Original subtitles

VOICEOVER: Previously on MasterChef Australia...

Please welcome the one, the only Peter Gilmore!

(CONTESTANTS CHEER) Kirsten Tibballs!

Shannon Bennett!

..Legends Week was packed with star power...

Peter Gilmore is a god among chefs.

..and Kirsten Tibballs' pressure test...

Chocolate and coffee caviar.

..was the end of the journey for Sam.

Sam, everybody!

Then Shannon Bennett whipped up a stunning 20-minute meal...

CONTESTANTS: ..three, two, one!

..and challenged them to do the same.

This is so scrumptious.

So delicious.

It's something you could put straight onto a restaurant menu.

Well done.

And it was Theo who wowed the judges...

Absolutely banging.

..and won immunity.

Tonight,

tiny cubes

means one legendary elimination.

Here they are.

Oh, no! No, no, no, no, no, no, no!

Oh, no! It's the cubes.

Cubes of death.

Oh, cubes, is it?

(LAUGHS) Bit of cubism.

Ooh! No, the taste cubes!

(CONTESTANTS LAUGH)

I've seen these little cubes before and I'm like, "Oh, my god."

I remembered it as such a fun challenge

but then, also, very terrifying,

'cause things go wrong like this.

Taste cubes! Mmm, interesting.

Oh, my god. This gives me anxiety, 'cause we did this.

It's back!

(CONTESTANTS LAUGH)

There's no mistaking this one.

It's a challenge I'm sure you're all familiar with.

This is the legendary 1-inch cube taste test.

God...damn.

Callum, the cogs are well and truly turning, huh?

Honestly, I think this is one of the most difficult challenges

I've ever done in MasterChef.

Ooh! You've done a few!

Mmm. (CONTESTANTS SPEAK OVER EACH OTHER)

Now, this is the 1-inch cube taste test.

But...

Oh, gosh. Oh, no.

..not as you know it.

Ooh.

Not everyone will be tasting today.

You'll be split into teams.

(CONTESTANTS EXCLAIM)

And you have a big decision to make.

Only one person from your team will be tasting.

Wow-ee. Pressure's on!

So much pressure. That's right.

Your entire team will be relying on just the one palate...

Wow!

..because the first person to guess incorrectly

puts not only themselves...

..but their entire team into round 2.

That is brutal!

One slip-up and that's it - game over.

No pressure, right?

There's always a little twist.

Nothing's ever straightforward!

Alright. Let's get you into teams. Oh!

So, ones here, twos in the middle, threes over there.

We're going in teams, which I feel is...worse.

One.

Either way, because that's a lot of pressure on one person

to carry the fate of six other people.

So all we know is

I'll be putting my hand down for that. (LAUGHS)

Can I just tell you,

I've gone into the third round every time I've done a taste test,

so I'm probably not your girl,

'cause I freak out.

The decision to choose captain - it's tough.

Obviously, you're working on people's strength...

That's what I mean - I'm comfortable across different cuisines, I guess.

But you would be too.

Like, I can do the tasting but it's so much bloody pressure.

We've done it before. Yeah.

So I think, maybe, someone who's done it before.

I agree. Who feels really confident?

I feel really confident that Laura should do it.

Hey, really? Uh, yeah.

TIM: We're really relying on our team captain

to save us from elimination today.

I hope we've chosen the right person.

OK. The time has come. Team one, who have you chosen?

Our man. Our man.

Jamie. Whoo!

Jamie, you've never played this challenge before.

Yeah. Fresh eyes.

Do you rate your palate? Yeah.

I mean, I do live in the world of wine at the moment

and really, sort of, train my palate every day.

It's very different but it's stil flavour, it's still texture, so...

Team number two, who's got the title?

Audra.

Audra! (CONTESTANTS APPLAUD)

Why have you chosen Audra?

I think... Because... Yeah, go on.

She's probably got the most amount of experience,

like, tasting a lot of different cuisines.

Right.

So we think she's the best possible choice.

I'm also the oldest.

I think that's what she was getting at.

Yeah. (LAUGHTER)

And, team three, who did we go with?

Laura! (APPLAUSE)

What was the thing that got you over the line?

Uh, Callum absolutely threw me into this one.

(LAUGHTER) A lot of...

Um, so, Darrsh, Callum and I have all done this before,

so it was just a consensus of one of us would do it

and...happy to.

Here's how it's gonna work.

Jamie, Audra, Laura.

There are a total of 80 ingredients up here.

You're going to take it in turns tasting them.

If you guess right,

you keep playing.

If you guess wrong,

your team will be cooking in round 2...

(WHISPERS) Oh, shit.

