Previously on MasterChef Australia...
..a team service challenge...
There's such an energy about a commercial kitchen.
Service, please.
..took pub classics and cranked them up.
That's an absolute pub banger right there.
If this was at my pub, I would order this
time and time again. Same!
Then... Curtis Stone!
..the Orange Team cooked along with Curtis.
Lots of flavour, lots of balance, lots of texture
and it's a really sophisticated dish.
But we had to say farewell to Sue.
Yeah, Sue!
(ALL CHEER)
And...
The winner will have their sauce sold in Coles stores
across the country until sold out.
..Sumeet proved she truly is a sauce boss.
(ALL CHEER)
And she's first into this year's top 10.
Tonight,
an elimination
means it's curtains for one more home cook.
(GASPS)
Morning.
It's very...show...showesque.
Everyone's very hesitant to come down the front.
I know! You guys are so, like, subdued today.
You know what we're all thinking. What's behind the freaking curtain?
You know, that's what's happening.
There's something up their sleeve today.
There always is.
Morning, all.
ALL: Morning.
Firstly, welcome back, Pezza.
Because you missed the last elimination cook,
you're straight into this one.
Thanks for that.
(ALL LAUGH)
This may be the most important cook of the competition so far.
Make it through today,
and you're in the top 10 of MasterChef 2024.
Well, whether or not you make it to top 10
is going to come down to what you choose to do
with whatever's behind here.
Sumeet is already in,
which means there's only nine spots left
in top 10.
Sumeet, how does it feel to be up there today?
Oh, my gosh, it's a great feeling.
(LAUGHS) She's basking.
(LAUGHS)
Top 10 for me was when everything started to click.
This is the big milestone.
It's a point where you should be starting to hit your stride
and really find your spot and your style.
You're like, "Wow, I am proving things to myself
"that I never thought could be possible."
Being so close to the top 10, I can just envision it.
Sumeet, my girl, I need to...
I need to join that Punjabi princess in top 10.
Righto. Be warned.
This challenge is going to be a meaty one.
Nothing beats a solid, succulent plate packed with protein, right?
Going down the pub, big parmy fan,
it comes out crispy, the size of your head,
and you are just ready to dive in, right?
As a Frenchman, out of everything, I think I would go for a nice steak.
Yes, there it is.
A bit of black pepper, flash on the grill.
Oh! Oh, my God, I fancy a steak!
I just liked the black pepper dance.
(ALL LAUGH) That was nice!
Yeah.
(ALL LAUGH)
Are we cooking steaks?
Right, who's keen to cook a meaty dish today?
Pezza, are you ever not keen?
(ALL LAUGH)
Well, not so fast.
We've got a juicy twist for y'all.
(GROANING) WOMAN: Of course!
Ready to find out what it is?
Yes. Give it to us.
Oh!
(GASPS)
POH: There's no meat or fish.
Starting to work it out?
Notice anything missing?
Protein. Protein.
You got it.
MAN: The good stuff.
That is right, there is no meat.
This pantry is entirely plant-based.
Oh. Oh!
SAVINDRI: There's no fish, there's no beef, there's no pork
and there's no butter,
which is not a world I want to live in, honestly,
but it's fine.
So the challenge is -
choose a dish that is renowned for its meatiness
and recreate it minus the meat.
(GROANS)
JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Pezza. (ALL LAUGH)
How do you feel?
Yeah, no, a bit, uh, different to me.
I don't think I've ever cooked a vegetarian dish or...
ANDY: Not one?
No, I don't think so.
(ALL LAUGH)
You will have 75 minutes.
Everything you need is either up here or in the garden.
The MasterChef pantry is off limits.
The cook to bring us
the least impressive plant-based dish
will be going home.
Your time...
..starts now.
MAN: Does anyone see maple syrup anywhere?
Garlic.
I need so much stuff.
Can anyone see any vinegar anywhere?
ANDY: We all love meat.
You know, I love meat. We all love meat.
But we're not getting it today.
I just realised, no eggs, no butter, no cream...
Yeah. ..never mind no meat.
I know. What are you supposed to do?
So now I just realise, all the time,
that I never thought of - how do you do without?
For these guys to succeed, we don't want to miss the meat.
You know? Yeah.
I think for me, the word for me is 'satisfying'.
I want to feel satisfied
because the thing that is often missing with plant-based
is mouthfeel and umami.
So if you can find those in a dish, you're good.
Well, I think that that's where your choice of vegetable,
if you are, if that's the route you're going to go,
is very important.
You know, things like celeriac, really meaty when it's cooked down.
Things like cabbage, things like eggplant, you know,
they do give off both texture
and the depth of flavour
when you cook it right that meat does.
I think we've come a long way
from just having a cauliflower steak in restaurants.
That just doesn't fly anymore.
I want to see people sort of take the vegetables and transform them
into something that is meaty.
So, I think in terms of finding a bottom dish,
it's going to come down to that.
Oh, jackfruit, where are you?
I am feeling OK, actually,
'cause I do cook with a lot of vegies
and if I play to my strengths and go Sri Lankan,
which is what I'm doing,
most of the cuisine is plant-based.
