MasterChef Australia (2009–…): Season 14, Episode 34 - Episode #14.34 - full transcript

ANNOUNCER: Previously
on MasterChef Australia...

..they walked straight into
a work of art...

You aren't just cooks today -
you're artists.

Oh, my God!

..and had to create their own
masterpiece on a plate.

BILLIE: I cannot afford
to make any mistakes.

The yellow team made
the winning dessert.

JOCK: Dill in a dessert - beautiful.

Absolutely loved it.

But the green team's entree
and main won the day.

(ALL LAUGH AND CHEER)
ALVIN: Oh, my God!



Tonight, they cook for immunity
in front of a living legend.

MICHAEL: Oh, my God.

One of, literally,
the greatest chefs of all time

standing in our kitchen.

And later...
JOCK: There he is!

..it's AFL superstar and Celebrity
MasterChef winner Nick Riewoldt.

We've warmed up, we've stretched,
we're ready to get into the game.

(LAUGHTER)

He's back in the kitchen,

kicking culinary goals

in a very special MasterClass.

# '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. #

ALVIN: (CHUCKLES) I'm just, like,
this big ball of nerves.

MONTANA: Yeah.

Yesterday, our team won
the team challenge, which is epic,

and now we're here
cooking for immunity.

Hello.
(MICHAEL CHUCKLES)

What up?

The judges say that,
today's immunity challenge,

they are going to turn up the heat.

MINDY: Let's go! Let's do it.

And it sounds like
it's going to be an epic cook,

so I'm looking forward to seeing
what they have in store.

BILLIE: All will be revealed.

I can't see...
Ah!

MONTANA: Oh, my God!

Oh, my God.

ALDO: Oh-ho-ho!

TOMMY: Far out.

Oh...
BILLIE: Oh, my God.

(EXCITED LAUGHTER)

No way!

Oh, dear. What have we
gotten ourselves into?

Uh-oh.
(CHUCKLES)

Come closer.

(ALL LAUGH NERVOUSLY)

The nervous laugh.

Hello.
ALL: Hi.

I think I've spent a little time
with some of you before.

Oh, my God. Marco Pierre White's
standing in our kitchen.

ALVIN: Oh, my God.

(CHUCKLES)

If you know anything about cooking,

you know that Marco Pierre White's

one of, literally,
the greatest chefs of all time.

(EXHALES)

The youngest chef in the UK
to ever win three Michelin stars.

And he gave them back!

He was so cool that he's like,

"I've had enough of these.
Have 'em back. I don't want 'em."

Wow. This kitchen
just heated up a little.

I see you've met
my good friend, Mr White.

It's nice to be here.

So, for many of you,

this will be the first time
that you've met Marco, right?

I remember my first time
meeting Marco.

I had been sacked from
a Michelin star restaurant for...

..various reasons.

Um...
(LAUGHTER)

I packed up my chef's jacket
and my knives in a plastic bag

and went down to London, because
I'd heard of this amazing chef

who was regarded, not just
in the UK, but globally,

as being THE best chef.

And I knocked on the door.

And the last person I expected
to open it was him.

But, not only did he open it,

he invited me inside
and gave me a chance.

He gave me a job.

And I've got to say,
I don't think there's another man

who has had more influence,
not just in my life,

but thousands of chefs
all over the world.

And I hope that he'll have as
positive an impact on your cooking

as he did on mine.

Marco Pierre White -
I mean, he's such an icon.

He's trained some of
the best chefs in the world -

Gordon Ramsay, Curtis Stone,
Heston, Jock himself.

And I'm cooking for him today,
like...is absolutely insane.

44 years ago, to the day,

I walked into the kitchens
of the Hotel St George

as a young apprentice.

I suppose I was
a little like yourself.

And I was looking back on my career
and thinking, what's changed?

And the truth is...

..the cooks.

I worked with hundreds of chefs.

Very few of them were artists.

A person who works with their hands
is a labourer.

A person who works
with their hands and their brain

is a craftsman.

But a person who works with their
hands, their brain, and their heart

is an artist.

So, ask yourself, who are you?

And ask yourself,
what would I like to be?

(APPLAUSE)

ALVIN: Marco's words
are so powerful.

They resonate in so many levels.

And that's because every word

you know comes from decades
and decades of experience and skill.

So, only the winning team
from yesterday is cooking today.

So, the rest of you,
head on up to the gantry.

MINDY: Ooooh.

ALDO: Good luck, guys. Good luck.

Good luck, guys.

Well, this man here is
one of the greatest living chefs,

and those photos behind you

are from one of the greatest ever
culinary books - White Heat.

Every serious chef in the world
owns a copy of this book,

and the recipes within it
are iconic.

Today, your job is to recreate

one of the classic recipes
from White Heat.

(SIGHS)

My mind is going crazy.

I know Marco Pierre White's
style of cooking

is not my style of cooking.

I reckon he's got a massive,
massive challenge for us -

something refined, something fancy,
something French,

something out of my wheelhouse.

Are you ready
to find out what it is?

ALL: Yes.

Marco, would you please
do the honours?

TOMMY: Oh...

ALVIN: Oh, my God.

Today, you're cooking

panache of sea scallops and calamari
with an ink sauce.

Come on up. Let's have a look.

God.
MICHAEL: Oh, my God.

Now, don't be fooled
by its visual simplicity.

Oh, no.
It is a beautiful dish to look at.

It's a really beautiful plate.

It's kind of like yin and yang.

You've got a really deep, dark sauce
that's black and glossy

and then beautifully white bits
of lightly seared seafood.

I mean, to the layperson's eye,
this would look simple and easy.

To me, knowing Marco,
it's just terrifying.

Marco, do you want
to talk us through it?

When you use amazing ingredients

like beautiful scallops,
beautiful calamari,

timing is very important.

Allow food to present itself.

And the ink - be very careful.

It's quite salty.

So you will have to adjust.

Allow your palate to dictate.

Have the confidence
to follow your instincts.

Follow your heart.

Taste. Taste. Taste.

Allow simplicity to inspire you,

not to confuse you.

Would you like to taste it?

HARRY: Absolutely.
MINDY: Absolutely.

(LAUGHS)
How cool.

Now...

..mangia.

ALVIN: Goodness gracious me.

Just set.

Harry, what are you tasting?

It's just perfect food.

The sauce is surprisingly buttery,
but not oversalted.

The scallops are
only just cooked through.

The pan maybe isn't as hot
as what maybe I would do at home,

and just, like, scorch the hell
out of the outside of them.

They taste of scallops,
so perfectly.

This is what Marco did,
and still does today,

which is to show produce off simply.

It is food at its peak

and it's been treated with respect

and it's always cooked perfectly.

Oh...

Unbelievable.

Alright, guys.

Righto, the seven of you
have tasted Marco's dish.

I bet you want to know
how long you've got to recreate it.

You've got 45 minutes...
Oh, my God!

..to recreate Marco's panache
of seared scallops and calamari.

JULIE: Whoa!
(DANIEL CHUCKLES)

TOMMY: Of course we do.

Do not let the simplicity fool you.

Every element needs to be
Marco Pierre White perfect.

Because Marco will be eating it.

Only the best dish will win
its maker immunity today.

The recipe, the equipment and
the ingredients are at your benches.

Marco, do you want to kick them off?

Good luck.

You have 45 minutes,
and your time starts now.

(SPECTATORS APPLAUD)
ALDO: Come on, guys!

Come on, guys! Come on!

Come on, guys!
Whoo!

MINDY: It's a pretty
exciting day today.

I didn't expect walking through those
doors for an immunity challenge

we'd have Marco Pierre White here.

I kind of feel very overwhelmed,
but in a really positive way.

My philosophy is, be inspired
by people like Marco,

where you get amazing produce
in front of you

and you try and let it shine.

MONTANA: I am definitely not

the strongest savoury cook
in this competition,

so the fact that we're going to have
to use our intuition is very scary,

and to be cooking something
out of my comfort zone

for Marco Pierre White,
it's a little bit daunting.

DANIEL: (WHISTLES) Hustle, Mon!

The competition
is getting really tight now

and to take out that spot today and
win that fast track into the top 12

would be the best thing ever.

Everyone who cooks professionally
knows who Marco Pierre White is,

and it's just incredible
to have him here

cooking one of his dishes from his
cookbook, which I have at home.

I wish I'd brought it
so I could get a signature.

But, um, yeah, it's...

