Original subtitles

LAURA: This is a bit exciting. BEN: Isn't it? Isn't it?

Being let loose in the wild.

How cool is this! Ah, no way.

DEPINDER: This is pretty cool.

CALLUM: Walking through the Melbourne CBD,

and the challenge could still be anything at this point in time.

There is amazing venues everywhere you look.

Ooh, Rialto! The plot thickens.

I'm really interested to see where we're going to end up.

DEPINDER: Let's go. Let's go!

This is beautiful. Wow.

(GASPS) Is that Vue de Monde?

Oh, my God.

I can get this. OK, thanks, Ben. What a gentleman.

CALLUM: Oh, what a guy.

ANDY: Here they are.

Come on in.

Holy moly. We're at Vue De Monde.

Oh, wow!

There's a beautiful view.

This is so cool. Oh, it's so cool.

I've got goose bumps because I'm like,

"Oh, my God, I'm going to be cooking here.

Morning, everyone.

CONTESTANTS: Morning.

This is the phase of the competition

where we need to keep upping the ante.

You are all in peak form,

and that's why we're here for today's service challenge.

Oh, my God. Exciting.

Welcome to one of Australia's most iconic restaurants,

the legendary Vue de Monde.

This institution has been setting the bar for Aussie cuisine

for the past 25 years,

and it's still climbing.

With three hats to its name,

the food, it's unparalleled.

It has become the peak of prestige,

and all that success is owed

to the skills of a remarkable talent.

Please welcome Executive Chef

Hugh Allen!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Oh, wow.

I am a huge fan of Hugh Allen.

I've never met him before.

I love what he's doing at Vue de Monde.

He does highlight lots of local Australian produce

as well as native Australian ingredients.

So, to be cooking up here

in a service challenge with Hugh Allen,

this is definitely a bucket-list moment.

Hugh, it's great to see you. Thanks for having us.

Thanks for coming. It's great to have you here.

Tell us a little bit about Vue's philosophy.

It's evolved a lot over time.

Vue de Monde is 25 years old this year.

It's been around for a while.

It's actually its third location, as well.

So, I think it's always been about evolving

and not staying stagnant,

whether that's where we are or with the food.

Chefs and restaurants do have to keep elevating the bar

because you don't want to come too close with, you know,

what people can do at home and what...what restaurants can do.

OK, I don't think anything's...anyone's doing

what you're doing at home.

Like, you've succeeded, bro. You've succeeded.

No-one's got that cellar.

(LAUGHTER)

When a dish lands at your table at Vue,

you just know that you're in for a special experience.

That is what we're looking for from you four.

Now, Hugh has run thousands of services in this kitchen,

and today he's leading yours.

You'll each need to bring us one course

as part of a unique tasting menu worthy of Vue's reputation.

And the best course will, of course, win immunity

from Sunday's elimination.

Which means, if you win today,

you'll be the first member of our top five

of MasterChef: Back To Win.

That is huge, so go for it.

BEN: To be the first person in the top five would mean so much.

We've come so far to get to the stage of the competition,

but it's not going to be easy.

Hugh Allen is known for sourcing

some of the most incredible ingredients.

You'll be assigned a course with an ingredient

that must be featured.

Ooh. Oh.

Today, you're not just serving us.

You'll need to feed 15 special guests

that definitely deserve VIP treatment.

Ooh! Ooh!

Community volunteers that donate their time to helping people.

Oh, that's wonderful.

We're giving you each two and a half hours.

There will be a staggered start,

so your dishes will be sent out to us one after another.

Which course and ingredient you'll get will be decided

by what you pick out of that bag.

Good luck.

Oh, that's a very heavy... Ooh!

LAURA AND DEPINDER: Oh!

BEN: Oh, perfect.

Oh! You beauty.

Alright, so you've got your courses.

Callum, you're first on veg.

Ben, you're second on fish.

Yes!

Laura, you're third on meat.

And, Depinder, you're fourth on sweet.

Yep.

The ingredient you must include in your dish

is waiting for you at your station.

Are you all ready for this? CONTESTANTS: Yeah.

Callum, let's go to the kitchen. Cool. Let's do it.

I get allocated the vegetable course,

so I'm first up, straight into the kitchen.

I know that Vue de Monde very much cooks with the seasons.

Nice to see you, mate. Yeah. Good to see you, too, man.

I'm thinking it's gonna be a gutsy...maybe root vegie

or something that I can sort of have as the centre-point of the dish

to then build flavours around.

You ready to see what you're cooking with.

Yeah. Can't wait. Let's do it. Hugh?

Alright, Callum, today, you're cooking with...

..Tasmanian wasabi leaves.

Oh, OK. That is not what I was picking.

I would not have guessed that. Alright.

Ah. (SIGHS)

What is a wasab...? Well, I know what a wasabi leaf is,

but I have never, like, ever used

wasabi leaf in any kind of cooking?

I've barely used fresh wasabi, full stop.

So I have doughnuts right now

That's what I'm going to do with this.

Obviously, it has a flavour of wasabi.

It's the leaf of the wasabi plant, but it's, yeah, much more delicate,

a bit more peppery,

a bit more of sort of those mustard, herbaceous flavours.

You can cook it lightly, um, but you can also eat it raw.

