NARRATOR: Previously on MasterChef Australia...
..it was a massive top 5 road trip.
DECLAN: Wow!
..where the ultimate destination
was immunity.
You're gonna find out why it's known as Victoria's food bowl.
The best local produce...
DECLAN: I want my hands on it.
..and epic locations...
THEO: This is incredible.
..inspired, astonishing dishes.
JOCK: Mental. It is absolutely perfect.
So delicious.
ANDY: It was unbelievable.
Then...
BRENT: This whole road trip, it's all been leading up to this.
..the final immunity cook came down to Brent,
Declan and Theo.
I'm not gonna let these wallies win.
(LAUGHS)
JOCK: Wow, wow, wow.
What a meal.
Declan, you are the first contestant into Finals Week
of MasterChef 2023!
(CONTESTANTS CHEER)
Tonight...
..who will survive a two-round elimination?
THEO: I've got a lot more in the tank.
I feel like I can go all the way.
..and make it to Finals Week?
(PEACEFUL MUSIC)
CATH: Hey, we're back! DECLAN: On home turf!
Yeah! What a week, eh?
I know.
Wonder what we're gonna do today.
Black-apron day.
We've got Theo, Cath, Rhi and myself in the All-In Elimination.
And whoever survives today goes into Finals Week.
(JUDGES CLAP)
I'm hungry for it.
So that's even more important to bring your A-game,
cook a cracking dish and be safe.
Welcome back! THEO: Good to be back.
As you can see, there aren't many of you left.
After a fabulous week away cruising around regional Victoria,
it all comes down to this.
Here we are.
Right on the doorstep of an incredible milestone
in this competition.
If you survive today...
..you'll cross the threshold
and be one of the few contestants...
..who make it into Finals Week.
(MOMENTOUS MUSIC)
Brent, did you think you were gonna make it into Finals Week?
Yeah, I had it as a goal,
but, yeah, I just took it cook by cook,
and all of a sudden I'm only one cook away from it.
Getting into Finals Week, mate. Alfie's gonna be super-proud, buddy.
He will. Cath.
Do you realise you're closer to that moment right now than ever before?
Oh, it's amazing.
So, um, I've had a run this morning.
Tell you what - here comes Cath.
Ohh! Love it!
"Here comes Cath"!
Look out! That's it. Yep.
Yep.
It's great to see all of you
in a place where you have confidence.
You're carrying confidence into this cook.
You're gonna need it as well.
This is the pointy end of the competition.
Our expectations are pretty high.
He's proud!
Proud. Proud dad. Can you hear it?
(RHIANNON LAUGHS)
Today's Elimination Challenge is a tournament of epic proportions,
the ultimate championship.
In a moment, you'll all be battling it out
in two separate head-to-head duels.
Win your duel,
you'll be in Finals Week.
Lose it
and you'll be cooking in round 2 for the final spot.
So the first thing we need to work out
is who you're up against in this round.
Take a token out of this bag.
Choose your fate.
Thanks, Mel. (LAUGHS)
Silver. Silver token for Brent.
Gold token for Cath.
Gold token for Theo, which means...
RHIANNON: Queensland!
Queensland! And we're Victorian! There you go!
OK, hold up your tokens, please.
Alright. We have Brent and Rhiannon on silver.
Stand in front of the silver cloche, please.
Hey, buddy.
That means Cath and Theo,
you have the gold cloche.
Theo, going up against Cath.
You heard Cath before. She's here to play.
She means business. How do you feel about that?
Yeah, I'm...shaking in my boots right now.
Rhiannon taking on the big man.
Are you shaking in your boots? Nuh.
BRENT: Nuh!
I'm not giving it away lightly.
I'm gonna fight for this
and I'm gonna get into Finals Week straight up.
Sorry, mate. Sorry, not sorry.
Rightio. You're clearly curious
about what's under these cloches.
As you should be!
Because whatever's under here
you'll need to feature in your dishes in your duel.
Righto, Brent and Rhiannon,
the ingredient that you need to feature is...
..one of my favourites - anchovies.
Oh, yes! Love anchovies.
Happy days for you two, huh? Yeah!
Yep. MELISSA: What a gift.
Yep, that's a gift.
Righto, Cath and Theo.
The ingredient that you need to feature is...
..Dijon mustard.
Ohh!
Theo, any thoughts on Dijon?
I love Dijon mustard, so...
Making that the prominent flavour, though, might be a bit interesting.
But, yeah, I'm excited to give it a go.
CATH: Yeah!
You'll have 75 minutes to bring us a dish that features
your ingredient.
The pantry and the garden are both open.
All you need to do to guarantee your spot in Finals Week
is bring us a better dish
than the person standing next to you.
Good luck.
Your time starts now.
(JUDGES CLAP)
THEO: The regional Victoria trip was incredible.
BRENT: Alright.
But I am happy to be back in the MasterChef kitchen.
I feel comfortable here. I feel like it's home now.
So I'm ready to rock.
One cook away from Finals Week, you know.
I've got a lot more in the tank. I feel like I can go all the way.
So I'm excited to cook today.
Straightaway when I see the Dijon mustard,
I think two-mustard sauce.
I've made this sauce before.
DECLAN: Let's go, Theo!
It goes really well with any protein, really, but I'm thinking of fish.
Ooh! It's so nicely presented.
Look at that.
The inspiration is from my time spent in France.
I've had iterations of this dish in a lot of restaurants.
Ooh! Yum.
Smells good, Theo?
Yeah, it's good! Really good, actually.
I love these flavours.
It's kind of like a balance of wholegrain mustard
and a Dijon mustard,
but it's also like a, you know, kind of a veloute sauce.
And I just love that sort of texture and that flavour
going with any sort of protein.
I haven't cooked much fish in this kitchen at all, to be honest.
But I love fish, white-flesh fish.
I've got a kingfish. It's, like, subtle in flavour.
Because I want that mustard sauce to be the star.
