Original subtitles

ANNOUNCER: Previously, on MasterChef Australia...

Sooshi Mango!

John Demetrios!

I've created something that's never been seen before.

Oh, my God!

What?

Viral Week took the kitchen by storm.

Hopefully this is the next viral sensation.

Their Italian dishes for the special nonnas...

(ALL GASP)

..brought the likes, loves and LOLs.

(GLASS CHIMES) Fantastico!

Snez mastered a meteor that was out of this world.

That's, like, restaurant-quality.

And Declan made a mash-up to remember.

Lobby Lair for the win, Deckers!

(CHEERING)

Tonight, everyone else faces an elimination

with a social media megastar.

Oh. It's a nice day, but it's...

Well, we're still wearing a black apron, though.

Yeah.

In a sick, twisted kind of way,

I'm kind of excited to wear the black apron,

'cause I've hardly worn it at all so far in the competition.

I feel so lucky, but I think there's a different kind of pressure

that you put on yourself.

Hopefully, I'm out and up on that gantry, quick sticks.

And so I'm kind of keen to see how I go under this increased pressure.

Morning, all. CONTESTANTS: Morning.

It is an elimination today.

We're throwing you into two mammoth rounds

that will determine who stays and who goes.

But we're bringing in someone very special to help inspire you.

The only way to wrap up a week of viral sensations...

..is with a social media superstar...

..who's been racking up views since 2021.

With over 20 years of experience working in professional kitchens,

he decided to take his expertise online.

Just try and wrap your heads around this -

Instagram - four million followers.

Definitely him, Andy. Yeah.

TikTok - six million followers.

YouTube - over three billion views.

Whoa! Far out!

That's right, I said BILLION.

That's crazy. Crazy.

Say a big "hey, babe" to the King of Foodtok...

..Andy Cooks! (CHEERING)

CALLUM: If you've been living under a rock

and have never heard of Andy Cooks...

How are you?

..then let me tell you, he is this incredible chef.

And he posts the kind of dishes that any home cook could do

but he does it how a chef does it.

I absolutely love him.

I'm here for it today.

Fish and chips.

Chicken biryani.

Hey, guys. Oh, hey.

How are you? Good.

Who follows Andy Cooks?

Theo, you watch this guy online? Yeah, I love his cooking.

I've actually done a lot of his recipes before and, um,

yeah, big fan. So very excited.

Thank you, appreciate that.

So, Andy, how did this all start?

I lost my job, uh, at the start of Covid, so I started making videos.

I thought, "I'll have a crack at this."

Can you remember the one where you were like,

"Oh, something just happened there?" Yeah.

It was the first "hey, babe" we ever did.

It was tuna nicoise and I had to fight Katelyn to do the video.

She did it. It went mental.

And then I think she was a bit upset

because then she knew I was going to ask her to make another one.

What do you think makes a dish go viral?

There's lots of things that make a dish go viral,

but nostalgia is a huge one.

I want content that kind of inspires every,

every person and something that feels like, you know,

they could almost achieve it at home.

Well, you're all in for a treat today.

Andy's here to demonstrate a trend

that has earned its place in the Viral Hall of Fame.

So, as we all know, people eat with their eyes.

So it's so important to get that visual impact really quickly

when you're making content.

Today, I'm going to show you the perfect...

..cheese pull.

So this is a khachapuri. It's a Georgian bread.

So what we're going to do is we're going to mix this egg yolk

with cheese and this butter.

And that yolk just makes it all lovely and rich.

Oh, my God. Oh, wow.

And also adds to the pull.

Oh, my gosh.

So I think this is a really handsy dish.

In we go.

Wow, look at that.

Oh, yes. Yeah!

(APPLAUSE)

Oh, yummy, yummy.

Cheese pull is an amazing challenge.

You've just got to make sure the cheese stretches.

Even on my socials, I have my own cheese pull recipe as well.

In round one, bring us a dish with an ooey-gooey cheese pull.

The longer the stretch, the better.

But don't forget, it has to taste amazing as well.

We're giving you 45 minutes.

The pantry and garden are open.

The five of you who cook the dishes that impress us the least

will go into round two, where someone will be eliminated.

Good luck, guys. Your time starts now.

Oh, my God.

Cheese.

Manchego.

Good to see you. Likewise.

I just... I've got so much cheese!

What cheese is getting taken? Mozzarella.

Comte. Comte.

That's a good pulling cheese.

The brief for round one today is to make the best cheese pull possible.

So today I'm going to do a pepperoni pizza jaffle.

So, simple but knocking the brief out of the park.

I'm going to be using three cheeses.

I'm going to use buffalo mozzarella,

Comte - which is a beautiful gruyere, nice and stretchy -

a little bit of Parmesan to season it up as well.

And if I can get a good cheese pull, then hopefully I'm on to a winner.

You spoke about nostalgia before... Yeah. Yeah.

..so I think for me this isn't like a Michelin star challenge of crazy cheese pull.

It's like comforting, yummy big cheese pull.

That's the idea.

So how are you getting a pepperoni pizza flavour into the jaffle?

Uh, just grated some beautiful heirloom tomatoes and making a sugo.

I've got some beautiful buffalo mozzarella.

Um, the Comte is less pepperoni pizza-ish.

I was hoping you wouldn't see that one, to be honest!

Cal, what were you... Were you trying to hide that?!

(LAUGHTER)

It's only a handful of ingredients,

but kind of like all good Italian cooking,

just yummy ingredients done simply, done well.

My pepperoni pizza jaffle is really, really simple.

And when you cook simple food in the MasterChef kitchen,

it has to be executed perfectly.

Who's got Comte. Who's got the Comte?

I've got comte. OK.

Go for a hunk.

Yum.

More parm, more parm.

I'm making, um, Sicilian arancini.

And they're shaped as Mount Etna

because that's where my nonna is from.

I'm going to make curry chicken kataifi.

So I've got kataifi pastry at the bottom.