..where somebody will be going home.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: This one is tough. Yeah.

Yeah!

So good luck.

OK! Let the 1-inch cube test begin.

First up...

Jamie, for team number one.

I think I've got a good palate

but food and drink is a multisensory experience.

Taking sight out of the equation is massive.

Your mind just wanders and you can easily make mistakes.

So I'm dreading the fact that I'm blindfolded,

I'm tasting

and I'm responsible for all the people behind me.

So I pick up the cube

and it's tacky and rubbery.

You can take your time, mate.

Smell it - it's not giving off a huge amount,

so I don't think it's anything fresh.

Take a bite...

Is it liquorice?

You're correct.

(CONTESTANTS CHEER) It's liquorice.

Yeah, Jamie! Well done, Jamie.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Well done!

ANDY: Audra, you're up.

Coming in hot.

AUDRA: All I can hear is my heart.

It's beating a million times louder than it normally does.

Got it? Eugh!

So, I get this cube.

It feels weird! It's almost, kind of...it is moist.

It's a vegetable.

Is it?

And it's so familiar but I just can't see it.

Oh, my god. It's at the back of my mind.

Tomato.

To-mah-toh? To-may-toh?

To-may-toh, to-mah-toh - you're correct.

(CONTESTANTS APPLAUD, WHOOP)

Nice, Audra.

You know, it feels so good. I just feel like a million bucks.

(LAUGHS) I feel like the saviour!

Laura.

Coming in.

(INGREDIENT CRACKS) (LAUGHS) Sorry.

It's a funny little cube. Mmm.

What are you tasting?

Definitely chocolate.

Is that your answer?

Mmm. Chocolate.

We'll accept chocolate. Well done.

(CONTESTANTS APPLAUD)

I would happily take chocolate as my first cube.

I feel like, though, we're starting easy

and that's the terrifying thing here.

Round two. Jamie, you're first.

(INGREDIENT CRUNCHES LIGHTLY)

It's apple.

Apple...

is correct.

Well done. (CONTESTANTS APPLAUD)

Audra, you're next.

It's a fruit.

My favourite fruit in the whole wide world - mango.

Mango is correct. Well done, Audra.

(APPLAUSE)

Laura, it's your turn.

Watermelon.

That was very quick.

Watermelon is correct.

Well done, Laura. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Alright. Jamie, ready for round three?

Sure.

Oh.

Eugh!

(LAUGHS)

Um, this is actually my son's favourite ingredient at the moment,

'cause I find bite marks out of the fridge all the time.

It's butter.

Butter is correct.

(APPLAUSE) We'll get you a towel.

Thank you. (LAUGHS)

(INGREDIENT CRUNCHES)

Oh! Beautiful.

Ginger.

That's correct. Ginger is correct.

(APPLAUSE)

Alright. Let's go, Laura. You're up next.

Coming in slowly.

Thank you.

Ooh.

What does it feel like?

Um, that feels really odd.

Ooh.

As I start to smell it, there's nothing coming off this cube.

Pressure is definitely on.

I'm starting to feel like

my heart's racing a little bit faster, for sure.

That feels like...

fake.

That's...

Ah. (CHUCKLES) Mushrooms.

(LAUGHS)

Mushrooms is correct.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Freakin' love raw mushrooms.

They're so naughty and so delicious

and it's just...oh, a huge relief to get this one.

So far, so good, everybody.

Now it's round four.

(INGREDIENT CRACKS LIGHTLY)

That's pineapple.

Pineapple is correct.

(APPLAUSE)

Got it. Pork.

Pork is correct. Yes!

(APPLAUSE)

Yeah. Ooh. What's with the really intense textures?

(SNIFFS) Oh, my god.

(LAUGHS)

Parmigiano.

(LAUGHS)

That's correct, Laura. It's parmesan cheese.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) Go, Laura!

ANDY: Pumpin' through it. Ready for round five?

Yep. Yep.

I think we've got three very strong palates on our hands.

Pick it up and it's smooth and I press it

and there's give.

Can smell some sweetness.

So immediately, I'm thinking, "Right, fruit."

Mmm.

It's not a black fruit,

because it doesn't have that same kind of flavour.

It's in the red fruit category.

Mmm.

What's the grunt mean?

JAMIE: Got into my own head and all I can think about is,

my team's depending on me...

..my reputation is on the line...

..but I'm really unsure.

ANDY: Where's your mind going?

Stonefruit.

Is it plum?

Final answer? Yeah.

Plum...

..is...

..incorrect.

(TEAM MEMBERS GROAN)

The answer is strawberry.

I'm so sorry, Jamie.

That means that you and the whole of your team

are heading into round 2.

