Previously on MasterChef Australia...
You may lift your lids now.
Oooh!
What the heck is this?
The everything box was as tricky as ever.
It's a MasterChef classic that has brought past contestants
to their knees.
Their feelings were mixed.
Pretty great ingredients.
They sort of lean on each other pretty well.
This is my kind of mystery box.
It's all produce that I love,.
This has to be the hardest mystery box.
But the dishes were amazing.
The empanada pastry is epic.
Restaurant-worthy, top-7-worthy, finale-worthy.
It's a perfect plate of food, so, well done, man.
Thanks, guys. Thank you very much. Honestly, well done.
Oh, yes!
Tonight, the bottom three are bringing the girl power...
I am going to fight so hard. I'm not ready to go home!
...as they take on a Pressure Test from a true trailblazer.
I just feel like laughing.
Would be good.
It's a big day today.
It's my first-ever Pressure Test
and someone is going home.
So, it's going to be an epic battle today.
Good luck today. Thank you.
Good luck. First one, hey?
Yeah. First one for you and I.
Yeah. Baptism by fire.
Yeah.
Thanks, girls. That's OK.
Whoo!
Morning, ladies!
Come down.
Well, just in case it wasn't obvious,
to make it this far in this competition, it's extraordinary.
Even with everything that we've thrown at you, you're still here,
still standing, and top 6 is just one cook away.
You ladies have clearly got what it takes.
But for one of you, unfortunately, it's the end of the line.
Rue, there's a smile but I never know what that means.
Where's your head at? I had such a great sleep.
I, um, coming into today,
I sat on the edge of my bed, you know,
and I thought about all the great things that have happened.
I was like, "Look, if I go home, I'll be still sad,
"but I have so much to be grateful for.
"But I'm going to come in here and I'm going to give it my all."
Cath, first Pressure Test, and, Rue, first Pressure Test.
Yeah. That's right. I just realised.
So, bring it on.
Whoo! Malissa. Ohhh.
You know where I'm going, don't you? Yeah, I know.
Straight to that pin. Yeah, I know.
We'll see what's going on under there,
but, you know, I've got it.
If I need to use it, I'm not afraid to use it, you know.
I've worked really hard to get this.
Buckle up, ladies, 'cause today's Pressure Test,
it is set by an internationally renowned superstar.
Ooh!
Wow!
Oh!
Trained by the best to be the absolute best,
she opened her first restaurant in the UK in 2017...
Oh! Ohhh!
...and it was a smash hit. I know who that is. Oh, my gosh.
To pay homage to her success,
in 2021, she opened a second restaurant right here in Australia.
It's Clare Smyth.
She is one of the best chefs in the whole world,
holding three Michelin stars and three Chef's Hats.
Please welcome
from Core and Oncore,
the legendary Clare Smyth!
Oh! Oh, my gosh!
It's actually Clare Smyth!
I'm such a big fan of hers.
How are you? Mwah. Mwah.
Hello, Clare. How are you? Good.
Clare, welcome back to the MasterChef kitchen.
Oh, thank you.
It's always an honour to have you here in the kitchen.
How have you been? Good. Good to be back.
Very excited for today. Yeah?
How's Oncore going? Obviously... How long has it been now?
Just over a year. Yeah. Amazing.
Three Chef's Hats. Congratulations. Thank you.
Obviously, three Michelin stars also still maintained.
Yeah. Congratulations.
Yeah. I mean, it just takes such hard work, dedication, focus.
Every day, every meal, every dish has got to be perfect.
And it's not... You can never stand still.
You've got to keep evolving.
You know, even me today, you know, I'm still learning every day,
still pushing.
The world of food technology
just... it expands all the time and you've got to stay with it,
you've got to stay at the top of your game.
Rue, Clare Smyth in the house.
- Hey? - Oh, my gosh! I'm such a big fan.
I definitely know that whatever is in there is going to be hard.
Ohh. But I still love you.
Oh, thank you, thank you.
Hopefully you'll still love me at the end.
I hope so.
Clare, would you like to show them what's under there?
Sure. Go on.
