EMILY: Let's go, guys. Let's have some fun, guys.
Let's go. Whoo!
(CHEERING)
Oh, there's cloches!
Good morning, everyone.
CONTESTANTS: Good morning.
Knockout Week has been a wild ride.
There were three who managed to cook top dishes all week,
and they've earned a very comfy spot
up there on the gantry.
There's no doubt that Knockout Week has been tough.
And while you may be in black aprons...
..you are our top ten
and you all have what it takes to stay in this competition.
But you're going to need to fight harder
than you've fought all week,
because today, one of you is going home.
Alright, who's ready to find out
what we've got in store for you today?
Yeah.
OK. Ready?
Lift the cloche in three, two, one.
Oh! What?!
You're kidding me!
That's right. We don't have anything for you yet.
EMILY: We have to do invisible cooking.
There's nothing! So do we not have to cook?
Is this black apron fake?
Like, what are we doing now?
Today...
..the ingredients you'll be cooking with
will be handpicked...
..by your mates up on the gantry.
(LAUGHTER)
Wow. What a challenge.
I am so curious to see what these guys
are gonna come up with.
I think we became so close.
We're all kind of rooting for each other,
even though it is a competition.
So I'm kind of hoping they're going to be kind today.
You three will be heading to a local Coles store
to choose one ingredient each.
Choose carefully
because THEY will be our hero ingredients
for today's challenge.
That's so fun!
Got you, guys.
Are you ready for a little shopping trip?
Yeah. Off you go to Coles.
Come on!
Bye, guys.
I'm excited to see
what ingredients they're going to pick for you.
Me too. Mm.
Let's go. AARON: This is so fun.
ANNABEL: It's pretty fun being outside the kitchen in Coles.
It's like a little excursion.
This is like MasterChef pantry, like, on steroids.
I'm going to choose a really good ingredient
and that no-one's going home on my ingredient.
I'm going to make sure of that.
I spot the leeks.
They are super versatile.
They're in season at the moment.
So, like, they're already so delicious.
You don't need to do that much to them.
Or you can do heaps to them and be really creative
and show how far you can push yourself in the kitchen.
Hello. Do you need a hand at all?
Yeah, I'm just looking for something that's,
like, really versatile, delicious as well,
but you can use them both in eastern and western setting.
OK. Um, I recommend the 100% Aussie beef short ribs.
OK. They're great value
and they have no added hormones in them.
I think we've got a winner. Yeah, I think so.
I don't want to see anyone go home on my ingredient,
so I'm kind of leaning towards the seafood.
I feel like everyone that's cooking today loves seafood
and I reckon mussels,
because they're a really quick cook
and they have so much flavour.
They're back!
ANDY: Come on in!
We've been waiting with so much anticipation.
Oh, look at them out the front. Ooh!
So, tell us, how was the shopping trip?
It was excellent. We saw Curtis Stone.
(LAUGHTER)
Saw Pat's ice-cream on the shelf.
Saw Hannah's pie as well.
You sound like you had fun.
It's time to reveal our three hero ingredients.
Aaron, why don't you show us what you bought?
I've brought short ribs.
(CONTESTANTS EXCLAIM)
Annabel, what have you chosen?
I have chosen...
..leeks.
Did you guess it? Dammit!
Pat guessed.
And finally, Vinnie, what did you choose?
I chose...
..mussels.
CONTESTANTS: Ohhhh.
You must pick one of these three ingredients
that your fellow contestants have chosen for you.
You can cook anything you like,
but you must hero the ingredient you choose in your dish.
The least impressive dish will send its maker home.
We're giving you 75 minutes
and full access to the pantry and garden.
ALL: Your time starts now!
Tomatoes.
Short ribs. Leeks, mussels. It's not too bad.
I think this is...
Actually, they're being pretty nice.
Short ribs are really popping out to me.
But then I've been having a little play around
with like a seafood pasta thing.
Anchovies.
So maybe I should go with the mussels.
Oh, boy. Uh, I'm not sure about this one. Ha-ha.
Looking at all these ingredients,
and I'm not really getting a whole lot of inspiration
at the moment from any of them.
Yeah, not a great scenario.
OK. Come on, Hannah!
(INDISTINCT SHOUTING)
Yeah, Casper.
(GRUNTS)
Today's elimination is unusual because not only have
the safe contestants chosen the ingredients,
but we've asked them to hero the ingredient that they choose,
and it's a lot harder than people think.
Definitely.
For me, hero-ing means the dish can't live without it.