Hey, Sav.
Hello, judges. How's it going?
Very, very good.
What are you gonna cook?
I'm making you a Sri Lankan shepherd's pie
with jackfruit.
A Sri Lankan shepherd's pie? Yeah.
OK, I like it.
So the jackfruit will obviously be...
The meaty bit. The "meaty" bit.
Yeah. Um, are we gonna get,
like, mashed potatoes? Yes.
You are getting mashed potatoes. I'm going coconut today.
A coconut mash?
Yeah.
Right, I'm looking forward to trying that.
How is the jackfruit meaty?
This is actually one of my favourite things to eat in Sri Lanka,
'cause it's actually got a super meaty texture
'cause it's got the threads kind of like.
Can I taste? Yeah. Teach me.
So it's got these like little fibres in it.
Texture of it. Wow.
I'm actually, like, not going to chop it too finely either
'cause I want, like, that chunk to it.
We've all had shepherd's pie so there's a reference there.
Your job is to make it better than that reference.
Yeah, no pressure. Right?
Good luck. Thank you.
It is very strategic for me to go with jackfruit.
It's got these natural fibres that mimics the texture of meat.
And I am going to cook it
with some really deeply roasted spices
to create that same kind of depth of flavour
that you'd get naturally from meat.
Flavour is my game and my name,
so that's what's going to keep me here.
SUMEET: Ah. Smells good.
Good one, Meems.
Is there a way to turn this on?
Oh, I think it just goes on when it plugs in.
Is it switched on at the switch? Yeah. It is.
Ah, there's an on button. (LAUGHS)
Makes sense.
Checks out. Checks out.
I dated a vegan for three years,
so plant-based came out every now and then.
Um, it wasn't my cup of tea,
but, um, it does taste delicious when you get it right, for sure.
I feel like my really good cooks have been
kind of that sweet/savoury vibe,
and that's what I'm going for today.
I am taking inspiration
from fried chicken and waffles today.
Yeah.
I love chicken and waffles
and I've cooked oyster mushrooms before as fried chicken.
Honestly, oyster mushrooms as fried chicken tastes incredible,
if not better than
the original fried chicken and waffles.
And let me tell you why.
Because those oyster mushrooms
have so many natural little crags on them
that that's where all the batter sticks to.
And everyone knows the best part of fried chicken is the batter.
It's not the actual chicken itself.
So that's why I think this is going to be
better than the original.
This morning, I'm making waffles.
Waffles.
Go, Pezza. Go on, mate.
Come on, Big P.
Oh, look, I'm under...under the pump today.
Uh, this is not up my element.
As the butcher boy,
plants don't work for me.
Plants are for gardens, you know?
Plants are to make your house look pretty,
not for eating.
I've never made a dish that's just plant-based.
Today's going to be the day, by the look of it.
I'm going to try and make a burger.
So I'm going to try and make a beet burger.
Instead of a beef burger,
it's going to be a beet burger.
So beetroot, onion, bring it together in a burger,
lettuce, tomato.
I'm gonna make my own bread roll if I can get it together.
Oh, look, I love beetroot,
but I know that's going to be the hardest job of the day
to try and make it taste like beef.
I'm just going to grate the beetroot.
Going to slowly fry it off with some onion.
I'm going to do some mashed potato, bring it together
and then I'll just shallow fry them in a little bit of oil.
I'm not foreign to a beetroot.
It's really hearty and earthy, so I hope it's enough.
Stick with it. Stick with it.
We'll get there.
Oh, my goodness.
Calm your farm, Nat.
This is the first time on the black apron day
that don't have an immunity pin
and it is totally like jumping out of plane without a parachute.
Hello, Nat.
Hello. Is this your chicken not chicken?
Yeah. It is!
This looks familiar. I know, it does.
I'm doing a remake
of basically what I tried to make the other day.
But I used my immunity pin. I'm making a som tam,
basically a papaya salad,
and also fried chicken that isn't chicken,
it's made out of oyster mushrooms.
Basically doing a veg-o version,
which is kind of terrifying!
'Cause you don't have your fish sauce?
Old mate fish sauce. No, 'cause she doesn't have a pin.
(LAUGHS) Wow, wow!
Hey, guys, that's mean!
I totally forgot about that.
Are you feeling the pressure without the pin?
Oh, 100%.
Not only am I feeling the pressure,
but it's definitely not an easy thing to be cooking today.
No safety net with a pin. Yeah.
So today there's no room for error. No room for error at all.
Good luck. Good luck, Nat. Thank you so much.
So I attempted to make this dish last time at the elimination cook.
This is so not working.
Alright, I'm playing my pin.
And I've decided to do it again because it's so good.
And I'm so sad that the judges didn't get to taste my dish.
So I'm gonna recreate this dish.
I'm just kicking the garfish out
and replacing it with oyster mushrooms.
I'm feeling a lot of pressure,
because if this doesn't work, I'm going home.
You have one hour to go.
SUMEET: Go, guys.
Come on.
We got this, bro. We got this.
Yeah. Let's do it, mate.
