VOICEOVER: Previously on MasterChef Australia...
We're only looking for the most egg-cellent dish.
In round one...
ALI: You got to treat that like the most precious little cargo ever.
..Daniel dazzled the judges and kept the Fans team safe.
Stop it. You're gonna make me tear up.
In round two,
Billie, Tommy and Christina played their immunity pins...
CHRISTINA: Don't want to be the idiot that goes home wearing the pin.
..leaving eight Favourites to crack on.
Yeah! (LAUGHS)
And, for the first time,
we said farewell to a Favourite.
(CHEERING, APPLAUSE AND WHISTLING)
Tonight, it's a mystery box lucky dip.
DANIEL: This is crazy. It's pot luck.
MATT: I'm definitely nervous about this one.
..which may be UNLUCKY for some.
SONG: # 'Cause you're hot then you're cold
# You're yes then you're no
# You're in then you're out
# You're up then you're down
# You're wrong when it's right
# It's black and it's white
# We fight, we break up
# We kiss, we make up
# You're hot then you're cold
# You're yes then you're no
# You're in then you're out
# You're up then you're down
# You're wrong when it's right
# It's black and it's white
# We fight, we break up
# We kiss, we make up
# You # You don't really wanna stay, no
# You
# But you don't really wanna go-o
# You're hot then you're cold
# You're yes then you're no
# You're in then you're out
# You're up then you're down. #
(BIRD CALLS)
Thank you, ladies. Ooh-la-la!
Oh, good morning! Good morning!
Hey. Oh.
Take a token out of one of the bags and head up to see Mel.
Oh, cool! Hello!
We...we don't look at it, right?
I have no idea what's happening here.
What are you fellas up to?
We pick a number out of the bag
and in front of us is a whole bunch of alphabet mystery boxes.
Oh, I love a twist! Take a number.
Oh, what the hell?
Surprise! Uh-oh.
This is fun.
Well, welcome back.
Thanks. Thank you. Thank you.
It's a new week in the MasterChef kitchen,
and as you can see, it's a mystery box day.
But clearly this is no ordinary mystery box challenge.
Allow me to introduce you...
..to the alphabet boxes.
(LAUGHTER) CONTESTANTS: Hey!
Underneath each of these is a single ingredient
that corresponds with the letter on the box,
everything from A to Z.
Today, each of you will choose a letter
and feature whatever ingredient is underneath in your finished dish.
(LAUGHS)
MELISSA: Aha!
(LAUGHS) (MELISSA LAUGHS)
Alvin, you appear to be quite excited.
What's going on in your mind? Not excited.
I'm, like, "What?!" (LAUGHTER)
Not excitement. It's, like...
So less...less "Yes!" and more, like, "Why?!"
Yeah, that's right. It's, like, "Yo!"
(LAUGHS)
So, basically, the number that you've randomly picked
is the order in which you get to choose the letter that you want.
Ah. OK. (LAUGHS)
Yep.
Now, you're gonna have to think carefully about which box you choose.
Because let's say you pick the letter A, for example.
You won't know whether it's apples, artichoke, ants, aardvark.
(LAUGHTER) Shotgun A.
Believe me when I say we've thrown a few curveballs in there, right?
CONTESTANTS: Oh.
Alright, Tommy, you're lucky number one, so you're up first.
Alright. Go, Tommy. Go, Tommy.
Um...
..I'm gonna go for M.
M? M.
I choose the letter M because that's M for Miles, my son's name.
I love my little baby boy, so why not M?
Feel free to lift your box now.
TOMMY: Oh! Macadamia nuts.
JOCK: Oh, you don't look overwhelmed with that.
I'm not overwhelmed with joy, no.
I've never in my life cooked with macadamias before.
JOCK: Good luck, mate. Thank you.
JOCK: Thanks, mate.
(CHEERING, APPLAUSE AND WHISTLING)
Macadamia.
Trouble. Big trouble today.
I am in massive trouble with these macadamias.
Minoli!
MINOLI: Alright. What's it gonna be?
I'm gonna go with...
..C.
Ho-ho! What are YOU hoping for?
I feel like there's a lot of C ingredients I could work with.
Maybe cashews. A sea of C ingredients.
Yeah.
MELISSA: Let's find out. Let's do it.
MELISSA: Curry leaves.
Oh, yes! CONTESTANTS: Oh!
(LAUGHTER) (LAUGHS)
Yes! Alright!
Oh! Oh! ANDY: There's a choice.
(JOCK LAUGHS)
Nice. No way.
Could there have been anything else that you would have rathered?
MINOLI: No.
That's awesome. Alright, Billie, let's go.
BILLIE: Goat cheese!
JOCK: Goat's cheese. That's alright.
Julie?
Dijon mustard!
I can work with that.
Mindy. Alright. Let's do it.
Oh! This is great! ANDY: That is a good one.
That's an awesome one! (CLAPS)
DANIEL: This is crazy. It's pot luck.