It is sort of a less used ingredient,

but it also is a very, very versatile ingredient.

Callum, veg course using Tasmanian wasabi leaf.

Your two and a half hours starts now. Good luck.

Thank you.

I was expecting to start this challenge

just, like, absolutely smashing it

and get in all guns blazing.

And now I'm just looking at this pile of wasabi leaves

and going,

"What am I going to cook

"that's, A, going to make the wasabi leaf the actual feature of the dish,

"but, B, make it Vue-de-Monde-worthy?"

Yeah, this is going to be a real challenge.

I don't have a dish in mind at this point in time,

but I've got to make a lot of plates of food,

so I don't have time to sit around.

I need to start something, so I get some stock cooking.

LAURA AND DEPINDER: Good luck.

Cheers, guys.

Cook well.

I get the fish course.

I'm happy with that because I love cooking fish.

POH: Ben.

I'm really excited about what's going to be under there.

If this ingredient is shellfish, great.

Lobster or marron - great.

If it's some sort of fish I need to fillet and cook,

that's great, too.

I'm happy to cook any of these things.

Are you ready to see what you're going to be cooking with?

I am. OK.

Alright, Ben, today, you are cooking with...

..giant kelp.

Wow, that's an interesting seafood. I wasn't expecting that.

But I like it, I think.

Yeah, that's cool.

It can be used in so many ways.

It can be just hydrated and used raw,

or seasoned, almost like a...like a salad,

or you can use the broth like a...

You know, as you're making a dashi or something like that.

Yeah, yeah. Nice. Um, really versatile.

Um, really amazing flavour. It's not too overpowering.

I don't know much about this kelp, I've never used it before,

but I'm actually really excited to come up with something.

Ben, your ingredient is kelp,

and your two and a half hours starts now.

Fantastic.

Looking at this kelp, I'm just trying to think

how I can get it into this dish to highlight it.

I'm thinking if I can get it into a broth, a really tasty broth,

I could be onto a winner.

How are you going, Cal? Hey, man. What have you got?

I've got some lovely local seaweed.

OK. I thought you were cooking a fish dish.

I am, but it's going to be with seaweed.

What did you get?

I got wasabi leaf. Oh, nice.

Very healthy lunch we've got here, mate. Yeah. (CHUCKLES)

I've got the fish course, which is going second.

It's quite a difficult thing to do, to cook fish for this many people.

So looking at what's in the pantry, I see marron in there,

and that's something I can poach with butter

and have cooked perfectly en masse,

which is something I need to do today.

I'm going to cook marron,

which is one of the most beautiful pieces of produce you can get.

I'm going to make a farro risotto

with a Jerusalem artichoke and lardo puree,

marron-head emulsion and a broth.

So there's a few things happening. I'm about to get really busy.

Good luck. Thank you. I'll see you in there.

The nerves are definitely running high.

Whatever is under this cloche

is going to determine what dish I'm making.

Ooh.

I'm hoping it's something that plays to my strengths.

So, I'll take any native Australian ingredient

that Hugh wants to throw at me today.

Hello. Hey, how are you?

Good, good.

Fingers and toes are crossed that that is what's under my cloche.

So, Laura... Yes.

..you've got the third course, and you have the meat course.

Yep.

So let's see what your ingredient is.

OK.

Alright, Laura... You ready?

..today you're cooking with...

..golden beetroots.

I've got golden beetroot.

And let me tell you how I feel about beetroot.

I hate beetroots.

Like, they just taste like dirt.

(LAUGHS)

Uh, I actually don't like eating beetroots,

to be perfectly honest. Oh, no.

I know. So I'll have to put that aside and make...

Golden beetroots are one of my favourites.

Oh, really? Yeah.

I mean, a great ingredient to have on a main course,

don't get me wrong, but, like, I'm not excited

about the beetroot right now.

I really want immunity,

so I will make these shine.

You've got two and a half hours, and it starts now.

Good luck. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Best of luck.

Beetroots are a really big, earthy,

and almost meaty kind of vegetable.

So I'm thinking of big, bold flavours

to go with those beetroots.

Uh...

There's this gorgeous, dry-aged Wagyu sirloin in the pantry,

and that's just, like, screaming my name all over it.

And I think beetroot, Wagyu...

I can start to form a dish with these flavours.

What did you get? CALLUM: What have you got?

I got beetroot. Oh, dammit.

I was hoping for beetroots. Oh.

I feel like I've only just really started cooking.

Ben and Laura are already in the kitchen.

Time is moving very quickly.

Generally, in the MasterChef kitchen, I feel pretty comfortable.

Today, I'm feeling anything but comfortable.

Like, I'm feeling quite stressed, to be honest,

trying to come up with a dish that's featuring the wasabi leaf.

CALLUM: Even though I feel like I'm behind the eight ball here today

because I'm not familiar with wasabi leaf ingredient,

I do just take a moment to look around and go,

"This is one of the best kitchens anywhere in the country."

Like, there are chefs from all over

that would do anything to be in my shoes right now.

So, I really need to take a step back...

..and think about this in another way.

I guess the wasabi leaf itself has got the pepperiness of wasabi,

but it's got sort of a herbaceous nature to it, as well.

So, yeah, it's a nice flavour profile.

I'm just, um...

