Original subtitles

CALLUM: Good to be back.

ANDY: Morning, all!

She's a mystery box day.

Oh! POH: Hey, Jamie.

Hey.

Wow. It feels really strange

to see only seven cooks standing in front of us.

How's it feel?

Pretty wild. Yeah. Strange.

SARAH: Small.

The seven of you got here by narrowly escaping eliminations,

handling the heat in pressure tests

or by securing immunity with outstanding dishes.

Every cook has led to you being here today...

..ready to tackle whatever comes next.

I have to say how proud I am.

How far you've come, it's wonderful, it's fantastic.

But you cannot rest

because everything you do from now on can only help you,

setting you up to the glorious grand finale.

Righto, gang.

You are some of the best cooks that this competition has ever seen,

and you got here by thinking on your feet.

And that is exactly what you're gonna have to do in this mystery box.

I'm surprised you haven't smelt it already.

Oh. SNEZ: What?

No?

Go on, lift your lids now.

(CONTESTANTS EXCLAIM)

That is garlic!

Garlic.

BEN: I love garlic.

It's garlic! Oh, my God. I'm like, I want to sing.

I want to just bite into it now.

Snez, was that a victory clap? Garlic?!

I mean, it's my favourite thing in the world.

I have a massive love affair with garlic.

And I really believe that garlic can change any dish

from blah to wah.

This ingredient is the key to unlocking

a whole new world of flavour.

Most cooks, they can't imagine life without it.

And today we want seven dishes filled with explosive garlic goodness.

But that is only half the challenge.

LAURA: What's this thing?

Ah!

What is that thing?

That little fun-size mystery box, it holds a mini surprise...

..one that we think is going to elevate your dish

just as much as garlic.

Whatever is under there must also be used in the making of your dish.

And here's a bit of a curveball for you.

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

Wow. SNEZ: That's hard.

DEPINDER: Oh, my gosh.

We are giving you 75 minutes.

The pantry and garden are open.

Your finished dish must include

both garlic and whatever's under that mini mystery box.

You'll be happy to know,

today we're looking for the top three dishes.

Here we go.

Cook one of those and you'll be going into tomorrow's pressure test for immunity.

Let's get into it. Your time starts now.

Come on!

CALLUM: Everyone likes cooking with garlic.

But what that means is everyone's gonna be cooking good dishes today,

so it's going to be a high standard.

Cal, I'm definitely going to take a few pinies.

But there's not only garlic under this mystery box,

there's a tiny little mystery box here

that literally could be anything.

It could be from Parmesan cheese to soy sauce to chocolate,

who knows, and that's where the real risk is today.

Strategy today is to have a lot of options with the garlic

and be ready so that, when this thing comes off,

I can pivot and make a dish that's going to pop with it.

I'm just going to go for it and hopefully come up with an idea

to use that ingredient under that mystery box.

Hopefully it's not too crazy.

Guys, garlic, I mean,

can't live without it in the kitchen.

This guy snacks on...

Mate, you literally eat garlic for breakfast.

I know. (EXHALES SHARPLY)

Ugh!

I think I'm glad today has a theme, garlic,

and it will be interesting to see what they do with the garlic.

Yes, yes. Yes.

SNEZ: Garlic.

Then we've got that little mini mystery box

which they have to incorporate whatever is under there

30 minutes into the cook,

so it's a bit of strategy.

Oh! Deary me.

I think Laura's such an interesting one

because she was so close to going home yesterday,

and we saw how emotional she was.

It made her realise you need to take every opportunity

to not put yourself in that situation.

Yeah, yeah.

And today is a cook where you go for gold.

You want to be in that top three so you can get a chance at immunity.

Strategy - cook something incredible

and add in whatever this ingredient may be.

Today's a new day. Clean slate. It's my third time around.

I know what it takes to get to the end.

I need to make the smart decisions in order to get there.

OK. Tell me what you're making and what's your strategy?

Alright, so strategy is go hard and heavy on the garlic.

That's going to come from confit garlic flavour throughout.

So a really garlic-forward bagna cauda,

a stuffed lamb saddle,

a really nice, like, little jus to go with it.

So very French, very classic.

You're definitely leaning hard into a specific dish here.

I think I'm good at pivoting.

I think I can make a good decision under pressure.

So I think if I start building the base of this dish really well,

then I can add something 30 minutes in.

Good luck. Thank you.

Alright. I need to get my things on.

I've got two main components I need to start early in this cook -

building that flavour in that jus,

but also prioritising that lamb saddle.

I don't actually know how long it's going to cook for,

but I want to wait until that mini mystery box is revealed,

because if there is an ingredient in there

I can highlight in that lamb, that's what I want to do.

