Original subtitles

VOICEOVER: Previously on MasterChef Australia...

..a new breed of cooks...

..are battling the biggest names in MasterChef history.

ANDY: Billie, Sashi and Julie Goodwin!

(ALL CHEER)

But there's more than just reputations at stake.

(WAILS)

What are you most scared of?

Going home a bit early.

(ALL LAUGH)

With three immunity pins up for grabs...

This is the ultimate David vs Goliath battle.

..the competition started with a bang.

Whoo! Yay!

Favourites Tommy and Christina...

ANDY: It's just perfection, mate.

(APPLAUSE)

..and Fan Harry...

With dishes like that, you may have $250,000 to work with.

..blew away the judges and bagged the bling.

Tonight, a service challenge showdown should favour the Favourites.

WOMAN: Oh, my God, terrifying going up against the Favourite.

But never underestimate the power of the home cook.

# 'Cause you're hot, then you're cold

# You're yes, then you're no

# You're in, then you're out

# You're up, then you're down

# You're wrong when it's right

# It's black and it's white

# We fight, we break up

# We kiss, we make up

# You're hot, then you're cold

# You're yes, then you're no

# You're in, then you're out

# You're up, then you're down

# You're wrong when it's right

# It's black and it's white

# We fight, we break up

# We kiss, we make up

# You # You don't really wanna stay, no

# You # But you don't really wanna go-o

# You're hot, then you're cold

# You're yes, then you're no

# You're in, then you're out

# You're up, then you're down. #

Hey, uh...

..how do you think this is gonna go?

The old service challenge.

I think the Favourites have got a rough idea what's about to happen

but the Fans are gonna walk in there, look at us,

see the tables and chairs out there.

That's gonna make them brick it.

They're not gonna be expecting a service challenge straight up.

No way. No.

Oh. Wonder what it's gonna be today!

I know.

(ALL EXCLAIM)

MAN: What?! Are you kidding me?!

In you come. Already?! What?!

My gut sinks.

Are you serious? Are you serious?

I've never done service before.

Oh, my God.

The MasterChef kitchen looks so different.

It's all pretty and pink and there's flowers.

(ALL EXCLAIM)

The Favourites seem pretty excited.

They've got this experience under their belt,

working in different areas of hospitality.

TOMMY: Service challenge already?

I am super excited.

But what's gonna happen to the Fan? I dunno if they're gonna survive.

My God, what?! (LAUGHS)

WOMAN: What are you doing to us?

Oh, my God.

The last two years, I've been cooking for myself, my wife,

a few scraps for the cat...

I don't even know how many seats there are,

but this is definitely more than that.

Morning, everybody.

ALL: Morning.

Tommy, Harry, Christina, right down the front...

..I can hardly see you guys.

The shine on those pins is blinding! Tommy.

Yeah, I'm pretty happy. It's just, um, it's scary having it, man.

It's scary having it.

Well, no prizes for guessing what today's challenge is.

(HUMS FANFARE)

It's a service challenge.

Wow.

Uh-oh. SASHI: Uh-oh.

Sashi. Yes.

Mate, you got a restaurant, you're used to doing this day in, day out.

Confidence, high?

Um, good confident.

It's a lot of people here that might have also done it

and we're gonna learn and share among ourselves

and, yeah, I'm pumped to do the service.

Nice one. And Jules, you run a cooking school.

Yep. Similar but also different.

It is different to a restaurant service.

When we have events, it's sort of a servicy-style thing, but, uh...

Yeah. Never done it here before.

This is just another event. Yes.

Harry, does it feel a bit daunting,

knowing that these guys have such a massive amount of experience?

Yeah. It definitely makes me feel a bit scared.

But at the same time, I wonder

if there's gonna be too many chefs in the kitchen on that side.

(ALL REACT)

Ooh. Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo.

Trash talk! (LAUGHS)

Little shot fired there, isn't it? Little shot fired.

(ALL LAUGH)

In today's challenge,

you are gonna prepare and serve a three-course meal.

Right now, you're both in a team of 12.

But in a moment, you're gonna split yourselves into courses.

Four of you will be in charge of entrees, four in charge of mains,

four in charge of desserts.

Your goal is to make your course better than the other team's course.

The winning entree, the winning main and the winning dessert

will progress to tomorrow's challenge

where you'll be one step closer to immunity from Sunday.

Fans, Favourites, you need to organise yourselves into courses.

Right now.

Alright. OK, team.

OK, so... I'll go entree.

I'll go entree or main, I just don't want to do dessert.

Can I just quickly suggest that Mindy be in charge?

ALL: Yeah.

MINDY: So, let's think about theme, right?

There is one fluid conversation going on here.

How many do we have?

Three teams of four.

I'll go main with you.

I'm not going dessert...

This is like...there's multiple conversations going on here.

That's already a big difference. Yeah.

We know how to bring the flavour

and I'm gonna trust you guys on the main to really bring it home.

We decide to split up people who have worked in restaurants...

You guys are on desserts, excellent.

And I'll do entree then and you guys are on mains.

Yep.

MINOLI: We put Mindy, Sashi and Sarah into three teams.

So I ended up on entrees.

OK. We're done.

MEL: One more thing.

Each course today must feature a chosen ingredient.

And whatever ingredient is selected will be used by both teams.

Fans...

..because this is your first service challenge in the MasterChef kitchen,

you get the first choice of course and ingredient.

What will it be?

What do you guys think? Entree? Yeah?

Yeah, we'll go entree first.

Wanna do a veg? Yeah, we could do veg.

I think veg is a good idea.

I would like to play with veg.

I really like artichokes.

JENN: Definitely, we have to be strategic.

(ALL WHISPER)

A little bit more obscure.

We can't make it too easy for them.

We're gonna start with entree.

And your ingredient is?

Jerusalem artichoke.

The Favourites look a bit rattled by that, actually.

Jerusalem artichoke is always a bit of a side, you know?

You serve it against a main,

you might serve it against a piece of meat.

It might be a side dish as a vegetable option.

Favourites, it's up to you now.

We do it? Yeah, yeah.

Sounds like it might be a dessert choice.

So we're picking dessert. Yep.

And our feature ingredient is raspberries.

Raspberry dessert from the Favourites.

Getting some nods over here.

Alright? You can work with that?

Yep. That's good.

Yep. Thanks, guys.

So Fans, that leaves you with the main course.

What is the feature ingredient going to be?

ALI: Looking at who we're up against,

Sashi's really well known for making amazing curries

that are packed full of flavour.

Do we go head-to-head?

We think probably not.

We're probably trying to do a different type.

Maybe go a little bit more European.

Dulan?

Mel, I think we're gonna go with...

..eggplant.

Eggplant! (FAVES CHEER HAPPILY)

You've given Sashi eggplant?

That eggplant dish that we ate at your restaurant,

I reckon that's your best dish. (ALL LAUGH)

It's one of my top dish in the restaurant.

Can we do this again? (CHUCKLES)

It was instant regret.

Like, Sashi already knew what the dish is gonna be!

Righto, guys, listen up. I got a couple of rules.

Each team must prepare 40 plates of each course.

You guys will have 2.5 hours until your dishes need to leave the pass.

