He'd been asked to name his all-time favourite dish, and it's pretty obvious that as far as he's concerned, it's daylight second.

"It's a simple dish, only a few ingredients, but you really need to know your food to get it right. I ate it last night as a matter of fact."

Liaw will be the celebrity chef at this weekend's Taste Festival in Maitland.

"Andy Allen's from up that way," he says. "I'm looking forward to it."

To be fair, Liaw doesn't like to be referred to as a chef.

"I'm a home cook, I just cook for my family," he says - for Japanese wife Asami and children, Christopher 6, Anna 4 and Benji, six months. "The good thing about doing what I do, is I don't have to pigeon hole myself as one thing or the other."

Which is probably as good a time as any to look at Liaw's achievements.

After coming to prominence in 2010 when he won the second series of MasterChef - Allen won it two years later - he has gone on to write six cooking books, and made six series of his television show Destination Flavour which is still ongoing.

He is active on social media, is a very witty Twitter user with more than 90,000 followers, and is happy to speak his mind. Donald Trump, for example, is fair game.

"I know that conventional wisdom when you're in the public eye is to not speak out because you're sure to offend some of your fans, but I'm not in this to be a celebrity," he explains.

"You can't just ignore the world. I have my say, some people agree, others don't and that's okay, I'm not precious about it."

He believes there are three things that define modern Australian food.

"Firstly, we're guided by the produce. When people are asked what they're having for dinner, they'll say beef, or lamb, or fish. It's the produce, not how it's cooked.

"Our food is very multicultural. We have influences from everywhere in our food.

"And thirdly, it's cooked simply. We're not into fancy foods. We love tasty food, but simply cooked."

Food has always been a key part of his life.

"I was one of eight kids and we'd take turns cooking," he said. "It was a time for the family, sitting around the table. I feel the same way with my family now."

So, how important are events like Maitland Taste?

"Very. You can lose your food culture quickly, in one generation if you don't respect it. Kids need to know their food doesn't come wrapped in plastic, that there are whole communities behind the food they eat, all with their own story to tell."