BEN: You're making more noise chopping than Jamie.

(LAURA LAUGHS)

What was that? Nothing!

She's chopping louder than you do, man.

More aggressively as well? Yeah, definitely.

SNEZ: I feel great, actually.

Seeing garlic, it's like everything I ever wanted.

Growing up, actually, my family had a garlic farm,

and we used to, like, make the little plaits

and we would go to the market and sell them.

This challenge is made for me,

and I cannot fail.

I cannot fail.

My mom is watching and if she sees me fail on garlic,

she'll be like, "Don't come back home."

My mom cooks everything with garlic

and this dish is actually her dish today.

It's like a slow confit squid with garlic.

So this is our Sunday day, Sunday dish, pretty much.

This is a traditional dish.

Whoo!

To cook my squid, I'm gonna start very hot,

quick sear to get a colour,

chuck in lots of garlic - I mean a lot, a lot of garlic -

and deglaze with white wine and lots of olive oil.

This is gonna be yum.

Then finish it off in the oven, low and slow.

It cooks usually 45 minutes to an hour,

until it's nice and tender so you can eat it with the spoon.

OK. Bye-bye. Be good.

And we just eat all from one pan. It's the best.

How long you put them in?

I cook them for, like, roughly 45 minutes.

For the squid? Bloody hell.

That's a long time, no? Yes. That's how my mum does it.

You'll be surprised. I can't wait.

Trust me, Chef. Honestly, I love to be surprised.

(LAUGHS)

I feel good, but I'm very worried with that little mini mystery box.

What if it's something overpowering?

Let's get ready for that shock surprise.

Hopefully I can come up with a quick dish later.

Fingers crossed something will work out.

We're 15 minutes away from revealing what's under that mini mystery box,

which means you've got one hour to go.

SOFIA: Come on, let's go! Allez!

CALLUM: With an unknown ingredient under this mystery box here,

you've got to have a certain fluidity in your dish.

So my strategy today is to cook a dish using chicken,

because it's a protein that suits almost every kind of cuisine in the world.

Hey, Callum. Callum!

Hello, gang. How are you? Ah, the beautiful mind.

What's going on with the strategy?

Uh... Well, I guess, for today,

because we've got this secret ingredient,

we don't know what's going on here,

I want to do a dish that's, um, loosey goosey enough

that whatever's under there is going to seamlessly transition in.

When someone says Callum,

the words that come to mind are not exactly 'loosey goosey'.

What's the loosey goosey?

So I'm going to do chicken,

the loosey goosiest protein of them all.

Yep.

I'm going to make a garlic veloute,

which is happening here as well.

You've got that base,

you can sort of pivot in lots of different directions

depending on what the ingredient is.

Strategy 101 - tick. Yeah.

I think you've left yourself a lot of room to pivot.

Well done. Thanks, gang.

SARAH: It's my third time in this kitchen,

and I have a new goal this time.

When I walk out,

I want to be cooking dishes that could be sitting on my menu

in my one-day-Michelin-star restaurant.

And to get to that point,

the only way to do it is to push myself outside my comfort zone.

Nobody got a Michelin star by playing it safe.

Hey, Sarah. Sarah!

Hi. How's it going?

Good. Straight into it. What are you gonna cook?

Yes. So I'm making a garlic snot block.

So...

What?!

Savoury. Savoury.

So, hold on, hold on, hold on. So a snot block is a vanilla slice.

Yes. An Aussie classic.

Yes. So I'm going to do a spin on that.

Why are you looking at me like that?

I'm just trying to work this out.

How is this thing going to come out?

So, basically pastry... OK.

..chicken jelly.

So I want to make a bit of a chicken broth,

going to set that,

and then layer of pastry and then garlic cream on top.

But, um, yeah, garlic heavy.

OK. Super interesting, Sarah.

Just hopefully the mini mystery box doesn't ruin your plan.

I know, I know. 'Interesting' is a good word.

(ALL LAUGH)

My biggest concern is this is very conceptual,

and I still don't know what's underneath the mini mystery box...

There is no plan B at all.

..so it is a bit of a tightrope.

Whatever it is could definitely be the make or break of my dish.

Today, I'm making my version of a savoury vanilla slice

with garlic cream and some beautiful pastry.

SNEZ: Sarah, did you say you're making dessert

or did I just hear you...?

No. Not dessert.

(SNEZ LAUGHS)

I'm roasting my chicken bones in the oven

because I have this idea to make it into a sort of chicken jelly.

But I do not know what's under this mini mystery box,

so creating a highly conceptual dish is definitely a risk today.

You're allowed to lift those mini mystery box lids

in five minutes.

