Original subtitles

TIM: New week. WOMAN: Exciting.

Come on, guys, let's go! Let's hustle.

THEO: White apron day.

What are you making today?

Oh, who knows?

Come on, get in there.

ANDY: Oh, hello!

(ALL GASP)

Big old mystery box day. Morning!

Wow! That is huge.

THEO: I actually really enjoy Mystery Boxes.

I think they're fun.

You got a little parameter to work in.

I don't have to run to the pantry every two seconds

because I'm forgetting stuff - I really enjoy it.

Hello, everyone! ALL: Hello.

This week is going to be so much fun!

When they say that, it makes me more nervous.

Starting right now with today's mystery box,

because it has been set

by one of the most exciting figures on the food scene right now.

Ooh!

When she started out, she had no formal training.

OK.

Just an insatiable obsession with food.

She quickly became Yotam Ottolenghi's protege.

Ah, OK. Whoo.

She went on to co-author his

New York Times best-selling cookbook, Flavour.

Wow!

Her own debut cookbook, Mezcla, took the foodie world by storm.

Please welcome all the way from London...

..Ixta Belfrage!

(WHOOPING AND CHEERING)

(WHOOPING)

WOMAN: Oh, my gosh!

WOMAN 2: Stunning.

(WHOOPING)

I'm so excited to cook for Ixta Belfrage today.

Welcome!

She's kind of like us.

Like, she started with no formal experience

and just got into the industry from passion and hard work.

And then to work her way up in Ottolenghi's kitchen,

it is incredible.

(QUIETLY) I am so scared! (LAUGHS)

Ixta, welcome to the MasterChef kitchen.

How are you? Thank you so much.

It's so good to see you. I know, I know.

It's been, what, 15 years? Wow.

I met Ixta in a hostel in Prague

when we were, like, 18-ish years old.

And we went to this funny little bowling alley

and ate this really big traditional soup in a loaf of bread.

I remember that soup.

And it was...it was good. It was hefty.

And we've been trying to catch each other for about 15 years

in various countries,

and it took coming to MasterChef Australia

to actually see each other again, so I'm so excited to have you here!

That's insane!

Alright. Ixta, so you're a self-starter.

Do you want to tell these guys how you got into cooking?

So I was always cooking from a really young age,

and then I tried out a lot of different jobs,

not realising that I wanted to actually work in the food industry.

Long story short, I had a little taco stall in a farmers market.

Then I had a little catering business,

and then I was like, "I need some actual experience."

So I sent off my CV to, like, 15 restaurants, thinking,

"No-one's going to give me a chance."

But NOPI, which is one of Yotam Ottolenghi's restaurants,

called me the next day.

They were like, "When can you come in?"

Wow. Yotam taught me so much.

My food history is in Brazil. My mum's Brazilian.

My grandad lived in Mexico for the last 30 years of his life,

and that's where my parents met.

And I lived in Italy as a kid.

ANDY: Ah! Wow.

So those three cuisines are like, what get me going.

SOFIA: Well, if Ixta's style food is anything to go by,

whatever's under those boxes

is definitely going to be an absolute flavour fest!

So keen. I know.

Shall we find out? CONTESTANTS: Yeah.

Head to your benches. Come on, let's go.

Oh, good.

What is this?

It's so big.

There's got to be something very tall in here.

OK.

You can lift your lids...

..in three...

..two, one!

ALL: Ooh! MAN: Yeah, boy.

Wow!

Ooh!

Alright, so, guys, we have got some beautiful prawns,

and they're really big.

We've got beautiful bonito here.

He's huge.

We've got masa harina, which is one of my favourite ingredients.

It's nixtamalized cornflour.

I use it to bind things in pastry,

I use it to crumb or coat things.

Uh, we've got coconut milk, mango.

Basil.

Okra.

Pineapple.

Limes, of course.

Dried hibiscus

and cinnamon sticks.

And that's your box, guys.

But obviously, that's not all that's in there.

Everyone's eyeing off that mini mystery box, eh?

Under there is an ingredient that Ixta loves

that you've got to use in your finished dish.

What? What? What?

Ooh!

But you won't know what it is until 30 minutes into the cook.

(ALL GASP)

Seriously?

(NERVOUS LAUGHTER)

(LAUGHS) That's a good one. Good trick.

Righto, crew, we're giving you 75 minutes

and you can cook anything you like,

but you've got to use at least one of Ixta's ingredients

and whatever's in that mini mystery box.

Ooh!

You can also use the staple ingredients under your bench.

Pantry and garden - closed.