Nice, Theo. Take your time. Yep.
Right in the start, in one of the Jamie Oliver challenges,
we had Dijon mustard, so...
And I actually did a dessert dish back then.
So I thought, "Look, why not then go savoury this time?"
(WHISPERS) OK.
And I'm gonna get into Finals Week with a fish dish.
Just gonna do this beautiful fish,
beautiful trout
with, you know, potato and fennel salad underneath,
basted with, you know, a Dijon glaze
with a nice, lovely dressing.
So, very simple. It's gonna be beautiful on the plate.
Theo's gonna be a really tough opponent today.
He's very good in stressful situations.
We are both doing fish, can you believe it, in this challenge.
But if I have, you know, a clear idea,
and make sure I get that Dijon mustard balance right,
I can knock Theo off for sure.
So I'm pin-boning the fish
and it is taking a long time,
but I'm being super careful of it.
They're very fine, the bones,
and I definitely don't want the judges getting one today.
OK.
RHIANNON: I bloody love anchovies!
Like, honestly, I love anchovies.
Literally, at home, I make beautiful pizza bases on stones
and I will literally only have anchovies as the topping.
There's no beautiful, like, wood-fired oven for me,
so I'm not gonna be able to make pizza,
but the first thing I think is chicken.
I love chicken with crispy skin
and things stuffed under it, you know?
So I'm thinking, "What about if I just stuff some anchovies
"under the skin?"
(PROCESSOR WHIRRS)
With a beautiful curry broth,
with an apple crispy anchovy salad.
But I've got just the good, old humble chook.
I look across.
Brent's got bloody lobster.
Today I'm doing a lobster-pipi pasta.
Beautiful, like, really punchy lobster bisque with anchovies.
There's gonna be a bit of anchovy crumb - pangrattato - on top.
Super crunchy, salty.
And I'm up against Rhi.
So the big flavour hitters.
Yeah, hopefully the lobster prevails and beats the chicken.
I love anchovies.
You can just eat 'em straight out of the can. They're delicious.
They're, you know, packed full of flavour.
They're salty, they're briny, they're great in pasta.
But, yeah, I do not know why
I've chosen to do pasta
at this time in the competition.
Um...is this 00?
I haven't done it all year.
I'm just, you know, thinking,
"Where have I eaten anchovies before?"
And it's been in a pasta,
so hopefully I should go alright today.
Theo! Hello!
Hey, Theo. How are we?
Not bad.
Nice little taster.
Yeah, so that's my dish. Yeah, nice. Well done.
You featured mustard, but you did nothing with it.
(ALL LAUGH)
What are you doing? What's the dish?
A pan-fried kingfish fillet with a two-mustard sauce.
Very simple. Yep.
But, yeah, it's all in the... all in this sauce.
Um, yeah, really classic French flavours.
Why are you using two mustards?
That's 100% the sauce that I know.
Yep. Like, it's Dijon and seeded mustard.
All we'll say is this jar of gold
is your feature ingredient.
It needs to be crowning glory kinda stuff.
If I don't feature Dijon mustard today,
then I have missed the brief.
Maybe the Dijon is gonna get lost in this two-mustard sauce
with that wholegrain mustard.
I was feeling confident about this dish,
but...yeah, I'm stumped now.
All we'll say is this jar of gold
is your feature ingredient.
It needs to be crowning glory. OK.
If I don't feature Dijon mustard today,
then I have missed the brief.
Maybe the Dijon is gonna get lost
in this sauce with that wholegrain mustard.
I was feeling confident about this dish,
but...yeah, I'm stumped now.
Maybe it's a single-mustard sauce.
Maybe. (LAUGHS)
You need to make this the best it can be.
Good luck, mate. Thank you, guys.
I'm getting rid of that wholegrain mustard.
But in my head, I'm thinking,
"Is that Dijon mustard sauce gonna be enough?"
It's a super-strong flavour.
I need to think about how I can feature it
without it being one-dimensional.
And I'm up against Cath.
She can pull anything out of the bag.
I've gotta think of a way to elevate this sauce.
Think about it hard.
45 minutes to go, guys.
Come on. Pick it up. ANDY: Let's go!
(WHISPERS) OK, sweetie. Let's go.
Hi, Cath! G'day, Cath.
Hi there!
How are you? Good, thank you.
Mustard. Trout. Yes, mustard.
What's the dish?
I'm doing trout today with a potato and fennel underneath it.
Then it's gonna have a dressing with a Dijon
and I'm going to baste this also with Dijon mustard.
Lots of delicious flavours and they all work really harmoniously.
I think we can all agree on that.
This does need to be featured. Yes.
How are you justifying that today?
Um...
So it's going to be everywhere.
Um, I don't think
you're going to get the outcome that you're looking for
with basting it in oil and Dijon.
I think the flavour of the Dijon's just gonna get sucked out of it.
What Andy's trying to say is, "Think it through."
Yeah. No, appreciate that. Good luck!
Good luck, Cath. Thank you. Cheers. Thanks.
So the judges have got concerns.
I've gotta really make sure that the Dijon mustard flavour is there.
I have to hit that brief today.
So if I can get the balance right in my dressing,
make sure that that Dijon mustard
is front and centre,
it may be my dish that wins this round.
Let's just make sure that we're happy with this.
RHIANNON: I'm up against lobster.
Little chook's up against lobster.
And I'm thinking, "This is gonna have to be
"the best bloody chook I've ever cooked in my life."
There is anchovies under the chicken skin.
There's anchovies in the broth.
There's deep-fried anchovies.
So yes, I know it's featured, but it also has to work.
My style is about getting punchy flavours
and getting that balance.
So I'm thinking I'll do a beautiful fresh salsa
and it is gonna go with the chicken,
because I need that fresh element anyway.
I was gonna do an apple salad.
Now it's gonna be a beautiful herby sort of anchovy salsa.
All my elements have anchovies in them
but the one that I'm worried about the most is this curry broth.