Yeah, this is quite the challenge, you know.
I wouldn't say I'm super confident about preparing a plant-based dish.
Hello. Hi, Josh.
Josh Clarke. How is he?
I'm good. How are you? Oh, you're very, very...
What's going on? You guys make me nervous.
Why? We're here to help. Yeah, OK. Fair enough.
What's your dish?
Um, I'm doing, obviously a plant-based version of, like,
a steak in jus.
So I'm gonna make a steak from carrots.
Wow. Yeah.
And mandolin and wrap them up like the shape of a steak.
I'm gonna make the jus with carrot juice.
Right.
And then I'm going to add some candied walnuts
and some pea chips and gel if we can get to it.
OK.
That is going to be extremely sweet.
Um, have you done anything like this before?
Uh... Please say yes.
..no. Oh.
You never did!
Look, it's a black apron day.
Hopefully high risk, high reward.
Um, I'm not ready to go home yet, but...
High risk, big fall too. That's the thing.
100%.
So how are you going to convert your jus to a meat jus?
So I'm gonna juice the carrots. Yeah.
Um, and then just add the tiniest bit of xantham gum
to help thicken it, and then that'll be my jus.
Nothing else in there?
Just carrot juice jus?
Yeah.
If it falls flat, which it has a lot of potential to fall flat...
Yep.
..mate, I don't want you to leave at this time of the competition.
Me neither. Good luck.
Thank you, guys. Good luck.
I'm definitely feeling a little bit more nervous.
This is ambitious to do, a carrot steak in jus.
I'm hoping that I could replicate the meat,
but also make sure it's not too sweet.
OK...
I don't make a lot of plant-based recipes
or cooks at home,
but I'm such a meatasaurus.
I do love meat.
Um, but I am taking inspiration from a beautiful barbecue pork bun.
Everyone loves it at yum cha,
so I'm going to make it with mushrooms today
and replace the meat
and hopefully it tastes just as good.
I want you to be able to not miss the meat at all.
That's the aim of the day.
SUMEET: Yes, Gillian.
Oh, my goodness. I'm a little in shock.
Like, I cook a lot with vegies,
but there's often cheese or butter involved,
so I'm a little thrown, I'm a little spun,
but I think I've got a pretty solid plan today.
I'm going to be doing, like,
a Middle Eastern-inspired eggplant kebab,
so a play on like a shish kebab kind of thing.
Um, and hopefully my version of a labneh,
but plant-based.
So we'll see how that gets me.
I'm going to do a take on carne asada,
which is a traditional steak taco dish,
but I'm going to be doing a mushroom asada.
Mushrooms are my daughter's favourite food,
so I've learned to cook them so many different ways.
Usually not with spice like I'm going to do today.
But I know that she loves mushrooms
and this cook's going to be for her,
'cause I do miss her a lot.
I never really cook plant-based food,
but today I'm doing a plant-based spicy tuna roll.
So I'm cracking out
some plant-based seafood, essentially.
So I'm substituting tuna for tomatoes.
Tomatoes, I believe,
have one of the highest umami contents
among all Western fruit and vegetables, so...
Matches the colour.
I think I can match the texture of tuna,
so hopefully this is alright.
First time for everything.
And we'll see how we go.
Ooh.
Ooh!
That's got punch to it.
I'm feeling positive, actually.
The elements are ticking along for my Sri Lankan shepherd's pie.
I've got my jackfruit filling on, so that's underway.
I'm now doing the potatoes for my shepherd's pie.
And because it's a plant-based challenge,
the potatoes cannot have any butter in them,
which is where the creaminess comes from.
So I'm attempting to achieve that creaminess today
by using coconut milk and coconut cream
to create that fatty feel in your mouth.
SUMEET: What's that, Sav?
The mashed potato topping.
I'm also smoking my potatoes
to really amp up that depth of flavour
that you get from meat.
When you smell smoke, you always think of bacon and brisket
and things like that.
So I need to get a move on that.
And making my dark roasted blend of spices
to add to my jackfruit filling.
Can't drop the ball now.
ALEX: What kind of waffles are you making?
Like chicken and waffles? DARRSH: Yeah.
Oh, nice.
Just need this really, really hot.
Today's a plant-based challenge, but there's a lot at stake.
(LAUGHS)
I had to.
Things are going pretty good so far.
I wanted to get the waffles on straightaway
'cause they are vegan batter and I want to just see how it reacts.
My hot maple's done.
Um, chicken, that's going to go on next.
Darrsh.
We're on the waffle iron. Waffle iron, yes.
What's the dish? Chicken and waffles.
No way. Yes!
I've made fried chicken before with oyster mushrooms.
Yep. So, sorry...
..because I might sound like I'm out from a different planet...
Yeah. ..I know I'm from France,
but you made waffle without eggs?
Without eggs. Without butter, too?
Um, so I've substituted with vegan butter.
OK. I've also... To make the buttermilk,
I've used apple cider vinegar with the oat milk.
Yeah. OK. Yeah.
I dated a vegan for three years so...
Oh, are you not together anymore? Not together.
