Original subtitles

Previously on MasterChef Australia...

Oh, wow. That's epic. That's so cool.

..they unwrapped a huge week...

The mystery box is like,

"Christmas has definitely come early."

..and presented spectacular dishes...

JEANÐCHRISTOPHE: This is a front cover of a magazine.

POH: I would order that over and over and over again.

..but the bottom four faced an incredible pressure test...

(ALL EXCLAIM)

That's mad!

..that was the end of the journey for Jimmy.

Then...

Welcome to Sydney. (CHEERING)

..a service challenge with an unexpected twist...

(ALARM SOUNDS)

Oh, no. VOICE RECORDING: Evacuate now!

..ended with 'alarmingly' good dishes...

ANDY: This is elevated pub food at its finest.

POH: Shiza Minnelli, that is a good plate of food.

..and the orange team won immunity from tonight's elimination.

Let's do this, Sarah, Theo, come on, mate.

How are you feeling? I'm alright.

Yeah! Damn.

It doesn't matter what colour the apron.

Just give it a red-hot crackeroo.

Woo!

Morning, all. CONTESTANTS: Morning.

How good is it to be back in the MasterChef kitchen, eh?

But not so nice to be back in black, right?

CONTESTANTS: No.

Unfortunately, by the end of the day,

one of you will be going home.

Righto. It is an elimination,

but I know you guys are going to be happy with this one.

(CONTESTANTS REACT) SNEZ: We will?

We brought in a very special guest.

Ooh. He's known all over the world

for changing the future of food.

He's made his mark through sustainable cooking,

turning ingredients bound for the bin

into masterful plates of food.

He's been awarded honours every cook dreams of,

gracing the Top 100 Chefs list,

as well as the World's Best 100 Restaurants list

just last year. (GASPS)

I've got two words for you, Fish King.

(ENTHUSIASTIC CHEERING)

Please welcome - you know who I'm talking about -

Josh Niland!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

I love Josh, I love everything he's about - his restaurants,

his philosophy, his energy.

He's just like, he's my angelfish.

That's what I'm calling him. He's an angelfish.

This guy is an absolute genius.

He has changed the way chefs

and the seafood industry thinks about butchery and seafood.

He really is just such an icon in this industry.

For a bad day, it's going to be a really good day.

SOFIA: Josh, how's it going? I'm good. How are you?

Really well. Everybody looks sharp.

Yes, so do you!

Thank you. Declan, are you blushing?

(LAUGHTER)

How does it feel to see Josh again? Um, yeah. Starstruck.

Um, I'm a big fan of yours, mate.

Oh. Thank you. Yeah, we can tell.

What you've brought to the industry, Josh, has drawn worldwide attention.

Can you explain it?

I think there's a lot of fear associated with fish

in some parts of the world

where we don't necessarily know what to do with it.

So I'm trying to come at it from the mind of a meat butcher,

and then apply that into fish theory.

And, hopefully, at the end of the day,

it works towards better ethics with how we work with fish,

but, as well, better economics.

He is probably the chef that I want to impress the most in this kitchen,

and he is the biggest inspiration to me.

What do you reckon is under here, guys?

A big-ass fish.

What makes you think that?

Well, guys, this is something

that I've tediously worked my way through

and butchered this beautiful product just for you guys.

(CONTESTANTS GASP)

Beef! Where's the fish?

It's beef, guys.

That is very unexpected. It's not what I expected at all.

I'm expecting a big tuna.

And there's cuts of meat, uh, a rack.

I can see mince. I can see flank.

Yeah. Not what I was expecting.

Is it actually fish?

Beef and fish are actually incredibly similar.

And I'm going to show you how.

Alright.

POH: Wow!

Yum. Oh, wow.

Oh, my gosh.

Tenderloin of yellowfin tuna.

They're trussed and pretty much cherry-picked

the best bit right out of the middle.

And then at its opposite, we've got the beef tenderloin.

Texturally, you're achieving a similar outcome.

They're soft, they're buttery. You don't have to chew too much.

SNEZ: That is a beautiful cut. Next one.

This is the very, very sinew-heavy tuna tail.

And so bringing some value and reverence

to part of the fish that, you know,

might just get lopped off and pushed aside.

Because, as you can see,

there are a lot of heavy sinews that run through that.

But if you actually think about the potential

of what that could be in terms of cooking,

and would you slow-cook it? Would you glaze it?

Would it go sticky? Would it go crispy?

The next one -

we've got this extraordinary beef flank here.

And then, on this side, we've got the yellowfin tuna belly.

All the muscle fibres that run through that tuna belly

and all the fat that sits in between,

so intramuscular fat gives you,

you know, the pleasure of eating, really.

Next up. Ossobuco. Wow.

So this is cut on the yellowfin tuna higher up on the tail.

Very similar to, then, our meat ossobuco on that side.

It's amazing. Oh, it's crazy.

Next cut. You ready for this one?

(LAUGHS) Alright.

CONTESTANTS: Oh!

SNEZ: That looks insane!

Stop it! Oh, my gosh.

That's amazing.

This is the yellowfin tuna rib eye,

been left on the spine of the fish.

So now this has been left to age and mature on the bone.

So, like this beef rib eye,

we can see aesthetically the similarities here.

And if you've got shelf life,

then you get savoury flavours, glutamates developing

within the fish during the ageing process.

Then gives spectrum for all sorts of savoury, meaty ideas.

SNEZ: This is crazy.

Sirloin. Oh.

And, lastly, we have the ground yellowfin tuna.

Just like the ground beef on this side

that all of us grew up eating - lasagnes and bolognaise.

Just here, we have the ground yellowfin tuna.

So just like all of these beef cuts that we're all very familiar with,

I've mirrored them with my selection of yellowfin tuna cuts.

My brain is just going crazy! I know.

I'm feeling intimidated because he's just so exceptional.

Like, it's... Like, to be able to replicate meat with tuna is wild.

We've got matching cuts on both sides,

so we all understand that.

But bigger than that,

what I'm trying to say here is

yellowfin tuna came in at 45 kilos.

It's a big fish.

