03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Advertiser
Chip off the old butcher block: master chef couldn't be prouder of his son
Austen has a fairly recognisable last name if you are a fan of reality television cooking shows, but the young Perry is making a new name for himself.
He is the son of Josh "Pezza" Perry, who was the runner-up in the 2024 series of MasterChef and has a number of accolades under his belt for the family's butchery, Perry's Quality Meats.
Last month, Austen scored his own award, taking away the gold medal in the WorldSkills Nationals held in Brisbane.
The young butcher left school in Year 10 to follow in his dad's footsteps, completing his apprenticeship at the family's butchery.
"Finished that in three and a half years, and been here ever since," he said.
"I've always wanted to do what Dad's done."
The three-day competition saw the young butcher break down and bone out pork and lamb, cut steaks at different thicknesses and weights, trim, slice, show off his display and knife sharpening skills.
"Had a crack and got it done," Austen said.
"I was a bit nervous to be honest."
As the judges began to call out the names and places of his fellow butchers, Austen's hopes he had made a podium finish began to build.
"Everyone was watching from back home," he said.
"After I'd won, they were all watching it on the live stream, so my phone was going off in my pocket and phone calls and text messages and everything."
Pezza said his son gained a ton of experience while he was away for six months on MasterChef.
"He virtually ran the shop, between him and his mother [Jen]," Pezza said.
"He's got a real good understanding of how we run the shop, but he's got a really good understanding of butchery.
"The rewards are in what he's just done, as you can see, he's really capable.
"It's not just one thing ... it's sharpening, it's hygiene, tying sausages, breaking beef, breaking pork, plus being able to display them really nicely to catch the people's eye, and that's what we try and do here."
The proud dad said the Perry family was "super excited".
"We were watching it on live stream, his mum was in Woolworths and I was sitting in the car park and we both got the phones to go and watch it," he said.
"He told us that he thought one other guy was probably going to win ... there was one last spot and I thought, 'shit, he might not even get the top three'."
But he got the top spot.
"I think I nearly shed a tear," Pezza said.
Austen's win is another accolade to pop on the Perry butchery award shelf.
It follows the family's gold, silver and bronze awards won in an international competition for their twiggy sticks, bacon and ham, respectively.
"It's a team win and we're really excited about that," Pezza said.
Austen sure takes after his dad, but said he is not thinking about a future Masterchef appearance.
"I don't really like the camera that much," he joked.
Austen has a fairly recognisable last name if you are a fan of reality television cooking shows, but the young Perry is making a new name for himself.
He is the son of Josh "Pezza" Perry, who was the runner-up in the 2024 series of MasterChef and has a number of accolades under his belt for the family's butchery, Perry's Quality Meats.
Last month, Austen scored his own award, taking away the gold medal in the WorldSkills Nationals held in Brisbane.
The young butcher left school in Year 10 to follow in his dad's footsteps, completing his apprenticeship at the family's butchery.
"Finished that in three and a half years, and been here ever since," he said.
"I've always wanted to do what Dad's done."
The three-day competition saw the young butcher break down and bone out pork and lamb, cut steaks at different thicknesses and weights, trim, slice, show off his display and knife sharpening skills.
"Had a crack and got it done," Austen said.
"I was a bit nervous to be honest."
As the judges began to call out the names and places of his fellow butchers, Austen's hopes he had made a podium finish began to build.
"Everyone was watching from back home," he said.
"After I'd won, they were all watching it on the live stream, so my phone was going off in my pocket and phone calls and text messages and everything."
Pezza said his son gained a ton of experience while he was away for six months on MasterChef.
"He virtually ran the shop, between him and his mother [Jen]," Pezza said.
"He's got a real good understanding of how we run the shop, but he's got a really good understanding of butchery.
"The rewards are in what he's just done, as you can see, he's really capable.
"It's not just one thing ... it's sharpening, it's hygiene, tying sausages, breaking beef, breaking pork, plus being able to display them really nicely to catch the people's eye, and that's what we try and do here."
The proud dad said the Perry family was "super excited".
"We were watching it on live stream, his mum was in Woolworths and I was sitting in the car park and we both got the phones to go and watch it," he said.
"He told us that he thought one other guy was probably going to win ... there was one last spot and I thought, 'shit, he might not even get the top three'."
But he got the top spot.
"I think I nearly shed a tear," Pezza said.
Austen's win is another accolade to pop on the Perry butchery award shelf.
It follows the family's gold, silver and bronze awards won in an international competition for their twiggy sticks, bacon and ham, respectively.
"It's a team win and we're really excited about that," Pezza said.
Austen sure takes after his dad, but said he is not thinking about a future Masterchef appearance.
