Original subtitles

ANNOUNCER: Previously, on MasterChef Australia...

I love that you're buzzing today. You're, like, buzzing.

It's top five. I'm so happy.

..it's been an unforgettable week.

Whoa-ho! On the brink of the semifinal...

Wow. ANDY: It is off the chart.

Amazing. I'm speechless.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: It is just perfect.

..the very last immunity went to Depinder...

Oh, my God! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

..and a very special one-bite wonderland...

LAURA: This is wild!

CALLUM: It's like that Willy Wonka thing

where you cram a three-course meal into a tablet.

..was the end of the journey for Ben.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Tonight, it's a tussle for top dish...

I'm, like, trying everything in my power to get that win.

..and a massive prize.

Trust me, gang, it is one

that you are not going to want to miss out on.

Oh, yes.

ANDY: Here we go!

Come on in, top four!

Allez! CALLUM: Let's see what it is, yeah?

Oh!

Cool.

Well, hello, top four.

Morning. Hello.

We always say that this competition opens doors.

And if I were you, I would be so excited to see

what these ones are all about.

But before we get into this challenge,

let the gravity of this sink in.

You are one elimination away from the semifinal,

competing for the ultimate prize,

the title of MasterChef Australia.

But today you're competing for something else.

Up for grabs is an unbelievable prize.

Ooh.

And trust me, gang,

it is one that you are not going to want to miss out on.

Oh, yes.

Thanks to Trafalgar Tours, if you cook the dish of the day,

you will win a prize experience to tour the world differently,

worth ¤10,000.

(CONTESTANTS EXCLAIM)

Yes, please!

10 grand worth of travel?

I mean, come on, that is a... That is a very good prize.

Here's how today is going to work.

Each of us have selected an ingredient.

Those ingredients are hiding under these cloches.

One by one,

you'll pick whose ingredient you want to cook with today.

But you're not going to know what the ingredient is

until after you've made your choice.

Travel is undoubtedly the gateway to good food.

All of us have stories

about dishes we've discovered on overseas adventures.

For me, the tiny Greek island of Sifnos is never far from my mind.

I explored that place from top to tail

and I found all these amazing little places to eat.

But the one I think that left the best impression

was this local family-run taverna.

You sit on their roof,

you choose from the catch of the day,

and the Aegean

is literally just lapping at the back door.

Ah! And there was this one dish

in particular that was just so beautiful in its simplicity

that it made me really teary while I was eating it,

and it was simply orzo and squid

baked in the famous pottery of the island.

It was just magical.

Mine is the first time I visited Bangkok.

I was at this beautiful, fresh-food market,

and just at the entrance there was a lady there

selling these amazing dumplings I'd never seen before.

Super interesting technique,

with these tiny little drums with cloth pulled over them.

And she just had this sort of slurry that she was steaming.

And then in one fell swoop, she put a filling

and then just made this really beautiful dumpling.

And I think it still stands

as one of the top 10 most delicious morsels

I've had overseas.

And it was a really cool story as well,

because she'd inherited the stall from her mother-in-law

and it was a 50-year-old stall.

So I just loved the story

and how much that little bite packed a punch.

I'm taking you to Puglia, gang, the south of Italy.

I remember being there last year

and doing some research on where we should eat.

Had a bunch of my mates there.

And I'm super passionate

about having those experiences with friends overseas around food.

Found this place right on the water.

There was this big old fishing boat,

and every day they'd fill it up and pack it with ice

and bring in the catch of the day,

and it was stacked with the local catch...

Wow. ..like, from shellfish

to oysters to lobsters.

And all you did was kind of wander down,

pick what you wanted,

and then they'd cook it up for you out the back.

We sat there for like five hours, salt on our faces,

champagne in our glasses

and just enjoyed what the Italians do best -

simplicity - with my love of seafood.

Well, for me, it will have to be south of Spain with the family.

So we end up choosing a place opposite the bullring.

And the restaurant created a dish from obviously -

guess what? - from...

LAURA: The tail. The tail. Thank you very much.

And I tell you something, I will never forget

enjoying quietly something which was not expected.

So that was a treasure to me.

SOFIA: All of these eating experiences

stayed with us for a reason,

and today you need to create a dish just as memorable.

You'd better choose your cloche carefully.

There are no double ups.

I'll go really high for you. Yeah.

DEPINDER: I got three. You got three?

Numero uno.

Ooh, the last one.

Hey, two!

LAURA: So today we have to cook

with the mystery ingredient under our chosen cloche,

and the winner of today's challenge is going to win

a ¤10,000 travel voucher from Trafalgar.

OK, to be clear, Callum, you're going first,

Jamie, you're going second. Depinder, you're third,

and, Laura, you're fourth. Yeah.

Callum, would you like to come up and make your choice?

I would indeed.

This is not so much strategy.