Yes. Yeah.
It can be difficult to hero an ingredient,
especially something like leeks. Yeah, yeah.
I think the thing that's going to make a difference today,
in terms of actually achieving what you've just said,
is having clarity right from the get-go.
They're coming to the position
where they cannot play safe now in the top ten.
We don't want to be busy with the obvious.
We want some exciting dishes.
Today, I've chosen Aaron's short ribs.
For me, this is a bit of an easy decision.
I think leeks and mussels, nothing was really screaming out
to me in terms of something I love to cook with.
Short rib, I love cooking with at home.
So, today, I'm gonna do a massaman with short rib,
and I'm gonna serve it
with some potato mash on the bottom.
In terms of hero-ing ingredients,
it's going to be one that should be pretty easy to hero.
It's quite hard to have a meal with short rib
where it's not the main ingredient.
A massaman, it's honestly just my favourite curry,
and it's something that the judges
probably haven't seen from me before, Thai cuisine.
You want the short rib to be full of flavour,
and you want it to be tender and juicy and delicious.
I want to add in some banging spices.
It has chilli,
but because of the coconut and the palm sugar,
it has this nice sweetness and acidity
that cuts through the chilli,
and you get this gentle heat in the back of your throat.
It's just so delicious.
I'm trying not to let myself get overwhelmed,
but nothing's really singing to me.
I'm looking at beef ribs.
But then 75 minutes isn't a long time.
Then I turn my attention to the mussels.
I've cooked mussels quite a lot,
but, again, I like them done really simply.
And my last resort are the leeks.
Last choice. Absolutely last choice.
But maybe I can do something creatively with the leeks.
Alright, let's go.
I'm very surprised that I'm landing on leeks,
but I feel like I've got an idea,
but it's not fully formed.
Uh, I'm going to do a tofu cream with leeks
and some scallops.
Uh, it's kind of a big swing
in terms of flavour combinations.
I feel like I am confident
now that I've set my mind on leeks.
(LAUGHS) That didn't sound convincing.
It is a very conceptual dish,
and I'm a little bit nervous that if this doesn't land,
I could be going home.
I'm most worried about just balancing all the flavours.
I've really got to execute and hero the leek.
I've chosen to make a beef rendang
out of the short ribs
and I'm gonna do a roti jala on the side.
And it's a really good challenge.
And they got us three wonderful ingredients.
So I'm going to try my best to focus on
making sure that the short ribs shine.
I know there's a lot of different beef rendangs,
but I learnt my one from my Malaysian friend's mum
and she likes it to be really spicy
and a little bit sour as well.
I'm going to focus on flavour bombing
and what better to do than a curry?
So I'm going to flavour bomb them
and if not, I'm going home and I don't want to go home.
Feeling pretty good.
I chose the leeks from Annabel today.
I really love working with leeks.
I'll be making a charred leek agnolotti
with a leek volute, some pickled grapes,
roasted hazelnuts and some crispy leeks as well.
Trying to block the apron colour out today.
Just cook a good dish. I cook my best
when I have a really clear image and just go for it.
So that's what I'm planning on doing today.
Show us what you've got! One hour to go!
(THEY SHOUT ENCOURAGEMENT)
Keep it up!
I'm feeling pretty good today.
I actually have been looking to cook with mussels
for a while now.
I feel like for the past few cooks,
I've been leaning into my heritage.
So, today, I'm gonna lean into my travels
and I actually love fusion.
So I'm really excited by this dish.
Alyona. Alyona.
Hi. Mussels.
Beautiful mussels.
Yes. Vinnie's mussels. What are you making?
Making some steamed mussels.
So I'm gonna do Japanese dashi broth
with some kombu, bonito.
Um, I'm gonna put some shallots, fennel throughout it.
Then finish it with anchovy, lemon, pine gratado.
And I'm gonna do some Russian buns
to soak up the sort of flavours with it, and...
Hold on, hold on. Whoa!
French-Japanese broth with a Russian bun
and an Italian sprinkle.
Uh, well, I mean, yeah, a little bit of fusion there.
That's a lot of flavours, isn't it?
Yeah, and you're talking around the world now.
Do you think we will miss the mussels?
OK, I see what you're saying.
The mussels have to be essential to your dish.
Yes. Good luck.
I am freaking out right now.
It's an elimination day.
If the mussels are going to get lost,
I'm gonna go home.
After the judges' visit,
I'm kind of rethinking about all of the flavours
I'm trying to put into this dish.