If you don't approach a fish of such significance

with a matrix of primary cuts and secondary cuts,

then you're just paying for filling your bin up.

To start to think about fish

and using meat as the catalyst of that thinking

can give headwind to so much creative opportunity.

It's honestly like it's a masterpiece.

It's a piece of art in front of us.

It's so gorgeous.

The finesse on the meat, the butchery,

how beautiful the produce looks,

like, it's just so Josh and it's honestly like,

if I get to cook with something like that today, it's pretty amazing.

Inspiring, huh? SNEZ: Absolutely.

But then we've got this cloche over here as well.

There's always a cloche.

So a summary of all of these parts then amounts to my perfect...

..surf and turf.

It's magnetic. Look at it!

CONTESTANTS: Ah!

Can't have steak without condiments. CONTESTANTS: Oh!

Oh, my gosh! That is stunning!

So, surf and turf in front of us here.

The yellowfin tuna ribeye next to the beautiful sirloin on the bone.

So a side-by-side comparative of the two,

but surprisingly incredibly delicious together.

Yum! Wow!

Now, you've seen Josh's surf and turf.

Today, we want you to show us your interpretation.

We're giving you 75 minutes.

The pantry and garden are open,

and you can use any protein and any seafood you like.

Personally, I've had my hands in the pantry

and I've made sure that there's no prawns

'cause I don't want a Scotch fillet with a prawn on top.

We're talking about 2025.

Modern surf and turf.

This is the guy that put tuna cheeseburgers

and fish eyeball ice-cream on the map.

Think outside the box.

OK.

I'm just like, I want to get in the kitchen.

(LAUGHTER)

And the time starts now!

OK. Sorry.

So many lovely things.

Excuse me for reaching. I hope so.

When you're in the black apron and you step into the kitchen,

there's always that thing in the back of your head,

maybe this could be the time that I go home.

Go, Timmy!

So if I'm going to do a dish today that's going to wow the judges,

I've really got to bring surf and turf into 2025.

Temperature's on. We are on.

I think she's doing a dessert.

SARAH: Black apron day, and it's always a difficult day.

But I came back into this competition

to push myself to really create dishes

that speak of my personality and are me

and things that I'm creating and new and different.

So I want to channel a bit of Josh Niland today.

I want to spark a bit of conversation about my dish.

It's kind of a version of an old-school dish,

the carpetbag,

traditionally, it's oysters stuffed inside beef

and wrapped in bacon.

But I'm doing a totally different version of that.

It's a little bit wild, actually.

Um, so I'm doing, um, an oyster ice-cream,

and I am serving it on top of a beef tartare

with a bit of guanciale.

I have to get this oyster ice-cream on

and none of the oysters are shucked,

so I have to sit and shuck about 20 to 30 oysters.

Declan, I wish you were down to shuck my oysters for me.

Just throw them up. We'll get them sorted.

Yeah, thanks. They'll come back empty.

I'm going to be like an oyster-shucking professional

by the end of this.

Not starting off that way, but...

I feel like if I can pull this off,

I can impress Josh Niland,

and it's definitely right up his alley.

My gosh, how long is it going to take me to do all of these?

Yes, Rhi! Nice work, mate. How much meat have you got there?

RHIANNON: Not enough.

When I think of surf and turf, I think of Deano.

It was our very first date.

It was actually the dish we ate,

both of us on our first date 19 years ago.

It went well. He's still there. (LAUGHS)

It was that good that we kept going back

every year on our anniversary to have surf and turf.

Today I'm doing an Asian beef broth with lobster wonton.

The surf is in the, um, lobster dumpling wonton.

And the turf is in the beef broth.

Bloody need my glasses.

Shit.

I've actually cooked for Josh before

when he was in the kitchen, and I got, like, a top dish.

So, today, I'm really wanting to impress him.

I have issues 'cause I can't see.

Um... I can't see. Take my glasses.

Oh. Thank you.

I want to show Josh what I love to do.

You know, wontons. It's what I love.

I eat thousands of them all the time.

I'll just come back, yeah?

I like my wontons very simple.

I don't really venture out

because I bloody love a classic wonton.

Last time, Josh gave me a high five.

Today I want a high 10.

Thank you for your glasses.

It's alright. Any time. I forget that I'm getting old.

No, you're not, you're not.

I love everything about this challenge so much.

POH: I know!

We're asking our contestants to recreate surf and turf.

This, for me, is what MasterChef is all about.

It's about what's happening in the food industry.

It's about people who are cooking progressively

in ways that have never been seen before.

Surf and turf. It's not a modern idea.

It's one that we know and feel comfortable about.

But it's such a special thing. Yeah.

So I want to see and feel something special.

This re-imagination of it is what we're looking for.

Old-school, but modern execution. Yeah, that's it.

Yeah.

I think your challenge is very much like a double-edged sword.

You can be a beef expert,

but the sauce has to be connected between the two,

the fish and the meat,

and also the way you assemble everything together

on the same plate.

So it's more than cooking today. 100%.

Let's go, guys.

Today, I'm making a dish called Rootello Bonito.

So it's a take on vitello tonnato,

which is traditionally veal and tuna.

And we make this at one of our restaurants, Nido,

and it's kangaroo and bonito.

So the 'roo' is the kangaroo.

And the, um, 'rootello', the 'ello' is the bonito.

It's like jam-packing all the delicious traditional flavours of a vitello tonnato,

but making it a little bit Laura.

And I cook well when Josh is here, so he's like my good-luck omen.

DEPINDER: Have you made this before, Darrsh?

Um... Hell, no.

What? Oh, my God!

Wowee, Darrsh, I'm loving that. Thanks, Andy.

I'm loving that.

The level of competition between last season

and this season is you can't even compare it.

Honestly, the dishes that I'm putting up this season,

that last year would have got me top three,

maybe top dish of the day.

I'm either middle or lower.

So I really want to push myself to be creative,

to challenge myself in being innovative

and not just like, sit back and be safe.

Darrsh! Darrsh!

What's happening?

Brown sugar. Yeah. Yes!

We're going surf and turf dessert.

A surf and turf dessert?!