It's mystery box roulette.
Uh, there could be anything underneath these boxes.
Christina. DANIEL: Some people are hitting the jackpot with these ingredients...
Figs! They're figs! OK! MELISSA: Ah! Figs.
..and getting picks totally in their wheelhouse.
Keyma.
Nutmeg! I love it!
Alright, Aldo, my man.
Lift your lid.
Should I run?
JOCK: It's too late now. ANDY: You can't now.
Yes! Yeah! (MELISSA LAUGHS)
ANDY: Look at that. (LAUGHTER)
Alvin.
S. Yep.
Oh, my God! Yes! MELISSA: Sichuan pepper.
(LAUGHS) Matt.
DANIEL: But others are in a world of pain.
MELISSA: It's... Tahini. ..tahini.
I don't have a lot of recipes that use tahini
that I can kind of fall back on, so...
..I'm definitely nervous about this one.
Montana. Let's go.
I'm gonna go B. JOCK: B?
Yeah. Lift the lid.
MONTANA: Oh!
JOCK: Oh! MAN: What did you get?
MAN 2: That's a good one.
(LAUGHTER)
MONTANA: I'm gutted to have this ingredient.
Belacan is basically a fermented shrimp paste,
very, very strong and pungent.
This ingredient definitely lends itself really well
to South-East Asian food,
which isn't really my forte, so it's definitely gonna be a challenge.
How are you with belacan? Yeah, alright.
Awesome. Yeah.
DANIEL: I need luck on my side today,
so I'm picking K,
hoping that there's kangaroo or kingfish
or something that I can cook a winning dish with.
ANDY: Ooh, he's going for K.
Yep. (LAUGHTER)
Do you want me to do it for you?
Should we do it together? Let's do it together. Alright. That'll be great.
(LAUGHS)
Count me in.
(DANIEL LAUGHS)
Three, two, one.
ANDY: Kale.
No!
(LAUGHTER) Oh, kale's great!
(LAUGHTER)
(LAUGHS)
Oh, no!
(LAUGHTER)
It's the worst thing on the planet! It's so disgusting.
(LAUGHTER) People that say they like kale lie.
DANIEL: I don't know what I'm gonna do with it.
I made one thing with it before,
um, and I hated it. (LAUGHS)
Phew!
Michael? How are YOU feeling?
Oh, I'm intrigued. Um...like, what's under X?
We're not playing Scrabble. But, mate, like, it's interesting.
ANDY: He's doing it! XO!
(LAUGHTER)
That's alright.
(LAUGHS) ANDY: Nice.
MICHAEL: XO sauce.
Amazing. One of my favourite ingredients.
It's got things like dried scallop in it, dried prawns,
and you get this really, um, savoury umami-rich sauce
that just pairs perfectly with sweet seafoods.
You happy with that? Oh, so happy with that.
I love XO sauce.
Last but certainly not least, it's Sarah.
SARAH: Alright.
I'm gonna go for O.
Alright.
Onions.
Ooh! OK, good. MELISSA: Yeah.
OK. MELISSA: OK. Happy with that?
Nice. Yes. MELISSA: Great.
I, um...I didn't even think of that.
(APPLAUSE)
ANDY: OK.
Now you got your ingredients, here's the rest of the rules.
You got 60 minutes to complete your dish.
The pantry and the garden, they are open.
CONTESTANTS: Oh! Yes!
ANDY: Ja! (SIGHS)
You can cook whatever you like,
but you must feature your alphabet box ingredients in your dish.
The bottom two dishes from both the Fans and the Favourites,
they send their makers into tomorrow's pressure test,
where one of you will be going home.
If you're the best dish of the day, you'll be rewarded,
because the best dish cooked in this challenge
wins its maker and their entire team
an advantage later on in the week.
Trust me... SASHI: Ooh!
..you want this.
Good luck.
Your 60 minutes...
..starts now.
Whoo! (LAUGHTER)
It's a stampede. Yeah, I know.
Sorry.
Rogue lychees.
(STRAINS)
This is the biggest watermelon I've ever had!
Oh, my gosh.
MINOLI: I'm really happy with my ingredient.
Curry leaves are beautiful.
My first thought is...
..a light fish curry.
But I just feel like curry leaves kind of get lost in curries.
I need to figure out a way
so the curry leaf flavour shines.
I need to hero curry leaf.
I'm looking at the fish
and there's this beautiful kingfish.
Whoa! Look at the fish.
I'm gonna do cured kingfish...
Oh, my God! This is as heavy as me.
..and put all sorts of different curry leaf elements on there.
It's... (PANTS) ..so heavy.
Righto.
I'll be back.
Uh, my feature ingredient is goat's cheese today.
Um...first thought was to go savoury,
but then I thought maybe, like,
a savoury dessert, goat's cheese cheesecake.
Today, I got tahini.
It's not a ingredient that, um, I cook with often,
but I'm gonna make a...a bit of a savoury-sweet mille-feuille today
with a tahini cream pat and a miso caramel, um, glaze on it.