Sometimes fusion can lead to confusion,
so I'm just going with all the Japanese flavours.
Last year, me and my best friend went to Japan...
..and it's been one of the most inspiring experiences for me,
and I've always wanted to push myself
to experiment with these flavours
a little bit more.
So, today,
I'm going to tap into this
and try to get some umami flavours into mussels
while still making mussels the hero of my dish.
Today, I've chosen Vinnie's mussels.
I've got this Italian seafood pasta
I've been practising
so that would be a good way to hero these mussels.
I'm going to make a mussel pasta with
an anchovy and tomato butter
that I'm going to start with pretty soon.
And I'm hoping to serve it with
a little bit of an Italian-style chilli oil.
Believe it or not,
I actually haven't cooked mussels that often.
I've been practising a little bit with them.
But, um, yeah, it's only in recent years
that I've even really enjoyed eating them that much.
I never really liked mussels until I went to Italy
and had a really beautiful plate of mussels there.
And I was like, "Oh, these are really yummy!"
Hannah, are you making pasta? Yes!
Makes me proud. That's it. That's the way!
And I'm using anchovies for you as well.
My favourite!
Cooking pasta, I haven't done it in the kitchen yet.
So hopefully I can pull off a really beautiful pasta dish.
But I do cook pasta at home quite a lot.
So hopefully that gives me an edge up today.
I think when you're making Italian food
and having these mussels,
it's sort of taking me back to my little holiday
in Italy with my mum.
So, yeah, that's a nice, fun memory to have
while I'm cooking today.
I've come in here with an attitude of, like,
I'm going to have fun
and I'm going to try new things I haven't done,
which, you know, might be a bit silly
wearing a black apron,
but also I do want to push myself.
As I'm not super familiar with mussels,
I'm trying to work within the knowledge that I have
and try and make that dish as mussel-forward as I can.
I've gone with Vinnie's mussels
and I'm going to do tom yum mussels.
Oh, Casper, that smells good. Nice.
Tom yum is a Thai soup
that's sweet-and-sour.
A little bit of spice as well.
And I think those flavours of tom yum
go really well with mussels.
Hey, Casper. Casper.
How are you guys going? What are you making?
I'm going to be doing tom yum mussels.
Oh, nice.
Just spend my time making this sauce,
like, as good as possible.
Will there be any of the mussel liquor
that goes into the sauce?
No. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to steam the mussels.
And then I'm going to make the tom yum
almost separate on the side.
Almost like a finishing sauce to the mussels.
Just remember we're looking for the hero
to be the mussels today.
Yeah.
Still a little bit to think about with this dish.
Yeah, of course. Yeah. Good luck.
Thank you. Good luck, Casper.
I'm feeling pretty confident in my idea,
but I really need to make sure that this dish is,
like, unapologetically mussel-flavoured.
I'm starting to think in my mind
how I can put mussels into the other components,
like the rice and maybe even the broth itself.
I've got to think about what I want to do.
Show us what you've got! 28 minutes to go.
(THEY SHOUT ENCOURAGEMENT)
Keep pushing!
I have got my leeks on the go, which are almost done.
So they're going to be really caramelised and soft.
Today, I'm cooking
a lot of unusual flavour combinations.
A very weird dish, in a way.
I've got a silken tofu and miso cream.
The pan-roasted leeks are gonna be sitting on top of that,
and they should be really soft, sweet and buttery.
On top of that, I'm going to have seared scallops,
which are just gonna add a really nice texture,
a slight bite, but also sweetness
that's really going to complement the leeks.
I've also decided it kind of needs a fat element.
So that's where the gochujang butter glaze
is going to come in.
Some crispy leeks,
which are going to add a textural element
and some yuzu pickled apple.
There's a lot of components...
..and the key is going to be,
how am I going to balance all these out?
I've really got to taste, taste, taste.
It is very important that I hero the leek.
That's the most important thing today.
What are you serving with the curry, Luke?
I was going to do a mashed... A pomme puree and then a roti.
OK.
I'm going alright.
I've got my massaman with the short rib
in the pressure cooker going.
They're going to need to cook until
pretty much the last minute.
Luke. Luke, how are you?
Hey. Good, thanks. What are you making?
I'm going to do a massaman Thai curry.
Normally, I'd put potatoes in the massaman
and cook it for a long time. Oh, yeah.
But because it's going in the pressure cooker,
if I put potatoes in it, it'll just muddy down the whole thing.
They'll just go to mush
and then I'll lose all the flavour.
So I'm gonna serve it on top of a pomme puree is the plan.