And then I'm going to sandwich it with scamorza and spiced chicken.

Audra's cooking chicken.

I am making jalapeno poppers

because they are delicious and cheese pull.

You know, that's the perfect...

That's hitting the brief out of the park.

Are you excited about having "hey, babe" in the house?

I absolutely love Andy. He actually follows me as well.

(BOTH EXCLAIM) (CHUCKLES)

Andy, welcome to the MasterChef kitchen.

I've got to say, that was a reception when you walked in.

You've got some fans in the house.

It's very flattering.

And it's because you do a bloody good job, mate. Yeah.

You're here for a bloody good challenge, too,

because, like, a cheese pull - is there anything more alluring?

What do we want to see? I want to see some technique.

The level of these cooks here...

Now, I follow a lot of them online. I know how good they are.

And I want to see some technique,

because I think you're going to have to, to step above.

It's only 45 minutes, but you can do a lot in 45 minutes.

I hope you're cheese pulling out the big guns.

30 minutes to go. Let's go.

Come on, guys.

This is romantic, cooking together. Good to see you, mate.

Yeah, I hope it goes well. Yeah.

I'm going to be doing, um, lamb but cheesy samosas.

Love the idea, Depinder.

Love it.

This dish has a lot of flavour. It's deep-fried.

It's going to be nice and gooey.

I just have to make sure I get the timings right.

My samosa dough is resting.

I'm working on the lamb mixture,

but I need to also start working on this mozzarella.

I mean, that is the challenge today.

Depinder. Hey, guys.

Hey! Hello. Oh, my God. How are you?

"Oh, my God." Very good. My husband's a massive fan.

I mean, I am too,

but he actually sends me your videos almost every night.

That's nice. Uh, righto.

Inspiration for the cheese pull, what have you got?

Um, so I'm doing cheesy lamb samosas.

And what I'm going to do with the mozzarella, I'm going to herbify it.

So I'm going to add a little bit of Kashmiri chilli,

a little bit of garam masala. Hopefully, the filling is going to be nice and hot.

And when I stuff that in and deep-fry it,

the deep-frying bit is going to be like a longer deep-fry.

OK. So hopefully that heat goes in and you get that beautiful pull.

Can I say you have an absolute ton to do.

Yeah. Yes!

45-minute challenge and it is going.

Yep. I'm on to it.

Today, I'm making buffalo chicken tenders

with super stretchy blue cheese sauce.

Blue cheese isn't really known for its stretch, more its flavour,

so I'm gonna have to figure out a way

to make this sauce super stretchy.

I'm gonna make a roux with tapioca starch.

I've got plenty of time to play around with it.

I think more mozzarella is going to make it more stringy,

but I don't want it to take away from the blue cheese flavour,

which is there.

In theory, I think this sauce should work.

As long as I balance my blue cheese with mozzarella,

I think that it should stretch

and it should still taste really good.

Taking a gamble, Darrsh? Yeah, a bit of a gamble.

I've never made it like this before. I'm trusting the science.

I think it's a really good idea.

I think it's a great way to stand out from the crowd as well,

and stay out of round two, if you pull it off.

But if you don't...

Straight into round two.

Yeah. Yeah.

To brie or not to brie, that is the question!

You have 15 minutes to figure it out.

Come on, guys, 15 minutes.

Today, I'm cooking an Italian savoury doughnut called zeppole.

I'm going to pack it full of cheese, onion, garlic,

capers and anchovies.

Pushing it, pushing it, pushing it, pushing it.

I'm feeling, every ounce of my body I'm feeling in this cook.

Zeppole are different to a normal doughnut.

They've got a nice crunchy exterior and a nice fluffy inside.

A lot of processes for this zeppole dough.

It's pretty precise, so to get a nice crunchy exterior,

I had to freeze the doughnut first, then it hits the deep fryer.

Let's do this. Let's do this guy.

It needs 15 minutes in the deep fryer.

I know it's going to be a push.

Flavours should all be there and I should get a really good pull.

But it comes down to this guy in here.

This zeppole.

So now it's a pray and hope wait.

Can't wait to see if I can pull this one off.

You're not just making a jaffle, surely?

Yeah, I'm making a pepperoni pizza jaffle. OK.

The brief for round one today is to make the best cheese pull possible

in, obviously, a delicious dish.

I feel like this kind of challenge I've been, um...

I get in my own head sometimes.

I do, like, really complicated things

and then someone does something that's, like, simple, but, like, nails the brief,

and I go, "Ah, why didn't I do that?"

Yeah. Yeah.

So today I'm trying that pathway of simple but nails the brief.

It's well worth nailing the brief in round one today,

because the five least-impressive cooks

are going straight into round two,

and then your head's really on the chopping block.

It's not easy being cheesy!

Five minutes to go.

(SHOUTS OF ENCOURAGEMENT)

Today, I'm making Palestinian knafeh.

I'm used to doing one big tray in the middle

and I know how to rotate it.

Doing something so mini is really difficult for me.

SNEZ: Nice, Ben. Wow. Looks so yum. Far out.

I'm making Welsh rarebit.

Welsh rarebit is basically, um, a Welsh cheese on toast.

Did you make bread?! Baking bread in 45 minutes, eh?

It's a challenge, isn't it? It's a challenge, alright.

Zeppole have popped.

I would have liked 15 minutes in the deep fryer,

but it's going to come down to the wire.

So I cut the zeppole in half, pack it full of anchovy,

onion and capers and then heaps of cheese.

And then I put it over to the salamander

to get it all nice and gooey and oozy.

Hey, babe, you've got three minutes to go.

Hey, mate. How you going? Hey, babe!

Hey, babe. Hey, babe.

Hey, babe.

What do you want for dinner?

This actually might be alright.

Oh.

OK, that's a good cheese pull.

Does cheese.

Go with cheeses. The one that pleases.

I'm just going to be waiting now.

I'm just staring at the samosas.

It's taking so long to brown.

