NARRATOR: Previously on MasterChef Australia...
MELISSA: It's Nelly Robinson!
...it was a Pressure Test straight out of a storybook.
You're gonna be making my...
...Mr McGregor Garden.
CATH: Oh, look at that!
(GASPS)
...with an action-packed plot.
Oh, my God! This is chaos!
Come on. You gotta go quicker, bro.
MALISSA: There's a lot going on here!
They tried to follow it to the letter...
JOCK: All the components were really beautiful.
I think it was so very well done.
Good effort. Really good effort.
...but there was no fairytale ending for Ralph.
Thank you so much, guys.
Leaving the kitchen today, as much as it hurts,
I can walk out of here with my head high.
Give it up for Ralph, everybody!
Tonight,
they're on a Greek odyssey.
THEO: I feel, like, a bit of pressure because of my heritage,
being the resident Greek.
...to win their chance at immunity.
(ELEGANT MUSIC)
(MUSIC DISTORTS AND STOPS)
(ROCK MUSIC)
RUE: I have never been here!
I've never been to the NGV. I've never even heard of it.
So I'm looking at it. I love art.
Sometimes I don't really understand what's going on,
because sometimes it's a blank picture and it's white
and people are, like, "Wow. This is it."
I'm, like, "I did not see it," you know?
Oh, we're going to Greece today! Yep!
JOCK: Come on, guys. Come on in.
THEO: How cool's this?
Today we're at the NGV, the National Gallery of Victoria,
and they have set up this incredible Parthenon structure
but it's so colourful.
It's rainbow, it's got florals on it -
it's just stunning to behold.
That's the Parthenon. Parthenon. RUE: That's beautiful.
'Parthenone'? How do you know that?
I've been to Greece. I know what that structure is.
Surely we're cooking Greek food today.
JOCK: Morning, everyone. Get a load of this!
Yeah, this is awesome! It's beautiful.
Welcome to the NGV.
This the oldest and most visited art gallery in Australia.
And you're standing in front of the 'Temple of Boom',
an evocative re-imagining
of an ancient Greek icon.
It's a place where people can experience
art, music, performances,
and in today's Service Challenge,
your food.
Yeah! Whoo-hoo!
Time to grab an apron.
BRENT: There's a lot of talk about Greece,
so let's face it, it's probably gonna be a Greek Service Challenge.
And there's one person I want on my team today.
And it's... Declan.
CONTESTANTS: Ohh!
No, I'm joking. It's Theo.
Come on, he's the Greek! I need the Greek in my team.
(ALL CHEER)
And you would not believe it,
but Theo is also on the red team.
Ohh!
Yay!
Alright, ladies.
Righto - to the task at hand, eh?
The 'Temple of Boom' here
takes something that's thousands of years old
and turns it into modern-day art.
And today, that's the key to the challenge.
We wanna see Greek food, but we wanna see it re-imagined
with a contemporary twist.
RHIANNON: This is gonna be a tough one.
I'm so not modern! (LAUGHS)
I'm still stuck in the '80s!
To give us a best shot
at avoiding a little Greek tragedy,
we've organised another surprise for you.
Because it's MasterChef: Secrets Surprises,
you all know him, you all love him,
today he's running the pass.
Shannon Bennett.
(CONTESTANTS EXCLAIM)
SHANNON: Can't believe I'm here!
Hey, guys! How are you?
(LAUGHS) How are you, mate?
RUE: Not only do we have to impress the judges,
but we want to work really well
and we want to impress Shannon.
OK, I want to impress Shannon.
You know, so I'm going to be on my best behaviour.
MELISSA: OK, down to business.
Each team today will be cooking a main and a dessert
of contemporary Greek cuisine.
You have 2.5 hours before your mains need to leave the pass.
And your desserts, of course, will need to be served after that.
Shannon will be helping you out in the kitchen today, leading the charge
so use him to your advantage.
You will have a fully stocked Greek pantry
to make a feast fit for the gods.
But the gods won't be judging your food today - we will be.
(ALL CHUCKLE) ANDY: Sorry!
So are you ready? CONTESTANTS: Yeah.
Good luck.
Your time starts... now.
MALISSA: Yay!
Go, team!
ADI: Go, Cath! Let's go, ladies!
Let's go! Let's go, red team!
- Oh! - Hey, look at this! Look at this!
Let's go. OK.
Alright, let's do this. Alright, guys.
Greek. You!
That's me. (LAUGHS)
I was thinking, like...
So classic dish, Greek dish, is lamb.
Yeah, nice. Alright.
I feel like the challenge was made for me today
because I know Greek food.
And so I'm leading my team to do that.
So let's just write down that for main.
So, um...
Lamb shoulder? Braised lamb shoulder?
And we sort of sear it and put it in the pressure cooker?
Yeah. Yeah.