I'm just wondering if doing a French-style pomme puree
with a curry makes sense.
You know, is pomme puree going to be better than rice
in this situation?
To my mind, that would taste delicious.
I hope that transplants to the plate.
OK. All the best. Yeah?
Good luck, Luke. Thank you.
I'm now starting to second-guess,
is this really the right way to do it?
Maybe think of the richness of the pomme puree as well.
OK.
On an elimination day,
do I want to be doing something that isn't exactly traditional?
I think my trick will be,
I'll make some rice and just put it on the stove.
And then, hopefully,
once I can taste the pomme puree
and see how it goes,
then I can decide which one I'd like to use.
Is the mashed potato crazy, like...?
With a curry?
Think about what you want to eat.
So I'm just working on the base for my tom yum.
Yeah, I think it's all coming along pretty well.
Um, I had a really good chat with the judges, actually.
Just, like, make sure that I've, like,
got that mussel flavour really in there.
So I'm thinking, is there other ways
that I can pack that flavour in?
I just put my rice on.
I put some mussels that I've got into my rice.
Um, and hopefully all the flavour from the mussels
will come out while that cooks.
So I'm trying to get, like, maximum mussel flavour in there.
I've decided to add pipis to the tom yum base.
By adding pipis rather than the mussels,
I should have
a more complex base for this sauce
that still is mussel-flavoured,
but just might be a bit more unique.
Has he put clams in it? Mm-hm.
That's just distracting from the mussels.
I know. A lot.
God, I hope this rice thing works out.
Leave nothing in the tank!
15 minutes to go! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
AARON: Let's go! ANNABEL: Let's go, Hannah!
HANNAH: Jeez! Going so fast.
Pretty stressed because I've got a lot to do.
For my mussel pasta, I'm going to roll my pasta soon
and get that sitting.
And then, I'm going to work on my pangrattato,
and then I'm going to get onto my sauce.
OK.
I have made pasta at home quite a lot
but never in 75 minutes.
I'm feeling a little bit rushed now.
Come on, Hannah.
I'm starting to feel stressed because my pasta needs
a minute to rest,
but then it also needs to be cooked.
And then, I've got to balance out my sauce
and cook my mussels and make sure they're perfect.
So, I've got to go clean my mussels.
Mussel-cleaning is... (SIGHS) ..is a very tedious task.
It takes so long!
I am feeling a little bit like... Oh!
Time's just running down just way too fast.
I do have to motor because I'm not ready to go home yet.
VINNIE: Look at Hannah's dough.
Looks good.
Nice, Hannah. OK.
Come on guys, come on.
EMILY: Feeling alright about the roti jala.
I dipped it into the rendang sauce, as well -
it goes really well.
So, yeah, I'm trying to balance out the sauces
at the moment and get a few more bits of roti jala done.
Come on, Em!
That's the way.
I'm trying to cook the beef rendang the way
that I know and learned from my friend's mum -
spicy with a little bit of sourness to it.
So, I'm trying to, like, balance out everything
like she usually does.
Let's go, Pat, let's motor.
PAT: I'm in a pretty good space.
I just need to finish this sauce,
get these pastas on with about five minutes to go,
which is very close, so, yeah, just want to make sure
I get enough leek flavour into everything as well.
Alyona, smells awesome.
ALYONA: Thanks. Really great.
Now, I'm just focusing on my Japanese broth.
I need to make sure it's delicious, umami,
but it's also quite delicate and clean.
That really heroes the mussels.
Yes. Nice.
OK, mussels are in.
It smells so good.
Oh, my gosh,
this mussel broth is gold.
Yum! Ooh, look at them buns!
I take my buns out of the oven.
Alyona, they look really good. Beautiful.
Even though these buns are Russian buns,
they do remind me a little bit
of these milky Japanese buns.
Yum!
It's a black-apron day,
and I hope my mussel dish is going to be able to save me.
Wow.
Come on, Casp.
CASPER: Rice is going well.
It should be finishing up in a few minutes.
I'm also going to blend up some of the pipis
for the tom yum broth.
The pan is heating up for the mussels,
and that's a pretty quick cook, too.
So, yeah, I'm feeling pretty good.
Ah, beer!
To cook the mussels, I'm first going to steam them
in some beer.
I think, like, beer is, like, a great accompaniment
with Thai food.
So, I'm like, "Why not just steam it with a bit of beer?"
Mmm!
And then, once the mussels have steamed open in the beer,
I'm going to add in my tom yum base,
give that a really quick toss in the wok...