Yeah, what a special day.

I've got to cook for Marco
once before.

He expects perfection.

He's built his career
and his livelihood on perfection.

So, yeah, anything short of that

and you're not going to
go too well today.

The first thing I get started on
is my fish veloute,

which is the base for our ink sauce.

I fry off some shallots in some
butter without adding any colour.

So, it's a really gentle fry
till they're softened,

add in my vermouth, then reduce
that down till it's like a syrup.

Love it, Michael. Nice and clean.

Hey, guys, 40 minutes left, yeah?

I've made a veloute before,

a sauce of stock, usually with
a bit of flour in it.

But Marco's doesn't have that.
His is very delicate.

It's a really complex sauce
with not a lot of ingredients.

So it's going to be
a lot harder to balance

and a lot harder
to stabilise at the end.

So, I think, really important
to get this veloute right.

It's deceptively simple
in that there's only three elements,

but they have to be cooked perfectly.

As Marco said, there's nowhere
to hide behind this dish.

So I'm reading everything twice
and just checking

and making sure
that it matches Marco's.

I want the immunity,

but I also really just want
to impress Marco, so...

I don't have time to feel anything.
I'm practically numb.

45 minutes.

Talk about your speed pressure test.

You don't have time.
You just cannot overthink things.

Which I tend to do.

Straightaway, I start making
the fish veloute.

That ink sauce, it looks like oil
you would put in a car.

It's just jet black
and glossy and thick.

The taste -
it's almost fishy, but not.

And it's so complex. I love it.

Alvin.
Hi, Jock.

How are you, Alvin?

Are you feeling confident?
Um...

No, not really.

Not helped by people like you
being in the kitchen.

Are you scared of him?
Oh, just a little bit.

Just remember, you do that
to yourself, Alvin.

I know. I do. I do.

Any words of advice, Marco?

Allow your instinct
and your palate to dictate

and to make your decisions.

Follow your heart.

Good luck.
Thank you.

Marco comes to my bench,
and he's got such a presence.

And I remember the words
that he spoke today -

that I have to use my hands, my
brain, and my heart to be an artist.

And that is something
that I needed to hear.

For the longest time in my life,

I've been trained to use my brain -
study, study, study.

It's almost like I'm forbidden
to use my heart

and my passion, which is cooking.

So, to be back, and to be able
to cook every day in this kitchen

is a gift.

It's a gift.

Uh... Brrrr.

ALDO: Come on, guys.

KEYMA: Of course I want
to impress Marco today,

and show him my skills,

and let the judges know
that I know how to cook seafood.

I grew up smelling seafood
all the time,

eating seafood all the time.

We will go to the beach
and my grandma will give us buckets

and we just take pipis out of
the sand and then they will cook it.

So it represents family
so much to me.

My cooking style
is Latin/Caribbean styles.

It has to be rustic.
It's on the rustic side.

It's the humble style of cooking.

I think the difficulty
about this challenge

is that I don't think I have
a similar style to Marco.

Hello. How are you?
JOCK: Keyma.

He's very refined
in the way he does things.

I'm good. How are you, Keyma?

Even though it's so simple,

I feel there's a lot more
to this dish that I'm not seeing.

Is it too high? (CHUCKLES)

Did I say that?

I think it's going to be really hard,
especially this sauce,

because I feel it has, like,
a complexity of flavour in it.

And I cook a bit more rustic.

Allow Mother Nature
to be the artist.

Yeah, yeah.

So I...I'm a bit concerned
about the sauce.

Put your energies into the cooking.

Not the messing around.

It's so overwhelming.

(SIGHS) Oh, my God.

You have absolutely
no time to waste.

15 minutes down, 30 minutes to go!

(SHOUTS OF ENCOURAGEMENT)

ALDO: Who's going to win these
Greek games today? Come on, guys.

MAN: Let's go, guys! Come on!

We have the incredible Marco
Pierre White in the house today.

JOCK: Mindy.
Hey.

So nice to see you, Marco.
Thanks for coming back.

It's nice to be with you.
You love the dish, obviously.

Yeah. We say in our culture

that we stand on the shoulders
of our ancestors.

And I feel like cooking
in this kitchen today,

a lot of us stand on the shoulders
of people like you.

Well, you're very kind
with your words.

My mother used to say something
very similar -

a tree without roots
is a piece of wood.

Continue what you're doing well.

Ooh, goose bumps.

With Marco, his presence really
motivates and drives you.

This dish is older than you are.
Is it?

Yeah.
There you go. Didn't know that.

That's intimidating, but yes.

Or the other side,
he brings a lot of nerves.

They're quite silenced, aren't they?

This would've been a nervous cook
for them today, cooking for you.

They're bound to be nervous.

Is the butter not in the fridge?

WOMAN: What? Yeah.

Today is definitely not
my style of food,

so I'm definitely worried
about the cook.

15 minutes into the cook, and I'm
struggling with the fish veloute.

(MUTTERS RECIPE INSTRUCTIONS)

Marco's style of cooking

is really, really classical French,
super refined.

He knows his way around
really simple flavours

and making them really,
really fancy.

But that's so far from
what I usually cook.

Vietnamese food, simple flavours,

but heaps of them that makes it,
you know, really complex.

Tommy.
Hello. Nice to meet you.

Tommy, how are you?

I'm just trying to crack on
with this recipe,

making sure I do
everything perfectly.

(SIGHS) This dish is so,
you know, perfectly simple.

It definitely does make me nervous.
I'm very, very nervous right now.

But I'm just...

You feel nervous, man.
What's going on?

You know, it's such a simple dish

that even a slight difference
will be obvious.

Don't panic. No, no,
no, no, no, no, no.

You know, you have to be precise.
Yeah.

Enjoy.

I can't let this stress take over

if I want any shot at
winning this immunity.

I'm really going to
rely on the recipe.

(MUTTERS RECIPE INSTRUCTIONS)

So to finish off my veloute,

the recipe says to reduce
the fish stock by half.

I'm not taking any chances.

I'm going to weigh it at full,
reduce it,

and then weigh it again
till I get that perfect level.

Perfect.

"Pour in the cream and..." (MUTTERS)

I don't cook well when I'm stressed.

I'm trying to keep calm,
follow the recipe

and just cook, cook, cook.

KEYMA: I have the first batch
of the fish veloute.

I don't think I can say my style
of cooking is very Marco style.

1.5mm.

Oh, my God, I'm so nervous
about this challenge.

Time is just flying, and,
yeah, I just need to move.

Next, I have to prepare the seafood.

I love cooking seafood all the time,
so hopefully some of that knowledge

I have, it pays off
into today's challenge.

To clean the calamari,
I remove the tentacles slowly,

so all the entrails
come with the tentacles.

Definitely very important part
of the process,

to clean the calamari properly.

You don't want to leave
any of the skin,

which is also like rubbery and sandy.

Calamari used to be a staple
in my house, like, growing up,

because it was the most accessible
seafood in Venezuela.

My mum used to just bring
kilos and kilos of calamari

and taught me to clean them all.

When I started peeling the calamari,

it just brought me back home,
in a way. I feel great.

ANDY: Look at it. It's perfect.

Ink sac's still in there.

I'm hoping to be able to
tap into my memories

and my love for seafood and then
just pour it all in that dish.

I'm feeling good at the moment.
Keeping up to pace.

Just made the fish veloute.

Currently preparing my squid,

making sure that it's done properly.

This, I think, will
take the most time

because we're given a whole calamari
that we literally have to clean.

Beak is out.

Didn't break any ink sac,
which is always a bonus.

Looking at what Keyma's doing,
she's really clean and tidy.

Clearly, she's done this before,
as opposed to me who hasn't.

Like, I'm all over the place.

On the front.

Sorry, sorry, sorry.

On the front of the bench.
Not even on the floor.

Like, look at this.
Stop. Don't.

What I remember
from Marco's dish

is everything so clean and precise.

It's worth spending that extra time
in making them look perfect.

Come on, guys.

I'm feeling good at this point.

I'm just finishing off
cleaning down the calamari.

I brushed the membrane off
from the tentacles.

Michael.
Hello, Jock. Marco.

How are you?
I'm well. I'm having a good time.

This is an amazing dish.
Yeah, deliciously simple.

Yeah. I mean, I remember we got
to cook with you on our season

at Felix Restaurant.

We did a challenge.
We were the losing team.