It's coming!

So you love garlic, yeah? Yep. I use it every day.

So I'm going to do like a chilli garlic chicken curry

in...like, in Hindi it's called lasooni murgh,

because 'lasan' means 'garlic' and 'murgh' means 'chicken'.

You know what? They laugh at me because I eat garlic raw...

So does my dad. Can you say that again?

(LAUGHS) Can you say that again?

Yeah, we should eat garlic raw, everyone.

Garlic - I love garlic, I use it all the time.

Um...

Just thinking about the best ways I can make it feature heavily

in this dish, so I've got a kind of dish in mind.

I'm gonna basically base it around garlic and cauliflower puree

on the bottom.

I can then cook that with various different proteins

that are quick cooking.

In the pantry, there's some amazing stuff in there.

So I'm kind of going to decide that once I get to that point,

but maybe fish, maybe quail, maybe...

I don't know. We'll have to wait and see.

I'm ready to pivot hard if I have to.

Just waiting to see what that is

so I can figure out how I'm going to use it.

I mean, lemon or something would be lovely, obviously, parsley,

but it's not going to be those, is it? Let's face it.

SOFIA: Did you plan to use that cauli

or did you just see the colour and go, "How can I not?"

I saw it... Yeah, I'm gonna use it.

No, no, it's so beautiful.

I've never even seen one like that before.

(GASPS) I know, right.

Twisties! Broccoli. Twisties.

JAMIE: Hmm.

Today's mystery box is all about garlic

and whatever is under that mini mystery box.

I'm going 100% all-in

on making the dish that I think works well with garlic.

The strategy is cook something delicious.

I know that whatever's under there is going to take

a little bit of creativity to potentially pivot,

but I'm just going to concentrate on making something tasty

and then we'll pivot if we need to.

I look back on the cook that I was in season six,

and I was still sort of trying to figure out who I was as a cook

and the kind of food that I really loved cooking.

All this time later,

I feel very comfortable in the kitchen,

and I think when you're comfortable and you are relaxed,

you can think freely and really be creative and push yourself.

Hi, Jamie. Hello, Poh.

Back in the game today. Back in the game.

Tell me what you're making, and what's the strategy?

Start with these beautiful, big, bold Spanish flavours,

hope for the best.

So I'm doing a beautiful fillet of flathead.

Yeah.

And then I'm going to basically make a mussel stock, reduce that.

Serve it with

a really heavy confit garlic and nduja beurre blanc.

OK.

Um, the reason I'm using nduja,

and then I'll probably be pickling the mussels,

is because garlic's a beautiful flavour,

but you need big flavours to allow to pump more into it.

Yes, yes, yes.

So I want to use as much garlic as possible.

See what happens. Sounds good.

Alright, good luck, Jamie. Thank you.

Having to change everything on the spot and make something work is

what you do every day when you work in a kitchen.

Stuff goes wrong all the time.

You just have to take everything on board

and then move forward.

Everybody's very excited by garlic

and there's definitely some strategy going on.

So Callum's starting off with quite neutral ingredients.

He's got a garlic veloute going. He's got chicken going.

And he's essentially waiting to see until we lift those mini lids

what the uh-uh is going to be.

Yeah, it seems to be the two strategies.

SNEZ: Check up on this.

They're either going all-in and just committing to a specific dish...

Oh, my God. It's so good.

..or they're kind of hedging their bets.

But I... I'm a bit...

I'm not sure about the all-in thing.

I am too! Which is weird from you!

Weird from you! Yeah, yeah. Weird. Weird.

Everyone, listen up.

It's been 30 minutes.

It's time to find out what's under your mini mystery boxes.

You can lift your lids - three, two, one, go!

SNEZ: What? Rosemary!

Thyme.

Argh! Chives!

What do you have? Mint.

It's secateurs.

You've got to use those secateurs

to grab whatever ingredient you've been assigned from the garden.

Ooh!

Use that ingredient in your dish.

We can work with coriander.

Now, they may be late additions, but it shouldn't taste like it.

So good.

Start thinking, everyone. You've got 45 minutes to go!

SARAH: Everyone has been given a different herb,

and I got dill.

Oh, that smells delicious!

I think it goes so well with these flavours,

but I want to take the time to actually think about

how I'm going to incorporate this into my savoury vanilla slice.

I really want one of those top spots today.

Ooh.

I got thyme as my mystery ingredient,

which is very lucky.

My plan today was to cook something really neutral,

and I think that strategy has paid off really well

because thyme works very well with garlic,

works very well with chicken.

So the dish I'm going to make today

is a thyme and garlic stuffed chicken.

I'm going to do it with kohlrabi dumplings

and a garlic veloute.