Had nothing to do with it? Yeah.
Oh, this is a tough one
because it's not just about the "meat element".
Yeah. It's also about the waffle.
Yeah. Good luck.
Good luck to you. Oh, lo-lo-lo-lo.
(LAUGHS)
I'm most nervous about the waffles.
I've done the fried chicken before 100 times.
The waffles will need to have a crunchy exterior,
but they also need to be soft and fluffy on the inside.
Big ideas, but just 45 minutes to go.
WOMAN: Yes!
Come on, guys.
It's going alright with the bread rolls.
I want to prove these for about another 15 minutes,
and then they'll need to be cooked for about 15.
I think the hardest thing is going to get the firmness
in the middle of the burger, but with mashed potato,
but we'll see what we can do.
Pezza, it looks like you've been butchering.
Are you just trying to create the sensation
just to make yourself feel better? POH: You need some more blood.
I've got the blood on the burger.
So you're making a burger?
I'm going to try and make a beet burger.
That's the hardiest vegetable that I like to eat,
to be honest with you.
Alright. Questions for you.
What do you love about the perfect meat patty?
I think juicy in the inside, but also crunchy on the outside.
If I can get that balance right,
hopefully that's the biggest worry, I think, so...
No, the biggest worry
is how you make beetroot taste like beef in a patty.
I mean, that's the whole thing with meat caramelising
when it's introduced to heat and to fire
is that whole Maillard effect, right?
Which is the actual physical changing of meat cells
to get that umami
which a beetroot just doesn't have.
So it's all on you and your technique.
That's the biggest worry.
So I think concentrate on umami.
Yeah. How do you insert that in...into beetroot?
Good luck, Josh.
Thanks, girls. See ya.
(SIGHS)
Sofia and Poh told me to concentrate on bringing some flavour
to these beetroot patties.
This jan... Una... Unami or something.
Is it namnami?
Anami?
Umami. Umami!
Well, it's... Look, I don't even know what umami is.
"Umami is the savoury or meaty taste of foods."
So I do know what it is.
I just didn't know the word.
(LAUGHS)
Yeah, I think I need to add this umami.
So my flavours are going to be a bit of horseradish for the spice
and the bit of taste.
I want a little bit of vinegar,
so I've got some red wine vinegar
to give it that little bit of acidity
and a bit of sourness.
It's all about taste.
You've just got to get it all to come together
for that perfect first bite, you know?
Got to go on your instincts, I guess,
and Pezza might pull this one off, guys.
Oh, so far,
I've basically prepped the mushrooms on my deep-fried chicken.
I need to finish this papaya salad,
need to finish the sauce to dip the mushrooms in as well.
Last time I did this dish, I played my immunity pin,
so I've got a lot of PTSD going on right now.
Hi, Nat. Hello.
How are we doing? Very good.
Now, the other day when you played your pin,
you're basically doing a very similar dish.
Yeah. So I'm making a som tam, a papaya salad.
Um, and then instead of using the garfish,
I'm going to do a deep-fried chicken.
I'm gonna do it with oyster mushrooms. So...
What about the flavours?
What is the rawness of the meat?
Oyster mushrooms have a very natural, meaty texture
and flavour anyway. I just don't want to dry it out.
I want it to be, like, moist inside
and it looks like chicken.
Fingers crossed. Good luck.
Thank you. Wow. Good luck.
This last time I used garfish and it didn't really work,
hence why I used my pin.
RIP pin.
So this time I'm going to use a deep fryer,
get it so hot
so that my oyster mushrooms are perfectly crispy.
There's a lot of pressure for me to nail the mushrooms.
Not freaking out at all.
SUMEET: Good stuff. Go, Josh.
So I've started my pea puree.
The carrot jus,
I'm starting to feel like it's coming together.
So now all focus is being applied to the carrot steak,
which is the main part of the dish.
The carrots, I'm going to slice them thinly on the mandolin
and kind of roll it around each other,
almost like a roulade in a way,
but tie it together so that it holds its shape,
and then fry it like I would a steak,
and then finish it in the oven.
Theoretically, I should still have enough time
to get the tenderness I'm looking for
to bring out some of that caramelisation
with this carrot steak.
I'm just... I'm just focused.
I got a lot to accomplish in the time I have left.
Today is all about
everything we love so much about meat
without the meat.
There are a few cooks out there who are freaking me out.
I'm super worried about the obvious, which is Pezza,
because he's picked a classic meat dish, a burger,
that everyone knows and loves.
ANDY: Had one on the weekend.
But he's using a very odd vegetable.
He's using beetroot.
I'm just worried about the meatiness.
It sounds like a vegie burger.
It sounds like a vegie burger and that's not the challenge today.
Darrsh is going on for a waffle.
Yeah, well, he's doing a fried chicken and waffle.
Ah... I like it.
Yeah, I do like it, but... No eggs, obviously.
No butter, no milk. Uh...
I keep forgetting that.
Personally, I am worried about Josh Clarke.
So he's doing a carrot steak.
He's mandolined the carrots.
He's going to tie it together
like that little croissant-style thing
and then fry it and roast it.
