VOICEOVER: Previously, on MasterChef Australia...
..the excitement was brewing...
(ALL EXCLAIM AND LAUGH)
..with a challenge that dialled up the intensity.
Argh!
Bring the wobble. Yeah.
They all gave it their best shot...
JOCK: That is how you feature coffee. Very well done.
..but Ali's unusual combination...
ALI: Coffee-marinated eggplant with tofu latte.
..won her dish of the day.
Leaving Harry, Jenn, Minoli and Sarah in the bottom four.
Tonight, a pressure test will be the end of the road...
MINOLI: I'm terrified. I could be going home.
..for one of these amazing cooks.
# '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. #
Daylesford is absolutely stunning.
You can see the gumtrees,
the birds chirping.
It really does transport you straight out of the city,
right into the country feels.
JENN: Ooh. I know! On the lake.
Wow. It's so pretty.
SARAH: Everything's just so vibrant.
It's so calming to be out of the city.
Even though we're in an elimination, I feel more relaxed today, for sure.
I've never been in an elimination pressure test before
so I'm feeling the nerves.
Here they come.
OK. I think that's Alla Wolf-Tasker. (HARRY LAUGHS)
Oh, my God.
I adore Alla.
Her food ethos, what she's created,
her life story, her business, her career.
She's such an incredible woman.
It's gonna be really interesting to see
what challenge she sets us today.
Hi. Morning.
Good morning. SARAH: Ready for the day.
Oh, my God. (LAUGHS)
Good morning, everybody. ALL: Good morning.
Welcome to the picturesque Lake House in Daylesford...
..one of Australia's most highly regarded gourmet escapes.
And also, a huge welcome and good morning
to one of our favourite people, living legend Alla Wolf-Tasker.
Yay.
Welcome, welcome. So lovely to have you here.
The whole place was always meant to be immersed locally.
When you sit in a place like this and you look out on the seasons,
it should reflect the plate,
so provenance, seasonality, local, if possible, and know your producer.
They're the central tenets of what drives the food in this place.
Today, you're gonna want to have your wits about you
because you're gonna be cooking one of Alla's dishes...
..without a recipe.
Alla and her head chef, Brendan,
are gonna run you through this amazing dish.
Once the demo's finished, we're gonna head back to the MasterChef kitchen
where you'll have to cook that dish by memory.
JENN: What?! What?!
No recipe? Like, I'm not prepared for this. At all.
Alright, ladies, this is the head chef at Lake House, Brendan.
Hello, welcome.
Alla, shall we start? Absolutely.
The dish today is summer cucumbers with Murray cod.
One of my favourite ingredients - the humble cucumber.
Doesn't get used a lot nowadays
but I have fond memories of steamed fish,
turned cucumbers, butter sauce.
HARRY: I couldn't be happier to be given a pressure test
that's an intuitive cook with vegies.
That is literally how I cook.
So, we're doing three things with cucumber,
three different textures with cucumber.
Bit of a challenge today because it's got quite a few techniques.
This dish is deceptively simple.
There's not a lot of ingredients, it's a lot of technique.
Starting with one side of the Murray cod,
Brendan's just gonna separate out the loin from the belly.
One of the tricky things about this demonstration
is that Brendan's cooking the entire dish
and Alla is trying to talk us through the whole thing.
Trim off any extra fat,
slicing in fine slices, diagonally, about 2mm.
You're going to need about 18 to 20 slices,
so somewhere between a carpaccio and a sashimi.
Having to remember amounts and temperatures and diameters
and all this kind of stuff without any pen or paper
is really, really difficult.
Brendan is going to slice off the cucumbers in about 2mm.
We want them to be pliable
so we're going to salt and vinegar them a little bit.
We're going to put these into a pickling liquid with pinch of salt
and about a tablespoon of white wine vinegar.
We're gonna do the linguine.
These ones you peel,
but the peel goes into the bowl with everything else.
The flavour of the cucumber is strongest in the peel
so when you get to do your vichyssoise,
what you want is that really punchy cucumber flavour.
SARAH: I'm just watching the techniques that are being used
and I'm just seeing the precision.
I know that those classical techniques
and training I've had in the past is what's gonna have to come into play
in full swing today.
You collect your slices and then basically julienne them.
So we're going to drain these but retain the liquid.
The sliced Murray cod goes into that pickling liquid
but we've added a little bit of sugar to it.