And today, you're cooking my...
...beef and oyster.
Oh! Wow!
Oh, my gosh.
This dish is absolutely divine.
I actually...
I catch my breath just looking at it, just the way it's presented.
It's so beautiful. It's just the creativity is amazing.
Ohhh. I'm so emotional. That is so beautiful.
Clare, talk us through the different components we're looking at here.
Yep. So you have beef and oyster in two parts.
So this is the Victorian-era beef and oyster pie, a take on it.
And then this is the modern-day
with Wagyu beef and poached Sydney rock oysters.
And in this pie is beef tongue, beef shin, poached oysters,
and this crisp on the top is made with, um... with oysters.
So it's similar to a prawn cracker. Ahh!
Wow. But made with oysters.
And on here you've got a beautiful seared Wagyu beef,
poached oysters, a raw beef,
you've got an oyster emulsion.
And then this, I grew up in Ireland
and we always have Guinness and oysters,
so this is a take on Guinness and oysters.
So there's a beef sauce on the bottom
with an oyster sauce on the top.
You'll stir it together and serve it with the beef.
So we would just mix the two together
till we get a nice cream.
Oh, wow!
And then we're gonna serve that sauce.
That's it.
Oh.
Alright, you ready to taste the dish?
Yes.
Mm-hm. Mm-hm. Let's do it.
OK.
Wow.
And this tastes like oysters too.
I'm eating this food and I'm thinking, like, luxury.
Damn. Pass me my Louis Vuitton bag.
Wow. That's beautiful.
That is so perfectly cooked.
I can't believe I'm gonna try and make this!
The beef and oyster sauce, it's so beautiful and so flavoursome.
I know that's gonna be really hard to achieve
and it's gonna take a lot of time to get to that point.
To get the sauce itself to that really nice coating consistency,
that's really something that you're gonna have to control
to know when it's just perfect.
If you start to now think about every single thing on here,
there's a considerable amount of work to do.
I have absolutely never made anything like this before.
These are many pressure points of this dish.
Rue, Cath, Mal...
...to re-create Clare's beef and oyster...
...we're giving you five hours.
Ohh!
Wow.
You will have a further 15 minutes plating up before we taste.
Whoo!
Wow.
Do not be fooled, because it sounds like a lot of time...
No.
...but you know better than anyone
just how fast it goes in this kitchen.
Yep.
The recipe, the equipment and all of the ingredients are at your benches,
and, of course, the dish that least represents Clare's
in both look and taste will send its maker home.
Malissa, you have that beautiful, shiny immunity pin
which means that at any point during the cook from the time it starts...
Yep.
...right until the very last second, you can play that pin, become safe,
head on up to the gantry.
Yep. Guaranteed top 6.
Clare, would you like to do the honours?
Yes, please.
I'm wishing you the very, very best of luck.
And your time starts now!
My first Pressure Test,
so it's, um... a little bit excited, a little bit nervous.
I'm just trying to... just trying to relax and breathe.
OK.
I've come here feeling really good.
I can most definitely get through this,
so my strategy is to really just read the recipe, go step by step.
Yeah, I'm ready for it.
Argh! Another Pressure Test. I feel OK.
I have done so many eliminations now.
It's just... It just plays on your mind.
Oh, my gosh.
134 steps today.
It's a lot.
It's like climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.
OK, big chuck bones.
The first thing I have to make is the beef and oyster sauce.
When I tasted Clare's dish,
the depth of flavour in that sauce, it's so rich!
Like, oh, my gosh.
I have to get everything packed full of flavour.
I have to get my beef bones in the oven just to caramelise.
And whilst they caramelise,
I get started on gently melting the Wagyu fat
before I cook at the other ingredients in that fat.
This is such an integral part of the dish
because I have to nail the flavours from the start
so that the flavours are as close to Clare's as possible.
I've got my beef fat cooking
on a really, really low temperature
for the beef and oyster sauce.
I add in my garlic, my shallots, my button mushrooms, my carrot.
I have cooked my Guinness down to a syrup
and now I'm going to add in my cooked beef bones
and I'm going to bring that up to a boil and then allow that to simmer.