Why not? It's elimination day.

Yeah. So we're going a bone marrow sticky-date pudding.

Uh, fish sauce butterscotch. Uh, caramel.

And, um, and, yeah, playing around some visuals as well.

I want to do some, like, orange caviar pearls as well.

Whoo! (LAUGHS)

We always want contestants to push the boat out.

Especially when this man's in the kitchen.

But, risk!

What kind of boat are you driving?

Yeah, I do feel like I'm either going to be

right at the top or right at the bottom today, so...

Yeah.

OK, guys. Already 15 minutes gone. One hour to go.

(APPLAUSE)

POH: Oh, my God, that is so...

Oh, my God!

BEN: Ohhhh!

Wish I was down there. Yeah, reckon?

I like how you are just here watching us eat this.

Can we swap? Wanna swap? Sorry, guys.

SAMIRA: Enough spices.

I'm trying my hardest to keep smiling right now,

but I am so fully panicking as soon as I heard surf and turf.

Surf and turf does not belong in the Middle East or never has.

I don't think it even exists, to my knowledge.

So, today, I want to play it up to my flavours,

and, uh, hopefully I'll be able to execute well.

So today I've decided I'll be using scallops for my seafood option,

and I'll be using lamb rack for my meat option,

and then I'll be combining that together

with a beautiful Moroccan moghrabieh salad.

I could bring some of the Western me into the Middle East

by doing something like this.

I want to be smart by choosing lamb,

because I know I can cook it quickly,

and I can pack in ultimate amount of flavour in there,

and the scallop will be my sweet element to this dish.

I think I'm hitting the brief today,

but I'm hitting the brief in a safe way.

I do not want to go home.

Let's just see what happens, 'cause there's definitely not a plan B

in action at the moment.

SNEZ: Going scallop and chicken,

dried scallops and chicken jus with it.

Dried scallops in a chicken sauce? Yes.

That sounds delicious. Thank you, Chefs. Appreciate it.

SOFIA: Pork and marron meatballs.

TIM: Pork and marron meatballs.

I'll have the marron claws just sitting delicately on top. So...

Nice! ..going for a bit more refined today.

JOSH: That's a big squid. It's huge.

I'm gonna be stuffing that with some pork mince, 'nduja sauce,

going to be sitting on a corn puree. Wow.

Wow.

OK, guys. 45 minutes to go.

Allez! Allez! Good luck. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Watch those fingers, Snez. Oh, my God, Snez, slow down.

(LAUGHS)

DECLAN: You're smashing through those oysters, Sarah.

I need you down here! Final oyster done.

I do not want to look at another oyster for a while.

So, oysters are done.

Now, I need to get this oyster ice-cream

into the ice-cream maker before I can start my beef tartare.

I'm making a creme anglaise

with my egg yolks.

I'm using dextrose in there, just to get the consistency right -

but I don't want this to be sweet -

and cooking that until it gets to 84 degrees.

And then I want to mix that with my oysters.

So, the oysters,

I'm keeping them totally raw

and blending them into a puree

and mixing that together with my creme anglaise.

This oyster ice-cream is a big risk,

but I don't want this to just be a really subtle oyster ice-cream.

I want to go hard on that oyster flavour.

If I'm going to be experimental, then I'm going all the way.

If this is oyster ice-cream,

then I'm definitely going to make it taste like oyster ice-cream.

So, ice-cream, sweet or savoury or somewhere in between?

Yes, savoury. No, it's... Savoury.

I have got a little bit of sugar in there, but, oh, dextrose.

So it's, um...

..strong oyster.

Oyster ice-cream. ANDY: Oyster ice-cream.

What do you think? That's a...

That's a finish first or...

Finish... Don't say that! ..I'll walk you to the door.

(CHUCKLES MISCHIEVOUSLY) Oh, my God, don't!

Sarah Todd. Don't!

I just got scared.

Oh, my God! Oh, my God. OK.

DARRSH: Look at my cute little pancetta crumbies.

RUE: Oh, they look so good.

You're coming back to your desserts.

Are you not confident today or what? I'm confident.

You're super confident with desserts. Feeling confident today. Yeah.

My bone marrow sticky date pudding mix is done.

It looks really good.

This needs to rise and be nice and fluffy.

And I'm only going to find out once it cooks.

Theoretically, this dish should work - on paper.

Using animal fats in puddings,

it's been used traditionally in British cooking,

and there's a reason for it -

the melting point of animal fats is a lot higher than butter,

and it actually lets the pudding rise and set

before that butter melts,

so you get a really fluffy texture from your pudding.

So, that's that turf element.

Now I need to focus on that fish sauce butterscotch

to make sure that surf element is there.

Fish sauce in a butterscotch sauce.

It sounds weird, I know,

but that salty sweet actually enhances

both of those flavours

and it keeps you going back for more.

And that's what I want.

I want to get that umami from that butterscotch

to stop it from being super sickly sweet.

Come here. I saw you sweating.

I can see you've been thinking a lot.

(THEY CHUCKLE)

Listen, you confident? Yeah.

Feeling good. Texture is going to be OK?

I hope so, yeah. I've got time. So you've got crispiness, obviously.

And the softness of the sponge? That's right. Yeah.

Well, if this works, I'll tell you what...

Thank you. Thanks, Chef. ..respect.

ANDRE: Go, Theo! DECLAN: Go, Theo!

Everyone is working at a million miles an hour.

SARAH: I'm actually running today!

I need a pot!

The brief today - being creative, surf and turf -

Josh has thrown a spanner in the works.

It's one thing to have an extraordinary plate of food

that tastes delicious... JAMIE: Yeah.

..but then how do you amplify that more into a realm of,

"Look at me, look at me"? Yeah.

He's shown that he can use fish eye in custard tarts

and make ice-creams using the gelatinous parts of the fish.

And he's asking everyone to be that creative.

I'm really excited to see what dishes come out of today.

Nice, Rhi-Rhi.

RHIANNON: For my lobster wontons,

the beef broth is in the pressure cooker

and my wonton dough is resting for 20 minutes.

And now I get on to the lobster filling.

