Previously on MasterChef Australia...
Wow! Look at this.
...a nostalgic dining experience...
This reminds me of where I used to eat as a kid!
...set the scene for a busy Service Challenge.
Service, please.
Let's move, let's move, let's move.
We're rolling, we're rolling.
They put their spin on a well-loved cuisine.
I'm confident in my black bean sauce.
This is for the san choy bow just to drizzle on top
like a Szechuan chilli oil punch.
Whoo!
I like that they added duck fat. It's a bit boujie.
The loaded black beans is epic for me.
And fortune favoured the red team.
You're heading into tomorrow's Immunity Challenge.
Good job. Good job. Oh.
Tonight, they'll have to turn up the heat to win immunity.
I'm so excited. I'm a really nostalgic person.
And there's a chance to beat a living legend.
Exciting. Exciting. Big day!
Today's an immunity cook.
The opportunity to even cook against a chef, that's a dream of mine.
Wow! Hey!
Whoosh! Giant fire at the front of the room.
Shannon Bennett flambeing things. It looks incredible.
Nice!
Welcome to my little, uh, crepe canteen.
Oh!
I heard it was Nostalgia Week,
so there's nothing more nostalgic than flambeing.
Well, I've got some Grand Marnier in here.
You've got to bring it up to temperature.
That's the crucial thing. Yeah.
The key for flambeing is to cook alcohol out.
So you've actually got all the natural characteristics
of the beverage without the alcohol.
But you also get the amazing theatre.
- Yeah. - And that's what we're after too.
Simply just keep your pan nice and hot.
Some really good butter into the pan.
Malissa, you're looking nervous.
Yeah, I don't want to burn my eyebrows off today.
OK, but if you've not done it before, make sure you're careful.
Now, I'm gonna put my alcohol in.
OK? Ooh!
The actual recipe itself is really simple.
Butter, brown sugar, oranges, orange segment.
Once that alcohol has completely cooked out,
the flame will dissipate.
It's the alcohol that is creating the flame.
I don't know what to expect.
Whether or not we're gonna do what he's doing
or we're going to do something with fire, I don't know.
But it's exciting.
Crepe suzette with creme anglaise.
Ah, beautiful.
Shannon Bennett, everyone!
How are you, mate? Good to see you, buddy.
How good was that?! Yeah, exciting.
A little lesson in French cookery from the great man himself.
Yeah.
And if Shannon's demonstration didn't give it away already,
round 1, it's all about a very nostalgic technique - flambe.
Brent, you on the flambe back home or what?
Oh, I've done it a couple of times.
Intentionally or just a bit of a flare-up?
I've done it... No, I've done it a lot of times not intentionally.
Declan?
Always unintentional, um, 'flamboys'.
Really? Yeah.
OK, in round 1 today, we're giving you 75 minutes
to bring us a dish that features a flambeed element.
Of course, the best dish in this round
will score its maker immunity from Sunday's elimination
and a chance to beat the chef in round 2.
This guy is a very nostalgic chef.
Ooh!
Of course, there's another immunity pin up for grabs.
Could be number two for you. Yeah.
Or first chance for the rest of you. Yeah.
How are we feeling? Yeah, good!
Good, 'cause your time starts now!
Oh, those prawns look nice! MALISSA: Don't they?!
I'm a really nostalgic person.
Whenever I'm cooking, I'm always thinking of someone
or thinking of a memory.
Let's go! Let's go! Ooh. Sorry.
Come on, guys! Come on!
Good job!
Hello, Cath.
G'day, Cath. Hi there, guys. Hi!
Summer in London. Yeah.
Just watching Wimbledon, having a Pimm.
Uh, what's the dish?
So the dish is based on the Pimm's cocktail.
So, I've got a beautiful set of girlfriends
and many a time we had a Pimm's.
Beautiful. What are the components?
Well, I've got an orange frozen yoghurt mousse.
And then it's gonna sit on top of maybe some orange,
and then with some fresh cucumber and strawberry around that.
And then I'm going to do a Pimm's sauce.
I'm going to infuse then with some strawberries
and that's what I'm gonna flambe with some vodka.
Yeah. Pimm's has a low alcohol content. 25.
Yeah, if it's only the Pimm's, then it really won't go up, is it?
So you'll mix vodka with it. I like that.
Yeah. It's a really sweet idea.
Yeah! Nostalgia Week. It comes from a really lovely place.
I hope it all comes off for you. Thank you. Yep. Thanks, guys.
Come on. Thank you.
I've attempted flambeing before,
so I've had some success and some not so much.
And so I'm hoping it's gonna work today.
Gotta love a little flambe challenge, huh?
Have you ever worked on flambe in your many, many years?
I certainly have. Yeah.
I did an apprenticeship and it was French food.