This is a really big recipe.
Um, there's no time to really rest.
And it's five hours. It's gonna be a really long cook.
But just gotta keep moving, keep pushing.
I can feel that I'm really moving quickly today.
I'm trying my best to hustle really hard at the start
because what I've learnt from doing other Pressure Tests is
you can't just move quickly in the last 30 minutes or the last hour.
You need to move as fast as you can from the moment that clock starts.
"Dice some Wagyu beef..."
Wagyu beef. Wagyu beef trim.
500 grams. Come on, Cath.
500 grams.
This recipe is just so extensive and so intricate.
I've already wasted so much time reading the recipe,
so I'm already behind.
I'm working on Clare's beef and oyster sauce.
The bones are in the oven
and I'm cooking the beef fat.
But it's not looking great.
Just... was there smoking?
It just seems to... It's the beef fat.
You've got beef fat in? Yeah, it's the fat.
Is it up too high? I don't know. I have it on low, then it was off.
I've turned the burner up
and now there's smoke billowing out of the stock pot.
Just looks burnt. It looks burnt.
It does, doesn't it?
I don't know what it's meant to look like, Cath.
I don't know either.
This the worst start that I can imagine.
Just looks burnt. It looks burnt.
It does, doesn't it? I can't see it.
Yeah.
I don't know what it's meant to look like, Cath.
I don't know either.
Do I keep going?
Do I keep...
Do I start off like this?
Or do I have to start again?
I'm looking up at the girls and I can see they've got a lot more on
than what I have.
I have to try not to let the panic me.
I'm just not sure. I just reckon it looks too burnt.
You're alright, Cath. Trust your instincts.
Yeah. Yeah.
Don't let the wheels fall off the bus.
I have to do it again. Have you got enough?
Yeah. I just don't think...
I'm gonna have to melt it again. It's gonna take a while.
I'm a bit worried about Cath.
She's actually still on her beef stock.
These guys have moved on.
Oh, my God! Where is it? Have I got any more?
So, yeah, I'm really worried about Cath.
I'm feeling a little bit frantic.
I'm feeling like it's gonna be a long, hard road.
"So place a large frypan over high heat until hot."
I'm tracking good so far, I think.
Kinda getting through things quickly, which is good.
My beef sauce is now simmering away.
Now I need to start working on my beef ragu.
Clare's beef ragu was really soft.
The texture was really beautiful.
There was so much flavour going on there.
I need to season my beef shins
and then I need to caramelise them in a hot pan.
That looks good.
Once I've caramelised them
and I'm really happy with the colour on the outside,
I'll pop them into the pressure cooker.
I'm adding in beef braising liquid, carrots, celery and onion.
I'm gonna leave that for an hour.
Meanwhile, I'm gonna move on to making my oyster sauce.
Want some good news? You're already a fifth of the way through.
One hour down. Four hours to go. Oh, you're joking!
Come on, guys! Come on!
Go, Rue. Push.
Malissa is the queen of Pressure Tests
and is moving quicker than me.
I have my Wagyu beef sauce simmering away.
And I'm working on my beef ragu.
And once that's in the pressure cooker,
I have to move on to the next thing.
There is so much to do still.
And I have to keep my pace up.
Otherwise, I will fall behind.
I get started on my oyster sauce for the beef and oyster sauce.
Get it, Rue! Get it! Go!
I want to see angry! Come on.
Oh! Yeah!
OK.
Ohhh!
Oh, Cath, come on, come on, come on.
Because I burnt my beef fat, I'm so behind.
Oh, my God, that is taking so long.
There's no time to stop.
I just have to motor and just go, go, go.
My beef sauce is simmering.
Now I'm doing the beef ragu.
And I'm just trying to make up some time.
"..to a bowl of iced water."
Cath. Hey, Cath.
Hi!
How are we? I'm behind!
Just gotta get it... One step at a time.
That's all you can do. Yeah, that's right.
The thing is you're actually aware that you're behind.
Yeah. Yeah. So I need to not let that worry me, so...
No. You just need to move... I just have to motor.