It's really only to just give it a light pickle.
JENN: There is obviously a lot of information being thrown at us,
especially when there are multiple elements going at once.
Then we just lay the fish across this.
And they we're just going to roll these up.
Pretty much equal diameter.
Leave them in the fridge to set.
It's a lot of information - thicknesses of ingredients,
certain temperatures you're meant to cook them at.
Little bit of oil in the bag stops the bag from completely collapsing.
And now that's going to go into the water bath, 6.5 minutes.
Now, Brendan's going to start working on the vichyssoise.
What we want is a cucumber flavour.
We don't want a potato flavour.
That goes in.
They make it look so simple!
Think that's enough, Brendan.
So one of the rolls was a little bit thicker than this one
and this one, look, it's got plenty of resistance
but the other one still felt
as though there was not much resistance there so...
JOCK: So you really need some intuition here
because at the end of the day, it's not exact.
No, it's not exact. All loins aren't going to be exactly the same size.
No. They're not going to be exact... No.
I definitely use my instincts a lot when I cook a protein.
Alla's also saying, "Go with your instincts. You know how to cook."
It's really comforting to hear her say that but at the same time,
I'm like, "This is your recipe so you know!"
Right, the last thing we're going to move onto is the dill oil.
And the dish kind of comes together really quickly.
The vichyssoise, we just need to check that it's chilled enough
and also, check the seasoning once it has been chilled.
So I'm hoping I can re-create it just as quickly.
And now we're going to plate it.
Small half-tablespoon full of the linguine twist.
The summer cucumber and Murray cod dish
is chalk and cheese to how I normally cook.
And then the Murray cod roe around the outer edges.
I know that this is going to be a challenge for me today.
So this is our...summer cucumber and Murray cod dish.
And that's your challenge for today.
Beautiful.
Wanna try it? ALL: Yes!
Course you do.
Oh, my gosh.
The balance of Alla's final dish is perfect.
Cucumber-forward, supported by Murray cod.
The Murray cod is cooked perfectly
and I'm just left with this lingering balanced cucumber flavour in my mouth,
which I've never had before.
It looks like summer.
It's so good. It's so simple yet so complex.
And the seasoning on it is just perfect.
There's so much finesse here and it's just so beautiful and inviting
and the way you've transformed the ingredients
is just really, really inspiring.
Alright, time to head back to the MasterChef kitchen.
I'll see you there.
Thank you so much. ALL: Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.
MINOLI: I've seen Alla and Brendan cook now,
I know there's five main elements and four garnishes
and I'm hoping that I can remember it on the drive home.
SARAH: EV is charged, we have fuel, let's go.
Let's go. Let's do this. Let's go.
My memory can be touch and go at times,
some things just get wiped from my brain completely
and other times, I can remember everything so specifically.
I'm hoping the latter is what happens today.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Yes, Sarah!
Welcome back to the MasterChef kitchen.
I hope that you have remembered everything very, very well
and in fine detail.
You will have 90 minutes to re-create four perfect plates
of Alla's summer cucumbers with Murray cod.
And the cook that creates the dish that least resembles Alla's dish...
..will be going home.
Good luck, everybody.
Your 90 minutes starts now.
(APPLAUSE)
(CALLS OF ENCOURAGEMENT)
I had a blast watching Alla's demonstration.
I'm feeling really inspired, I feel ready to cook.
Firstly, I'm jotting down points of significance about the dish
that I feel like if I start to panic, I may forget.
My memory's pretty good.
My partner, Vincent, always says I remember too much.
So hopefully, it's gonna help in this case. (CHUCKLES)
Come on, girls!
C'mon, Jenn.
Let's go, Harry.
Come on, guys.
Go, Sarah. Go, Minoli.
MINOLI: This dish is unfamiliar to me
so I want all the detail to be on paper.
I know how to cure, I know how to pickle, I know how to make oils,
but the main things for me that I don't know how to do
are the vichyssoise and sous videing fish.
90 minutes should be plenty of time to re-create this dish.
I just need to breathe, take a moment,
and hopefully, let that re-sink into my brain.
Let's go, girls! Whoo!
(APPLAUSE)
HARRY: Yeah, first pressure test and meeting Alla
and going out to Daylesford was just absolutely incredible.
Just wanna do the dish justice.
