MOVE over Matt Preston, the Dalai Lama is in town.

His Holiness is set to be the guest judge in an episode of MasterChef being filmed in Melbourne today.

The Dalai Lama will join Preston, George Calombaris and Gary Mehigan to taste dishes prepared by the seven contestants left in the competition.

The MasterChef appearance comes a day after the Dalai Lama said Australia had a small but important role to play in helping solve the world's refugee problem.

"I think sometimes the smaller nations can have a more effective role to create a better world," he said.

His Holiness also criticised China - Australia's largest trading partner - for its lack of compassion and brutal suppression of democracy.

He urged people everywhere to embrace democracy. "Democracy is the best system," he said.

Preston admits the spiritual leader's decision to appear on MasterChef is a shock but makes sense.

"The Dalai Lama is famously quoted as saying, 'I sometimes think that the act of bringing food is one of the basic roots of all relationships' and this is what we aspire to on MasterChef," Preston said.

The episode, being filmed at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, will feature a range of dishes specially designed for the Dalai Lama by the seven contestants.

Hopefully, they know that the 75-year-old doesn't like seafood or anything greasy or oily.

MasterChef executive producer Caroline Spencer said landing the Dalai Lama was a coup.

She said his MasterChef appearance was the brainchild of renowned chef Kylie Kwong.

"Kylie is a Buddhist who is also part of the MasterChef family. She has cooked for His Holiness before," she said.

"He will be eating the food that the contestants will be cooking for him.

"Due to his beliefs, he won't be judging in the strictest sense of the word (giving contestants the thumbs up or thumbs down for their dishes a la Preston, Calombaris and Mehigan) because he is unwilling to pass judgment."