So I'm going to use thyme in with my garlic veloute.

I'm going to make a little thyme oil as well.

So, yeah,

I'll be using garlic and thyme both three ways each.

So I'm going to start making my farce.

A farce is a minced mixture

made from the leg of the drumstick meat

with lots of garlic and thyme,

and it's going to be stuffed underneath the chicken skin,

so it's going to keep it nice

and kind of moist and tender as it cooks.

So I can only hope that I've got 'thyme' on my side.

(GUFFAWS)

So I got lemongrass under the box

and I'm actually stoked with it.

So I've marinated my chicken in, like, a whole heap of garlic,

a little bit of ginger,

and I've just added some lemongrass.

I don't think I'm going to change anything

because I think it fits perfectly into the chicken.

I got mint. Uh... Pleased with that?

Oh, I love mint, but, I mean, it's, um...

With cauliflower? How are you going to manage that?

The cauliflower is now going to be a very small part of the dish.

Yeah. Yeah. So I think...

It's a curried cauliflower, so the flavours are gonna be there.

So mint goes with those flavours, I think,

But I'm going to make the mint higher

and leave the other flavours on the bottom.

So this is going to be pan-fried scallops

with curried cauliflower and cucumber tomato mint salad.

It's not what I planned for but I think I can work with it.

Freshness. OK.

Yeah. So the mint is welcome? OK.

Well, I mean, I've got no choice. (LAUGHS)

I like that. Good spirit.

Very good spirit. No point worrying about it.

No discriminations.

The biggest concern is that the mint is prominent enough

and works with the rest of it.

SNEZ: I got rosemary. Um...

It's lovely.

I'm happy with it. I love rosemary.

I'm kind of happy, but I'm not happy.

I'm really happy

'cause the flavour is lovely with my dish,

but it's so strong.

This is my family recipe.

If I put too much rosemary,

you won't taste squid

or you won't taste any garlic in there.

So I'm thinking,

how else can I incorporate this rosemary?

So my strategy is

I'm gonna quickly whip up some bread dough,

and I'm going to focus on infusing rosemary

as much as I can into my bread.

Snez. Yes.

Rosemary, how do you feel about that? I'm pretty happy.

So I'm going to use it mainly with my bread,

but I'm going to make it rosemary and garlic.

It's going to be beautiful for dipping those sauces.

Garlic, rosemary and squid go together...

Yeah. ..it's just about how much.

How much. Yeah. Good luck.

Just get that right. Thank you.

All about balance, Snez. Thank you.

Alright, guys, you have 30 minutes to go.

Sick. Alright, let's go.

Oh, I'm feeling fabulous.

Chives are the perfect addition to this dish.

I feel like someone is watching over me today

and I'm a very, very happy lady.

I'm cooking a rolled lamb saddle, masala jus, and bagna cauda.

OK. That was definitely good.

My strategy was to wait until that mini mystery box

was revealed before I stuff and roll the lamb.

This is the perfect flavour that can get added into that dish.

Chives are currently cooking down

in that same pan these Warrigal greens were.

I want to add the chives into that stuffing

with those Warrigal greens and some of that confit garlic.

So you're really infusing all those flavours

throughout that lamb.

You're going to be on time, yeah? Yes.

When are you going...?

When are you going to start to cook it?

Hopefully in five minutes. Yeah.

Hopefully.

I just need to get this filling done and then we're on.

OK.

So yesterday I was in a black apron with Alana in the bottom two.

I don't want to let myself get into that position again.

So it's strive for immunity every single week.

POH: Laura! You're cutting it really fine, lady.

So fine. Do you reckon you can do it?

Yep. OK.

I know all the odds are against me. OK.

I have to do it.

The only thing is,

I've never actually rolled a lamb before like this.

And I don't actually know how long it's going to cook for.

I know a regular rack of lamb, for me,

could take about 20 minutes in the oven.

I know I'm pushing it.

I just need a miracle to pull this off.

Laura, you need to get that lamb in the oven, lady.

Oh, my God.

Laura, you need to get that lamb in the oven, lady.

Oh, my God.

I feel like you're literally crossing your fingers

and hoping for a miracle right now.

Yeah, I think I'm striving

for the absolute unachievable right now. But...

Do you have a plan B?

No.

No, not at all.

Even though this dish is all about the garlic,

I'm pretty confident with the chives.

I think that they sit right in that lamb.

It's a perfect combination.

Lamb's in.

22 minutes to go,

my lamb has finally gone into the oven

and I am pushing my timings.

I need to start making this bagna cauda.

So a bagna cauda is a traditional Italian sauce

that is comprised of anchovies,

confit garlic and butter

that you would usually actually serve

with raw crudite vegetables.