You need to move faster and more efficiently.
Yep.
The efficiency has gotta be your thing today.
Yeah, that's right. As I see it.
Yep.
Ha ha! Tricked ya! Tricked ya! Where are we going?
This is great fun.
Maybe this is why you're behind.
I think... No, no. No.
No. No! No! No! No!
Did you have a redo of something? Yeah, I did.
I was a bit worried about the fat at the start. It was melting.
I felt it was too hot. I reckon it was a bit burnt.
Ah. Yeah, OK.
You've got a really good palate. One hour...
I've said that a few times. Yeah, thank you.
Trusting your palate is a big thing here.
Yeah, guys. Thank you. Yeah. Work fast, work efficiently.
And always taste. Yeah, I will.
Good luck! Alright. Thanks, guys!
Go, Cath! Come on! Come on, Cath, come on!
Come on! Talk yourself up there. Come on!
Wow! Wow!
We're right in the thick of it now, ladies.
Two hours down, three hours to go!
Yeah! Let's go, ladies!
Let's go, Cath! Come on, Cath!
Let's go, Rue!
Nice! You're going awesome, Malissa.
Whoo!
It's time to release the pressure cooker for my ragu.
I strain my sauce
and I have to reduce that by half.
I have my potatoes going.
I have my oysters poaching.
I have my stock simmering.
And I'm only on page three.
And it's been two hours.
OK. "Poach oysters.
"Place a fine sieve over a medium stainless steel bowl."
My Wagyu beef sauce is simmering away.
The first stage of my oyster sauce is on the go.
And the sauce for my beef ragu has reduced by half.
It's tasting really yummy.
I'm really happy with the flavour of that.
I'm in a really good place right now.
OK.
Malissa! Hello, Malissa.
Hello! How's it going?
You good? I'm going good.
Are you having a good cook? Yeah, I'm having a good cook.
I feel good. Yeah. I gotta believe in myself.
You have... Exactly. Absolutely.
That is it for me. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
And I think you're a much stronger cook than you think you might be.
OK, yeah. I... Yeah, I don't know.
You can't win if you're not in the top 6.
Exactly.
He wants me to use my pin! I know!
I just don't want to walk out the door with that thing on your chest...
I won't. No. ...and go, "Wow."
I will not. Yeah. "What could have been?"
I definitely won't. That's all. I've seen it happen.
Imagine playing the pin when you didn't have to.
But you are already in the top 6.
But what if you need the pin... I'm not listening!
What if you need the pin to get in the finals?
Yeah, that's true. Right?
But she may not get the chance.
Can you guys go away?
You're going well, Mal! DECLAN: Yeah, come on, Mal!
Whoo-hoo! Thank you!
Hey, Rue. Hello. Hi.
How are ya? I'm good.
Hey, I've never seen you work this clean, which is great.
She's... Yeah, she's done well, actually.
This is not like Rue. I know.
But I, um, have watched a few Pressure Tests.
Yes?
And I took a few things from those books.
Yep. Most importantly, stay clean. So that's what I'm trying to do.
What about all the elements? Are you happy?
That's my, um, reduced sauce for my ragu.
Have you tasted it? I'll do that.
Ooh, it's really salty!
Ooh! Salty?
That's maximum seasoning, that. Yeah.
Yeah.
That's my, um, reduced sauce.
Have you tasted it? I'll do that.
Ooh! It's really salty!
Ooh! Salty?
That's maximum seasoning, that. Yeah.
Yeah.
So that needs work. OK.
Yeah. Yeah.
The thing is...
...what you're thinking is exactly right.
OK. Yeah. OK.
Now take what you're thinking and correct it.
OK. Yeah. Yep. OK. OK?
In saying that, you've also got a ton of other things to do.
Other things to do. Yep. Absolutely.
So, you need to move. OK. Yep.
Come on. Let's go, Rue. Yep, yep. OK.
Come on. Yep. Yep.
Go, Rue-Rue! Go, Rue!
The beef ragu, it's a big part in Clare's dish
and my ragu sauce is so salty
because it has to been reducing for too long.