It's OK, Jamie.

(APPLAUSE)

I see how Jamie's devastated

and I can see he's, like, feeling bad for us.

(APPLAUSE CONTINUES)

But - oh! - we're going in the elimination.

I'm looking around my team

and everyone's good, strong cooks, chefs.

It's gonna be really hard,

so I'm feeling very shaky.

ANDY: Alright, guys. In this round, you can cook anything you like.

But your pantry is made up of all the ingredients from round 1.

Nothing more, nothing less.

So you need to make the most of what's on offer.

You've got a selection of proteins - chicken, lobster, duck...

There's things like pumpkin, corn, milk, fennel and peanuts.

But you'll notice there's also ingredients missing.

There's no herbs, no sugar

and no condiments.

You have 75 mintes.

The dish that impresses us the least

will send its maker home.

We all ready?

Well, you'd better be, because your time starts now!

(CONTESTANTS CHEER, CLAMOUR)

Oh, my goodness. I'm sorry! Sorry, lovely!

Come on, guys.

Oh, my goodness.

I need a lot of fennel. Lot of fennel.

It's like a Sunday at the shops.

Excuse me. Sorry. Please, take it.

When I'm looking at the ingredients, I'm just scanning.

The octopus, the tuna's saying hello,

the bresaola's going, "Hello, hello!

"I'm over here!"

And then trying to pick up dishes and recipes in my head...

..but there's a lot of core ingredients that are missing -

vinegar's missing, there's herbs missing,

so it's hard to complete a conceptual dish.

Let me work through this - duh, duh, duh, duh.

And then I end up going, "Bring it back to base."

Carrots and corn.

Interesting.

ANDY: Like, we always try and work out what you're doing

with every handful you take.

Let's go, Andre. Nice. Let's go.

Today I'm doing a dish that's inspired by Twisties.

So it's little twists of pasta called trofie -

in this case, I'm gonna call them 'twisties' -

and we're doing a corn twistie and a carrot twistie pasta

with a puree and a little peanut verde and a buerre noisette.

So this is literally gonna look like I've scattered Twisties on a plate.

You doing a juice cleanse, mate? It's a juice bar.

Alright.

Carrot is the cheese and the chicken Twistie is the corn of the Twisties.

It's a fun, vibrant dish. It's unique.

But it takes a little bit of skill and technique to do the pasta.

Uh, a little bit more flour.

Hopefully it's enough to keep me in the competition.

The pantry's closed, garden's closed.

All they have are the 80 ingredients that just a moment ago,

were tiny little cubes.

And that's the problem - they don't have everything they want,

so there are some limitations.

POH: But it really will make them think.

I always think these second cooks are actually such a great opportunity.

I kind of looked forward to them,

because it was an opportunity for me to do something

that I thought might make me stand out from the pack.

ANDY: You're a madwoman. "I looked forward to round 2's elimination."

(BOTH LAUGH)

Aced at standing out on elimination as well.

ANDY: Only said Poh.

And that is why we love you.

Let's go, Snez! Yeah, thanks, guys.

It's very early in this competition

and a lot of people already kind of coming through as very strong cooks.

I really need to lift my game.

This time, you know what? I'm gonna go all out.

I saw fresh yeast and fennel

and I'm thinking of going with this gutsy dish from my home town.

Um, it's called koromac.

Koromac. This is my mum's specialty.

It's usually made with just the green part of the fennel,

with orange zest, potatoes and smoked pancetta.

When you eat it with bread, it's just phenomenal.

It's only done in certain villages.

It's either you love it or hate it,

so God help me.

My dish is 90% fennel.

It's very aniseed. It's quite strong.

It's very fragrant. Could be very overpowering.

Oh, that smells really good, Snez.

It's very risky to take a risk in actual elimination.

If I do go home on this dish, I know I've pushed myself.

I hope I don't, because my mum will be like, "Never come back again!"

Andy. Yo.

Any?

You'd go marshmallow over liquorice?

You can have both. Mmm...both.

Oh, there you go. You can have both.

Hey, Tim. Hey, Andy.

How are you feeling, first of all?

It's all on the line today, mate. There's no room for error.

What are you doing? Pork and apple.

Pork and apple. Classic for a reason. Classic combo.

So, I've got... You've got the belly.

I've got roasted pork belly

on an apple and fennel trivet

that I want to turn into an awesome apple sauce,

once those pork juices run down.

I'm doing a parsnip and apple puree

and I'm doing some pickled apple.

I've gotta ask some questions about the pork, right?

Yeah.

We're getting crispy skin? Yes.

And beautifully juicy meat. Yes.