And then we serve it, it'll just be nice pulled-off chunks
of that lamb shoulder.
With dessert, what are we thinking?
So... I'm thinking potentially
to do some sort of filo pastry.
Um, I was thinking, like...
So classic dish, Greek dish, is galaktoboureko.
So the galaktoboureko is a semolina custard.
And then you could do, you know, crushed walnuts...
Or pistachios? Walnuts and pistachios, yeah.
Walnuts and pistachios.
I've got the whole Greek community on my shoulders.
I've got my dad on my shoulder, yelling at me
if I get this wrong, that's for sure.
And then I've got my team as well that are relying on me.
And so no red wine in the...
No, no. No red wine. Lemon.
OK, where are we at? Ah, here he is.
Ah, there he is! (LAUGHS)
I wanna get in there and I wanna show the judges what I'm made of.
So I'm thinking braised lamb, but then we're thinking maybe skordalia,
which is, like, potato with, um, a load of garlic and lemon.
Nice. Yeah, great.
This is what we were thinking for, uh, dessert.
Galaktoboureko.
Say that again for me? Galaktoboureko.
'Galakapureko'. Yeah.
Which is milk custard. Milk custard. OK.
I think you're on the right path there.
I think we can get some refinement going.
OK.
It's gonna be difficult today for these Greek dishes
because they're so close to my heart and traditional
that I need to figure out how to make them refined
without losing that heritage.
You guys think about that. I'll go and visit the navy team.
And I'll come back, OK? Yep, alright.
We can just brainstorm.
I really love and have clear memories of eating
a lot of seafood in Greece.
And that could look quite elegant and sexy on the plate.
I was lucky enough to go to Greece last year.
For me, thinking about Greek food automatically takes me to seafood
because all across the Greek Islands
they'll have octopus strung up,
they'll have the best and freshest seafood.
Just write it down as an option.
Do we wanna try and do... So obviously the flavours.
Simple? Let's think simple? Yes, keep it simple.
And that's usually what - lemon, tomato, oregano, garlic?
Oh, I love that!
OK. Wow! Oh, hi!
Yeah, so we're just... We're brainstorming.
I'm liking what I'm seeing here, though.
OK, let's start with the mains. Tell me what you've...
We're gonna do the seafood stew.
So you've got some scallop,
you've got some prawns, white fish, squid.
Sounds great. Yeah.
Imagine you're on the coast somewhere in Corfu.
Yeah, yeah.
And you're looking out on that view and you've got this amazing,
refined, beautiful Greek seafood stew.
And then I liked what I saw here.
Greek yoghurt. Yep.
Honey. Honey is a huge... Obviously, yep.
So for the dessert, I was thinking we could do a Greek yoghurt mousse.
The mousse, to me, like, with Greek yoghurt,
like, I think that's got a real appeal.
Got some beautiful red grapes there. We could even roast some grapes.
Roast apricots would be really nice as well.
Generally these guys are good on the sweet.
Do you wanna do that? Yes, I'm happy.
And we'll just brainstorm and see how we go?
OK, so you're splitting up into twos, yeah?
Yeah. Alright, guys. Good luck.
I'll be coming backwards and forwards, OK?
Let's just get onto the seafood. Yep.
Um, so we'll go in and get all our things.
I'm just gonna go and pick up the Coles delivery.
Yep. I'm just making sure that it's all doable.
We have so much seafood prep to do.
There's no time to waste.
Here you go! Hi! Thank you.
Thank you! Thanks. There you go!
It's a mammoth task.
We need to clean down these prawns, break up the squid,
cut down the fish, clean off the mussels.
Every single step needs something done to it.
Oh, man.
We need to move. Like, really. We've got so much to do.
(TENSE MUSIC)
How about this? 'Temple of Boom'. How good does this look?
I hope the food today is gonna look as good as this.
Obviously Greek is what we're looking at today,
but contemporary Greek.
Whether it's a souvlaki or moussaka
or even just a humble Greek salad,
how do you take the bones of that
and refine it to something that is worthy of,
you know, where we are today - that's their challenge.
Regardless, I hope both teams transport us with their food today
and give us something that is worthy of this incredible backdrop.
Me too. Me three!
What are you starting on? I'm working on a custard.
Nice. Have you tried the dessert before?
Nah. No, it's new... new to us all.
And I've never done sk...'skodoppia' before either,
but I feel like from the sounds of it
it's just a mashed potato.
I'm working on main with Brent.
We've got braised lamb shoulder
with a smash and oregano oil.
We know the hero here is gonna be the lamb.
It's got, obviously...
Parsley and oregano are our two big heroes with that.
And then the 'skordelia' is the starch, yeah?
Brent's working on getting that lamb in the pressure cooker
and I'm on the potatoes.
Are you alright if I just keep peeling these
for the skor...'skordoppia'?
'Skordalia'.