Ah... Not meaty.
Yeah. I think it's going to come down to editing,
both flavour and texture,
because if not, they're not going to make the top 10.
Yeah. Lo-lo-lo-lo-lo.
POH: Plant one on us.
You have 20 minutes to go.
SUMEET: Come on, guys!
Sorry.
DARRSH: You're the best to cook next to, Gill.
(LAUGHS)
Love it.
My waffles are done.
I take 'em out.
The waffles are holding up, they're crisp.
I tried a bit if the edge and it's really fluffy
on the inside as well, so I'm really happy.
My hot maple is going to go over the dish.
That's just chilli flakes, maple and cayenne pepper.
And then right now I'm onto my fried chicken,
which is the main event.
For my plant-based fried chicken,
the most important thing is recreating that batter.
I've got my wet batter, which is a buttermilk,
got my dry batter,
which is essentially a Southern seasoning.
Every single inch of that mushroom needs to be coated.
POH: Darrsh!
Hello! How are you going?
I'm going really good today. Yeah.
That looks a lot like fried chicken.
That's what I was hoping for. Yeah.
Is it gonna taste as good as it looks?
Oh, I think it tastes better than fried chicken.
Really?
Yeah. The texture is like... It's amazing.
It's almost like an in-between of a chicken breast
and a chicken thigh.
What kind of mushrooms did you use?
I used the oyster mushrooms. Yeah.
Alright. Let's hope it tastes as good as it looks.
Awesome. Thanks, Darrsh. Thanks, guys.
I'm hoping that when the judges taste this dish,
if they close their eyes...
You know what? Even if they leave their eyes open,
I'm hoping that the judges just think it's amazing fried chicken.
They won't even tell the difference that there's a mushroom in there.
GILLIAN: Oh, that looks so good. Yeah!
Hopefully it tastes good, dude.
Just waiting for this oil to heat up so I can make the chilli oil
to go on my side dish.
And these bun babies are in here cooking.
Beautiful barbecue pork buns,
and I'll be taking them out pretty much as the timer ends.
I've got to really focus on this eggplant kebab
and that these things are meaty.
I'm busy working on my muhammara.
So my capsicums.
Um, I've got the oven still proving the bread,
which I need to check on any moment now.
There's just a lot to get done still.
Um, right now I've just got my mushrooms marinating
for that mushroom taco.
And then I've just got to make my pistachio salsa.
My daughter would really enjoy those mushrooms.
But I'm here to impress the judges today, not my daughter.
I wanted to do something seafood-related today,
so even though it's a vegie challenge, uh,
this is my compromise.
They look like tuna.
They taste like tuna.
Like, they're just, for all intents and purposes,
is tuna.
So maybe tun-mato we can call it.
Roll some soosh.
I'm keen. Just, uh...
Yeah, gonna take my time, make sure it looks pretty.
The ratios are right with, like, the filling and the rice
and, um, all my garnishes are done.
I've got fresh grated wasabi,
which is just such a privilege to have.
So, yeah, I'm really excited.
Oh, whatever you're cooking, Sav, smells so good.
Oh, thanks, hon. Oh, my God, it's making me hungry.
Yum.
My little coconut mashed potato topping
for my shepherd's pie is good.
My jackfruit filling is doing its thing now.
I'm making a toasted coconut spice powder
to put through the jackfruit,
just to add, like, another little dimension of, like...
..richness.
How I'm going to achieve not missing the meat
in my version of the shepherd's pie is about being very smart
with my use of the jackfruit,
and adding in spices very carefully
to create that same kind of body
and depth of flavour that you'd get naturally from meat.
Where the hell is...?
Sav, where are you?
Sav, your stuff is burning!
That's me!
Coming!
Ooh.
It's definitely burnt.
Oh, I'm so dumb.
I don't have the time to remake the spice mix.
I'm so stupid.
I'm in trouble.
Sav, your stuff is burning!
SAV: Coming!
Oh, I'm so dumb.
I cannot be the Sri Lankan
that goes home because she burnt her spices.
I would die.
You've got 10 minutes to get yourselves into the top 10. Come on!
Looking at my burnt spice mix,
I think maybe I can actually use that burnt-ness to my favour.
I'm going to get more smokiness in there.
I add my spice mix to the jackfruit.
I think it is good,
but there's literally no time to redo things anyway.
I am placing the jackfruit
in a ring mould on the centre of my plate.
And I'm piping the potatoes on top.
God, I hope that the judges like the burnt spice mix.
You never know in this kitchen.
DARRSH: My waffles are done.
These are so crispy.
GILLIAN: Oh, it looks so good.
Time to plate my dish.
And firstly, I taste everything...
..and it tastes...
Mmm.
..epic.
My plant-based fried chicken, it tastes better than the original.
Happy? Happy.
My hot maple syrup,
it's a perfect balance of sweet,
but also a little bit of the kick from the chilli flakes.
That waffle, Darr. It's yummy, right?
Six minutes to go, guys!
Come on! (CLAPS ENCOURAGEMENT)
PEZZA: The last few minutes is hectic,
bringing the burger together.