You were the losing team?
You did stuffed quail, didn't you?

Stuffed quail...
We had to do, like, 100 people.

We did and it took us way too long
to get the quail to you, yeah.

How long for my quail?
How long for my quail?

Four minutes, Marco. Four minutes.

Four minutes?! Are you crazy?
I want it in one!

Such a small bird causes
such a big disaster.

That's right, you went down
terribly badly.

Yeah, I remember that.
So you were on that ship that sunk?

I was, yeah.

That was a little glimpse into
what it would have been like

to work for Marco.

I don't think he would have been
as patient with us

had we been professionals.

So you've come back to win?
I have.

But a lot's happened
in those 11 years.

I've got a career in food

and I'm definitely a better cook
than back then, that's for sure.

You've turned your dream
almost into a reality.

Pinch myself every day.

I would love to make up for
that quail a disaster

and win the immunity.

Thank you.
Good luck.

Thanks, guys. Squid's done.

Here we go.

WOMAN: That's it, Harry.
Give it a pull.

ALDO: Oh, look at the squid.

How's Montana going?
She's a little dark horse.

This is madness.

20 minutes to go, and
I'm still cleaning my calamari.

It's so finicky and sort of,
like, fragile.

They're so difficult to clean.

And I realise I'm spending
a lot of time in this

and people are moving on
to their sauce.

With a pressure test
that is 45 minutes long,

you really don't have time
and you can't afford to fall behind.

I need to handle this better,
I think.

I still have to cook these suckers

and make sure the ink sauce
is properly balanced.

Far out.

I am very quickly
running out of time.

Cooks!

Remember what I told you.

Taste, taste, taste.

15 minutes to go.

(ALL SHOUT ENCOURAGEMENT)

MINDY: OK, watch this for me, guys.

'Cause I need to bring
that back to the boil, OK?

You're not allowing that calamari
to get the better of you, are you?

No.

Taking my time on it while
obviously managing everything else.

Just teach yourself to
absorb pressure.

Yes.

WOMAN: Beautiful, Alvin.
(ALVIN GROANS)

Marco, everyone's talking about
the sauce

and how it's so perfectly balanced.

What is the balance mean
to the man who created it?

Well, firstly, there's
no real recipe for the ink.

You stop putting the ink in once
you've got the desired colour.

And once you've got
the desired colour,

you should have
the desired texture.

But because this ink's quite salty,

they're going to have to readjust
a little bit of fish stock,

maybe a little bit of cream, a little
lemon, a little sliver of ginger

to knock back the fishiness.

The one thing
that you should dictate

is your instinct, your palate.

Yes, they've only got a few scallops
to cook and a little bit of calamari,

but it will be interesting
to see how well they do it.

You should treat the pan
like a clock.

One, two, three, four,
five, six, seven.

When you place your last one in,

then you turn the first,
so they all cook evenly.

And just watch them now,

you can start to see
their pace is picking up.

KEYMA: The seafood's done and
ready to go. I just leave it aside.

And now I have to get back
into my ink sauce.

The ink sauce was such
an important element in the dish.

It needs to be balanced perfectly.

Marco's sauce, it's amazing.

It's very subtle, very elegant.

Have you ever used ink before?
I've tried it.

Just remember there's a lot of salt,

so you have to be prepared
to sort of adjust.

Yeah.
Good luck.

It's going to be really hard
because in the recipe,

there's no specific amount for ink.

(MUTTERS RECIPE INSTRUCTIONS)

The first thing I do is just to try
a little bit of the ink.

And it's, whoa, super salty.

So I just do, like,
half a teaspoon first,

then I just go bit by bit
until it has a colour.

I'm adding some ginger.

1.5mm.

And I'm just trying to remember
what was the flavour

of Marco's sauce compared to mine.

It's nice.
I think it was a bit more acidic.

So yeah.

Mmm.

I've got my seafood prepped,

so now I'm just going to read through
the finishing element of the sauce.

I've done everything right to this
point by following Marco's recipe.

"Small amounts to start with."

But on following the recipe,

the sauce,
and there's no measurement.

ALDO: Come on, Michael.

Marco says to use your instincts,

which is not a good sign for me
in a pressure test.

I think I've got good instincts
when it comes to cooking dishes,

but mainly when they're my dishes,

not three-Michelin-starred
Marco dishes.

So, yeah, I'm not sure
about this one.

I'm just going to have to taste
and taste and taste along the way

to make sure my sauce is as close
to Marco's as possible,

because that's the goal today -
to match his.

MELISSA: 10 minutes to go!

ANDY: Let's go, guys! Come on!

Stop squidding around!

JULIE: God, that was bad.

You're a shocker, mate.

Just finish up prepping
my scallops and my squid.

Cleaning the seafood took
longer than I wanted.

And because I've fallen behind,
the panic's setting in.

I need to move on to the ink sauce.

As I'm cooking, Marco's words
that he spoke today really echoes.

I have to use my heart
because I am an artist.

Now it's time to follow my heart

and to actually do
the thing that I love.

I just need to breathe and then
cook the sauce with my heart.

Balancing flavour is
the one thing that I can do.

So, you know, I'm going to try
and do this well.

Working quickly, I add some ink
in there and I start whisking it in.

Also trying to remember
the colour of this sauce

was actually quite dark.

It needs to be adjusted a bit.

JULIE: The sauce is
a nice colour, Alvin.

Thank you, Julie.

Looks amazing.

(MUTTERS)

It's looking good. I'm just sort of
now playing with the flavour.

I'm not even looking at the recipe.

I use my judgement
and trust my palate.

Oh, my God, that tastes amazing.

I am fighting my way back
and catching up.

I would love to win immunity today.

You automatically get into
the top 12,

which is halfway through
the competition.

HARRY: It's so good.

DANIEL: Guys, you've got
about six minutes, eh?

Harry, how's the sauce going?

It's good. It's good.

Marco's advice was
to cook with confidence,

which is often what the judges
tell me, as it is.

To finish off the sauce, I check
that I'm getting the ingredients

in there that I need.

Quantity-wise, I'm working by taste,
and that's what makes a good chef.

And that's what I'm trying to

reiterate to myself
over and over again,

is to trust this
and not get stuck in this.

MINDY: Seasoning,
lemon, squid, ginger.

I like it.

Squid ink sauce,
I'm actually really happy.

I'm going to use this sauce
moving forward.

I love the flavour of it.

It's slick, it's smooth,
it's got so much flavour.

SARAH: Oh, you have to
wipe your mouth again.

It's like you turned into a goth.

(LAUGHTER)

Don't let me have black teeth
on telly, babe, come on.

Pretty damn intimidating
having Marco at my bench.

Don't even remember what happened
or what I said.

So far I have got my
fish veloute on the go.

I've got my scallops
and calamari prepped

and I'm just working on my sauce
at the moment.

I'm behind,
but I need to do this properly.

How is it, Mon?
Oh, very salty.

Hey, I just wanted to gauge.
No, it's good.

I've never really worked
with squid ink.

Are you happy with it, Mon?
Who knows?

So it's definitely an unfamiliar
ingredient for me.

Six minutes left, and I've only
just finished cleaning up the seafood

and I've hit a big roadblock.

Ah! (READS) "Put the
cuttlefish into..."

It doesn't have, like,
grams or anything for it.

There's no actual measurements
on the recipe.

Yeah, I don't understand...

I was following this recipe to the T,

and I feel like I don't have
the intuition

to balance such a delicate sauce.

Oh, what the hell?

Three elements today,
that means it has to be perfect.

How much ginger?

If I don't get this right, then
I might as well just forget immunity.

and you got five minutes to do it.

(CONTESTANTS CHEER FROM THE GANTRY)

TOMMY: The ink sauce is so important
to this dish.

It binds the flavours of the scallop
and the calamari all together.

It has to be perfect.

I'm definitely worried about it,
but I'm just going to hope

that I can do really well
and just knock it out of the park.

But I've got to really
shake this off.

You're almost done, man. Keep going.

Time is running out,
and I've got to trust my gut.

And I've gotta trust
my cooking skills.

This isn't even close to flat.

I'm moving like crazy
in this kitchen.

I need to prove to Marco
and the judges that I've grown

and win the immunity.

Yes. OK, that's good.

KEYMA: I finish my sauce.

Tastes just like the one
in my memories.

Delicious.

I'm pretty pleased with it

and I need to move on cooking my
calamari and my scallops,

so I have to start heating the pan
and then cooking this to perfection.