It is so strong in all the other flavours
that I'm worried that the anchovy's not shining through.
And it gets to the point in the cook
where you've tasted it that many times you can't even tell!
Is there anchovy? I don't know!
'Cause that...yeah, it's kind of like
my mind's playing tricks right now.
So I'm gonna have to balance this broth
because I don't wanna go into round 2.
Slowly gonna cook the lobster tails over the hibachi.
Really gentle heat.
And they're just lathered in that salty anchovy butter.
I've just finished making my pasta dough,
but I don't have time to let the dough dry.
I've just gotta get it on to cook.
So I'm now rushing.
But I need to get this dish finished
otherwise I'm not even gonna have a dish up.
Bring us something worthy to be in Finals Week.
You've got 15 minutes to go!
JOCK: Come on, step it up!
DECLAN: Nice, bro.
Perfectly cooked fish.
I'm just cooking my fish now.
Having a look. Looking good.
I scrapped the wholegrain mustard
because that's the brief today.
So I'm gonna go with just... old mate Dijon.
But I'm still trying to think how I can elevate the dish.
And then it hits me.
I'm going to do some dill oil.
Dill goes really well with fish - we all know that.
But a really nice, bright dill oil
is gonna add that element of freshness and flavour,
and it also adds, like, a really nice look, you know?
That beautiful green dill oil
dotted around the outside of this fish is gonna look fantastic.
Yeah, I mean, Cath had some fighting words just before,
so she's in it to win it, as she should be.
And so am I, so I'm gonna put up the best dish.
I can smell that from up here.
Smells good, eh? It's all coming up.
Come on, mate. Let's go. Bring it home.
CATH: I've basted the trout. The glaze is primarily Dijon mustard.
And now they're very small, delicate fillets,
so they don't need to be cooked very long in the oven.
And Dijon mustard's at the forefront of my salad dressing,
which is nicely balanced.
So hopefully I've hit the brief today.
Five minutes to go!
(JUDGES CLAP)
(FRAUGHT VIOLIN MUSIC)
BRENT: I'm just frantic at the moment.
I'm literally feeling like a fish flapping around outside of water.
I'm now finishing my sauce.
My pasta is done.
I'm frying anchovies to go on top.
This cook has been a mad rush,
but hopefully the judges like it and that I hit the brief.
Two minutes to go! Come on!
(JUDGES CLAP)
(FRAUGHT VIOLIN MUSIC)
RHIANNON: This chook is cooked perfectly.
The skin's nice and crispy
and it's got a beautiful char to it.
And that curry broth tastes balanced
and this anchovy salsa is a winner.
It is beautiful.
There's a lot going on in this dish.
I used about eight tins of anchovies.
So if that is not featured,
I don't know what is.
One minute, crew! Whoo!
(JUDGES CLAP)
Goes so fast. CATH: Oh, man, does it ever!
THEO: I'm happy with the cook on the fish
and this sauce, it's got that good punch of Dijon,
it's balanced.
And then that dill oil is just gonna really
lift this dish to here it needs to be.
So hopefully that will keep me out of round 2.
Come on.
I had quite a good idea about how I would present the fish.
It would have the salad underneath with the fish on top.
I've quickly blanched a couple of asparagus spears
to have that right on top just for that little bit of green
and little bit more freshness to the dish.
Oh!
I want to present a beautiful dish today
packed with beautiful flavours
featuring that Dijon mustard
I think I have balanced that Dijon mustard.
But has Theo done a better job?
Here it is.
10, 9, 8,
7, 6, 5,
4, 3, 2, 1.
That's it!
DECLAN: Good job.
ANDY: Well done, guys. THEO: Good job, Cath.
Yeah. I'm just really proud of myself.
Well done. Yeah.
Ohh! Good work.
Oh, my God, if I beat Brent, I'm in frickin' Finals Week.
You have no idea how crazy that would be to me.
Like, it is, like, quite literally...
It would be, like, the biggest dream-come-true of my whole life.
than the person standing next to you to avoid round 2.
The first duel that we're gonna taste is the Dijon duel
and the first dish that we'd like to taste belongs to...Cath.
(CONTESTANTS CHEER) Good one, Cath.
Cath, what have you made us?
So I've made a Dijon-glazed trout with a potato and fennel salad,
which has a Dijon dressing.
MELISSA: Cath, I'm really proud of you,
because watching you progress through the competition
and watching the way that you're plating,
this was really elegant in the way
that you strive to present something
with a little bit more finesse.
I really appreciate that.
It was a good plate of food,
but it does require just that little bit
of the fine-tuning in terms of balance.
Yep.
Cath. The trout was cooked nice.
The sauce... Mm.
..overloading it with dill, I would have pulled back on the dill
so the Dijon really does shine.
It's a good dish, so we'll see what happens.
I thought the fish was cooked beautifully.
No bones. Really great. Yeah. Phew!
Um, I love that you took care to glaze it all the way around.
Really good job.
My issue is, between the dill and the fennel,
you have a very, very aniseed-y note
that just overpowers the Dijon mustard.
Yeah.
And so while it is a nice dish and while the fish is cooked beautifully,
I feel as if you've just missed out in the brief.
OK.
Thanks, Cath. Alright.
Thanks, guys. Thanks.
All good. All good.
It looks beautiful. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it looks epic.
The next dish we'd like to taste belongs to Theo.
(OTHERS CLAP)
Hello. G'day.
What have you made us today?
I have made pan-seared kingfish
with Dijon sauce and then a little bit of dill oil.
Thank you.
(EXHALES SLOWLY)
Theo, great concept for the challenge.
Yeah, yeah.
I think you hit the brief out of the park.
The overwhelming flavour is Dijon mustard.
Yeah. So I've gotta commend you for that.
Theo. Very nice, mate.
Very nice.
The cook in the fish is good. Your dill oil, great work on that.
It's fantastic. Beautifully bright in colour and in flavour.