But for me, anchovies and lamb are just such good friends.

And if I can pull this off,

it's going to be an absolute winning combination.

POH: You really are leaning into last minute.

You are being a bit of a daredevil today.

I know. I'm pulling a Poh. Yeah, you are.

(LAUGHS)

Are you going to skip your garlic today

'cause we're going to be having...? Uh.

Or you just have the extra garlic?

I always have garlic,

so it doesn't matter if it's extra or not.

It's never enough, so... (LAUGHS)

Making a bit of a mess, aren't I? How are you, Sarah?

Are you pleased with your dill, yeah?

I am, but I'm just making a bit of a mess,

but I am pleased.

I am so happy with dill.

I think it's going to elevate the ingredients

that I'm already using in my savoury vanilla slice.

So I'm going to make dill salt.

I'm going to add dill through my chicken jelly

and make a dill oil as well.

I've got my pastry in the oven.

I've got my chicken ready to go.

I've made my garlic cream.

Cucumber, I've made a little dill cucumber here,

which is going to go through the chicken jelly,

which I'm going to set into these moulds.

If I could win a top dish on such an inventive dish,

that would mean the world to me.

I think that, for me, this is why I'm back.

Can't wait to see your crazy invention again.

Oh, my God. (LAUGHS)

OK, so we've done the big reveal of the mini mystery box,

and they've all had to go to the garden

and harvest an ingredient.

Strategies, have they paid off?

Oh, Callum was licking his lips.

Yeah, he was stoked. Licking his lips.

He got thyme.

CALLUM: All the 'thyme' in the world, mate.

Snez got rosemary.

OK...

She's doing this squid dish, and she's got confit garlic,

and she's just worried that the flavours of rosemary

are going to be overpowering.

Yeah. But that's with her.

If she backs herself, she should nail it.

OK, let's see how we're going to do the bread.

Alright, Laura. Worried. She's doing bagna cauda.

She's doing lamb. She's stuffed it with chives,

which is what her ingredient was. What are you worried about?

She only just got the lamb in the oven at under 25 minutes.

And she's... I think she's just crossing her fingers.

I've got this.

We've talked about time being the enemy of a lot of cooks,

but we've seen what can happen in the last part of the cooks.

Somehow they get this done.

And these are like some of the best cooks

that we've had in this kitchen,

so...we're excited.

Game on. Yeah.

SARAH: This works...

I don't know.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Holy moly! 12 minutes to go.

(ALL CHEERING)

Holy moly indeed!

I'm trying not to use rosemary in too many things

'cause it's quite strong and it can overpower a dish.

I'm going to use it mainly in with my bread.

My bread is ready to be baked with the rosemary salt.

I take my squid out of the oven

and I put it on the stove on the super low,

so it's kind of still cooking slowly

and I increase the temperature in my oven

so the bread can cook as quick as possible.

How long does your bread need, Snez? 10 minutes.

I'm literally going in now.

Yeah, it's really quick.

The highest temperature.

OK, so if you get it in now,

you're giving yourself a minute and a half to plate.

Yeah, as always. And pull it out of the oven.

Yeah, I'll get it done.

I love coriander. All of these deep, rich flavours,

they can all absolutely work with coriander, so I'm pretty happy.

I've literally managed to end up with an ingredient

that fits straight into my dish.

Today I'm making pan-seared flathead,

some beautiful pickled mussels,

some charry and roasty garlic and leek,

as well as this nduja sauce

that's just been building with flavour

since the very beginning.

Then I'm also going to make a coriander and chive oil.

Alright. So that can go there. You can go there.

That's ready to go.

Getting coriander is actually

the best thing that could have happened.

It adds a freshness,

but it also just creates a more cohesive plate of food.

And I really hope I'm cooking tomorrow for immunity.

You look so cool, by the way.

Cool...cool on the on the surface, mate, not underneath.

You guys are top seven for a reason. Bring it home.

Five minutes to go.

Where did the time go?

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: That smells lovely, by the way, Ben.

Thank you, Chef.

My chicken is in the oven.

My thyme oil is done.

I'm going to fold that through that garlic veloute

right at the last second.

I'm going to actually make

some of these beautiful little kohlrabi dumplings.

So the kohlrabi dumplings I'm making today

are not dumplings containing kohlrabi.

The actual skin of the dumpling, so to speak,

is pickled kohlrabi.

And then I've got a really lovely

kind of chicken leg, mushroom and garlic mixture inside it.

So I'm using the garlic from the original mystery box

in a couple of different ways here.

The timer goes off for the lamb, I pull it out

and fingers and toes are all crossed.