And the pantry and garden are fully stocked.

Are you ready for this? ALL: Yes, Chef!

Alright. Your time starts now.

MINOLI: OK, let's grab a piece of paper and start. Mindy?

I'm on pink team which means I'm doing entrees for the Favourites.

Need to think seasoning, seasoning, seasoning.

I've got Christina, Aldo and Minoli.

This, we want it to be an entree

so it needs to be like fresh and zingy, right?

If we think of some kind of, like, sashimi or...

ALSO: Like a tartare, yep.

And because I've got my own restaurant,

I've kind of been nominated as leader.

We somehow have to figure out what to do with Jerusalem artichoke.

Jerusalem artichoke, we'll do like a...

What do you reckon? Chips, if you like?

Crispy. Yeah.

Jerusalem artichoke has this really...

..sweet yet nutty flavour once it's deep-fried.

We can do citrus.

So we can either use lemon zest or finger limes.

If they've got in there. Yuzu?

I often refer to it as fartichoke... (CHUCKLES)

..'cause if you don't know how to prepare it,

it can give you a lot of gas.

I'm just really nervous about that Fan team

because Harry cooked, yesterday,

this amazing cabbage dish that won her a pin.

So as far as I'm concerned, she's the queen of vegetables.

OK. Artichoke puree.

Yep.

I love Jerusalem artichokes because they're so versatile.

Yeah, then we'll do sumac on the chips as well

and that'll tie it in really well together.

I'm feeling a little bit of pressure at the moment,

considering that I was the person who chose this ingredient

to make sure that my team really knows what we're doing

and why we're doing it.

And goat chevre, that's like the two things that'll kind of give it

a little bit of body. MAX: And creme fraiche.

Max is really keen on also incorporating some globe artichoke,

which I think is great.

With the globe artichoke...

Cinnamon and bay leaf?

Yeah, cinnamon and bay leaf and lemon zest. Oh, yum!

Lemon zest. Oh, lemon zest.

Lemon zest, lemon peel. Yum.

Double artichoke, so good.

But doing a vegetable entree is a big call.

What's our... What's our protein?

Um, let's go the lamb.

Go lamb. Yeah, we'll go with it, yeah.

Yeah, lamb and eggplant goes together.

I'm on Fans' main team here.

I've got Matt, Ali...

Pomegranate, yeah. ..and Dulan on my side.

Middle Eastern sort of flavour. Yeah, Middle Eastern vibe.

Yeah, definitely.

We didn't wanna play Sashi too much at his own game

with an eggplant curry.

SASHI: OK, an eggplant curry of mine,

it's like a Rampal gravy.

Yep. Oh, love it.

So how do you wanna do the eggplant?

So, we'll do the puree, obviously. Make a puree out of it.

DANIEL: Dulan offers a great eggplant puree as a base.

Alright, what else goes with this?

I mean, yoghurt is an obvious... Yep.

We don't really have a team leader,

it just sort of shifts with each element.

I reckon that's a solid basis there.

Yep. Go, go, go.

Let's go. We gotta go.

Baskets.

Go, Jenn, go. Let's go!

If we beat Sashi at his own game with eggplant,

we'd be pretty happy with that,

but we understand that's gonna be a hard battle.

Where's the yuzu salt?

SASHI: Peanuts, shallots...

Cumin and basmati.

I'm cooking the main course for the Favourites.

Once I know the feature ingredient is eggplant,

I tell my team, "I've got a dish."

Deep-fried eggplant with a coconut base curry sauce.

It's called kathirikai. Kathirikai means eggplant in Tamil.

I might go get some eggplants. Yeah, please. Go for it.

And they were so glad that

they don't even have to think about anything, they said, "Let's go. Let's go with it."

Can we take this in the pantry? You can take that.

Let's take it. (LAUGHS) Go.

We write down all our elements.

Gonna put it like that.

I know the dish very well.

Lot of chilli.

My team doesn't know anything about the dish.

Shallots.

So I've gotta be very clear

on what the elements and who's gonna be doing what.

Wanna grab all the curry leaves.

Here we go, curry, Sashi, hey?

Yeah, man.

I'm putting my restaurant's reputation at stake.

That dish is on the menu and I'm cooking this on the competition.

I need to nail it.

Nice.

May I just reach across there? Yep.

Thank you. I'll pass it.

Oh, you're a legend. There you go.

How do you know I can't do that anymore?

Alright, here we are, first team challenge

and it's our first service challenge on top of that.

I love the fact that it's not just team versus team,

it's course versus course.

Put the shard sitting on top. Yep. Perfect.

That levels the playing field a little bit.

MEL: Entree, Jerusalem artichoke.

Main, eggplant. Dessert, raspberries.

Pretty even in that regard.

Oh, come on, guys, this should be a walk...in...the...park

for the Favourites.

Like, on paper, this is theirs, 100% of the time.

What, the whole team to go on the gantry?

The whole team on the gantry.

Ay-yi-yi-yi!

How are you peeling today, Chris?

CHRIS: I'm peeling pretty well.

I'm just trying not to lose a finger. (CHUCKLES)

The Fans' team entree, I don't really wanna be the leader.

Like, two halves and then we'll have some left over, just to bulk it up.

But understandably, in a service challenge,

there's gotta be someone who steps up

and makes sure that that communication's happening.

Chris and I are peeling the Jerusalem artichokes.

Yeah, let's get rid of all the stalks first and then we can peel.

Then we can clean the choke. Yep.

It's a good, like, um, methodical task to do at the start of a cook.

Argh!

You're doing a great job. Keep going.

Harry. Hello.

Entree section?

So we're doing a Jerusalem artichoke puree.

On top of that, there's gonna be some beautiful crispy grilled globe artichoke.

Then we've got two kinds of oils,

doing some artichoke chips that we're gonna toss in sumac and salt.

Artichoke on artichoke on artichoke. Yep.

OK, well, you hit the brief.

Um... (CHUCKLES)

..that's a lot of artichoke.

Look, it is gonna be a lot of artichoke.

Potentially take a lot of prep time

but ultimately, gonna have so much flavour.

That puree's a little bit of goat chevre in there,

little bit of acidity from that.

You're owning this dish.

You're leading it, you're directing it, you're making the decisions.

Good. Thanks, Chef.

You will be in with a chance. Yep.

Good luck. Thanks so much.

Hear that, Chris? Heard that.

The judges are telling us our dish is a real contender to win,

it is just absolutely fuelling my fire.

They're slicing.

They're doing slices as well.

Especially going up against Minoli, Aldo, Mindy.

Christina's also got an immunity pin.

How you going, Julie? Yeah, good, thanks, mate.

How are you going? Yeah, good.

Chopping finger limes. (CHUCKLES)

Early days. Early days. (LAUGHS)

Yeah, we're doing actually really good for time.

It's going really well.

Maxing it up on the artichokes, hey?

(CHORTLES) Of course, mate, of course.

Didn't wanna let Aldo have the globes.

ALSO: (HIGH VOICE) Minoli, Minoli, Minoli!

Aldo. (LAUGHS)

So we went Jerusalem, hopefully, just to throw you guys around a bit.

Oh! Game plan, huh?