The thing that I want to start on straightaway is my fish.
I remember watching Brendan do it, so as soon as I get the fillets out,
I remember to take off the ribs then clean off all the fat from the fish
and then I can start slicing my thinner pieces of fish
that are gonna get pickled for the cucumber roll.
Come off, you little skin.
And then I'm going to remove the skin
and clean up the pieces of loin for the medallion.
I'm feeling really confused about what I'm going to do with my pin today.
Considering that this dish feels so aligned with how I cook already,
I don't wanna go home
but I don't wanna go home with a pin even more than that.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) Go, girls! Come on.
Go, Sarah! Go, Sare.
It's my first time doing a pressure test back this time.
I feel I have a lot more to prove
because I have done so much since MasterChef.
I love Alla and I think she's just so incredible.
I still to this day remember the challenge that we had together
in my season.
The dish we're doing today...
Looks beautiful.
Yeah, I'm excited to do it.
Well, it's a challenge. That's what you're here for. It is a challenge and I like that.
So think I'm very happy that I got the opportunity
to have this challenge today.
I really admire what Alla has done,
creating a really different experience in Daylesford
is kind of what I've done in Goa.
So I really look up to her.
Alla and Jock have arrived, so that means you've got 75 minutes to go!
(APPLAUSE)
Alla and Jock are back in the kitchen now
and the nerves are really rolling in
because I'm cooking for Alla and I want to do it justice.
BILLIE: I think this challenge is really hard.
Going offsite to a restaurant and learning a dish,
not being able to write anything down and just doing it from memory,
I reckon is probably one of the hardest challenges yet.
MINOLI: Ooh!
Keep hustling, Minoli, you're doing well, mate!
I feel like I'm taking so long to prep this fish.
I've only got 70 minutes left and I'm only slicing now.
I know one of the big parts of this recipe
is getting the balance right.
Because I tried it and it was beautiful.
The summer cucumber and Murray cod dish is the furthest thing
from how I normally cook.
The fine detail that Alla gives to her food was what stuck with me
when I was watching her cook.
So I'm gonna try and re-create the dish just as Alla and Brendan did it.
If this is what Alla does and this is how particular she is,
then this is what I need to do.
(SIGHS) And Alla's here.
So I need to just do this recipe justice.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Go, Sarah! Come on, guys!
It's such a simple dish but it's complex.
I've got my Murry cod loins in the brine and I pat dry my slices
and put them back in the fridge,
to be used later inside the pickled cucumber roll.
Now I can crack on to my pickled cucumbers
for the outside of the pickled cucumber roll
and the cucumber linguine.
The pickled cucumbers are sliced thin
and then these are gonna be pickled with salt and white wine vinegar.
We haven't been given any measurements at all for this process
and even when Alla was doing it, she was completely going off by feel.
She'd sprinkle some salt, put it through the cucumber.
Touch it, look at it, taste it,
and then decide whether or not it needed any more salt or vinegar.
It's calming because there's nothing to follow.
So it feels like you're cooking at home
and you're just cooking lovely food that tastes good
and that's what's important.
I really have to trust my palate.
It may not be as experienced as Alla's but it's tasted the final dish
and I'm hoping it remembers. (GIGGLES)
It was so lovely this morning to watch Alla cook.
Her philosophy about food is very inspiring
and I feel like that's sort of like the food that I've been searching for
so I feel very blessed - as strange as it sounds -
to be in this pressure test.
Usually, with a pressure test, of course,
they have a very detailed recipe to follow to the letter
if they want to succeed.
Today, it's all about how much they can remember
and how much instinct they can apply.
Mmm. They're not looking nervous at the moment at all.
No. And...
Should they be, though?
The thing is, if you get too relaxed and one little thing goes wrong,
it'll throw you. Yeah.
It'll throw you much more than
if you're actually on adrenaline all the time.
There's a lot of sort of looking at the thinness of the cucumbers.
That's probably not as important as some of the other things.
(CALLS OF ENCOURAGEMENT)
My gosh, this is a lot of cucumbers. (LAUGHS)
There is a lot of prep work with the cucumbers and fish
but this is an Alla Wolf-Tasker dish.
Slice and then basically julienne them to make the linguine.
And it's all in the precision.
I've spent time being as detailed as possible
yet the time is just flying out the door.
I really need to motor now.
Good work, Sare. Go, Sarah.