Ah, it's so raw!

Oh, my gosh, I don't know why I've done this to myself.

Ah, it's so raw!

I'm going to cook a piece in the pan

and cook the rest of it through like that.

It's the only option I have right now.

Literally my only option.

I refuse to put up something raw.

I refuse to leave it off the plate completely.

There's garlic and those chives throughout that lamb.

I'm doing anything that I can

to make sure this lamb is blushing pink on that plate.

Two minutes, everybody.

SARAH: So for my savoury vanilla slice

I want to give it a slightly elevated look to it,

but I definitely want those clear layers.

I want the pastry at the base.

My garlic cream in the centre.

Another layer of pastry.

Then I want my chicken jelly,

which is loaded up with the cucumber dill.

A little dill salt on the outside.

It's most definitely a conceptual dish,

but I'm here to push myself

and I'm going to push until the last second.

One minute.

Oh, my God, please hurry up.

My bread is not going to be cooked.

Come on, bread.

This has to work.

I mean, I'm so proud of this dish

and it's one of my favourite family favourites.

I kind of waited too long

to increase the oven to the highest temperature.

I'm a bit panicky here

'cause that bread is really important for me.

I need this bread to work

because bread is a main carrier of that rosemary,

and also you need that scoopy element

to soak up the sauce.

I quickly put it on the hot pan and I'm just gonna torch next to me,

so I'm torching it to give it a little bit of char.

Ohhhhh!

Time's up in 10...

JUDGES: Nine, eight, seven,

six, five, four,

three, two, one.

That's it.

Oh!

What a crazy cook, eh? Well done, mate.

Oh, well done, mate.

How'd you go? I don't know if it's cooked.

I can't tell you.

Today was a great cook. Like, don't get me wrong,

I feel like I nailed the actual mystery box ingredients,

but it's the lamb that could, uh,

put me not in the race at this top three.

Today you had to use garlic as well as something extra

from the MasterChef garden in your dish.

There are only three spots at the top up for grabs,

and a shot at immunity is on the line.

Let's see who's done enough to lock it down.

We'd like to taste your dish, Jamie.

(APPLAUSE)

JAMIE: I feel really good with this cook today.

I've liberally used garlic.

I've utilised the coriander in simple but effective ways.

I think it looks great

and it's definitely something I'd want to eat.

Jamie, what's your dish, mate?

I've made a pan-seared flathead

with confit and charred leek,

some leek hay, pickled mussels,

and then nduja and mussel sauce.

Jamie, what was your strategy today?

Strategy for me today was to play into the garlic,

worry about that first and then pivot if I have to.

As far as I'm concerned, at this stage of the competition,

it's all about building big flavours.

And if that's a risk

because you have to change things halfway through,

then so be it.

But I'd rather have something that I'm happy with

and make decisions on the fly.

And do you think it paid off? I think so.

I did get lucky 'cause my herb was coriander,

and that can work quite well with all of those flavours as well.

Shall we taste? I reckon so.

Jamie.

One word - banger.

I think the strategy definitely worked out.

The flathead is beautifully cooked.

And also, I love this sauce.

I thought it might have been a little bit heavy,

but it's just got that lovely mussel scent to it,

which works really well

with the good kick of nduja that you got in there.

The roll continues for you as far as I'm concerned. Well done.

Thank you.

Jamie, I love what you were saying

about this stage of the competition

being all about flavour and big flavours,

and that's all well and good,

but you have to have the palate and the technical skill

to be able to balance those big flavours

with everything else that's on the plate.

And you've absolutely done that.

The garlic confit is perfect.

Lovely tasty leeks,

crunch, which is perfect.

You've done a simple dish, but with lots of sublimity.

Sounds like the Frenchman

approves of the use of the garlic in the dish, eh?

Yeah, absolutely.

It's good enough for him, it's good enough for us.

Well done, mate. Thanks, mate.

The next dish we'd like to taste belongs to...

..Sarah. Yes!

(APPLAUSE)

SARAH: I have totally pushed myself.

This is definitely a very out-there dish.

Always intrigued, Sarah.

(LAUGHS)

And I think my biggest concern is,

with this kind of conceptual dish,

some people hate it, some people like it.

There's not really any in between.

What is your dish, Sarah?

So I've made a savoury vanilla slice.

I did garlic-infused cream.

Um, I did chicken dill cucumber gel,

and I've added a dill salt around the outside.

It's like don't crucify me, Andy! (LAUGHS)

It's like, don't crucify me, Andy!

Well, we are super used to you taking big risks in this kitchen,

but the question always is, have they paid off?

We're about to find out.

I...

..like it! (LAUGHS)

I like it, I like it, I like it.