Head's spinning, trying to...

..trying to think how to best use it.

I'm thinking that because it's wasabi leaf,

it makes me straightaway think of Japan

and Japanese flavour profiles.

Shio koji - fermented rice.

So I'm going to start making elements

that have that kind of flavour profile going on,

and I can taste and refine as I go.

Callum. Hi, gents. How are you?

Very good. Mate, how are you?

Because you did seem a little shaken when you saw wasabi leaf.

Yeah. I've gone through the roller-coaster of emotions, I reckon.

And I kind of went from "oh, no, I've never used this before"

to "no, this is exciting"

to "oh, crap, I've actually got to do it now."

What are you going to do?

Um, so I guess the first thing I'm trying to do

is figure out how wasabi leaves sort of work, I guess.

OK. So I'm going to try and use them

in a couple of different ways, but, um, I guess...

Because I think wasabi, I think kind of Japanese flavour profiles,

that's kind of straight where my brain's gone.

So, um, I'm using, like, mushrooms and some seaweed,

a few other bits and bobs that kind of make sense

with that Japanese flavour profile for me.

I've got a shio koji mushroom broth on

that I'm going to try and cook for the majority of the time.

Yep. I'm gonna make an oil out of these bad boys as well.

I'm going to try and then punch some out

with a little ring mould,

and pickle some and see how that behaves, as well.

And taste many times and figure out iterations as required.

You know, it does add another layer of complexity to the dish.

It sounds like you're still experimenting

in the two and a half hours of prep.

Good luck. Much appreciated.

I've never been more out of my depth in this competition.

Because I don't have a super clear dish concept in my head,

and I'm kind of working it out as I go,

I've got no idea if this is going to work or not.

Ah.

Alright.

But I need to get things working and keep tasting as I go,

and make sure that by the end of the cook,

I've built what is not only a delicious dish,

but something that looks and feels Vue-de-Monde-worthy.

Callum, you are halfway through.

Your dishes need to be leaving the pass in 75 minutes.

Thank you, Sofe.

Halfway through already?

Uh-oh.

BEN: What did you get? LAURA: I got beetroot.

Beetroot? Yeah. Love.

I'm on the meat course today.

I'm really excited by that

because it's the final savoury course

before the dessert comes out.

Beef and beets. Beef and beets.

I'm going to use classic French cookery techniques...

..but also introducing native Australian flavours into it...

(COUGHS)

Just sniffed a whole packet of mountain pepper

..to make it a very Laura dish.

Yum.

Hi, Laura. Hi.

How are you? Good. How are you guys?

Good. Yeah?

So, what is your dish, Laura?

Um, I'm doing a Wagyu sirloin.

Glazed, cooked over the hibachi.

Some pepperberry,

salt-baked golden beetroots.

It's a really classic jus with a watercress emulsion,

with some of the beetroot leaves, as well.

So you're getting, like, the earthiness

but then pepperiness.

So I'm kind of playing on, like, the flavour profile of pepper,

whether it's coming in pepperberry or watercress itself...

Yeah. ..throughout the dish.

Nice. I just think they work really nicely together.

So you're using leaves and the root, salt-baking it and in a sauce?

Yeah. Nice. Yeah.

So, you realise you're going to be cooking 19 portions of steaks.

Yeah. Yeah.

Cooked consistently... Yeah.

..on time. Yeah.

What do you think? Is that too ambitious?

As you know, there's the fat marble, so it has to be cooked,

you know, in motion.

You can't force it. You can't rush it.

I know.

You want the fat to melt

and deliver that wonderful flavours from the steak.

Yeah. How are you going to manage that?

I will find a way, Jean-Christophe. I'm sure you will, but...

I mean, I've cooked it before. I feel confident cooking it.

I feel like I wouldn't have chosen it as a protein...

OK. ..if I didn't feel confident.

But I know that I've definitely got my work cut out for me,

so I just need to kind of get the base of everything on.

OK, good. All the best, yeah? Thank you so much.

Thank you. Thanks, Laura. Thank you.

That Wagyu needs to be cooked perfectly.

It's one of the most expensive cuts of meat that you can buy.

The beetroots obviously need to be super prominent.

Once these are in, we'll move on to the beef.

And I want to use the whole of the beetroot today.

I'm going to salt-bake those beautiful bulbs

of the actual golden beetroot.

They're about to go into the oven.

I want to also juice them down, the stems and all,

and add that into my marsala jus at the end.

But I also want to use the tops of those golden beetroots

in a really beautiful peppery,

watercress-style sauce.

So for me, today, I need to perfect every single element on my dish.

Just so much to do.

DEPINDER: Hello. Hello, welcome.

Thank you.

Nervous? Very.

Depinder, you're the fourth and final course,

and you've got sweets. Yeah.

Hugh,

what's her ingredient? Ready?

Right, Depinder, today, you are cooking with...

..green ants.

Green ants.

Yeah. I don't know how I feel about this.

Have you had green ants before?

No. Ah.

I have never cooked with green ants.

I think I've eaten them before, but I can't even remember.

I know they're supposed to be acidic.

And then that's where it ends for me.

I love green ants.

They're, um, like...

They're actually a super versatile ingredient.

They've really got an amazing sort of lemongrassy, citrusy flavour.