And I'm just like, I want that beautiful golden brown texture.

My chutney is all good to go.

If I take the samosas out early,

you're not going to get that crisp on the outside.

I'm going to take them out at the 10-second call.

One minute to go!

She's cheesy.

That looks awesome, Callum! It looks so good.

I take my chicken tenders out of the deep fryer.

I get them tossed in the buffalo sauce to give them heaps of flavour.

SNEZ: Let's go, Darrsh.

I'm stirring my blue cheese sauce.

It's definitely holding on to the whisk, which is fantastic.

It's maybe not a cheese pull in the sense of like a pizza,

but I just hope this dish is enough to keep me out of round two in the elimination.

30 seconds!

Wow.

If it doesn't look like my nonna, she'll be throwing something at the television right now.

Orders up in 10...

JUDGES: Nine, eight, seven,

six, five, four,

three, two, one.

Oh! Well done, mate.

That was crazy. Oh, my God.

Yeah. Just a little bit gooey. A little bit gooey.

Right-o, everyone.

Time to bring your cheesy morsels down to the front.

Oh, so fancy.

This is looking great.

Look at the variety. Unbelievable.

DEPINDER: I'm really nervous today

because usually I taste before I serve it to the judges.

Today, I haven't done that.

So the first time I'm going to see the cheese pull

is going to be when the judges open it.

Depinder, what is your cheese pull dish?

So I've made cheesy lamb samosas for you guys today

with like a sweet and tangy, like, a chutney sauce.

It feels very tight.

POH: Yes!

SOFIA: That's it.

Oh, my God!

(CHEERING)

You could go skipping with that!

Amazing!

Oh, my God. I was so nervous.

Did you ever think you'd get emotional

over a bit of cheese getting pulled out?

Never.

Delicious.

Honestly...

..that was amazing.

The flavours are super well balanced.

I love the sweetness of that chutney and the sourness, too.

To pull that off is really impressive.

Well done. Thank you.

Depinder, oh, man.

The cheese pull was a 15 out of 10 and the flavours backed it right up,

like, it was insanely good.

And there is so much work going on there.

Thank you.

Pastry, filling, chutney,

the cheese pull element.

Like, you've nailed every single one.

Like, you know how you said that your husband normally sends you

his recipes? Yeah, I want that recipe.

I reckon that's what's gonna happen.

Your husband can send him your recipe 'cause that is, like...

That's so good.

I've never made a dish with a cheese pull before.

Hand on heart, I would have never done this at home,

and this is just incredible.

Laura, what have you made?

I've made Sicilian arancini.

And they're shaped as Mount Etna 'cause that's where my Nonna's from.

Yeah. Hold the phone.

Hold the phone. Yeah!

(APPLAUSE)

Oh, my God. My heart!

Beautifully seasoned, love the choice of cheeses and beautiful shape.

Love the shape. Thank you.

Theo. I made jalapeno poppers.

A little pull. Yeah, look.

Yeah. Yeah.

It's not the size that matters! (LAUGHTER)

It tastes like a great jalapeno popper.

The bacon is really nice and prominent.

It's a tasty little dish.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Tell us, Alana, what did you make?

Ah, it's knafeh cigar.

Yes, baby.

It's the right choice of cheese and the honey and the pistachio.

It's just extra point. I love it.

Jamie, what have you made us?

Korean cheese corn with some bulgogi beef.

And to make into a little sarma.

Oh, yeah!

(APPLAUSE)

I loved it.

That bulgogi was nice and sweet.

I loved it with the perilla leaf as well.

Sarah, what have you made?

Chilli cheese stuffed paratha with a tomato bhaji.

Oh, yeah. Yes! Nice one.

Nice, Sarah.

The paratha was delicious.

But what makes this dish for me is actually this tomato chutney,

I think really well balanced.

And it cuts through all that cheese and dough really nicely.

Darrsh, what have you made us?

Buffalo chicken tenders with a blue cheese sauce.

And you did something unusual here.

You weren't relying on the cheese

because obviously blue is very fatty. That's right.

You've added tapioca flour to try and create, like, stretch in a way.

Kind of, yeah, yeah.

This challenge is all about the stretch.

And if this blue cheese dipping sauce does not stretch,

that could send me into round two.

Are you ready? Yep.

Are you ready? Yep.

Hang on, hang on, hang on.

(GASPS) Ooh.

Come on, Darrsh.

Darrsh, I think that all the flavours were delicious.

So I love that coating you had on the chicken.

Where I think you went wrong is texturally

because it's kind of gloopy, you know what I mean?

I think the fry on your chicken was nice.

I just would have punched it so much harder with the blue cheese.

Yep.

My cheese didn't pull, my blue-cheese flavour wasn't there,

and that could send me into round two.

Audra, what is your cheese-pull dish?

So, today I've made for you curry chicken kataifi.

So, you've got the kataifi,

and then you've got a layer of scamorza,

and then the curried chicken and the sauce.

ANDY COOKS: Hello. SOFIA: G'day.

POH: Whoa!

Holy moly!

Wow. (LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)

The height test. Ooh! That's a cheese pull.

Oh, my God.

Audra, first of all, it's probably a 13 out of 10 on the pull chart.

It was epic.

Great fry on the on the kataifi.

Love the depth of flavour on the sauce.

In 45 minutes, that's gnarly.

I think it was very smart of you using smoked mozzarella

with the chicken and this wonderful chilli curry sauce.

I love it. It's fantastic. Thank you.

Andre, what have you made us, mate?

Today, I've made zeppole with anchovy, onion and capers

with Grana Padano, caciocavallo, fontina and mozzarella.

So all the cheeses, then?

Nearly. Amazing.

All the best Italian cheeses, Andy.

I'm confident that I'm going to get a cheese pull today

because these cheeses I'm using are great for a gooey,

oozy, cheesy pull.

POH: Oh. Whoa! Oh! (CHUCKLES)

(APPLAUSE)

That's looking good.