I go back to Deccy, see what he's up to
and he's... he's telling me he's gonna make a 'skordappia'
or a 'skordelia'
or a 'skenangdia'.
What am I working on?
- Skordalia. - And I'm working on the skordalia.
He's got no idea what he's talking about.
He's... he's lost it every time he tells me what he's making.
(LAUGHS) I know how to pronounce it. With a bit of help.
Um, sko... Oh.
Come on. Skordalia.
(SPEAKS GREEK)
Take me through what you're gonna do with this potato dish.
Alright, so skordalia.
Um, mashed potatoes. Yes.
And then, you know, really boost up
that flavour with garlic, lemon.
Could we make this one nice quenelle on the plate?
Yep. Beautifully refined shoulder.
And then we've gotta think of that other element on the plate
to bring it all together and say, "Wow, I'm in a restaurant."
Exactly.
We really need to make sure this dish is elevated enough
and especially being at the NGV,
you know, we wanna plate up some art.
Then we're thinking something a bit fresh to go with it.
Those beautiful little green zucchini.
Yep. In half.
With stuffed pepper, olives, anchovies.
Perfect. Great. Beautifully refined, though.
Yep.
I think, like, with meat and potato, you need that little bit of freshness
and I'm thinking with this courgette,
we can put all that saltiness in there
so when you do bite into that lamb and heavy skordalia,
you've got this beautiful burst of freshness in your mouth.
Do you think we lay one anchovy in each thing?
Nah. Nah, dice it up. Dice it up? Yeah, perfect.
How you going? THEO: Yeah, good.
So I'm working on the filo pastry for the dessert
and Malissa's working on the custards.
The dessert today is galaktoboureko.
It's a very traditional dish.
It's basically served pretty much in a sheet pan.
You have filo on the bottom, the custard in the middle,
filo on top.
And then when it comes out of the oven,
a warm syrup is poured on the top.
But I'm a little bit confused about how to present this dessert
because it needs to look refined.
We're talking classic Greek food
taken to a level now where it's going to be restaurant.
How are you gonna refine it?
Um, so I'm not 100% sure.
I need to think about this and, um...
This is gonna be probably the thing that makes or breaks this dish.
This dish could make you.
You could be getting asked, you know,
"Theo, can you come and be our guest chef here
"to replicate this dessert?"
This is your moment.
How are you gonna refine this dessert?
Um, so I'm not 100% sure.
This is your moment.
So I'd suggest that everything else here works beautifully.
Your custard. Then you've got the textures with your nuts.
Yep. Have a think about the presentation.
That make sense?
Yeah, thank you. Thanks, mate.
I feel, like, a bit of pressure because of my heritage,
being the resident Greek.
So we'll have to think about this
because we want it to look really refined.
I would be so gutted if the navy team
beat the red team today
and beat me.
And I can't allow for this to happen.
Maybe park the custard on the bottom. Yep.
The beautiful disc of filo pastry on top of that.
Yeah, nice.
I'm gonna put some lemon sugar on top
and then creme brulee it
so it kinda looks like a creme brulee as well.
And then potentially we're gonna hollow out
the centre of the custard, actually,
and put the fig-and-honey syrup inside that.
The dessert in my mind now has become
a sort of galaktoboureko creme brulee.
Let's do your version.
Greek creme brulee. I love it, yeah.
I did live in France, so that speaks to me as well.
Yeah, totally! Yeah.
For me to pull off this dessert, I need to focus on the filo.
The filo's quite an important thing to nail today.
I gotta roll this out
and I'm gonna let that rest for as long as possible,
because I want it to be pliable and be able to work with it.
Normally filo is kind of rustic.
It doesn't matter if it's uneven.
We're looking for refinement today.
And I wanna cut these filos into discs
and I need it to be perfect.
Now we're gettin' fancy.
MALISSA: OK, awesome. Great.
THEO: I feel inspired. I feel energised.
This is what food is all about.
And it's taken to a new level today too at the NGV.
RHIANNON: Oh, how nice is that! Beautiful.
So we've got scallops done. Working on prawns.
Scallops are done. Squids are happening.
Yeah, exactly. And so that's enough squid?
This is head. This is head and shell?
For main, Rhiannon and I are working on a Greek-style seafood stew.
We've got a lot of different types of seafood going into this.
We need two pieces of fish per plate
plus a prawn plus a scallop.
We've got squid, mussels.
So, yeah, quite a bit of seafood in every plate, yeah.
This dish needs to be really refined and not just a normal stew.
So this seafood needs to be cooked to order
so that it can be served in its best form.
The seafood's actually all gonna be cooked differently.
Like, currently the plan is to get the squid all crispy
and to poach off the fish and things like that.
I've also done the math
and we're gonna need at least four litres of stock
This stock is the main part of our dish.
If there's no stock, it's not a stew.