"I don't really like the camera that much," he joked.
Austen has a fairly recognisable last name if you are a fan of reality television cooking shows, but the young Perry is making a new name for himself.
He is the son of Josh "Pezza" Perry, who was the runner-up in the 2024 series of MasterChef and has a number of accolades under his belt for the family's butchery, Perry's Quality Meats.
Last month, Austen scored his own award, taking away the gold medal in the WorldSkills Nationals held in Brisbane.
The young butcher left school in Year 10 to follow in his dad's footsteps, completing his apprenticeship at the family's butchery.
"Finished that in three and a half years, and been here ever since," he said.
"I've always wanted to do what Dad's done."
The three-day competition saw the young butcher break down and bone out pork and lamb, cut steaks at different thicknesses and weights, trim, slice, show off his display and knife sharpening skills.
"Had a crack and got it done," Austen said.
"I was a bit nervous to be honest."
As the judges began to call out the names and places of his fellow butchers, Austen's hopes he had made a podium finish began to build.
"Everyone was watching from back home," he said.
"After I'd won, they were all watching it on the live stream, so my phone was going off in my pocket and phone calls and text messages and everything."
Pezza said his son gained a ton of experience while he was away for six months on MasterChef.
"He virtually ran the shop, between him and his mother [Jen]," Pezza said.
"He's got a real good understanding of how we run the shop, but he's got a really good understanding of butchery.
"The rewards are in what he's just done, as you can see, he's really capable.
"It's not just one thing ... it's sharpening, it's hygiene, tying sausages, breaking beef, breaking pork, plus being able to display them really nicely to catch the people's eye, and that's what we try and do here."
The proud dad said the Perry family was "super excited".
"We were watching it on live stream, his mum was in Woolworths and I was sitting in the car park and we both got the phones to go and watch it," he said.
"He told us that he thought one other guy was probably going to win ... there was one last spot and I thought, 'shit, he might not even get the top three'."
But he got the top spot.
"I think I nearly shed a tear," Pezza said.
Austen's win is another accolade to pop on the Perry butchery award shelf.
It follows the family's gold, silver and bronze awards won in an international competition for their twiggy sticks, bacon and ham, respectively.
"It's a team win and we're really excited about that," Pezza said.
Austen sure takes after his dad, but said he is not thinking about a future Masterchef appearance.
"I don't really like the camera that much," he joked.
Austen has a fairly recognisable last name if you are a fan of reality television cooking shows, but the young Perry is making a new name for himself.
He is the son of Josh "Pezza" Perry, who was the runner-up in the 2024 series of MasterChef and has a number of accolades under his belt for the family's butchery, Perry's Quality Meats.
Last month, Austen scored his own award, taking away the gold medal in the WorldSkills Nationals held in Brisbane.
The young butcher left school in Year 10 to follow in his dad's footsteps, completing his apprenticeship at the family's butchery.
"Finished that in three and a half years, and been here ever since," he said.
"I've always wanted to do what Dad's done."
The three-day competition saw the young butcher break down and bone out pork and lamb, cut steaks at different thicknesses and weights, trim, slice, show off his display and knife sharpening skills.
"Had a crack and got it done," Austen said.
"I was a bit nervous to be honest."
As the judges began to call out the names and places of his fellow butchers, Austen's hopes he had made a podium finish began to build.
"Everyone was watching from back home," he said.
"After I'd won, they were all watching it on the live stream, so my phone was going off in my pocket and phone calls and text messages and everything."
Pezza said his son gained a ton of experience while he was away for six months on MasterChef.
"He virtually ran the shop, between him and his mother [Jen]," Pezza said.
"He's got a real good understanding of how we run the shop, but he's got a really good understanding of butchery.
"The rewards are in what he's just done, as you can see, he's really capable.
"It's not just one thing ... it's sharpening, it's hygiene, tying sausages, breaking beef, breaking pork, plus being able to display them really nicely to catch the people's eye, and that's what we try and do here."
The proud dad said the Perry family was "super excited".
"We were watching it on live stream, his mum was in Woolworths and I was sitting in the car park and we both got the phones to go and watch it," he said.
"He told us that he thought one other guy was probably going to win ... there was one last spot and I thought, 'shit, he might not even get the top three'."
But he got the top spot.
"I think I nearly shed a tear," Pezza said.
Austen's win is another accolade to pop on the Perry butchery award shelf.
It follows the family's gold, silver and bronze awards won in an international competition for their twiggy sticks, bacon and ham, respectively.
"It's a team win and we're really excited about that," Pezza said.
Austen sure takes after his dad, but said he is not thinking about a future Masterchef appearance.
"I don't really like the camera that much," he joked.