Yeah. Nice. Got a stretcher!

Love the anchovy. I love all the cheese in there.

But unfortunately, it was still raw.

The dough was still completely raw through the centre.

Good flavours, though.

Love...love the intensity of the anchovy with the cheese there.

But I'm gutted for you because it's very tasty

and it's a great idea.

You just haven't pulled it off with the cook.

I don't want to be in round two.

It's one step closer to the doom of MasterChef Kick-out-ville.

Samira? SAMIRA: Palestinian knafeh.

Yes! Look at that. Yes!

Yeah. (APPLAUSE)

POH: Flavours were solid. I thought, though,

it had a little bit too much residual ghee in the...

And I don't know whether it's because you did it small.

Ben, what have you made? BEN: Welsh rarebit.

Ooh.

Whoa!

My soda bread was undercooked. Really well seasoned season, though.

Good flavours, just didn't pull it off with the execution.

Callum, what have you made?

I've made a pepperoni pizza jaffle.

And what's inside?

Yeah, so I made a beautiful sugo, pepperoni, buffalo mozzarella,

a little bit of Comte and brushed with hot honey

and a little bit of Parmesan to finish.

I'm just a little bit concerned that this is too simple.

Alright.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Let's go. It's going.

SOFIA: Oi.

Oh, yeah. Oh! Oh!

Oh, yeah. Ah.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Still. Oh, yes! Yeah.

(APPLAUSE)

I love a jaffle. And it was a delicious jaffle.

I think there was a couple of things for me.

The big pieces of pepperoni, uh, when I ate it,

it just kind of pulled out, which I think is an issue

when we're doing a cheese-pull challenge.

Sure.

And I think the balance was off a little bit.

It was a little bit too sweet. OK.

I wish that you added one more element in there.

Um, maybe a protein or something

that you'd treated with a little bit more attention.

I do. I feel for you, Callum,

because I know, when we visited your bench,

you said, "You know, I always overthink things."

But I think sometimes it's also just good to be you.

Yeah.

Normally, on a day like today, you might get away with this,

but there's a lot of good food out there, man.

We've just got to see what happens.

Thanks, guys.

I don't necessarily regret my dish

because I think the concept is really fun.

I just think that maybe I could have done

a little bit more with my time

to really show the judges a bit of extra technique.

Well, we got plenty of ooey, gooey cheese pulls today

worth celebrating.

We were looking for a bottom five.

If I call your name, you're cooking in round two.

Darrsh.

Samira.

Andre.

Callum.

And...

..Ben.

Everyone else, you're safe. You can head up onto the gantry.

I really didn't want to be in the second round of this challenge.

That's...

Everyone's a really good cook,

and I hope I don't have to use this immunity pin.

Darrsh, Samira, Andre, Callum, Ben, this is it.

Round one was about a viral favourite that always draws a crowd.

Round two is showcasing something just as iconic.

I get asked for a beef Wellington every single day.

Let's do something different.

Oh, yum.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Wow! Oh, yes!

Oof!

CALLUM: Whoa! Look at that. Oh, yum!

Yeah! Mouth-watering.

Oh!

This is great. CONTESTANT IN GANTRY: Oh, yum!

Oh, hello. Nice...!

Ooh.

Give it up for Andy Cooks!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

You guys notice any recurring themes in that reel?

(LAUGHTER)

In each of those videos,

there was a moment that made our mouths water -

a satisfying slice

that revealed something exciting.

For round two,

we want you guys to bring us your perfect slice.

Make it special. Make it delicious.

We're giving you 75 minutes.

The pantry and garden, they are open...

..and whoever cooks us the least impressive dish will be going home.

Now, Ben, you've still got that immunity pin on your apron.

At any point during the cook,

you can play that, and you'll be safe up there.

Good luck. Your time starts now.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Looking at the montage, Andy's food looked delicious.

There's always a revelation

once he slices through it and opens his food up.

Today, we've got to replicate something like this.

Alright, let's start here. Eggs. Eggs. Eggs.

BEAU: Nice, Samira. AUDRA: Go, Samira!

Ooh! Double! ANDY COOKS: Double fryer! (CHUCKLES)

There's a lot of pressure in the kitchen right now.

Round one didn't go to plan, so, yeah,

I'm feeling very...frazzled.

And I'm up against some incredible cooks.

So, my strengths are desserts.

That's what I'm gonna stick with today.

THEO: Darrsh, what are you making? Uh, choux buns.

Yes! I'm doing a choux Inception.

It's gonna be like choux within choux.

Oh, yeah. Nice.

Obviously, it's a challenge where we need

to, like, have a grand reveal or some kind of cross section,

so, yeah, fingers crossed.

THEO: What are you making, Benny?

BEN: Bit of a Scotch-eggy thing.

Oh, yeah. Nice. SNEZANA: Scotch egg? Yeah, Ben!

(IN NEW ZEALAND ACCENT) Scotch egg for Benny with a pinny.

(LAUGHS) Oh! Oh!

Don't worry, I've got more.

(LAUGHTER) It's not a chocolate balloon.

I think everyone is feeling the pressure and this moment

because they're up against stiff competition...

Yeah. ..right, in round two?

All we want to see is a satisfying slice,

and then an open-up, and us just to go, "Ah!"

ANDY: The thing is, with these dishes

that we've asked them to do today, they're not going to know

what's happening inside until they slice it for us.

POH: Yeah.

We're whisking.

JAMIE: Ah, 'whisky' business? Indeed. Whisky.

Milk powder. Butter. Pan on.

I am feeling a little bit nervous because I have a 1 in 5 chance

of being eliminated.

I've never been so close to going home.

So this round, I'm going to nail that brief and create

a perfect slice to prove to the judges

that I deserve to stay.

Callum.

You've got bigger fish to fry, today, my friend.

How does salt work?

What are you making, Callum?

I'm going to call this dish Strawberries & Cream.

So, it's, um, trying to do everything I didn't do this morning.

