Baked with Love
Story by Matt Wing
Dr. Nurman Noor 鈥08 may be a general practitioner by trade, but a passion for baking earned him a spot in the TV series The Great Australian Bake Off, where he won scores of fans with his likable personality, raw vulnerability and mouth-watering creations.
When Dr. Nurman Noor 鈥08 returns home from a long day of seeing patients at his general practice in Tasmania, Australia, he tosses his keys on a side table. He may slide into a comfortable chair, but only for a moment. He eventually finds his way to the kitchen, where he鈥檒l extend the index finger on his right hand to press the button on his oven to begin the preheating process.
This kitchen is his happy place.
After offering diagnoses and advice to patients as he has been trained to do through so many courses and clinicals, the rigidity of medicine often leaves Noor craving a creative space at the end of the day.
He finds it in the kitchen of his seaside home in southeastern Tasmania.
鈥淏aking is a way for me to get to use that creative part of my brain, because I don鈥檛 get to use it a lot in medicine,鈥 he says. 鈥淢y brain is really full of ideas, and it鈥檚 fun to try and think of the wackiest flavor combination, or a shape that is unusual, or something that鈥檚 just completely different.鈥
Noor was introduced to baking by his mother, who ran a catering business and restaurant while raising three children in Indonesia. The middle child, he quickly proved himself his mother鈥檚 best helper. It was then and there in the family kitchen that he first learned the techniques and discovered a love of baking.
Noor later spent formative years in Hong Kong, as a student at an international high school, and the United States, as a student at 麻豆直播, before finally landing in Australia.
He speaks nine languages 鈥 with varying fluency, he is quick to point out 鈥 and he has seen much of the world; he spent three months in Ecuador as an 麻豆直播 student.
Those experiences greatly influenced his baking style. 鈥淏eing in different cultures opened my eyes to different styles of cooking,鈥 Noor said. 鈥淒ifferent ideas, different flavors, just being able to push boundaries.鈥
Away from the person who introduced him to the culinary world, Noor briefly paused his passion for baking during educational pursuits. Seeking an American college experience and wanting distance between himself and his older sister studying on the East Coast and extended family on the West Coast, Noor looked for a college 鈥渟omewhere in the middle.鈥 He found it in Illinois Wesleyan, where he majored in biology and philosophy. Noor explored his interests with an eye on a career in medicine, but the experiences that stood out mostly happened outside of classrooms.
He sang in the choir. He studied abroad. He won a dodgeball tournament.
鈥淭he education was really important,鈥 Noor said. 鈥淏ut there were things that went beyond it that I got out of it.鈥
Noor eventually found his way to medical school, at Australia鈥檚 Wollongong University, and it was there that his passion for baking was reignited. 鈥淚 found it to be a nice way for me to relax,鈥 he said. 鈥淎nd it was a nice way for me to connect to my mum.鈥
Noor finished med school in 2012 and began a residency in Sydney. He completed his specialization in general practice and explored other special interests in pediatrics, dermatology, mental health and LGBTQIA+ health. He joined Cygnet Family Practice in Tasmania as a general practitioner in 2017. The job affords him a certain level of flexibility and the ability to pursue other interests of hiking, sketching and tending to his lush half-acre property.
And baking, of course.
Noor was a fan of The Great British Bake Off long before its mainstream popularity. The BBC-produced show inspired him to dive deeper into his baking interest, not that he needed it.
When The Great Australian Bake Off premiered in 2013, he was watching.
By 2018, as the show was ramping up for its fifth season, Noor decided he was ready for the toothpick test. He applied and was shortlisted. He went through several rounds of interviews and test bakes. Ultimately, he was among the final cuts and did not appear in that season.
The anticlimactic result of finishing 鈥13th out of 12 contestants,鈥 as he describes it, was disappointing. But Noor鈥檚 baking journey persisted anyway, and he spent much of his pandemic downtime the past two years like so many others, learning new skills and techniques in the kitchen.
When The Great Australian Bake Off announced it would return for a sixth season, to air in 2022, Noor was conflicted.
鈥淚 almost didn鈥檛 apply this time because I remember leaving that experience the first time feeling a bit deflated, losing that passion, and I was afraid of the same thing happening this time,鈥 he said. 鈥淏ut somewhere in the back of my mind, there was this thought that kept telling me that if I didn鈥檛 apply, I might regret it.鈥
The casting, however, was unlike Noor鈥檚 previous experience, as the ongoing pandemic necessitated all rounds of the audition be virtual. He shared his Instagram account, which mostly serves as a baking diary. He recorded and shared videos of himself baking. He conducted a live bake over Zoom before a panel of judges and producers.