Nice, Casper.
..throw in some fresh herbs,
a bit of galangal, some coriander,
some chilli, some makrut lime leaf.
Smells awesome, Casper.
And I'm really happy with the flavour of my tom-yum.
It's got that really nice balance of sweet, salty -
just needs a little bit of lime in there
to bring up the sour.
Pretty good.
By adding the mussels into the rice and blending up
some pipis into the tom yum sauce,
I think I've really managed
to, like, boost the mussel flavour.
I think it's a pretty smart move,
so hopefully the judges like it.
Pick up the pace everyone.
You have ten minutes to go!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Ten minutes, come on! ANNABEL: Come on, guys.
Let's go, Luke.
LUKE: I'm going alright.
I definitely wish there was a bit more time.
I've got one roti almost done.
I'm gonna pop my pressure cooker with the massaman
in a couple of minutes.
At this time in the cook, with the time left on the clock,
I'm decided that I don't even want to put rice in the dish,
because I know how well this curry is going to work
with the mashed potatoes.
So, I've scrapped the rice.
Focusing and going all money in
on the mashed potatoes,
and I'm hoping that they can be delicious.
Don't want it to be too rich that it's just rich on rich.
I want it to just be
a solid blank canvas
of the dish that soaks up the flavours of the curry well,
but doesn't overpower your palate.
Yeah, nice, Lukie. Got it, Lukie.
I take off the lid, and the meat is looking
tender and juicy and delicious.
How do you feel, Lukie? The flavour's good?
Yeah, I like the flavour. Yeah.
My biggest worry with this dish is how well this curry
is going to work with the mashed potatoes.
I just hope I do it justice. Nice, Lukie. Come on.
Finesse. Finesse, yeah?
Yum.
Petro, that looks sick.
PETRO: I have gotten most of my elements done.
For my leeks and scallops,
cooking my scallops, I cut into one and I eat it.
And I think, "These are cooked really nicely."
Taste, taste, taste.
It's the moment of truth.
It's the time to make sure the balance is right.
Put everything together and give my dish a taste.
Let's go, Petro!
Needs some tweaks.
It's not what I thought it was going to be.
I'm starting to get a little bit concerned.
There's not much time left.
Keep pushing.
Three minutes left to go! Come on!
Come on, guys, three minutes! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(SIGHS)
I'm feeling like time is getting the better of me.
And I'm running out of it.
I'm definitely going through the list in my head right now,
and I'm starting to feel stressed
because my pasta needs to be cooked.
And I know I need time to refine and finish my sauce.
It's salty.
Something is missing from this sauce,
and I'm like, "What? What is this missing?
My brain's just, like, not working
as fast as it needs to right now.
I think I need a little bit of sugar for my sauce.
A little bit of acid. Go, Hannah.
Let's go.
I'm cooking my mussels,
and I'm trying to work as fast as I possibly can to try
and get these mussels out onto the plate.
So, as soon as they open up,
I'm getting them straight out of the pan.
Go, Hannah. Come on, guys.
OK.
One minute left!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Let's go, Petro! Quick!
PETRO: This dish isn't where it should be.
I've really learned to trust my palate and my gut.
The gochujang just isn't making sense here.
Going to be too powerful for this subtle dish.
Um, gochujang is gone.
Gochujang has to go, and I'll just replace it with the miso.
I put all my ingredients back together
for my second spoonful.
It is popping now.
Now I need to plate it.
Ten seconds to go!
Nine... JUDGES AND GANTRY: Eight,
seven, six,
five, four,
three, two,
one!
That's it, everybody!
Well done.
Got through to the end.
Good on you. Thanks.
How you doing? Oh, that was...
ALYONA: I'm so happy that I listened to the judges today,
and I didn't overcomplicate it
with different flavours,
different cuisines.
Hey, Alyona. Oh, wow, look at that.
Hello, judges.
And I'm really hoping to show the judges
that I can really hero the ingredients
and boost it with just Japanese flavours.
Hey, Alyona. Oh, wow, look at that.
Hello, judges. POH: Hello.
I made mussels with Japanese dashi broth
and some Russian buns.
SOFIA: Thanks, Alyona. Thank you so much.
POH: Thanks, Alyona. Thank you so much.
Look at that, huh?
SOFIA: Wow!
Mmm.
This is so tasty.
The first thing that you get when you taste it is a bunch
of the kombu and the katsuobushi or the bonito flakes.
And then, I'm like, "Uh-oh, no mussel juice."