I got potato.
I'm making, uh, a ketjap lamb and potato.
So 'ketjap' means "soya sauce" in Malay.
It is more like a street food in, uh, Malaysia.
(WHIRRING)
So, I picked the letter N.
I wasn't expecting the nutmeg, but I got nutmeg,
and really happy to work with that.
It's a flavour I'm really confident with.
I'm going down the Caribbean path, so warm spices.
I'm planning to incorporate nutmeg in different ways, so in a cake,
in a spiced cake,
and a tropical pineapple granita.
Um...
..I'm hoping to do, like, a quick dulce de leche to go with it.
I want to take the judges into a journey to the Caribbean islands.
My Caribbean dishes haven't been the top,
but they haven't been the... the, you know, bottom.
KEYMA: I am super-proud of my heritage,
but I feel that I haven't had that acknowledgement of my skills,
so I definitely feel I need recognition from all three judges.
I want to be at the top.
I really, really want to skip, um, tomorrow's pressure test.
Um, expecting to win this.
(LAUGHS)
You've already chewed up 15 minutes.
You've only got 45 minutes to go.
The letter I got is M. I got macadamias.
I don't think I've ever cooked with macadamias, to be honest.
I'm really worried, but I'm gonna do a spin
on, um, a Vietnamese classic - you know, baked oysters.
I'm going to use the macadamias
in a macadamia kind of puree/cream sauce.
TOMMY: I get some macadamias into some milk.
Yes. Boiling it up.
I need to just soften it to really start getting
that puree cooking process started.
What is this? Macadamia puree/cream.
I'm doing kind of a play on this Vietnamese thing that we do.
We get oysters, you bake 'em, you know,
um, mo hanh, like, with the spring onion oil,
nuoc cham sauce into it.
I'm gonna use macadamias, obviously.
ANDY: Have you done this macadamia puree before?
TOMMY: No, I've never done a macadamia puree before.
Um...and I'm hoping it works, to be honest.
Well, from one person who's never made a macadamia puree before
to one who's made many, would you like to ask any questions?
Yeah. How do I do it?
I mean... (ALL LAUGH)
..I mean, you can do it like this.
Yep. But I feel like you're gonna lose the macadamia flavour.
Yep... Because you've got so much fat in there.
Yep, yep. The macadamias have their own fat. Yep.
Um, if I were you, I would... Yep...
..probably just roast some off,
because that is, like, when you get the extreme macadamia flavour.
Yep.
Soak 'em for as long as you can. Puree it up.
Roasting and soaking. Yeah. Alright.
Well, 60 minutes today, so short, sharp.
Yep. Make it focused.
OK. Cool. Awesome.
Andy's such a good cook, and I follow his advice straightaway.
I want my dish to be the best today.
Hey, Melanie, set a 5-minute timer.
So, I got, um, belacan.
Um, it is not an ingredient I work with a lot.
Um, I appreciate it,
but it's definitely not something in my comfort zone.
Hey, Montana. Hello. Hey, Montana.
(LAUGHS) Hello.
You were filthy when you got that, weren't you?
Yeah, I was pretty mad. What's the dish?
So I'm doing just grilled prawns, a sambal, lettuce wraps and...
..probably just some pickled cucumber or something.
I just want to focus on this... Yep.
..'cause it's out of my comfort zone, and just...
So...the belacan is only going in the sambal?
Yes. Is it in there already?
MONTANA: Yes. OK.
I mean, the thing about belacan is that it's dominating, right?
You know if it's there and you definitely know if it's not there.
MONTANA: Yep. We need to know it's there.
ANDY: Don't be shy. Go hard. Yeah, OK.
MONTANA: This is definitely a tricky cook for me, and...
..I just am so confused whether
this sauce has enough belacan in it.
This cook is quite rattling for me.
I want to make sure that I just keep myself safe
from that pressure test tomorrow.
MONTANA: I'm gutted that I got belacan
for today's alphabet mystery box.
I want to do something simple
so I can focus all my attention and get that belacan featured.
I want this sambal to be spicy, aromatic, salty, sort of funky.
To get the balance right and make sure it's there
without being too overpowering
is really something I'm gonna have to work at getting perfect.
Christina. Hey, Jock. How are you?
I'm very well.
I expect that you're also very well, having picked figs.
CHRISTINA: Um, yeah, but then I saw kale and I was, like,
"Oh! I wouldn't have minded kale."
Like... JOCK: I think you got a good pick.
Yes, I did. Yep. What are you making?
So I'm going to do, like, a fig jam sort of thing.
Yep. And then I'm going to make burrata.
You're making a burrata?
I'm gonna make a burrata. From scratch? Yeah.
JOCK: I love it. CHRISTINA: My version of a burrata.
So... JOCK: Great.
Making burrata's a... a bold move in 60 minutes.
Yeah, thanks. I like it, though.
I've just got to...just got to motor, and believe in myself.