I like my wontons to be quite stock-standard -

seafood, meat.

You know, it's, like, my thing.

So I'm actually, like, feeling OK.

Rhiannon. G'day, g'day!

What is the dish?

So, I'm doing, like, my Asian-style beef broth.

OK. With lobster wontons.

Right.

Just beef in the broth?

Yeah. OK.

Yeah, so, it's going to be really beefy.

Righto. So, like, when you eat it,

you've got the beef flavour

and then you've got the surf in the wontons.

OK.

Is it inventive enough, though? Oh, bloody... I don't know.

Hope so.

Because we've got oyster ice-creams,

we've got, like, bone marrow puddings.

Bloody hell.

This has completely thrown me,

because they don't really seem impressed by my dish.

And now I'm like, "Oh, my God, what am I going to do?"

Well, as it should be, there are some creative minds out there

just going hard, and I absolutely... Free-wheeling!

..absolutely love it. I'm super excited about Sarah Todd.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: With the oyster ice-cream.

Let's see how that all goes.

Darrsh, he's going for the... So good!

..go hard or go home approach. Love it!

And he's the only person doing a dessert.

I kind of love it, 'cause it's very my style of competing,

so I relate to it.

'Cause he's doing bone marrow sticky date pudding...

Sticky date pudding. Yeah.

And then he's got the fish sauce. Yeah.

All the elements and the textures that he's using work.

Yeah. So it's just whether he can balance

whether it just tastes like fish and meat in a dessert

in a not good way. Yeah.

The one that we were kind of worried about - Rhiannon.

She's doing, like, this lobster and beef broth.

I think she chose the easy option,

which is just a lobster filling in the...in the wontons.

And what else? I just think it's a missed opportunity.

(SIGHS) Far out, man. You alright?

I don't even know what I'd do.

I'm in a complete spin.

How am I going to supercharge this dish?

How am I going to change it? What am I going to do?

..you end up in the final ones.

I hope... I hope so.

There's so many amazing cooks this season,

so I've really got to ramp up my dish.

Just keep going, yeah? Yeah. That's what I'm going to do.

I've got the beautiful fresh lobster.

I've only got it in the wonton filling at this point,

so I'm thinking I'll put some of it in the dough.

So, I mince some lobster meat and then I knead it into my dough.

Do you need a bit of flour? Yes, I do, Chef.

Where is it? It's just there.

Where? Where? Just there.

This is Josh Niland, it's elimination challenge...

Thank you.

..I'm just gonna go for it.

I'm chucking it into the wonton skin

and hoping that supercharges the flavour.

Yeah, I've added lobster to the dough,

and it may change the consistency.

It feels OK at the moment, so hopefully when I boil it up

it's...it's still OK.

DEPINDER: I'm so glad I'm up here today.

# Yeah, yeah, yeah

# Na-na-na-na... # JAMIE: Woo!

(LAUGHTER)

# Yeah, yeah, yeah... #

(LAUGHTER)

SNEZ: Depinder, you're on fire today, I love it.

Woo! I'm using beef today, and oysters.

That's going to be my little play on surf and turf.

I've got a beautiful piece of flank steak

with a beautiful oyster cream sauce.

I love cooking red meat and steaks and everything like that,

but this is a little bit different, so I'm enjoying it.

JAMIE: Today, going a little flare of Japan.

I'm making braised pork cheeks

with fresh Hervey Bay scallops and some sauteed mushrooms.

I've never cooked for Josh before.

Being a fan from up north, I've never met him before,

so it should be a bit of fun today.

AUDRA: I'm doing my dumplings.

Tuna belly and chive dumplings with a beef broth.

I have never made this before. I'm just channelling what I know.

I'm channelling flavours,

and hopefully it's going to be a good one.

JOSH: What's your worst surf and turf?

POH: Um...

"Gonna need a snorkel to get through this porkel", or something?

That's brilliant!

Josh Niland's in the kitchen,

so that means you got big fish to fry.

27 minutes to go!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Allez!

(LAUGHTER)

You coming for a run with me? Yeah. Let's do it.

You come here to talk to me?

LAURA: My surf element in that bonito mayonnaise is done.

And now I need to crack on to the turf in that kangaroo.

I need to get the kangaroo out of the blast freezer,

because I want to cook this directly on the hot coals of the hibachi.

CALLUM: Smart technique, Lozza. Thank you.

So, she's frozen the kangaroo, right?

And then she's putting the frozen-solid kangaroo

straight on the coals. BEN: Oh, wow.

So it's going to be, like, this very thin layer

of charred, smoky outside, but then perfectly raw in the middle.

I want to see the outside, get it nice and charred,

but still make sure the inside is quite rare.

I'm just... I'm really happy. I think everything works together.

I've made this dish before. I know it's delicious.

Customers of ours love it.

But today, my customers are the judges.

JOSH: Laura. Hello, Josh.

G'day, mate. How are ya?

Good. A bit of kangaroo? Yeah. Kangaroo and bonito.

Oh, wow. Yeah, yeah.

So, it's, like, a take on vitello tonnato.

I'm calling it Rootello Bonnato.

You're pretty chilled, right? You sound very relaxed.

I'm very relaxed.

Is it going to look exactly the way I think I'm looking at it right now?

Yeah. It's gonna be like mayonnaise on the bottom...

Yeah. So, you're relying... ..diced kangaroo...

..upon the idea of kangaroo and bonito and calling it

something really interesting and unique

to get it over the finish line.

Yeah. I'm too boring, is that what you're saying, Josh?

No, I'm just saying... I'm being too boring.

I love it. Thanks, guys. Good luck, Chef.

I didn't say a thing. (CHUCKLES)

Love you both so much. Mamma mia!

I know this dish is gonna taste delicious.

Like, I know this dish like the back of my hand.

But it's now, like, what can I do to take it to the next level

to really impress Josh and the judges?

What can I do to make this dish go "wow"?

I'm feeling a little bit stressed for time at the moment

because it just flies.

The shucking oysters part took so long.

The oyster ice-cream is now in the ice-cream maker.

I move on to my steak tartare.

I take my fillet and cut it into beef dices.