Marco's seafood was barely
caramelised.

So different from what I've tasted
before.

So pure.

It's like if you're having a scallop
from the sea

and put it in your mouth.

I know calamari and I know scallops
and I can go even by feel,

but I'm still going to count
the 30 seconds.

Don't worry, Marco.

Put the scallops first,
then the calamari,

then the tentacle.

I'm watching it like a hawk.

And I'm counting in my head
like, one, two, three.

28, 29, 30.

Flip.

They're looking amazing.

MELISSA: You can see the heat.
JOCK: Mm.

Shimmers.

That pan looks over-hot, doesn't it?

You need the experience to have
the knowledge to know how hot

the pan is.

I remember you getting
the scallop pan

and putting it close to your face.

You could feel the heat radiating.

You know how hot it is.

But if it's too hot, you're cooked.

Who's going to overcook the scallops
or over caramelise them?

MICHAEL: My sauce definitely
isn't similar to Marco's.

So, time to cook my seafood.

I cook squid quite a lot at home.
Cook with scallops a lot too.

Usually throw them on the barbie,
though.

There's not a lot of finesse to that.

Marco's didn't have
a lot of caramelisation,

so I'm going to make sure I don't
have too much on mine either.

It's really just about watching it
and making sure

I'm as focused as possible.

It's going to come down
to the tiniest little bits

of how well you've reproduced
Marco's recipe.

Marco's scallops and calamari,
they're just kissed by the pan.

It's a beautiful way of cooking it,
but hard.

I cook each them for 30 seconds
on each side.

It's so hard to know if...

Like, I can't remember exactly
what Marco's looked like.

I don't know.

I would usually cook seafood
for longer, but if I overcook them,

they're dry and they're chewy.

So I'm now questioning myself.

No, I think that was how Marco
had his.

I'm going to take them off and hope
and hope and hope.

ALVIN: Happy with the sauce.
I've caught up.

Now I need to actually cook
the calamari and scallops.

You have to go with touch and feel.

Sure there's a timing in the guide
of the recipe, but that's really it.

I use my judgement.

I touch and feel to make sure
there's still enough give

in the scallops
and it's not too tough.

And then I make sure I do
the same with the calamari.

Cooks, two minutes remaining!

(CHEERING)
ALDO: Come on, guys!

Come on! Two minutes to go. Come on!

JULIE: It's all happening now.

How long do the squid
need to cook for, Min?

"Cook the scallops and calamari
for approximately 30 seconds."

Happy with the cook. It's definitely
30 seconds, 20 seconds...

Just seconds in it.

You can see it's just there.

Beautiful, Mindy.

Two minutes.
Perfect timing for service.

Happy with it?
Yeah. Yeah.

The thing that really jumped out
at me when we were tasting it

was how sort of blonde
and how little colour they had.

(SETS TIMER)

TOMMY: I've only got two minutes
left.

I need to cook my seafood.

30 seconds each side.

I just need to move on and make sure
I get this right.

I'm definitely feeling the pressure.

Far out.

I fry them in the pan.

I've used a timer to check
30 seconds each side.

(TIMER BEEPS)

Yeah, good work, Tommy.

And they're cooked
really, really well.

That's good.

One minute to go!

Come on, Harry!
Come on, guys! Push!

But I was so focused on getting
the scallops perfect.

But I've forgotten about
my calamari.

There's only one minute left
to get this perfect.

Tommy.
Oh, my God.

Chuck the calamari in the pan.

Tommy!

Turn around for one second.

I look at the timer and it's not on.

So I've got to go back to instincts,
you know.

I'm counting in the back of my mind.

I think I've counted
pretty correctly in my head,

but I had to wing it
and that's worrying me.

DAN: Keyma! You've got to plate up.

Come on, Keyma! Plate up! Let's go.

KEYMA: Last 30 seconds,
putting the sauce in the jug.

WOMAN: Come on, guys!

I plate it up.

I tried to make it as close
as Marco's.

I was even thinking about
the centimetres between the scallops

and the calamari, and I thought
it was like, two fingers.

It looks amazing.

I'm so proud of it.

Come on, Harry.
Come on, Michael.

MICHAEL: My seafood is ready to go.

Just caramelised, which is the
opposite of what I would do at home.

So I'm just hoping
it replicates Marco's.

Come on, guys. Come on.

Make it look pretty.

Beautiful, Alvin.

Glossy as.

Let's go.

Alright, here it is.

10!

ALL: 9! 8! 7! 6!

5! 4! 3! 2! 1!

That's it!

Yes, Mindy!

MONTANA: How'd you go?

Oh, I don't know.
So, like, I have no idea.

No idea.

I'm surprised I got it done. It's a
bit of a mad scramble at the end.

Took a bit of time and care

because I want to give it
the attention that it deserves.

Tasting Marco's sauce earlier today.

I think I've done it justice.
Hopefully.

It was hard.
I was definitely vigilant,

definitely worked hard and fast.

I worked tidy.
I did all the things I wanted to do.

But who knows?

Maybe the pressure got to me
a little bit today.

Well, Marco, you have set
a simple dish

with absolutely nowhere to hide.

There is nowhere to hide, is there?

I reckon we get the first one in.

In the caramelisation,
mine is a bit darker.

Good luck, Tommy.
Good luck.

Go, Tommy.

Thanks, guys.
Go, Tommy!

Hello, hello.
JOCK: Hi, Tommy.

How are we?
MELISSA: Hey, hey.

Just got to place this here.

Hello, Tommy.

Hey there. How are you?

So,

how are you feeling?

Coming in, I was terrified.

I don't think I've ever
felt as terrified

in front of any of the judges before
in the...

See, I'm really losing my words.

I think it was knowing
that I'm going to have to cook

something for you was terrifying
for me.

Stylistically, what you do
is just so different.

It's exuberant, it's full on,
it's rustic.
Yep.

And this is sort of the antithesis
of that.

Definitely. I was like, oh,
this is going to really test me.

And I think at first I used
the recipe as a basis,

and then once
I started tasting everything,

I was like, OK, it's time for me
to really kind of use my instincts.

And the cook on the seafood?

Um...

I was really worried about
getting the colour right.

I think maybe, maybe I've gone
a little bit too far.

That cook was crazy.

Three elements.

All perfect.

There's nowhere to hide.

I'm worried
about the caramelisation.

I really want to impress Marco.

What do you think, Marco?

Could you be Australia's
next MasterChef?

Applications for next season
are now open.

Go on, get on it!

MELISSA: And the cook on the seafood?

I think maybe, maybe I've gone
a little bit too far.

What do you think, Marco?

I think Tommy's done
a very good job.

Oh, thank you.

I like that little bit of
caramelisation.

That means a lot, to hear from you.

OK.

Please sauce.

Beautiful texture.

Oh, thank you so much.
Thank you, Tommy.

Please enjoy your meal.
Thank you.

I think this plate of food
looks very promising.

How come you got this job?

I actually don't know.
Sometimes I wonder.

How'd you go, Tom?
He stumps you, doesn't he?

It's just his aura.
Yeah. There's something about...

ALVIN: Yes. What is that?

Someone who's just so well
in tune with what they do.

ANDY: Thank you.

MELISSA: Thank you.

MARCO: That's very good.
Well, well, well.

The scallops cooked beautifully.

That little caramelisation
just lifts the scent of the sea.

The calamari is cooked beautifully.

The sauce, just delicious.

The young man, well, I think
he has something special.

I'm thrilled for Tommy.
Yeah.

He could have been a little bit
insecure that his style

is very different to this style
of cooking.

The caramelisation,
it is like another ingredient.

If we put this challenge in front
of him last year,

there's no way
he's putting this plate of food up.

He's really gone away
and he's realised what he needs

to get better at in order to become
more of a complete cook.

JOCK: I can't find too many faults
in this at all.

This is well and truly
out of his comfort zone,

and I think it's because
he has natural talent.

As you say, you can see something.
He's a cook.

He's a cook.

Hello, Harry.

Hello.

Beautiful texture.

Thank you, Harry.
Thank you.

She's made a very, very,
very good sauce.

A really good sauce.

The scallop, cooked nicely.

I think she did an amazing job,
actually.

ANDY: Mindy.
Hello.

There you are. Take care.
Thank you.

The pan should have been
a little hotter.

Very little blond.

Hello, Montana.
Hello.