Alright. Good luck. Thank you.
Burrata is this really beautiful cheese.
It has a thin, um, mozzarella-like skin around the outside,
and then when you cut it open, um,
it has basically, like, little chopped-up bits of mozzarella
mixed with cream.
I'm putting all my time and effort into this cheese.
When you cut into a burrata, um, the skin should be nice and thin,
and basically all of that goodness should just kind of ooze out.
That's what I want with the burrata.
It has to be perfect. There is nowhere to hide.
Mmm.
Ooh. No.
No.
DANIEL: I have kale.
And I hate kale.
Ooh!
So I'm gonna find it really, really hard
to serve a dish up to the judges that I'm proud of using kale.
Daniel. Yes, Jock. How you going?
It's my kale...my kale man.
(LAUGHS) What are we making?
What are we making with kale?
I'm gonna make a ricotta and kale sausage roll.
A ricotta and kale sausage roll?
Yep. Wow.
I'm really trying to make it something that I would eat.
And... Yeah.
..there's not much with kale that I would eat, to be honest, so...
(LAUGHS) (LAUGHS)
So, you've made a ricotta?
DANIEL: Yep. I made ricotta.
I cooked down some kale, onions, garlic...
Yep. ..butter.
Um, I just toasted some fennel seeds and white peppercorns...
Yep. ..just to give it a bit of something.
Um... Yep.
It smells actually quite yummy, nice and buttery.
Um... You've made yourself a rough puff.
Made myself a rough puff, which I need to get in.
Yep. Hence the...
Urgency. The urgency! (LAUGHS)
To make a rough puff,
to make the ricotta and to do it all within an hour...
Yep.
..you're...you're reaching, mate, I reckon.
Good luck. (LAUGHS) Thank you.
Alright, so...
Perfect puff pastry is golden-brown on the outside,
you've got as many layers as possible in there,
and cooked all the way through.
You can get a nice few layers and a nice golden outside,
but if it's not cooked through, it just ruins the whole thing,
and that is what is terrifying me today.
I got curry leaves, which...
..I'm... (LAUGHS) ..like, as if.
That...I...I'm very, very happy.
Um, but generally when you're making a curry,
curry leaves aren't the first thing that you taste,
so I think I...had to think about
how I could make it a feature ingredient.
So I'm making a curry leaf cured kingfish,
um, with lots of curry leaf elements.
I've got my kingfish curing.
Um, I'm about to start the curry leaf oil,
and I've got the crispy curry leaves ready to go.
Ultimately, it's about meeting the brief,
and that's maybe what will help me win the top dish for the team.
Fingers crossed.
Ooh, yeah.
(SINGS INDISTINCTLY) Are you doing Spice Girls?
Yes!
Yes, Aldo. I'm Ginger Spice.
I'm Sichuan Spice. Oh, sexy!
What are you making? I'm making dessert today.
I'm making dessert. Yeah. Dessert? OK. But what are you making?
So I'm making spiced cake with ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon.
Spiced cake? Cake.
Yep. And a eggnog...ice cream.
JOCK: Sponge cake...like... KEYMA: Yeah.
..how long before that goes in the oven?
Uh, not long.
Just motor. Like...just... Yeah, I have to. Quickly!
Yeah, exactly. Alright. Good luck. Just power on. Thank you.
KEYMA: I am so nervous about the cook of this cake.
The cake needs to be in the oven before the 30-minute mark,
otherwise it's not gonna cook through.
I'm pushing it, really pushing it.
(SIGHS)
There are 26 letters in the alphabet,
but you only have 30 minutes to go!
OK. I think I'm gonna go make the...the outer layer.
MATT: The key to a good mille-feuille
is a crunchy puff pastry.
If the pastry isn't crunchy,
it's not gonna have that contrast of textures
between the smooth custard and the crisp pastry
and it's just gonna be a bit of a mess on a plate.
Oop! Wrong one. (LAUGHS)
(PANTS) Wrong one.
Matt. A little trot on there.
Hello. Hello. Hi. What's going on?
(LAUGHS) Are we doing rough puff?
Rough puff. ANDY: Oh, my gosh! MELISSA: Bloody hell! In 60 minutes?
Yeah. Pretty good. Alright. Why not? Where's it going? Way to push the boat out.
MATT: It's a tahini and miso caramel mille-feuille.
Yep. So I got tahini today.
ANDY: Yep. It's not an ingredient that I...I use very often.
Will there be more layers than one of puff?
Three layers of puff. ANDY: Three layers of puff.
Cream pat in between and some... MELISSA: Three layers of... Yep.
..nice caramel in between the layers.
Mate, you are going hard.
Like, honestly, this is...this is gonna be a challenge in 60 minutes.
Hey, I just want to look at this puff.
MATT: Rough puff in 60 minutes, it can be done. 26 minutes to go.
It's definitely taking me longer than I hoped
to get this dough in the oven, so I'm furiously rolling it out
so I can get it in there and start cooking.