I'm adding in all of my other flavours -

some shallots, some chives, some parsley, guanciale.

I want to add some spices in as well.

I want this to, you know,

have a little bit of the hints of spices coming through,

texturally those elements, and a nice mouthfeel,

but, most importantly,

I want the beef to shine and the oyster to shine

so that that all kind of comes together.

I think this is a really important element of this dish.

So I just want to focus on the flavours of this part.

SAMIRA: Snez...

..you know I have issues with salt.

One taste?

Mmm! The salt is fine?

Delicious.

So, right now, I've invested a lot of time

with preparing my elements -

for my beautiful lamb cutlets with some sweet scallops

and a beautiful Moroccan moghrabieh salad.

I've got my nuts toasted. I have my herbs chopped.

All the flavours that I need, including my spice mix, is ready.

Now it's time to start the proteins.

Samira. Hello!

How you going?

I'm nervous but going well. Oh!

Like, my hands are shaking. OK, talk to us.

What's the dish? OK.

I'm bringing surf and turf to the Middle East.

Righto. Let's do it. Because that's something

that's never happened before, I think, in history.

JOSH: Yeah.

Um, so, I am going Moroccan-inspired today,

so I'll be making a Moroccan moghrabieh salad

with lots of big flavours in there,

using herbs and pomegranate and spices.

Yeah. Back you on that. Boxed!

A yoghurt, tahini, garlic sauce as a base.

Back you on that. Boxed! Done.

Ras el hanout spice-rubbed lamb cutlets.

OK, yeah. And scallops for sweetness.

Right. So I should hit nut, sweet, spice.

I love the idea of sweetness with quite a very savoury protein

like lamb. Yeah.

It's almost like it's a tokenism of, "I'll just put some scallops on."

OK.

Because the dish itself, like,

if we're going to be honest... Yes.

..spiced lamb with everything you just said -

I'm so excited to eat. Yeah.

But, as a surf and turf challenge,

to put a couple of scallops next to a...

I think what Josh is getting at is,

is this dish good enough on its own without the scallop?

Or are we going, "Oh, my gosh,

"thank God the scallop was on the dish"?

Think about it.

OK.

I'm frozen. I'm thinking in my head,

"He is so correct with what he's saying."

I'm looking at the clock. There's just 20 minutes to go.

I don't know what I'm gonna do!

Right now, all I can think of is, if I go ahead with the dish,

they'll pull the dish apart

and I might not hit the brief.

Especially because I have admitted

that the scallop is only there for the fact of it being there.

(SIGHS)

So I've made the decision to scrape everything off and start fresh.

Hello, beautiful.

I see this beautiful salmon in front of me.

I'm going for the salmon.

I'm making kibbeh meqliyeh,

which is fried salmon kibbeh.

I've had to deviate my plans.

I'm keeping my other stuff as it is.

See what I can use that I've already cut up.

And I'm going to attempt a salmon-fried kibbeh.

So that will be a salmon outer case with the bulgur wheat.

And then, encased in it will be all of this,

plus minced meat filled in.

It'll get deep-fried and look like a little footy.

When I usually make kibbeh, we take our time with it

to bind it and get the right pasty texture.

If you do not get the right texture,

you risk it being too dry or you risk it cracking

and falling apart while you're frying it.

But I'm in deep. I need to do it.

DEPINDER: How are you going, Samira?

We'll find out in the end.

SOFIA: How's it looking, Snez? SNEZ: Looking good.

I need rock salt.

Why do the scallops look so weird?

BOTH: Oh! They're chicken!

(CHUCKLES)

DEPINDER: Smells amazing, Rhi. RHIANNON: Thanks, darling.

Tastes pretty good.

I'm trying the beef broth,

and I'm really happy it tastes beefy.

I want it to be beefy 'cause it is my turf.

OK. I need to, like, calm down. That's what I need to do.

So I'm starting to put the lobster filling

into a lobster wonton wrapper.

Bloody hell.

So, normal wonton texture is, like, nice and springy

and easy to knead.

This is really wet.

My hands are really wet.

I'm adding flour, which is going to take away the springiness,

the bounciness.

BEAU: How are you going, Rhi-Rhi?

Yeah, I'm going. Yeah.

You got this. Just do what you can do.

Thank you.

At this point, I've got them in the round.

They're holding, they're not tearing,

so they actually look OK.

So I'm just going to go ahead and boil them.

But if the dough doesn't work, I have no dish.

Ah-ah-ah!

Bring us the catch of the day. You've got eight minutes to go.

Come on! Come on!

THEO: Holy sugar me timbers.

Five. Four. Three. Two.

RUE: You going OK, Darrsh? Going OK.

Yeah.

I've got a couple of little mini testers.

They came out great.

I do want to serve up the bigger pudding

because there's five of them.

My butterscotch is done. Fish sauce.

I'm just working on a creme anglaise,

kind of like a custard.

My orange pearls are done, my crumb's done -

things are tracking really good.

Honestly, the last thing to do is plate up,

make sure the balance of flavours is there.

There's some real big, bold flavours in this dish,

so I just want to make sure it actually tastes good.

I've got a generous amount of bone marrow sticky date pudding.

My fish sauce butterscotch sauce has been infused into it,

and I sprinkle over some pancetta crumb for saltiness.

I just hope the judges see this dish in the same way I do.

Let's go, Darrshy. Oh, yeah, baby.

(LAUGHS)

I'm expecting big things.

You've got three minutes left.

ANDY: Come on! Keep pushing!

Josh Niland in the house! Hoo-hoo!

I tasted Sarah's oyster ice-cream.

It is so oystery.

So...

She's not playing "hide the oyster", that's for sure.

SARAH: I'm really happy.

I know that the oyster ice-cream could be really confrontational,

but I'm proud of my cook and being experimental.

This is, you know,

what I came back into the kitchen for.

SAMIRA: You got olive oil, Snez?

Uh...

..you got it. You're the best.

You know me. Thank you.

I can't believe I managed

to get my salmon mix done in such a short time frame.

And then I'm using the mince for the filling of my kibbeh.