We need to motor. We need to get this bloody stock on.
We need to get this stock on asap.
Let's keep pushing.
Red team, navy team? Yes?
You've only got 90 minutes to go.
Only 90 minutes! Come on, guys, let's go!
Push! 90 minutes.
Just look where you are, Cath.
You're at the NGV, prepping for a service with the girls.
RUE: Orange blossom water...
Cath and I are working on the dessert today.
So we're going to make a Greek yoghurt mousse with, um...
I do know that Greeks use a lot of honey,
so we're actually going to do, like, a honey syrup.
And we're also going to roast some fruits
and spice up some nuts.
We are really capturing the flavours of Greece.
When I think of Greek desserts,
I think of, like, a Greek baklava
which has that honey syrup
and also some spiced walnuts.
So we're going to draw inspiration from that and use it in our dish.
Going to Greece, it's like my dream destination.
I've never been there, but I'm here now. (LAUGHS)
We do have quite a fair bit of elements
that we want to put on the plate.
So I'm in charge of the Greek yoghurt mousse
and the honey and orange blossom syrup
and Cath will work on the caramelised walnuts
and the roasted fruit.
Hey, Shannon? Yeah?
I'm just testing these.
I've just had, like, a tablespoon of apple-cider vinegar in there.
Any spices there, guys?
Yep. Cinnamon and cloves.
Oh, perfect. Perfect, great.
Now, if you do them ahead of time
and just let them cool down a bit, but you still wanna serve them warm.
Get all of those grapes done, these walnuts. Let's get it all going.
Watch out, Theo. Watch out.
I'm not the one to toot my own horn,
but I think this could be a winner.
How you going, boys? Yeah, good.
Brent and I are doing main
and we've got the beautiful lamb shoulder
that we're gonna chuck in the pressure cooker
served with our skordalia and 'corgets'.
With the garlic lemon going in the potatoes,
do you blitz it up, do you roast it?
I think we need to blanch the garlic a little bit
in some milk,
which'll take away that real harshness of the garlic.
And then you're gonna grate it. Yeah.
Brent, do you want the juicer?
Nah, nah. Just gonna throw 'em in whole.
I am on the lamb.
You know, the lamb is obviously such an iconic Greek ingredient.
So I just wanna do it justice.
I want it to scream of garlic, lemon,
oregano, thyme, rosemary, all the aromats.
I've got three pressure cookers going, so life's good.
I'm gonna put 'em in for about 50 minutes.
Lamb's on. OK, great.
So now I'm gonna work on the filling for the 'corgets'.
There's no chance we're gonna lose to the blue team.
We've got our heads down, our bums up
and we're working hard, so we've got a good chance.
I hope you are having a fantastic time in here.
You have one hour till service. Come on!
Come on, guys.
CATH: One hour to service. Come on, let's go!
Smells good in here, by the way!
Really good! Smells Greek, eh?
Smells delicious!
Oh, Jesus.
We've got a lot to do, Adi.
We've got a LOT to do, Rhi.
This was, like, a huge dish. This stock's gotta get on.
We've got an hour to go and our stock's not on.
Like, honestly, generally you need stock on for a couple of hours.
Definitely need to get that stock going, girls.
I'm thinking we've bitten off more than we can chew.
What are you doing?
Once I've done this, I'll get the fish stock on.
And then you maybe get some lemons juicing.
Yep. It's an hour to go.
Hot, hot behind you, Adi.
Let's go, let's go, let's go.
And I'm thinking, "Our stock's not on."
Like, generally you need stock on for a couple of hours.
Yeah, I'm kinda going, "Oh, my God, we've got a lot to do." Like...
How are we gonna get this flavour into this broth?
Definitely need to get that stock going, girls.
So we've got the bones in. Yeah, great.
Maybe a pressure-cooker stock.
Oh, yeah. Pressure cooker? Yeah, we can do that.
Yeah. Get it in there. OK.
We just need to get this broth in the pressure cooker
and leave it until service.
So just putting equal amounts in every three...
I'm just hoping that it's gonna get that flavour
into this stock in time.
It's just gonna be frantic.
Yeah, we are.
OK, we need to be able to get organised here
so we can help these other guys.
RUE: Mains is going to need all hands on deck
because we need to cook our seafood to order.
This was, like, a huge dish for not a long time.
OK, how's this, Shannon? Yeah, good work. Good work.
Put it onto a tray, though. I've put some salt in.
We have our caramelised walnuts
and the honey syrup.
But Cath's working on the grapes
while I finish off the white chocolate Greek yoghurt mousse.
OK, I think more yoghurt. Yep.
And more lemon. Yep.
We could nail this,
because we are really capturing the flavours of Greece.
JOCK: Shannon! MELISSA: Here he comes.
Hello! How are you?
Uh, what news from the kitchen?
What are we eating today?