So I bit off less than I can chew.

So now I'm trying to bite off more than I can chew.

So it's not just strawberries and cream.

So, it's going to be, like, a layer of ice-cream on top

of a layer of ice-cream with a divot in it

that's going to have the oil.

So, yeah, it's strawberry sorbet and strawberry gum ice-cream,

and then this secret basil oil that's going to be covered

with, um, a little ruby chocolate disc,

which is going to kind of cover the whole thing.

So, when you cut into it, you're going to have that reveal

of the kind of...the cross section

and it kind of gooing out everywhere.

I love the ambition.

Let's just make sure we're not getting a smush,

and we're getting a slice. Yeah.

So everything has to be the perfect texture to slice through.

Yeah.

And if it's good, I want to see this on your Instagram soon, yeah?

OK, good. That's a good deal.

Yeah. Thanks, Andy. Thanks, Sof. Thanks, Callum.

DEPINDER: You alright, Cal?

Yeah. Just got a few bits and pieces on.

I know I've got a lot to do in this challenge.

Ice-cream's not... You don't slice an ice-cream.

I need to make sure I've got enough time that I can not only

make these ice-creams, but actually get them frozen rock-solid,

assemble them so that they're really holding that layer.

So he's looking stressed, though, isn't he?

A sorbet, at the best of times,

can take nearly an hour to churn and freeze.

I'm not going to make the same mistake I did in round one.

One of the reasons I came back into this competition

is to see how far I can push myself.

Having my beautiful wife and a couple of young kids as well,

uh, it's tough to leave them behind.

So I really want to give it my best shot,

because, otherwise, what's the point of being away from them all?

CONTESTANT IN GANTRY: Happy? Beautiful. Yeah. Happy days.

I just need to... Head down, bum up, I think I can get this done.

OK, guys. Already 15 minutes gone.

One hour to go. Allez, allez! Please!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

AUDRA: Come on, Samira, let's go! Go, go, go!

SNEZANA: Go, Samira!

Let's go, Darrsh! JAMIE: Come on, guys!

ANDRE: Today, I'm doing a French onion soup chawanmushi.

It's basically a riff on a Japanese steamed egg custard,

but I'm turning it into all the French-onion-soup flavours.

Alright.

My chawanmushi will be all in layers.

It's going to look like not much on top.

It's just going to have a crisp on top.

And once the judges slice through it,

it will be revealed, this beautiful, silky chawanmushi

and a lot of onion on the base of it.

I'm just working on my crisp at the moment.

Let's try this out.

With this crisp, I'm taking nutritional yeast...

Sounds delicious, doesn't it?

..and olive oil, flour and water,

and making, like, a batter for the crunch on my dish.

Come on, Andre! Come on, let's go, Andre!

Woo! Come on, bud.

SAMIRA: Round one, I went small and against what I usually do.

Round two, I'm putting me on that plate, and I'm going big.

I'm making maqluba.

'Maqluba' means 'upside down' in Arabic,

so pretty much you have meat and vegies layered up in the pot,

and then once you flip that pot over, upside down,

it will all collapse into these layers.

So I think this is the perfect dish.

You start with a layer of lamb,

which I'm going to pressure-cook it to start tenderising.

Add in a layer of all the fried vegetables,

and then the layer of rice.

LAURA: How are you going, Samira? Good?

Once I get these done, I shall be going good. Yep.

I have to get every single element ready

so I can layer it up in the pot to finish cooking.

Come on, Samira. Let's go, Samira.

JAMIE: What's that, Cal?

Ruby chocolate cocoa butter.

It's going to be my little thing on top

that you, like, have to crack through.

AUDRA: Nice, Benny.

Go, Samira.

Whoa! OK. Nice.

My idea for my satisfying slice is a choux bun inside a choux bun.

Hello, Darrsh. Hello.

What are you making? I'm doing Choux-ception.

So, choux bun, orange blossom creme pat,

another choux bun inside,

and then pistachio praline in the middle choux bun.

So when you cut it open, you should get ooze.

Whoa! That is Technique Central.

And there's a few other little things going on. Yeah.

Technique Central. Choux pastry let's the most

seasoned chefs come undone.

Yeah. And you're doing two times

the amount of choux pastry. I am, yes.

In two different sizes. Two different sizes.

I hope you're a confident pastry chef.

(LAUGHS) I hope so, too.

You just absolutely have to pull that one off

because it is an important day. Yeah.

Alright. Thanks, Darrsh.

Thanks, guys. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

With choux pastry, which I've cooked 100 times in this kitchen,

you create the dough, and the eggs are what gives it the rise.

By the third egg, it's starting to look really good,

but I've made this recipe, like, so many times -

last season and this season,

and I always add four eggs.

Two, three, plus one...

So, I have to stick to the way I've always done it.

Get the choux in the oven.

Um, I'm honestly going off intuition

to make sure if the choux is the right size.

So, I'm going to be piping a couple of small ones,

a couple of larger ones.

Go, Darrsh.

Come on.

My choux pastry is a lot looser.

Take your time, mate.

Yeah.

A lot more liquid than usual.

And I'm really worried.

But I'm running out of time.

I have so many other elements that I need to finish

for this dish to work.

Choux does weird things, and I'm hoping

that I'll have something to work with.

If there's no rise, I am stuffed.

Alrighty-roo.

THEO: He's already starting to plate up.

LAURA: Yeah, 'cause it's going to be, like, layered.

So, it's got to freeze into the plate...

Oh, right. ..for it to be able to cut open.

It's round two.

I've got 75 minutes to make something with a satisfying slice.

It's enough time to make a great dish,

but it still has to have that very clear moment

of cut it, and have a look at something sexy inside.

My strawberry sorbet is done, so I quenelle it onto the plate,

make a little divot for, then, the next layer

of ice-cream to go on.

I need to get this plate back in the freezer straightaway

because if that doesn't set in time,

the whole dish loses that slice-ability.

