Jaime Tan, a 27-year-old Malaysian American content creator, has apologised for mispronouncing “roti canai” after winning the “World Cup Cookoff” challenge on Season 16 of MasterChef: Global Gauntlet with the very dish she mispronounced.
In an apology video on Instagram, she said:
“It makes me sad to disappoint so many Southeast Asians. I know how important it is to people, so I just wanted to say I’m sorry.
“It was not intentional at all, I do not mean to misrepresent a national dish on television.”
She added that it was a genuine mistake and that she now knows how to say it correctly.
What happened
Contestants in the episode were asked to cook the ultimate World Cup watch-party food. Jaime went with roti canai, Malaysian coconut curry, coconut rice, and a cucumber and pineapple salad and ended up winning the challenge.
The official MasterChef on Fox Instagram shared a clip of her win and the cooking process.
Some Malaysians weren’t too happy though, after noticing she had pronounced “canai” with a hard “k” sound instead of “ch” when presenting her dish to judge Tiffany Derry.
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Her background
Jaime shared in the video that she wasn’t raised in Malaysia but grew up as a Malaysian-American.
“We do not have many Malaysians here. My dad is from Johor, and both my grandparents even had a kopitiam before they passed away,” she said.
“I feel strong roots to Malaysia and feeling like I was carrying that or like representing Malaysia on the show was just so meaningful to me, so of course I’m upset at myself.”
She also explained why she cried several times in the episode, saying it was partly because she knew her roti wasn’t quite there.
“When I finished my roti, I knew that it was not a perfect roti. It takes hours for the gluten to develop, and people who properly make it actually rest the dough overnight so it was a huge risk for me to do in under 60 minutes.”
“I’ve beaten myself up for it again and again.”
Jaime broke down everything she pulled off within the time limit and said, “Spare me please.”
She acknowledged the dish wasn’t perfect but said she wouldn’t have passed up the chance to make it either way.
“There are so many beautiful dishes in Malaysia, it’s always my goal to show those foods.”
On the criticism, she said:
“I haven’t even read all the comments because I know the criticism will lowkey get to me because I am that hard on myself as well. Any type of criticism you guys thought of, other than the roti canai incident I have already thought of. I’ve beaten myself up for it again and again.”
She wrapped up the video saying:
Much love to Malaysia, and I’m sorry I butchered roti canai. Guys, I might not be able to say roti canai properly but I can open a durian with my bare hands and I think that’s pretty Malaysian. Jaime boleh.”
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