Navy team, OK, they're gonna do a really refined seafood stew.
Technically hard. I think that they're taking on a big challenge.
Everything's gotta be cooked perfectly with, obviously,
limited amount of time in executing and plating.
Cooking all that seafood to order is pretty tough.
I think Adi's really driving the dish.
Well, she's prepping a kingfish at the moment
that's nearly as big as her.
So, um... (JUDGES LAUGH)
If they can execute that,
it just blows anything else out of the water.
Yeah. The red team is doing lamb. Lamb shoulder.
Gotcha. With a bit of garlic and lemon.
Skordalia - just a nice quenelle of that.
I like that! That's elevating.
So then we've got a courgette
and we're gonna make a really nice Mediterranean sort of Greek salsa
to go into the middle of that.
I'm... I'm ordering that. Yeah!
Thank you.
Good? Yep. Nice.
Hey, um, is the courgettes, zucchinis, all in?
Yeah.
And you've got your potatoes cooking.
Potatoes are cooking, timer's on. Courgettes are in.
OK.
For the main, I'm looking after the skordalia potatoes
and the stuffed courgettes.
Do you wanna, um,
get the anchovies - the other tinned ones that were over there?
And then we're putting that in this mix.
With the courgettes, I'm just gonna be jamming in
strong Greek flavours.
Push, push, push, push, push.
Olives, anchovies, red peppers, shallots,
lots of olive oil, garlic and lemon.
So they're just about ready.
So I'll get a sieve and just pass it all through the sieve.
Yep. OK.
I'm working on the stuffing for the courgettes
but I need to go back to those potatoes
because I'm just still a bit unsure about this skordalia.
Theo. Do you blitz it up?
So making it at home, just like a mashed potato,
but it's quite a fine puree
with garlic and lemon - that's pretty much it.
"Lots of garlic, lots of lemon."
I'm, like, "OK, but what does that tell me?"
Do I weigh it and go off weight-to-butter ratio?
BRENT: Do you know the weight-to-butter ratio?
No.
I've gotta work on passing these through the sieve
and then going and getting my butter
to just sort of make this skordalia come together.
So I think I need about, like, 1.5 kilos of butter.
THEO: We all good? Yep.
Checking in with Melissa for our galaktoboureko,
and she's going great.
She's got the custard done.
Yeah. Good? Yeah?
I think Malissa's really...
She's a close neighbour, you know, being Italian.
(LAUGHS) So I think she's really...
She's really showing her colours now,
getting into the Greek flavours.
That's it! So, yeah, very happy.
SHANNON: Are you happy with the pastry? Where's your filo?
There's a tester in the oven now. Oh, show me.
I've made a tester filo and I'm hoping that
it comes out as a beautiful filo disc.
Oh, no!
Oh, no, that's not what we're after.
I'm not happy with it.
It's lifted too much. It's uneven now.
It doesn't look refined at all.
OK.
You're getting under the pump a bit now.
I want them to cover the whole bowl.
I want this like a creme brulee.
Everything underneath is a surprise. Yep, OK.
I just need to, yeah, figure out how to bake this
to keep that round shape that I want for it.
We want it to look really refined.
What can I help you with?
Um, maybe organise the biggest cookie cutter we have.
I think I have a good idea to keep these uniform.
From failures, that's where you learn and you get better.
I wanna cut these filos into discs.
Another pan on top of the baking tray
so it keeps pressure on the filo
so it doesn't move too much.
Behind, behind, behind.
The clock keeps ticking. That's the enemy today.
So I throw it in the oven and I pray to... Zeus.
Red team, navy team,
there is 30 minutes to go!
Come on, push! Let's go!
Beautiful.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
Did you... Did you pass this?
Yeah, I did. Lumpy as.
Looking into the pot,
this skordalia, it does look thick and clumpy.
Yeah, too much butter. OK.
It's separated.
Like, these potatoes
are not looking good from anyone's perspective.
It's like the temple of doom.
It's not looking good.
(TENSE MUSIC)
10 minutes to go to service! Come on! 10 minutes!
DECLAN: Alright.
Did you... did you pass this?
Yeah, I did. Lumpy as.
Yep. Oh, that's butter.
Big clumps of butter, maybe, in there.
Yeah, too much butter. OK.
So next time you just put a little bit of butter
to stop lumps forming - that's all.
JOCK: What's that? ANDY: That's split mash.
Um, my sko...'skordoppia'.
Huh? 'Skordoppia'.
Skordalia. Skordalia.
That's all meant to be emulsified, isn't it?
My skordalia has split.
And I just want, like, silky-smooth mashed potato.
I want you go get five pans with a handle.
Yeah. OK?
And we're gonna have a little bit of milk and bring it back, OK?
Alright.
If I don't serve up perfection here at the NGV,
like, I'm gonna be letting the team down.
Keep pushing, Deccy.