The bottom four dishes,

they'll send their makers into tomorrow's pressure test.

Let your mind run free, be creative.

OK, your time starts...now. Go!

(WHOOPING AND CLAPPING)

Whoa!

You're going good? Something sweet? Tell me.

Um...

This little plot twist makes me feel a little bit anxious.

What if I start something and it doesn't even go

with whatever is in that box?

Do I just wait for 30 minutes? Do I pivot?

I really need to think about what I'm making today.

Do you think whatever is in that mini box

will suit your plan of action?

Oh, it has to, Chef.

I'm gonna work with it. I'm going to work with it.

With this, depending on what is under here,

hopefully I can turn it into something pretty quickly.

I'm just going to hold back a little bit

and then just basically wing it once I get to see what's under there.

MAN: The base of my dish will be a prawn tortellini.

Then I'm just going to build flavour and different textures.

Go savoury, but with a little bit of sweetness

and sourness through it as well.

So whatever's under there you can put into that balance.

SOFIA: Ixta, it's so good to have you here,

and I'm so excited about the amazing ingredients

that you've chosen for this mystery box.

They're so you, they're flavours of the world,

then they have to lift your little mini mystery box there.

How would you do it? What would your strategy be?

I feel like I'd be so stressed if I was over there.

Um, I would go with, like, my gut and what I feel confident in doing.

So if I want to make a dessert, I'd just go for it.

Make a savoury thing, go for it. POH: Yeah.

I would wholeheartedly commit to the shoehorn.

(ALL LAUGH)

Sometimes that backfires a little bit

because people just sort of shove something in

and it becomes a little bit tokenistic,

rather than something that really goes with the dish.

LAURA: All these ingredients in the mystery box go together.

So how different is this other ingredient going to be?

Is it going to be a complete spanner in the works?

I'm sending positive vibes to my mini box.

My strategy is to just start cooking

and start putting up a really delicious dish,

and hope this ingredient will go with it.

Plus, with Ixta's Italian background and my love of Italian cooking,

I think making a pasta dish is a really wise decision.

Laura. Hi, Laura!

Tell us what you're making.

I'm making scarpinocc.

So a filled prawn pasta.

Yep. OK.

So it's got, like, the little indentation in the middle

of the actual filling, with, like, a little bisque.

Corn bisque is truly one of my favourite things

in the whole wide world. So good.

Are you gonna make that super rich and, like, layered?

Yep. All the things are in that pot. Yep, OK.

I like splitting my sauces.

I'm like a two-to-three sauce kind of gal.

I love that. Thank you.

I love a split sauce. Yes.

So what are you making the pasta out of?

The masa flour. I was gonna...

And then double zero just for something different.

Never done it before.

Is there anything you're worried about?

Um, the dough not working.

(CHUCKLES)

This is Mexican flour used for tortillas I'm using in pasta.

I'm hoping that this masa cornflour works the same as semolina

to give my dough a really nice texture.

In my head, it works, but this could go so, so wrong.

What could go wrong, Rue?

RUE: What could go wrong?

I need more pots and pans.

What the hell is in that mini box? I know.

It could definitely throw a curve bowl.

My only strategy is hoping that it's not chocolate.

Sweet pineapple. It could be chocolate.

We're talking Brazilian-slash-Mexico-slash-Italy.

Could be a million things, but I'm hoping for chilli.

Chilli compliments all of these flavours.

Jamie! Hello!

How's it going? Yeah. Very well. How are you?

Good, thank you. Excellent.

Tell us what you're making. We're going bit Mexican today.

So we're doing some little tostadas.

Ah! Yeah.

The main star is going to be the bonito.

I'm going to serve it raw.

It's going to have a nice sort of tropical salsa

with the pineapple, some lime.

Using the masa, make some tortillas.

What's your strategy with this little guy?

Uh, if I open that and it's, like, vanilla and chocolate...

Yeah. ..pivot hard.

OK. Jamie, I feel like

this is quite a risky dish for you to make for...

I know.

Tuna tostadas are like my favourite thing in the world, so...

No pressure. No pressure. ..no pressure.

Ixta's favourite dish, better make it good.

Yeah, I know, no pressure.

Thank you for that. Thanks, Jamie.

Ixta's food background is Italian, Mexican and Brazilian.

Surely you wouldn't leave out something that really packs a punch.

I'm putting all my eggs in one basket,

but I'm praying there's something spicy under that mini mystery box.

Sorry.

You've already had 15 minutes.

Only one hour to go!

(CLAPPING)

Good food!

It's already smelling good!

It is already smelling good.