I guess hearing your stories, I feel like there was that emotion.

You could see you picturing that memory in your own mind.

And the first time I ever went overseas

was back in series two, when I was 19.

I went to Paris and London as part of MasterChef,

which was incredibly special.

And then the next time I went overseas,

I travelled to South-East Asia

and I think just my mind got absolutely blown.

So I think I'm going to choose Poh,

because I was thinking that... Oh, my God! (JUDGES EXCLAIM)

..the emotional stuff... Didn't see that coming!

Callum, you've chosen Thailand. Let's see what you've got.

Hit me with it, Poh.

Callum, you've got...

..preserved turnip.

What the hell is that?

(LAUGHTER)

I feel like preserved turnip sounds like a made-up food.

The one time he hasn't used strategy...

(LAUGHTER) ..you've gone with feeling.

Feeling always lets you down.

Have you ever cooked with preserved turnip before?

I have not cooked with it before.

I think this will challenge you,

but I think you're more than capable.

Hello, Jamie. Ready to pick a cloche?

I think I'm actually going to take yours, Sofe.

Ooh! I'm flattered. Why?

Greece is somewhere that I really want to take Clare,

and I want to see those white walls and sit next to the Aegean with her

and experience exactly what you just said.

So I think that's the one.

Look at the fellas just being emotional souls.

I love it. I know, it's really moving.

Jamie, you chose Greece.

Are you ready to find out what's under this cloche?

Please. Your ingredient is...

..squid ink.

Very happy.

Squid ink, baby! That's way easier

than preserved turnip.

Thank you.

Depinder, what would you like to choose?

I'll go with Andy.

Depinder!

You chose Italy.

Today you will be cooking with...

..sea urchin.

Oh! Wow.

Yum!

Oh, my God! You ever cooked with sea urchin before?

No. Oh!

Have you ever cracked one open before?

No. I'm so scared.

Back in line. Well done.

Laura, so I cannot believe you've been left with me.

Hit me with it.

You ready? Yeah.

Today you're going to be cooking with...

..hojiblanca olives. Ooh, yum.

How do you feel about Spain? I love Spain.

I actually went to Spain after I got engaged.

And I love olives. My mum makes her own olives.

So we eat olives by the bucketful in our household.

So I'm very excited by these.

OK, you've all got your ingredients.

Cook anything you like.

Just make sure it's worthy of that epic prize.

We're giving you 75 minutes. Your time starts...

..now!

Let's go!

DEPINDER: Uh... You've got this, babes.

You'd think after five months I'd know where the eggs live, right?

Time starts, and the first thing I'm going to do

is eat my ingredient and figure out

what the heck a preserved turnip tastes like.

It is like a salt bomb.

It's big, it's bold, it's umami and fermenty, like you'd expect

when you eat soy sauce or fish sauce or miso.

Kind of funky, salty,

'cause it's preserved with salt, obviously.

Oh, wow. You don't need much of it. It's strong.

It's kind of like, I guess, like we have Vegemite,

maybe this is Thailand's Vegemite, I don't know.

OK.

So I'm starting to think how I can actually use this

to incorporate it properly into the dish

and not just have it on there for the sake of it.

Jamie, kalispera.

Hello. How are you? Really good.

Whoo! Ah, ocky - my favourite! I see octopus.

You've chosen squid ink. What are you making?

I'm going to do just a beautifully cooked

and charred piece of octopus on some squid ink lentils,

a little potato foam,

and a really lovely, intense squid-ink reduction

just across the bottom.

It's like....screams simplicity,

screams the coast for me,

and it's the kind of dish that I can picture myself

sitting on the coast and eating when I go over there.

Does it scream ¤10,000 trip overseas, though?

Uh, I certainly hope it screams ¤10,000 trip overseas.

I think that when you asked us to create a dish

that represents our food dream,

this is 100% the kind of food

that I want to eat when I go overseas.

I don't need 5,000 things on the plate.

I want simplicity, perfect ingredients,

and enjoy them as fresh as possible.

Tell me, would you take just Clare?

Ah, mate, when I was up there describing why I picked you,

I was getting a bit emotional, to be completely honest.

Yeah? Clare and I have never been overseas together.

We got together just before COVID hit,

so all of our... Oh, you were going...

Yeah, all of our trips that we had planned

were literally cut off because of COVID. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So this is now an opportunity to give us

a little boost and get overseas

and take those trips that we missed out on.

Well, you're going for simplicity,

and simplicity to us means perfection.

So, good luck.

LAURA: I'm feeling great.

I got Jean-Christophe's Spanish olives

and I am genuinely excited

to have these as an ingredient.

I love olives. Growing up in an Italian family,

olives are a staple ingredient in lots of sweet and savoury dishes.

So I'm going to go sweet today with my dish.

I'm going to make an olive oil cake.

It's one of my mum's recipes and it is honestly to die for.