Crepe suzettes were on the reg. I mean, they'd flambe anything.
It was whole... Yeah. "They'd flambe anything"!
Mate, the thing is is that people love it. It's...
There's actually method to the madness of it
because, uh, you know, the alcohol turns into this lovely sweetness.
I'm seeing some savoury things going on there.
If you were to do a savoury flambe, what would you do?
I think, for me, today in the pantry, quails.
I was about to say... I'd do a brace of quails.
With cognac. Just feed you all.
You know what I mean? Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
Roast quail with cognac sauce, like, that would be incredible.
- Yeah. - Or flambeed prawns is another one.
I think I'd go, like, sagonaki or halloumi.
Ooh! Yeah. And you can really...
'Cause I'm looking at the ingredients.
So you need some sweetness and then you need some acid too,
which would go really well on that.
And then you light the thing up. I like it. I like it.
Yeah. It's beautiful, know what I mean?
It's like a statement almost, you know.
It's theatre.
Come on! Go, Adi! You're doing great, sweetie.
Heavy lifting with my noodle arms, yeah.
Two or three years ago, MasterChef did this challenge
where they had to use a smoking gun.
Ohhh!
I've watched the show so intensely over the past couple of years,
writing down what I would have done.
And now, suddenly, I've got to put my money where my mouth is.
The second I heard of the challenge,
I was like, "Yep. It's time for s'mores."
You know when you're watching American TV shows
and they've got s'mores around the campfire.
Got your little stick of marshmallow and you get to toast it and eat it.
Like, how nostalgic are s'mores?
Adi. Hi, guys!
How are ya? I'm good. I'm really excited today.
What's going on here? Is that... That's a marshmallow.
It is not! Give me some of that. OK.
But it is marshmallowy. Yes, it is.
I'm doing s'mores. Ooh! Yum!
You all get a marshmallow each.
I'm gonna have a glass full of however you say it...
...graham cracker crumb?
Say it again? Graham cracker.
A graham cracker?
You know, a graham cracker that you have with your s'mores.
This is great. Can you talk like this all day? Love it.
And then there's gonna be an orange jam layer.
And then a chocolate cremeaux layer. Wow!
I'll then cover that with a little, like, a millimetre
of Grand Marnier 'cause it's got that orange flavour
which will carry with my oranges.
Flambe it in front of you guys.
Happy days.
But wouldn't it be nice to burn the beautiful white marshmallow?
So I'm giving it to you on a stick.
With? Um, yeah, I'm... I'm confused.
Is there something else on the marshmallow? It's just marshmallow?
No. Marshmallow. Plain marshmallow?
Like you're sitting around a campfire
and then you can... toast it yourself over the fire.
That's the joy of camping, Jock. Keep up the accent. I love it.
OK. [AMERICAN ACCENT] OK! You got it, Jock.
I'm a bit worried that they're not getting my concept here.
Is it only clear to me?
I'm doing duck with the mushroom puree
with a bit of turnips on the side.
And I'll use Scotch with the duck and hopefully make a nice sauce.
I've lit lots of fires in my time, but never at this level,
so, yeah, it's gonna be quite interesting for me.
So today, I'm gonna be making flambeed prawns
with a fresh mango salad.
I've never flambeed before,
but it looks really cool.
So this is gonna be fun!
We're gonna make crepes, a beurre noisette,
and then we're gonna flambe at the end.
My partner is French. Her mum used to make crepes all the time.
So hopefully I can do her justice today.
Never done a 'flamboy' before,
so, today, I just wanna go with what I'm familiar with
and do a MasterChef twist on it.
Declan. What are you making?
Um, so... week of nostalgia,
I'm doing meat and veg.
Carrot and classic mashed potatoes,
with a mustard brown brandy sauce on the side.
My steak will be my, um, 'flamboy' element.
You'll be your what element? Uh, my 'flamboy'.
'Flamboy'? Oh, come on.
So, it's what? Meat and three veg? Meat and two veg.
Meat and two veg. Isn't it a meat and three veg?
I can't!
Just, can we go back to the 'flamboy'?
Ohh!
You're doing a flambe. Oh, flambe!
There you go. Flambe.
Flambe. I like the idea, though.
If you're going classic... Yeah.
Then do just killer carrots,
brilliant mashed potato and the steak,
it's gonna be the piece de resistance.
Yeah. Like, you gotta bring it.
Alright. Yeah. Let's do it. Alright?
Alright. Thank you, gents. Good luck.
Let's go, Deccy! Come on, mate!
I think anyone's got a good chance at winning today
if they go with what they know and keep it simple and classic.
Coming back into MasterChef,
one of the things I wanted to tick off my list was to win an immunity.
So, today, I'm excited and I'm pumped.
