot of time with her grandmother, who would pick young Zoe up from school and they would often cook together.

Zoe has beautiful memories of helping her grandmother with massive Greek Easter feasts, complete with making their own cheeses and Easter cakes. Receiving her first cookbook when she was seven years old, she recalls cooking family meals by the age of 12, often having dinner on the table when her parents arrived home from work.

After school, she started various university degrees before gaining a Bachelor of Arts from La Trobe University, but was never really passionate about it.

She drifted in and out of various jobs before her mum and step-dad offered her the chance to work for them in their sporting equipment distribution business. Zoe’s entrepreneurial spirit took hold and she had soon convinced them to open a retail side of the business, which she has now run independently in Melbourne’s Fitzroy for two years.

Supported on her culinary journey by her husband of two years, Marcus, she now has big plans ahead, and would love her own breakfast and brunch deli-style café in Melbourne, serving simple, tasty food that is close to her heart.

What is it that draws you to cooking?
I love the fact that food is what brings friends and family together; it can draw out so many emotions and memories. When I cook, it makes me happy. Feeding people and seeing their face when they love what you’ve made is one of the best feelings imaginable; it warms my heart.

How connected are you to your Greek heritage?
Very connected. Growing up, it was really important to my grandparents that they kept traditions alive, despite moving to the other side of the world. I still speak to my grandparents in Greek. Growing up, I went to Greek school so I’m able to speak and read without any problems. I think Greek music is the best – it does something to you that only other Greeks will understand.

Are you a fan of Greek cuisine?
I love Greek food! Most people think that Greek food is souvlaki and dips, but it’s so much more than that. It’s about fresh ingredients and doing as little as possible to the produce to give you the most flavour. Plus, we have some of the best desserts in the world.

What made you give MasterChef a go?
I wanted to do something for myself. Growing up, it was really important to my family that we go to a good school, study hard and get a good job so we don’t have to work as hard as our parents had to. I went through uni and had a good job, but I’d always wanted to have a career in food. In my mind, MasterChef was my last opportunity to fulfil my dream before settling down and having children.

What sets you apart from the other contestants?
I think my palate is different. Being able to understand and use ingredients that I watched my yiayia use growing up, knowing what to do with them and how to use them is a massive bonus. Things like rosewater, mastic and a lot of different spices; most contestants either don’t like those flavours or have never used those ingredients before. My grandparents are from Cyprus, so our food has a lot of influence from surrounding countries which helps me to think a little differently also.

How different is cooking in front of a camera to at home or at work?
Wow! It’s completely different, but that also depends who I’m cooking for. If I’m at home cooking for my husband and I, he tends to not bother me when I’m in the kitchen. If I was at mum’s or yiayia’s house, now that’s a different story! They’re always giving me their input as to how I should do things in the kitchen, the ‘right’ way, which is yiayia’s way.

Where do you see yourself after the show?
This is a really tough question because there’s so much I want to do. But first off, I would love to start my own business that specialises in sweets. #watchthisspace

What is your strength and your weakness in the kitchen?
My strength is that I have a great knowledge of food, about flavours that do and don’t work together and cooking techniques. I would say my weakness is that sometimes when I get an idea, I stick to it. The pressure of the kitchen at times gives you tunnel vision and you can’t think about anything else once an idea pops into your head.

Who do you think is the most ‘dangerous’ contestant?
Definitely Matty, without a doubt. He is probably the best cook in the competition. His food is always delicious, consistent, well thought out and well executed. His food knowledge and skill are unbelievable, and to top it all off, he is probably the nicest guy you will ever meet!

NICOLETTE STATHOPOULOS, 19, STUDENT
Although she might be MasterChef Australia 2016’s youngest contestant, Nicolette’s talent should not be underestimated. Cooking seriously since she was aged 11, the 19-year-old and her older brother enjoyed a childhood filled with many happy memories and lots of food enjoyed with their extended Greek family. Having worked in a cake store for the past five years, Nicolette juggled her job with her high school studies, plus activities including rowing and kayaking. Graduating in 2014, she excelled in hospitality and food and technology.

In 2015 she began her tertiary studies at Monash University, undertaking a double business degree, majoring in marketing and management, which she has deferred in order to take part in the competition.

Despite her tender years, Nicolette has clocked up many kitchen hours by doing voluntary work experience in some of Melbourne’s best restaurants, including Mr Wolf, Cutler & Co, Ginger Boy and Bistro Vue. She has also spent time in Adriano Zumbo’s kitchen in Sydney and at age 16, even managed a day in the kitchen at Rene Redzepi’s world-famous Noma restaurant in Copenhagen while on a family holiday after meeting him at a Melbourne book signing.

Nicolette loves how food brings people together and sees this as being a big part of what she wants to do with her life. With her sights set on travel to Paris to study patisserie at Le Cordon Bleu, Nicolette would love to one day have a pop-up dessert bar in Melbourne.

What is it that draws you to cooking?
I’ve always loved cooking from a young age, since I can remember I was in the kitchen running around with my yiayia, helping her prepare dinner for the family.

How connected are you to your Greek heritage?
I love coming from a Greek background, it’s something that has always connected me to family and food, especially around big celebrations such as Greek Easter and Christmas time. During Easter we always enjoy a week-long celebration that is filled with food and love.

Are you a fan of Greek cuisine?
I love Greek food, especially lots of meat. I’m fascinated by how food brings people together and the atmosphere. I go down to Oakleigh every couple of weeks and enjoy a coffee or mixed grilled meats with my friends I have gained through my Greek school years.

What made you give MasterChef a go?
I’ve been watching the show since it started. And I love a challenge – when I saw the auditions come out I just had to give it a go. Unfortunately, my grandfather passed away two weeks before auditions, which made me want to pursue MasterChef even more, to show him I can push myself and do something he would be proud of.

What sets you apart from the other contestants?
I am different to all the other contestants firstly because I am the youngest, but also for my personality and sense of humour. I’m probably considered the joker of the house, always cracking jokes.

How different is cooking in front of a camera to at home or at work?
At home I’m a lot more relaxed in the kitchen. I love cooking for big family gatherings so the portion sizes are very different.

Where do you see yourself after the show?
After the show I’d love to start running pop-up dessert bars showcasing my work on the show.

What is your strength and your weakness in the kitchen?
My strength in the kitchen is desserts, and my weakness would be seafood.

Who do you think is the most ‘dangerous’ contestant?
Everyone in the MasterChef kitchen has their strengths, and we all want to win, so we are all pretty dangerous at times.