We're not gonna come in against the Favourites

without a game plan, mate.

It's gonna take me so long.

I see. I see what's happening.

Is it a fair kind of contest between Fans and Favourites?

I don't know. I think my reputation's on the line.

Got it, yep, love it.

I think I've got a lot to lose going into this

so I really need to bring it.

Minoli? Yes?

Blender? Can you... Quick, masterclass?

First service challenge was an absolute disaster last time

so I'm kind of hoping a few of those wheels might actually fall off

for the Fans today. (LAUGHS)

Just a little sprinkle. We'll be done these in two minutes.

That's not answering my question - yes or no?

No. I'm not in position where I can. Cool, that's fine.

Ten years ago, the one person you might remember from my series

is definitely Andy Allen.

Yeah, yeah, good man.

Andy was like the larrikin.

He was a lot of fun, he was always chilled out.

Righto.

Andy's like one of my mates.

In finals week, he was the underdog.

I was really confident with what I was doing

but I undercooked my barramundi and I was out of there.

It was a shock. I came fourth.

But...

..it pushed me to really pursue my purpose and my dreams.

Is there unfinished business in the MasterChef kitchen? Absolutely.

I'm always in it to win it.

JOCK: Mindy...

Hello, mate. We're just gonna surround you.

Mate? Mate, you say! What have you done, bringing me back, Andy?

You love it. You love it.

I cannot believe how hard it is in this kitchen.

Come on, forget about the chaos, what are you making?

Jerusalem artichoke. It was a bit of a curveball,

I don't tend to use this type of ingredient at work,

so we're just gonna try and use it

as a really yummy, nutty, textural component.

We're gonna do a tuna tartare. OK.

We're gonna do it with a crispy artichoke.

We're doing a yuzu emulsion with the tuna tartare.

Finger limes with the tartare. Little bit of chives.

Gonna get a little bit of chilli in there as well,

just so it's got a little kick and a zing.

This is really just to waken up the palate, you know,

moving on to main.

And...what's the feature ingredient?

Jerusalem artichoke.

Where is it in the dish?

Well, it's the crispy, crunchy, nutty element.

Chip.

It's a chip. It's gonna...

It's a hard fight to see its way past yuzu, finger lime...

Well, it's a pretty big feature.

It's gonna be like the thing that you see first.

You guys are going pretty light on with the artichoke.

They're the other way. Yeah, yeah.

They've got like artichoke, artichoke, artichoke.

Yeah. They've got a cracker over there.

Half an hour down, two hours till service starts.

Let's go. Come on. (CHEERING)

Chip. Chip.

We are all over this like white on rice.

(BLENDER WHIRRS)

I like to make a noise.

We've got Mindy. She knows what she's doing.

She's an amazing cook, so I'm happy. Let's hope. Let's hope.

Yeah. (LAUGHS)

Let's hope!

I'm leading with entrees for the Faves.

Tuna tartare with a citrus emulsion and Jerusalem artichoke crisps.

Mindy, what do you think about what the judges said?

Do you think they'll love the dish?

Yeah. Look, I think we've got to play to our strengths.

It sounds like both entrees

are really, really, really different, you know?

So, I think... That's not bad, right?

No. Like, difference is good.

We just stick to our game plan.

I hear the judges expressed concerns about the chips

and the possible lack of Jerusalem artichoke as a feature.

So, overload it with chips. Totally. I love these things.

Look at them. They're gorgeous. Yum.

Mindy, Aldo and Christina,

they have been in the food industry for a very long time.

I'm a freshly...I'm basically a fan.

What do you think, Minoli?

It's going to be visually the first thing they see. Yeah.

It's going to be the crunch element of the dish. Yeah.

I think as long as they can taste

that gorgeous nuttiness of the artichoke.

Yeah. Yeah.

I don't really know what to say.

Meeting the brief was hot topic last season.

And Mindy, she's very...firm.

And worst-case scenario, we go less tuna.

I don't think less tuna. I just think less...

We've got to get the balance of flavours right

with the finger lime and the citrus dressing.

Yeah.

I need to trust her. If she's backing herself, then I have to back her too.

OK. Mince, coriander chutney.

Cumin rice.

I think that will go in about half an hour time.

Curry leaf? The curry leaf is not done.

This is my second day in the MasterChef kitchen.

I see them and they're all, like, super calm and everything like that,

then I see us and we're like, uhhhh...

Want to chop these up, do you think?

Hey? Chop them up?

If you want to.

I'm on the Fan side doing main course and we're featuring eggplant.

We're just doing a, like, a Middle Eastern sort of a dish,

smoky eggplant puree, and we've got lamb to go with it.

And then we've got other bits and pieces.

I look over and I see Sashi.

He's so calm, so collected.

And he was stirring the curry.

Our eggplant's on fire!

We are, like, dying out here. Can you help us, please?

My wife and I are raising two kids at home,

so, you know, that's... that's pretty full on.

Nicholas, or we call him Nicky. He's my first born.

I got my wife Nadia. Hello.

Yeah. Oh...

Some milk coming. I'm just... OK.

When I cook, I just zone out of all the issues, problems

or whatever happens in the background.

I've been a fan of MasterChef for many years.

I even watched season one, you know?

When I met my mother-in-law,

that's when my love for Sri Lankan food started.

As we saw within the last two MasterChefs or something,

and even Junior MasterChef, a lot of people in Australia,

they just love Sri Lankan food as well.

And I think, you know, I would make a really good fit there.

For me, getting into MasterChef was a massive achievement.

But the service challenge is absolutely insane.

I'm out of my comfort zone

and I feel like I'm just all over the joint.

Dulan, talk to us about this smoky eggplant.

Oh, it's just a smoked eggplant with, like, tahini and some herbs

and garlic and stuff like that.

Like a baba ganoush. Basically it's like baba ganoush.

But it's a bit more like a puree.

We're going to dial down on spices and stuff like that on this

because we want to...

There's more eggplant in the other elements

that we're going to put in as well.

Hang on. That doesn't make sense.

That's the thing that you... you want it to sing.

I'm saying in terms of, like, spices and stuff like that.

Right. So, clean, smoky eggplant flavour?

Correct. Yeah, yeah.

And you'll have a hint of spices in there as well.

So, there is spices in there. I'm so lost, man.

Like a hint. Hint.

I'll just trust you. How about that?

You go back to your eggplant. Thank you.

I need to cook this eggplant for all these people,

which I have never done before.

SASHI: I'm making one of my favourite dishes,

my eggplant curry with cumin rice.

The name of the dish is called kathirikai.

It is deep-fried eggplant with a coconut-based curry sauce.

Lemongrass.

Three lemongrass per serve.

OK. Yup. Yup.

For a restaurant to run smoothly,

you need to have command and control.

There must be a head. There must be a tail.

We need more chilli. More chilli.

This team, we are marching like soldiers.

Yep. That's better, isn't it?

(BOTH LAUGH)

Service, please.

After winning the competition, it has changed a lot for me,

running my main restaurant,

takeaway joint business, which sells packed products.

And now we are going global, opening in China, India.

You guys are too good.

But these two years

has been one of the toughest time for hospitality industry.