Yeah. You know your way around lemongrass.

Yeah, I do. Yeah.

Your 2.5 hours starts now. OK.

Good luck. Thank you.

I do not know what I'm going to do with this ingredient,

and I'm, like, kind of scared to eat it.

I give it a bite and it's actually quite tasty.

It's tart. It's like acidic, it's almost like citrus,

and it does taste like lemongrass.

Wow, this is hard.

So I'm going to try my best to kind of lean back

into my flavour profiles that would complement green ants.

I spot yoghurt and I'm like,

"OK, I can incorporate yoghurt into a dessert.

"It adds a beautiful tartness."

I pick up a pineapple

and I use a lot of citrus in my herb dressings,

in my herb chutneys.

So I'm just thinking maybe I can incorporate the green ants

with herbs such as mint, coriander.

I think those flavour profiles will really go together.

LAURA: What'd you get, Deps?

Green ants. Oh, jealous!

You reckon? Yeah.

Yeah, they are. They've got a slight gingeriness to them,

but I think you can still taste the pepperiness.

I'm starting to feel a little bit more confident now.

I'm starting to kind of bring this dish together.

I'm starting to taste components together,

and it's making sense in my mind.

I love cooking with vegetables.

In my restaurants and cooking school,

the first thing that we do at the start of each season

is look at what's coming into season,

and then work backwards to build a dish from those ingredients.

So I'm going to roast some shiitake mushroom

as well as some Jerusalem artichokes.

And I know that I've got this beautiful sauce getting made.

I've got my mushroom shio koji broth on.

And that's a really important part of this whole shebang,

which is a good thing,

because that needs to cook for as long as it possibly can.

I'm thinking if I can turn the wasabi leaf into

a wasabi leaf pasta,

I'm going to get that pepperiness that's coming through.

But it's also then going to be a prominent enough part of the dish visually,

and also to suck up that beautiful sauce.

And I'm about to make a wasabi oil and have a taste of that as well.

I think if I make some into a little oil as well,

when I pour the sauce over the top...

That's looking the goods!

..whilst there's the starchy elements there

to sort of carry those flavours,

the whole dish would be singing with that wasabi leaf pepperiness.

The first time you cook a dish,

you never know how it's going to taste until you taste it, right?

So I'm just working towards that right now,

tasting a few little things along the way

to give myself a little few kind of clues

as to how it's coming along.

And so far, I think it's tasting good.

But, yeah, I've got a lot of work to do.

Callum, your plates need to leave the pass in 30 minutes.

Which means, Benny, you've got an hour.

BEN: Thank you. CALLUM: Thanks, Sofe.

60 minutes to go.

And I've been multi-tasking the whole time

because preparing this marron is a mammoth effort.

I mean, as such a premium ingredient,

it has to be celebrated.

And I can't afford to mess any of them up.

I need to firstly blanch them correctly

and then painstakingly peel every single one of them,

make sure there's no digestive tract left in them,

and then poach them to perfection.

Every minute I spend preparing it

is minutes that can't be used on other things.

I go to check my broth and the flavour from this kelp...

I don't understand.

..it's there, but it's just not that prominent.

OK, so...

I need to get loads of this kelp flavour in there,

otherwise it's not going to be on the dish.

I don't know what I'm doing.

I think quickly I'm going to hydrate some and then roast in the oven

so it's nice and crispy and salty.

But even if I put it on as a garnish,

I don't think it's going to be enough.

So I'm piling as much kelp as I can into this water.

And I get some kombu and put that in because that is seaweed.

Hopefully it will not just taste like kombu,

but reinforce that seaweed flavour from the kelp itself.

Depinder! Hey, guys.

So you're on the sweet course. You've got green ants.

What are you making?

So I'm going to do a refreshing...

..kind of like a tropical South-East Asian vibe

with my dessert.

I've got a yoghurt sorbet,

a pineapple granita,

a little coriander chutney, ice-cream.

You've got a lot of sour flavours in there, Depinder.

So you've got pineapple, yoghurt, the green ants.

Yeah.

Are we going to taste the green ants at all?

Yeah, I'm going to have to...

I'm going to have to make sure that you guys can taste it.

You just need to make sure that we know they're there.

So if we were to have the exact same dessert

minus the green ants, would we taste the difference?

I got you. Good luck.

Thank you.

Sofia's concerned that with all of these strong flavours,

they might not be able to taste the green ants.

At this stage of the competition, immunity is confidence.

If you get immunity, you're like,

"OK, I just need to keep doing what I'm doing."

Oh, my God.

And top five has been a milestone for me

right from the beginning.

So I'm just thinking to myself,

"Maybe I should rethink this whole dish."

CALLUM: Alright.

So I've still got to finish my broth.

I haven't even started my Jerusalem artichoke chips either,

so, um, yeah, I've got some things I haven't started

and some things I've got to finish.

And I'd say basically nothing's finished.

So I'm, uh, under the pump here.

I'm really happy with this stock that's ticking away.

It's started to take on some big, bold, savoury flavours.

I've got my vegetables roasting away in the oven,

my wasabi oil ready to go

and my wasabi leaves pickling away.

It's now time to start rolling out this wasabi pasta dough,

which I've never made before,

so I have no idea if it's going to work or not.