So Shannon just wants me to do it in saucepans.
So let's do it.
Yeah, so just with the quantity that we've got going on
I think it's better to spread it out.
I'm a fixer and I'm a fighter,
so I'm gonna fix this mash.
As the whisk gets into that and these lumps around the side,
that's where you got the issue.
So get a rubber spatula. And scrape it all in.
Lamb's finished.
I release it and...
(LAUGHS) Like, stuff is going everywhere.
I'm expecting, um...
...some beautiful fall-apart lamb.
Um...
It's making a big enough mess, so it deserves to be fall-apart.
We've gotta get this meat into servings.
I can smell the oregano, garlic, lemon. It's ready to fall apart.
You know, you put a fork in it and it just goes, "Buh."
That's what you want!
We need to get that reducing. I've got a pan there ready to go.
OK.
THEO: We've gotta move now. Come on!
ADI: 26...
This whole thing, this whole dish,
oh, my gosh, we've got so much to do
and we're, like, five minutes to service.
It's almost time to service and we haven't started even cooking
the seafood for our seafood stew.
Maybe get a strainer and a pot ready for that stock.
Yep, yep.
I'm finally venting my pressure cookers
and we need to balance our stock.
Needs to yell "Greece!"
It smells delicious. Smells great, yeah.
So I don't think it's gonna need much refinement.
The stock is super flavoursome.
We've actually managed to pack a lot of flavour in there
in a short amount of time.
RUE: What do you have left?
We have to cook all the seafood, so we need all hands on deck.
Cath and Rue need to leave dessert behind
and come and help us on mains,
because we are cooking all of the seafood individually to order
and it all needs to be perfect.
What do you want me to do? Um...
I've gotta run over to the other guys in a sec.
Yeah, that's fine.
Maybe you can then pick out the mussels, yeah.
THEO: Behind. Hot, hot, hot.
It's time to take that second tester out of the oven for my filo.
And I pull it out
and I take off that baking sheet and...
Yes! This is what I want.
I'm rapt with those.
Little discs of... discs of filo pastry. Really happy.
MALISSA: Oh, beautiful, Theo! Good job.
A perfect filo disc.
They look golden-brown and crispy.
Alright, now I'm ready to go.
Oh, it's so good!
I'm gonna clear this space for service, guys.
So this'll be all ready for service
and then I'll come and help you guys.
This is split, is it?
No, mate. That's come back together.
I'm feeling a sense of relief.
I've brought it back together.
It's really yummy.
Opa! (LAUGHS)
You got that... that sauce for me, Brent?
BRENT: Yeah, yeah. Coming.
DECLAN: We really need to motor on now
and start plating for service.
SHANNON: OK, guys, it's come down to this.
10 seconds to go.
CATH: Coming through, coming through.
DECLAN: Alright, lamb's up.
Good job, guys.
THEO: Service, please!
Tell you what - you close your eyes and you're somewhere in Greece.
Like, the nice big chunk of lamb there.
Skordalia's next to it.
We've got the stuffed courgette.
Beautiful sauce.
And then the oregano oil just dotted around.
Service!
I think Brent and Declan have done really well with these dishes.
You know, it's refined Greek dishes
and I think, yeah, it all works, yeah.
As I'm watching these dishes go out,
I can see this as my future now.
DECLAN: It's like 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding'.
I love being in here,
a commercial kitchen.
You know, I've got my troops,
I'm cooking Greek food.
And I'm loving it.
It's amazing to have that vision
because when I started this competition,
it was kinda, like, "Well, who knows what's gonna happen?"
And now I can see where I'm going and it's amazing.
Service, please!
(DELICATE MUSIC)
ANDY: Here we go! Hello! Thank you!
Hello! Alright.
OK, so this is the main from the red team.
A lamb shoulder, skordalia,
stuffed courgette with oregano and parsley oil.
(TENSE MUSIC)
Smashed it.
Oh-ho! (LAUGHS)
I absolutely loved that.
The meat itself was fall-apart, delicious.
Then you have a little bit of the courgette with the capers in there
and the capsicum and the olives.
Then you have the fattiness of that skordalia that's in there.
Oh, my God.
It brought everything together
and just made me want more.
I was a little worried with this challenge
that perhaps they might have gotten carried away with
trying to modernise something
and then in that effort, kind of lose
or detract from the Greekness of it all.
But this is a delicious dish of food.
The texture of the lamb itself is really fall-apart and tender.
I loved the zucchini or the courgette
bringing some pepperiness and some bitterness there.
It's the thing that really just underpins everything
and brings the dish together.
The skordalia - hats off to Declan.
Like, that did NOT look like that about half an hour ago.
It was silky, it was smooth, it was rich.
So... yes.
I'm stoked. I'm happy.
Oh, yes. I'm ready for some more food now.
RHIANNON: Let's get this seafood happening, guys.