But I cannot start again
because I've been cooking for hours now
and I don't have time to be starting over.
So, I am thinking... how do we fix this salty sauce?
We don't have an open pantry today.
What you have is what you can use.
Well, let's check the oyster...
And I have to think really fast on what I can use
to try and balance that sauce.
"Beef shin..."
Ohhh!
But then I remember there's the vinegar
that's in the box in the ingredients.
Yum!
Oh, my gosh.
Wow!
This is like a magic eraser.
The salt? Gone.
How's your sauce, Rue-Rue?
Good? Good. Yes!
I have just tasted the sauce.
It tastes so much better. I'm happy.
I am back in the game.
But I'm falling behind now.
So, I need to move quicker if I'm going to finish this recipe today.
Stay the course, ladies. Two hours to go!
Yeah, come on!
Come on, ladies! You're going really well!
Come on! Yes!
Let's go, Cath. Come on, sweetie. Let's go, darling.
So, the fish stock for the oyster sauce, that's simmering.
I get my ragu out of the pressure cooker.
Oh, it's done! Oh, sheezus!
And gotta reduce the sauce.
This is really important, OK?
I'm just going so quickly.
I can hear Rhiannon up on the gantry.
Come on, Cath!
I can feel her today, so I know that she's up there,
you know, looking out for me and shouting out and barracking for me.
Slice them nice and thin, OK?
Mmm! It does smell yummy!
My ragu is done.
I finished both my beef and oyster sauces.
Now I move on to my oyster emulsion.
When I tasted it, it was so velvety smooth.
It was really beautiful.
So, I need to balance the flavours just right
and I really need to trust my intuition here.
Tastes like oyster! Tastes good!
I'm really happy with my oyster emulsion.
So I'm going to pop that into its jug and pop it in the fridge.
And now I need to move on to my oyster crisp.
I'm feeling really good. I feel like I found a really nice groove.
You know, it's been a really long cook
and if I can keep this up, I don't think I'm gonna have to use my pin.
Oh, nice, Malissa! Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah, looks good. (THEO LAUGHS)
Oh, yeah!
Because I am behind Malissa,
I am trying to multitask
so that I can get a few things done at the same time.
So, I am trying to finish my oyster sauce
and also make my oyster emulsion.
I am frying my shallots for my oyster sauce.
I can smell something that's burning.
Ohh!
But my shallots are burnt.
I am starting to make mistakes.
I was trying to do 50 things at the same time
and I obviously do not have 50 eyes.
I'm really worried about Rue because she's now rushing the oyster sauce
and that's one of the most important parts of the dish.
Ohh!
I am obviously feeling the pressure.
I understand why it's called a Pressure Test.
'Cause I am feeling it.
Malissa, Rue, Cath, the finish line is almost in sight.
But to get there, you're gonna have to hustle. One hour to go!
Come on!
Let's go, Cath! Let's go!
Not long now! You've already done four!
Reduce. More lemon and salt.
I'm looking up and I can see that Malissa is well ahead.
Beautiful! Ohhh!
There's a few more elements Malissa's working on.
Oh, this is taking far too long, isn't it?
I'm gonna have to try and catch up some time.
My ragu and my oyster sauce are done.
So I'm on to my oyster emulsion.
I have never made an oyster emulsion before! Excuse me!
Very fancy.
It's really important that it's seasoned properly
and it has to be the right consistency.
So, it's not just a matter of actually reading the recipe now.
It's a matter of... I have to balance this.
I have to trust my intuition now.
I'm really happy with that. I feel like I've balanced that.
So, um, that's autopilot, intuition. Done. In the fridge.
So I'm just going so quickly.
Oh.
So it's time to move on to the sliced raw Wagyu beef.
On Clare's dish, this was finely cut
and then wrapped around one of the oysters.
It looked really beautiful on the plate,
but it tasted really yummy as well.
So I really want to make sure that I get that
as close to Clare's as possible.
I now need to move on to cooking my Wagyu steak
which was a main component of Clare's dish.
If I don't get a perfect cook on the Wagyu,
that's a big part of this dish.