I'm going to do a fior di latte gelato,

drizzle that with some of the fresh olive oil

pressed from those Spanish olives,

and then I'm going to use the olives itself, dry them out,

make a little crumble,

and then also use the brine to make a really zesty and salty granita.

The first thing I need to get started on

is my roasted olive crumble...

..which I'm just banging my palm on the back of the knife

onto those olives.

It's the easiest way to try and get these pips off.

They're such small olives,

so I'm trying to get them away from the flesh

as quickly as possible,

because these olives need to spend pretty much the whole cook

in the oven to make sure

that I'm extracting as much flavour as possible.

Alright, let's play.

Callum, I cannot believe you picked me.

You chose with your heart and not your brain, Callum.

I know! It's so unusual for me. So tell us what you're making.

So I'm making kangaroo pho.

Kangaroo pho? OK...

I was inspired by my South-East Asian trip.

When I was in Vietnam, I was there working with a brand called Thankyou,

which is a social enterprise from Melbourne.

And there was this family up in this, like, mountain

up in the middle of nowhere.

And this beautiful family invited us into their house,

and it was just like a really small place.

And they just had some meat hanging up on a hook on the wall,

and they grew a few little green vegies outside,

and they cooked a meal for us,

and it was literally just a couple of slices of meat,

the vegies they picked from the garden,

MSG and water just in a wok. Amazing.

But it was so beautiful because, like,

they were actually saying that they don't normally eat meat.

And it's only when they have people that come over

that they would sort of, like, dare sort of use such an expensive ingredient.

And I remember being like, "No, no, please, you keep it.

"I don't need it. Thank you."

But they were like, "No, no, we must."

And just that sense of generosity

when you have so little that just really stuck with me.

I think that's the wonderful thing about food.

Like, it is so much more than just a meal.

Like, it helps define your memories when you go travelling,

and it's like the excuse to catch up with your mates,

or the reason to go to a certain island or country or city

or whatever it might be.

And I think it's just another example

of how special food is and the way it all connects us.

I guess I'm trying to take the concept of what that was,

which is being so sort of humble

and recreating something in the same vein.

So I'm using kangaroo tail to make the broth

and then kangaroo fillet to sort of be on the top.

And because the turnip is so salty and umami,

I'm infusing it into the broth

where you would normally use fish sauce.

A really good pho

usually takes about 24 hours to make.

You've got 75 minutes.

And also the flavour of kangaroo is very different from beef, right?

It's more gamy.

So are you confident that that's going to...work?

Am I confident making a dish I haven't cooked before,

using ingredients I haven't used before

in a time frame

that doesn't allow me much time to have any Plan Bs?

No, no, I'm not confident. (LAUGHS) What could go wrong?

DEPINDER: My mind is blown right now

because I have to cook with sea urchin.

If I can get it out.

I don't know what to do with it. I've never cooked with sea urchin.

I don't even know how to open it up.

I'm actually dying.

It's so peculiar. Like, it's just...

Mm.

It just tastes like the sea.

Just...

It's so seaweedy, sea-like.

I'm just, like, going to the pantry just to get inspiration.

Today's dish is going to be trial and error for me.

I'm going in completely blind. I've never cooked with sea urchin.

I actually don't know how to cook it, to be honest.

The only time I've ever had sea urchin was raw

and it was a part of an omakase course.

This is probably the most amount of time I've spent in the pantry.

I have no idea what I'm going to do,

and it's completely thrown me out of my comfort zone.

I'm feeling genuinely challenged.

A prize like this WILL take you places!

45 minutes to go!

(JEAN-CHRISTOPHE SPEAKS FRENCH)

LAURA: So today I want to base my dessert all around

the olives and olive oil.

So I'm going to make an olive oil cake,

a little fior di latte gelato,

a olive brine granita and roasted olive crumble.

So my gelato is in the churner doing its thing.

I've got my olives drying out in the oven.

I'm feeling good.

I'm definitely playing to my strengths.

I want that travel voucher, I need a holiday bad,

so I'm gonna fight for that prize.

I'm working on my olive brine granita.

I'm trying to find the right balance of salty and sweet.

Don't tell me you're making a dessert.

I am.

Wow!

I've never actually made an olive brine granita before,

so I'm just experimenting here.

Um...

Oh, my God, that is delicious.

Sorry. I've surprised myself.

Have you ever used olives in a dessert?

Not olives. Olive oil, yes.

So you've used olive oil in the dessert?

Yes, I can understand that. Yeah.

It's your first time making a dessert with a Spanish olive. Yeah.

Definitely going for the win.

I'm, like, trying everything in my power to get that win.

I'm so ready.

Hey, good luck, by the way. I love your dish.

Ciao, ciao.

The next thing I need to get onto is my olive oil cake.

It's actually my mum's olive oil cake recipe.