So one of us on seafood each.
You'll do scallops. I'll do prawns. You do fish.
SHANNON: Have you cooked the seafood yet?
Uh, no.
Service has started, the red team is sending their dishes out.
Our team is still not ready.
We still have to cook off our seafood.
I'm worried about your prawns are gonna be cooked on here.
Kingfish is here. I'm gonna have someone on the kingfish.
It's, like, crazy in the room.
Let's get this kingfish in, quickly.
Let's go.
Everyone is panicking. Take them out. Take them out now.
Holy moly, ladies.
RUE: Yeah, I know.
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SHANNON: OK, let's bring the plates up. You get the plates all ready.
Yep. Two of you plate, two of you cook.
I feel so deflated when I look at the red team
and their plates are going out and we still don't even have a dish.
Guys, we're working on four plates at a time. Yep.
We have got so much to do.
So we're all pulling together to help each other get this dish out.
Two fish, four tomato, one scallop,
one mussel, one prawn, one calamari.
Rue and I are plating as fast as we can.
ADI: Here's another four scallops.
I'm gonna work on the next set of...
Squid, squid, squid? Squid coming up. OK.
I'm looking at the squid. It's crispy.
The rest of the seafood looks like it's cooked perfectly.
And it's finally come together.
RUE: It looks bougie.
Service, please!
There's one jug per two plates, please. Thank you.
Thank you.
I can see seafood stew. Ooh!
Thank you! Thank you.
Wow! Thank you.
So from the blue team, a Greek seafood stew.
And may I just say, this looks stunning.
That looks epic. That looks so good.
So I think we, uh... have got a little sauce job.
Pour a little more? Yep. Here you go.
Ladies first. Oh, thank you so much.
Sauce job.
Beautifully cooked prawn.
Yeah, my fish is great. Stunning.
Again, I'm a happy man. I'm a happy man.
I think it came to the table and we all just got excited
'cause it looked elevated, it looked refined,
it looked like exactly what we were looking for from this challenge.
The cooking of the seafood -
like, we were always going to be honing in on that with this dish.
They're all perfectly cooked.
Scallop - beautifully caramelised on one side.
Prawn - just-set silky goodness.
Tail removed so I don't need to mess around with it. I love that.
Mussel - plump, juicy.
Kingfish and the squid tentacles - perfectly cooked.
All of us, exactly the same story.
And can I just say how difficult it is to achieve this?
Yeah.
This is definitely a lot harder to pull off
than the braised lamb dish.
Yes. Ooh, tough one!
Difficulty rating definitely counts for something here, I think.
RUE: Service, please!
MALISSA: Service, please!
Are these the last three? Yes. Thank you!
Good job, guys.
The main has gone out now and I'm ready to plate up the dessert.
Presentation is key today.
Does that look like a creme brulee?
Or do I need more sugar? Yeah, it does.
In the beginning, I'm thinking
to torch the top of the filo kinda like a creme brulee.
BRENT: Ooh. Nah, bitter.
Bitter, right? Yeah. Bitter.
That doesn't work.
I think that looks nice glossy like that.
Yeah.
So maybe we brush some of the lemon honey syrup on top.
I like the way that looks.
Piling everything up would be quite nice.
Yeah.
Makes it look like a fine-dining galaktoboureko.
And it's gonna eat so nice
with the lemon honey syrup.
Then you're gonna crack into it and just...
...the beautiful surprise of fig, pistachio, just...
That's my heart. Love it.
(HUMS TUNE) (TRADITIONAL GREEK MUSIC)
Whoo-hoo!
You're actually good at that! (LAUGHS) Yeah!
I am so happy today.
I feel like I've thrived under the pressure.
(MALISSA LAUGHS)
Service, please.
I'm lapping it up.
I'm grateful to be here.
I'm so happy to be sharing my culture with everyone.
And this is what food is all about.
Good job! You're amazing.
Far out. Well done.
(SIGHS)
Thank you! Thank you.
(WAITER MURMURS) Thank you.
OK, so from the red team, a dessert of
Greek creme brulee galaktoboureko
with fig and honey syrup.
(PASTRY CRUNCHES)
That's a crispy filo. Yeah.
Firstly, the filo pastry,
like, it is so good.
I was keen to see how he'd go doing it in bulk
and especially 'cause he had a little bit of trouble, Theo,
in his first batch.
But I mean, it was golden, it was flaky,
it was layers upon layers upon layers.
So whatever problems he had, he overcame them
and he's produced a perfect result again.
Going underneath and you get, like,
you know, the roasted pistachios,
the kinda softened figs
and then it's really all just bound together by
that kinda semolina custard.
So definitely got Greek flavours, Greek vibes.
Creme brulee to me is all about two textures.
One is the snap of burnt sugar.
Brulee. Yep. Magical.