I have my sliced cucumbers pickled.
I have my julienne cucumber linguine pickling
and now, I'm moving on to confiting my Murray cod.
I need to really make sure I get it into a perfect kind of cylinder
so that it cooks perfectly
and stays that same thickness all the way through.
You got this, Sarah, come on.
I came back into this competition because I wanted to grow again.
When you get into opening your own restaurant,
you're not learning from any other restaurateurs.
So, to have this opportunity today to cook with Alla is a real benefit
and I feel really thankful.
Hope you've got a good memory 'cause you've only got 45 minutes to go.
(APPLAUSE) Come on, guys.
Oh, my God, it's just gone so quickly. Isn't it crazy?
MINOLI: Ooh.
I didn't feel the pressure at the start
but now I'm feeling the pressure.
This dish kind of comes together at the end
and I feel like I've taken up too much time
just slicing cucumbers and Murray cod.
ALVIN: How long does your fish need to be in the water bath?
Like, 6.5 minutes. OK, cool.
But I'm gonna do it now.
I still have to get my two cod medallions
into the sous vide machine.
I've got to make my dill oil.
I need to roll my cucumber and cod rolls
and get onto my vichyssoise stat.
Minoli. Hi, Andy.
Ooh, crucial moment here? Am I right?
Yep. (ALL LAUGH)
I think the whole thing's crucial!
We always choose the best times to come and say g'day, don't we?
You look a bit flustered.
Oh, I'm just like so laser focused at the moment.
Right. Gotcha. Good.
I just wanna make sure that I'm here at the end of this cook.
Yep. How are you feeling about the vichyssoise?
Good. Oh, great.
Oh. Well... No, that's fantastic.
I just wasn't sure how you were feeling about it.
I didn't even know what it was before today.
(LAUGHS) But I understand the concept. Now she feels good about it!
This vichyssoise is the most important thing on this dish
so I just need to motor on to get everything done.
So I can focus on that.
(LAUGHS) This is wild.
Go, Minoli!
Go, Sarah.
It seems like there's time but there's never time in this kitchen. (TIMER BEEPS)
Time just goes really fast so... I really have to crack on.
My time is up and I need to check my confit Murray cod loin.
The perfectly cooked Murray cod should be
just set in the middle with a touch of pink.
I don't know what texture I'm looking for
'cause I didn't get to touch the fish when Alla did her demonstration.
So, one of the rolls was a little bit thicker than this one
and this one, it's got plenty of resistance but the other one,
there was really not much resistance there.
But Alla said trust your instincts, trust your intuition.
Uh, my instincts say this fish is perfect to go in the ice bath.
Yep. So I'm gonna pop him in.
This one feels a bit different.
It feels a lot softer. Yeah.
I'm gonna rest it another minute
'cause Alla did mention resting the fish
to allow it to just gently keep cooking a little bit
before you plunge it into the ice bath.
You can always keep cooking, you can't un-cook the fish.
There's the scientific brain.
Yeah, exactly right. I love her recall.
Yeah, dentist is really coming to the fore now.
(LAUGHS)
Good stuff, Jenn. Nailed it. Thank you so much.
This dish has such simple elements
that everything must be done to absolute perfection.
HARRY: As I'm prepping some herbs for my herb oil,
I get this feeling that the timer should have maybe gone off
for my fish by now.
I look and my timer's stopped.
Argh!
I have no idea how long my fish has been in the water bath for.
I was in such a good position.
This could be the beginning of the unravelling of my dish.
ALI: It's a really strange vibe today.
We don't know what they're cooking.
You know, it's a very strange, kind of pin drop
kind of silence in here today.
HARRY: The vibe in the kitchen today is really, really intense.
I look down and my timer's stopped.
I have no idea how long my fish has been in the water bath for.
And now, it's completely based on feel.
That one's fine.
I feel the smaller one and I'm confident that it's cooked enough.
But I'm really worried because ultimately,
I'm not gonna know what it's like until right at the end
when you go in to cut it.
Other one's still in, is it? Yep.
I just need to continue to trust in my palate and my cooking
and get through to a point where I feel comfortable
and then make a decision on what I'm going to do with my pin today.
She's a little bit nervous.
They all are. Are they?
It's you. You make people nervous. No, she's really a little nervous
and there's not much to be nervous about.
Well, one of them's gonna go home.