It has pushed me from a cook

to a business owner.

So, by coming back to MasterChef, is going to get my creativity back.

The passion that I have for food, I feel there's no limit.

I want myself to be put to a test.

I need to know whether I'm still worthy of what I've achieved so far.

What are we doing again? We want whites in here.

Oh, my God. Even separating an egg is like...

I'm on the desserts course.

We're making a start on the meringue,

so, we're doing, like, a raspberry meringue shard

to go on top of the mousse.

Our dish is a dome of white chocolate mousse

with a raspberry centre.

Looks so good.

Do you reckon we're good for time?

Yeah. Yeah, we are. OK.

I'm more than happy to let John take the lead.

It's good. Enough rosewater coming through?

Maybe a touch. A bit more. More rosewater. Yeah.

John was in the same season as me, season seven.

He's had a bit of a rough time

with a white chocolate shadow behind him,

but he knows what he's doing in desserts.

This dessert's basically a collaboration

with all our team, Sarah, myself, Billie and Alvin.

So, we started off with our raspberry flavour profile.

I came up with the white chocolate mousse, oddly enough.

Inside, you'll find a oozy raspberry coulis

balanced with a bit of rosewater,

and then you've got meringue shards...

Behind. Behind.

Behind. Behind. Behind. Behind, behind. Behind. Behind.

Oh, my God. Billie is on the dessert team. Of all the people.

We all honed in on Billie's season, and she won.

Are you guys using these...ones? No, go for it.

Billie, we need all of those. We need them all. No, no.

Just kidding. Take them.

A lot of my food heroes

are people I've seen on MasterChef over the years.

I've been watching since I was a teenager.

When I was 15, Maggie Beer made this roast.

You have to remember that I was never taught to cook.

I've just taught myself.

Absolutely flipped it on my first attempt.

Made me realise like,

"Oh, no. This is actually, like, a bit of a talent I have."

I love doing it, and MasterChef was a bit of a pipedream.

But then I was diagnosed with coeliac disease six years ago.

It felt like a real punch in the gut.

Gluten-free cooking is notoriously stodgy, dry, stale rubbish.

But my competitive spirit came out.

I'll happily spend, like, 12 hours a day in my kitchen experimenting.

Gluten-free food so doesn't have to be boring

because it's just because people don't know how to do it well.

We haven't had, like, a very openly celiac contestant before,

and I really want to bring something new,

show that the food can be delicious and that I can do everything,

almost everything, that people who aren't gluten free can do,

and I can do it well.

How are you going, Steph? Do you need a hand with anything?

Can't quite believe I'm here, looking around and seeing the judges

and the kitchen.

But I'm adaptable and I think people won't see it coming.

I can't taste the cake,

the friand part of the dessert that we're putting up,

but I trust the other girls.

Steph is working on the raspberry friand.

Mon is all over the really tart raspberry gel.

Me and Keyma are working together on the ice-cream.

Oh, that's better.

Finally, getting some thyme flavour. Yeah. Cool.

We're going for a mascarpone and thyme ice-cream

just because it's really rich and creamy.

It's based off a dessert that I make.

Just don't get it in my anglaise.

Melanie, come and have a chat.

Hi.

First team challenge? Oh, yeah.

Are you, like, head chef of the pastry team? I don't think so at all.

I think we're all working pretty well together.

It's good to have a natural...leader. Leader.

Let me tell you, they all do. Yeah.

Once the service starts, everything becomes like a crescendo.

Everything comes together. Absolutely.

And somebody needs to pull the team together.

Yep. Do you know what I mean?

So, if that ends up being you and you take that role, good on you.

Grab it by the horns, organise everyone.

Make sure the plates are counted.

Make sure your spoons are ready for service.

You've just got to execute it really well. Yeah.

That's the plan. Alright.

Good luck. Good luck. Thank you.

Service is on the horizon. One hour down, 90 minutes to go!

Yeah! Yeah!

So, how do we get more flavour out of the skins?

Chuck them in a muslin cloth. Put it in the milk. Yep.

Alright. I think I'm going to need another pot.

It goes, that time. Yeah.

I'm on the main course for the Fans team.

We're making lamb with eggplant and chermoula.

We're actually just going for the lamb loin.

We're going to sear it off

and then crust it with a really beautiful pistachio and spice crumb.

40 diners is quite a large amount.

The quantity is so enormous.

So, when you've got 16. About another 20.

We've really got our work cut out for us.

Is it served warm? That sauce.

Is your eggplant puree served warm? Yeah. Yeah.

Dulan's eggplants are taking quite a long time on the grill to cook.

Are you checking on those? Yes.

How do they look to you? Back.

They look OK.

What's the reason for, like, doing it on the lowest heat possible?

Oh, yeah. Um...

I've never done it like this, like, do it on the barbecue.

I had them...

Is the plan to scrape the flesh out? Yeah.

Mate, go your hardest. OK.

Mel just said one hour down.

Is that olive oil, you reckon, or what?

Yeah, I'm terrified.

Nobody's really in control of the dish right now.

Um...

The clock is really ticking

and I'm worried that the elements are going to get away from us.

Um...

Is the plan to scrape the flesh out? Yeah.

Mate, go your hardest.

OK. Mel just said one hour down. Thank you.

ALI: Dulan was chargrilling all the eggplants

to give them that kind of smoky flavour,

but he's had the heat on low,

so they're taking a really long time to get cooked.

I'm cooking on the barbecue, so I normally close it

so it really, you know, steams and cooks quicker.

He's turned the heat up.

It's becoming more and more obvious

that things are slightly falling apart at the seams.

It's not coming together.

Should we start on the yoghurt?

We need that puree.

The elements are a little bit all over the place.

It's obvious we need a leader

and someone's going to have to step up.

How are you going? Yeah. Going good.

It's going to have to be me.

I'll need to sear the lamb off.

And then we need to get a test one in the oven for timing.

Let me taste it.

It's gonna taste raw,

but, I mean, if we go, like, that far, it's going to go soft. See?

Somewhere in between. Can you go somewhere in between?

Alright. Done.

That's chewy. That's plenty.

Yeah. Let's do it then.

I think the boys are quite pleased.

I think they also agree we need a leader.

OK, so we've prepped all the lamb

and we're just getting ready to sear that off.

And then we can put it on the tray and get the crust done.

Matt's getting on to the chermoula.

I'm going to get Dan to work on the crust in a minute as well.

He's getting the yoghurt prepped.

I feel like I'm here to go head to head with Julie Goodwin,

and we're kind of like the mums of the group.

Dan, what are you doing?

I'm a bit bossy. Sorry. (LAUGHS)

I'm a huge fan of MasterChef.

My friends actually made me a mystery box

for my birthday last year.

I'm 52. I've got two beautiful daughters.

It has taken me a long time to apply,

but now my kids are a bit older

I feel like I can be away from my family without too much guilt.

Cooking has always been part of my life.

I do find myself looking back to recipes from Scotland.

It's a bit like falling in love with your best friend.

It's been with you for a long time

and you hadn't really realised how much you loved it.

It's certainly more difficult as an older person

to go back and try and rejoin the workforce

having stepped out of the commercial design world to be a mother.