CALLUM: Feeling good, but I'm worried about

what's under that box there -

it could really throw a cat amongst the pigeons.

There is infinite possibilities of what's in that box.

What that means is there's all these different variations

of where my dish could kind of zig and zag.

So I'm going to go sweet today

with these beautiful tropical ingredients.

I think the good thing about sweets

is maybe it's easier to pivot with a sweet than with a savoury.

I'm going to do like a kind of salted coconut ice-cream

with a hibiscus and pineapple granita.

A little basil oil, and some charred pineapple as well.

G'day, Callum!

Hello, gang. How are you? Really good.

What's going on here? Give us the dish!

I think it's like a delicious dish. Yeah.

But it's safe enough that I'm kind of thinking

it's gonna be something slightly quirky,

but this is the quirk, you know? Right, OK.

I mean, if you go in with full quirk and then you get two quirks.

Quirk and quirk don't work. Too many quirks.

What would you do if it was chocolate? I hope it's not chocolate.

What would you do if it was garlic?

Oh, she loves garlic. She loves garlic.

Sounds good. You've done the strategy.

Let's hope it's a quirk.

I've got this really kind of nervous energy going on right now,

because you've got this ticking time bomb of this little mystery box.

And if it is garlic, I could be in big trouble.

IXTA: Wow, this is exciting.

SOFIA: It flies, too.

Like, it will absolutely fly. Oh, my God.

Particularly for them. (LAUGHS)

RUE: I'm doing, like, a coconut milk parfait.

Hopefully, whatever is under there will go with my parfait.

I was actually thinking of doing, like, a tropical granita,

a bit of pineapple, a bit of mango, a bit of lime.

So, hopefully, what I have in mind works well with that.

I'm actually really going for simple today.

I really want to show that I can do a really good dish

with just two elements.

I am someone who loves to have so many elements on a plate.

So this is really unlike me.

I just have to nail the textures.

Is it thick enough? Is it cooked enough?

Yep. It's good. I'm happy. Yeah.

So, hurry up, hurry up.

I'm just saying that in case.

Timing is of the essence today.

I have two elements that both require freezing.

So I have to make sure

that everything is in the freezer with ample time.

Hi, Ixta. It's so lovely to meet you.

Hello, how's it going? OK. You're using those beautiful prawns.

Oh, I couldn't go past them. They're gorgeous.

Today, I'm making desert island prawns.

So I'm going to do the prawns in the spice mix.

I've blended up the hibiscus and the cinnamon,

just to get that... Whoa.

So good. Just that aroma wafting in the air.

Wow. I know.

And then, I'm going to deep-fry the prawn heads so you can get

that real texture and crunch.

How about this guy? What's the strategy?

We'll wait and see, hey, what you've got in store for us?

You never know. (LAUGHS)

Alright. Hope for perfectly cooked prawns.

Yeah.

Oh, yum.

So I'm making a hibiscus and basil ice-cream

with a lime caramel and charred pineapple.

Yeah, I've decided to go down the dessert route,

so, yeah, it's going to be an interesting one today

because we don't know what's in this little box down here.

Bit worried about it.

I'm making a mango parfait,

a pineapple salsa, and I'm going to just cook this up

and try and make a bit of a syrup, as well.

Have you used hibiscus before?

I've used it, but, like, I love it in tea.

So I was thinking, um,

get that kind of flavouring going on to put with my dish.

DARRSH: Got a double yolk. What a stitch-up.

AUDRA: Oh, that's an omen. A good one?

(LAUGHS)

I'm not telling you, man.

So, Ixta, she's young,

she's vibrant, she's exciting.

I think, today, Ixta is looking for creativity.

Something different, unexpected.

I want to impress.

However, I don't have a final vision of this dish.

I'm making a coconut and lime cake.

These two components are going to sing really well.

And I know that pineapple will also work really nicely.

So I'm making a pineapple compote to the cake.

I'm also combining that hibiscus. It's going to lift it up.

The dish is coming together,

but maybe it's lacking a little magic.

I'm actually really hoping

that surprise element is going to help me tie my dish together.

Really working on getting the cake in the oven.

I've got to get that in pronto.

One minute till you're lifting that mini mystery box, gang!

Whoo!

What is it? One minute?

Oh, my God, we're gonna open the other one, Theo!

THEO: So exciting.

Gosh.

Ooh!

These bonito tostadas are coming together nicely.

I've got my dough made, and now I'm working on my salsa.

I'm really hoping for something spicy

under that mini box to liven things up.

Otherwise, this Mexican dish could be in real trouble.