It's only cucumbers and cod and you have only 30 minutes to go.
Let's go, ladies! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Go, girls! Come on! Go, Sarah!
It's just flown. It's crazy.
Go, Minoli!
Good work, guys.
Go, girls, let's go!
JENN: I'm really happy with my cook today.
I'm working on my vichyssoise.
Alla said traditionally, a vichyssoise is a cold potato soup.
But in the case of this dish,
it's actually going to be a cold cucumber and dill sauce.
I remember Alla didn't let her shallots take on any colour.
Jenn, just do one potato, yeah? One potato?
It's more than enough. OK. Thanks.
Then we add in some grated potatoes.
She described the potatoes as the binder.
Otherwise, the cucumber will split. So it's finding the balance.
This sauce is about the cucumbers, not the potatoes.
MINOLI: I'm getting my cucumbers for my vichyssoise.
Alla said there's a lot of flavour in the outside
and these cucumbers are kind of different
to what I saw this morning.
They've got a lot more seeds in them
so I just need to make sure that I've got more flesh.
Because cucumber flavour, it has to be front and centre.
Sarah. Hi. How long are you gonna stay.
(LAUGHS) Oh, not too long.
I need to run over. What have you gotta do?
Because honestly... Blend this vichyssoise.
Yep. And I have to...make my rolls.
Yep. To cure my fish.
And then plate four perfect plates. Yes.
You've got some work to do. Yep.
Let's go. Let's go! Go, come on!
(APPLAUSE)
I feel like my food journey in the MasterChef kitchen has only just begun.
Especially after today's session with Alla.
I feel like I'm finally finding that thing I've been looking for.
Doing things instinctively like Alla and Brendan
is definitely the way I aspire to cook.
This challenge, I feel like I needed to be here
because I needed to be reminded of the joy of cooking.
As with every pressure test, the energy has gone up a level.
15 minutes to go!
Definitely taken it up a notch. Oh, my God.
Come on, girls, come on!
Whoo!
I am blending my vichyssoise and I feel the hit of pressure right now.
This is so crazy.
I've realised time is just running away from me.
Oh! Alla. (LAUGHS) You made it look so easy.
Hang in there. Hang in there.
I am moving on to my cucumber and cod roll
and I remember the refinement in how Alla put this together.
Every part of the cucumber slices was covered with cod in that tight roll
so that it really holds together when I slice.
I'm just trying to really envision that so I can replicate it now.
I definitely thought it was gonna be plenty of time
but I can see now that it's gonna be tight.
I still have a lot to do.
And to add to that, I need to plate four perfect dishes.
I'm not sure if I'm gonna get it all done. I am really worried.
I was getting stressed by how slowly they were working.
Come on, guys.
This one's not gonna make it.
Come on, Minoli, come on! Keep going, Minoli!
Come on, Minoli.
Ooh! What am I doing?
I'm running out of time.
Let's get this vichyssoise on.
I still have so much to do.
I haven't got the vichyssoise done.
I remember them cooking some shallots.
Adding a grated potato.
I need to do the dill oil.
I've got some cod here.
Murray cod is sitting on the bench right now.
The cucumber rolls aren't actually rolled yet.
Go, Minoli.
The cucumber has gotten the better of me but I refuse to give up.
You know what?
If this is gonna be my last cook, I'm going down with a bang.
I'm giving it everything.
It was very relaxed and now it's starting to really speed up.
JOCK: They've got a long way to go.
Oh, God, I'm worried about those kids.
They were looking so confident in the beginning.
ANDY: Yeah. Now it's gone...
Now it's gone ballistic and the problem is at the end,
the things at the end are the things they really need to be careful of,
like the flavour of... Yeah.
You know, undercooking the shallots and all that stuff.
And the plating too.
Like, they've never plated four plates.
You have to have everything in front of you,
10 minutes beforehand at least.
Things are getting really, really intense.
The state of most of the benches look pretty hectic
but I'm watching Minoli and there's a lot going on on the bench
and I'm starting to feel a bit nervous.
I know how great she is in this kitchen.
Oh, God.
And how she can turn something around really quickly.
ALVIN: Minoli, check your vichyssoise. Yep.
But the time just seems to be going really quickly
and it feels like she might not have enough time to get everything out.
Come on, Minoli! Come on!
We want four perfect plates
in 10 minutes!