And then, just at the back of the palate, bang.
Like, you get that really...
That beautiful fragrance of the mussel,
and I think that's what this dish was gonna, like,
live or die off.
And for me, I think she got it absolutely spot-on.
It is such a clean dish.
It has so much clarity.
That broth has sweetness
and this beautiful kind of brininess.
You know, it tastes like where the mussels are from.
I'm almost imagining seaweed because she's used
those Japanese ingredients at the base
for that extra umami.
And it's not just featuring the mussel,
it's showcasing it in the best possible light.
I wouldn't change a thing. I agree.
I love the crunch of the apples,
the shallots, the way it's seasoned.
The best mussels so far.
PETRO: Today, I've trusted all my instincts and my palate,
and I've got no regrets about what I've plated up.
Petro. SOFIA: Petro.
Hello. How's it going? How are you, Petro?
Hi, Petro.
And I've tried my best to hero leeks.
Petro, what did you make?
I made leeks and scallops.
I have a silken tofu
and miso cream
with pan-roasted leeks,
pan-fried scallops,
some crispy leeks,
and a leek-top oil.
Nice.
How was the cook for you?
As soon as I set my mind on leeks, I'm like,
"OK, just got to do the best I can
"and remember to have fun with it."
Do you feel like you're kind of cracking the code of what...
..how Petro can produce amazing food?
I think so.
I think, in the last couple of weeks,
I've actually surprised myself with the food that I've put up.
And that's kind of given me belief
that I can step into the kitchen and cook good food,
even if I'm cooking things
I've never really cooked with before.
And I feel like I'm becoming more comfortable cooking here.
And that's kind of what pushes me along
and makes me happy as well, to be honest.
Righto, mate. Thanks, Petro. Thanks, guys.
Well done, mate. Thanks, Petro.
Wow! Look at that.
I think it looks lovely.
There's sort of a nice lightness of touch
with the way he's garnished it.
Amazing. Someone's happy.
It's amazing.
Firstly, super well presented.
The braised leeks, the simplicity.
All the layers demonstrate
the change of temperature, just at the right level.
And it's absolutely...
All the fibres coming out, it's nice and soft.
It's just the most delicious leek.
It's like satin.
Yeah! Yeah.
It's just fantastic.
It's just great. Great balance.
He's a chef in the making.
That's it. Simple as that.
The flavour of the dish in general is beautiful.
I think it's really subtle.
I love his attitude.
I think he's got
this wonderful earnestness about him
that is just going to have him continue to improve.
And I don't think we've seen the best of him yet.
Look at the spoon marks that I've made in that
as you've been talking.
I love it. I really, really, really love this dish.
Um, I love that tofu-miso cream at the bottom.
And then, those little strands of leek on top -
I think they add texture, they add intrigue.
And I thought the scallops were lovely and sweet as well.
Yeah. I think he's done a ripper job.
I really love the combination of the fried leek
and that almost confited caramelised leek.
There is that....
There is a mouthful in there that I'm just going,
"Man, he is, like, the one to beat."
HANNAH: Worried that I didn't have enough time to finesse.
Hey, Hannah. Hi, Hannah.
Hello.
However, everything I wanted is on the plate,
so hopefully this dish is enough to keep me in this competition.
Hannah, what is the name of your dish?
Mussel pasta with a mussel and tomato sauce.
To go alongside that,
I've got a pangrattato
and an Italian chilli oil.
Hannah, what did you learn about yourself
in this competition?
This place makes you resilient.
You have to be resilient. It's a mental game.
It's physical. It's nonstop.
I wake up, and I think about food.
I go to sleep dreaming about food.
(JUDGES LAUGH) Sometimes, in my dreams,
like, I wake up and I'm like,
"I think I was plating up a dish," like...
Yeah, so, it's definitely taught me
how far I can push myself.
And I've gained so much knowledge,
and that's, like, really exciting as well.
Thank you, Hannah, and good luck.
Thanks, Hannah. Thank you.
Hannah has delivered
some amazing spaghetti.
All perfectly done.
Nice and chewy.
I love the oil, equally.
And then, we have the mussels.
Sadly...
..they're not clean enough.
They... In fact, the beards are still there.
Also, there is inconsistencies on the cooking of the mussels.
Some are cooked, some are not.
That is my concern.
I really feel for Hannah
because she worked so hard on this.
You can tell - she put a lot of thought into it.
I think the sauce is quite tasty,
but I'm just wondering
if it really does hero the mussel.
I think the pasta is the hero in this.