So if it's not perfect, I will definitely be in trouble.
I'm really looking for a beautiful caramelisation on the outside
without taking it too far on the inside.
I'm actually really happy with how it's looking.
I'm doing really well for time.
I should be able to get everything ready by the end of this cook.
And then I'll have 15 minutes to plate up this dish
before the tasting.
Come on, Rue! Come on, Mal! Come on, guys!
So I have finished the beef and oyster sauces.
My oyster emulsion is done.
But I am rushing because I'm running out of time.
And now I'm cooking my Wagyu steak.
I love Wagyu beef.
I would not buy it, though, because I'm a little bit cheap.
This is a beautiful piece of meat. Beautiful produce.
So, I hope I'm doing it justice.
If you don't start cooking your steak now, it will not cook in time!
15 minutes to go! Come on!
Come on! Get those steaks on! I don't know what to do.
Get those steaks on! Come on.
Time is slipping away.
I've sliced the raw beef,
but I've still got to cook my Wagyu
and as well make the oyster crisp.
I don't have time to make both of them.
So... I have to prioritise what I can do.
I'm just doing the Wagyu and, yeah...
I'm not gonna get all the elements up on the plate.
And so I'm, um...
...really disappointed.
I'm just doing the Wagyu and, yeah...
...I'm not gonna get all the elements up on the plate.
Yeah, so I'm, um...
...really disappointed.
I've got some special things in my pocket from my family.
"So proud of you."
"I can, therefore I am."
And my husband, I've got from him, "Love you, Bobby."
Sometimes he calls me... You know, we have silly names.
And he calls me Bobby.
Come on, come on, keep going!
Come on, Cath! You've got this.
You've only got 30 minutes. You can do this.
My girls have grown up
and it's time for me now to follow my dream, my food dreams.
And as tough as it is, I just want to show my girls that...
...I'm not gonna give up.
I've got all my sauces done.
But I don't have time to do this oyster crisp.
I'm just now gonna concentrate on cooking that steak perfect.
If that's all I can do...
If I do that,
um... you know, hopefully that's gonna be enough.
How's your steak, Rue? Is it nice and seared?
It's looking good.
My Wagyu beef is on the hibachi.
And now I'm working out what I have left to do.
Almost there, but I still have a few things to do.
But I'm almost there.
In the last few minutes, I need to cook my oyster crisp.
I just have to make sure that I get everything done.
Then I'll have 15 minutes to plate this dish before the judges taste it.
Now's your time to keep a cool head. Five minutes to go!
Oh, my God. Five minutes! Come on!
Nice, Mal! Nice!
Put it all on the plate! Come on!
Get everything done! Looking good!
Oh!
I have gone through this cook feeling really good.
I've trusted myself.
I've kind of believed in what I'm doing.
But also you never want to be that person that walks out
with an immunity pin
and you get eliminated without using it.
I obviously want to make the right decision with my pin, so...
Yeah. There's a lot on my mind right now.
I'm kinda looking at all my bits and pieces that I've made
and I'm really happy with where they're all at.
But, right now, I'm really, really confused
and I'm feeling so overwhelmed.
Got everything done? Yeah, everything's done.
And are you happy with all the flavours?
Yeah.
But imagine if I went home with a pin?
I'm looking at the girls behind me.
I can't tell if they finished everything.
What shall I do?
Back yourself.
This is gonna be the biggest decision
that I make in this competition.
It could really decide my fate of whether I'm in the top 6
or whether I leave today.
30 seconds!
Come on, guys! Come on! Come on! 30 seconds!
Come on! Come on, Rue! Keep pushing!
Oh, my God. I don't know what to do.
Where's my pen? Where's the lid? Where is everything?
Oh, my God! This bloody pin!
10...
I don't know what to do.
...9...
It's your decision.
...8...
...7...
I'm gonna use it! I'm gonna use it!
...6, 5, 4,
3, 2, 1!
That was literally to the last second.
Well... Ohhh!
...you've...
Now you've played your pin,
you can take your apron off 'cause you're safe.
It's alright.
Oh!