I think the concept of the dish was great.
I think you've done rather well.
I think the sauce work was really, really good,
and then you've elevated it by adding that little bit of oil
just to, A, give a beautiful visual cue and contrast,
but also to just support and enhance the mustard.
So I think you've done very, very well.
Thanks, guys. Cheers. Thanks. Well done, mate.
Well done, buddy. Thanks.
OK, over to the anchovy battle,
and the first dish we'd like to taste belongs to you, Rhiannon.
(OTHERS CLAP)
OK, Rhiannon, what's the dish?
Uh, it's grilled chicken with anchovy salsa. (CHUCKLES)
Nice.
Rhiannon, you came in here all guns blazing today
and I love that because usually it means brilliant food,
and it is full of flavour.
I loved the anchovy stuffing under the skin, over the hibachi.
It gave it beautiful smokiness,
beautiful kind of bacon-y, savoury richness
that adds to the chicken skin - instant seasoning.
Happy days.
That...that anchovy salsa. Yep.
You've kept them in their freshest state
and that's when anchovies, at a high quality, are their best.
100%.
Thank you. Thanks, Rhiannon.
(EXHALES)
(WHISPERS) Oh, wow.
The next anchovy dish we'd like to taste belongs to Brent.
BRENT: I had such a frantic cook
and I don't know why I decided to make a pasta
at this stage of the competition.
But hopefully the judges like it.
What have you made us, mate? Uh, so...
I've made you
lobster and anchovy pasta.
(TENSE MUSIC)
Brent. (CLEARS THROAT)
Um...
The pasta...
..you know, it hasn't been dried,
so it's more in the sort of soft noodle side than as pasta,
therefore it can never be al dente.
Other than the two pieces of fried anchovy on mine,
if it hadn't been for that, I wouldn't have tasted it.
Yeah.
We all have bad cooks, like, bad dishes.
This is...
..definitely one of yours, man.
Brent, you and anchovies,
it should have been a match made in heaven
because you get them, you love them, we all love them.
And, I mean, the lobster is nicely cooked
but the pasta isn't really pasta.
This was not your finest moment and that may cost you.
Brent, mate, none of the elements are really executed that well,
apart from the cook on the lobster.
Cook the food that YOU are good at.
You know, this isn't your food.
Have you cooked a pasta dish in this kitchen?
Nup.
Strange to bring it out in the biggest cook, yeah.
So cook your food. Your food is dynamite.
Yep. You are dynamite.
Thanks.
I'm pretty gutted, to be honest.
It's just not my kind of cooking.
And it's just not cooking I should be doing
at this time of the competition.
So I know I'm definitely in round 2.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
The two of you to do that made the top 4 of MasterChef 2023.
Just let that sink in.
Let's start with the Dijon duel.
Theo.
Dijon dominated your plate.
And, Cath, the dish was more dill than Dijon.
You missed the brief.
Because of that, Theo, you're joining Declan in the top 4.
JOCK: Now the anchovy duel.
Rhiannon, that anchovy salsa was beautiful.
Brent, your dish had issues,
the biggest of which was the pasta.
For that reason, Brent, you're heading into round 2.
Which means, Rhiannon, congratulations,
you're in the top 4!
Theo, Rhiannon, congratulations!
Get your aprons off and join Declan in the gantry. Well done.
Well done. Good work, Theo. Nice one, Rhiannon.
MELISSA: Get your aprons off!
RHIANNON: Good luck, Cath.
(THEO AND BRENT SPEAK INDISTINCTLY)
Well done.
You did good, you did good.
Alright, buddy. It's us. Come here. Come here.
Hey. Yep.
Deep down, I'm pretty gutted.
I'm cooking for survival up against Cath.
She's a strong cook and, um, yeah, it's gonna be a big challenge.
Cath, Brent, this is your last chance.
Only one of you will make it to Finals Week.
For the other, it's the end of the road.
All throughout this competition, you've been accumulating knowledge,
elevating your skills,
on your way to becoming a master chef.
And with those skills, your dishes have become next-level good.
But today we want you to bring us
your best dish of the competition so far.
There's no rules.
No restrictions.
CATH: Hm!
we have pushed everything else to the side
so that you have every opportunity to step up
and take your dish to the next level.
Finals Week, it is a special time,
and only the best dish in this round will get you there.
Pantry's open, garden is open.
Everything is at your disposal.
You'll have 75 minutes to cook anything you want.
I don't need to tell you what's at stake here.
Don't let the dream end here.
Game faces on, you two. Good luck.
Your 75 minutes starts now.
(CONTESTANTS CHEER)
CATH: Let's go, buddy.
I'm putting my round 1 cook behind me.
I'm up against Brent.
It's gonna be a really big challenge.
But I'm just gonna give it everything I've got.
The judges want us to show where we've come from in the competition
and why we deserve to go into the Finals Week.
So I immediately think about a dessert
that I've been forming in my mind
and I've actually talked to my daughter about it.
I can't reach it. What do you want?
Uh, no, Davidson plum, yeah, and wattleseed.
I've really been exploring using Australian native ingredients
and I just really want to use the skills I've learnt
in the dish today.
(JUDGES AND CONTESTANTS CHEER)
Here I come!
So I'm gonna be making a wattleseed shortbread
with a chocolate parfait, a Davidson plum sauce
with some vanilla dippin' dots.
Bloody oath! I got the whole bench.
I have not made this dish before,
so am I taking a risk on this?
Yes, I am.
I've got this. I'm not giving up.
I'm not going down without a fight, I tell ya.
This is for my beautiful girls.
This dish is all about my girls today.
I remember our girls,
they must have been, you know, 8 and 10 years old,
and I remember going into the city.
There was a stall there with these dippin' dots
and the girls just loved them.
(UPLIFTING MUSIC)
I've been probably more homesick than what I thought I would be,
but this has been just a beautiful rite of passage for me
to just rediscover myself, rediscover who Cath is
and rediscover, you know, what my dream is.