I'm rolling it through

and that gluten's starting to stretch,

it's starting to come together and the colour is really vibrant,

and I know there's going to be some of that peppery flavour in there

at least from the wasabi leaf as well.

I'm thinking to elevate it into a Vue-de-Monde-worthy dish,

I could shape it in the shape of a wasabi leaf.

It almost looks like a little wasabi leaf,

because it's got the little kind of stem part on top.

And then use one of the wasabi leaves itself

to press into the dough so you can actually see the pattern.

Callum, that looks pretty sick.

Yeah, I used the actual leaf... Oh, leaf. Oh, sick.

You get like a little bit of an imprint on it.

Not only is it gonna look better,

I actually think, like the little grooves in your rigatoni,

it'll actually help that sauce sort of stick to the pasta.

It's going to carry that sauce better as well.

Callum, mate, you need to move.

You've only got 10 minutes until we need plates flying off the pass.

Come on. Thank you.

Ben. You've got 40 minutes.

How are you looking? Yeah. Good, good. Yep.

Happy. Busy but happy. Good.

I don't know what he just said.

CALLUM: Go, Deps! DEPINDER: Thanks, babe.

So much to do, Miss Depinder.

How are you going? Are you good?

I think so. Yeah?

I think so.

I think the most difficult part of incorporating green ants

is I need to make them front and centre of this dessert.

I'm tasting the green ants and it just hits me.

I'm like, "This is a citrus.

"I need to use it instead of using a citrus."

So for my coriander and green ant ice-cream,

instead of adding lemon juice or lime juice,

I'm adding a whole heap of green ants.

I'm tasting it,

and I can taste the green ants and add a little bit more,

and then a little bit more.

And it's perfect.

I can taste the green ants and they're front and centre.

The combination of the coriander and green ants,

it's actually really good together as well.

I'm also going to fold the green ants

through some meringue and bake that at a really low temp as well.

I need to get them in the oven ASAP.

As soon as I get them in the oven

I'm going to start working on my pineapple granita.

So I'm feeling good.

I think I'm on track with time.

Listen up, everybody. Our VIP diners are here.

Come on, everybody.

LAURA: Oh, my gosh, the diners have walked in.

Hello. How are you? Welcome. Thank you.

Please have a seat.

And I am, like, terrified that I'm running out of time.

POH: Hello. Welcome.

How are you? Hello.

It's going to be down to the wire, that, I can guarantee you.

Callum, we're going to start plating up these dishes in three minutes.

Are you going to be ready to go? Yeah, yeah...

It's almost time to plate up.

And I think this idea has actually worked.

I'm cooking my wasabi pasta.

It's looking really good.

And I'm tasting my sauce and I really like it.

There's a lot of depth of flavour in this.

It's a really beautiful aromatic broth.

The wasabi leaf has that really beautiful pepperiness.

And I think that when you have it with

the slightly salty shio koji mushroom...

..you have it all together,

the earthy Jerusalem artichoke and that little pasta.

I think for a vegetable dish, it is super interesting to eat.

Alright, Callum, should we do a little set-up?

Let's go. Thank you, mate.

I found these most amazing little green bowls in Hugh's kitchen.

Lovely.

And even the colour of it is not that dissimilar

to a wasabi leaf itself. And they've got this little lid on.

So I feel like if I can build a little kind of story of

all those vegetables in there and the wasabi leaf elements,

the guests have the opportunity to lift the lid and kind of go,

"Oh, what is this dish?"

And then I've got that wasabi leaf split sauce

to have in a jug for everyone to pour over the top themselves.

Would you mind pulling out that next lot of pasta, please, Chef,

and then maybe throwing another 12 pieces in?

Chef. Alright. Service, please.

My dishes start leaving the kitchen.

And this is like a dream moment.

Being in Vue de Monde kitchen,

having Hugh jumping on the pans,

lending me a hand, helping me plate up.

I think that it looks crazy, it tastes great.

Service, please.

From going from not having really any idea of

what I was going to cook at the start of this challenge to now,

I couldn't be happier with the dish.

Thank you very much.

I'm excited. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!

Here it is. Thank you.

(GASPS)

Oh, wow. Uh, so, Callum.

Course one, veg course.

We've got wasabi leaf,

shiitake mushroom, Jerusalem artichoke,

shio koji, wasabi leaf sauce.

Whoa, Callum!

ANDY: Oh, here we go.

POH: Wow, ha-ha-ha! I'm so excited.

JEANÐCHRISTOPHE: Wow, look at that. This is fun, this.

That looks so good!

Based on appearances,

this is most certainly Vue-de-Monde-worthy.

SOFIA: Yeah.

Let's see if it tastes as good as it looks.

It's crazy. I'm just...

I know. Same. (LAUGHS)

Ah... Is everyone as happy as I am?

My brain is melting right now. It's insane!

Like, A, I just can't believe that's a veg course.

Oh. It is so meaty.

The smart thing that Callum has done here

is pair it with two very intense vegetables -

Jerusalem artichoke and the shiitake mushroom.

It's got so much body, so much guts.

You don't miss meat at all.

It's all, for me, about that sauce,

which he had ticking on for basically the whole 2.5 hours.

It is rich. It's got so much structure.

It's robust.