Got the lettuce, I got the bread rolls.
Let's have a look.
Mate, they're light, they're fluffy, they're cooked.
Can you put a smile on your face? Oh, mate, this is not me today.
You know that.
The burger patty is also a worry for us. How are they?
Oh, look, mate, it's that...
I don't know.
I'm still a little bit worried
that I haven't got enough of this umami flavour.
So I've got the little blowtorch out,
and I'm giving it a bit of a burn
to try and get that little bit of umami.
I just don't know whether it's going to be enough.
Three minutes to go! Come on!
(JUDGES CLAP ENCOURAGEMENT)
Come on, guys!
I'm finishing my som tam papaya salad.
Oh, my God, so spicy.
It's a really, really punchy Thai salad.
That is heat.
It's so spicy. And I love it.
Chicken.
Last time, I left the garfish way too last-minute.
So I need to focus on the oyster mushrooms
so that I don't ruin it like the garfish.
(BEEPING)
I take my deep-fried oyster mushrooms out of the deep fryer...
..and they're looking good.
I'm so relieved.
Mmm!
Whoa! Alright.
This is my second chance cooking this dish.
And I really hope the judges love it.
Oh, yeah. That's it.
JOSH: My carrot steak has had a few minutes in the oven.
And plating up now, I've got my carrot steak on there,
I've got the pea puree, the orange gel,
my candy walnuts and my carrot jus ready to go.
You were going toe to toe with a steak. Um...
Is that cooked? Um...
No time left for mistakes. You have one minute to go!
I run straight over to grab that blowtorch,
to add some caramelisation on the outside of the carrots.
30 seconds left.
Come on! (JUDGES CLAP ENCOURAGEMENT)
And hopefully it's meaty enough to keep me from going home today.
Here we go. You have 10...
JUDGES: Nine,
eight,
seven,
six,
five,
four,
three,
two,
one.
NAT: That's beautiful!
Well done, Nat. Oh!
Oh, my...
How'd you go? Yeah, yeah.
DARRSH: That was a really fun cook.
Honestly, I know that there was a lot of pressure on it,
like elimination, top 10,
but I think it looks like a restaurant dish.
Oh, I don't know today. This is not a cook for me.
I'd much prefer to go home on this one
than go home cooking a nice big steak.
It was one change.
I mean, we asked them to cook a plant-based dish,
which would normally use protein
and really make us not miss the meat.
Shall we see how they did? Yeah.
Go on, Savi. Go, Savi P.
On you, Sav.
Get it, Sav.
I am definitely nervous.
I really hope the burnt spice mix has worked in my favour.
Hello, Sav.
Hello. Savindri.
What have you got?
I'm calling this my Sri Lankan "Shepherd-less" Pie.
Cute!
Always got a good little name, don't you? Huh?
The pun game has to be strong, you know.
Is it good enough to get you into the top 10, though?
I really hope it's good enough to get into the top 10.
I've put all my love and spice work into that jackfruit,
because it's one of my favourite things,
and when I ate it...
Personally, I would have put it in a toasty with a bit of cheese,
and I would have been so happy.
Um, but that's just me.
Did I forget to say that was a yes or no question?
Well, yes.
Let's go with yes! Yes. OK. Bye-bye.
It's up to you. Let's go with yes. We'll taste.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thanks, Sav. Thank you.
JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Thank you.
Well...
..I loved it.
(THEY CHUCKLE)
She smashed it.
The jackfruit really, really worked well
in term of getting the texture of what's supposed to be meat.
You could tell that she's comfortable using jackfruit.
The thing with jackfruit is it just takes on
whatever you braise it in.
As soon as you combine that with Sav's Sri Lankan flavours,
it's money, like, it's perfect.
The spice work in that is just seamless. Beautiful.
I really like the mash.
I thought it'd be really strange with all that coconut in it,
but she's used it very sparingly,
and the texture is perfect and creamy.
I think it's a great dish.
I think, if you fed Sav's dish to 10 people,
nine of them would think it was meat. Yeah.
Texture is near identical to that pulled pork, pulled chicken.
So, really, really clever choice of ingredients.
Good luck, Pez.
This challenge got me cooking well out of my comfort zone.
I tried to get this umami flavour into these beetroot patties.
But I don't know if I've done enough.
Oh, they look awesome!
(CHUCKLES)
Pezza, what have you cooked?
This is my beetburger, a nice crunchy slider bread roll,
some horseradish mayo
and my beetroot patties with some salad.
You can take the boy out of the butcher,
but you can't take the butcher out of the boy.
How did you go without meat today?
Oh, look, guys, it was a tough one for me today.
I really struggled to comprehend that.
That just didn't sit in with me.
I haven't tasted the burger before. I've never done it before.
I've made a vegie burger once in the shop before,
because a lady asked for it
and they loved 'em.
But never again. Because that's not what I do, so...
Yeah, I'm really scared today, I'll be honest with you.
Thanks, Pezza. We're going to dig in.
Thanks for your time. Cheers, mate.
See yous.
For the first time making a plant-based roll...
..that thing is dynamite.