鈥淚 had to cut the cake for all of them and show them what it looked like,鈥 Noor said, smiling. 鈥淭hat was an interesting one because I bake to feed people, and the fact that I baked this huge thing and I couldn鈥檛 really feed anyone was somewhat difficult.鈥
In conversation with the panel, Noor was bold. He told them he was 鈥渁 bit of a rule-breaker鈥 and 鈥渘ot one to be put in a box.鈥
鈥淚 just told them if they picked me, I鈥檓 someone who鈥檚 a bit different 鈥 actually, someone who鈥檚 a lot different 鈥 and that comes across as me in a person, that comes across in my baking,鈥 he recalled saying. 鈥淚鈥檓 very adventurous, I鈥檓 very creative, and that鈥檚 what they would get from me.鈥
His courageousness paid off. A few weeks later, he got the call and learned he would be among the dozen contestants competing in the show鈥檚 sixth season. Noor flew to Sydney in September 2021 to begin filming. The schedule was grueling; each episode was filmed over two days, with a first call at 5 a.m. every morning, and episodes were filmed back to back. That allowed advancing contestants a three-day break between each pair of episodes, but even those days were filled with recipe writing and testing bakes.
The conceptualization of dishes was fun for Noor, but submitting plans days in advance proved tricky for the instinctual baker.
鈥淚鈥檓 not a recipe baker. I bake a lot of things by feel,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 experimented a lot in terms of baking and even in recipes that I wrote. I adjusted a lot of those during the shows.鈥
Noor established himself as one of the season鈥檚 top bakers right away. He was named Star Baker 鈥 the judges鈥 choice for top performer in each week鈥檚 show 鈥 in the second of 10 episodes. He consistently earned high marks in the various challenges throughout the season, and was named Star Baker once again in the ninth episode, which earned him a spot in the season finale.
With his signature fedora and handlebar mustache, Noor endeared himself to fans and competitors alike. His genuine, jovial personality was on full display 鈥 one show producer called him 鈥渢he kindest, most joyous person鈥 鈥 but he also had moments of vulnerability and very openly shared personal struggles.
In the season鈥檚 penultimate episode, the four remaining contestants were challenged to produce a pi帽ata made of biscuits 鈥 what Americans would call cookies. Noor chose to create a likeness of himself, replete with said fedora and mustache. But, on the back of the pi帽ata, he included, in words, challenges he鈥檚 faced in his life: doubt, worry, self-worth and body image.
鈥淚 see the action of hitting a pi帽ata as a cathartic moment, and I want to beat down those personal battles,鈥 he told the show鈥檚 judges, Matt Moran and Maggie Beer.
Moran described Noor鈥檚 creation as 鈥渕oving.鈥 Beer called it 鈥渂rave and wonderful.鈥 They invited Noor to smash the pi帽ata and later selected him as Star Baker for the week.
Perhaps the defining moment of Noor鈥檚 Bake Off performance was just one of many instances during the season in which he wore his emotions on his sleeve.
鈥淚f I want to cry, I鈥檒l cry. If I want to laugh, I鈥檒l laugh,鈥 Noor said matter-of-factly. 鈥淭here鈥檚 this idea of gender expression and masculinity where you have to be tough, where you can鈥檛 cry, where you can鈥檛 really show emotion, and that鈥檚 not me as a person.
鈥淚 want to be able to do whatever I want to do and be able to express myself however I choose to express myself.鈥
Noor eventually finished as a runner-up to season winner Ella Rossanis 鈥 in unaired footage, Noor actually assisted Rossanis in the final challenge having already completed his bake 鈥 but winning was never the main aim, he explained.
鈥淢ost of us went into it wanting to be challenged and wanting to meet people,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hat was the beauty of Bake Off.鈥
Noor proudly claims he has 鈥渇ound his baking family鈥 through his participation in the show. He communicates with his fellow contestants on a daily basis and has traveled to visit some of them in recent months. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been really lovely to meet this group of friends,鈥 he said.
His family has also been captivated by his performance on the show. 鈥淢y mum told me that she loved it,鈥 Noor reports with a smile.
Feedback from viewers and fans has been similarly positive.
鈥淚鈥檝e gotten so many messages through Instagram and Facebook,鈥 Noor said. 鈥淧eople have said I brought happiness to them because they thought I came across as genuine. A few of them sent me messages that they鈥檝e gone through similar battles.
鈥淎nd it鈥檚 all great because I didn鈥檛 intend in this competition to be anyone but me.鈥
Noor is happy with how he represented himself on Bake Off. He鈥檚 proud of the way his personality shined through in his interactions with fellow contestants, judges and hosts. He鈥檚 proud of the way he served up dishes that were reflections of himself.
The best baking, after all, requires more than just a list of ingredients and technical savvy.
鈥淔or someone who enjoys baking, they鈥檙e doing it for the love 鈥 whether it鈥檚 the love of feeding people, love of the science of baking, love of the process, whatever love it is,鈥 he said. 鈥淏ut it has to be done with the act of love, whatever that direction of love is.鈥