I love it, it's so lemony and olive oily.

It's just, like, really delicious,

and it's a great base for any dessert.

I mean, if I was at home, like,

I'm gonna make a huge cake and it's going to take a good hour.

I obviously don't have that time left on the clock,

so I'm going to make a small cake.

I don't know how to make a half batch of this cake,

so I'm going to make a full quantity

and then just weigh out like a little small tin,

which is quite funny, actually.

This needs as long as possible in the oven

to form a really beautiful golden crust,

and really take on that olive oil flavour.

CALLUM: My dish today is kangaroo and preserved turnip pho,

inspired by memories of eating the most beautiful,

humble version of a pho.

I feel like that moment taught me a lot of life lessons,

and actually, the photo of that plate of food,

until I got married, was my phone screensaver

for like five years because every time I looked at it,

it reminded me to stay humble.

So my kangaroo-tail broth with turnip is cooking away.

That's in the pressure cooker, that's doing its thing.

A pho would typically have a braised meat

and then a raw, fresh meat that the broth actually cooks,

as you pour the hot broth over the bowl of soup.

In your classic pho,

there's going to be rice noodles in there,

but the memory of the dish I'm trying to recreate here

is essentially meat, vegetables and broth.

So instead of having the noodle element,

I'm going to pickle some fresh turnip

using the preserved turnip.

And I'm going to use some lilly pillies

instead of the bean sprouts.

I think if I can pull off what is quite a quirky dish,

I've got every chance of making a memorable meal

and maybe winning the challenge.

I have finally come up with a dish to cook with sea urchin today.

Depinder! Depinder!

Do you still love me? Um...yeah.

Um... Pretty apprehensive there. Yeah, yeah.

I'm dying to know what you're going to do with sea urchins. What's the dish?

So I'm gonna do Japanese flavours, but like a pasta dish.

What's the thought process?

The only time I've had sea urchin was at a Japanese omakase,

and I had it raw.

Sea urchin are huge in Japan.

I'm more familiar with those flavours

than I am with sea urchin.

OK, so you've tasted it raw. Yeah. What are you tasting?

It's very sea-sea. Like, sea-like.

Yeah, salty. Yeah.

Creamy. It's creamy, yeah.

So I think it'll be nice with, like, a pasta dish.

I'm gonna put it in my sauce with, like, cream,

and I'm going to serve it raw on top of the pasta as well.

Ooh. Right, so it'll be in the sauce. Yep.

And then a couple of tongues on top. Yes.

I actually don't know how to cook with it,

but I'm going to try. Oh, I love the way you are.

Oh, I don't know. You keep going.

Ha! It's just extraordinary.

Trust yourself. Yeah.

I'm trying. I know. Bring it home.

Good luck. You can do it, you know that. Thank you.

These guys definitely all have travel on the brain.

I want to start with Jamie.

So he picked squid ink from my cloche

and he's going really simple,

but going for flavour and perfection.

He's doing an octopus tentacle,

which he has assured us will be perfectly cooked.

And then the squid ink he's incorporating into lentils

and is also doing a squid ink reduction

and some foamed potato.

So he knows he has to get it really right,

and he wants to get it really right, because he wants to take his partner

on their first overseas trip together.

OK, Callum, so he's doing

- get this - a roo pho.

Kangaroo? Yeah.

I just don't know how he's going to get that really nice,

rounded, brothy flavour in that amount of time that he has.

On the other hand, I'm quite excited to see preserved turnip being used

in a way that I would never have thought to.

Yeah! That's a lovely thing. I think you're going to get that.

Yeah. And that's why I love that Callum's got your ingredient

because he's so clever, he's so savvy,

he's so unexpected in what he does in his kitchen.

And using such a foreign ingredient in a unique way could be

just the thing to get dish of the day. Yeah.

OK, I'm slowly unravelling

the facial screw-up of Depinder, and she was, like,

looking at me like she was not... We were not friends.

Um, she's got a good dish in mind, right.

She's doing a sea urchin pasta.

She's going to infuse Japanese ingredients.

She's cooked the sea urchin out in her sauce base,

and then she's going to serve it wrapped around some linguine

and then also some tongues on top.

So, OK, it's got potential. OK.

Yeah, that's tasty.

You're our top four. We're expecting greatness!

30 minutes to go!

Hey!

Today, I'm making charred octopus with squid-ink lentils,

a hot potato foam and a squid-ink reduction.

The octopus is just cooking away.

It just takes time and I'm going to keep an eye on it,

and then that's going to be finished over the hibachi.

My lentils are nearly done.

Now it's time to start building the big flavour element on my plate.

I'm making an octopus and squid-ink dashi

that I'm going to reduce right down

until it's almost sticky and like a paint.

I want this to be super, super hyper-reduced.

Now's the time I can start adding

the key ingredient of the day - my squid ink.