My strategy is I'm gonna cook the food I know and I love.
I'm gonna do bourbon barbecue glazed chicken skewers
with charred corn.
The barbecue sauce basically is this dish.
It's the component with the flambeed bourbon in it,
so it's gonna be bang-on,
otherwise, you know, I didn't hit the brief.
The key of this barbecue sauce is it needs time to tick along
and it needs balance.
It's starting with the alcohol.
The biggest thing I'm worried about is lighting her up
and then the beard lighting up, so...
Watch your beard, mate!
I'm nervous.
Let's face it, who doesn't love a big flame going up?
Brent. G'day.
How are you, pal? Yeah, really good.
What's happening?
Um, just making a bourbon barbecue sauce.
I've seen you flambe it. Yeah, yeah. It went up pretty good.
It's got heaps to go. SHANNON: Yeah, it needs more body.
Yeah, it does.
I love the depth in a barbecue sauce.
Yeah. There's so many layers to it.
Shannon Bennett made me think,
how can I get more depth in this barbecue sauce?
What else can you use, say, instead of sugar?
Which one are you gonna use, Bren?
Pasilla or... mulato.
Chilli mulato. What are you going for most?
I want... I want, like, sugar, sweeter, fruity.
They're dried as well.
The pasilla gives really nice flavour.
I'll just put a bit of this one in.
I've got dried Mexican chillies going in.
This is a lot of different thinking going into this barbecue sauce.
Let's just hope it's what it takes to win the challenge.
Happy? It's getting there.
Now isn't the time to plate up. You have 45 minutes to go!
Come on, guys!
Come on, guys, keep pushing!
I have my frozen yoghurt mousse in the freezer.
I have my strawberry sauce there ready to go.
I have my alcohol ready to go. It's warmed up.
Pimm's? Yeah, Pimm's.
I'm ready to flambe.
Oh, my God, how do you use this?
Oh. Push.
Push. Push!
Tip the pan!
You nearly had it. Down and then push.
Yeah, there you go. Oh!
Nah.
I couldn't get the blowtorch working, so it was too late.
So the alcohol...
Yeah, it was just too late, so... I have to start again.
This time, instead of using the blowtorch,
I'm going to use a fire lighter.
Oh, my God!
How does this thing work?
Yeah, there you go.
Ohh! That's it, Robbie!
Go for, go for it! Tilt it.
Very cool!
Ha ha! Good job!
Whoo! Oh, my God!
Oh, my God! It didn't work.
Oh, my God.
Everyone else seems to be getting their flambe.
So what is it?
Why isn't it working?
Well, I'm worried the alcohol content is the reason.
So I'm gonna fix it by actually just putting vodka in now.
Straight vodka. I've got the flavour of the Pimm's.
I'm going straight vodka.
I'm going rogue. I'm not even measuring my vodka.
I just don't have time for that.
Let's go, Cath! Come on, Cath! You can do this!
Nah. It's not doing it.
OK. Alright.
Tilt it a bit.
Right. You are going... You're going to work, so let's go.
Oh! Yes! Ahhh! There we go! Good job!
Whoo-hoo!
Whoo! Oh, my God! Oh, my God.
Oh, my God. That's it. The stress!
Ah!
Good job. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Yeah. Oh, third time lucky!
That's what it is!
Oh, my God!
It is the biggest relief. I'm so excited.
Oh, man. That is unbelievable.
I'm gonna cool that syrup down
and it's gonna go perfectly with the frozen yoghurt mousse.
Your first hour and 5 minutes have gone up in flames!
There is only 10 minutes to go!
Come on!
Push! Whoo-hoo!
I really like the idea of Declan's dish today.
Kinda a man after my own heart with a little meat and veg.
It's looking like it's coming together pretty good.
10 minutes to go, this carrot is done.
I've got my potato mashed now.
I've just got to flambe the steak.
Brandy goes over the steak.
It's all up in my face.
Nearly bloody took my eyebrows off!
Yeah!
I thought he burnt his face off.
I've got my saucepan that the steak was cooked in
with all the dripping.
So I add in my splash of brandy for my flambe element number two,
my mustard brown sauce.
Um, flambeing is awesome.
I'll let that cook off.
Who knew?
Alright.
The barbecue sauce is done. I can taste the bourbon.
I know I've hit the brief.
So now I'm just all in on this chicken.
Basting and turning, making sure there's no flame,
making sure smoke is coming up through the chicken.
Nice, Brent. Looks epic, mate.
My dish is packing flavour.
It's gonna be unreal.
Adi, well done!
Come on, Deccy, let's go, mate!
That looks awesome, Dec.
Oh! Go, Cath!
All good, Theodore? I think so, mate.
Oh, they look good!
Oof!