Within a kibbeh, you technically have two textures -

the crusty, crunchy exterior with the surf,

which is the salmon,

with the moist interior with the turf, which is beef

that's full of flavour.

I've got the kibbeh in the oil.

DEPINDER: You're doing really well, babes.

I need to rotate this kibbeh to the other side.

OK.

If I see cracks in there, if this falls apart,

it could mean my time is up in this kitchen.

Bloody amazing.

I can't even talk. (LAUGHS)

I am so satisfied right now.

It's crispy and it's held together.

I am over the moon.

Deviating halfway through is one of the most hardest things

that I've done.

I think having a baby is easier than this.

I even worked up a sweat.

Woo!

Come on, Samira, bring it home.

I'm done - just frying now.

LAURA: I'm trying to add as much flavour

and different little textures and pops to this rootello bonnato

to make it more interesting than the classic version of.

So with my bonito mayonnaise smeared on the plate,

and on top of that, you've got this perfectly cooked kangaroo.

Then you've got the capers that are in brine.

I've got fried capers, crunchy, salty shallots,

pickled shallots, fried shallots.

I've got the bottarga on top.

And that's just the mouthfeel that wants you to go back for more

and more and more.

DEPINDER: It's a treat to watch you cook, Laur. Ah-ha!

And I just want to add a little bit of Josh Niland flair.

So I'm going to add the element of smoke to really add

that extra smokiness to this dish.

OK. One minute to go!

Come on! ANDY: Come on, Rue!

Salt. Salt.

So I get the wontons out, I put them straight on the plate,

and I noticed that a couple of them are split on the bottom.

But I just have to go with it. Like, I've got no other option.

So I'm looking at the wontons,

which is the main component of the dish, and they're not great.

But I have got a really nice beef broth,

and I've got a perfectly cooked piece of lobster.

So I'm really hoping that those two things

are going to get me through today.

It's sink or swim in 10...

ALL: Nine, eight,

seven, six, five,

four, three, two,

one!

That is it! (APPLAUSE)

Good job, mate. Good job.

Far out.

That was hard.

Oh, man. That was chaos.

That was the most stressful cook I've had this season.

It was absolute chaos.

I'm just hoping that Josh doesn't go,

"You're not getting a high five. You're not getting a clap.

"Actually, you're going home." I'm like...

That would be, actually, my worst nightmare

because I really, really want to be here.

And that was...that was tough.

Well, with the ever-inspiring Josh Niland in the house,

it was simple.

We wanted your interpretation of surf and turf.

Or was it?

We're about to find out because the first dish we want

to taste belongs to...

Laura. Yeah.

(APPLAUSE)

LAURA: So much doubt, honestly, walking this dish up to the judges,

I know it's delicious. I know this dish works.

I've made it hundreds of times before...

No-one panic.

But is it too polarising, or maybe even too wacky?

Maybe stitched myself up on elimination day?

This dish could send me home.

Wow. OTHERS: Woo!

It is effective.

Yeah. Were you saging us?

Cleansing the air.

Wow, Laura, what is this?

This is Rootello Bonnato.

And it's a take on vitello tonnato.

What was the purpose of the smoke?

Um, I just wanted to accentuate the kangaroo smoke flavour.

But also, you two were giving me some stick

about me being boring today,

so I just thought I'd give you a little pizzazz.

So do you think this is better than the original?

Oh, I'm going to upset a few Italians if I say yes.

(LAUGHS)

So I think it's just as good as the original, Jean-Christophe.

OK, Laura, we're going to try your dish.

Absolutely.

I'm not going to wait for their opinion.

I think it's a bloody knockout.

Texturally, and the seasoning, and, I mean, the fried onions alone

makes you just want to have all of it.

The balance of the sea and the land come together beautifully.

That sounds obnoxious, but it does.

There's this underlying minerality that's met with the gaminess

of the roo, that's really special.

And the top note of smoke adds to the depth of savoury quality.

So kudos to you. It's killer.

Thank you so much.

Laura, it's a really lovely dish.

Love the roo.

Texturally, some raw bits,

some that are really beautiful and charred.

Beautiful crispy shallots on top.

And then just that lovely hit of salt from the capers

and the bottarga.

And also loads of acidity,

which just ties everything together so beautifully.

It is such a lovely dish,

and I could just keep diving back for more and more.

Very, very good. Thank you. Thanks.

Laura, this is an extraordinarily well accomplished recipe.

Thanks.

From the bottom to the top, from left to right -

it's just perfect.

What is interesting is daring to use those combinations

and to end up with something

which, visually, is nothing, like, spectacular.

But when you go to it, it's just phenomenal.

Yay!

How much more can you produce?

I mean, I can't wait, but this is sublime.

Thank you so much. Well done to you.

Thank you, Jean-Christophe. Well done, Laura.

Thank you. Thank you. (APPLAUSE)

Yes!

Next up, Samira.

SNEZ: Go, Samira. SAMIRA: Thank you.

I'm feeling so anxious.

I am super proud of what I've done.

I think pivoting was definitely the correct decision.

Pushing boundaries through Middle Eastern techniques

and through Western foods.

JUDGES: Wow!

And if it isn't enough, that's OK.

I'll accept it with grace, and I will go home proud of myself.

Hey, Samira. Hello.

What's the dish?

Salmon kibbeh.

It's not lamb and scallops.

What happened? No.

When you two lovely humans came over to my bench,

after hearing what you both had to say about, "Do they marry?"

I had to face reality.

I was trying to pick an easier way out to be safe.

And so you flipped to...this.

Salmon kibbeh. Right.

That is...uh, pretty courageous,

changing your whole dish.

Yeah, pretty much. That's massive.

So the question is, has this pivot paid off?

Fingers crossed.

So you minced the salmon?

Correct. Wow.

To have it balanced out.

Samira, well done. This is great.

To come up with something at the last minute, with this,

and to do it so well...

To mince salmon... (CHUCKLES) ..and to cook it with minced beef,

and to end up as a heart inside those lovely kibbeh.

It's just...

Your tiny yoghurt, pomegranate, the texture -

it's a cushion of flavours and pleasure.