(CALLS OF ENCOURAGEMENT)
10 minutes to go and I have to slice my confit cod.
Thank God.
Yes, Sarah! Come on!
Thankfully, it's cooked.
I just remember Alla's having some beautiful pink to the centre
and just being set around the outside.
So I'm choosing my pieces carefully.
I'm thinking these four.
This one's a bit thinner so I've gone a little bit higher.
Pick the four best ones for yourself. Yep.
I've got hardly any time left to plate these four perfect dishes
and I don't have a lot of time to taste everything together.
I'm worried about balancing
and getting the last final touches on the plates.
I've got my confit cod.
I've got my cod roll.
I've got my julienned cucumber linguine.
I've got my dill oil.
I've got my vichyssoise, cucumber flowers, cod roe.
So many different elements.
I have to start plating so I can just make sure everything's balanced.
I can remember what it looked like, I'm just hoping I can replicate that.
(APPLAUSE)
MATT: Keep motoring. You've got five minutes.
What time? Five minutes.
So much vichyssoise is cooling down in the ice bath.
Now it's just a matter of getting everything together and plating up.
I feel like I'm in an OK spot
but I'm starting to wonder whether today is the day to take a risk.
Cutting into the fish is super, super nerve-racking.
I've cut into the first one.
ALI: Her other fish was over.
Cutting into my first piece of fish and seeing that it's over,
I kind of already know that my second one will be as well.
I have to make the call now.
It's run with this fish that you know is a little bit over
or play your pin.
(CLUCKS TONGUE)
There it is. MINDY: Yeah, good on you, Haz.
Good work, girl.
I think a wise move.
Seen your fish. Well done. Ooh. (LAUGHS)
I'll take the pin now. (LAUGHTER)
Alright, Harry, this means you are safe.
(APPLAUSE) Head up to the gantry. Well done.
Good call, Harry!
Good work.
That was our final pin left in the competition
and the three of you have three minutes to go!
Let's go! (APPLAUSE)
Let's go! Come on, guys. You can do this!
SARAH: All I'm thinking is,
"This pressure test of four people has just dropped to three."
It's not good odds.
If my dish isn't perfect, I could be going home.
I'm really nervous.
OK.
JENN: I'm plating up. This is Alla's beautiful plate of food.
I need to do it justice.
If this is being served at the Lake House, it needs to look beautiful.
My fish, it's beautiful, it's perfectly cooked.
This day, as strange as it sounds, has been a magical day for me.
MATT: Looks good, Jenn. Thanks.
This dish has helped me realise the joy of cooking again
and the joy of food and the happiness food represents to me.
ALI: Jenn, just take your time.
I got this. Yeah, you got it. You got it.
I'm really happy with the vichyssoise.
The balance is right, the flavours taste good.
It's cucumber-forward.
Go!
I know I've managed to remember everything on the plate
down to the fresh dill and dill pollen.
They just need to make it on the plate right now.
Come on, Minoli, come on.
JULIE: Do you just need one bit of fish?
Don't cut it if you don't need it.
Buddy, get your plates out.
MINOLI: I'm terrified right now.
(HUFFS)
It's dawned on me that I could be going home.
Great work, Minoli.
Time's running out and I have nothing on the plate.
I don't even have my plates out.
Is that enough, Minoli?
Huh? Have you got enough? Just go.
Hurry up, you've only got 90 seconds! Come on!
ALDO AND JULIE: Minoli!
ALDO: Go, Sarah!
Go, you can do this. One thing after another.
I just wanna get something on to the plate right now.
Where's my other jug? BILLIE: Are they in the fridge?
Come on, Minoli! Come on, Minoli, come on!
What? Oh, my God.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
Plate it up, Minoli, get it on the plate.
What have I done? Oh!
Don't worry. Get it on the plate.
I don't wanna do this but 30 seconds...
Come on, Min!
Come on, guys, let's go!
This is insane.
Come on, Minoli.
Good work. Yes!
Great job. She's bloody coming back. Yeah.
And here is the countdown!
10!
ALL: 9, 8... Come on, guys!
7, 6, 5,
4, 3, 2, 1.
That's it. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Oh, my God.
Oh.
MELANIE: So bloody proud of you, Jenn.
Me too. (BOTH LAUGH)
It's been such a great cook.
I was in my zone, in my element
and I'm just so happy and so proud of myself.