But why not?

If you have a passion, you can follow it at any age.

I don't think it's ever too late to start another career.

I put myself out there and step up.

We need another eggplant element. Another one?

Like a fried eggplant.

Listen up, guys. It's time to motor. You've only got one hour to go.

Come on, guys! Lift it!

Oh, that's perfect, that one. Yeah.

I'm going to start preparing the rice. Washing... You've got that. Alright, cool.

(SINGS) # God, it looks beautiful. #

I'm...almost done.

So, John, are you happy with this? Oh, no. Actually flatten it.

Yeah. Roll it fully, Alvin.

Alright, team. Who's in charge?

John. Johnny. Johnny.

John.

So, what we're doing today is a white chocolate mousse,

raspberry coulis, which is in the centre of the mousse.

So when people cut through it, you'll get the ooze.

Got the meringue shards.

And then we're finishing it off with a sable.

So, hang on, the meringues are flavoured or not flavoured?

Raspberry. Raspberry. OK.

Seems to me the biggest flavour

is possibly going to be the white chocolate mousse.

Well, the raspberry is actually going to be a balancing act

because the white chocolate can be quite sweet.

You're gonna have to nail that centre... Yeah.

..in order for it to be a feature. Yeah.

The coulis is actually going to have rosewater through it as well,

so you get that sort of floral notes.

Yeah.

Wait, so is that the only way

they're using the feature ingredient? I don't know.

Um...

There's a lot of feature discussion about raspberry over there.

Raspberry friand, a raspberry gel

that they're talking about blowing us out of the water with. OK.

You guys chose raspberries.

You are in danger, if you're not careful,

of not featuring raspberry enough. Yeah.

And you know what that means.

That means that technically you would be beaten by four amateurs.

We are really not sure how to take Jock.

I don't want to add anymore.

Like, I just think... I feel like it's enough.

If he really means that we've completely missed the brief...

Fresh raspberries.

..if we should be kind of panicking

and trying to come up with a new element on this dish.

For the mirror glaze, right,

this should have a raspberry flavour coming through as anglaise...

Yeah. That makes sense.

To balance the sweetness of the glaze.

Yeah. We'll do that.

Our team leader, John, is actually a flight attendant,

so imagine when the plane's going down

his job is to make sure everyone's calm, and he's doing that.

I think that glaze,

we just need to highlight that raspberry flavour into there.

And I think we'll be OK. Yeah.

OK. Course versus course.

Service is about to commence for entrees.

What are we liking? Let's start with the Fans.

With the entrees, it's solid.

There's a puree going on with the Jerusalem artichokes,

which is kind of cool.

Great to see Harry drawing the flavour out of the skins.

Jerusalem artichoke crisps.

And then also some fried globe artichokes.

Sounds pretty good. A lot of artichoke.

That's exactly where we want them.

For the Faves, it's like the total opposite dish.

Raw tuna dish, they're folding like a yuzu emulsion.

Their Jerusalem artichoke

is only getting put on the dish by the way of chips.

And that's it. Like a garnish.

Like a bit of an afterthought.

Mindy's sticking up for herself.

I hope for her, though, that it feels featured.

Then moving on to the eggplant mains.

I mean, the Favourites have to have it in the bag.

Well, Sashi's restaurants, it's this sort of Tamil one

that just smells stunning.

Sashi is just owning it.

SASHI: Nice and crispy.

However, on the other side of the fence, this famous eggplant puree.

That is a bit chaotic.

The only good thing, Ali pops her head up.

I'm going to brush.

I'm starting to brush the whole thing, then roll it in

and then pass it to you.

I think she's the perfect person to actually pull this dish together.

She's a graphic designer,

so her visual prowess in terms of composition.

Here's hoping.

On to raspberries and dessert.

The Faves.

The only part where they're featuring raspberry

is in a little centre in the white chocolate mousse mould.

Watered it down with rosewater.

They're smart.

There's four incredible players on that team

who are now going to be overcharging the raspberry, hopefully.

I reckon the dessert team on team Fans are working so seamlessly.

They're bringing the raspberry.

So, I was the one, "This is a walk in the park for the Favourites."

Yeah. I don't know anymore.

Yeah. It could be an upset. Could be an upset. There could be.

Ooh. Look at that.

The diners are here.

Wow.

So, we're going to be down to the last second.

The pressure is on.

Ooh.

Fans, Favourites, the time has come.

Your diners have arrived. 15 minutes till service.

JOCK AND ANDY: Yay!

Oh, my God.

It's real. (LAUGHS)

Three kilos? Three kilos. Beautiful. Well done.

For the entree, the Jerusalem artichoke chips

have fried off beautifully.

The artichoke is so yummy.

They taste artichokey.

Plating one up.

But we haven't actually done a full test plate.

That looks sexy. Food can be sexy.

It doesn't need to be just funky. Sexy. Sexy is the key.

Balancing this dish is going to be key.

Too salty? No.

I'm getting worried about soul.

I'm not getting the acidity.

We definitely need to boost, like, the finger lime.

Just with a touch more of acidity, it's perfect.

Yeah.

Can I be honest?

Like, I can't taste the artichoke in there.

I'm left with the artichoke.

I get the artichoke.

Yeah, I'm kind of left with it. Yeah.

The others can taste the Jerusalem artichoke

and I'm like, "Oh my gosh, what's wrong with me?"

Like what? What? What?

I can't taste it.

You've got to remember, portion wise,

we're definitely going more heavy on the artichoke.

Do I go along with the team or do I go against the three of them?

I'm confused.

We're getting really close to service,

and we have to balance this Jerusalem artichoke entree.

Can I be honest?

I can't... Like, I can't taste the artichoke in there.

I get the artichoke.

Yeah. I'm kind of left with it. Yeah.

It's like having my mum's food

and then saying,

"I don't think that you've seasoned it properly."

But I'm from last season.

I haven't had too much time out of the comp.

These three, who have worked out in the industry for years and years.

No way am I going to tell them what to do.

But my gut is telling me we have to feature Jerusalem artichoke.

I'm just going to go rogue.

I'm just not going to tell anyone.

I'm going to go into the pantry, let's see what's there.

Alright. Entree teams, listen up. You've only got 10 minutes to go.

Come on.

I'm getting nervous. The diners, we've got to feed them all.

Happy, happy, happy?

I'm happy. I'm very happy. Yeah. I reckon it's good.

But Harry's really taking full control.

Alright. Let's get that green oil ready.

The dish is a Jerusalem artichoke puree

packed with creamy flavour from goat's cheese

with a hard, charred globe artichoke.

We've got Jenn working on two oils.

I just want to add a little bit of sweetness.

Chris is a workhorse.

He's making the really crispy Jerusalem artichoke chips.

I'm just, like, testing out some seasoning now,

which is just going to be sumac and salt,

salt and vinegar kind of vibe because sumac's quite citrusy.

The judges have expressed their concerns

about artichoke on artichoke.

Can we plate one?

We decide to run a little test plate.

I think we need one more thing to have contrast

between the artichoke layers.

We're actually missing something green.

Yeah. I'll get some.

I'll get some asparagus on the boil.

OK. You have five minutes till service begins.