So it's been an honour to enjoy this. Thank you.

Thank you.

I think that this kibbeh...

is the start of something really beautiful...

Oh! ..and really exciting.

I had memories of salmon patties of my childhood.

I think you could go harder on the salmon

to give a little bit more fishiness, to lean into that oiliness.

You've blown me away. It's wonderful.

Thank you.

When you talk about a primary cut of lamb

going with a luxurious scallop,

it doesn't do much for me

because I know it's going to be great.

For me, what makes me so excited

is you're using, essentially, secondary cuts.

This dish becomes something that a fishmonger, a butcher,

somebody in a deli can grab onto this and go,

"Hey, all the tails," or, all the collars,"

"or all that ground beef trim and stuff,

"why don't we make that kibbeh that we saw on MasterChef?

"We could sell that, and we could get a return

"for what is otherwise going to go to the wayside."

Overall, incredibly intelligent and impressive.

Well done. Thanks, Samira.

Let's try your surf and turf, Sarah. Yeah!

SARAH: I love this oyster ice-cream.

It's something that's very unique,

and it's showing the direction

that I want to be going in this competition.

Oh-ho! OK.

But Josh said that this could either be a top dish,

or he could be walking me to the door.

And I just hope more than anything that it's at the top.

Sarah, what's your dish?

Beef tartare, and then oyster ice-cream on top.

Oyster ice-cream on steak tartare?

That's a huge move.

Josh, what's the key to a good fish ice-cream?

(LAUGHS) (LAUGHS) Fish ice-cream.

It's interesting,

but provocation is a wonderful thing.

It's just you've got to temper it

with something else that brings some comfort.

And whether that's raw beef,

then that'll be what we're tasting now.

This is the Sarah I've been waiting for!

Oh, gosh. I'm so proud of you.

And I'm so happy that you've zoned in on this challenge.

That is risky. That is skilful.

It is the perfect dish for this challenge.

There's two things on the plate, and one is surf and one is turf,

and they have to marry.

And that marriage is a long, long, long, beautiful marriage.

Degree of difficulty - 10.

Execution - 15.

Like, that is so stunning. Well done.

Sarah, I treasure you for what you just achieved.

It is...

Oh!

What I've enjoyed the most is fantastic ice-cream.

You can smell the oysters,

pungently banging on you, saying, "Take me."

It's fresh, it's sublime.

Well done.

Hats off to you.

I loved it because you've managed to take a few different dishes

from French cuisine.

And I think all of that's held together very,

very intelligently by the flavours of steak tartare.

So, oysters and beef together are no longer oysters and beef.

All of a sudden, you're just in awe of what's happening.

Sarah, I said you would either finish first

or I would walk you to the door myself.

(LAUGHTER) No pressure at all.

And I'm definitely not walking you to the door.

So, well done, mate. Ah, thank you so much.

Oh, my God, that's amazing. Wow. Well done.

Fabulous.

Next up, Rue.

(APPLAUSE)

RUE: Lobster tail with oxtail, Hondashi emulsion and finger lime.

It was delicious, right? But the ratios are wrong.

There's way too much of the emulsion and not enough of the two tails.

Snez, you're next.

(APPLAUSE)

SNEZ: So this is my scallop wannabe dish.

I have scallop, chicken,

mushrooms, and beautiful apples as well,

and the dried scallops and chicken jus.

JOSH: If I were to do that dish using your ingredients,

I would have given three or four scallops.

Yeah.

And then that sauce, put more dried scallop into it

and just serve that.

What's there right now,

like, just gives us surf and turf.

Like, just. Yeah.

Let's go, Tim Bone. Um...

Today I've made for you pork and marron meatballs

with broth, and a shallot and fennel puree.

Tim, I was praying that I wouldn't be playing

a game of "where's the marron?"

But I am, unfortunately.

The marron is so delicate.

And when it's paired with pork belly meatballs and,

you know, a shallot and fennel puree,

it's so difficult to get any of the marron,

which, for me, is a worry.

Thanks so much, guys.

Right, next up, please, Rhiannon.

RHIANNON: Walking into the kitchen this morning

seeing Josh, I was like,

"You know what? I'm going to show him what I'm made of."

Hello? Hi.

(WHISTLES)

Would you please finish it, please? Yeah, sure.

Just a little bit of beefy sauce.

And now I'm thinking, "You know what?

"I could actually be going home."

So, Rhiannon, please tell us, what is your dish?

It's a lobster wonton with a beef sauce.

Are you worried?

Bloody oath, I'm worried, yeah.

Then I'm worried,

because you are very honest.

I'm so disappointed in myself. Like... Yeah.

I don't want to cry,

but I really am, like...

Because I feel like

I've just really enjoyed this year,

and I feel like this could be the thing that sends me home,

the day of all days that I don't want to go home,

out of all the days, having Josh in here.

You worried?

Bloody oath, I'm worried, yeah.

Alright.

It was definitely a different you today

that we saw in the kitchen.

And I've been there, when you try too hard.

Yeah.

And I feel like this has got that written all over it.

Yeah.

You want to impress Josh so bad.

When we came around and challenged you

to think about it more creatively,

and you ended up blending up the lobster

and putting it in the dough,

that's when I knew it just wasn't you today.

Yeah, I know.

That's not a you move. No. It's not a you move at all.

And it's resulted

in the skins being really brittle and fragile.

I feel like the lobster on the outside is nicely cooked,

and there is something going on with the beef and the lobster.

But is it where it needs to be to have you not be vulnerable today?

I don't know. It's fallen short, unfortunately, Rhiannon.

To me, personally, there's so much merit in the broth

because it's well constructed, there's layers

you can taste effort that's been applied into it.

And like you said, the supercharger was on.

We've unfortunately got skins that are very soft and fragile

and an interior mix that is quite compromised

in terms of how it's come together.

And that's because water's gone in. Yeah.

So it's a really difficult one for me because I want to like it

for the fact that we've got a great broth.

How much surf and turf is happening then?

That's the challenge that I've got right now.

I am underwhelmed of the result.

And this unfortunate part is obviously slightly overcooked.