Today, I'm doing my take on s'mores.
I'm making an edible campfire.
Oh, yeah, that's good thickness, Adi.
Yep.
It has a graham cracker crumb base,
an orange jam and a chocolate cremeaux.
It's gonna be crunchy and creamy.
That looks good.
My marshmallows, they have this beautiful marshmallowy texture.
Ay-ya-yai! Oh!
Good job, Adi!
I'm really happy with my elements today.
I feel like I've gotten a lot done.
I just gotta get some alcohol in my little jug
so that I've got something to pour when I'm up there.
I'm using Grand Marnier,
but because I'm not gonna be heating mine very much,
I'm also using Bundaberg Overproof, which is almost 60%.
I just hope that it lights when I serve it.
Two minutes, gang! Come on!
That looks great.
Let's go, guys, let's go!
Keep going, Mal! Delicious.
Come on, immunity on the line.
Not long to go now.
My crepes are fantastic,
so all I have left to do is the flambeing.
Yeah, Theo! Nice!
Good luck, man! Whoo!
Watch that mastika.
Mastika.
My partner's mum would be over the moon at what I've done today.
Yeah, I'm really happy. Yeah.
Alright, let's have it, gantry. 10...
...9, 8,
7, 6, 5,
4, 3,
2, 1!
That's it!
Good job, Declan!
Alright, round 1 of this week's Immunity Challenge,
you guys are on fire.
Well done!
The first dish we'd like to taste belongs to...
...Cath.
Whoo!
I am so proud and chuffed
taking my dish up to the judges today.
I'm thinking about my girlfriends.
Oh, I'm ready to take on a professional chef in round 2.
I've got to tick that goal off.
Nicely done.
Cath, what do you call this?
Uh, this is Pimm's with the girls.
Cath, I think you might have missed a bit of a trick there.
You didn't think to call it Cath and Pimm's?
Ah! Oh!
I love that!
Ah!
Cath and Pimm's it is!
It's a frozen yoghurt mousse and a Pimm's syrup
with some lovely fresh strawberry, cucumber and mint.
Cath, pretty as a picture.
It really was a wonderful presentation.
The sauce was really vibrant.
The mousse was set. It had a nice sour flavour to it.
So, thanks for taking us for drinks with the girls.
Thank you. Thanks.
Well, Cath, I really liked it.
I thought the flavour of the yoghurt came through,
and the contrast with the sauce was great!
The strawberries themselves were really good.
That could be a winning dish. Yeah!
Cath, same for me. I really enjoyed it. Well done.
Nice one, Cath! Thanks.
That's nice. That's nice.
Come here. Good recovery. Yeah, yeah.
Next up it's Declan!
Declan, what's the dish, please? Yeah.
I've got a beef chateaubriand,
mashed potato and carrot with a mustard brown brandy sauce.
Eyebrows mostly still intact. Yeah.
God, I could have done with a bit of an eyebrow trim,
save me going to the beautician.
Thank you.
Declan, it's pretty bloody good!
The cook on the beef was beautifully tender. Well seasoned as well.
The pomme puree was great.
I liked the carrot.
I thought it was a really interesting way of presenting it.
That beautiful sweetness works really well
in combination with the mustard sauce
because the mustard sauce is quite sharp.
Love the sauce, love the beef.
All those flavours, like, actually really good restaurant food.
Thank you.
Yes! Well done, mate. Yeah!
Thank you!
That was good feedback about your steak and everything.
That's awesome.
Next up, Robbie!
Flambeed duck with a Scotch sauce.
There's some good flavours in the sauce.
And all the veg seemed to be cooked quite nicely.
Malissa.
I've made flambeed prawns
with a mango salad.
It was zippy, it was spicy, it was tasty.
Well done. Thank you!
Thanks, Malissa.
Theo.
Crepe suzette with apple compote, fresh apple and fresh orange.
Crepes are really nice.
Good flavour off the flambe there as well.
Thank you.
Thanks, mate. Well done, Theo.
Next up, it's Adi!
Can you help me?
Is that alright?
And friends!
My heart is in my mouth.
I just hope that the judges get it and I hope that it lights.
And I hope that it's enough for the marshmallows to torch.
If this doesn't light in front of the judges,
then I haven't flambeed.
My heart is in my mouth.
If this doesn't light in front of the judges,
then I haven't flambeed.
Thanks, mate. Thank you. No worries.
If I could be judges on both dishes together, that'd be good.
Thanks.
Adi, what have you made us? I've made you my take on...
Stop, stop, stop.
Where's the accent? Oh!
Let's have it. Go on.
I've made you my take on 'smores.
It's a graham cracker crumb base,
an orange jam and a chocolate cremeaux.
And some marshmallows on sticks on the side
so that you can toast them.