Got my pork belly in squares,

'cause obviously, a big piece isn't gonna cook in time.

Right.

So obviously, pressure to get that skin nice and crispy.

There's no excuse. That's what I want to do today.

That is a promise.

That's my promise to you.

We're shaking on it. You've gotta deliver. Good luck.

Thanks, Andy.

This is Back To Win - this isn't my first rodeo in the kitchen.

I know this pork belly needs to be perfect.

It's everyone for themselves now! You've got 1 hour to go!

(CONTESTANTS APPLAUD, SHOUT ENCOURAGEMENT)

Go, guys! Come on, Snez!

Go, Snez!

LAURA: Ooh, double hands, Andre. Double handed.

You know, I've got two - may as well do something with the other one.

Exactly.

ANDY: Interesting to see how much pressure he puts on himself.

'Cause I feel like he might feel, obviously, responsible.

Yeah.

I'm feeling embarrassment, I'm feeling disappointment

and guilt,

because currently, my entire world is in wine

and your responsibility

is to train your palate to understand different fruits,

different flavours, different aromas.

Let's go, mate!

Go, Jamie! Come on, mate.

I feel like making such a simple mistake has affected my confidence

and I'm feeling the pressure.

I've picked up a load of ingredients

but now I'm doubting myself and what I'm doing.

Calm down.

You good, Jamie?

It's really overwhelming,

because at the end of the day...

..whoever goes home today

rests on my shoulders.

I've let them all down.

Go, Jamie! Come on, mate! Back on track!

Now I'm doubting myself and what I'm doing.

Did you manage to sort it, yeah?

Don't worry. I made some mistakes in the past, yeah?

It happens, you know?

Sometimes when it's simple, it can be a bit of an issue.

Just move on. Nobody would... You know? Do your best.

I feel terrible but Jean-Christophe is right.

I need to remember why I'm here.

It was the exposure to so much cuisine

when I was on here the first time

that led me down this path that gave me something that I love.

Come on, Jamie! Whoo!

I opened my restaurant, Alba, and it was me in venue form, I would say.

It was unabashedly loud,

in-your-face

but there was a care and attention that we put into everything.

Beautiful, Jamie.

We're getting there.

And the opportunity to come back into this kitchen

and re-find that little bit of inspiration

that I took out last time -

I don't want that to end now.

I need to shake off the mistake from the first round

and prove that I do deserve to be here.

What do you want? Just celeriac. Thank you.

Come on, Jamie!

I see the duck and I see a big bowl of oranges.

It just clicks - duck a l'orange.

If I can pound enough flavour into this duck and orange sauce

and cook the duck beautifully,

I think that's enough to get me through today.

STEPH: I'm feeling good, actually.

I'm picturing myself in my kitchen at home,

cooking dinner for the fam

and if I do that, I should stay on track.

Good job, Stephie. You're killin' it.

I called myself the Frugal Foodie,

because I really love to create family-friendly,

easy, delicious meals.

So that's what I'm going to do today.

Let's go, Stephie. Thanks, love.

First, I need to cook my pork belly.

Good to see the air-fryer, Stephie. I know, right?

Gotta rip it out, right? Yeah, yeah.

It is quite a big piece of pork belly

but I think I should be able to render down that fat

in the air-fryer

and it still should be tasty and delicious.

Whoo! Sizzle!

Um...

Steph, is this...

I feel like this is your favourite bench, up the back.

I love it. Yeah. Tell me what you're making.

Sticking to what I know - pork belly with an Asian-style caramel

and fennel, apple and celeriac slaw.

And you've got some belachan there? I do, I do.

Ooh!

I'm going to use the belachan in my caramel sauce,

'cause I would normally use fish sauce.

Good idea but it's a lot more powerful.

I mean, I want it to be funky but you know,

there's funky and there's funky, right?

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

I think the two things I would be most worried about

is making sure that pork's cooked perfectly

and that you balance that sauce perfectly with the belachan,

'cause that is very, very strong flavour.

It's yummy, though, right? Thank you, Poh.

How's that tasting, Steph?

Just gonna add a little bit more. Yeah? OK.

Good?

It's really punchy, which I love.

I like to push things to the limit with these things,

so I just hope everybody else likes that as well.

LAURA: Ciao, ciao. Matt. Matteo.

What are you making?

Pasta.

I thought I'd do something different and make pasta.

Yes! He's back.

I think, definitely, in an elimination,

if you don't play to your strengths, if you try and be creative now,

it's a recipe for disaster.

I'm gonna make filled tortellini

with potato, kaiserfleisch

and then a little mushroom, kind of cappuccino-y broth with it.

Pasta has been a comfort for me in this competition previously

and even this time round.