How do you think Montana went?

Let me show you something.
Come closer.

When it comes to presentation,
you have to understand the graphics.

And let's look at these scallops.

Let's look at the shape of them.

Allow the plate to dictate.

No caramelisation on the scallops
or the calamari.

The sauce, she's put
too many shallots.

It's quite sweet.

Thank you.
Good luck!

I put my heart into this cook
and I just don't know

whether I've done enough
to show Marco I am an artist.

Alvin.

Hello, Alvin.
Hello.

We meet again.

MELISSA: Are you shaking?

Oh, yes.

Bit shaken, and shaking.

It's...it's quite...
it's indescribable.

I've heard so much about you.
I've seen, I've read.

They always say that you shouldn't
meet your idols.

But in this case,
I'm glad that I did,

because there's so much more to you
than meets the eye.

And, you know, you don't even
have to say much, like now,

and you're making me shake my hands.

It's...it's great to meet you.

And thank you for saying
the difference between a labourer,

a craftsman and an artist.

Because for the longest time,
it's all about working with my head.

Lots of people cook...

And when I say this, I mean it.

I can count on one hand...

..the amount of artists
I cooked with.

It's as simple as that.

ANNOUNCER: Ahead, a very special
masterclass.

It's none other than Nick Riewoldt,
everybody!

Celebrity MasterChef winner
and AFL superstar Nick Riewoldt...

This is gonna be fun.
This is gonna be fun.

This is gonna be fun.

..returns to the kitchen and cooks
his signature dish...

I mean, health and taste
is a pretty good combo, right?

..fried eggplant with salsa verde...

I'll look after these for you.

..assisted by his able sous-chef.

Careful, though,
'cause that oil's hot.

Don't burn. Don't burn yourself.

(LAUGHTER)

What I am looking forward to,
Alvin...

..is eating your food.

Would you like to sauce?

I would like to sauce, yes.

The texture looks beautiful.

It looks like the most delicious
oil slick on a plate.

Thank you, Alvin.
ANDY: Thanks, Alvin.

MEL: Thank you.

He's made a very good sauce.

And then he's added
the correct amount of ink.

That little sliver of ginger to
knock back the fishiness of the ink.

And the texture is beautiful.

He's more confident on the stove
than he is standing in front of me.

But I think he's a very good cook.

Alvin's known as being the guy
who has an amazing palate.

He was using his own natural ability
to cook and to balance.

Would that sauce be a sauce that
would come to you at the pass,

on the plate, and leave the pass?

I'd have allowed that to pass.

That shows how good it is.

TOMMY: Good luck, man.

MICHAEL: I don't know how
I feel about this cook.

I so desperately want
to impress Marco

but I just think the pressure
got to me a little bit today.

In that it made me doubt
my instincts.

Michael?
Hello, guys.

Ah, Michael.

It's been a decade
since you were standing in a kitchen

and a lot's happened in that time.

Yeah, it's been a great decade.
MasterChef's changed my life.

Little bit different pressure
with this guy in the kitchen today?

A lot more pressure, yeah.

Do you want to sauce?
(CHUCKLES) Yeah.

There you are.

Thank you, Michael.
Thanks very much, guys.

Thanks, mate.
God bless, Michael. Thank you.

Thank you.

I think he's done a really good job.
Mm.

I think...

..if I've one criticism, you could
say his calamari's a tad under.

The scallops need that little bit
more caramelisation.

The scallop itself, it could have
been taken a little bit further.

In Michael's effort to
show restraint,

he hasn't relied on that intuition
we were talking about.

Think he's just a little bit
fearful of overcooking it.

Fear.
Fear, exactly.

He was a bit scared of...
Of you.

He's scared of you.
No, nothing to do with me.

100% he's scared of you.
(LAUGHS)

I'm only a visitor.
You're here fulltime.

Can I just say that
when I worked in your kitchens,

I put up a piece of calamari

or a scallop
that was undercooked like that,

it would have came back airborne.

I've got soft in my old age.
(CHUCKLES)

TOMMY: Good luck, Keyma.
KEYMA: Thank you, guys.

Enjoy.

Hello.
Good smile there.
Hello, Keyma.

Hi. How are you?
I'm very good.

How did it feel, cooking
for Marco today?

It was such a privilege to have
that recipe and follow it.

The ocean has been a big part
of you cooking, right?

Look.
(LAUGHS) She's got the seashells on.

Yeah, it has been a big part
of my life.

And when you get to the beach
and, you know, you smell the sea,

that's that dish in there.

How do you think you went today?

It's really, really hard to go
that elegant.

At some point, I was like, "Well,
I have to trust my gut feeling."

But I'm proud of it.

Do you really want immunity?

For me, getting immunity
is just a reassurance

that you're actually getting
better and better.

Would you like to sauce?

There you are. Thank you, Keyma.
Thank you.

Thanks, Keyma.
Thanks, guys. Enjoy.

Look, that's very good.

I've gotta say, your presentation
has improved as we've come along.

(ALL LAUGH)
But you have had seven goes.

This is the best sauce.
Mm.

I'll tell you why,

because of the balance.

But also because of the texture.

I like the richness of the ink.
I like that texture.

And then...

..the ginger, the lemon,

I think she's a
very clever young lady.

Just leaning into instinct, tasting
something once and recreating this,

is deeply impressive.

Three elements here.
She nails each and every element.

The scallops, they're beautiful
and opaque in the centre.

You can tell that she's cooked squid
back with her mum in Venezuela

over and over and over again.

She cleaned them like a pro
and she's cooked them like a pro.

She was smiling the whole way
through.

And she was proud.

And what she's done is as close
to yours as we've see all day.

You do that Marco thing where you
just, like, open up people's chests

and, like, give the heart
a bit of a massage and off they go

and they're a better cook for it.

We can see that in Keyma's
cook today.

Mm.
Yeah.

Well, this challenge
was over in a flash

but that does not mean
that it was a walk in the park.

You only had 45 minutes

to recreate a dish from one of
the world's most influential chefs.

Whatever Marco's done
in this kitchen,

he is definitely inspired you guys
to new heights.

So, let's give it up
for Marco Pierre White.

(APPLAUSE)

No, no, no, no.
I don't want any of that.

Marco,
how do you think they went today?

I have to confess...

..that I was shocked.

I was shocked by how good
you all cook.

Out of all the MasterChefs
I've ever done,

you are the strongest chefs
they've ever fed me.

You each made a considered effort

but only one of you
can win immunity.

The dish that best resembled
Marco's...

..and the winner of immunity
today...

..was cooked by...

..Keyma.
No!

(ALL EXCLAIM AND CLAP)

Shimmy! Shimmy! Shimmy!

Well done.

MEL: Keyma, you nailed each
and every element.

It was a real triumph. Well done.

It's amazing.
It's an amazing feeling.

When that dish came in,
it was so beautiful,

I was so excited to replicate it.

Congratulations.
Thank you.

Everyone else, unfortunately,
no such comfort.

There's elimination on Sunday
and one of you will be going home.

It's not just any elimination

because the good news is

Marco will be joining us again
on Sunday.

(LAUGHS)
(ALL EXCLAIM)

Whether you like it or not!
(LAUGHTER)

But...don't think about
the elimination on Sunday

because we have a very special
masterclass for you, right now.

Thank you.

Hey!

Hello!
Here we go.

Welcome.

Welcome, everybody,

to another masterclass.

We love masterclass days
just as much as you guys do

because we get to see you do
a bit of cooking,

you get to see us do a bit of
cooking, it's a win-win, right?

Definitely. Love it.
Everyone gets to learn something new.

Earlier in the week, you showed us
your rainy-day dishes

and now, Andy and I are gonna
show you ours.

How's that sound?
Sounds good.
ALL: Great.

You guys sound stoked.

Enthusiastic.
Yes.

"What are they?"
I hear them asking, Andy.
I'm sure they're asking.

What's cooking?!

What are you cooking?
What are they?

I'm gonna be making butter chicken.

ALL: Oh!

Yum.
Yeah.

And you?

Uh, I'm going to do a fish curry.

Ooh.
With coconut sambal.

I'm also gonna be making
some naan bread.

And I'm gonna steal some.

(ALL LAUGH)

I'm actually gonna be cooking...
with this.

ALL: Oh!
Oh, wow.

Right?
So cool.

That is so cool.
This is a tandoor oven.

I've never used one of these before
so this could be quite funny.