Oh! OK.
Alright, I am nervous, but I think this should work.
OK. Alrighty.
OK.
What are you doing? Covering my eyebrows.
She's nervous.
Whoop!
Toast away, toast away, toast away.
Move a bit. Oh!
That'll do. Yeah, that'll do. That'll do.
That will do fine.
I really like it.
Oh!
Because out of everyone, the flambe element was, like, the most creative
and that's what today was about.
Your marshmallow was great.
The orange jam sent it to another level.
That beautiful, lovely texture.
Graham cracker was great. Really successful one for you today.
I really liked the creativity and the execution of it.
Thank you. I also liked it.
The chocolate layer was nice and airy and beautiful.
It's so good. Thank you.
I mean, you know, like, I love that you're doing something different.
Yeah. You're pushing yourself.
You're challenging yourself.
And that's what this competition's all about, so well done.
Thank you, guys! Nice work, Adi!
Next up down the front, Brent!
Ooh!
Righto, mate, what's the dish?
Bourbon barbecue glazed chicken skewers.
Obviously needed to get the sauce bang-on
'cause the bourbon was in there.
Brent... Yeah?
Whoo!
Brilliant. This is the kind of food that suits you.
That sort of really blokey dude food,
but just delicious!
Great amount of work went into that sauce
from the flambe all the way through.
You worked that sauce, you worked the flavour,
you teased everything out of it.
It's a really interesting take on a barbecue sauce.
That is how you flambe with flair.
Succulent, smoky chicken, punchy sauce.
Even the corn gave it some sweetness.
Some freshness from the salad and the pickles.
Perfect. Yeah. Thank you.
Welcome back, Brent! Yes!
Well done, Brent! Well done!
Smashed it! Well done.
Excellent.
In round 1, we wanted to see flambe.
And one of your dishes was so good,
it set the MasterChef kitchen on fire.
That dish was cooked by you...
...Brent. Yes, Brent!
Brent, you're in round 2, so come on down here.
The rest of you, up to the gantry!
Good luck.
Good luck. Thanks.
Immunity doesn't come along real easy
and to win one is absolutely amazing.
Like, God, I'd, you know, love an immunity pin.
Like, one sitting there.
Brilliant.
Brent, winning round 1 means that you're safe
from Sunday night's elimination.
And the only thing that stands between you and that pin
is the chef that's about to walk through those doors.
Be warned - he has an international reputation
and over 50 years experience as a chef.
50 years!
He's worked in not one but two restaurants in France
with three Michelin stars
before making the move to Australia in the late '70s
where he became a national treasure.
He's written 23 cookbooks
and he's cooked on our TV screens
before... most of you were born.
Oh.
Please put your hands together
for the one, the only Gabriel Gate!
Oh, of course!
How are you? Yeah, I'm good.
It's nice to be here with you. Yeah, you too.
Hi, guys. Hello!
Gabriel. C'est moi!
Welcome to the MasterChef kitchen, mate!
Thank you. It's a pleasure. It's an honour. It's a thrill.
Brent, surely you grew up watching this great man on the telly.
I didn't.
OK.He's too young. His grandmother did.
Yeah.
Who's... Who's... Yeah, Cath would have, for sure!
Yes, yes! Absolutely.
A big Gabriel fan? Pioneer of cooking shows, really...
Yeah. Thank you.
...in Australia. So I grew up watching you.
So, it's, yeah, it's really nice.
Right, well,
hiding under this cloth behind me are some ingredients.
Your job today will be to pick just one and feature it in your dish.
Brent, you'll have first pick. Yep.
And you also have a head start. Yeah.
You'll have 75 minutes to complete your dish.
Gabriel, you'll have 60 minutes to complete yours.
Sorry.
We'll taste your dishes blind.
And, Brent, if you get the high score, you win that bad boy.
Sweet. Let's do it.
Before we reveal those ingredients,
Gabriel, you have to head to the locker room and wait your turn.
So, see you, mate.
Thank you. Awesome.
I always watched him. He's very clever. He's a very clever man.
Brent, today's challenge will feature a mixed range...
...of beverages.
Cool.
Ohhh! Ooh!
You get to pick your poison,
but whatever you choose, it must feature in your finished dish.
The three of us want it to be a surprise, so it's over to Shannon.
Good luck, mate!
Alright, Brent, that's a pretty good choice, I reckon.
Yeah, it's good.
So, have you cooked with any of these beverages before?
Um, so I've done a glaze from reducing cola.
Same as, uh, orange juice. Yep.
Um... I could probably do beer batter...
Yeah. Um...
You gotta play to your strengths. Yeah, play on my strengths.
Which are powerful flavours. Yeah.
And that's what got you here. Yeah.
Right now. Today.