So thinking about them just motivates me to keep going.
I am just gonna fight so hard.
Nice, Cath. (SOFTLY) OK.
Oh, round 2. And what a cracker we actually have.
Like, two fierce competitors in this competition.
Brent knows how to create big, bold flavour.
He's great with cooking savouries,
proteins over fire, we love to see that,
and lots of aromats.
And then, of course, Cath,
we've seen some really great sweet dishes from her
and I do see the hallmarks of desserts going on there.
You know, I think, at the end of the day,
75 minutes is a good amount of time, right?
So it should be enough to refine the dish a little bit as well
and that's what I'm gonna be looking for today.
Simplicity, sticking to what you're good at, playing to your strengths.
That's all you need to complete a tasty dish.
No limits, no excuses.
Yeah, look, um, I'm not feeling the greatest.
Anything I do in life, I try to make sure everything is the best I can do,
so when I take up dishes to the judges that is not my best,
I'm pretty filthy with myself,
especially at this point of the competition.
Last round was probably the worst cook I've ever done.
Um, but I've decided that I'm gonna stick to the flavours I love
and I'm just gonna get into this cook.
Brent...bit of a hiccup this morning.
Um, yeah.
Talk to me about what the dish is.
Yeah, so I'm going chicken adobo
but sort of my sort of style, my take on it.
It's gonna be cooked over the fire like I love to do.
It's gonna be on a skewer,
which is like my little... little trademark thing.
Yeah. And a beautiful glaze over it.
Get it nice and charcoaled. A really, really, like, in-your-face sauce.
Everything spiced to the max.
And then it'll be maybe like a salsa with everything.
Your prep's looking really, really good.
Yep. How are you feeling?
Yeah, I was actually pretty upset with myself, um...
I could see that. I think we could all see it and feel it.
And, um, it was just a backwards step for you.
Yep. Good luck.
Thanks, Mel.
Ooh, it's smelling good already.
Come on, guys. Go, guys.
Let's go, Cath!
Um...
Now, let's just keep everything organised today.
For my parfait dessert,
I get onto making my Davidson plum sauce,
which I combine with some raspberries.
Letting that simmer off a little bit.
It's gonna be bitter, sweet,
it's gonna have a little bit of umami in it,
so a mixture of flavours,
which will go beautifully with the chocolate parfait.
OK, do you know what? We're actually gonna stop this.
Then... That's cool enough.
(WHISPERS) OK, let's just fold this in now.
Next, I'm getting onto making my parfait,
so it needs to be a beautiful, rich, chocolate flavour.
So it needs to be light and airy as well.
(WHISPERS) OK, sweetie.
I've had some hits and misses with my parfait in the past,
so today I've got to focus on getting everything perfect.
Let's just relax.
OK.
Come on, Cath.
(STAND MIXER WHIRRS)
Cath. Hi there.
Hey, Cath. How are ya?
Hi. I'm good! What's cooking?
I'm going to do a wattleseed shortbread
with a chocolate parfait, with a Davidson plum sauce.
And I'm gonna use the liquid nitrogen for the dippin' dots.
A lot of big flavours to balance here.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Especially with Davidson plum.
And even chocolate. What percentage chocolate have you used?
Well, actually just used, uh, 54.
It doesn't look very dark. Nah.
Words of advice. Yes, buddy?
Keep looking at that clock.
Yeah, yep.
And if you have to pivot... Yep, sure.
..make a quick decision. Yeah, thank you.
Come on, Cath. Yeah, thank you, thank you.
You're up. Thank you.
(OTHERS CLAP) RHIANNON: Come on!
I'm worried about the chocolate parfait.
In my haste in the pantry,
I've just grabbed 54% chocolate, not the darker chocolate.
RHIANNON: I'm just a bit worried.
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah.
Oh, my God. It's too sweet. It's not right.
(SIGHS)
Right.
Let's just chill out, OK? Let's just chill out.
Come on, Brent. Let's go, Cath! Come on, Cath!
You can do this. You can do this.
Do I have enough time to make another parfait?
I still have to finish off my Davidson plum sauce,
make my shortbread,
make my dippin' dots,
but if I serve this parfait and it's not the right flavour,
it's really going to be what sends me home.
Hey, Cath. Yeah! Hi, Mel.
Just checking in on you. Thank you.
I'm just considering doing another parfait,
'cause I've used the 54% chocolate,
and I'm just wondering whether that's not bitter enough.
Cath... Do you want me to stop?
No, not at all. I need to keep going.
Keep going.
I just want you to take a breath... Oh, thanks, I forgot to breathe.
And don't do things with haste. (EXHALES)
No. OK?
Yeah, no, you're right.
Give it your best, give it your all. Yeah.
And I'll just give myself a cuddle. Good.
This is for my daughters today, Mel.
For my daughters, yeah. Yeah. You got this.
Thanks, Mel.
Right, let's just chill out, OK?
Let's just chill out.
(INTENSE MUSIC)
Come on, Cath, just make it again. It's got to be right.
Get some more chocolate and get this parfait done.
I'm wanting to use the darker chocolate
because that has that bitterness.
I don't want it to be too sweet.
(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)
Good old Cath style,
having to pivot.
But I think, um...
I think it's a wise decision.
So I've just got to get it now in the freezer.
Go, Cath.
Cath's now doing a dark chocolate parfait,
so, I mean, in all honesty, it is elimination,
and today's the day to make it
so you don't have doubts with your dish.
Oh, man, I'm shaking.
Watching it's bloody anxious, you know?
It's Cath and Brent.
THEO: Keep pushing, guys. Come on!
Let's go!
And, like, I'm thinking,
"I'm really worried 'cause one of my mates is going home."
Cath's been worrying me from the beginning, you know,
and it's been good to have a mate, like an older mate,
I guess, through the whole thing.
You can do this. Oh, she's alright.
She's just having good memories.