Excellent.
It will be very funny.

It's been a funny day.

Burn the arm hairs off.

Exactly. I'm gonna have no hair
left on my tattooed arm.

It'll be fine.

Righto, I'm gonna swing around,
let's get started.

Let's do it.

Alright, butter chicken. Let's go.

With butter chicken, there's two
parts to the marinade for the chicken

so we're making the first part.

I've got 40 grams of ginger.

Kashmiri chilli.

Paprika.

Some salt.

And then I'm gonna throw in
the juice of one lemon.

How about these things?

My wife showed me how to use them.

I had no idea.

I laughed at her for years.

And then I did it and I was like,
"Oh, my God. How good."

You can see the colour.

Nice and red.

Chicken goes in.

And we're just gonna leave this
at least 30 minutes.

An hour if you can,
if you've got time,

and that really
gets into the chicken.

So, fish curry-wise,
I'm gonna do a fish wing curry,

we've got the fish wings that
are marinading just in fish sauce

to season them up.

Then I'm gonna barbecue the wings.

What else I've got going on is

we're gonna make a super fresh
and sweet-and-sour curry paste.

I've got two tablespoons
of sesame oil.

Galangal, ginger, lemongrass,
garlic, in they go.

Get a fair old heat going on here.

I'm also gonna go in with
about 10 long red chillies.

I've deseeded about half and then
left the other half with seeds in.

Three sprigs of coriander.

They can go in.

And now,
we're just gonna cook that down

and get some really good colour
on these guys

before we start to add the sweetness
into the curry paste.

Zonfrillo, how you travelling?

So I've just put together
the yoghurt marinade.

So two marinades.

Second one is more spices
but with yoghurt.

In this bowl is green cardamom,
turmeric, ground cumin,

ground coriander, garam masala,
Kashmiri chilli powder, grapeseed oil

and some salt to taste.

So that's ready for my chicken so now
I'm gonna get on to my naan bread.

Flour, straight into the bowl.

400 grams.

Then we've got yoghurt, 180 grams.

150 grams of water.

Just stick your yeast in there.

Sugar in along with that.

We stick it in.

Once I incorporate it all,
then the salt goes in.

So I've sweated down, caramelised
all of my aromats in there now,

hit it with some tomato paste.

Once that's caramelised down,
I've got more sweetness.

So tomatoes, 400 grams.

I've got 2 tablespoons
of kecap manis.

And then 50 grams palm sugar.

So we can go quite hard
on the sweetness now,

knowing that we're gonna break it
down later on when we season it up.

So now I'm gonna crank the heat up,
bring it to a boil,

reduce to a simmer.

And then that's gonna tick
for probably an hour.

OK, so the dough is ready to go.

Grease the inside of your bowl.

Dough in, covered, let it prove.

In the meantime,
we gotta make the gravy.

A really good butter chicken
is all about the gravy.

So start off with some oil
in the pan.

Then we're gonna add 40 grams
of ginger, 40 grams of garlic.

Then tomato, triple concentrate,
200 grams.

And then spices.

We've got cayenne pepper, turmeric,

Kashmiri chilli, cumin, coriander.

And I wanna let it cook
for about 20 minutes.

what are you up to?

So, this is my curry paste.

So most of that liquid
has evaporated

so now, we can go into our blender
and blitz it up so it's a paste.

And now, we're gonna get the tandoor.

Naan bread first.

Do you reckon you're gonna... Get
lost in the coals of the tandoor?

Listen, it's probable. You know?
Right.

I'm not a tandoor oven expert,
by any means.

Some might call me a novice.

Naan bread dough, proved.
Ooh.

So just get it into
a rough naan shape.

If you don't have a tandoor oven
at home...

(LAUGHTER)

I mean, like,
who doesn't have a tandoor oven?

Um, you can use like
a cast iron pan on the stove.

You can get, like,
a reasonable flavour.

Then we've got a bunch of tea
towels, right, strung up together.

Stretch your dough...

..and you'll get a much better
product.

Are we ready?

And...in.

Without burning your hand.

So immediately, in a tandoor oven,
you'll see these bubbles happen

because there's a huge amount of heat
hitting it on both sides.

ALVIN: Oh, wow.

(ALL EXCLAIM)

So if you look at that, pretty nice.

What I wanna do is just keep them
in a 50-degree oven,

just so they can stay nice and warm,
ready for your curry.

ANNOUNCER: Coming up...

You can see how rich
and delicious that looks.

..Andy and Jock finish off
their rainy-day dishes.

Have I done alright?
You nailed it. I'm amazed.

You did really well.

Then...

Today with me
is someone really special,

she has mastered
Australian-Vietnamese cuisine.

..Chef Thi Le makes her delicious
turmeric chicken banh mi.

And later,

it's Mindy from the Favourites

up against Celebrity MasterChef
winner...

JOCK: There he is!

..and AFL superstar Nick Riewoldt.

What do we need to do?
I'm your apprentice. Let's go.

Oh, really?
What do you want?

Oh, this is gonna be fun.
It's gonna be fun?
This is gonna be fun.

Today I'm making butter chicken
with naan bread.

And I over here
am making a fish curry.

You right, tandoor man?

Yeah. I was just hanging around,
cooking naan bread, you know?

So, curry paste is blended.

It's full of aromats,
it's full of sweetness.

Oh, my God. That's lovely.

Yeah.

I've sweated down some onions.

Now we can go in
with our curry paste,

and then we can hit it
with our coconut milk.

You can see already, it's got
a pretty epic colour on it.

Reduce to a simmer.

And now I'm going to start
my coconut sambal.

So we're going to go in with about
a tablespoon and a half

of dried anchovies, and we'll just
start to pound them up.

We want them to be pretty fine.

Then in with lime juice,
four cherry tomatoes,

and we're going to really
smash this up.

Chilli powder,
probably one teaspoon worth in.

I've got shredded coconut here.

We really want the coconut
to suck all of the goodness up

and just start to work all this
together.

Smells super funky.

And then we'll leave this
for about 20 minutes.

It just gets better and better.

I've got the naan mix
ready for you, mate.

Are we on?
Are you going to cook it?

Yeah, I'll have a crack.

(CHUCKLES)

Righto, Naan 101. Hit me.

So you just want to try and get it
to hit and stick, right.

So, flat you can get it.
Righto.

Without burning yourself.

WOMAN: Go!

Uh...

It's like when it's cold
in the swimming pool

and you're on the blocks.

MONTANA: Shall we count you in?

Yeah, count me in.
OK.

Three, two, one - go!

ALVIN: Yeah!

Did it stick?

Did it stick?
Did it work?

It's hot! It's hot, isn't it?

Yeah.

Where's the tongs?

(LAUGHTER)

It's a bit high.

I can't move it now, though.

I got here. Relax.

Just at the top, it's just probably
going to be a little bit blond.

Mate, I saw a few of yours
when you first did it

when we were in the kitchen
out there.

That's not that bad, like,
for a first go.

We going in here.
I like it, do one more. Yeah.

One more?
Yes.

No feeling in my left hand,
but that's OK.

There you go. Conviction.

That's better. look at it.

And you got the...
It's going hard.

Meanwhile, the chicken's
been in its first marinade

with the lemon juice and the chilli
for about half an hour.

I've made my yoghurt marinade.

I'm now going to incorporate
the two of these together

and mix it thoroughly.

Make sure you do
the double marinade.

Then we'll skewer them up so we can
get them on the tandoor.

Whoa, whoa!

Righto.

Fish wings.
So these guys smell epic now.

Super funky from that fish sauce.

We're going to go on skin side down
to, like, a medium grill.

I don't want this super hot,
because if we go too hard, too fast,

we're going to get caramelisation
and char on the outside.

It's still going to be raw
in the middle.

I'm just buttering my chicken
that's been sitting on the skewer

and that butter is just
going to help caramelise.

They're ready.

I like to sort of load the coals up
on one side.

And that's it.

All we got to do is just keep
moving it.

You know? You're a human rotisserie.

So, fish has been cooking
skin side down.

And then we'll just flip him over.

I've just got a little bit
of the curry paste here,

which I'm just going to brush
all over.

It's just going to add
another layer.

I have also got about
150 grams of butter.

That's what we're going
to brush my naan bread with.

I've put in three cloves of garlic,

which I've just
really finely sliced,

and then once it starts
to caramelise

I'm going to throw
some curry leaves in at the end.