It's light, it's fluffy, it's airy.
It looks great.
It's really soft.
But I'm really worried about that patty.
I think he was close, but then so far away.
There's one edge that is quite caramelised,
and it has that kind of near chewiness
that a beefburger patty has.
But the patties are so big, and it's really mushy.
I enjoyed eating the burger,
but it was slightly more vegie burger
than meat-imitating vegie burger for me.
It really doesn't have the depth, the umami -
all that joyful, delicious stuff that meat brings.
I don't think he's inserted
enough of that flavour profile into that patty.
The patty,
or the burger - supposed to be - is watery,
there's nothing exciting with the texture.
In fact, I wonder - why just beetroot?
Um, it's sweet. I'm a little bit concerned now.
I'm going to go in and bat for him a little bit on the patty.
I have had a burger in France
that had a rare patty,
and the sensation was actually quite similar.
But what it's missing is that depth and umami.
I really admire that,
even though his head was having trouble getting around it,
he's tried to make up for it
by bringing up that charred smokiness,
but it hasn't really gotten there, has it?
Go, Joshy.
Thanks, guys.
I'm not sure if the carrot steak
replicates almost having a red meat steak in jus.
I'm just hoping that it's just enough
to keep me out of the bottom...
..and from going home today.
Get inspired by our fabulous home cooks.
How are we going, guys? Good.
What's the dish?
Plant-based steak and jus.
I've made a carrot steak with a carrot jus,
as well as candied walnuts, my pea puree, and an orange gel.
I think we'll taste now. Thanks, Josh.
JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Good luck. Thanks, guys.
Thanks, mate.
I just don't think it's the right dish for this challenge.
I wish he'd executed it perfectly to give himself a chance,
but, unfortunately, he hasn't.
It definitely doesn't give off the texture of a steak,
it definitely doesn't give off the look of a steak,
and it definitely doesn't give off the flavour of a steak.
It hasn't cooked for nearly long enough at all.
I'm worried for Josh, like, this is not his best work.
He has missed the brief by so much.
It looks like a fine-dining dish,
but I don't think that's relevant right now.
As pretty as that dish was,
there's nothing about it that says the wholesome generosity of meat.
By torching the top to try and get that, I don't know,
caramelisation of steak,
he's just made it taste burnt.
The jus is nothing like jus. It just tastes like carrot.
Because it is. It's just carrot.
I feel he hasn't hit the mark on several levels.
To start off with, all the sauces -
the orange gel, the pea puree, the carrot jus -
have sort of got this sweetness to it.
So I'm really worried for Josh.
Good luck, Darrsh. Go, Darrsh.
I'm feeling fantastic. I've smashed this challenge.
I don't want to sound arrogant.
Honestly, I don't, I don't.
Um... But, like, I felt so good about that cook.
Hey, Darrsh. Darrsh.
Can you reveal your dish, please? What have you made?
I've brought you fried chicken and waffles
with not chicken, obviously! (CHUCKLES)
And a hot maple syrup.
Would you please finish your dish? Of course. Thank you so much.
Wow. Look at that.
Whoa! Oh-ho-ho-ho!
Thank you.
Darrsh, how have you changed as a cook
since the beginning of this competition?
I mean, looking at your shoulders, you're getting bigger and bigger.
What's happening to you?
I'm actually getting bigger down here.
That's what I meant!
Um, I've changed so much.
I'm really proud of this dish in particular today,
because I think there's actually not that many elements on the plate,
realistically.
At the start of the competition,
I just would have tried to throw 100 elements on the plate
and just see which one stuck.
Thank you so much. Thank you, guys.
Thanks, Darrsh. Cheers, Darrsh.
I cannot handle how much I love that dish.
The thought of meat didn't even enter my mind.
That crispy, chunky dredging,
and the seasoning on that chicken,
is just visually, texturally and flavour-wise...
It just hits all the marks of fried chicken.
I mean, you can see clearly, it looked like bits of chicken legs.
Yeah! It's just unbelievable.
The same colour, the same separations.
I mean, it's spot-on.
This golden, plant-based waffle,
it's just crisp in all the right places.
It's sweet, it's fluffy in the middle.
It just soaked up all of the goodness
that's going on in his chilli maple mix in there.
I am so impressed with Darrsh.
Gill, what have you made us?
Barbe-shroom buns.
So, it's a take on barbecue pork buns.
I think the filling is lovely.
Instead of the pork, you have these lovely mushrooms.
I think it's a tasty dish.
Crispy... ALEX: This is my take on, like,
a lamb mezze plate,
with charred eggplant muhammara
and a whipped cashew.
I actually adore the eggplants
because all this lovely spice, the sweetness,
you know, the right seasoning.
Mimi, what have you made?
Mushroom frites aux pois.
So, steak and chips? Steak and chips.
That sauce, the kind of mushroom sauce,
that is dynamite, I love it.
The greens are nice. The mushroom...
..it is extremely salty.
Lochy?
LOCHY: Carne asada, but with mushroom.
And there's carrot tequila and habanero hot sauce as well.
Is it near to a beef taco?