(LAUGHTER)

The puff? Incredible. It was really flaky, delicious.

Then we go to that garlic cream.

Stunning. Like, really beautiful hum of garlic.

The use of the cucumber, the use of the dill,

like, 10 out of 10.

Then there's your chicken jelly.

I liked it. I just thought you could have gone harder on the chicken,

So it could hold up to everything else that you've done,

but that is EXTREMELY creative.

That is EXTREMELY well put together

and for that, I applaud you.

Sarah, I'm a little bit obsessed with that.

I loved it, I loved it, I loved it, I loved it!

(LAUGHS)

There's nothing vanilla slice about that for me.

I go straight to my grandma's chicken soup.

Um, love the consistency and the texture

and the amount of that chicken jelly

and then the dill everywhere,

all around the plate with the oil, as well.

So, yeah, you did good things for me. Thank you.

Everything in that plate for me is superb.

So thank you for that.

But what is amazing is that garlic in your cream.

Bingo.

Now...

This jelly.

Look at that. It's still wobbly.

Look, look!

That is brave.

This is fantastic.

Sarah, it was a wacky idea.

Well done. Well done.

Well done, Sarah.

SARAH: My dream is to one day have a Michelin star

and to get that feedback from someone like Jean-Christophe

actually feels really, really special.

The next dish we'd like to taste belongs to Callum.

CALLUM: There's a lot on the line today. The top three dishes

are going to go in for a chance to win immunity tomorrow.

One-in-three chance of winning immunity

at this stage of the competition is pretty good odds.

(JUDGES GIGGLE)

That made a difference.

Oh, my gosh.

It looks radioactive!

Callum, what's your dish?

Garlic and thyme stuffed chicken

with kohlrabi and pine mushroom duxelle dumplings

and garlic and thyme veloute.

Wow. Looks a picture.

Are you happy with it?

Yeah. I chose the kind of the world's most, I guess,

gentle protein in chicken, because it kind of goes with

so many different spices or aromatic ingredients,

regardless of what was going to be under that lid.

Should we eat it? Mm.

Callum, when that landed on the table,

it was so dramatic,

I thought, "I hope it tastes like a million bucks too."

And boy, that dish packed a punch. Um...

Do not mess with the Barossa boy and his chicken. (LAUGHS)

Everything was just SO full of flavour.

I love those little, um, kohlrabi dumplings.

They were pickled and had that lovely hit of sweetness as well,

which I felt the dish really needed,

and that just, like, balanced everything off.

Just such a beautiful dish. Well done.

That is brilliant cooking!

That farce is perfectly cooked

and you have loaded it with garlic and thyme.

And then we go into like the sophisticated part of the dish,

which, for me, is those beautifully put-together dumplings.

It tastes, like, really rich and rustic.

And mate, that veloute is STUNNING! Stunning.

I think it was the first thing you got on, and it shows,

because it is just loaded with goodness, mate.

Thank you. Well done, mate.

Thank you. Thanks, guys.

Well done, mate. Thanks, mate.

That's amazing. Awesome.

What a big, juicy chicken!

Depinder, what do you call this?

DEPINDER: I've made a lasooni murgh,

which translates to 'garlic chicken'

with a aloo paratha,

as well as garlic and chilli chutney

and some pickled chilli and lemongrass.

Um, I couldn't really taste the lemongrass, to be honest.

And even though you've done this pickle,

I feel like I can probably taste the chilli more than the lemongrass,

but it's still a really lovely curry.

Thanks, guys.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Ben, tell us, what have you made?

BEN: We have pan-roasted scallops

with curried cauliflower puree,

garlic, lentils and a mint, tomato and cucumber salad.

Interesting, but I like it.

I think you were blessed with the mint.

It's, for me, that's what makes the dish,

because there is a lot of hectic flavours going on.

My only tweak would probably be

30 more seconds on the scallop. Mm.

Up next, Laura!

LAURA: To be honest, I'm feeling quite nervous

walking this dish up to the judges.

Oh, dear.

I know the flavours are going to be there.

It actually does look really beautiful,

but it's all going to come down to that lamb.

It could still be raw in the middle.

Laura, what have you made us?

So it's a stuffed and rolled lamb saddle,

pine mushrooms, bagna cauda

and a lamb and marsala jus.

And what was the ingredient you had to collect from the garden?

Chives. So they're in the actual lamb,

in the stuffing with Warrigal greens, garlic and chives.

So in those last throes, what was that about?

Was that just getting the lamb cooked, or...?

Yeah, it was just literally cooking the lamb.

It was raw when I pulled it out the oven

and I can't confirm if it's cooked or not.