I think I've done Alla's dish justice.
That was so much harder than I thought.
I'm feeling really annoyed
because I had my noodles and I didn't get them on the plate.
I didn't strain my oil.
Um, I tasted it. I tasted the vichyssoise.
Like, I really liked that.
And you know what, I don't know. I don't...
I can't believe I'm serving Alla this food.
(CRIES)
As a Favourite, I feel like we have an expectation to live up to.
But no matter how many good cooks you have in the kitchen,
there's always gonna be bad ones.
(SIGHS)
And...I'm gonna let myself feel the pain of having...
..cooked the way I did today because I think that's the only way to grow.
VOICEOVER: Enjoy another taste of MasterChef with full masterclasses,
best bits and delicious exclusives at:
SARAH: Good luck, Jenn.
Hello.
Hi, Jenn. Hello, hello.
I come bearing gifts. (LAUGHS)
Love it. Spectacular.
Thank you.
Jenn.
You were quite emotional at the end of the cook.
It was a lot of, like, build-up of emotions, obviously.
Overwhelming happiness, though, was what I felt
because I felt like I finally get it now.
Like, cooking shouldn't be about what the other person wants,
it should be about what I want the receiving end to get.
The thing I saw with you when your plates were up was unbridled joy.
And when you get that from the act of cooking,
you know you've chosen the right path.
Cooking is for you.
That's exactly how I felt. (LAUGHS)
Would you like to finish up and then we'll taste.
OK.
Thank you so much, Jenn.
Here's hoping that joy translates
into the plates of food in front of us.
Thanks, Jenn. Thanks, Jenn.
Thank you, Jenny. Thank you.
OK.
What do we think before we tuck in?
The assembly looks good.
The colour of the vichyssoise looks good.
The texture of the vichyssoise looks good.
It's not getting watery around the edges.
The plating's not quite dead-on but that's alright.
So far, so good.
Alla, earlier, you said that this dish
really does come down to accurate seasoning
and it's really a dish of textures and refreshment and refinement.
I thought the seasoning was fantastic,
especially in the cucumber noodles.
You can pick up that little lick of the vinegar
but it's really about the salt and the crunch and that freshness.
The fish, I think it's fantastic.
The protein's just set.
This is meant to be a summer dish and it eats like a summer dish.
She's got the crunch in the pickled cucumber,
she's got the crunch in the linguine.
The vichyssoise is a nice balancing flavour.
I think she's done a fantastic job.
There was a touch more acidity in your one, Alla.
In the roll, I think. It's so close but, you know,
considering it's the first time she's made it, though,
I gotta say, it's a pretty good effort.
Very close to the way yours was.
JENN: Good luck. SARAH: Good luck, Minoli.
MINOLI: The disappointment right now,
I'm serving this to Alla Wolf-Tasker,
is more than I can vocalise.
I'm hoping that some of my flavours are there but...
..my hands are tied and I think that's what's the hardest part.
Thank you.
Minoli...
..how was the cook?
I had such a fun day and...
(GULPS AND SIGHS)
I'm just really bummed that I didn't get my noodles on the plate
and my roe.
It's like the last couple of minutes really just disappointed.
I think I was focusing too much on the flavour of the vichyssoise
because for me, that was, like, the star of the show on your dish.
But I'm hoping that at least some of it is nice. (CHUCKLES WRYLY)
Do not lose heart in these little minor blips in your cooking journey
because each one of them strengthens who you are.
No, I gave it everything until the last second
so I'm really happy that I...
(SIGHS) Like, I just didn't give up.
It's not over yet. We've still gotta try the dish.
Do you wanna finish it?
Sure thing.
Thanks, Minoli. ALLA: Thank you.
Thanks.
The vichyssoise itself, really beautiful.
It is bright, it's beautifully seasoned, it's nicely balanced.
Unfortunately, that's... that's where it ends.
She hasn't done herself or your dish justice today.
Dill oil, not strained, no dill fronds,
the fish is overcooked and no noodles.
Minoli's such a talented cook.
I believe that she has the skills to do this dish,
it's clear that she just ran out of time.
Minoli just chronically overthought every single element on the plate.
I'm so sad for her
because we know that she can produce brilliant flavours
and really wonderfully complete dishes.
But today was not her day.
By this stage, I think if you really want to be cooking,
you do have to be able to flex right and left and centre.