I don't want to add too much

because it's going to further intensify as it reduces.

This needs to be the highlight of the show, but it can't overpower.

The main inspiration behind this dish is my partner, Clare.

Clare is the rock of our family.

She makes sure I'm sorted. She makes sure the kids are sorted.

Since I've been away this whole time,

she's been looking after the business.

Clare is a powerhouse of a woman,

and I'm very lucky to have her in my life.

10 grand in travel vouchers would be unbelievable.

I would love to be able to take Clare

on all the holidays that we've missed,

because we've been working so hard.

She deserves it more

than no-one else in the world that I can think of.

And then all of a sudden, I see Jean-Christophe come over

and look at my lentils and look at me and walk away.

Didn't seem like he enjoyed the way they looked.

Jean-Christophe loves his lentils and he's very picky about it.

My lentils are overcooked.

The lentils are one of only four things

that are going on this plate.

If they're not perfect, there's no chance of this prize.

JAMIE: I'm just redoing my lentils.

They're a little bit overdone first time round.

So I want to make sure everything's perfect.

Can't put up a food that's talking about simplicity

and not get the simple things right.

Jamie. Lentils two? Lentils one?

Lentils two in here. Lentils two. Oui.

You know, Jean-Christophe is, like, very specific about his lentils.

Very specific. Understandable.

Lentils are notoriously hard to cook.

And if I don't get this batch right, I won't be winning this prize.

Only 20 minutes to go.

I'm making a Japanese-inspired pasta dish.

I blitzed all of the sea urchin into the sauce.

I'm just going to taste the sauce a couple more times.

This is my main sea urchin element.

Yeah, that's tasty. That's really tasty.

I'm going to toss some prawns through the pasta as well,

just to accentuate that sea flavour.

Let's get on to this pasta.

OK, guys. 15 minutes to go. Come on! Allez, allez!

The dish I'm making today is kangaroo and preserved turnip pho.

This dish has an emotional connection for me.

Got my garnishes done.

The kangaroo's rolled and ready to slice.

It's almost time now to open this pressure cooker.

And if this broth isn't well-flavoured and tastes delicious,

then the dish is going to be terrible.

So here's hoping for delicious pho vibes.

Is this the broth? This is the broth.

Have you tasted the broth yet? Well, I've only just opened the lid,

so not yet. OK.

But I look forward to trying it.

Would you mind holding this for a moment?

Yeah, sure, from a distance. Yeah. I'll pour carefully.

OK. I can't see, though.

Oh.

OK. Wow. That was... That was high heat.

Alright. Thanks, Poh, much appreciate it.

You're welcome. Grab that one for you.

Love being your sous.

It's definitely got that kangaroo

sort of like meaty savouriness there.

But it doesn't have that fermented sort of saltiness

from the turnip. And that is a big problem.

I've promised the judges an amazing broth,

and, right now, it's not amazing.

So I need to intensify this - and fast.

Did you try it?

It tastes nothing like...

Callum, have you tasted your broth?

I have, just for the first time, yeah.

What do you think?

The turnips didn't add as much salt

as what I was anticipating they would. Mm-hm.

Um, so I'm going to reduce it down a bit now,

and then I'll add some more

and try and just get that salt balance right.

Yeah. Make that broth perfect.

Thank you. Good luck.

It is, like, all systems go.

I'm getting more spices in there.

Getting more turnip in there.

I'm reducing it hardcore.

I have to save this broth.

My potatoes are cooked.

They're just cool enough for me to start

passing them through the tamis.

That's then going to get blitzed with milk and butter.

And then it will be in the siphon.

So that'll be a nice little foam over the top.

I want this potato foam to have

a beautiful, light mousse-like texture,

because it's going to be soft and sweet

and envelop everything else on the plate.

The octopus is coming out of the dry fry.

I slice a bit off the top, taste it.

And it's exactly the texture I want.

It's still got bite, but it melts away once you chew it.

It's full of that beautiful octopus flavour.

This just needs a light touch over the fire.

It doesn't need long, it just needs to pick up little nuances of smoke.

And it's exactly what I wanted to give the judges.

It's time to have a look at the second batch of lentils.

They're just starting to fall apart on the outside.

It's exactly how I want them.

I'm going to finish it off with a pan

to make sure I get some more flavour in there.

And that's where I'm going to introduce the squid ink.

SOFIA: That was quite a lot of squid ink.

I don't want the squid ink to just be a little tip of the hat.

I want it to be the heart and soul of why this dish is special.

Take our tastebuds on an adventure.

You've only got five minutes to go.

(APPLAUSE)

LAURA: I'm making a dessert all around olives.

I'm just mortar-and-pestling the roasted olive crumb.

I'm going really well. My cakes are in the oven.

My granita is in the blast freezer.

The ice-cream is churning.

I check my granita and the texture is so wrong.

There's no ice crystals.