I think a lot of Cath's inspo is her family,
and I think, you know, Cath really enjoys it.
I'm just worried with Cath, with time.
Ugh!
BRENT: For my chicken adobo skewer,
I'm making a zesty charred salsa.
There's Vietnamese mint, mint, coriander, charred corn
and charred cucumber.
Just put it on the hibachi,
char...char it a little bit.
It's gonna go in the salsa.
There's a big salsa on the bottom,
and then fresh herbs
and some chilli.
I'm still feeling frazzled after round 1.
But cooking on the hibachi...
..I can smell that smoke,
and it reminds me of being with my wife, Shon,
and my little man, Alfie.
I just want to show him, you're gonna fall, you're gonna stumble.
It's life. It throws curve balls.
But, you know, it's just about getting back up...
..doing the hard work, doing the things you need to do for yourself,
and then just dusting those knees off and getting back into it.
I still want to be here, I want to make it to finals,
so I'm just gonna draw on the emotions,
get the family in my head.
That's my happy place,
and, you know, this is the food I love to cook.
I'm thinking, "There's only three elements.
"It's the chicken, the salsa and a sauce."
It's a quite simple dish.
I'm worried, maybe, the simplicity.
You know, obviously, at home,
it's just sort of all in one pot, easy, you know, over rice.
Today, you know, I've got to bring it up a level,
sort of think of something else I could do
and really elevate this dish.
Um... Alright.
Bang, light bulb on.
I know what I've got to do.
I run out to the garden to grab some betel leaf.
I really love, you know,
once it sort of touches the heat of the hibachi,
it goes quite peppery.
RHIANNON: Come on, Brentles.
And that pepper in that salsa,
that sort of taste, you know,
would really marry up with the sauce.
Oh, scheissen!
I've got lots and lots happening,
and you can see that my bench is becoming a bit of a mess.
Oh, Catherine!
OK, come on.
Come on.
Come on. Come on!
I'm making my second parfait,
and my stress is escalating.
(WHISPERS) One cruisy chick.
I know I have a lot to do.
I need to motor.
That looks good, Cath. Yeah.
Get it in the freezer.
Yeah. Nice, Cath, nice.
It's gonna get into the blast chiller now.
(SOFTLY) Come on. Come on, Cath.
(WHISPERS) Get it in, get it in. Whew! Get it in.
Fingers crossed that this second parfait sets in time.
(WHISPERS) OK, well done, well done.
Well done.
Biscuits are in the oven, just have to do the anglaise
to make my dippin' dots.
Go, Brenty.
BRENT: Alright, that's good.
I'm stoked with the sauce in the pressure cooker.
I've got to get it out now.
I'm gonna reduce the sauce in two pans.
One's gonna be my glaze and one's gonna be my adobo sauce.
Yeah, well, this is the glaze,
so I want this one probably a little bit sweeter.
The glaze will be there to, you know,
brush over that chicken as I'm cooking over the hibachi.
It'll be all about balancing it now.
So now I'll just put it on a low simmer,
and start cutting up my chicken, that I'm gonna put on the skewer.
Oh, yeah, I know my way around a bloody bit of meat on a skewer.
DECLAN: You would have had a couple of chicken kebabs in your time,
wouldn't you, Brent?
Yeah, mate, you know it.
Couple of late nights out, finished off with a couple of chicken kebabs.
THEO: Woke up the next morning, indigestion.
BRENT: Heh. Yeah.
I know exactly,
when I wake up in the morning, I know what I done that night.
Elimination day's always a sad day,
and I've been in my fair share of eliminations
to know the pressure you have down on the floor.
Just being up here today
we've got a good camaraderie, the five of us,
and that's two of our mates down there on the floor today.
Good thinking, Brent.
Brent's just sticking with what he loves
and what he's good at, and that's working on that hibachi,
coming in with a dish that screams 'Brent'.
75 minutes, you'd want to make sure you balance your flavours.
He does have that adobo sauce component.
He really wants to hit the nail on the head with that.
The cook on the chicken as well is crucial.
20 minutes to go, the glaze is reduced to the right consistency,
it's time to get the chicken on and start basting that baby.
There's a real pressure point now,
so I'm a bit worried about the cook of the chicken.
Sizes of the chicken vary.
When it gets into that middle there,
it's got all the other chicken pieces covering it.
Focus on that one last thing
that is gonna make or break this dish.
This is the thing that could send you home.
If I've served up raw chicken, I'm going home.
If I've served up chicken that hasn't caramelised
and got that depth on it, I'm probably going home.
So, I've only got three elements. I need them all perfect.
No matter what happens,
bring us a dish that you're proud of.
You've got 15 minutes to go.
RHIANNON: Come on, guys! Come on!
Let's go!
BRENT: The last 15 minutes is purely
all eyes on this chicken.
This is my special little baby.
I'm not leaving its side, I don't want it to burn,
but I want that caramelised, you know, those little burnt little bits
that just hung down, they've collected flavour,
which is constantly sort of turning it.
Keep an eye on your chicken, mate.
THEO: Yeah, keep basting that, Brenty.
Yeah, the chicken's gonna tell me when it's ready.
It's all on that chicken right now.
Come on, Brent, you got this. Stay in it.
Five minutes to go!
Come on, guys! Come on, guys!
(OTHERS YELL ENCOURAGEMENT)
Whoo!
(TIMER BEEPS)
My timer's gone off for my shortbread.
Yep, done.
They're done, they're cooked.
I go to the blast chiller,
I check on my parfaits...
Come on, guys!
It's set, so I go, "Yes! It's done! It's set!"
Looking good, Cath. They look good, Cath.
So I take it out and put it in the freezer
ready to plate it up.
Nice, Cath. Right, that's done, that's done.
What are you still doing? I'm gonna do the dippin' dots now.
I've got to get the, um...
..uh, liquid nitrogen.
Time has been one of the biggest challenges
that I've had in the competition,
and here I am, this cook, it's down to the final minutes.