It's got the faintest hint of wasabi leaf in there.

And then Callum's thing was like,

"I'm gonna put wasabi leaf in nearly every single element,"

but there's no way you feel overpowered by

that wasabi leaf at all.

It has just got a nice little kind of stranglehold on everything.

It's just so beautiful to eat.

He's got his pasta that looks like the little wasabi leaves,

because he's made these dimples.

Using wasabi as the essential part of the dish

has been balanced properly.

And we have this lightness with power.

He's been able to get that wasabi to kind of flirt on our palate,

which is a different approach. Yeah.

We always say to them,

you can express a flavour at the quiet end of the scale,

and that's what he's done.

Overall, it's hard to believe

that Callum had never even tasted wasabi leaf 2.5 hours ago.

And this dish - it was a total experiment.

And the way that this has come together,

it is absolute genius.

Alright, Ben, how are we looking? Good, Chef. Good, Chef.

You've got 11 minutes to service. Feeling good?

It's been stressful. Yeah.

It's meant to be stressful.

It's almost my time for service,

and the marron is gently poaching away.

I've got the risotto together.

I'm really happy with the flavour and texture of that.

And now I've just got to sort out this broth

and get everything ready to plate.

I'm tasting the broth.

Um, seriously...

I'm still not happy with the flavour that's coming out of this kelp.

It's supposed to be featuring the kelp,

and it's just not working.

It's really worrying me because I think

if that flavour's not there,

if the judges don't taste that when they eat it,

I'm not going to win this immunity.

It's just a real problem.

Ben, look, 2:45.

Plates have to go in at 2:45? Yep. Are you gonna be ready?

Yeah. All ready to go?

..that marron right now. Alright.

This broth is concerning me that it doesn't have enough of

the kelp flavour in it, but service is about to start.

I can't afford to waste any more time on it,

so I really need this crispy kelp to work.

I run over to the oven, take it out.

And thank goodness it's worked really well.

It's beautiful and crunchy and salty.

My dish needs this.

Yeah, this is the stuff I rehydrated and then dehydrated...

Basically baked.

So it's really salty, but it's got a nice crunch.

Sounds good. Are you ready to go? Yeah, I think so. Yeah.

Alright.

I'm hoping that when they taste it together,

you know, the garnish of the kelp and the broth,

they sort of enhance each other.

When I plate this dish,

it's going to have a nice little mound of the risotto

and that's going to bring up texture.

And it's going to have a meatiness from the risotto itself,

some emulsion next to it.

You're shaking. I always shake. No, no, it's not...

It's just the adrenaline. I can't... I honestly can't help it.

There's nothing. There's nothing?

Deep breaths. Mindfulness. It's not you.

The marron's poached away and it's cooked perfectly.

It's sitting on top proudly with some of the crispy seaweed,

the broth we poured around at service,

and should hopefully have a very salty, sea-like flavour.

OK. Service, please.

It was a real struggle getting through it.

Alright. So next four.

But so happy with this dish and how it's turned out.

If it all works together, you know,

I could definitely be in with a shot with immunity here.

Service, please. Alright.

Ooh, hello.

SOFIA: OK. Oh. Thank you.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Thank you. Interesting.

Oh, it comes with sauce!

Thank you. OK. Course two is fish made by Ben.

And this is butter-poached marron,

Jerusalem artichoke, freekeh risotto and kelp broth.

Looks lovely. Very elegant.

There's such a crazy aroma coming off it.

Yeah, yeah. It's going to be interesting to taste.

I was impressed by the textures.

The marron was impeccable.

Texture, colours.

This indicates how very, very well

the marron has been pouched into the butter.

The freekeh risotto is quite actually a fantastic result,

and it worked well into the dish, but not with the seasoning.

The kelp, as the main part of the dish,

I think, is completely lost.

I'm just finding it hard to distinguish some of the flavours.

I think the emulsion is a beautiful texture.

It's so silky,

but I'm not getting that much flavour out of it.

Instead of using the kelp as, like, really beautiful umami

and freshness throughout the dish,

I feel like everything is dragging the kelp down.

And that's a... That's a bit of a problem.

HUGH: How's the ice-creams? Are they churned?

DEPINDER: Yeah, the sorbet's done as well.

I'm just trying to rocher them and have them ready to go.

What, are you gonna pre-rocher? Um, yeah.

I've already done the sorbet. I have to do maybe five more,

I think. And then blast them or...?

Blast them, and then they're in the freezer.

Alright.

I'm the fourth course, the last course,

Ben's calling out... BEN: Service, please!

Thank you, Chef.

Nice one. Well done, man.

..and I'm just like, "Oh, my God!"

Service, it is so close.

While my frozen elements are almost all done...

..it's time to take out these meringue shards.

And I'm just praying that this meringue is done.

These meringue shards are adding

so much more to the dish than flavour.

It's texture, it's the snap, it's the look.

It's everything.

Wow.

I love them! They're just crisped up beautifully.

You can really taste the green ant in that meringue.

The green ant and ginger - they go so well together.

And I'm really, really happy with the flavours actually.

And I'm just thinking to myself,

"It would be really nice

"to actually add some fresh meringue to my dish,"

just to add that creaminess and just to accentuate

that green ant and ginger flavour.