Looks pretty good.

(GIGGLES HYSTERICALLY)

Is that what you were expecting to see?

Absolutely not, Andy. Absolutely not.

The thing that I'm worried about...

Fat. Yeah, yeah, I know. Yeah.

There's too much fat.

Even on a day where you have problems,

your dish is still a really beautiful dish.

I can see where you were going.

All the flavours are so solid.

That bagna cauda with the lamb is something that I do all the time.

They're just such amazing friends together.

Laura, there's the makings of a top three dish here,

but it just didn't get there.

Although that lamb is beautiful, blushing pink,

which surprised us all when we cut into it,

I think when you serve a rolled, uh, piece of lamb,

you really want that cross-section.

Combine that with the amount of fat that you've left on there

that obviously hasn't had a chance to get rendered,

it makes for a pretty hard piece of lamb to eat.

The biggest question was this lamb situation,

because I think probably everyone must have said,

you know, start your lamb in the oven.

And that lost you, because the dish itself is actually fantastic.

The garlic is dominant, you know, um,

your sauce reduction is impeccable.

You walk back to your bench, you know, next time,

you're going to smash it.

Yep. Thank you. Well done.

The next dish we'd like to taste belongs to Snez.

SNEZ: My dish smells SO good.

It's literally like it came out of mom's oven.

I just hope my bread is cooked.

This can't let me down.

We have bread. SNEZ: We have bread. Garlic galore!

Wow.

Snez, what have you made?

So this is a confit squid and garlic

and rosemary and garlic oil bread.

When you lifted the lid of your mini mystery box you got...

Garlic! Oh, mini box!

You really do really like... I'm still excited by garlic!

You do really like garlic. I absolutely love garlic.

(LAUGHTER)

No, my second little box was rosemary

and I was really happy with that, too.

Where's the garlic in your dish, Snez?

So, garlic is, there's like the whole garlic bulb

in the actual confit in with the squid.

And then it's also garlic salsa on the top.

There's also garlic oil.

So where is there not garlic?

(LAUGHTER)

Let's find out. Dig in.

That is incredible!

Whoo!

That is like...

That is you at your absolute best.

Yeah. Like, simplicity,

minimal ingredients,

cooking things that you love that will blow any person's mind.

Like, the squid is just melt-in-your-mouth

and then the sauce...

The only thing is, I think you need more bread because,

like, it just is,

like, moppable goodness,

that you can't leave in that...in that pan.

You can tell that you grew up on a garlic farm

because you really know your way around garlic.

(LAUGHS)

It's everywhere. But you know, what's amazing about that is

that you've used so much of it, and I don't feel overwhelmed by it.

When you first started cooking the squids,

I was not happy with you.

I was like, this is a mistake. And you convinced me.

It is a fa-bu-lous dish.

So well done to you.

Thank you. Thanks, guys. Whoo-hoo!

Well done. Oh, my God.

I'm super excited.

I'm getting the most beautiful feedback.

And for dish like this, it's from home

and it's really special.

Yes!

Well, today we gave you garlic and a mystery goodie from the garden

as an added bonus.

You gave us plenty of dishes for top picks,

but there are only three spots

in tomorrow's pressure test for immunity,

so let's see who secured them.

First person to take a top spot today is...

..Callum. (CONTESTANTS APPLAUD)

It's days like this we are so thankful to be here

because we get to eat food like THAT.

It was the full package, so are you, mate. Well done.

Next...

..Snez!

(CONTESTANTS EXCLAIM AND APPLAUD)

Thank you!

The garlic was everywhere, in the best possible way.

I was one step off drinking that sauce.

Outstanding work. Thank you.

Third and final spot goes to...

..Jamie! Oh, yes! (CONTESTANTS APPLAUD AND EXCLAIM)

Mate, the cook on that flathead, the mussels, the leeks, the sauce,

what an absolute stunner. Well done.

Thank you.

Clearly today, all of you did very well.

The cooking was fantastic.

Your sense of spirit and competition was great.

And on the top of that, we had fun.

So, well done. Thank you.

Well, good night, everyone! Later!

Thanks, guys.

Well done. Tall order.

ANNOUNCER: Tomorrow night...

Please welcome Michael Wilson!

(CHEERING)

..his Michelin star pressure test...

Oh!

Oh, my God!

Whoa!

Look out!

..has a nickname that says it all.

MICHAEL: We nickname it - The Tower Of Terror.

The Tower Of Terror.

Wow!

Eight layers of absolute precision.

What?! Eight layers?!

Like a building,

if one layer is bad,

the whole thing could collapse.

CALLUM: Just, frankly, a little terrifying.

Captions by Red Bee Media