So, get yourself together 'cause it's about to get real.

It's time.

This asparagus has got to be quick.

We could get organised.

Like, taste both of these.

I think we... Like...

MINOLI: I found something in the pantry

to bring out the sweetness of the Jerusalem artichoke.

I'm just going to try a tiny bit of mirin to see...

It might not work, but whatever.

We've got yuzu in the emulsion kind of going down,

you know, Japanesey flavours.

How sweet is that? OK.

I make this emulsion with a little bit of mirin.

Maybe a little bit less, mirin, but I think...

I don't know. I think you're right. I think you're right.

I think you're right.

The mirin's sweetness

that can bring out the sweetness of the Jerusalem artichoke.

That's going to work. We need to get more mirin into this.

Now that it's all developing,

you've got a lot of that citrus is coming out.

Whoa! I was not expecting that response from Mindy.

Team work, I love it.

I'm definitely left with artichoke, like, in the middle of my palate.

I'm so glad I spoke up.

I'm really happy that you, like, you don't mind speaking up.

Mindy is a fantastic leader.

You're a rock star, girlfriend. Oh, yes!

She cares about her staff in the kitchen.

And ultimately, this is a job

that she wants everyone to work together as a team on.

OK, chips, I'm just going to put onto the table.

You look really organised, eh?

I try to be organised.

I do, too.

It just never worked out.

(BOTH LAUGH)

We're going to set up a little process line, one by one,

because consistency is key.

Ice-cream scoop.

Scoop it up out of the bowl, it's on to you, mate. Yep.

Tuna's in, looking good.

Dressing. Dressing. Yeah?

You realise everything that you've learned

in the last 10 years.

You know, if I was back in my season,

it would have been chaos in this team challenge.

We've come in, we're cool, calm, collected.

We're dressing.

We're getting those flavours all happening now,

which is really great.

And I think it's really going to wow their palates.

I mean, that is just spot on now. Yeah.

It's spot on, which is great.

Righto, everyone.

Service starts in 10...

JUDGES AND DINERS: Nine, eight,

seven, six,

five,

four, three, two, one.

That's it!

Let's go!

Here we go. Asparagus.

This is crazy.

Alright. Did you want me to follow with the oil?

Max has just finished the asparagus and we're plating up.

Oh, my God, it's crazy.

I just don't know if it's going to work.

Otherwise, it might be too heavy on the artichoke.

I'm just trusting him.

The pressure is so real.

Service. Service.

Service, please! Service.

If everything doesn't marry up together

and this crazy idea that I've put forward

to three people to do this ingredient,

I could be throwing my team into an elimination challenge.

OK, well, we walked into this

thinking that it was all going to be about the Favourites,

but the Fans have really brought their A-game to this.

They're really knuckling down on hitting the brief. Yeah.

And the stakes are massive, you know?

This is the first service challenge, you know.

And this should be a walk in the park for the Favourites. It should be.

Service, please. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Wow. Thank you.

OK, so entree from the Fans team.

Jerusalem artichoke puree, roasted globe artichokes, asparagus,

Jerusalem artichoke chips,

the za'atar oil and cumin chilli oil.

I think it looks nice

for their first dish in their first-ever service challenge.

Yeah. I mean, consistent presentation.

Can I also just mention how good it smells?

Yeah. Mmm.

Let's get into it. I'm going in.

The Jerusalem artichoke puree is beautiful, it's silky,

getting the flavour out of the skins is gorgeous.

And putting the goat's cheese in there - genius move.

You've got that puree, which is silky, but it's also not too heavy.

Yeah.

The globe artichoke, roasted, delicious flavour, perfectly cooked.

I love the little addition of asparagus.

That fresh greenness

actually balances out the earthiness of both the other artichokes.

Yeah.

There's a lot of contrast going on from fried chips

through to super tender, verdant green,

right down to that fizzy dusting of sugary sumac on the top of the chips.

Everything fits.

I could not agree more.

And then the oils, they just play off each other.

At not one point was I like, "Whoa, this is so heavy,"

and that was the one thing that I was worried about

with Jerusalem artichoke on Jerusalem artichoke

on Jerusalem artichoke.

And I think it's a really, really smart dish. Yeah.

The cooking of everything for this first service challenge

with 40 plates going out...

Yeah.

..it doesn't get much better. Yeah.

And that's Harry leading that.

We know there was some potential issues

on the other side of the fence,

so this may well cause an upset in the first course.

Yes, I love this. Look at this pretty, beautiful little dish.

MINOLI: Mindy is a boss in the kitchen.

Service. Thank you, mate.

I have never run a service as smoothly as she has run this.

Minoli, you've got the hands of a bloody chef, babe.

You've got the eyes, the touch and the palate.

Our dish, it's got the new emulsion,

but we're still only featuring Jerusalem artichoke

as chips on the top.

Service.

I don't know if that's enough today.

I just want to crush the Fans.

You know, I love them, but I just want to crush them.

Thank you.

Wow.

From the Favourites, an entree of tuna tartare

with Jerusalem artichoke chips, finger lime and citrus emulsion.

There's one way to know that Jerusalem artichoke's there.

Pour it all on top.

If I blindfolded you

and put some of that with the artichoke in your mouth together,

would you be able to tell it's artichoke?

At the end, with the sweetness, but that's it.

Yeah.

There you go, Minoli.

It was a very interesting one.

Very, very interesting one.

I think the mix, the tuna mix itself, is nice.

You get a slight hint of tuna,

just a tad of yuzu through that emulsion.

Nice pops of finger lime.

You don't get artichoke until right at the end. Yeah.

Perfect on paper.

I mean, the tuna, amazing piece of produce.

At the same time, I found that snowfall of artichoke chips

was reasonably underwhelming for me.

The idea behind the dish was pretty solid.

I just feel they've missed the mark on the artichoke.

Service.

Fans or Favourites on three for the entree.

One, two, three.

MEL AND ANDY: Fans.

Fans.

(BOTH LAUGH)

Seamless.

This one?

Oh, that looks beautiful, guys.

Service!

Please.

Oh, we did it. We did it.

Alright. This is it.

Service.

Oh, my God.

Well done, guys. Thanks very much.

Why has the oven changed? We need to...

We've got lamb going in, babe. Oh, sorry.

It'll just be eight minutes.

The stress is ramping up close to the time.

Obviously, our lamb has to get to temperature.

We've got to let it time to rest.

The chermoula is done.

We have our eggplant through our yoghurt sauce.

I think it's nice.

Daniel and Dulan are still working on the smoky eggplant puree.

I'm just panko crumbing some eggplant chips basically to fry up.

You can't say we're not hitting the brief for eggplant feature.

We're up against Sashi.

Obviously, is extremely intimidating,

but there's a chance to cook for immunity tomorrow,

safe from the first elimination,

which is everyone's goal, not to be eliminated first.

We're going to bring the flavour, bring the punch. It's a lot going on.

So, you will be on the fryer. Yep.

Julie will be on the curries. Yep.

I will leave Tony to finish the dish

and we will be dishing out four at a time.

Our team is making a beautiful coconut curry

with deep-fried eggplant.

Just in a really good zone.