I didn't have any beards on my mussels.
One was well cooked,
and the other one was almost completely raw.
Yeah.
We've got undercooked mussels,
which is not a great thing
when you have to hero that ingredient.
You really want to, like, dial that,
like, and absolutely nail it.
I'm really worried for Hannah,
and it burns me because she's been so lovely
to see her just continue to evolve, you know,
and really take on that challenge
of learning more and being super resilient.
That could all end with this plate of food.
LUKE: The judges, they're not sold
on the pomme puree-curry combo,
but as I'm looking at my dish,
the massaman with the mash, to me, makes sense.
It's heroing the short rib.
It's something that the judges
probably haven't seen from me before, Thai cuisine.
I just hope I did it justice.
Hey, Luke.
Hi, Luke. Oh, wow. Look at that.
(WHISTLES)
And what is the name of your dish, please?
I've done a short-rib massaman...
..with a pomme puree
and a spring onion roti.
SOFIA: Thanks, Luke. Thanks, guys.
Good luck, huh? Thank you.
Let's dig in.
Clearly, you can see he had a mission.
He ran to the pantry.
You can see in his eyes, "This is what I'm going to do,
"and that's what I'm going to stick with."
So, the beef is superbly cooked, nice and gelatinous.
It's very tasty, it's very well seasoned.
The right amount of spice.
Pomme puree - I can see his point. I love it.
It's absolutely fantastic.
I think it's...it's quite tasty.
The thing that I like about it is that it does take
that kind of vaguely French-braise-style meat
and add massaman flavours to it.
I really like it. I actually really like it.
He's definitely pulled it off enough.
It's really tasty.
I think the short rib's done well.
The sauce is seasoned really well,
got a lovely amount of heat.
I like the texture, and I actually thought
that the way he treated the potatoes,
which was the thing that I was most worried about...
But I think, 'cause he hit it with so much acidity,
it actually melds it
with the massaman quite...quite well.
That's right. Um, he's managed to pull it off.
Mmm.
Yeah, I'm really glad that we can walk out there
and say he did a good job.
Oh, yeah.
Hey, Pat. Alright, Pat?
Hello, judges. What did you make?
Charred-leek agnolotti,
with a leek veloute,
some pickled grapes, hazelnuts
and some crispy leeks, too.
Pat came up with something which is a delight.
The sauce, which is absolutely delicious,
very creamy,
the agnolotti's stuffing, which is just perfect,
and that little touch of grapes.
Great job. Fantastic.
Very, very tasty dish.
Definitely heroes the leeks.
That classic combination of leeks and hazelnuts is still
one of my all-time favourites, and he's nailed that.
I love it.
Hi, Emily.
What's your dish?
EMILY: Beef short rib rendang.
And then, I'm serving it with some roti jala on the side.
I'm really impressed with this dish.
The meat is very well cooked.
It's tender but still has a really nice bite to it.
The rempah that she's... she's blended up,
it's just so Malaysian.
I love it.
And I think she's done a great job on roti jala.
It's, like, separate...
Like, I can unfold the quarter that she's folded up.
She's done a really good job. Yeah.
CASPER: Feeling pretty good about my dish.
It tastes like a tom yum,
and I think it tastes pretty mussel-y, too.
So, hopefully, it'll really impress the judges.
I'm definitely not ready to go home yet.
Casper, what have you made?
I've done mussels, tom yum style,
and then mussel-scented rice on the side.
So, to really pack in that sort of
mussel, like, mollusc-y flavour, I went and grabbed the pipis
and I boiled the pipis in my tom yum sauce,
and then took some of the flesh out
and blended that through the sauce.
If you were going to bolster the sauce with more
of a shellfish flavour, why not use mussel...
..and leave no doubt in our minds
that what we're tasting is not just a generic,
uh, mollusc flavour, but definitely the mussel?
In my mind, they're, like, similar enough.
And I, like, wanted to get variety in the flavour.
Does that make you worried now? Yeah.
A little bit more than I was previously, for sure.
Yeah.
Does that make you worried now? Yeah.
A little bit more than I was previously, for sure.
But at the end of the day,
I was, like, pretty proud of this dish.
Like, I think it tastes quite nice.
When I was tasting it, to me,
it still tasted like that mussel flavour.
Alright, Casper, we're going to taste your dish now.
Awesome. Thank you. Thank you.
Thanks, mate. Good luck.
SOFIA: Thanks, Casper. Thank you.
I think for me,
this is the most tasty Asian moules mariniere.