So I'm going to do another element.

I'm going to get it done. I promise I'm going to get it done.

It's going to be delicious!

So, I'm doing some of this,

and I'm going to pipe some fresh meringue as well

because of how tasty it is.

Like, you can really taste this. Yeah. It's nice. Ants are good.

Yeah, you can taste the ants! Yeah. Yeah.

LAURA: Time is not my friend today.

I'm pushing myself to get everything ready for service.

I'm still finishing off two sauces.

In that watercress emulsion sauce,

I've used the tops of the golden beetroots,

and it's tasting great.

It's really earthy and peppery.

That's going to really brighten up the richness of this dish.

I'm tasting my marsala jus sauce,

and it's so rich and sweet from all those golden beetroots,

and I'm so happy with it.

Now it's time to start searing off these Wagyu steaks.

# So much to do, so little time. #

I want to cook my Wagyu to medium rare today.

And I want to get a really deep caramelised sear

on every single side

of these Wagyu cubes that I've cut up.

But I'm almost hoping that one of the volunteers

in the dining room today is a fireman,

because the hibachi is roaring with flames.

The fat dripping off this Wagyu is obviously igniting

these huge sparks of flames.

Two minutes.

Two minutes, oui.

I'm trying to cook

all of these steaks perfectly on the hibachi.

I'm relying on intuition, touch and feel.

It doesn't matter what I bloody do, it's just going to light on fire.

Yeah.

But this job is taking longer than I thought it was going to be.

ANDY: Hey, Laura, there's a fair bit of, uh...

..fair bit of flare-up. Yeah, I know.

It's just there's so much fat, Andy.

Are we plating?

Like, service has already started. Will be.

Like, we gotta go. Yeah. OK. Going, going.

HUGH: Um, yeah.

Shall we just get four plate, four plate?

I can carve if you plate. Uh, yep.

No-one wants to wait for food at any restaurant,

especially in Vue De Monde,

so I need to start hustling on these dishes.

As I'm cutting into my first steak,

I'm just, like, praying that it's cooked perfectly.

And it is blushing pink.

It is so beautifully cooked.

You can see that marbling fat almost melting through the seams.

Like, that is an epic piece of meat.

To plate my dish, I place my Wagyu steak flesh side up.

I've got three beautiful salt-baked golden beetroots.

They are perfectly cooked.

They're so tender to the touch of a knife.

I am so happy with the cook on them.

I'm dressing the plate now with my marsala jus...

Is that how you pictured it? Yeah, weirdly enough.

"Weirdly enough"! (THEY CHUCKLE)

..and that beautiful watercress and beetroot top green sauce.

Nice. Looks good. Thanks.

These plates are looking fantastic, and it's ready to send.

Service, please.

Alright. Next four? Yeah.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Let's have a look.

ANDY: Thank you. POH: Oof!

Wow. Oh, wow. Thank you.

SOFIA: Wow.

This is unbelievable! That looks good!

So, Laura's course - the meat course -

is Wagyu sirloin with salt-baked golden beetroot,

watercress green sauce, jus.

Wow, huh? What a colour is that?

This definitely looks incredible. Oh!

You can see each of those four elements.

The Wagyu is absolutely glistening.

You can clearly see those two sauces,

and the golden beets are vibrant.

Mm. Shall we dive in?

Mm.

(GIGGLES)

Wow, wow, wow. Oh, my God.

(CHUCKLES)

Jean-Christophe is praying. (CHUCKLES)

I'm literally just about to cry.

It is just...

You're really tearing up. I am excited.

What I love very much is the beetroot.

Baking beetroot in a salt crust -

what you have is this concentration of flavours.

It's just done perfectly.

The steak is fantastic -

all that lovely fattiness just melting in your palate.

That is the best piece of Wagyu I think I have ever had in my life.

It is so magical.

Like, it's exactly what Wagyu is about.

Laura's ability to really play on the caramel notes...

You know, the Wagyu - grilling it perfectly.

The caramel notes of both the reduction

but also the pepperberry,

and then the beautiful caramel notes of the beetroot marry up

with that sauce so, so well.

As a diner at Vue De Monde, if you got this dish

and then somebody asked you the next day, "How was your meal?

"What do you remember?" You would say this sirloin.

HUGH: Depinder, we have one minute.

We need to start going. DEPINDER: Yeah.

It's almost time to start plating up,

and I'm so happy I got the fresh meringue done in time.

Hugh, ready to go plating.

And it tastes so bloody good.

Let's do it. Yeah.

The first thing I do is pipe a dollop of my fresh meringue

on the base of the bowl.

On top of the meringue,

I place the yoghurt sorbet rocher.

Next to the yoghurt sorbet,

the coriander and the green ant ice-cream.

I add my pineapple granita,

I place the two meringue shards on top,

and I finish it off with some more green ants.

Service, please. SERVICE STAFF: Yes, Chef.

The dish looks amazing.

Like, I am so happy with this dish because it's intriguing.

You've got green ants, you've got meringue,

you've got a granita, you've got frozen elements underneath.

Service, please.

But I'm a little bit nervous. This is a very brave dish.

This is so out of my comfort zone but I...

Yeah, I hope they like that.

ANDY: Oh, that looks cool!

Our final course, we had Depinder on dessert,

and Hugh gave her green ants.