DECLAN: Very nice, Callum. Thanks, mate.

SARAH: Nice, Ben. Good peeling, Ben.

They're very fresh eggs.

Today, I'm making a fishy Scotch egg

which has a bechamel coating with ocean trout in it,

all, sitting on top of a little celeriac-remoulade nest

so it looks like an egg in a nest.

When you cut open the Scotch egg,

you expect to see a bright yellow yolk.

It's pretty amazing. That'll be dark.

But I'm going to inject balsamic vinegar

into the egg yolk so that when it's cut open,

it's got yellow and black.

It's definitely a risky dish, full of technique.

Ooh.

I think I need to take some yolk out so there's room

for whatever I put in there, otherwise it will just explode.

But one thing I do not want to do is have to play my immunity pin.

Right, let's try this out then.

So I need to do everything I can to keep myself in this competition.

He's extracting the yolk.

Maybe he's injecting. It with something else.

Oh, that's what he's doing. Oh, my God! Benny!

AUDRA: Oh, my God, Benny. SNEZANA: He's a scientist.

Einstein Benny! Oh, my God.

The strategy here is go hard or go home.

So then what happens when we cut that open?

But I really think this could work.

Kind of.

But the hardest thing about this challenge

is that I won't actually know until the judges taste.

Let's go, Benny.

Here's a slice of reality for you - 20 minutes to go!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Yeah, girl!

BEAU: Solid work, Cal.

Thanks, mate.

They alright? DARRSH: Mmm.

Hopefully they start rising.

ANDRE: The onions will form the base of my chawanmushi custard.

They sit down in the plate,

and then the chawanmushi goes on top.

Then, it goes into the steam basket and sets.

SARAH: Is he going to have a slice? DECLAN: I don't know.

A little bit worried for Andre.

His dish looks like an egg, a scrambled egg.

I'm just not sure that this is going to hit the brief of, you know,

cutting in and showing different layers.

SNEZANA: Nice, Andre. Whoo!

The search for the perfect slice is paved with a lot of risk.

They're going all out.

Callum is making a...

Strawberries & Cream, he's calling it,

and he's got a sorbet, he's got an ice-cream

and then a chocolate disc on top.

He did say he feels like he bit off

less than he could chew this morning.

And now he wants to bite off more than he can chew.

Well, he's ticked that box. Yeah.

SARAH: Callum, that looks epic. Thank you.

And then, there's Darrsh.

He's doing the Choux-ception.

He's doing two choux buns,

one inside each other.

Choux is hard to get right

for the best chefs, and especially under a time crunch.

And I've already looked in the oven.

It's not looking great.

My orange blossom creme pat's done.

I move on to my pistachio praline,

and this is going to go into my centre choux,

in my Choux-ception choux bun.

My pastry's in the oven.

Fingers crossed, these choux buns rise.

Alright. How's the choux looking, Darrsh?

I've got one there.

I've made, like, dozens of choux desserts -

Paris-Brest, crullers,

croquembouche - I've done it all.

And this is the first time

that this choux pastry just has not risen.

I don't know, this one's...

They're, like, rising, but it's kind of strange.

They're a little bit, like, misshapen.

I've got a few in there that I can use, which is good.

Ditch that, ditch that, ditch that, keep that.

They look a bit, um...

..a bit crispy. Hopefully he can pivot.

Mmm. OK.

Come on, Darrsh. Keep going, man.

Today's challenge is all about the satisfying slice.

And because my choux hasn't risen in the way that I would like,

I'm gonna have to pivot and still create that slice,

but just in a different way.

Darrsh just think about a different way to present it.

It tastes good. Yeah.

It's just the construction.

You can cut the tension with a knife.

10 minutes to go!

ANDY COOKS:: Come on, guys, you got this. Let's go!

We're good, we're good, we're good.

CALLUM: Time is slipping away.

This challenge is going very, very quickly indeed.

My strawberry sorbet has gone back into the freezer

to set really nice and hard,

for now, the strawberry-gum ice-cream to get scooped

on top of it.

This is a crucial stage to get right,

so I need to get a really nice, even scoop here

so I get that beautiful layer when the judges cut into the dish.

But it's also got to have that divot so I've got somewhere

for that sneaky oil to hide.

AUDRA: Beautiful, Callum.

The idea of this dish is that all the elements

are kind of pink or white,

and then when you chuck a knife into it and cut it open,

not only do you see that kind of cross section

of the different ice-creams,

there's going to be a beautiful basil oil that's going

to sort of goo out for that grand reveal moment.

I think Callum's onto an absolute scorcher.

Yeah.

SNEZ: Go, Samira!

Go, girl.

So to assemble the maqluba,

you start with a layer of lamb

and then a layer of all the fried vegetables

and then the rice.

Now we're going to strain the broth straight on top of that rice.

I need to start knocking out my side.

I'm feeling confident now.

Like, even if I'm leaving it to the last minute,

the reveal is going to be done in front of the judges.

LAURA: Just make sure they can get a slice.

I don't want you to...

Yeah, miss the mark.

I missed that. What...what sliced? What?

Oh, God.

I just realised maqluba can't be sliced.

I'm flipping it. You're flipping it?

It gets flipped over in front of the judges.

Pot comes up.

Grab the tray and give it a nice shake.

It will all collapse and they will dig in and eat.

It's not possible to cut a slice in there.

It's going to collapse and then send me home.

I'm done.

I'm done.

I just realised maqluba can't be slice.

But I know my children are going to be watching this,

and I don't want to show them that I give up easily.

I haven't left their side

since the last time I was on MasterChef.

I have come back to win, and I want to do this for them.

When there's a will, there's a way.

And I will figure out a way.

Hopefully.

And if not, I'm going home.

SNEZ: Maybe press it with something.

If I crank the heat up,

and then if I compress...

..I may be able to make this slice up like a cake.

I got my scrap tin that I've put my vegies in.

I pop that on top.

I'm leaning with all my weight.