There's no airy component.

It's turned into a sorbet.

Yeah. Ooh.

Too much sugar, surely, no?

But it's actually delicious.

So I'm going to keep it as a sorbet option.

Laura. Hi.

How's it going here? Um... The granita didn't work,

but it almost turned into sorbet. Ah!

So I have, like, a mistaken sorbet.

That's an olive component, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, it's olive brine.

Yeah. It's really yummy.

OK. You've still got your cake.

Well, it's not cooked yet.

Mate, you're pulling a Poh - big time.

SOFIA: How not cooked is it?

What happens if that cake doesn't cook?

Yeah. I don't have a cake.

Three minutes to go. Allez!

LAURA: Three minutes to go,

I've pulled the cake out of the oven.

It's, like, somewhat set.

Oh, man.

But I've promised these judges cake.

I need to find a way to put some cake on the plate.

I'm literally pulling corners off.

I'll take anything at this point.

My pho broth is reducing. So while that's sorting itself out,

I'm going to start plating everything else up.

I've got the kangaroo tail that was braised in that broth -

that goes in first.

I'm then going to top it with

the shavings of raw kangaroo over the top.

That'll get cooked by that hot broth.

I'm going to start layering up all the little elements

of the turnips and lilly pillies,

which are the bean sprouts, effectively,

turnip leaves as well.

And then, finally, I'm going to garnish

with some extra fermented turnip,

because I think one of the really lovely things about it

is the texture.

Go, Jamie. JAMIE: Always!

Need a last-minute run.

I want this dish to be striking.

I have this beautiful white porcelain plate

to represent the walls all along the coastline of Greece.

Big slick of the paint

that I've created from the dashi and the squid ink.

And then I start to plate everything around that.

I've got my squid ink lentils on one side.

Top it with some of the perfectly cooked octopus.

It's already shaping up to be one of the most beautiful dishes

I've put up this year,

and it's going to scream ¤10,000 trip.

OK. Alright.

My pasta is done.

I take it out really quickly, press it and it's al dente.

It's really, really good.

I add my prawns into the sauce, I add the pasta,

give it a quick toss, and it looks amazing.

OK, let's do this.

I'm thinking about plating up now.

I go in with the pasta in the middle,

and then I start to place some prawns on the side,

a little bit of prawn head oil,

and this beautiful sea urchin tongue sitting on top,

just to accentuate that flavour...

OK. Garnishes.

..with nori clumped up on one side and a garnish of chives.

LAURA: So to plate up,

I've got my semi-cooked cake on the bottom of the plate.

I've got my olive crumb.

That beautiful fior di latte gelato.

I've got my olive brine sorbet,

and I'm topping that with some olive oil and some fennel pollen.

This is so far from what I planned, it's not even funny.

Like, how do I get from A to, like, Z?

CALLUM: I'm tasting the broth one final time and by reducing it,

has really intensified it.

It's got a really nice balance now of savoury and salty,

as well as those kind of fresh aromats

of the star-anise and the cinnamon, the ginger in there as well.

So I think it's tasting really good.

It does remind me of this humble version of a pho,

and I think I've used the preserved turnip in some ways

that the judges are expecting as well.

So I think I've given myself a chance.

Show us why you're the top four in 10...

JUDGES: Nine, eight, seven,

six, five, four,

three, two, one!

Well done!

How did it go? Fine.

How'd you go, mate? Alright.

Oh, my gosh!

LAURA: This was one of the worst cooks I've had in the kitchen.

And even though some things are delicious on this plate,

I still have a raw cake on there.

Like, how did I let that happen?

We gave you special ingredients from our adventures

that we absolutely love.

And it's clear you've all taken the road less travelled.

There is an extraordinary prize on offer for the top dish.

We'd like to taste your dish, Callum.

POH: Whoa! JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Fragrance.

It looks very pretty and colourful.

Thank you.

What have you made us?

CALLUM: Kangaroo and preserved turnip pho.

Kangaroo pho is not the first thing that would have come to my mind

if I saw preserved turnip.

It was interesting because you had first pick

and you came straight for my cloche.

And your comment was, "What the hell is that?"

Yeah, that was my first reaction.

And then the second thing I thought was,

"Embrace the unknown and see what happens." Yeah.

Callum, if you won the ¤10,000 travel voucher,

where would you go?

Um, my wife and I have been talking about going to Greece, actually.

Yeah. Greek Islands has your name all over it.

Obviously, I'd love to win for me today.

But, you know, my wife's eight months pregnant,

two young kids at home, and she's, like,

doing all the parenting stuff whilst heavily pregnant.

Yeah. If anyone deserves a holiday, she's...

Yeah, I'd love to take her somewhere.

Well, as you know, Callum, pho is all about the broth,

so let's see if this broth gets you that ticket to Greece.

SOFIA: Interesting.