And I'm feeling that same dreaded feeling
of running out of time.
You alright? Yep.
Calm, Cath, Calm. Yeah, OK.
Have you got a timer on your shortbread?
(EXHALES) Yes.
This is the bit now where, if the wheels come off,
you're in trouble, right, so just try and keep it together, alright?
THEO: Come on, Cath.
I've made my anglaise.
All I need to do now is use this liquid nitrogen
to make these beautiful dippin' dots.
Oh, she's doing it. Doing the dippin' dots.
I put the anglaise into a squeeze bottle
so it makes it easier to drop into the liquid nitrogen.
Come on, guys!
I'm powering through.
I just want to show my girls I am not gonna give up.
That's done, sweetie.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
Finals Week or final dish,
and you've only got three minutes to go.
Come on! Come on, guys!
Let's go! Three minutes, come on!
Let's go!
BRENT: The chicken's almost done.
Salsa's done, sauce is just about there,
I'm looking at the dish and, you know,
I'm thinking that, you know,
this is Finals Week food.
There's one more secret weapon that's up my sleeve.
Guajillo chilli salt.
So the salt is just the guajillo seeds, roasted,
and they sort of start to get a little bit sweet,
a little bit fruity, blitzed up with salt.
It gives this, like, you know,
the little chilli spice,
but sort of fruity chilli spice.
And, yeah, just sprinkling that on the meat
is, you know, all it takes sometimes to be that 1% better.
It's seasoned, it's ready to rock'n'roll.
I'm just gonna quickly get this up.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC) (WHISPERS) OK, well done.
I have to plate up my dish.
God help me.
But then I realise
I actually made a huge mistake.
Oh, my God.
I've actually got my parfait in the fridge, not the freezer.
Oh, my God.
(SIGHS)
It's just starting to melt.
The pressure, it's really gotten to me.
I am really cross with myself.
This is now, it's dire.
(SIGHS)
on 10 play.
(BIRD CHIRPS)
Um...
Final touches. One minute to go. Come on.
One minute! Come on!
It's just dawning on me now that the parfait was left in the fridge,
not the freezer.
Everything should have been in the freezer.
My dippin' dots are on the plate and, already, they have just melted.
They've just gone. They are no longer dippin' dots on my plate.
Come on, Cath. You can do this.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
BRENT: Plating up, the adobo sauce is in the jug, ready to go.
It's punchy, it's spicy and it's very tangy.
The salsa's zesty, it's acidic,
but I'm a bit worried about the cook of the chicken.
There you go.
If the chicken's undercooked, I'd be just devastated.
It would be really sad if this was my last cook in the kitchen.
You know, I put so much hard work into it.
Come on, guys.
JUDGES AND CONTESTANTS: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6,
5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
JOCK: That's it!
ANDY: Well done, Cath. Well done, Brent.
Oh!
Um, you know, I'm not too sure how Cath went.
(CATH WEEPS SOFTLY)
You right, Cath?
Did you put everything into it? Yeah.
Well done. You should be so proud. I am, mate.
Alright? Yeah.
Well done. Thanks, buddy.
Thanks.
Look, it was a whirlwind, but you know what?
That was awesome.
Well done.
It was a great cook. It was just...
Honestly, that was... (SNIFFLES)
..full of Cath, full of love for my daughters today,
so, um, that's it, you know?
So, that's love on a plate.
(SIGHS) Here we go. Good luck.
I'm pretty stoked with this dish.
Channelled the family
and the love of the food I love to cook
and my biggest worry is the cook of the chicken,
but hopefully it's cooked perfect.
JOCK: Alright, Brent. G'day.
Take a seat, mate.
What did you make us, mate?
So, you've got chicken adobo, Brent-style.
Park round 1, which you have... Yep.
..and now you're here, are you happy with the plate of food?
Yeah, I'm happy with the plate of food.
The brief was bring, you know, something that you love to cook
and you're staring at it.
How is it, because, you know,
I think that you are known for your big flavours,
but you've really kind of developed that into a style of late.
I think that the fascination for the hibachi
has come from travelling around Australia.
Mm.
Two or three times a week, you know, the fire's going
and I was just cooking over the fire 'cause it's just...
It's there and you've got a few hours to kill.
It's just me. It's just simple and I just...
I like it looking simple,
but just, like, the flavours just outdo the simplicity.
Crazy that your competition's come down to some chicken on a skewer.
Yeah.
Let's hope this doesn't send you home.
So, I reckon sauce it up.
Yep. We'll get stuck in.
Yeah. Give it a nice squeeze of lime.
Yes, sir. Enjoy.
Thanks, mate. Thanks, mate.
If I may say, this looks pretty stunning.
Sure does, and it smells amazing. Yeah.
I think maybe round 1 needed to happen, you know,
like, for him to go, "That ain't me."
Yeah.
And for him to just go, "The food that I cook
"that I love to cook is good enough," you know?
"It is great."
Well, well, well.
He's not in the room in front of us, but...
Very, very, very, very, very good dish.
(UPLIFTING MUSIC)
Like, my mouth is still salivating. (LAUGHS)
As far as the cooking goes, brilliant cooking on the chicken.
It was perfectly cooked.
Just the right amounts of crusty, lacquered garnish in there,
the smoke off the hibachi.
And he stood there. Did you see him? Did you see him cooking it?
Didn't leave its side.
Every one minute, 90 seconds, he was basting, turning,
baste, turn, baste, turn,
and that has resulted in
an absolutely perfect little skewered chicken.
Well, I have to say that was
lip-smackingly, smile-inducingly joyful 3D food.
You know, it really just leapt off the plate
in terms of the flavours going on here.
There's layers of that beautiful toothsome, smoky, juicy chicken,
then all of the zingy, vibrant elements of the salad.
And the sauce - the sauce just brings everything together.
It's a salad that's come from a guy who's at the top of his game
because the charring of the cucumbers and the corn
and the fresh herbs and the spice
and then the dressing is just so well balanced
and zingy and fiery.