And the second thing is the creme,
which is that just-set, impossibly creamy texture.
And he's nailed both. I loved that.
Service, please!
Last ones! Oh, my God!
So we have just finished main service
and we have to get started on our dessert.
And we're rushing to plate up.
You can do the mousse. I'll probably, like...
Oh, I'm scared too. Are ya?
Yeah. It's your dessert! Make it happen!
You'll be amazing, Rue! OK!
Believe in yourself! OK!
So we've decided to use the espuma gun
and actually make our mousse into a foam
to elevate the dish.
But I've never done it before.
Ah!
I'm not gonna lie... Go. Go, go. You've got this.
Yep, OK.
ALL: Ohh!
I'm so sorry!
This is not good.
I am making a mess.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
(LAUGHS) Oh, my gosh!
Oh, my gosh!
I get one plate.
The next plate, I'm thinking, "OK, I'm confident now. I got this."
I...I think I've got the hang of it now.
I'm sorry, guys.
It will not happen again.
Yeah, nice, Rue. Yeah, look at you!
Go, guys! Like, the other team have finished desserts.
Whilst I'm plating up the mousse,
Adi and Rhi are adding the roasted grapes,
the apricot and the caramelised walnuts.
Happy? Yep.
In the end, I drizzle a bit of
the honey and orange blossom syrup.
Yeah, beautiful.
CATH: Very strong, the orange blossom.
That's gonna be beautiful with everything else, though.
Yeah, that's true. Only a tiny little bit.
OK. Service, please!
Thank you!
Thank you very much.
Wow!
From the blue team, we have a Greek yoghurt mousse
with roasted grapes, honeyed syrup and spiced walnuts.
I like the candied walnuts.
I think that they are beautifully crunchy.
They have that lovely bitterness to them.
And those in themselves are quite nice.
The grapes give you some nice pops of sweetness.
The mousse has a nice sourness from the Greek yoghurt.
I think why I'm grappling with this dish
is that it feels like a lot of ideas
trying to form together a cohesive dish
and it really just hasn't gotten there.
I understand the intention...
...of this dish was to have a white-chocolatey, fruity...
Like, I get it. I get what they were trying to manifest here.
Lot of really good, considered things going on there.
But I think it's a flavour battle that's just one step too much for me.
Couldn't agree more.
There's a lot of big flavours,
and especially that honey and orange blossom syrup around the outside.
There's so many things going on here,
but nothing's really meshing together.
I think that that's the biggest problem with this dish.
I'm ready. You ready? ALL: Service, please!
(ALL CHEER)
Oh, well done!
My God. Well done!
Whoa! Good, right?
(MALISSA MUMBLES) That's so good!
(MOMENTOUS MUSIC)
Alright, let's see which team has earned their place
in tomorrow's Immunity Challenge.
Navy team, your seafood stew
was sophisticated and elevated.
It was exactly what we asked for.
Red team, nothing is more Greek than lamb, potatoes and zucchini.
But you took those simple flavours
and turned them into a completely refined dish.
I think it was perfectly executed.
Well done, well done.
Wow!
So both the mains were really strong.
You know what that means. It all came down to dessert.
Navy team,
while the concept of a Greek yoghurt dish
with grapes and walnuts, it sounds fantastic,
unfortunately, the dish lacked identity as a whole.
Ohh.
Red team, we understood the concept of the dish.
But more than that,
we loved the snap of that perfect filo pastry.
And that's why, red team, you are the winners today.
(CONTESTANTS CHEER) DECLAN: Opa!
Opa!
Yes!
Oh, my God, this is relief.
All the weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
Thank you.
You can go home to your parents' house this weekend.
(LAUGHS)
My dad would be... Yeah.
"You're lucky you didn't embarrass me and yourself."
So I'm really happy that I got it done today
for that fact alone.
Declan, Brent, Theo and Malissa, congratulations.
You have won an all-important spot in tomorrow's Immunity Challenge,
where one of you will be guaranteed safety
from Sunday's elimination.
And just maybe...
...a shiny little gold pin as well.
ALL: Ooh!
Of course, Shannon will be joining us again
to help you get your hands on it.
Well done today, everybody. Head on out.
See you tomorrow! ANDY: Nice one, crew.
Good stuff today.
(ALL CHATTER)
Oh, good job!
Tomorrow night on MasterChef Australia...
ADI: Come on, guys!
...with only four of them cooking for immunity...
MALISSA: I just want this so badly.
DECLAN: I really wanna push myself,
maybe do a couple of risky things today.
Surprise!
...their chances are good.
High risk, high reward.
If you nail this, you could see yourself
with a pin back on that apron,
and how good would that be?
But...
Please put your hands together
for Kay-Lene Tan!
(CONTESTANTS CHEER)
...what are the odds
of beating a professional chef?
Time to bring out the big guns. Let's go.
Captions by Red Bee Media