It's going to be OK.
Yeah, if this is the dish that I go home,
well, you know, that's, um... I'm, yeah, super proud of myself
for getting that done.
I can just... Yeah. Just... don't give up.
That was hard.
Malissa has decided to play her pin.
And, you know what, I would have done the same.
It's a two-man show now.
It's either Cath and I, 50-50 chance.
And that has just significantly decreased
my chances of staying in the competition.
Do you have what it takes to compete in the MasterChef kitchen?
Applications for contestants are now open.
Head to the link and apply.
Come on, Rue! Come on! Come on, Rue! Come on!
I have to plate this dish beautifully,
as close to Clare's as I can.
I put my steak on the plate.
I squeeze my emulsion next to the Wagyu
and put my ragu into the shell.
I squeeze my oyster sauce.
But when I look at the consistency,
it doesn't look right.
So, I just hope everything tastes the same as Clare's.
I'm checking that I have all the elements.
And then I just realised...
Oh, my gosh!
I have forgotten to slice up the thinly sliced raw Wagyu.
It was nicely wrapped around the oysters.
I'm just going to have to go without it
and just hope that all my other elements
will cover me for the raw Wagyu.
Alright, Rue? Hey, Rue.
Hello.
There's a big sigh.
You certainly saved your first Pressure Test
for an absolute doozy, didn't you?
I did. Yeah, I did!
Had I known, I would have gotten into one earlier.
Just for a bit of a practice round.
Yeah. How are you feeling?
I did it.
Five hours.
When I walked in this morning, I never thought I could do that long
and I did it.
So I'm proud of myself. Yeah.
Everything is like a blessing to me
because I absolutely never thought I would get to where I am today.
Did you think you'd get to cook one of Clare Smyth's dishes?
I mean, pretty special.
I thought I would just look at your dishes on Instagram
and I got to cook your dish today.
It was not easy!
But I still love your work, so, yeah. Thank you.
Alright, we're gonna taste it. Thank you, guys.
Thanks, Rue.
Alright, first up, what do we think of how it looks?
Obviously, that piece of raw Wagyu
is missing off the other side of the oyster.
Her sauce looks pretty liquid.
Thanks, Chef. It is a bit runny, that.
OK, I'm gonna give Rue props for almost finishing.
Yes, the Wagyu isn't wrapped around the oyster,
but she has got so close in terms of finishing this.
So, credit to her.
The pie mix was really lovely.
The beef shin was cooked perfectly.
Really nice bones of that beef and oyster pie.
I think this dish was always gonna live and die by the sauces.
Over a five-hour period,
with so many different sauces and reductions on the go,
it was always gonna be tough.
This is the example of a cook not having that experience.
The Wagyu itself, she's had a good crack at that.
I just feel if it was slightly under-caramelised
and slightly under-cooked.
I think an extra minute, minute and a half on the hibachi
would have really done the piece of meat some favours there.
And then there's the sauce. A little bit runny, as you said.
I think probably needed a little more reducing.
Flavour-wise, she's hitting really good points
in all the flavour across.
That what I'll say.
Yeah, I mean, I thought she did really well.
Flavour is there.
Where she really struggled was the sauces.
It's time for me to plate up
and there's a long list for plating up this dish.
I've got the ragu in the oyster shell.
I've got the fillet on the plate.
I've got my two poached oysters on top.
One with the wrapped raw Wagyu.
I've got my emulsion.
I'm feeling so disappointed
because I don't have the crisp.
That's what may send me home.
Just take a big breath now. Just relax.
OK.
This was a huge challenge.
And I was behind right from the start.
I'm hoping I've done enough to stay here,
because I came here to prove myself
and I'm not ready to go home.
Cath! Hi, guys.
Hi, Cath. Hello, Cath.
Let's talk about how you went today.
You have nearly all your elements there.
Yeah. So I don't have my crisp. So I had to make a decision.
You know, I'm disappointed I didn't have everything on the plate.
In the end, I'm actually really proud because it...
...it really was, um, difficult for me.
But what was amazing was watching you set that example to your kids.
Just to keep going no matter what. You didn't stop.