POH: Everybody, you have 45 minutes to go!

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Hurry! Good luck! Come on!

Repeat after me - one chubby bubby.

"Chubby bubby"? Mm-hm.

Don't chew it.

(MOUTH FULL) One chubby bubby.

Two chubby bubbies. (LAUGHS)

BOTH: Three chubby bubbies.

I chewed.

(MUFFLED) Four chubby bubbies.

Yay! Whoo-hoo!

Someone's baking again. Let's go, Snezzy.

Yes, girl. Yeah, thanks, buddy.

Appreciate. Snez.

ANDY: Snez, how are you? Hi!

I'm good. What are you doing?

It's called koromac. What is it?

It is, like, this very aniseed broth,

with a smoked pancetta inside.

OK.

Also, you want to have some bread with it.

It's, like, something completely different.

If my mum hears me now, she'll probably be like, "Oh, my god!"

I guarantee she's watching. This is her specialty.

She makes this the very old, traditional way,

only using the green part of this.

Wow. So it's very aniseed, very...

It's pretty much fennel, 90% of the dish.

But it's a big risk - that's very much either you love it or hate it.

Alright.

Well, it's amazing you're bringing it to the MasterChef kitchen

but you're really going out on a limb here now.

I know. ANDY: Absolutely. Come on, Snez.

Thank you very much, guys. Appreciate.

Oh, my god. What am I doing?!

Andy and Sophia questioning my dish

and the more I think about this dish,

the more I remember there are people, actually,

that don't love this dish.

So I remember my sisters -

they would always leave the house when Mum cooks it.

They could not stand it.

I don't know - how does my brain work and why did I go for this?

And really a bit upset at myself.

But then again, there's no coming back now.

I've started with this dish and I'm gonna punch it through.

There's no time to change it now.

I just need to stick to it and I need to nail it.

Very worried.

And just like that, there's only 30 minutes left!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(CONTESTANTS SHOUT ENCOURAGEMENT)

Alright. You're doing that.

You're doing that.

I'm making Twisties, or trofie.

A pasta with corn and carrot,

a little carrot puree,

a little peanut verde

and lime buerre noisette.

POH: Andre, what are you doing?

Trofie. Twisties.

So, I'll be hand-making them.

Nice. With the edge.

With the edge of my hand. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Fat Twisties. Trofie... (LAUGHS)

They take a long time. They do.

Good luck. Thank you.

Yeah. (LAUGHS)

I need to start making this pasta shape,

because that's gonna evaporate that time.

Trying to get into a rhythm. It's actually quite hard to do.

You've gotta get a feel and then you get on a rhythm

and then you think you've got it

and then you stuff one up and then you go back to scratch again.

Like, it's all about rhythm and feel, yeah?

Love the pasta, caress the pasta.

Wow. It's very unusual to see that.

Fantastic. It's very hard to do, sir.

Even my grandmother was trying to do that.

I remember when I was a kid.

Ooh, that's a good one. From the back of her hand.

Oh, my god. Flashed back to me.

Thank you for that, by the way. Thank you.

POH: It's beautiful.

I started with a juice bar and now it's a pasta bar.

Ooh! That's a good one too.

There's still time. There's still time.

My pork's in the oven.

I've got my pickled apples pickling away.

My puree's nearly ready to go.

How's the pork, Timmy?

It's cooked. It hasn't crackled.

My pork's done but the skin is nowhere near crispy.

These are going back in.

Are they going back in?

The pork's cooked but I don't want to over-risk cooking the pork

but it's, um...it's that skin.

Obviously, it'd be nice to have longer in the oven

but I just don't want to risk

overcooking that beautiful pork underneath.

It's that delicate balance of... For sure. This was my worry.

Yep. Can I ask?

Yep.

Is there a plan B?

Um...

'Cause you are risking your whole competition.

Is there a plan B? It's all I'll ask.

ANDY: Is there a plan B?

'Cause you are risking your whole competition.

Yeah. Come on.

Yeah. Thank you. Let's go, Tim.

Let's go, Tim!

I can't afford to put it back in the oven,

because then the pork will overcook.

Keep going, mate.

And then - lightbulb moment.

I'm just going to put the skin just in the hot oil,

just to deep-fry the skin.

Nice. Nice, mate.

I need to make this work.

I think I can still get it crispy. I can still save it.

(OIL BUBBLES) POH: Is it working?

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: We can feel the tension!

15 minutes to go!

(CONTESTANTS CHEER, SHOUT ENCOURAGEMENT)

15 minutes!

Come on!

Come on, guys!

Very silky, Jamie. Yeah.

Just finish it off, a little bit of butter.