Well into the garnishes that I need to do.

I've done the chutney.

Is that a freezer? In the freezer, Jules.

We're just working it out again.

We're just... Put this knife down.

We're just working it out.

(BOTH LAUGH)

We would have had yoghurt coriander sorbet.

Nothing bloody changes.

Being back in the MasterChef kitchen, doing a team challenge,

it just brings back so many memories.

Come on! Support the red team! Two for the price of one.

Always enormously stressful.

Can you plate up? No, I have no idea.

It seems very different this time around. A lot calmer.

$5 - you get two cheesy balls. Come on!

Come on!

Basically, our salted eggplant

just needs to be wrung out and deep-fried.

We need to finish off the rice...

Donny, splash some ghee on top of it.

We need more ghee on it.

We've put our faith in Sashi and hoping he's able to do it well.

Sashi. Yes, sir.

The sauce is ready. Eggplants?

Eggplant. Donny is going to be on the eggplant.

All the condiments are ready. Curry leaves are ready.

Shallots are fried.

It's not as punchy as I remember it.

OK.

I remember it having more...

like, a little... Like, not a...not an uppercut,

but like a little...

You know what I mean?

Like a little bit punch. Is it missing something?

I remember this dish made me pay attention.

It's not as punchy as I remember it.

Is it missing something?

The coriander chutney is a bit of acid

and a bit of green chilli.

The coriander chutney would have to be super amped for that to happen.

But yeah. I'm sure you will get it.

It will all come together. I trust you.

My kathirikai dish is one of our top sellers in the restaurant.

The coriander chutney is what makes the difference.

I think a little bit of lime might just bring it together.

Yeah, maybe.

SASHI: I want to prove to the judges

that my passion and my drive is still there and I'm still worthy.

I just add a little bit of citrus, so just amp up a bit.

But other than that, I'm not changing anything else.

I believe in my dish. I know the balance. I know the flavour.

Should be alright. Fingers crossed.

And I'm going to start preparing for the service.

I'm going to be at the sauce end.

You can be at the fine dining looking in. You zhuj. I'll splat.

Alright, team. Let's go.

So, every time, five bowls.

No-one's had a cry yet, which is good.

(BOTH LAUGH)

I'm loving it. I'm loving it. Like, it is very stressful at the moment.

We were getting closer to service, we got the lamb, we got the puree,

the yoghurt and the chermoula

and the third eggplant element, eggplant chip.

I'm just passing the puree.

Just get it a bit more finer.

So, I didn't want the spices on the lamb

to clash with the spices on the eggplant.

So, it's not a baba ganoush, it's a "smoky eggplant puree".

The puree is ready. Yeah.

Got another one of those trays done.

And can you take that to service?

I'm really glad that Ali stepped up and took the leadership role.

Just chop-chop.

Is that how it's going to look? No. We were trying to refine it.

It's...it's...it's chunky. It's a bit over the place at the moment.

We need to refine it. It's not coming together.

I need to just have another crack.

Remember, you guys have got to think about

how quick it's going to be for service.

This is one plate out of 40.

So, it's got to be speedy. And are things going to be hot?

Andy's there, saying, "Come on, you need to be ready."

What are we going to do?

We're going to have plate this up

and I'm going to have to do it on the pass.

No, no, no. Just I need it this way round.

Come on. Get one on.

Coming from my career as a designer,

I know that odd numbers work better than even numbers.

So I cut the lamb into three, put a little bit of chermoula on.

I kind of popped on the pomegranate, put the yoghurt to the side.

The chip over the top. Some leaves on the top.

Done. Copy that.

OK. Let's get on it. Alright. Let's follow.

Let's go. Let's go.

Yeah.

Just be mindful of the gravy. You need to do 24 plates with that.

There's a lot of elements in this dish

and everything complements each other.

The curry, the eggplant, the coriander chutney,

the crunch element, the aromats, the rice.

Thanks. Happy with that? Yeah. Perfect.

It's like family coming together.

Service!

Compared to my first service challenge...

Sashi...

..everyone's a little bit confused.

No-one seems to know what's going on with that kind of pace.

Looking at the Fans reminds me of me,

the hunger, the drive, the passion.

This is sick. ALI: It's insane.

This is what you want to do all your life?

Yeah, I'm keen. Yes. Loving it.

Hopefully, I can still do some magic in the kitchen.

Plating up very well.

Look at it. Look at it. Look at the colours popping out.

It's amazing. The Funk Brothers.

We bring the funk.

What are Julie and I, then? You are part of the Funk Brothers too.

Funk mama.

(LAUGHTER)

Oh, my God, wait till I tell my kids that's what you're calling me.

Service!

ANDY: Ooh!

Wow. Thank you. Thank you.

The main from the Favourites team,

kathirikai of eggplant curry, coriander chutney, fried shallots,

fried curry leaves, kafir lime

served with cumin rice.

I also tried Sashi's sauce.

It's not as punchy as I remember it.

No.

I just hope as a dish, everything comes together.

Let's go.

It's fantastic.

Yeah. Beautiful texture.

It's a funny thing when eggplant is cooked beautifully,

it feels so luxurious.

It has absorbed all of those gorgeous flavours from the curry.

The cumin rice has that earthiness that the cumin brings.

Really is gorgeous. Yeah.

It's got balance, but it's also got,

like, massive punches thrown from each individual garnish ingredient.

Unbelievable.

This speaks to me of someone who's refined their craft.

Sashi's expertise, now he's out in the industry,

now he's got his own restaurant.

When you add Sashi's magic touch in there,

it just becomes extraordinary.

Eggplant, heavily salted, squeezed out, cooked perfectly.

Every single little bit of it.

There's textures going on, the kafir lime, the fried curry leaves.

When you get all of that together, it is so harmonious, so delicious.

This is going to be a hard main course to beat. Yeah.

Come on, Fans. Come on, Fans!

ALI: Let's look. Done.

I'm pretty impressed with it all, to be honest.

Salted everything?

Alright. Service.

The best bit about the plating up experience is shouting "Service."

I've always wanted to do that. I've always wanted to do that.

Service.

As a huge fan of MasterChef, I've been watching this for years.

Let's go.

The satisfaction of getting that out,

I'm feeling a little bit emotional.

I'll tell you what.

Especially since it's been a pretty tough cook.

Thank you. Thank you.

I just hope all the elements work well together.

Thank you. Thank you.

ANDY: Well.

From the Fans, their main of lamb and pistachio crust,

eggplant and chermoula and friends.

OK. Sure. Righto.

Look at that baba ganoush.

Hmm.

Their cook on the lamb was beautiful.

Medium rare, delicious.

And the eggplant puree, which was Dulan's,

we asked him about it, he was like,

"Oh, it's smoky but not smoky and it's spicy but not spicy."

It's exactly what it was - it was like pure dead middle-of-the-road.

Yep.

It started out with Dulan's puree

and ended up with Ali to try and bring it together.

So there wasn't that clean concept right from the very beginning

with one person.

There's some decent cooking in the elements,

like, you break them all down

and apart from the puree being a bit kinda mellow...

Yeah. I'm a bit disappointed for them

but at the same time, all credit to them,

it was consistently plated,

you have acidity, you have that beautiful eggplant and the lamb.