I'm making baked oysters, macadamia cream,
nuoc cham, bacon jam and a spring onion oil.
I'm travelling OK. Um, my sauce is on, uh, doing its thing.
I've got my macadamias here and in the oven,
which are roasted - um...
..roasted really well.
TOMMY: My macadamias are burnt.
I am definitely stressed.
This macadamia has really, you know, thrown curveballs.
I don't think those are good.
Oh, dude! Yeah. I've got them all in there.
But...
Yeah, they would be a bit iffy.
I need to get another batch on, but time is ticking and I...
..I'm running out of time to try
this second version of the macadamias.
Let's try this again.
Yeah, they would be a bit iffy.
Yep. Thank you.
My macadamias have burnt.
I need to get another batch on.
But I'm running out of time
to try this second version of the macadamias.
Let's try this again.
I want to roast them again.
MELANIE: How hot have you got your oven?
TOMMY: 250.
I've got the oven on a really high heat,
'cause I need them to cook as fast as possible.
Wish me luck.
(EXHALES) OK.
DANIEL: I've made the kale yummy today
by having it in a mixture of a bunch of different spices.
And I've practically hidden the flavours 'cause I hate it.
So far, I have made my filling for my...my sausage rolls,
which have turned into, uh, turnovers at the moment.
I just figured I didn't have enough time to be fancy and roll it up,
so I've just folded him over, got 'em in there like little...little, uh...
..yeah, like little spinach fetta pockets.
Um...so that's on the rip. It's puffing along nicely.
Just...kind of really pushed for time here, but we'll get there.
Um, so I've also got my chutney on the rip now as well.
Everything's humming along.
Um...I just...yeah, pressed for time with the puff.
Hopefully, that cooks through, and...
..if that cooks through, then I'm...
..I'm pretty happy with everything, absolutely.
(WHIRRING)
20 minutes to go in this cook.
Pretty much the only thing I've done this whole cook
is balancing this sauce.
And I want to make it perfect to every last second that I've got.
MONTANA: I just am so confused whether
this sauce has enough belacan in it.
It's not an ingredient that I'm super-comfortable with.
I'm just really out of my depth.
Do you want to taste something for me?
Yeah, sure. Is that shrimp pasty enough?
Too much?
I think... I'm still balancing it.
..I think go with maybe a bit more.
More? You think? Yeah.
(MONTANA MOCK-SOBS)
So I'm just toasting a little bit more of the belacan.
I'm trusting her and her palate
and...and getting a bit more in the...in the sauce.
(LAUGHS)
Almost left it in there for too long!
I have to feature, um, figs today,
so I'm doing a, um...a fig jam.
In my fig jam, I have a little bit of chilli, I have a cinnamon stick,
and I'm just slowly cooking it.
This is, um, the mozzarella with thickened cream,
and that's going to be the filling for my burrata.
CHRISTINA: I think that the creaminess of the burrata will
really offset the sweetness of the fig jam.
At the moment, I'm just
kind of stretching and mixing and folding the outer skin.
I'm at the really difficult part of making this burrata.
I need to seal it, and I need to make sure
that that filling doesn't come out.
Mmm!
Texture's good.
Because then I'm not going to get that oozy gooiness
when the judges cut it open.
I'm just, um, bringing the burrata together.
CHRISTINA: If you squeeze too much filling out,
you no longer have a burrata.
You basically just have a mozzarella.
And that's not what I've promised the judges
that I'm going to give them today.
So I'm really hoping that I manage to pull it off.
Start getting your dishes together,
'cause you've only got 10 minutes to go - come on.
ANDY: 10 minutes, guys! Come on, push!
10 minutes. I need a lemon.
I need a bloody lemon!
Ooh!
I do more exercise in this kitchen than I do in my real life.
Alright.
I'm just finishing off my curry leaf oil
for my curry leaf cured kingfish.
The curry leaf oil is stunning.
It's so green!
I could drink it. I'm so happy.
OK. Moving on!
KEYMA: The time is, like, a constraint at the moment.
I have my granita in the blast chiller
and I'm constantly going back and forth to just scrape it.
That's enough.
My dulce de leche sauce is on the go as well.
But the spiced cake is not cooked yet.
The cake is in the oven still.
Um...I just need it to cook through.
I have, like, seven minutes to go.
And I put it just in that 30-minute mark.
So...I'm in the edge.
I'm hoping, really hoping, this cake cooks through.
From apricots to zucchini flowers, you have five minutes to go!
Come on! (CHEERING)
The macadamias are my main concern.
I need to check on my second batch,
'cause they've been in the oven for a while now.
Second batch of macadamias come out of the oven...
These frickin' nuts!
..burnt as well.
Alright. Roasting nuts is not my thing.
(LAUGHS) I'm never roasting nuts ever again.
TOMMY: I don't know what I'm gonna do.
I've got no choice.
I can't go with the roasting method that Andy told me to go with.
I've got to go back to my first choice.