Yeah, I think I'm gonna, uh, do something with orange juice.
I could make a glaze or... or a sauce.
The orange juice? OK. OK. Yeah. Yep.
Here we go!
Alright, Brent. Yep.
Your time starts now.
Gabriel Gate, he's been on TV longer than I've been on Earth.
I know it's just about an impossible task
to take on someone like that.
But if there's a chance to win this, I've got to beat him on flavour.
I've got to make it just punchy.
Star anise.
I need to smack it outta the park.
Galangal, garlic.
I'm making orange glazed duck, nam jim salad, pancakes
and a duck sauce.
Whoo! Come on, Brent!
My style of cooking, very sort of heavy spices
and South-East Asian flavours.
I think orange juice will marry up really well with that.
You got enough stock there? Yep.
Get your orange juice reducing a little bit too.
Yep.
I'm cooking the duck in the pressure cooker with stock -
galangal, ginger, lemongrass, garlic, star anise, cinnamon.
Golly!
Let it all out.
Once the duck is cooked, I'll reduce the stock into a duck sauce.
I'm also gonna reduce orange juice and make a glaze
with the same things that are in my duck sauce.
That way that sauce makes sense with the glaze.
It's very daunting, cooking against Gabriel.
51 years experience.
Like, I'm not in a great position,
but you never know, weirder things have happened.
He could be feeling the stress.
This kitchen, it throws ya.
It just makes you do silly things.
So I'm just gonna pickle the cucumber.
Yeah. Um... just do like...
I can put... Yeah. Cucumber, carrot.
You're gonna use this in your salad as well.
Yep. OK. Now you're on your way.
OK. You've nearly had 15 minutes.
I'm gonna go get Gabriel. Yep.
Come on, Brent! Let's go, Brent!
The immunity pin is a massive advantage.
But how can I beat Gabriel? You know, he's such a legend.
I'm not gonna be able to do that.
Come on!
Come on, Gabriel!
OK, Gabriel.
In front of me there's a selection of beverages.
Brent chose orange juice to feature heavily in his dish.
Now, you have to choose a beverage to feature heavily in your dish.
Champagne. Yeah.
Beer. Yeah.
Cola. Yeah.
Vodka. Yeah.
Tonic. Yeah.
Ginger ale. Yeah.
Gin. Yeah.
Sarsparilla. Yeah.
White wine.
I'll go for champagne. Here you go, sir.
Can I drink some of it? Of course you can!
Your 60 minutes starts now.
Thank you.
Cooking is about nostalgia.
We all love the favourite dish that our mothers or grandmother cooked.
OK.
The memory of flavours on your youth is unique.
I really love to cook with seafood
because it's a very delicate ingredient.
The best seafood generally comes from Australia.
When you're French, you cook a lot with champagne.
Some lemon here.
So this is France and Australia mixed together.
I am going to do a casserolette de crevettes avec des moules,
une julienne de legumes et un sauce champagne.
Oui, champagne. Ahh!
So it is a seafood casserole, if you want,
with prawns and mussels,
with vegetable julienne, as well as a champagne sauce.
Hmm. Beautiful.
With cooking, you need to have a contrast of texture and flavour.
You need to seduce with that contrast.
Yes. Yeah.
Oui.
Let's go, Gabriel! You're a bloody legend, mate.
His knife skills right now...
He's cutting, like, everything super fine and nicely.
He just julienned a carrot like it was nothing.
You can hear the gantry just going off.
I've got to go and have a look what Gabriel's up to.
Oh, look at that. Look at that. Look at that!
Finished? Ohh!
"Look at that!" That's how you do it.
I haven't finished yet! I don't...
Everything he's cut is the exact same size...
Like, everything. It's just absolute technique.
No, no, no. No. So the key's not to cut the fingers.
Ah, that's good. Yeah.
I wasn't worried. Well done. I'm worried now.
Bonne chance! Good luck! Good luck to you too.
You don't need it, but good luck. Oh, I love him!
He's so nice.
I've got no experience compared to Gabriel.
You know, 51 years versus my measly...
...one, two... oh, three... three years!
But if I worry about him,
I'm just gonna put too much pressure on myself,
so I'm just gonna worry about my cook and see what happens.
Feels like time is starting to speed up.
You've only got 30 minutes to go!
Go, Brent! Come on, Brent!
Yeah, Gabriel, let's go.
I am really thrilled to compete in the MasterChef challenge.
I think competition makes you focus.
Makes you excel.
It makes you be creative.
You want to cook the best possible food, so you do your best.
I'm proper fangirling. This is crazy. I...
I have watched Gabriel...
...for years.
Whoo!
He's chillin'. He's literally chillin'.
Look how relaxed he is! This is so cool!
Now we are talking! Yes!
He looks relaxed.