Nice work, mate.

Duck's now in the oven, my sauce is still roasting,

puree's nearly done -

I think I'm good.

You...you...you make sure that's not overcooked, yeah?

We're... Are you sure?

Use your fingers.

It's over. Use your fingers.

It's over.

What's wrong with it? I think it's slightly over.

Oh! No, Jamie! One job.

So far today, I couldn't pick a strawberry,

I've put my team into elimination

and I've overcooked my duck.

Like, this day couldn't get any worse.

Are you happy?

I'm not. What?

Oh. Yeah.

I don't think there's time to break down another duck,

get it in a pan and get it in the oven.

You gonna do it again, Jamie? I'm gonna cook another one.

But can't change it.

Just gotta go.

Yeah. Yeah, good idea, Jamie. Good one, mate.

I don't know whether it's gonna be rested.

I don't know whether it's gonna be perfect

but it's gonna be better than overcooked.

So you've just gotta go to work.

Silly-billy!

How are the mushrooms going, Matty?

There's so much flavour.

It's pretty simple - it's got a very strong mushroom flavour

but that's the flavour that I'm looking for.

Let's go, Matt. That's it.

I need to start rolling out those tortellini

and making them perfect.

Look very nice. Thank you.

Air-fryer queen right there! (LAUGHTER)

I know, right?

Steph's my name, air-fryer's my game!

(LAUGHS)

I've tasted my caramel sauce now that it's finished.

It is strong. Like, it's punchy.

But that's how I want it to be.

I'm looking at this piece of pork belly I've got -

it's a lovely square shape

and I think it's gonna look really nice

on this beautiful plate that I've picked out.

Pretty plate, huh? That's gonna look incredible.

Looking at this plate...

..I think it is a really accurate representation

of the kind of food I love to cook.

It's quick, easy, simple and delicious.

Your dishes need to be ready in 5 minutes!

(CONTESTANTS CHEER, SHOUT ENCOURAGEMENT)

Go, Tim!

Oh, that's a good sound. Nice sound, Timmy.

This...this is it. If this isn't crispy, I'm going home.

I'm still worried about it. Yeah.

It was, like, just... like, just starting.

POH: Keep pushing! 3 minutes to go!

(CONTESTANTS APPLAUD, SHOUT ENCOURAGEMENT)

Pasta masterclass.

My pasta is plump, it's singing Pavarotti to me out of the pan.

It's saying, "Come, take me out."

And ready to plate it up.

Puree, very sweet from the carrot.

It's unctuous, seasoned,

there's a little bit of acidity in there.

We just plate that down first.

Bellissimo, Andre.

The peanut verde on top of the pasta dish, buerre noisette.

Ping! It's ready. Smash of lime.

Pour it into a jug.

Stand back, ready to go.

I've done a dish which I think is fun and happy

and that's what I want to play in the competition -

just be happy and have fun.

Oh!

Nice, Snez.

Few minutes to go, I'm, like, with my bare hands,

pulling the bread out of the oven,

putting it in this little basket.

I need a plate.

Starting with all these layers - smoked pancetta on the bottom,

the stew on top,

I'm putting the roasted fennel on the top of my dish...

..and I'm going to finish it off with my broth.

I'm feeling the pressure and I'm really questioning it.

Absolutely, I want to do my mum proud

and I love this dish myself.

Nice. Watch your time.

But then, what if the judges are, like,

the 50% of people that hate it?

I need to have one to try, hey?

ANDY: 1 minute to go!

(CONTESTANTS APPLAUD, SHOUT ENCOURAGEMENT)

Nice work!

Where's your duck, Jamie?

JAMIE: I pull my duck out and I'm waiting.

I'm looking at the clock.

Don't panic! Get it on the plate!

Get it on the plate!

The rest of my plate is sorted.

My MasterChef life is riding

on this piece of duck being ready in the last 35 seconds,

so...

I'm not in a good way at the moment.

Jamie, you're killing me, man.

You reckon YOU'RE stressed?

Time is up in 10...

(JUDGES COUNT DOWN)

I'm gonna shoot.

Jamie, get it on the plate!

Go, Jamie!

..3...

Go, Jamie!

..2, 1 - time's up!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Nice work, guys.

I'm exhausted.

Mate!

Good work, Tim. Good job, pal.

We did it again! How'd you go, legend?

Ah, thick and beautiful. That looks great.

JAMIE: I think the duck's perfectly pink.

I just think that it hasn't rested long enough.

I think that's every chance for me to go home.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Hi, Snez.

Snez, tell us - what did you cook?

So, I made koromac...

..which is this, like, very, very old, traditional dish,

which almost no-one ever makes again.