When you said kangaroo pho, I was really worried.

But it is really good.

(LAUGHS)

The fact that you use preserved turnip

as sort of that umami hit has done the broth so much good.

I was really worried that you didn't have enough time

for the gaminess of that roo to, like,

cook out into a round flavour,

but the fact that you reduced it

and then added more of the preserved turnip in there -

alchemy has happened.

It is really good.

I love the way you treated the kangaroo tail.

Really lovely and gelatinous.

And then, I love that thin slices of roo

that are just rare with the edges cooked,

and then all the little herbs,

even the lilly pillies, like, instead of the bean sprouts

were just such a genius move.

I love this Aussie take that you have on the pho.

You really took me to Thailand.

ANDY: Same!

Callum...

It's fantastic.

What is great is how you've managed to thicken that broth,

but it's thickened properly.

It's not overpowering your palate

and it's just enough to allow all the elements of the flavours

is to get very slowly into your mouth.

You have converted a preserved turnip!

CALLUM: Thanks, JC. Appreciate it. Yeah.

How does it feel to follow your heart in this kitchen?

Weird. Unusual. I'm not sure I like it.

Well, mate, I reckon you should follow your heart,

you know, a lot more in this kitchen,

because I feel like that emotional connection to travel

and, you know, going to South-East Asia,

it's resulted in something that's blown all our minds.

This bowl of food,

this shows another level of your evolution.

Your bowl food way earlier on in the competition

has never been anywhere near as good as this.

This is really, really good, mate.

I think the highlight for me,

I loved that braised roo tail so much.

Mm. It just had this, like, huge chunk

of, like, fat and gelatine on the side of it.

I was like...

And it just fills your mouth with this beautiful, luxurious, like...

..feeling. It's an emotion. It's a feeling.

And then, for me, it was the broth

because that, that broth didn't taste anywhere near

what it did in that bowl with, like, five minutes to go.

Yeah. It's insane how much that's changed.

Ooh, mate, I reckon you took a punt making this.

Making a pho broth in 75 minutes.

Well done, Callum. Thank you. Thanks, everyone.

Thanks, mate.

We'd like to taste your dish, Depinder.

DEPINDER: There's so many things that are going through my mind.

This has been, like, such a wild cook for me.

I think my pasta is good.

I think my sauce is good,

but I'm still a little bit nervous because it's sea urchin.

ANDY: Depinder! What have you made?

DEPINDER: I've made a Japanese sea urchin-style pasta dish.

When I lifted that cloche

and you locked eyes with those sea urchins,

that was not a happy face.

Oh, I've never cooked with sea urchin before.

I've only ever eaten it once.

And it was raw, so I didn't know what to do with it.

And I've tried to do my best.

I was constantly tasting

every single time I added a new element to the pan

or a new ingredient, I just tasted it.

I tasted the ingredient

before adding it into the pan

and then tasted it after.

And I think that was the only way to go in this cook.

Well, I am looking forward to seeing

how you've married Japanese flavours and sea urchins.

So I reckon we get stuck in. Yeah.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Thank you. POH: Thank you.

(EXHALES)

Depinder!

The concept of introducing Japanese flavours

to a noodle or pasta dish with sea urchin,

like, many, many ticks,

I think they go so, so well together.

There is loads of flavour going on here

and the thing that I love about it,

it just does have that underpinning flavour of sea urchin,

which kind of runs throughout that deep, rich, intense sauce.

I've got to say, I did not think I was going to get this plate of food

from you when I revealed sea urchin was what you had to cook with today.

So it's another really good cook for you,

because you really did have to work and work really hard.

So, well done. Thank you.

Depinder...

I love your linguinis.

They are so well done.

Your skill on the pasta was impeccable.

Your sauce, your level of kickiness of the spice

and the, and the chilli obviously,

it is just perfect.

You've done a fantastic job.

I was really worried because there were so many levels

of umami you were introducing to the dish, like the prawns,

the kombu, the miso.

And I thought that the sea urchin was going to have

a lot of trouble fighting through,

but you've managed to make that the predominant flavour.

It's still the hero, which is amazing.

I think you've done a really, really good job.

Thank you. Thanks, guys.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Pleasure.

DEPINDER: Oh, thank you, babe.

We'd love to taste your dish, Jamie.

CALLUM: Good luck, Jamie.

JAMIE: I'm super proud of this dish today.

It reinforces everything I love about food.

It is simple and delicious,

and that's what it should be.

JUDGES: Ohhhhh.

You've done it! SOFIA: Nice one!

Mate, that looks so good! Ooh!

Thank you.

I made charred octopus, squid ink and potato.

Jamie, this looks beautiful.

If you have the top dish today, where are you taking Clare?

The Greek Islands.

It'd be a good place to pop the question, I suppose.

Whoa! Oh, ho-ho-ho!

Are you proposing?