I need to really try to save that first batch of macadamias
that I made that have been steeping in the milk.
I get my macadamias into the blender and I blend it as fast as possible.
Five minutes to go.
I've got to get this puree happening, like, quick, stat.
I'm hoping and praying that this texture's gonna be right.
Miso caramel's done. Cream pat's done.
I take the puff pastry out of the oven, onto the board,
ready to be portioned up for the tahini mille-feuille.
I'm happy with it.
It could have slightly more colour, but it's definitely cooked,
so I'm happy.
MATT: But I cut through.
Oh!
I can see there's a layer in the centre
that's just not cooked through.
Uh, looks a little bit under.
MATT: The fact that the middle is still raw is just heartbreaking.
Two minutes to go, I cut up the shapes ready to be plated
but put it back in the oven for two minutes
just to try and get a little bit more cook on this pastry.
Let's go, let's go! Two minutes to go!
ANDY: Two minutes! (JUDGES CLAP)
What am I doing? What am I doing? OK.
I'm cutting it really to the last wire. The puffs are looking OK.
Um...
I open up my oven, pull them out,
and I've got these beautiful little golden pastries on top.
It is awesome.
You can see that it's puff.
The...the...the pastry is sort of separated from itself
and it's lifted and you can hear it sizzling away in there and...
..I'm pretty happy with these.
Puffed right up and got a nice colour on it.
It's just if they've cooked all the way through,
which is really a gamble, I don't know.
30 seconds!
JOCK: Yeah! Let's go!
KEYMA: I left my spiced cake to the last minute.
When I pull out the cake, I know it's...it's raw in the middle,
but I...I have to serve it.
I need to come up with a solution.
I see that it's cooked around,
and the pieces I'm taking off, the edges are spongy
and they're cooked through, so I'm happy with them.
Oh, my God. This is hectic. I'm kind of throwing stuff in the plate.
(LAUGHS)
I'm just, like, "Ah," just... yeah, trying to get it done.
Alright, here it is! 10!
JUDGES: Nine! Eight!
Seven! Six!
Five! Four!
Three! Two! One!
ANDY: Come on! JOCK: That's it!
ALVIN: Yes!
Whoo!
Oh, mate.
Well done. (KISSES)
I'm pretty happy with what I did.
It's all about whether the puff's cooked through, so...
..I'm gonna be anxious up until the very last minutes.
Thank you so much. Oh! Well done.
I think you, like, pulled that out with your belacan.
Nice work, girl.
You happy? Oh, look, I...I...I am.
It's pretty.
MINOLI: I took a really big risk today.
I went big.
I went out on a limb.
I'm not cooking a curry.
I'm just hoping that that pays off.
In today's mystery box, you had an A-to-Z of ingredients to pick from
and then feature in your finished dish.
We're looking for the bottom two from each team
to go into tomorrow's pressure test.
First up to the tasting table, Keyma.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) Keyma!
I'm really proud of what I just put together today.
With the Caribbean and the Latin flavours,
I'm so excited to represent my culture.
I really hope it gets recognition.
Keyma, what do you call this one?
So, this is a Caribbean-inspired,
uh, plated dessert.
It's a spiced cake, an eggnog ice-cream,
pineapple, ginger, lime granita,
toasted coconut and a dulce de leche sauce.
Keyma.
Belter of a dessert.
We'll start with the cake.
It is...it does have the perfume of those three spices in there,
with nutmeg just peeking its head out the most.
Same with the eggnog ice-cream,
which is the perfect texture, I might add,
so congratulations on that,
and then just when you're, like,
"Oh, too much nutmeg,"
that pineapple and lime granita just kicks in and takes over,
refreshes everything.
I'm so happy for you.
You've dominated it. Well done.
(SOBS) Thank you.
(SNIFFS)
MELISSA: Keyma. (LAUGHS)
That was a Caribbean delight of epic proportions.
Everything about it was joyful, fun,
beautifully executed, spiced, for the gods.
JOCK: Here's what I see in you.
So forget the...the... the dish was magic. Well done.
And that'll be somewhere up the top today, for sure.
What I want to talk to you about is
the presentation of your dishes.
I think when it comes time to
putting up a MasterChef plate in front of us...
KEYMA: Yeah. ..you just spin out, right?
And then you end up with weird stuff like that.
So I'm gonna choose a couple of books for you.
KEYMA: Yeah.
Have a look at how they were constructed and put on the plate.
Yep. JOCK: Right? OK.
And that's what I want you to work on.
I think it's the plating that drags you down.
Yeah. I appreciate it. Thank you.
Yes, Keyma!
Thank you, guys. (WHISTLING, APPLAUSE AND CHEERING)
KEYMA: I'm so shocked,
I'm just overwhelmed, to feel that they loved it.
Really proud.
Good job.
Next up, Tommy.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
What up, what up?
Hey, guys. There it is.
All for you.
You got macadamias?
Yep. ANDY: And you cooked?