Alright, gang, you've had 30 minutes,

so it's time to lift those mini mystery box lids.

Are you ready? Yep.

Three, two, one!

Yeah, boy! (CHEERS)

Oh! Beautiful!

(SQUEALS)

Yes!

(RUE SIGHS)

That's good, yeah. That's so good.

Good, yeah. OK.

Oh, chillies. Alright, alright, alright.

JAMIE: That scotch bonnet is really fiery, but super happy.

(SCREAMS)

Argh!

THEO: Oh, my God, that's so bad.

How's that bad? That is so bad.

OK, so you know I love chilli.

So we've got a lovely yellow Scotch bonnet,

we've got jalapeno and we've got ancho chillies.

So, a mix of super hot, one that's smoky,

one that's more fresh.

You don't have to use them all.

You could use just one.

Argh!

I was thinking maybe there might have been tahini

or something under there.

Yeah. It's quite a lovely surprise. Yeah.

TIM: I'm super happy with the mini mystery box.

The chilli's going to help add a real zing

to my desert island prawns.

And they'll have that real hum, which I love.

Now I'm just deep-frying my prawn heads

for that real texture crunch.

Mm.

Just tasting it. (LAUGHS)

This is the ancho chilli, so it's a little bit smoky,

but it's super fruity.

I think it's perfect with the dessert.

Mango parfait, a pineapple salsa and a hibiscus tea.

So I'm just going to punch in a bit of flavour into my tea

with the chilli, and then I'm going to use a hotter chilli

to pop through my salsa.

You look worried. (LAUGHS)

What the hell? (LAUGHS)

What am I going to do with this?

You'll be alright. You'll be fine.

You have to taste it.

Mate.

Like, far out.

It's going to be great. Gosh, I love chillies.

(LAUGHS)

Crazy!

Chillies! And of course, I picked the day to do a dessert.

My mind is going wild at this point.

How do I incorporate these chillies?

So I'm folding my cake batter through.

Time's ticking along.

This cake needs to get into the oven ASAP.

Oh. Actually...

But I've just realised I've forgotten

the four tablespoons of lime juice

that need to go in this cake batter.

This lime juice is so essential to the flavour of the cake.

Bugger.

So, I very quickly take it all out and just keep folding it through.

I'm really worried.

I've already started to overfold.

It's really going to impact the quality of the cake,

but I have no choice.

I've got to push on. It has to go into the oven.

Now I've really got to rack my brain

and try and figure out -

how am I going to insert chillies into this dish?

CALLUM: I love chilli.

This couldn't have worked out any better. (CHUCKLES)

I'm making a salted coconut and mango parfait,

and I kind of know how I'm going to change the dish now.

I was going to do a hibiscus granita with the dish,

but seeing this beautiful jalapeno here,

I'm now going to make, like, a jalapeno-pineapple granita.

So it's going to be that hot-cold thing going on

in your mouth at the same time.

I think it's gonna be really fun.

My dish today is almost like cooking a Thai dish, when you've got

the whole sweet, salty, sour, chilli thing going on.

I want that salted coconut parfait really salty.

The granita really quite hot with that jalapeno.

And then, a soothing, almost medicinal basil oil.

My whole dish today is a big old juggling act.

There's really big, bold flavours going on,

and getting the ratios wrong today

could be the difference between a good dish and a bad dish.

Hoo-hoo!

Hey, Deccas, have you eaten any chilli yet?

DECLAN: Yeah, I have, sorry. OK, yeah.

I can't taste anything for a while. No, my mouth is on fire.

(CHUCKLES) They're spicy.

We've turned up the heat, and you have 20 minutes to go!

(APPLAUSE)

Oh, my God. OK.

Oh, my God. There's so much to do.

I'm making a prawn scarpinocc with a prawn sauce.

Super prawny. Super delicious.

My sauce needs to be exploding with flavour,

so I've used a Scotch bonnet.

All my sauces are on. There's, like, a lot happening.

I've almost run out of stove-top space.

Ah, you've got 20 minutes to go, Loz.

So...

Argh!

Good luck. Yeah, thank you.

This is going to take forever.

Because this masa cornflour dough is quite soft,

I'm really needing to work it through the machine

more and more times.

This is taking so long.

This is definitely taking longer

than what my usual pasta dough would.

Oh, my God.

There's, like, 20-odd minutes to go, and I wanted

to be filling my pasta now,

not actually rolling out my pasta.

Absolute chaos.

This is starting to stress me,

and I'm hoping that the wheels don't fall off.

I've definitely taken on way more than I can chew today.

I have...