I don't think so.
It's just a mushroom texture.
They don't have the bite that a steak has.
I feel like he missed the mark a bit.
Harry. Hey, guys.
What have you cooked, mate?
Obviously made sushi,
it's my plant-based take on a spicy tuna roll.
Instead of tuna, I've used a marinated tomato.
Let's have a taste. Thanks, Harry. Awesome. Thanks, guys.
Thanks, Harry. Thanks.
It's a one-biter, isn't it? Mm-hm.
Can tomato be a substitute for tuna?
Nearly, not quite.
He's cooked the rice really well.
He's wrapped it nice and tightly with the seaweed.
He's got the right balance in his sauces.
But when I think about what I love when I eat sushi,
it is that rich fattiness of the seafood that's in there.
And while I think that's a really good tuna roll
and there's a meatiness to it, there's...
I just want something a little bit more.
He's done a reasonable job. Yeah.
I feel like this is a bit of a cheeky cook,
like, there's not enough of that tomato in there to criticise.
And it is... It's very rice-heavy.
The persistence to serve seafood.
Yeah, yeah. Even when it's not! Got to give him points for that.
Go, Nati!
NAT: This dish is definitely a bit of a risk.
I've made it before, but it went wrong,
so I'm really worried right now.
Mm-hm.
SOFIA: Tell us what you've made.
I've made deep-fried oyster mushrooms.
And papaya salad, sticky rice and a jeow dipping sauce.
Yay!
Som tam made it back on the plate.
I know, I had to do it again. Yeah.
Last time, you had to abandon it because you played your pin.
What does it feel like to be cooking without your pin?
Uh, honestly, it feels pretty nerve-racking
cooking without the immunity pin.
I didn't think I was going to cook any different, but I think I am.
I just have to be smarter
about how I do the cooks. Yeah.
Alright. Thank you, Nat. We're going to taste.
Thank you. Thanks.
Thanks, Nat. JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Thank you.
I'm absolutely...
..lost.
I've never had the pleasure
to enjoy oyster mushrooms cooked so well,
tasting so well.
It's just unbelievable.
The taste and resemblance -
very much like fried chicken.
It's just unbelievable.
The whole combination is superb.
I think this is a brilliant dish.
There is no question, I'm not missing meat at all.
And the fried mushrooms,
you've got that beautiful crunchy outer coating,
and then the inside is really meaty.
I love it, I love the whole thing.
The som tam salad is the spiciest thing I've ever eaten.
Like, it's really tasty, don't get me wrong.
But it's just, yeah,
my emotions start to really come out when I have chilli like that.
Do you want to talk about it?
I don't want to talk about it. No, no.
She was so frantic in that,
in the cook where she gave up her pin,
whereas she was so much more relaxed and calm.
She probably achieved more in this plate of food as well.
The chilli heat in that is just so intense,
but it's still got the depth from the way
that she's treated the entire salad holistically
and all of those ingredients.
Overall, I mean, we know Nat knows how to balance these Thai flavours.
But she's completed the brief.
She's nailed the brief in creating something
that makes us not miss meat because it tastes meaty.
Oh, yeah. It's even better. Yeah. Hmm.
That cook was the only thing standing between you...
..and the top 10.
Some of you proved that plant-based can pack a punch.
One dish in particular deserves a special mention.
Darrsh.
It was the best not chicken and waffles we've ever had.
Well done. (CONTESTANTS CHEER AND APPLAUD)
And now for the part we're not looking forward to.
If I say your name, please step forward.
Josh Clarke.
Your dish looked refined, but it didn't resemble a steak.
Lochy.
The mushrooms didn't have the meatiness we were after
in terms of both taste and texture.
And Josh Perry.
The patties were more beet than beef.
All three dishes had executional errors,
but one of your dishes
left us missing the meat more than the others.
I'm sorry to say...
..Josh Clarke...
..you're going home.
Josh, you wanted to make your family proud
more than anything in this competition.
Be in no doubt, the moment you set foot in this kitchen,
mate, you succeeded.
Even more so now that you made it this far.
Yeah.
How are you feeling?
Yeah. Look, I'm bummed, but...
..I've learned so much from beginning till now.
I've made friends for life.
Even just being here was a dream come true.
And the fact that I made it this far,
I'm just... I'm stoked.
And I think, if you've learned one thing,
whatever you do after this competition, cook from here.
Yeah, 100%.
But, unfortunately, mate, it's time to say goodbye.
Sure. Bring it in.
I will forever be grateful...
..for the time that I spent here on MasterChef.
This experience, I think it's going to make me not only a better cook,
but a better man overall.
(CHEERING)
ANNOUNCER: This week on MasterChef Australia,
we're on cloud nine...
Oh, my... (ALL EXCLAIM)
..because it's Sweet Week.
Please welcome Adriano Zumbo!
Plus...
Every time you cook this week,
you'll be cooking for immunity.
What?!
Life is short,
so let's eat dessert first!
POH: That is unbelievably good.
It's textbook.
You've done such a great job.
That's bangin'. You know, hit it out of the park.
Captions by Red Bee Media