I'm trying to get out as much liquid as possible from this rice,

so it's so fully compressed.

I completely missed the memo of slicing,

so hopefully it will be sliceable once I flip it.

I'm not going home without a fight.

Determination is back

and game on, guys.

OK, guys, bring us a satisfying slice.

Three minutes to go.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Nice, Cal, looks amazing.

BEN: Yeah, that's good.

DARRSH: My choux buns are meant to look like hockey balls.

They look like hockey pucks.

And that's what I have to work with

if I'm going to stay in the competition.

Hmm, OK. Not what I was hoping for, but that's alright.

In the kitchen, you got to pivot

if you want to stay in the competition.

Conceptually, my dish is very similar,

but it's going to be constructed slightly different.

So we're going to have my larger choux on the base

still filled with cream,

and then lay my smaller choux on top of it,

still filled with pistachio praline.

OK. That's done.

So when the judges cut through it,

they should still be able to see some kind of cross-section.

SNEZ: Let's go, Darrsh!

We want to slice into something incredible

in three minutes.

Come on, Samira!

Come on.

Go, guys! Come on, Cal! Whoo!

I've got my eggs formed with a bechamel around them.

It's time to crumb them so that I can fry them off.

There we go. Yes, Benny.

Everything is riding on this.

I gently get them into the deep fryer.

And they look great.

They're a beautiful golden brown.

I'm so happy with this.

But then I realised...

Hmm! Not ideal.

..one of them is a crime scene.

It just has exploded.

I'm gonna have to be so careful with the next one.

LAURA: Come on, Benny. Go, go, go!

The other one, unfortunately, has a crack right down the side.

It needs to be perfect and it's not.

Not ideal.

Ohhhh!

A little bit of rupture there. What are you thinking?

I've had this Immunity Pin since the second cook,

keeping up with Gordon.

Yes, not ideal, that.

And I really don't want to use it,

but I also don't want to go home, so I just don't know what to do.

Um... LAURA: Are you playing it?

Yeah, mate, I think I'm gonna play it.

CONTESTANTS: (CHANT) Play the pin! Play the pin! Play the pin!

Ben has played his immunity pin, everybody.

Finally. Mate, you are safe. Head on upstairs.

(CHEERING)

Cheers, mate. Good job, mate.

Cheers, mate. Good job.

I've worked too hard to get to this point,

and I'd rather be here without a pin than being at home with one.

I'm afraid to slice in,

one minute left to go!

Alright, please. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

CALLUM: I'm so happy that I've really pushed myself

through this session.

Every element looks exactly how I pictured it.

But now I need to plate this dish up beautifully,

because regardless of how it tastes,

if it doesn't have a very clear slice moment,

then it's not going to hit the brief.

There's a beautiful little divot in there to fill with the basil oil,

and topped with that ruby chocolate and freeze-dried strawberry disc

so that when you cut into it,

that oil is going to sort of spill out all over the plate.

And around that is all the textural elements.

Calling cut in 10...

JUDGES: ..nine, eight,

seven, six, five,

four, three, two,

one.

How'd you go, big fella? Oh, man. It could have been better.

I can honestly say, hand to heart,

I have never in my entire life put so much into a cook.

I am praying that this compressed.

Hopefully when we flip it, it will be sliceable.

I've given it my everything.

Good luck. Go get 'em, Cal.

Thanks, guys.

In round two today, I didn't hold back.

I went as hard as I could to really make

the best dish I possibly could, in my mind,

to kind of fit the brief.

Hello, everyone. Hello.

So, I hope it's enough. Callum, what'd you cook?

Uh, so this is...

I'm calling it Strawberries & Cream.

So there's a ruby chocolate disc,

a strawberry and raspberry vinegar sorbet,

a strawberry gum ice-cream on top of that.

And then around the outside of the plate,

there's some lilly pillies macerated in strawberry consomme

and a milk powder crumb.

Wow. You went all out.

You think you've done enough with this one

to get on through to the next stage?

I hope so. I think it's pretty. I think it tastes nice.

And hopefully we get

a nice little cross-section goo moment.

Cross section goo moment.

Thanks, Callum. We'll taste your dish now.

Thanks, Callum. Thanks, everyone.

Let's see if we can get a nice slice here.

POH: Oh, yeah.

Ooh. Ooh-oh-ooh!

Oh, yeah. Yes!

Looks pretty impressive, doesn't it? Look at the colour of that oil.

So Callum's plan was to go all-out...

..and, wow, what a stunning plate of food.

It is a perfect dessert for me.

It's got salt, acidity,

just the right amount of sweetness

and then just that reveal -

cutting through that cross section

and having all that basil oil just flow through.

Couldn't love it more.

I'm so glad that he just leaned more into being himself,

'cause when he does that, he puts up food like this.

And this could be competition-winning food,

not just food that keeps him out of being eliminated.

I'm not joking when I say

that's one of the best desserts I've eaten in a long time.

It's so good. It's beautifully balanced.

He absolutely nailed it.

If this isn't on Callum's Instagram, I'm going to steal it from him, put it on mine.

(ALL LAUGH)

Good luck, Andre. Good luck.

There's a big risk cooking a dish

in the bowl that you're going to serve,

'cause I don't have one to taste or test.

I don't know how it slices.

I don't know how it's going to go.

Andre, what have you cooked.

Today, I've cooked a French onion soup chawanmushi.

So this challenge is all about that satisfying cross section.

Is there one in there?

Uh, what you'll get is you'll crack through that crisp

and then cut through the chawanmushi,

and you'll find the onions underneath there,

and then put it in your plate.

Well, we love watching you work,

and we're looking forward to trying the dish. Thanks.

Thanks. Cheers, Andre.

Cheers.

There's a bit going on in that tiny little bowl.

Yeah! But it could work.

Yeah. Let's find out.

Well, I don't think the slicing is working, so...

Maybe some scooping.

Um...

It's delicious.