I may have stuffed this up.

That, that, that.

Pasta.

That, that, that.

Pasta.

Oh, my God, 15 minutes to go.

How are you going? I am in the weeds.

I've really overdone it today.

The mystery ingredient has been revealed.

I need to add chillies into my dish.

Oh. She does have a kick.

I really want Ixta to love it.

But I've spent so long to get this pasta rolled,

I'm so behind the eight ball right now.

Yeah, there's so much to do over here.

(SIGHS)

You'll be alright. You'll be fine.

Hey, you know how to use chillies.

THEO: Yeah. It's fine, it's fine.

Who doesn't want chillies?

Let's be honest, I was freaking out. I was very worried.

But I think I've come up with a good idea now, so I'm happy.

I'm coating the pineapple in it, and then searing it

so I can get, like, some sugar and some spice and everything nice.

(CHUCKLES)

Ooh!

OK. Let's...

..let's take out one

because that's gotten spicy very quickly.

Rue, how are you doing over here? Rue.

Hello! I'm doing really good. Are we happy about the chilli?

Really happy. I'm so pleased to hear that.

OK, so how are you incorporating...

How...how is it going to level up your dish?

I already had a coconut milk parfait.

I'm doing, like, a spicy tropical granita,

so with mango and pineapple.

So I've infused the Scotch bonnet into my granita.

OK.

Oh, it's going to go in the granita.

Yeah, yes. OK. OK.

I just have to nail the textures.

Yeah. Then I think I'll be fine.

You've had a couple of problems with leaving things to the last minute. I know!

So make sure you have your timing under control, Rue.

I know. OK, I will, I promise.

Today, I have pulled out Minimalist Rue.

Two elements.

Everything has to be perfect.

Poh has reminded me

that timing hasn't been great to me in this kitchen,

so I need that granita in the freezer as soon as possible,

otherwise it will not freeze on time.

SOFIA: So, I can smell those chillies.

My nostrils are starting to flare up.

Like, it's hitting the back of my throat,

so they're...they're in deep.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: You've got to be extremely careful

the way you dissolve your chilli, and that's an art.

AUDRA: Sparingly.

I know this baby's quite hot.

You've got to be very sure what you're doing

and using it as a little bonus to step forward -

not just because I have to.

IXTA: A bonito tostada.

I love raw fish. I'm obsessed with it.

It looks like his dish is evolving.

Things are happening over there.

I'm slightly worried about Laura's dish.

She's making a prawn-filled pasta.

She's got three different things going on with the prawns.

I mean, I don't know if Laura's going to bring them all together.

For me, I'm a little bit worried about all the desserts... Yeah.

..because I feel like they're all going down

a bit of a obvious path, a bit sort of butter-cakey thing,

parfait, and those sort of tropical flavours.

Squishy squish.

Just...crushing my tortillas.

We're making tortillas.

I'm using a little bit of the toasted masa

to put over the top as well,

to get some roasty flavours in there.

I love this as an ingredient.

You get such a beautiful corn flavour from it.

Tostada is like the crunchy base for the entire dish.

Can't be soggy. Have to be crispy. Have to snap.

This is where you get heaps of texture

so we want this to first cook as a tortilla

and then we deep-fry it.

We're essentially making a round corn chip, kind of.

Ixta said fish tostadas were her favourite dish.

I need to nail every element on this plate

and, most of all, these tostadas have to be perfect.

We've got a lot to do, but I think we'll be OK.

So far, so good. I can't taste anything, to be honest.

I've tasted that many chilli things in the last 10 minutes,

I don't even know what it tastes like anymore!

Um, hopefully good.

At the start of this challenge,

I set out to make a hibiscus granita, which is now jalapeno.

So I've got this beautiful hibiscus syrup sitting on the stove.

It's sticky, it's bright pink,

it's got this really beautiful flavour to it.

So charring this pineapple on the barbecue,

if I could be brushing it with the syrup,

it's going to make the pineapple flavour sing even more.

This dish is feeling good

and I actually think the chillies can make it better,

so I'm actually really glad that's what the ingredient was.

Who doesn't love a surprise?!

10 minutes to go!

Allez! (APPLAUSE)

LAURA: Do you have any spare of these canisters, Rue?

RUE: No, I'll get you one, because I'm waiting.

Which one? One?

Can I get two? Yeah.

Thanks, Rue.

So my dough is finally rolled,

but I'm so far behind.

Oh, my God.

Everything's half done, with eight minutes to go.

I've got so many elements that are not even complete yet.

I'm a mad woman!

My sauce still isn't strained.