You cannot let Clare watch this episode.

Well, I actually wanted to do it for a long time,

so a little cherry on top can be to do what I was going to do anyway,

just in Europe. That'd be great.

That's a lot of pressure riding on this dish.

Yeah, it is, it is.

But this is a dish that I know she'd love.

It's flavours that I love.

I think it's a beautiful little plate of food,

and it's pretty representative and showcases the ingredient

that you gave me in the place that you gave it to me from, so...

Alright. Well, as I say, pressure makes diamonds.

So let's see how you go.

Jamie, some pretty bold moves there.

From the way you plated the dish

to being really concise

in the number of elements that you had on there.

You could be getting married. Hey!

(LAUGHS)

Had me sweating there.

I think you use squid ink in the most beautiful way here.

That really bold brushstroke was really stunning.

And at first I thought that the lentils might have been

a little bit over seasoned because of all that dashi

and that salinity from the squid ink.

But with that perfectly smooth potato foam,

it was so great just rolling around the mouth.

And your octopus - I don't think you could have cooked it better.

You could be in with a shot today.

Thank you.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Jamie, what you did was very smart.

I like the fact

that you've actually used ink as the main ingredient.

And you managed to cook it down to

something which is super delicious.

I love your potato mash.

Well done for changing your mind

and rectifying the mistake of your lentils,

to cook them again and to retain the bite,

that is very, very special.

Well done. Thank you, Chef.

Jamie, this is simplicity just done on another level, bro.

I thought the octopus was so well done,

just that right amount of bite.

And it was crucial to put that thing over the smoke

'cause it just gives another dimension to the dish.

But...

..the squid ink was my favourite part.

It gave a really great body to the lentils

and also pulled them away

from that real earthy nature that they have.

Mate, that's fire, as far as I'm concerned.

You should be super stoked. Thanks, guys.

Well done! That was a good dish.

LAURA: Well done! Well done.

JAMIE: That was so good.

Oh, my God, if you get married.

Finally, we would like to try your dish, Laura.

LAURA: Walking up my dish,

I've got cake on there that's not perfect.

I've got a sorbet that was meant to be a granita.

I pushed myself to do something really different today

and it just didn't pay off.

This is a horrible feeling to have,

walking a dish up that you're not completely proud of.

JUDGES: Ooh!

So I've gone sweet.

And I've done an olive oil and lemon cake

with a fior di latte gelato,

olive brine sorbet and then roasted olive crumb.

You don't give up, huh?

Nope. The cake just didn't cook,

but the texture's just not what it should be.

It's not caramelised, but I had to put it on there.

OK, Laura, let's have a look.

I'll just take that for you. Thank you.

You ready?

(LIGHT CRUNCH) Oh.

A pip. I heard it.

There's a few in there.

Oh, God.

LAURA: Oh, God.

Laura, there are a few olive pits in there.

I got surprised hard!

Olive pit - pretty big no-no. I'm so sorry.

It's the way you were bashing the olive down with your knife.

POH: Laura...

..the two things that stood out that kind of were the downfalls

were it was way too salty.

So the granita was super, super, super salty, and of course the cake

but we kind of suspected that.

Is it something I enjoyed or is it something I'm not sure?

One thing is sure is you are so close

to probably deliver one of

the most spectacular, quirky dish of the season, Laura.

Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Thank you, Laura.

Just such a rookie error at this point in the competition!

I think I'm lucky that this is not an elimination cook.

Even though you all deserve a little vacay,

one of your dishes took us on an unforgettable adventure.

It was thoughtful, immaculately cooked.

Texturally, it was a joy to eat

and the flavours married together perfectly.

And by far our favourite part was the use...

..of the squid ink.

Yeah!

(CHEERING)

I'm going on holiday, baby!

Everyone, sh-sh!

Sh!

I think I hear wedding bells!

(LAUGHTER)

That's awesome. That's so good.

I had her in my mind when I was...when I was cooking it.

And so here we go.

How good?

Jamie, your dish was absolutely phenomenal.

Well-balanced, superbly executed.

Every element were perfect.

And the most important thing is your ink was so dominant in your dish.

So well done.

And, don't forget...

Ha-ha! Yeah, yeah, yeah.

POH: We won't let him. Don't worry.

SOFIA: Yeah, yeah. Congratulations.

ANNOUNCER: Tomorrow night on MasterChef Australia...

In round one, you need to decide

whether you're making a savoury dish or a sweet dish,

either with what you can see...

..or the ingredient under the cloche you can't see.

Come on!

..this gamble is bigger

than anyone anticipated...

DEPINDER: At this point,

if you're not a top dish,

you're automatically a bottom dish.

Oh, my God, I'm so nervous.

..because this two-round elimination

is their ticket to the semifinal.

There is no room for error here.

LAURA: I'm terrified this dish

is not going to be enough.

God, what have I done?