So I'm afraid to say,

but you are giving us a lot to think about.

Next up is Audra.

AUDRA: Today I've made tuna belly and chive dumplings

with a beef broth and shaved tuna.

Audra, I think it's delicious. Textures are really nice.

I'm almost shocked that the tuna belly

actually works quite well as a filling.

Jamie.

JAMIE: Glazed pork jowl with raw scallops,

beautiful sauteed mushrooms and a little shiitake dashi.

POH: The pork is cooked really beautifully,

and I love that interchange of the slipperiness

between the mushrooms and the scallops.

Alana, you're next!

ALANA: I've got flank steak and oyster cream sauce for you,

and a nectarine ezme.

You've cooked that flank absolutely perfectly.

Your nectarine ezme is so lovely and fresh

paired with your surf and your turf.

It really just took me straight to the beach.

Really well done. Thank you.

ANDY: Theo.

THEO: I did pork-stuffed squid with corn puree and 'nduja sauce.

JOSH: I'm actually really impressed at the texture of the squid.

It's quite tender, and the 'nduja sauce,

it's really nice.

Nice one, Theo. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

It's time for dessert! Darrsh!

DARRSH: I'm stoked with the finished dish.

I pushed myself today.

I've got every element that I wanted to done.

I really, really, really hope that the judges love it.

Darrsh, you really went go hard or go home approach, yeah?

I did, yeah.

What did you make today?

I've got a beef bone marrow pudding,

a fish sauce butterscotch sauce,

crispy pancetta crumb and a creme anglaise

that has some orange caviar pearls through it.

Whoa!

OK. No-one's ever said that.

It's a vibe.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: So, no regrets? No regrets, yeah.

I think, um, I pushed myself today with the concept.

If it paid off, great, and if it didn't,

I can hold my head high.

Darrsh, Darrsh, Darrsh,

you have taken a massive risk today,

risking your place in this competition

on a surf and turf dessert.

And I'm a little bit worried for you.

Darrsh, Darrsh, Darrsh...

There's some positives in there.

The texture of the cake is phenomenal

and the flavour of the cake is really delicious.

It's really light. It's got so much moisture in it,

albeit it doesn't have bone marrow flavour in there.

And then we get to your fish sauce caramel,

which is essentially the surf of the dish,

and I just felt like it needed more.

Yeah.

Darrsh, huge amount of kudos to you

for, firstly, doing something extremely innovative,

but, as well, you might have unpicked

a little bit of an interesting recipe there

with bone marrow contributing

to one of the most soft, fluffy, lightest cakes I've had in years.

I haven't had a sticky date that texturally perfect.

If it was a cake competition, you win first prize.

The fish sauce, when you eat the caramel independently,

just on a spoon, you can both smell and taste it.

And for what that is, it's incredibly well balanced.

If you were to replate this dish for us now

and just tip caramel over the top of that cake,

I think we'd all be here going, like, "Super."

It would be a shame to lose you.

Good luck. Thanks, Darrsh.

Thanks, mate.

Every time I come in here,

there's something a little bit outlandish to participate in.

But it's inspiring not just meeting you,

but seeing what's in your heads.

MasterChef's a two-way street,

and I think it's, um,

fascinating to gain from you

what I'm sure you gained from me and the rest of these guys here.

Amazing.

Even though that cook was hectic, two of your dishes

deserve a massive round of applause.

They gave us the best of both surf and turf.

Laura, Sarah, your dishes stole our hearts,

hook, line and sinker. Well done.

Right, unfortunately, this is still an elimination.

We were looking for a bottom dish.

When I call your name, please step forward.

Rhi. Yeah.

(WHISPERS) That one.

Tim.

Darrsh.

All of your dishes, they had problems.

So when we're splitting hairs like this,

it has to come back to flavour and texture,

which is why I'm so sorry to say this.

Rhi... Yeah.

SNEZ: Oh! Oh, no. ..I'm sorry, you're going home.

Yeah, I knew it. Aw...

Yeah.

Rhi-Rhi... Yeah.

..this breaks my heart.

Yeah, but you know what? Like, what a bloody epic experience.

Like, this is just so cool!

Like, how many people get to come back to win

and just do what I've just done?

And I've had an absolute blast. Like, crazy good time.

And, um, yeah, I'll just have to go home to Deano

and cook him something.

Not quite as much fun, but anyway.

We know you had so much more to give this competition.

Yeah... And it just wasn't your day.

No, no.

Declan, what are you going to miss about your mate Rhi?

Um, I love Rhi to bits.

Um, yeah. Very, very shocked.

It's just what this competition does.

So she wears her head so high on her shoulders.

Um, and she's been such an influential woman in my life,

um, since meeting her on the show.

Um, so, yeah, I'm going to miss her to bits.

Thanks, mate.

I was actually good until you did that.

Oh.

(SIGHS)

Rhi, as much as we love you, sadly, it's time to say goodbye.

Yeah, no worries.

Argh! Come on.

Thank you so much for everything!

It's been incredible.

(SPEECH DROWNED OUT)

Thank you.

One day I'll cook you something nice.

Thank you. Thank you.

Argh!

I'm super proud of myself.

Honestly, I'm so happy.

Like, you know, there's so many people

that would dream to get asked to come back.

So, yeah, I'm stoked.

(CHEERING)

ANDY: Give it up for Rhiannon, everybody!

ANNOUNCER: This week on MasterChef Australia...

Please welcome Ixta Belfrage! (CHEERING)

..Yotam Ottolenghi's protege...

(CONTESTANTS EXCLAIM) Ooh, wow!

..brings a mystery box times two.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: What the hell is in that mini box?

I could be in big trouble.

And... Please welcome Blayne Bertoncello!

..it's a pressure test times five.

SOFIA: You will all be

recreating Blayne's dessert,

not once, but five times.

(CONTESTANTS EXCLAIM)

And then...

Where am I going? Where am I going? Where am I going?

..it's a team relay... (BLEEP)

Oh, no!

..times a thousand.

(CONTESTANTS EXCLAIM)

Whoa! Stay out of the way.

Captions by Red Bee Media