You didn't lose sight of that finished dish.
Yeah. We're gonna taste it now, Cath.
OK. Thanks. Thanks, Cath.
Thank you so much.
How does your plate look?
Yeah, look, the Wagyu's kinda...
...looks spot-on, actually.
The emulsion looks good.
Yeah.
The consistency looks a bit better.
Looks a little more viscous... Yeah.
...and glossy. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, I mean, look, she got most of the dish completed.
She's just missing the oyster cracker.
And I think she had a really, really good shot at it.
And the main... or the most difficult part of the dish
is actually the sauces
and I think she did really well.
The beef - the cooking was nice.
Overall, she did phenomenally well.
Oyster emulsion - great consistency.
And also great flavour there.
It was pretty much identical to yours, I thought.
The pie mix - nice flavour.
I did get the raw Wagyu around one of the oysters
which did make a difference comparing it to Rue's dish.
I like the consistency of the sauce.
I thought that it had a lovely glossy coating texture to it.
But where I did the crunch, however, is in not having the cracker.
I'm very impressed, to be honest with you.
Just... it was tough watching that cook.
The whole cracker isn't there, the oyster crisp on top of the pie.
But I can't believe it's as good as it is.
Clare, we know when you set a Pressure Test,
it is going to come with a three-star level of skill attached.
How do you think these two incredible amateur cooks went today
tackling that beast of a dish?
Oh, I mean, I knew it was a tough, tough dish.
And it was a huge, mammoth cook. It was really a marathon.
And, you know, I was so, so impressed by you both
because you achieved something really great.
You did incredibly well.
OK. Thank you. Thank you.
Well done, ladies.
So, let's keep that applause going for Clare Smyth!
Whoo!
There's no doubt this was a baptism of fire.
Yeah.
And when Malissa played her pin,
your chances of surviving this Pressure Test became 50-50.
Both of you were missing a crucial element.
Yeah.
Rue, the raw Wagyu. Yeah.
Cath, the oyster crisp.
But there was one marked difference between both of your plates
and that was the sauce.
One cook managed to achieve a close replica of Clare's sauce.
And, sadly, that means that the cook going home today is...
...Rue.
Oh!
Yeah. It's OK.
Oh!
Ooh!
Rue, from the moment you walked through those doors on day 1,
your attitude and that incandescent smile have lit up this kitchen.
Just think of everything that you have achieved since being here,
not in the least your very own product line...
That's true. ...on the shelves of Coles.
All over the country! That's true. Yeah.
And all of those amazing dishes that you brought us.
Yeah.
Just your presence here has inspired so many people out there
to get cooking.
Um, I have to say the last few weeks have been really great
because they really gave me a bit more confidence as a cook.
But, honestly, I have had the best time.
I think I've grown as a cook
and I see this as a stepping stone
into whatever the future holds for me.
Absolutely.
Rue, you've brought so much heart and soul to this kitchen.
It will not be the same without you.
But, unfortunately, now it's time to say goodbye.
OK.
Say goodbye to them. I'm going.
Congratulations.
You should be so proud. Thank you.
Thank you!
Thank you.
Well done. Thanks for your cooking, Rue.
Well done. Oh, thank you.
Ooh-ooh! Hoo-hoo! Good luck.
This competition has given me
more than I could have ever thought
I could have gotten out of an experience.
Oh, Rue-Rue!
It's just been life-changing for me.
But, you know, the end of one journey is the beginning of a new chapter.
I'm so proud. Thanks, Rue.
It's OK.
I love everyone. I will never forget anyone here.
And I would carry you all in my heart.
Give it up for Rue, everybody!
Rue! Whoo!
Tomorrow night on MasterChef Australia...
Look at all the bees!
...it's a fresh twist on a Service Challenge.
Ready to get your hands dirty?
So are they able
to take it from farm...
What a doozy for us.
Far out! ...to table?
So nervous. So nervous.
You gotta get going. Oh, my God!
It's just absolute panic stations now.
It's gonna be the thing
that either wins it for us or loses it for us.
Captions by Red Bee Media