It's all kind of there.

Service! Please!

Well done.

Maybe we've just uncovered the great advantage that our Favourites have.

There's a level of experience that the Fans have yet to get.

They're gonna get it.

They're gonna walk into dishes like this,

knowing they need to execute a complete and cohesive dish.

Well done.

So what's going to happen with dessert?

Let's go. Let's have it. I'm ready.

What is it?

Oh, yes, you do it.

Go for it.

Coming out?

Oh, nice. Oh, yes, Steph.

Ah, she's a beauty. That's nice.

That's perfect.

(GASPS) Oh, God.

That was not good.

Our dessert today is the dusty pink white chocolate mousse.

We have a sable, which is on the base,

and also raspberry meringue shards.

When you cut through the white chocolate mousse,

you'll have the raspberry coulis oozing out.

How is it?

We're still concerned about Jock's comment

about the dish not having enough raspberry.

There's not enough of the raspberry in there.

We need a granita. Yep.

Yep. And some fresh raspberries on top of the granita. For sure.

Yep, great.

White chocolate, it's quite sweet

so hopefully now we've got enough raspberry

to cut through the white chocolate.

Think we've got a lot of raspberry.

Three, four, five, six...

Raspberry, it's not the hero of the dish but we know that it's featured.

You'd think it's got enough raspberries, wouldn't you?

(BOTH LAUGH)

If I was to buy, say, a new single by Doja Cat

and it's featuring Nicki Minaj,

like, I don't want Nicki Minaj throughout the whole song,

I'm buying it because of Doja Cat.

In this case, Doja Cat is our white chocolate mousse.

They're still a little bit, um, frozen.

I can see the Favourites have made a mousse in a little spherical dome.

What else have they got in there? Trying to suss it out.

It looks fancy but I'm just kind of hoping

it's one of those things that looks more impressive than it tastes at this point. (LAUGHS)

It's the prettiest thing I've ever seen.

Looking good.

Raspberry.

The dish is a raspberry friand with mascarpone and thyme ice-cream,

a macadamia crumb, raspberry sherbet and a raspberry gel.

Oh. Good?

Mm. I love it.

Cake, can't taste it because I'm coeliac,

so I just have to really trust the palates of my teammates.

Can we have another one? (ALL LAUGH)

So Steph, you wanna start plating and then you're gonna do crumb

and I'm coming around with gel.

Steph is churning out those cakes like a machine.

Hopefully, they're all consistent.

Beautiful, Steph.

Guys, they're plating. We should start.

OK. Let's go.

It's terrifying, going up against the Favourites dessert team.

But the chance to cook for an immunity cook

at this stage of the game is huge.

Scoop it off.

Of course I wanna win and I think we've absolutely killed it today.

I'm so proud of the girls.

Is that enough sherbet? Yep.

Perfect. Service, please.

JOCK: Whoa. Thank you.

MEL AND ANDY: Thank you.

Alright, from the Fans. What's going on, Mel?

Dessert.

Raspberry friand, mascarpone and thyme ice-cream.

Macadamia crumb, raspberry gel, fresh raspberries.

That ice-cream looks r-r-r-r-rich.

It looks a little under in the centre.

Hmm.

We'll start with the raspberry gel - that is incredible.

Exactly what you want when you're trying to feature raspberries -

it's bright, it's zingy, silky smooth.

Love the textures going on on the plate.

The toasted macadamias, they bring a nice amount of crunch to it.

Same with the fresh raspberry too.

But the friand is just... like, two minutes undercooked.

As a concept on the plate, I think it was fantastic.

All of those flavours balanced. I loved the puree as well.

It was just pure turbo raspberry flavour.

And that mascarpone and thyme ice-cream,

that acidity and that herbal sort of quality about it

was a really lovely savoury foil to the sweet elements on the plate.

Yeah, look, I think it's a banging effort

but they've left the door open for the Favourites to sneak in.

We know the Favourites struggled to have...

..raspberry feature in their dessert.

I'm not quite sure what we're gonna see there.

BILLIE: Service, please.

But the door, slightly ajar.

OK, from the Favourites, their dessert of dusty pink domes,

raspberry glazed white chocolate mousse, raspberry coulis,

sable and meringue.

Alright.

Oh, it's oozing. It's oozing.

The mirror glaze is so pleasingly perfect

and just the construction of the mousse, all very nice.

However, I'm not getting a lot of raspberry.

Yeah.

The frozen coulis, I thought that might be the saving grace

in terms of featuring raspberry.

But the flavour of it was rosewater forward.

Like, the white chocolate mousse, it looked beautiful

but there was no flavour, you know?

Maybe it's time to set aside the white chocolate.

The only raspberry that I'm getting in any kind of volume

is the three raspberries that were on the plate fresh.

Yep.

And so, the door was left open for these guys to walk through

and I feel what we're actually judging is...

..which of the two dishes have less faults.

Last one and...

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) Service, please!

My hands are sticky.

Good job.

That'd be insane if we went up against immunity.

I was eyeing off their team and we've got Billie,

so to be able to beat Billie and the dessert Favourites team

would be insane.

(CHEERING)

Right, before we get down to business, Fans...

..we gotta say, for your first service challenge,

you were all pretty cool, calm and collected.

Like, we've seen all sorts of stuff in there.

Ooh, yes.

But you guys really did a good job, so well done.

Well done.

But, at the end of it, today was all about winning your course.

Fans, your first choice of the day

was Jerusalem artichoke in the entree.

Now, we thought that there might have been a little bit of strategy

in this decision...

..and it paid off because your dish was exceptional.

And it was the winning entree.

(FANS CHEER)

Yes! Oh, my gosh!

Righto, main course.

Fans...

..you chose eggplant

as feature ingredient. (ALL LAUGH)

You played right into the Favourites' hands.

Sashi...

..that dish was every bit as good as I remember it in the restaurant.

Mate, it was exceptional and it was also the winning main course.

Yes! (FAVES CHEER)

Good on ya, mate. Good on ya, Sashi.

Well, we're at one-all.

So, dessert.

And raspberry.

Both teams' dishes, they had hits, but they had a couple of misses.

But only one team nailed the brief.

And that team...

..was the Fans.

(ALL CHEER)

Fans, what a turn-up for the books, hey?

Two out of three.

We've always said that this kitchen is the great leveller,

and today, that was evident.

Harry, Max, Jenn, Chris,

Sachi, Julie, Michael, Tommy,

Melanie, Steph, Keyma and Montana,

you are all into tomorrow's challenge

and one step closer to that all-important immunity

to avoid the first elimination.

So, well done. We'll see you all back here tomorrow.

VOICEOVER: Tomorrow night on MasterChef Australia...

..with only limited layers of their normal pantry...

JULIE: Butter's up with the fats and oils

up at the pointy end of the pyramid and I don't have access to that.

..can they produce dishes that are on point...

ANDY: One of you will win immunity

from Sunday night's all-in elimination.

It needs to be perfect.

This is why this dish is risky.

..or will disaster strike?

(ALL GASP) Oh, my God.

Oh, no, what has she done?

Captions by Red Bee Media