Whoo!
Champagne and seafood goes very well.
Are you making a beurre blanc?
Something like that. Something like that.
A variation. Beautiful.
I made a tarragon beurre blanc last week.
Oh, good. Yeah.
It's almost like a bearnaise. Yes! It is.
Without the yolk. Yeah.
Do you know what a bearnaise is? I thought he said mayonnaise.
I want to marry the dish. The dish needs to work together.
And so I added a little bit of the cooking liquid from the vegetables
and the mussels.
Oh, yum!
That will make it a very delicious,
powerful, flavoursome champagne sauce.
Time is not on your side now! It's only 10 minutes to go!
At home, we're always cooking against the clock,
but my clock at home is a lot smaller.
Just finishing the nam jim sauce. I've got the glaze done.
The salad's cut. I'm just waiting on the pressure cooker.
Man, I've got to make these pancakes.
I'm just gonna get myself...
...into a good position to serve up something really yummy.
It smells amazing. Mmm.
This is more your style of cooking. Yeah, I know.
Those legs done? Yep.
Yeah. Yeah, they're beautifully cooked.
Oh, my God! Thank you. I needed that.
I need everything perfect to win this.
But now I've got to reduce that sauce.
Everything's gotta marry up. I want that orange juice heavy.
And hope, just hope, it is vibrant with flavour.
It smells beautiful, Brent. Thank you!
Come on, mate! Nearly there! Nearly there!
Yeah, come on, Brent! It looks amazing!
I'm balancing the sauce, cooking my pancakes,
glazing my duck.
Right now, I'm multitasking like my wife.
I flip the duck leg.
That's too high.
Shit.
The glaze is burnt.
This is my main thing. It's the duck.
If I can't fix it, I'm done.
In the mood to cook?
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on 10 play.
Five minutes to go! Come on, come on!
Five minutes to go
and I've just burnt the orange glaze on the duck.
Scrape that off, unfortunately.
Don't panic, don't panic.
Come on, man, last few minutes, let's go.
The glaze has just burnt to the outside,
but I can just peel it off
and then, you know, keep glazing.
Oh, they look good.
The food gods have been looking down on me today.
On you, Brent. Go, Brent!
Whether it's as good as the Frenchman next to me,
probably not.
But it's Goddamn tasty.
Yum.
I did my apprenticeship with the man that used to have the title
of the King of the Beurre Blanc.
This is real nostalgia for us, isn't it?
Bloody oath! Mmm.
Watching Gabriel, watching him cook. Yes! I know.
It's crazy! Very special.
So what do you do when you finish early?
You have a glass of champagne.
Yeah!
Gabriel? Yep.
Enough of the talk, mate. Come on! Are you ready?
Ready to rock?
He was done!
Are you... are you finished? I'm finished.
Jesus.
Very lovely, Garbiel!
Oh, that's beautiful.
Where's the glass?
Come on, Brent! It looks amazing!
Let's go!
OK, that's it. 10...
...9, 8,
7, 6, 5,
4, 3,
2, 1!
Well done, Brent!
Good job, Brent!
Awesome. Oh! Ooh! Well done.
Oh! Well done.
Cheers! What have you got?
Look at that. Oh, that looks nice.
Cheers, mate. Cheers. Best wishes.
Yeah, you too.
Ahhh!
I love these days.
I love blind tastings because it's just such a lot of fun.
So, today, the challenge - drinks.
They have to incorporate something from that bar cart into it.
And I have a feeling one of them might be
just a little bit more on the classically French side of things.
What do we think are Brent's chances?
I think they're good. Yep.
He's starting to find his feet in the competition.
So I think this challenge might suit him.
Here's hoping they are both equally delicious.
Shall we get the first one in? Let's do it.
How are you, mate? Good. How are you?
Great! Good. Thank you.
Orange duck, green nam jim salad, crispy pancakes and a duck sauce.
Cool! Thanks, mate.
Well, it certainly looks fantastic.
Bit of a feast we've got. Smells amazing too.
That's... Yeah. The smell.
Right? The aroma went it hits the table, I love that.
Educated guess that he chose orange juice.
Mm. Yes. I reckon you might be right.
Yeah. Yes.
I tell you what, though, it's nicely cooked.
Is it? Oh, yeah!
Ooh!
Look at that! Yum!
Very good. Good, huh?
You're mesmerised.
Oh! Look at that. Can you smell that now?
Yes. It's ridiculous.
Thank you.
We've got no food left.
Very happy boy over here.
That was delicious! That was flat-out flavour.
The smart use of the orange juice in that glaze but also in that sauce
is just wafting around.
The meat is just, like, pink and delicious.
And then the crispy pancake, it was the perfect match.
I love it when you smile like that because of food.
It's so good!