The puree is not blitzed or strained.

The oils aren't even ready to go.

Pasta in.

I need to blend this.

Argh!

I'm adding a little bit more spice into the bisque.

And I've just licked this Scotch bonnet.

Yeah. Oooh! Breathe!

That was so spicy. That was so spicy.

My tastebuds are gone.

(INHALES SHARPLY) That's so spicy!

I can't really taste everything together.

Ooh!

I'm honestly starting to think that this is not going to happen...

Ugh! What's happened to me today?!

..and if I don't put anything on the plate,

I'm in bottom four tomorrow.

Oh, my God!

OK, team, you have five minutes to go.

ANDY: Come on!

(WHOOPING AND APPLAUDING)

How long, Rue? Five.

Oh, my gosh. I'm waiting for my granita to start freezing

so I can just scrape it.

I'm just hoping that I didn't leave my granita too late

to pop it in the blast freezer.

This dish is quite simple.

Having two frozen elements, everything needs to be perfect!

Oh, please, please, please, please.

I'm really praying for the best.

Please, please, please, please, God. Please, please!

Please, please.

I literally went to guard the blast chiller door.

I'm like, "Don't open it."

I'm gonna be cool, cool.

AUDRA: Alright. Let's do this. Oh!

I know! Those Scotch bonnets, you gotta watch it, man.

(COUGHS)

My pineapple compote's here.

I've put that chilli in here.

Oh, my God, that Scotch bonnet, it's hot. It's really spicy.

I've got my coconut drizzle ready.

I know the flavours are going to work,

but I don't know if my coconut and lime cake's had

enough time in the oven.

You won't know the texture of a cake until it fully cools down.

That is the creamiest ice-cream ever.

I feel good about my dish.

My ice-cream looks great.

My crumb is beautiful.

I think that the chilli on my pineapple is a great addition.

I'm just worried about if you're going to be able to taste it.

I would say that's my biggest concern.

My parfait is set. I've got my crumb and my hibiscus tea.

I'm happy with my dish.

Two minutes!

(JUDGES APPLAUD)

Having a good time.

RUE: My gosh. This has been the fastest time of my life.

My coconut milk parfait has finally come out of the freezer.

Please, please, please, please, please.

I hope it's set.

Perfect.

Mmm! Mm-hm-mm!

The parfait tastes delicious.

Mmm!

But I am a bit worried about the texture of my granita.

It just looks more like a sorbet.

Get it on the plate. One minute to go!

(JUDGES APPLAUD)

..plate.

I've literally brought it down to the absolute wire.

Oh, my God.

The pasta comes out - finally!

Honestly, I'm just, like, all-in right now.

I'm just not stopping.

I need to split that sauce.

I can still taste the Scotch bonnet on my tongue

so I can't even taste my dish!

How long, Rue?

30 seconds.

Why do I do this to myself?

Oh, my gosh!

ANDY: Finish it up, crew! 10...

ALL JUDGES: ..nine, eight, seven,

six, five,

four, three,

two, one!

That is it!

Thank you very much.

Whoo!

Mate! Good job.

Nice, mate. Nice one, bud.

Yeah. Had some very hot chillies.

Well, that was a bit of fun, hey?

A mini mystery box inside the real deal.

And under that was a bunch of chillies,

which you had to fit into your dish somehow, in some way.

We are looking for the bottom four dishes for tomorrow's pressure test,

but the first one we'd like to taste belongs to

Callum!

CALLUM: I'm really happy with the individual elements on this dessert,

but it's been such a balancing act today.

I'm keen to see what the judges think,

just in terms of how salty that parfait is

and how much chilli's in that granita.

Yeah, I just hope I've got that balance right.

Ooh, yeah.

It's burnt pineapple with a salted coconut parfait,

jalapeno granita and basil oil.

I love how this looks, Callum.

It's like a wonderful little landscape,

with your parfait volcano

and that little pool of liquid in the middle.

I think it's gorgeous.

I mean, I'm named after a volcano,

so I'm kind of obsessed with them, so...

This is...

I-I'm loving it.

Callum,

I can't tell you how much I love that dessert.

I love, love, love that dessert.

Thanks, Andy.

This is where that...brain of yours just came up trumps.

And going down this path,

your eyes would have lit up when you saw those three chillies

because, for me, the most impressive thing about this dish

is that play on chilli spice, but cold granita.

Yeah. It's so, so good. I love it.

It's the perfect amount of chilli

and then the salt in the parfait as well -

it just lights everything up.

Now, you, literally, that dessert has absolutely everything for me.