So now the chicken is ready.

I'm just going to let them rest there
for a hot minute.

Meanwhile, we've got browned butter,

which has had our toasted spices
in it.

And so I'm going to get
my naan bread,

brush the top of them
with that spiced butter.

Seeds toasted on the top.

Be generous.

We've got our garlic naan
with curry leaves,

which I've just drowned
in my butter.

I've obviously got a nice
little layer of the curry sauce.

Transfer my sambal
into a little bowl,

and then I've got my wing here.

It's just been chilling.

That can go in.

So, get the chicken in. You can see
how rich and delicious that looks.

This has got so much flavour
packed in in the early stages

through the double marination

that you've got flavour for days.

So, straight into a dish,
beautiful chunks.

And so there it is. It's my
butter chicken with naan bread.

(APPLAUSE)

So, serving up now.

Fish wing curry, garlic naan
and coconut sambal.

(APPLAUSE)

Alright, this is the important bit.

Who wants to taste it?

Harry.
Yes!

And Sarah.
How could you not taste it?

Let's go.
I cannot go past this.

Come on, Sez.
Oh, my God.

So fluffy.
Yeah.

Oh!

With the nigella seed.

Andy, are you gonna taste it or what?
Yeah, man. Coming.

Come on, mate.
I just needed an invitation.

That smokiness, the char
just makes it.

And the double marinade,
it's so juicy and yum.

Have I done alright?

You nailed it. I'm amazed.

You did really well.

(LAUGHTER)

Andy left me hanging.
Thanks for that. Amazing.

I didn't want to splat you
with butter chicken.

Harry, what do you think?

It's really bloody good.

It's really...
It's really, really good.

Nigella seeds on the naan
is awesome.

The butter chicken's just,
like, spot on.

It's exactly what you want to eat
when it's cold outside.

A rainy day.
Exactly.

It's perfect.

Alright, ladies,
let's go and taste Andy's.

Fish curry time.

Yum, yum.
Go your hardest.

I'm so intrigued by this.

Wow, that fish is cooked
beautifully, mate.

I wouldn't expect anything less
from a masterchef.

Yum. That's actually really nice.

Really balanced.

Mate, that's delicious.

The fish curry is just so many
layers of flavour,

and I really like
the sweet, sour vibe.

Yeah.
That's very up my alley.

So all about it.
Really, really good.

Glad you girls liked it.

Amazing. Thank you.

Yeah!

Couple of tips and tricks
there for you guys

and a couple of delicious curries.

Now you have to see Mel
and her very special guest.

They're waiting for you guys
in the restaurant.

Thank you.
See ya!

See ya, guys.
Thank you.

Give him a round of applause.
Yes!

Oh-ayyy!

Hello.
ALL: Hi!

Looking very studious
with your notepads and pens.

Today with me is someone
very special - an incredible chef.

She has mastered
Australian-Vietnamese cuisine.

Her own restaurant sells
a diverse range of delicious

and delectable banh mi.

Please welcome owner and head chef
of Anchovy in Richmond

and Ca Com Banh Mi Bar, Thi Le!

Thi, welcome.

Thank you for having me.

Is it cool to be in
the MasterChef kitchen?

Yeah, it is.

It's like a chef's dream come true.

I've been walking around the back
going,

"Oh, God. I wish I had this
at the restaurant."

OK. So, Thi, what are we cooking
today?

Today we'll be making the turmeric
chicken banh mi from Ca Com.

Turmeric chicken has kind of
been a staple at Ca Com.

We decided to do this banh mi
without any pate.

And I think a lot of Vietnamese
will be like,

"Oh, my God, what's going on?"
you know.

I just feel like you put so much
effort into making the curry paste,

to putting the herbs in,

and then to have something so rich
and heavy to mask all that...

It's complete without
that particular aspect.

Yeah.
So where do we get started today?

So I think first of all,
we'll make the marinade.

So you've some garlic ginger,
coriander root, dill root,

some chilli,

some fresh and dried turmeric,

some coconut cream and fish sauce.

Pop everything in.

Yeah. Alright.

So what are we looking for
in terms of texture here?

Are you looking to completely
obliterate everything?

No, I love texture.

We all have teeth.
We don't need to puree everything.

(LAUGHTER)

Quote of the day.

That marinade already smells amazing.

So we have some chicken thigh
with skin on here?

Yeah, about 200 grams or so.

And then we're going to mix.

How long would you usually
marinate this chicken for?

Anywhere between 24 to 48 hours.

Alright, put that in the fridge.

So this is the chicken we've been
marinating the last two days.

The magic of television.

Smells incredible already.

So we're going to be cooking it
on the binchotan today,

also known as charcoal.

Would you always leave the skin on
for something like this?

Yeah, it's very cliche, but fat
is flavour and especially...

Especially when you're cooking
on charcoal

and the fat's gonna drip down

and it's gonna create
little smoky sparks

and it's just going to impart
more flavour into the meat.

How hot do the coals need to be
in order for this to be perfect?

You're looking at a medium heat.

You don't want it to be too high
where it's just going to char

everything straightaway.

And then inside of the chicken,
it's going to be raw.

Yeah.

And do you always start
skin side down?

Yeah, always skin side down.

Yep.

You can smell the transformation
of fat and protein happening

right in front of you.

I think that's one of the most
magical things.

Ohh! Getting so excited.

ANNOUNCER: Coming up...

My mouth is watering.

..chef Thi Le assembles
her stunning banh mi.

WOMAN: So good.

MAN: It looks so good.

Everyone's like, "How many leftovers
are there going to be?"

And later...

JOCK: Here he is!

..AFL superstar Nick Riewoldt
returns to the kitchen.

Still shorter than you.

I just feel really sick
all of a sudden.

Flashbacks?

That chicken is cooking away.

And now what else can we be doing?

Next step, we're going to make
a red curry spice.

So we've got some fresh chilies,
dried chilies, lemongrass,

more coriander root, some garlic
and shallots.

Wonderful.
So we just pop everything in.

Talk to me about sort of the nuances
of what the dried rehydrated chilies

do to this paste in addition
to the fresh bird's eye chilies here.

It's going to help you add colour
and it's not as raw.

I don't know about you guys,
but sometimes you eat banh mi

and everything's fine and all
of a sudden, bang!

It just hits you and you're like,

"Oh, some auntie
decided to kill me."

That's your favourite bit.

That's my favourite bit.

I double chilli.

You just...you just want to hurt
just a little bit.

That's what you do.

By doing it this way,
you're actually giving

just a bit more
of an equitable distribution of heat.

Yeah, just a bit more rounded.

But you could add some fresh chilies
if you enjoy the pain.

(LAUGHS)

The thing with a banh mi,
it's up to you. You know?

It's what you like.

There's no rules.

It's about being able to take
the essence of a dish.

Paying homage to the history

and just trying to do your take.

Tommy, listening to the way Thi
sort of talks about her approach

to cuisine,

is that in a similar vein
to the way that you look at

what you're doing in your current
MasterChef journey?

Yeah, definitely.

I always try to look at
the history of it

and how it kind of originally ate

and what I really love about it,

but just kind of change it in a way

that makes it more interesting
and more fun to eat.

Alright.
OK. So, blitz.

Do the shake. Do the shake.

(LAUGHTER)
Yeah!

Every home cook can relate to that.

Now you have a beautiful
red curry paste.

What's the next step?

The next, just make the herb salad.

Yeah.

In the mix, we've got some dill,

and then you've got the coriander

and then we're going to chop some
cilantro through there as well.

And I never cut my herbs raw.

I always cut it rough.

The reason why I do it
is because you it will make you chew

and so then flavour starts
to come out.

Just becomes a bit more interesting.

I think the golden advice today
is we have teeth,

we should use them, right?

OK, so we've essentially made
all of the elements and now it's time

to build this banh mi.

Yeah.

Isn't it just a tray of happiness?

Can you talk me through
what's on this tray here?

So you've got the banh mi itself.

We've got the pickled carrot
and daikon.

Yeah.
We've got the red curry paste
that we made earlier.

Our fresh curry paste.

A couple of other things.

I love the seasoning.

I think it's the best thing ever.

And some crispy chilli oil.

OK. I mean, that chicken -

how good does that chicken smell?

The smoke, the charcoal.

You can see the fat
just sizzling away on top.

So we'll put that aside.

And then obviously the
all important toast over the...