When you have that many bold flavours on a plate,
you could risk it not being cohesive.
But every single element on the plate ate well together.
They were best mates.
This is masterful cooking.
The sauce tastes like it's come out of a duck breast,
which Gabriel would know exactly how to do.
Right? That's, like, French technique.
It tastes like a saucier made it.
There's doubt for me as to maybe who cooked what.
Mmm.
Every part of this was... was really good.
Score time? Yeah.
Prawn and mussel casserole
with julienne vegetables and a champagne sauce.
Beautiful. Thank you. Thank you.
Looks very French, don't you think, with the champagne sauce?
It does. Just sayin'.
What's underneath?
Julienne vegetables. Julienne? Oh, come on.
Like...
Mais oiu.
If the champagne sauce didn't give it away.
Did you drink all that?
Oh, it's gonna be hard to say this.
Um... the prawn...
Is yours raw?
No, but, unfortunately, it's a bit undercooked.
Yours? Mine was alright. No, mine's fine. Totally fine.
OK, I want to talk, first of all, at the brief
which was to choose a drink off the trolley.
In this case, champagne, the sauce.
Beautiful sort of champagne veloute there. Really nice.
The mussel was perfectly cooked.
Same for the prawn - beautifully prepared and beautifully cooked.
Really nicely cooked proteins. Mmm.
The vegetables had a lovely texture to them.
It was a very tasty plate of food
with some wonderful display of technique as well.
The flavour, like, on point.
Everything is seasoned absolutely perfect.
I love the sauce. It was really a smart way to use the champagne.
And it's got a great waft
and works so well with the white pepper and the butter.
The mussel was perfectly cooked. Mmm.
Perfectly cooked.
However, I've got a bit of an issue with undercooked prawn.
Gentlemen, shall we score? Love to!
Today was another beautifully nostalgic day
in the MasterChef kitchen,
starting with flambe...
...and ending with Gate.
Touche!
What a guy!
Brent, I'm sure it's gonna be a cook that you'll remember
for quite some time, mate.
Yeah, definitely.
What did you cook? Um, the orange duck.
Which means, Gabriel... I cooked the other one.
Can we keep him?
Which means, Gabriel, you cooked the seafood casserole.
Yes. Amazing.
That being the case, we will start with you, my friend.
Merci.
Gabriel, you dish was so tasty,
I may, in fact, have drunk the sauce out of the jug.
I scored your dish...
...8 out of 10.
Thank you. Thank you!
I too loved the sauce.
9 out of 10.
Thank you.
Gabriel, unfortunately, my prawn was a little undercooked.
However, it was super-duper tasty!
I scored you an 8 out of 10.
Thank you.
So, Gabriel, that means you have a combined score of 25 out of 30.
Well done. Thank you. Thank you.
Brent, over to you, mate.
Perfectly cooked duck
and a sauce that had a depth of flavour
you'd expect had been in the stove for hours.
Mate, I couldn't score it anything else but 10 out of 10.
Well done, Brent.
Brent, your dish in round 1,
it was really, really good.
But round 2, that was your best dish!
I scored you at 10!
Brent, there are very few dishes that make us all smile
as much as that one did.
I gave a 10 out of 10!
Good job.
Brent, you know what that means!
You've won the pin!
Hey. How about that? Oh, my, my.
Whoo-hoo-hoo!
Oh, matey, well done.
Oh, shit.
How does that feel? 10s across the board!
Yeah. Oh... man.
Good day. Yeah!
Really good day.
Well, a perfect score is unbeatable.
Well done.
Thank you. Thank you.
Gabriel, your dish was beautiful,
but you just came up with a guy who didn't put a foot wrong.
I know! Any words of advice for Brent?
Keep cooking.
Cooking is all about creating emotions
and, uh, making people smile
and giving them a wonderful time through your food.
Yeah. Yeah.
Well, Gabriel, I think you can tell here,
you've got a lot of fans, even us.
Merci. Thank you.
And although you didn't get a win,
it's been absolutely epic to see you in the MasterChef kitchen,
so thank you so much.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Brent, of course, let's not forget
you are also immune from this Sunday's elimination.
As for the rest of you,
the next time you step into the kitchen, you will be vulnerable.
Yep. We'll see you all on Sunday.
Well done, Brent! Well done, Brent!
Come on. Come with me. This way, mate.
That's great! That's pretty good.
Brent. Ahhh!
Sunday night on MasterChef Australia...
Welcome to our cheese party.
...it's time to say 'cheese'.
This is a taste test!
I am stressing out right now.
Because one wrong answer...
Oh.
...and they'll face elimination
by re-creating
good old family favourites.
Strap yourselves in, guys.
Oh!
It's just giving me nightmares.
Captions by Red Bee Media