TOMMY: Macadamia puree with some oysters,
a fish sauce, bacon jam, uh, spring onion oil.
There is a fantastic iteration of this dish in its future.
Um, today, I don't think that this, um,
came off the way that you'd hoped.
The texture of the macadamia is not quite right. Sorry.
In order for this to work,
the...the macadamia would had to have been, like, super-silk,
'cause then it would have played into
the silkiness of... natural silkiness of the oyster.
It's the texture of the macadamia, right? It's...it's grainy.
Not your best dish today, mate, I'm afraid.
ANDY: Yeah, it's just not your day.
Sorry, Tommy. TOMMY: Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
The judges' reaction is quite bad.
Hearing that, I'm definitely worried about the pressure test tomorrow.
I am stressed.
Next up, it's Billie.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BILLIE: It's a goat's cheese cheesecake with roasted grapes.
You've seasoned salt in this dish in its entirety really, really well.
Thank you. Thanks. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Mindy.
I'm serving you crispy eggplant with a black vinegar and chilli caramel.
MELISSA: Beautiful sticky, sweet, caramelly, vinegary goodness.
The dish as a whole is just such a joy to eat.
OK. Thank you, guys.
MELISSA: Next up, it's Julie! (APPLAUSE)
JULIE: Dijon chicken and mushrooms with salsa verde.
ANDY: The Dijon-loaded salsa verde is perfect.
Thank you. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Christina? Let's go.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(WHISTLING)
CHRISTINA: Walking my dish up to the judges,
my main concern is the burrata.
ANDY: Christina, what have you made?
CHRISTINA: I've made, um, a fig jam
with a fig-vino-cotto-drizzled bread,
some fresh figs and then, um, some burrata.
Oh, me?
Yeah. Yeah, you. (CHRISTINA LAUGHS)
You're dying to do it, so... Oh, no, I'm really not.
(LAUGHS AND EXHALES) Come on.
CHRISTINA: When you cut into the cheese, it should ooze out.
So, I'm a bundle of nerves at the moment.
VOICEOVER: Enjoy another taste of MasterChef, with full masterclasses,
Oh, me?
Yeah. ANDY: Yeah, you. (CHRISTINA LAUGHS)
You're dying to do it, so... Oh, no, I'm really not.
(LAUGHS AND EXHALES) Come on.
Oh. That's a shame. Oh.
It's more mozz than...
Yeah. MELISSA: Yep.
ANDY: Are you happy, even though, obviously,
the burrata's not oozy goodness?
CHRISTINA: Yeah, look, I'm still happy.
I think it'll still provide
the creamy texture that I was hoping for.
ANDY: Yep.
Um...'cause that's what I want to counterbalance the, um...
..the sweet stickiness of the jam.
Unfortunately, the texture of the cheese is, like,
it's gone a...a bit gluey.
It's in that in-between stage. Yep.
And it... it clings to the...to your palate.
Um, and I don't know if that's the reason why
I'm finding the fig jam quite...quite heavy.
And I just don't think that the fig jam has worked well enough,
and I'm not sure if that's because if we got this oozy, runny...
CHRISTINA: Yeah.
..beautiful burrata, then it would have been a different kind of story.
I am in such admiration of you for attempting a burrata
in a challenge like this.
You're a...you're a...a wild woman in the best possible way.
It didn't come off the way that you wanted it to... Yep.
..but it doesn't really matter, because you tried.
And that's awesome.
Thank you. ANDY: Thanks, Christina.
Thanks. (APPLAUSE)
CHRISTINA: I'm gutted.
I went in wanting to show, like, technique, and...
..and it's come back and bit me on the arse.
Yeah. More than fine.
Next dish to the tasting table...
..Minoli!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
JOCK: Minoli.
What have you cooked us?
I've done a curry leaf cured kingfish.
So I cured the kingfish in salt, sugar, crispy curry leaves
and a bit of cumin.
I've got a curry leaf and coriander oil, crispy curry leaves
and a curry leaf and cumin dust.
Welcome to the next evolution in your culinary journey.
That was far and away
one of the most spectacular things I have ever seen you produce
and had the pleasure of tasting.
Exceptional work.
I could see that on a menu and...
..and be very happy to pay a premium price on the looks alone,
and then when you dive into the details
of how you've let every single element do its thing,
bring it together and still feature the curry leaf,
by layering the flavours, the textures all within.
I'm just so pleased for you.
Feel free to jump for joy, because that was worthy of that.
Thank you.
It is absolutely delicious.
The kingfish - beautifully filleted.
Great shrimp.
Beautifully sliced. Nice thickness.
It...it's such a surprising dish.
It's very clever and very well executed. Well done.
This is kind of what we hoped this challenge would do.
This is a...this is a dish that you will remember for a long time.
And this is a dish that's gonna be on your menu
for a very long time as well.
Nice one, Minoli. Thank you so much.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Oh, wow!
Nailed it. Oh, my gosh.