Yeah. I love it when you cook like this.

Thank you. Appreciate it, mate.

Callum.

Flawless.

What I love about it,

it is everything that a modern dessert is about.

It's not cloying, it's refreshing, it's more-ish.

Just a really thoughtful dessert.

I don't know if a lot of people know this,

but you are a weapon with desserts.

So, a warning to all the dessert makers. Incredible dish.

I want to say thank you, because that is a salty dessert

and that is my favourite thing about dessert.

The jalapeno granita is such a beautiful, fresh, spicy balance.

It's really topnotch. Well done.

Thanks, Ixta. Appreciate it.

Incredible dish. Well done.

ANDY: Callum! Thanks. Thanks, everyone.

Next up, Jamie.

(JUDGES APPLAUD)

SOFIA: This is like a fun time.

I've made some bonito tostadas

with salsa, some charred okra,

and a little pickled onions.

There's jalapeno and a Scotch bonnet

sliced finely into that salsa.

Jamie, I think I told you when I spoke to you earlier that

raw fish tostadas,

tuna tostadas,

are, like, my death row dish,

one of my favourite things in the world

and I have to say, this is an exemplary tostada.

Like, this is sensational.

The amount of flavours you've got here - SO fresh.

And that fish - it's still so raw but so well-seasoned.

And then you've got that fruitiness, that sweetness,

that pickly flavour from the hibiscus.

It's delicious. I love it. Really, really well done.

Appreciate it.

Ah, Jamie, that is the best tostada I've had in this kitchen

by a country mile.

Mmm! Whoo!

(APPLAUSE)

And I think you've done a smashing, fantastic job.

Great, thank you. Bye.

See ya. Yeah, yeah.

Loved that. That's good.

That's one of the best tostadas I've ever had.

That's really, really good.

Really? Mm! You've had a lot of tostadas!

Let's go, Andre.

ANDRE: A prawn mousse-stuffed bonito fillet

with a hibiscus and papaya pickle,

Scotch bonnet oils and a corn and tomato salsa.

I love what you've done here.

The fish and prawn sandwich is really exciting for me.

The basil and the pickle and the fish is going really well.

Really lovely, fresh. Yeah, it's great.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Depinder.

DEPINDER: So, it's a lime canale with a pineapple and a mango chutney

with the chilli and basil ice-cream with fresh mangoes.

This is near perfect.

Your ice-cream is a delight,

and your chilli jam is so significant.

Well done to you. Thank you.

Alana.

ALANA: Basil and olive oil ice-cream

with an ancho chilli and hibiscus broth,

salsa'd with mango and lime feuilletine

and some charred pineapple.

POH: It's delicate, but it's punchy.

You've got the astringency from the hibiscus,

and then a hint of bitterness and smokiness from the ancho.

And it is so brilliant for balancing out that whole dish.

I freaking love it. So good. Thank you!

Laura, come on down.

LAURA: Today was pure chaos.

Everything is about tasting your dish, in this kitchen,

and I sizzled my tastebuds away on my chillies,

so I have no idea what it tastes like.

And I've taken a huge risk by using the masa flour in my pasta today.

LAURA: This is a prawn scarpinocc with a little prawn bisque,

prawn head oil and basil.

How was that cook for you?

Chaotic.

I don't know if you looked at my bench at the end,

but it was disgusting.

I was so embarrassed. I'm, like, mortified.

Rue was, like, running and getting equipment for me.

Like, I was just... I don't know what happened to me.

What?! Yeah, yeah, yeah. Poor Rue.

(COUGHS) Holy!

Laura...

..you're just so good at a two-sauce pasta dish.

It's so good!

Thank you.

The intensity is out of control.

That is the prawniest thing I've ever had

that isn't just sucking the brains out of a prawn.

Everything together is just so good to eat.

Laura, I loved it.

I love how you've celebrated the masa here.

It's one of my favourite ingredients in the whole world.

And that chilli is really coming through.

It's powerful, it's delicious, I loved it.

Great. Thank you.

This is one of those mystery box dishes

where you don't feel like you've been forced to cook

with a handful of ingredients. Yeah.

That, to me, is just the beauty of you.

To be able to extract so much intensity

out of five or six ingredients is really special.

Yeah. Impeccable. Thank you.

Thank you.

Grazie, grazie.

Your dish is up, Audra.

Everything's got to be delicious on that plate.

I'm a little bit worried about the cake -

that it's not light and fluffy as I want it to be.

I am just hoping for the best.

Lime and coconut cake

with a hibiscus, lime and chilli compote

and salted coconut drizzle.