And he knows the food now
that he should be cooking in this competition.
And, yes, it's simple, but it's just done differently.
It's done his way and that's why it's so good.
Good luck, Cath.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
This dish is not, uh, what I envisaged that it would be,
but I've got something on the plate and I love the flavours.
Hi, Cath. Hey, Cath.
Hey. How are you going?
Is there a tiny little bit of hope
that my ugly, delicious flavours work?
Alright. Have you remembered to breathe?
Yeah. Good.
You know, coming in today,
I just wanted to celebrate where I've come from,
so I've done that and I was really happy with my cook,
but I'm quite disappointed how it's now presented.
Sure.
So, I just have to just breathe and accept that.
I really wanted this to be, you know,
a beautiful biscuit with a dome
surrounded by the dippin' dots with some flowers.
So, I had a vision.
It's really not looking like that, but...
(MELISSA AND CATH LAUGH)
And, look, I did change my parfait to a darker chocolate...
Yeah.
..so I am happy I've done that, yeah.
Well, I think it's time for you
to finish dressing your plate to your taste.
Right. So, how do we do this now?
ANDY: Yeah!
Just there! Let's go. Yeah. Amazing.
Oh, there you go.
Thanks, Cath. JOCK: Thanks, Cath.
Thank you. Thanks so much.
OK.
It's fair to say that this is not what Cath had envisaged serving us.
It can't be. No.
I think she put it in the fridge. She only put it in the fridge?
She put it in the fridge, not the freezer.
Yeah, so, I think it was that. Yeah.
The flavour profile of that sort of raspberry Davidson plum chocolate
and then the anglaise from the dippin' dots,
it's a classic flavour profile, it's familiar, it's comforting.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with that particular part of it,
but you look at the execution of what's happened
and your heart kind of has to break for her.
The flavour's not bad.
Like, it's kind of, like, chocolate mousse-y-flavoured.
The Davidson plum sauce is more raspberry, kind of,
than Davidson plum.
It's nice enough in itself. It's very sharp.
I'm gutted for Cath 'cause I know she was trying so hard today
and she was so positive.
I think the biggest thing that Cath might regret
is not cooking something that she's so familiar with
as a whole dish.
And it does...
I'm upset for Cath because you never want to see someone
who's been such a great character,
who's cooked so many good dishes in this competition,
who's on the doorstep of Finals Week go out like this.
So, um, it's unfortunate.
Brent, Cath, take a big old deep breath.
You each came here with a dream to be realised...
..and we know that neither of you are ready to let it go just yet.
But this is still a competition
and a decision had to be made.
Brent, your dish was simple.
It only had three elements.
But...
..it was smoky, succulent chicken.
It had a supercharged salad
and a sauce that brought it all together.
Honestly, mate, we couldn't fault it.
Cath,
your dish wasn't everything that you wanted it to be today...
No, no.
..and we're sorry to tell you
that there were some serious flaws in it as well.
Yeah, yeah.
In addition to that, you came up against a guy
who is at the top of his game right now.
Absolutely. Yep.
So, in the end, the decision for us was clear.
Easy. I'm sorry, Cath. You're going home.
Yep.
Give her a round. You can clap now.
(LAUGHS) ANDY: You're not going anywhere yet!
Oh, mate.
(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)
Cath... Oh, man.
..honestly, you are the reason why this very competition exists.
Yep, yep.
This is a place for people like you, and like me...
Mm!
..to take what we thought were only dreams...
Yep. ..and try and make 'em a reality.
You pour your heart into every dish and we can taste that.
We loved some of your dishes.
Those lemon curd mascarpone choux buns. Remember those?
Yeah, I do. That squid ceviche you made?
They will live on with us.
Yeah.
You embody the very spirit of this kitchen
and that's why we love MasterChef,
that's why we love you.
Thank you.
I hope you know just because you're leaving today
doesn't mean your food journey's over.
Oh.
You will always be a member of this beautiful MasterChef family, Cath.
Yeah.
How would you describe your time in the kitchen?
Oh, look, um...
(TEARFULLY) Oh, it's just been an absolute joy.
Thank you so much. I'm just so proud of myself.
Top 5 in MasterChef - not many people can say that.
I'm a legend. You're a legend!
(ALL LAUGH)
Rhiannon, you've been pretty close to Cath over your time.
What have you got to say about her?
We're like the original roomies.
We've been roomies the whole way... Yeah.
..and we've had a bloody blast.
Like, it has been so good.
Cath, I think you can tell from everyone here
we've loved having you in the kitchen,
but it's time to say goodbye.
Come and give us a hug. Aww, thank you.
You should be so proud of what you've done.
Thanks for being so... Thank you. Oh, no worries. Well done.
I am so proud of where I've come in the competition.
Oh, you're a legend. Thank you so much.
Thanks for cooking for us.
Top 5. Goodness me!
It has been joyful...
'Bye, darlin' girl.
Yeah.
Love you heaps. Yeah, forever.
Yeah. OK.
I am so proud of myself for taking that leap
and doing this.
Thank you, guys. Thank you so much.
Yay! Whoo! Whoo!
Give it up for Cath, everybody! (ALL CHEER)
I'm an advocate for women over 50.
Julie Goodwin inspired me, really,
and, honestly,
it's gonna be exciting if I've inspired someone else.
NARRATOR: This week on MasterChef Australia...
THEO: I'm so close to the end now.
DECLAN: I want this more than anything
..just four remain.
BRENT: It's been a long journey and now I'm here.
I'm hungry for it.
And...
RHIANNON: Oh, my God! Hello, guys. How are you?
Peter Gilmore! (LAUGHS)
To make it through this week...
You're not getting the recipe,
so you've got to remember it.
..they'll have to impress
the best of the best.
You will need to keep up with
Curtis Stone!
JOCK: Let's go!
Who will make it to the grand finale?
Captions by Red Bee Media