Oh, yeah, yeah. (LAUGHS)
It's just absolutely phenomenal.
What I like the most is the fact
that he has not over-reduced the sauce,
so it's liquid enough,
there's a bit of acidity
and all this fragrance behind that.
I thought that broth was stunning.
It was really delicious,
beautifully seasoned.
Perfect balance of all those aromats.
And, um...
..it is very full of mollusc flavour.
But where's it coming from, is my question?
Yeah. Are we heroing molluscs, or are we heroing mussels?
Honestly,
I don't...I just don't get putting the pipis in there
because he's just flirting with danger here.
Knockout Week demanded
nothing less than your absolute best.
The ones who came out on top,
Annabel, Vinnie and Aaron,
were given the power to choose the ingredients
you cooked with today.
Two cooks took what they were offered
and transformed the ingredients
into dishes that not only prove they belong here,
but that they could also win this competition.
Petro,
the flavour of your dish was absolutely stunning.
I was quite literally scraping the plate.
Well done. Thank you so much.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Thanks, guys.
The second person was you...
..Alyona.
(EXCLAIMING)
We are so glad you pushed yourself
beyond your comfort zone
because you delivered a dish that was full of clarity.
Amazing work. Well done.
JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Oh, yeah.
You've all shown incredible spirit this week,
but it comes down to the challenge today.
If I call your name, please step forward.
Casper.
Your tom yum broth was exceptional,
but using pipis made your dish taste more like pipis
and less like mussels.
Hannah.
Your pasta was very well made,
but the mussels were inconsistently cooked.
Neither of your dishes did the mussels justice,
so it came down to the dish
that had the most technical flaws.
Which was yours...
..Hannah.
Yep.
Hannah,
it has been a pleasure having you in this competition.
You've given us some great dishes.
Those After Dark Doughnuts,
they were so tasty! (CHUCKLES)
(CHUCKLES) And of course,
you've got your cheeseburger pie
in supermarket freezers all around the country.
Very true. How good's that?
That's very cool.
To do this experience,
it's been just so amazing.
And to meet everyone here,
to do life with them for as long as I have,
to be able to bring food to you guys,
it's amazing.
Like, you just... You can't actually put words to it.
We cannot wait for the day
that you decide to open your eight-seater restaurant.
Because, you know what?
You've got four already. (LAUGHTER)
Yeah, it's already half-booked.
You are half-booked! Yes!
And if you need someone to do the washing-up,
you know what, why not?
(LAUGHTER)
Hannah, I think it's one thing to step away
from your job to come here,
but stepping away from your family,
like, that's a whole 'nother, like, ball game.
I think you should be so proud.
And I know they're going to be so proud of you.
Thank you.
Emily, I can see you're very upset.
Tell us. You're gonna miss your friend?
Sorry.
Hannah's absolutely amazing.
I wish she could stay longer with me.
She, like, kept me very accountable
before dessert week, and she gave me homework to do,
and I was working really hard
with her because she's such an amazing dessert cook.
Well, definitely, we will miss you, Hannah.
So sadly, it's time to leave.
Yeah. And say goodbye.
Yeah. Thank you so much. Well done.
Me first. (APPLAUSE)
You should be so bloody proud.
Oh, thank you. You did so well.
Congratulations. Have fun seeing the fam.
I've had so much fun.
This is the most crazy thing I've done.
Hannah, be good... (CRIES)
Friends forever. I know.
Obviously, I'm just used to, you know,
dropping kids off at school
and cooking dinners and the routine of life.
And I've been whiplashed into this world
with challenges thrown at me, left, right and centre,
and food everywhere and truffle and champagne.
And... (LAUGHS) ..it's been incredible.
So, I've had...I've had a blast.
Give it up for Hannah, everybody!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
ANNOUNCER: Next week, on MasterChef Australia...
Please welcome...
..Sam Aisbett! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
..the bar is higher than ever for our top nine.
You will be making my...
(EXCLAIMING)
ANNABEL: What is it? PAT: Oh, my God.
And it only goes up from here.
Sanjeev Kapoor!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
LUKE: This guy is, like, the Gordon Ramsay of India.
Here we go. (EXCLAIMING)
PETRO: Even white-apron cooks have pressure on them.
Oh, my God, look at that.
If you wind up in the elimination,
there's so few of you.
The chances that you could
be going home are super high.
You did it! JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Well done!
This is brilliant.
ANDY: My God, it is tasty.
This is what makes
MasterChef Australia
the best food show in the world.
Captions by Red Bee Media