Justin Narayan still can't quite believe he's Australia's reigning Masterchef champion.
The 28-year-old, who grew up in suburban Sydney but now lives in Perth, took out the crown by just a single point following an epic five-hour pressure test set by none other than legendary Sydney chef Peter Gilmore.
The youth pastor beat out fellow grand finale contestants Kishwar Chowdhury and Pete Campbell to secure the trophy.
"It feels very surreal," Mr Narayan said. "It's a huge honour and it's hitting me in waves.
"Watching ... I had very similar emotions to actually cooking.
"I could feel the stress of the moment, all the tension and all the emotion of what it felt like after the cook."
The final challenge was separated over two episodes and comprised three rounds.
The first round was a classic Masterchef staple, the Mystery Box. The ingredients were selected by professional chefs who had graced the Masterchef kitchen throughout the season.
Mr Narayan cooked a passionfruit-glazed duck with pickled kohlrabi and pine mushrooms.
The following round saw the contestants' family members - in Mr Narayan's case his mum and and his fiancee Esther - select mystery ingredients and cooking methods for their loved ones to employ.
Using ruby grapefruit and the fusion technique, Mr Narayan created a play on his mum's fish curry, with poached snapper in an Australian native broth.
The end of Monday's episode saw Mr Narayan sitting in third place, on 50 points, behind Ms Chowdhury's 51 and Mr Campbell's 53.
But everything changed on Tuesday night, when Mr Gilmore's pressure test was revealed.
The contestants had to recreate a squid noodle dish as well as the Quay and Bennelong chef's take on a chocolate crackle - a six-layer mousse-coated dessert with chocolate-covered rice crisps and a gold-leaf shell.
Mr Narayan remained consistent throughout the cook, barely stumbling, and eventually received the highest praise from the judges. He beat best mate Mr Campbell by just one point to take out the title.
"It was a win-win for both of us," Mr Narayan said.
"If one of us won we would have been so pumped, even if Kish won. She killed it, too.
"I was shocked. It was such a surprise because Peter absolutely smashed it.
"For me, the most difficult part was just getting to that squid. I hit a wall there and I knew how much I had to do after that and how important that one step was."
In a heartwarming moment of the finale, as Mr Narayan was taking a brief break to regain his composure, his dad - watching from the famous gantry - called out to him and offered a word of support.
Mr Narayan said it meant so much to have his family by his side for the finale.
"It was real special to have them there," he said.
"It was such an intense experience and to get there at the end of it, to have them sharing it with me, was just one of those things I'll remember forever."
Mr Narayan's growth in the competition was unlike any of the other contestants.
Starting off hesitantly, it was about halfway through the series' run before he started to make dishes which blew the judges away.
"I think when you get thrust into that arena you can feel like a deer in the headlights," he said.
"I had no idea what I was doing or what food I would produce.
"It was a lot of stuff to take in and it took me a while to find my feet before I felt like I could start producing my kind of food."
Mr Narayan said food culture was a massive part of his childhood experience, enjoying feasts at family gatherings, weddings, funerals and other important occasions.
Now that he's won the title, and a cool $250,000 along with it, Mr Narayan has his eyes on the next stage of his food dream.
"I'm going to start working on making some content," he said.
"That's a fun way to share my story of food and connect with people, and hopefully inspire them to cook.
"I hope to get some experience in the kitchen and open my own place one day.
"I'm still figuring it out, but I love the idea of something with an Indian basis of flavour or style of dish, and just going from there. I also love modern fine dining."
Mr Narayan encouraged anyone who was considering applying for Masterchef to give it a go as he had "so much fun".