And the more I think about this...

..more I'm questioning myself - what have I done?

What are you questioning?

I'm questioning because, since I finished this cook,

I actually keep thinking of all the people that hate this dish.

Can you please fininsh it? Sauce it, please.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

POH: Thank you, Snez. Thank you.

ANDY: There's a lot riding on this

and when Snez is sitting there, going, "I know people that love this

"but the majority of people hate this,"

that's a bit scary.

(CHUCKLES) Are you kidding?

Oh, I know. (LAUGHS)

Well, sign me up to the very small percentage of people

who absolutely love that dish!

Are you joking?

That is insanely good cooking.

All the vegetables are cooked so well,

still holding their shape,

which is really important with being able to really highlight the fennel.

It is smoky, sweet, aniseed deliciousness.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: For me,

this is the type of dish that brings people together.

ANDY: Yes. Yes, yes. Yes. Absolutely.

The fennel stew is so delicious.

So perfectly balanced.

The sweetness of the fennel, the smokiness of the bacon

and then the acidity.

I could just have the hugest bowl of that.

I just want her to know how good this is

and I want to see that confidence be built

and carried through further into this competition,

so we can eat more food like that!

See you on the flip!

I'm really happy with everything on the plate.

I know there's a few risks that I've taken -

I haven't cut into that pork,

so I don't know what it's like in the middle.

Steph. Hiya.

And that belachan sauce - I balanced it out to how I would like it

but I guess it depends whether those flavours

are too strong or not for other people.

Well, first, tell us what you've made.

I have made crispy pork belly...

..a caramel with belachan paste,

some lime and some roasted cracked pepper

and then the slaw is celeriac, fennel and green apple.

Thank you, Steph. ANDY: Thanks, Steph.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Thank you so much.

OK. Let's have a look.

Whoa.

Nice to slice it very easily.

That's good. Mmm.

It's a good texture in the sauce.

(PORK CRACKLE CRUNCHES)

Um, tough one, because I loved her confidence

but I feel like this one's gone a little bit pear-shaped.

I'll start with the sauce - great intentions

and I can see where her head was going.

Fish sauce has that beautiful umami funk -

so does belachan but it is so much more powerful.

And I feel like it is overloaded in that caramel sauce.

I actually like the slaw.

The right proportion, it's fresh, it's crunchy, it's sliced properly.

Now, on to the pork.

Whew!

When you're dealing with pork belly -

I mean, pork in general but when it's pork belly,

you've gotta make sure that there's no part where there's too much fat.

And this one, sadly,

had far more fat content than meat.

I feel like Steph might have fallen into a trap

of seeing familiar things

that she knew how to execute in a short amount of time

with an appliance she knows how to use well

but I think she failed to look at the ingredient.

Like, even if you're really familiar with using pork belly,

you have to look at that particular cut -

whether there's too much fat for you to render in that way -

and I think she just went into auto.

Yeah. So I'm really worried.

Hi, Tim. TIM: Hi, guys.

Hi, Tim. G'day, guys.

Ooh - we've got a bit of tableside theatre.

Tim. Round 2. What did you make?

This is my pork and apple.

You've got roasted pork belly.

Underneath is an apple and fennel sauce.

In here is a parsnip and apple puree

and then I've got some pickled apple slices on there as well.

You guys know that was a bit of a hectic cook.

Tough, yeah.

And so there's a lot of pressure on that pork belly.

There's no sugar-coating it.

There's a lot of pressure on that little plate.

ANDY: We'll taste your dish now. Thank you.

Thank you, Tim. TIM: Thanks, guys.

Bit of crunch going on there.

Yeah.

He has absolutely redeemed that crackling.

Even though it hasn't puffed up a lot,

it's still quite light and crunchy.

And then, with the rest of the pork belly,

it's really juicy and tender.

The smart thing that he did with this apple-fennel number

was have it in the oven with the pork belly on top,

so it's just sucked up all the beautiful fat

that's rendered out of the pork belly in a very short amount of time.

Also, what I like - the parsnip tastes lovely.

It's actually quite exciting.

And I really enjoyed the crackling.

This is what we call crackling

and this is superb.

So I really, really hope this is enough for him to save his life.

Andre.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: How are you?

What'd you make? I'm calling them Twisties.

There's carrot and corn trofie.

It sits in a carrot puree

and then I've made a peanut verde with the tops of the fennel

and then a little lime buerre noisette to finish it with.

Just wanted to do something fun and a bit wacky and interesting,

so...

And hopefully you enjoy it as much as I had fun making it, yeah.

Well, Andre - you want to finish your dish?

Thank you, mate. Cheers. JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Thank you very much.