She's done yoghurt sorbet, pineapple granita,

coriander ice-cream,

and a ginger meringue with green ants.

Let's have a go. Ooh!

Oh... Oh, wow. OK!

It changes, doesn't it? Yeah.

This is going to be really hard!

(WHISTLES)

Wow.

We've definitely got another contender.

This is going to be really hard!

There's a couple of beauties here which I love.

There's the beauty of what's going on flavour-wise.

And then there's the beauty of the technique.

The way that she's used green ants here is...

I've never had it like this before.

I've always had it in terms of trying to balance out sweetness

or bitterness. Mm.

Whereas here she's really used it

to make all the other acidic notes in this bowl work.

I've never had one mouthful of a dessert

and had the experience of when it goes

from one flavour to another flavour to another flavour.

That's like a ten-second spread over your palate.

Yeah. That was incredible.

It kept on morphing, didn't it? Exactly!

It was... It was so interesting. I've never seen this before.

And I'm really, really, really impressed.

This is the sort of sweet

that sits really well in this sort of fine-dining setting,

because it's very refreshing

and it's a beautiful way to finish a meal.

I think this is my favourite of Depinder's sweet dishes.

It's really, really clever and definitely shows where she's at.

My tastebuds have not stopped.

It's been a delight

trying to get from the start to the finish

of each single introduction.

So, I know this table is quite heavy...

Yeah, I wouldn't do it. ..but what I'm going to do is this.

That's very restrained of you!

DEPINDER: Service, please. SERVICE STAFF: Yes, Chef.

Alright. Well done.

Thank you. All good?

Thanks for everything. Yeah. Thank you so much.

I don't think I would have been able to do this without you.

What do we do now?

We just came off the back of, like, one of the best tastings I've had.

Yeah.

And for our contestants to rise to the occasion in Vue De Monde,

I'm so proud of them.

Yeah. So proud of them.

Now it's up to us.

Three out of those four dishes were incredible,

and we have to somehow pick a winner.

Before we kick this off, I just want to say...

..what a tasting!

That had us smiling from ear to ear.

It was honestly such a treat.

CALLUM: Well done, everyone.

If there was ever a challenge tough enough

to test MasterChef's best and brightest Back To Win,

it was that one.

Yeah, I think you all did really amazing, guys.

Like, walking into any new restaurant

or any new kitchen is difficult for anyone, even professionals.

So to walk into a kitchen like this

and obviously have to cook with such high expectations,

I think, overall, everyone did, you know, a great job.

Now, our decision today was one of the most challenging so far.

Because we almost had a three-way tie for first place.

Oh! What?

With that said...

..we need to take one of you off the table.

Sorry to say...

..Ben,

your dish, it just didn't quite come together like we'd hoped.

But a great effort, mate. All good.

Well done, Benny. Sorry, mate.

Callum...

..the whole dish, it was fresh, earthy,

and humming with that wasabi leaf flavour.

When it landed at the table,

it immediately delivered

the experience that we were all hoping for.

Laura...

..from the cook on the Wagyu to the jus and the beets,

that dish - flat-out flavour,

expertly crafted in only a way that you could, Laura.

Thank you.

Depinder, that dessert...

..it was an adventure.

From sweet to savoury,

it was a little bit of everything.

And, most importantly,

those green ants - they were a highlight.

Get it, girl!

(CHUCKLES)

Three outstanding dishes.

So, what do you do?

You give the win to the cook

that utilised their ingredient in the most creative way

and brought us a dish that would happily sit

on the menu at Vue De Monde.

And that cook...

..was Callum.

Oh!

Well done. Well done.

Well done, Callum.

Callum, you did it. You won immunity.

Holy shitballs! Sorry, I know I can't say that, but, oh, my God!

Which means you've made the top five.

How does it feel? Uh, yeah, it feels incredible.

Walking in this morning, like, you can't help

but feel overwhelmed and intimidated by it -

the amazing kitchen,

a chef of Hugh's calibre, and the view...!

So, yeah, just, um...

Yeah, feel really chuffed to have that result.

Well, great work because, come Sunday, you'll be safe

up on the gantry. Thanks, Poh.

Everyone else, immunity is back up for grabs tomorrow

for the last time this week.

If you want to guarantee your spot in the top five next to Callum,

show up ready to rock tomorrow.

Good night. SOFIA: Good night, guys.

ANDY: See you, everyone. CALLUM: Thank you.

Thank you.

Are you ready to rock?! I don't know why I said that!

(LAUGHS) It just came to my brain!

ANNOUNCER: Tomorrow night...

"I think you're the most courageous person I know."

Sorry.

..have the tissues handy...

"I asked if they want Daddy to come home soon.

"The answer was, 'Not yet. We want him to win.'"

..because this tearjerker will be someone's ticket to the top five.

You're not just back to win!

You're back to make your family proud!

CALLUM: Come on, Jamie. Let's go, mate.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Are you OK, Depinder?

I definitely feel the pressure

because my family has made

so many sacrifices.

LAURA: Come on, come on, come on!

Are you going to get this done in time?

Oh, sweet Jesus.

If I fail at today's challenge,

I almost feel like I'm failing

the two biggest loves of my life.

Captions by Red Bee Media