(LAUGHS)
Oh!
And with his love of kale...
(LAUGHTER) ..Daniel.
(APPLAUSE)
It's the funniest-looking sausage roll I've ever seen, mate.
Yeah, that sort of went out the window pretty quickly.
(JUDGES LAUGH) (DANIEL LAUGHS)
What's the dish, mate?
So I made a, uh, ricotta and kale...
..turnover, with a...
..tomato, apple and kale, uh, chutney.
Before I cut into this and ruin it,
can I just commend you on your rough puff?
Thanks very much. JOCK: Mate, epic.
DANIEL: Cheers. I appreciate that a lot. Thank you very much.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) (LAUGHS)
Well done. Thanks, guys.
Thank you.
If it was a ricotta challenge, you would have nailed it today.
Yep.
JOCK: My question to you is,
where's the bloody kale?
I know you don't like it. DANIEL: Yeah.
JOCK: But you got to use it.
MELISSA: The ricotta is really silky and rich.
The unfortunate part of it is, it could be spinach,
it could be watercress, and therein lies the difficulty of it.
You've executed a dish beautifully,
but you haven't featured the kale adequately.
Yep. No worries. Thank you. Cheers. ANDY: Anyway, Daniel. Thanks, mate.
(APPLAUSE) (LAUGHS)
Sashi.
(APPLAUSE)
What is the dish?
SASHI: I've made a potato and lamb ketjap
with crispy potato and some jasmine rice on the side.
Did it meet the brief as well as everybody out there?
Not 100%.
Matt.
MATT: It's a tahini mille-feuille with, uh, miso caramel.
JOCK: The pastry is undercooked.
You...you had a solid crack. Yep.
You probably just pushed the boat out a little bit too far.
Next up, it's Montana.
(APPLAUSE) Come on.
MONTANA: I'm probably more nervous about this tasting
than any other one I've done so far.
This is definitely a tricky cook for me.
I want this belacan in sambal to be perfect.
I definitely want to stay out of the bottom two dishes.
(SIGHS)
..prawn lettuce wraps with a sambal and pickles.
(CRUNCHES)
Montana.
I love it. Oh!
JOCK: I love it. Oh! Thank God.
JOCK: Your sambal, it's so well balanced and delicious.
Your prawns were perfectly cooked as well.
Um, fresh herbs and freshness coming from the...
..the chilli and the pickled cucumber.
You've done a fantastic job.
Thank you. (LAUGHS)
Montana, very smart strategy today.
Being uncertain about your challenge ingredient,
you really focused all your love and your attention to detail on it,
and it has that funk that we love.
It's... that's the feature of this dish.
You can smell it, you can see it, you can taste it.
And all of the other aromats work really well to support that.
I think this was a very successful cook for you.
There's gonna be so many times when you feel out of your depth.
That is what this thing is all about.
It's about you learning and it's about everyone learning,
so as long as you are here, just keep saying that.
JOCK: Well done. Thank you. (LAUGHS)
(APPLAUSE) Oh!
Thanks. All good.
Thank you.
Today, we tasted some delicious and clever food.
But there was one person who absolutely followed their gut,
and that choice paid off big-time.
They absolutely smashed the brief in the best possible way.
The dish of the day
belonged to you...Minoli.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) (LAUGHS)
(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)
Yeah. Oh!
Wow.
Oh, oh!
This is wild.
I can't believe that my dish...
..seriously, Jock is raving about it.
JOCK: So, the advantage later in the week
goes to the Favourites.
(APPLAUSE)
(LAUGHTER)
On a day like today, when the competition is this good,
even a small stumble can land you in a pressure test.
If I say your name,
your dish had errors,
and, unfortunately, that means that you'll be cooking tomorrow.
From the Fans...
..Matt.
Tahini wasn't your friend today.
Unfortunately, your pastry was undercooked.
Daniel.
Your featured ingredient was nowhere to be found.
Now on to the Favourites.
Tommy.
We know, and I think you know, that that dish didn't work.
The macadamia was grainy and your flavours didn't quite balance.
And...
..Christina.
While we commended you and your attempt on the burrata...
Amazing. (LAUGHS)
..the dish just didn't come together the way I think you hoped.
ANDY: Matt, Daniel, Christina and Tommy...
..I'm sorry, but you're in tomorrow's pressure test.
Time to go home, forget about today, dust it off
and try and clear your head,
because tomorrow, you're gonna have to focus
to save your spot in the competition.
Thanks, guys.
We'll see you tomorrow. Thanks.
(APPLAUSE) JOCK: Well done today.
VOICEOVER: Tomorrow night on MasterChef Australia...
DANIEL: 1-in-4 chance in leaving MasterChef today.
It's always scary when you put it into those odds.
CHRISTINA: This pressure test does not play to my strengths.
They'll need to create a work of art...
TOMMY: It looks like it could be in a museum.
Oh, wow. Oh! Oh, my God!
..or be sent home.
Captions by Red Bee Media