The chilli's in the compote,

but it's also in the fresh pineapple.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Audra...

..you've been using some exciting tropical ingredients

and you've turned out

to make something that looks more like afternoon tea cakes.

I don't think your cake is cooked properly.

It's quite mushy when you eat it.

For me, it's too sweet.

Audra, I really like the chilli element.

It was just humming all the way through in that compote.

Unfortunately,

everything else for me just felt a little lacklustre.

The texture of the cake was off, but also I just wanted some flavour.

I also think the composition of the dish was a little strange.

Like, to have, like, three kind of nude cakes there.

I would have loved if you maybe did

a bigger cake and went really classic.

It just felt a little bit confused.

Thanks, Audra. Thanks, Audra.

Theo!

(APPLAUSE)

THEO: Basil ice-cream with masa crumb

and charred ancho pineapple and lime caramel.

IXTA: This is a lovely dish.

I think that everything could be taken to the next level.

I want more chilli, I want more saltiness.

The masa crumble, I love that - toasty, roasty flavours there.

Let's go, Sarah!

(APPLAUSE)

SARAH: Mango parfait, pineapple salsa and a hibiscus tea.

It's really icy, and I feel like that's hindering

all of the flavours kind of coming together.

I have to agree with Andy -

it's not cohesive,

and the crumble and the tea mixture does make it really soggy.

You're up, Tim.

TIM: Desert island prawns with a mango,

pineapple and jalapeno salsa underneath.

That is like a fingernail. It just isn't cooked.

Come have a look.

See there?

Unfortunately, they're not cooked well enough to eat.

I think you're going to potentially be

one of our bottom dishes, I'm afraid, Tim.

Next up, Rue!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

RUE: I know my flavours are really good,

but I am a little bit worried about my granita.

I have two elements. Everything should be perfect.

JUDGES: Ooh!

That's austere.

POH: Wow. JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: That's it?

That's it.

ANDY: Two elements. Nowhere to hide.

And each element have to be perfect on their own,

but also even more perfect together.

I know, yeah.

I have a coconut and lime parfait

with a mango, pineapple and Scotch bonnet granita.

Are you happy?

Yes, but I'm a bit nervous! Yep.

The parfait is really soft and kind of aerated,

but it's a little bit icy and uneven.

So, the top is a little bit hard and icy,

the bottom is sort of creamy and sort of aerated.

So it's not really an even texture.

The texture of the granita,

because it's got a fair bit of sugar in there

from all of the beautiful sweet fruits that you used,

it doesn't have that iciness to it.

It's more like a sorbet texture.

I think that's just a technique flaw there.

Yeah. What this dish lacks is interest.

I think that's a really sound, tried and tested combination.

It's fine, but even something simple

like a basil oil, you know what I mean?

It needed just one more element,

I feel, to just get you out of trouble.

So, yeah. Don't know where this leaves you, Rue.

Ah, I'm kicking myself, but it's OK.

Thank you, Rue. Thanks, Rue.

Bye, Rue. Thank you.

Guys, you did so well.

I was so impressed with all of the flavours

that you brought to the table today.

You used some of my favourite ingredients.

It was so special to see them used in such different ways -

so many dishes that I never would have thought of.

Super exciting work, and it was just an honour to be here today.

So, thank you for impressing me.

Thank you. Thank you.

We asked you to play with fire today

and, boy oh boy, did some of you bring the heat!

Callum, that dessert was sugar, spice and everything nice.

We wouldn't change a single thing about it.

Laura, your pasta work was perfection.

And the chilli hit in every mouthful.

(MOUTHS SILENTLY)

Jamie, that's the kind of party I want an invite to.

(LAUGHTER)

Those tostadas were an absolute celebration.

Well done.

I've honestly had my fair share of tostadas,

and those were some of the best.

Well done. Thank you very much.

You've got to take the good with the bad.

And we've got some bad news for four of you, unfortunately.

Tim...

..Audra...

..Sarah...

..and, lastly, Rue.

SOFIA: Tim, Audra, Sarah, Rue,

you've got a pressure test to prepare for,

so go and get some rest.

See you, everybody.

ANNOUNCER: Tomorrow night...

Please welcome Blayne Bertoncello!

(CHEERING)

Today you'll be making my...

Ooh-eeh!

Wow.

AUDRA: It's a piece of artwork

on a plate.

..as if this pressure test

wasn't hard enough...

You will all be recreating

Blayne's dessert not once,

but five times!

(ALL EXCLAIM)

RUE: Five identical dishes? No!

Captions by Red Bee Media