Phew! What do we think?

It looks stunning.

I'm hoping it tastes as good as it looks,

'cause it looks like a picture.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Right.

I feel, um... How can I say that?

It's, um...

..it's like a flashback to me.

Reminds me of my grandmother when I was a kid,

especially.

What I notice is the way he rolled it on the side

and she was doing the same.

Except he's doing it in colours.

The textures are perfect, because it's two different types of liquid,

with different starch

and he managed to do something brilliant.

There's that lovely fineness on the end of the pasta,

which is immaculate.

ANDY: I think there's some beautiful textures in there,

definitely.

I really like that bresaola, peanut, fennel-top verde sauce

that he's got going on.

POH: The buerre noisette just lifts it

and gives it a little bit... a bit of savouriness.

I think he's done really well.

In a really beautiful way, I kind of feel like it's a dish of artistry

but for all palates -

like, I can see you giving that to a kid,

because it's so playful and colourful,

or serving it in a restaurant

and still having somebody feel really satisfied.

Here he is.

I've made a potato and bacon tortellini

with a mushroom cappuccino, mushroom broth.

We'll try your dish now. Thanks, Matt.

Yeah, thank you. Cheers, Matt.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Thank you so much. Thank you.

The pasta work is well done.

There's structure there.

He's actually gone so thin -

the tortellini are so spot-on,

in terms of their formation.

The broth is a bit one-note for me.

It literally was just the mushrooms and I think, at this point,

we would like to see more layers and more complexity.

He could have used onions,

he could have surprised with maybe a bit of celeriac in the broth...

God knows. Yeah.

The other thing that would have been good to see

is a little bit more texture, maybe in the form of a crunchy garnish

or just something to sort of brighten the entire presentation of the dish.

It just lacks vibrancy and it's quite dull.

It could land him in trouble.

Hi, Jamie. Hi, Jamie.

JAMIE: Hello. ANDY: Hello, mate.

Do you want to just quickly tell us what it is?

Uh, today I've cooked duck a l'orange.

(EXHALES)

POH: Big sigh?

JAMIE: Um, obviously,

a stupid mistake

put us into this challenge

and then a stupid mistake caused issues at the end.

When you come in here, you want to show everything you can.

I mean, I've...

I've had a pretty tough time...

since last year,

so, for me, there was this huge, like...

..maybe this is an opportunity to...

Not start fresh, because I'm really proud of what I did.

But I felt like it was kind of fate.

ANDY: Well, let's hope this dish is good enough

to keep you in the competition.

Yeah. We'll taste.

I think Jamie's actually pulled it off.

That sauce is so silky-smooth.

The sweetness of the fennel, with those juicy bursts from the orange

and that little zing of ginger

all went together so well,

with this really nice, round earthiness.

It was so delicious!

Yes, the duck was not rested enough,

'cause mine was a bit tough,

but it was still actually quite well cooked,

if that makes sense.

I really enjoyed it.

What I love very much is that sweetness,

that lovely, pure honey into the orange juice.

The rendition was impeccable.

I know the duck was not cooked perfectly

but I was so mesmerised by everything else except the duck,

I think this, for me, is a safe trip.

SOPHIA: There were lots of great dishes today

but unfortunately, there was one that just didn't hit the mark.

That dish belonged to...

..I'm so sorry to say,

Steph.

Oh, Steph! Steph!

Oh, my god.

Oh, my god!

Your slaw was refreshing and crisp

but sadly, the main event, that pork -

the fat wasn't rendered.

And unfortunately, the amount of belachan used in the caramel sauce

was overpowering.

Steph, you are an incredible cook

and you have such an energy about you,

it has been such a joy to have you back in this kitchen.

And we know you've got lots of followers out there

but us four - we're your biggest fans.

You've blown us away. Thank you.

Have you enjoyed your time back?

Oh, look, I've had the best time.

These guys are wild.

(LAUGHTER) So much fun.

And now, Steph, it's time to say goodbye.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

POH: I'm so sorry.

So good to have you in the kitchen.

I'm just really happy I've had the experience again.

My final thoughts on being here in the kitchen are...

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

..I came, I cooked, I conquered, I went.

(APPLAUSE)

And I had a really good time doing it.

VOICEOVER: This week, on MasterChef Australia...

..who's there?

Please give it up for Curtis Stone!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(CONTESTANTS EXCLAIM)

With tantalising tips and tricks...

It's like a masterclass for us!

..from Curtis and our incredible judges...

(CONTESTANTS GASP, EXCLAIM)

Et voila!

..it'll be one hot week

in the MasterChef kitchen.

Captions by Red Bee Media Australia