Doesn't mean that everyone's going to be good at every style of cooking
but you can't just rely on what is familiar.
We'll just see where that lands her.
Hey, Sarah. Hello.
Hello, Sarah.
Looking at my plates, I...think that I have replicated most of the dish
but I've realised I've left off dill fronds.
And also, I didn't have enough time to taste each element properly.
I just don't know if I've done enough today
because the smallest thing can send you home.
Thanks, Sarah. No worries.
Alla, thoughts on the presentation?
It's a little more precise,
however, it's missing the dill fronds
and I'm just trying to work out whether the vichyssoise is splitting
or there's water somewhere.
It's actually the vichyssoise that is splitting out.
Just tasting the liquid, it tastes a little potatoey.
MEL: Mmm.
So I think it's just not been quite cooked out enough.
It's funny about the dill 'cause I miss the dill
and that's a perfect example of... a herb not just as a garnish
but an integral part of the dish.
For me, the butchery on the fish within the roll was problematic.
Because I got a huge chunk of sinewy chewiness
and it was extremely unpleasant.
Mel, I gotta agree with the butchery
of the fish inside the rolled cucumber
'cause I actually got a bone. A bone?
Oh. Yeah.
Mel, I gotta agree with the butchery of the fish
inside the rolled cucumber 'cause I actually got a bone.
You got a bone? ALLA: Ooh.
Yeah. It's only tiny but she's definitely there.
The vichyssoise has split and it does taste that little bit more potatoey.
In saying that, I think it's definitely a good dish.
For the only element that was left off to be the dill,
I thought it was pretty impressive.
Beautiful cucumber.
The pickle on the cucumber roll, the slices of fish, is beautiful
although, much small than your roll.
But I think she's done very well and it's nicely, precisely plated.
The fish is just a fraction over, just a fraction over
but not enough to ruin it.
Alla, thank you so much for today
and to push these guys to the very top of their game.
(APPLAUSE)
I can't think of anyone in life who has been successful at something
who hasn't had disappointments and disruptions.
And as long as you keep learning,
give it lots of love, give it lots of attention,
don't forget about the people around you, they're really important.
But good on you, everyone, for giving it all you've got.
OK, Harry, when you played your immunity pin,
that left us with three cooks fighting for their place
in this competition.
Jenn,
you said you felt joy when you cooked this dish
and we tasted that joy on the plate.
Yours was a commendable representation of Alla's dish
so well done, you are safe.
Thank you. (APPLAUSE)
Sarah.
Overall, it was a solid effort but we missed the dill on the plate.
Your vichyssoise was slightly watery
and Andy's fish had a bone in it.
Minoli, your vichyssoise was well balanced.
But unfortunately,
everything else on the plate suffered from your running out of time.
Your fish was overcooked, there were missing elements
and your dill oil was unfortunately, a puree.
And that's why, Minoli,
I'm so sorry but you're going home.
MINOLI: (SIGHS) Um...
..it was a joy cooking for you, Alla.
But you're right, there are so many disappointments in life
and all I can say is just
give it everything that you have in every single cook.
But yeah, I'm just gonna sit in this for a little bit
and just learn from it and...
..I'm REALLY grateful for the opportunity so thank you.
ANDY: Well, Minoli, we cannot tell you
how much we absolutely love your food.
There are very few cooks that have walked through those doors
that can create flavour the way that you do.
You've brought us so many dishes over the past two years
that have just made us happy.
And you yourself, you're an absolute ray of sunshine.
It's not gonna be long before us three - or even maybe us four -
will sit down in your very successful restaurant
and eat your tasty food once again.
But, unfortunately, it's time to say goodbye.
Well done, Sarah.
Come on.
This year, I came back wanting to win.
But you can't always cook an amazing dish every single day.
(LAUGHS)
I'm so happy that...
..I've gotten so much out of the comp this season.
(APPLAUSE)
Give it up for Minoli, everybody!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Because I feel like I'm ready.
I've got the conviction and the guts and the grit
to go out and now take on the world.
VOICEOVER: Tomorrow night on MasterChef Australia -
love is in the air.
We want the perfect date night meal.
Oooooh. (LAUGHTER)
But they'll need to deliver
on a massive team challenge...
Hustle, hustle, hustle!
..to avoid elimination.
Captions by Red Bee Media