It's packed full of umami, smoky goodness in the chawanmushi,

and then you get sweetness

from those lightly caramelised onions.

So, flavour-wise, it ticks the box.

I think Andre came up with something very smart,

very original.

And the introduction of the Comte cheese is wild.

It's just phenomenal.

I would say that the flavours are layered,

but the physical make-up of the dish isn't.

And I think Andre has this incredible ability

to create fine dining food,

dishes that belong in a degustation menu.

And this to me is one of those,

but it's not a dish that has a satisfying slice.

I love where his brain was going with this dish,

but it hasn't quite met the brief today.

Good luck. Good luck, Darrsh.

DARRSH: This dish is a really tough one to swallow

because I've cooked choux pastry so many times before,

and people know that I know how to cook choux pastry.

And now my choux hasn't risen,

which is disappointing.

Hello, guys. Hey, Darrsh.

Hi, Darrsh.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Darrsh, where have you made?

This is my choux tower.

In the middle choux,

you've still got the pistachio praline.

In the outer choux,

you've got a orange blossom creme pat

and that's also piped around the outside.

OK. Good luck. Thanks, guys. Cheers.

SOFIA: Thanks, Darrsh.

I appreciate the present of dessert around the outside.

Let's see what it looks like...

Fingers crossed there's a cross section.

There is definitely a surprise on the inside.

I feel really disappointed for Darrsh.

Choux pastry is an element

that he's had huge success with in this kitchen,

but today just wasn't his day.

There was too many eggs in it,

so he's tried to cook out the moisture,

and in the process, he's burnt them.

What a shame because I've really enjoyed

the combinations of all the different flavours.

If he had pulled off what he kind of set out to pull off,

that slice probably would have been very epic.

I'm worried for him.

Good luck, Samira. Good luck, Samira.

Thank you. I appreciate it.

I feel like a nurse.

I'm gonna walk in with a smile because I've done everything

that I could possibly think of doing.

Wow, Samira.

So if it works or if it doesn't work,

I did not give up.

So I only hope for the best now.

Samira, it's time to flip your dish. Yep.

Done. ANDY: Good luck.

Thank you.

OK...

Good luck. Thank you.

Anyone want to do a lucky drum roll? I'll tell you what.

(ALL PERFORM DRUM ROLL)

(ALL CHEER)

Today I have made maqluba, which translates to 'upside down'.

So you have your slow-cooked lamb,

and then you have your fried vegetables

and your flavoured rice.

Every dish in a Middle Eastern household

comes with an array of sides.

We've got an onion and sumac salad.

Some mint and parsley,

a chilli and tomato salsa,

a cucumber and yoghurt mint dip,

and some pickled vegies.

Samira, we're really happy for you

that that turned over so beautifully.

We're going to taste your dish now. Thank you very much.

Well done. Well done, Samira.

Thank you.

I can't wait to dig into this one. Yeah.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Yeah...

(ALL CHEER)

I want this for my birthday. Oh, my God!

Stick some candles in there.

This is up there

for one of my favourite dishes of the whole season.

POH: Wow. Same!

SOFIA: The flavour in this is just so wonderful.

It's that rich, fatty lamb.

It's the way that rice is compressed in against the cauliflower

and the eggplant and the carrot,

and then pair this phenomenon

with all of these bright and colourful condiments,

it feels so generous and warming and comforting.

I freaking love that so, so much.

That compression to me was the flavour of courage.

Just fighting so hard to stay in this competition.

For me, the anticipation of slicing into

this beautiful piece of cooking

and pulling out the most perfect slice

is something that I won't forget for a while.

(LAUGHS) Yeah.

I love this type of food where you just put it on the table

and you all dig in, and I feel privileged to eat it.

For sure, today we had a cracking day,

and I think we would like to say

a massive thank you

to Chef Andy Cooks.

You have been unbelievable.

Before we get down to the nitty gritty,

we need to give props to a couple of you

for bringing us a little slice of heaven.

The first was one of our favourite dishes

of the competition so far.

It didn't just make us go back for more,

it was also the most satisfying slice of the day.

Mind blown, Samira.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Well done.

OK! We loved it so much.

I imagine that's what it's like for your family, being like, "More!"

It was amazing. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

And then...

..Callum.

Oh, yeah. (APPLAUSE)

We were thrilled when we cut into your dish,

and even more so when we ate it.

Thank you.

Right. Andre, Darrsh, let's get something straight.

You two are both brilliant cooks,

but unfortunately, today,

one of you just didn't make the cut.

Darrsh.

There was a little surprise when we cut into your pastry.

But, mate, the choux,

it just didn't work.

And it's for that reason, I'm so sorry, Darrsh,

you're going home.

Oh, my goodness.

Making it this far against veterans of this competition

is really something.

You should be really proud of yourself, 'cause we are.

Thank you. Meeting all these amazing people,

it's been very inspiring to be around.

I think just having that energy around you

really motivates you and I'm excited for what's next.

Well said. Thanks, mate.

For now, it's time to say goodbye, Darrsh.

(APPLAUSE)

Thank you. Well done.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Well done. Thank you.

Thank you.

Yeah, I'm definitely going to use this experience

to change my life going forward.

Good luck. You're a champ, OK?

You're an absolute champion. Cheers, mate.

My housemate Dave and I want to open a cookie business.

We think that, like,

Melbourne doesn't have great cookies,

so I'm really excited.

Give it up for Darrsh, everybody.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

ANNOUNCER: This week on MasterChef Australia...

Game on.

If cooking was a sport...

Oo-wee!

..it would be an immunity smackdown.

The gloves are coming off. I'm back to win.

The battle is on. She's going down.

She doesn't know it yet, but she's going down.

DEPINDER: I thought we were friends.

(BOTH LAUGH)

So grab a ringside seat for brand-new challenges...

Our very first dough fair.

(CHEERING)

..and breathtaking food...

Ohhh!

Whoa!

Oh, get out! (ALL LAUGH)

Captions by Red Bee Media