Yeah. So we toast all our rolls
over the wood grill.

You're doing banh mi at home.

Just toast it open on the gas

or put it in the oven
for a minute.

It's one of those key things
in a banh mi,

like, it should be crispy.

OK, so let's do it.
Alright.

(BREAD CRUNCHES)
Ohhh!

Great sound.

A very generous amount of mayo.

Yeah.

Now your beautiful red curry paste.

Yeah.

A very healthy amount
of pickled daikon and carrot.

I love pickles. Cucumber.

The beautiful herb salad in next.

It's gotta be generous.
Yep.

This is a fully loaded banh mi.

And then we're going to chop
some chicken.

Rough chop.
Rough chops.

Toss it through the marinade
a bit more.

This gets pretty fun.

That's so lovely
and glossy and coated.

You can smell it.

Alright. We're on the homestretch.

Everyone's like, "How many
leftovers are there going to be?"

The crispy chilli oil.

Yeah.

And we've got spring onion
in the foil.

My mouth is watering.

And nuts.

So good.
It looks so good.

So here you go -
it's my turmeric chicken banh mi.

(APPLAUSE)

Wow.

Well, I know that 100% of you
want to try this banh mi,

but I think today...

..it has to be you, right?

Tommy.
Yes, I hope so.

Come on down.
Sorry, guys.

Oh, this looks amazing.

This is the real test.

Amazing.
Yeah? Alright.

Look at this layer.

(ALL EXCLAIM)

Alright.
Here we go, alright.

(BREAD CRUNCHES)

MAN: Like an expert!

Oh, my God. Mmm...

Chew first, Tommy.

So, Tommy.

Talk to me about
what's happening right now.

Mmm. Um...

Oh, it's so interesting.

The spring onion oil and the peanut
really remind me of cha ca la vong,

which is so cool.

Chicken perfectly cooked
with that smokiness.

The mayonnaise and the pickles.

So amazing. It's just a really,
really good banh mi.

So, guys, so good. Sorry.

Thi Le, thank you so much.

That was incredible.

ANNOUNCER: Coming up...

We're going to do
one of my signature dishes.

(LAUGHTER)

AFL superstar and reigning celebrity
MasterChef Nick Riewoldt

shows us his deep-fried eggplant.

You've got some impressionable
people here, mate, you know.

Oh!
(ALL GROAN)

Oh, what? Come on!

Far out - this place!

ANDY: Here they are.
Hello, hello.

Hello.
Looking spritely.

(LAUGHTER)

Righto, guys,
we cooked for you this morning...

..now it's your turn to cook for us.

Today, we wanna see a dish that
showcases extra virgin olive oil.

Mm.

And Mindy, we know you've got
something up your sleeve

so come on up.
(LAUGHS)

Now, we thought we'd invite a special
guest to cook alongside Mindy today.

Ooh.

This man is just like you in that

he was once a contestant
in this competition.

Oh.

After a bit of dedication
and elbow grease,

he walked away with a trophy.

10 out of 10.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

That makes you the winner
of Celebrity MasterChef 2021!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Please welcome...

..the reigning Celebrity MasterChef,

St Kilda superstar
and Fox Footy commentator...

Yes!

..it's none other than Nick Riewoldt,
everybody!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

There he is!

He's ready to go, with his apron on!

How are you, mate?
NICK: What's happening?

Still shorter than you.
Oh.

I just feel really sick
all of a sudden.

(LAUGHS)

Flashbacks?
Gosh, flashbacks everywhere.

You guys are crazy, for coming back.

What are you doing?
(LAUGHTER)

DANIEL: Nick Riewoldt
walks in the door

and he is a giant. (CHUCKLES)

He's this massive god of a man.

He's the reigning
Celebrity MasterChef,

so pretty awesome to have him
come into the kitchen today.

So what have you been doing?

Spending much time in the kitchen
since you left?

Uh, I have.

I mean, part of the deal
of coming onto the show

was that my wife would never have
to cook again.

(LAUGHTER)

Um, so she's held me to that
and I've loved it, really.

It's reinvigorated
my passion for it.

My reputation preceded me
a little bit after MasterChef.

Right, Nick, Mindy,
should we get stuck in?

Let's do it.
Come on!

Yeah! Give it up.

Righto, Mindy,
what's on the menu over here?

We're gonna do one of
our signature dishes at Karkalla,

which is crispy saltbush.
Yum.

We're gonna fry it in some
extra virgin olive oil today.

We're gonna do a little bush tomato
and chilli dipping sauce,

kind of just brings out those really
yummy flavours of the desert.

Amazing. What ae you two lads
doing over there?

We're gonna do one of MY
signature dishes...

(ALL LAUGH)

Own it. Own it.

We're doing fried eggplants
with salsa verde and walnuts.

That sounds delicious.

Should we get into it?
Yeah, let's do it.

We'll start up a light batter
for the saltbush.

Plain flour, super easy,

and some soda water.
Yep.

Soda water just brightens it up,
makes it a little bit lighter.

Pinch of salt.

Keep it nice and simple.

We just want it to lightly coat
the leaf.

I mean, this is
such a beautiful plant

and it actually absorbs a lot
of the salt out of the soil

that it grows in.
Yep.

So it's got these beautiful natural
saline kind of flavour.

There's a few different varieties,
right?

There's actually 60 different types.
60?!
60. (LAUGHS)

Wow. What variety is this?
This is Old Man.

Gotcha.
Old Man Saltbush.

Dan, that one's for you.
(SHOCKED LAUGHTER)

Shade thrown!

Yeah, that's definitely Old Man's.
I know that one.

What do we need to do?
I'm your apprentice. Let's go.

Oh, really?
What do you want?

Oh, this is gonna be fun.
This is gonna be fun?
Gonna be fun.

Alright.

Heat some oil up for me, champion.

How much do you want?
A good amount, please.

We're gonna just cut our eggplant

and then bathe them
in some milk for a bit.

In milk?
Yes.

Cool.
Gets rid of a bit of the bitterness.

So it's quite nice
having a little selection.
Yeah.

Different shapes, different colours.
Different shapes, different colours.

So we got the graffiti,
we got the baby

and we got the Lebanese.
Brilliant.

What about the top of the eggplant?
Is that no good?

Do you wanna use it?
I was just asking.

No, do you wanna use it?
I just quite love eggplant.

Well, hey, sometimes a sous chef's
actually allowed
to step up and make suggestions.

OK.
So feel free.

Can you use the whole eggplant?
Sure. Let's do it.

Awesome.
Alright.

Got some impressionable people here,
mate, you know?

Oh, my God.
(CONTESTANTS GROAN)

Oh, come on!
(ALL LAUGH)

That bit was no good.

Alright, mate, what is the dry
coating for the outside of them?

So we've got semolina.
Yep.

It's just a little bit crispier
than the normal flour.

Oregano. Thyme, bit of salt.

Beautiful.

Yeah, it will all come together
pretty nicely.

Let's get into it.

We're gonna do our bush tomato mayo.

Take out the idea that it's
anything like a European tomato,

they have a totally different
flavour profile.

Caramel notes,
they're almost like honey.
Yeah.

They grow in a really arid desert
region so they're intense.

That takes a lot to grow
that tiny little fruit there.

A little bit is a lot.

OK, how are we putting together
this mayo?

Pretty standard - eggs,
grapeseed oil and blend away.

How do you make your mayos, Andy?

Yeah, like that
but in a 20-litre bucket.

(LAUGHTER)
With a big old stick blender.

This technique is like,
once you nail it...

I know, you don't go back.
You don't go back. Don't go back.
Yeah.

We're gonna add some sriracha
into it.

Gotcha.
Bit of chilli sauce.

Love this spice
and it actually brings out

a lot of that amazing bush tomato
flavours.

Would you like to stir that through?

We're gonna give it a good sprinkle
of some ground-up bush tomato.

Kutjera, traditional name.

Put a touch of salt.

Perfect. We'll put that
into a little serving bowl.

Then we're gonna deep-fry.

You guys ready to go?

We're waiting for you.
Gosh. What?

We're warmed up, we've stretched.
We're ready to get into the game.

(LAUGHTER)

You look at the clock!

Far out. This place!

Anyone wanna give him a time call?

(LAUGHTER)

Cooking for us,
we have our very own Mindy

and Celebrity MasterChef winner
Nick Riewoldt.

Nick is making fried eggplant,
salsa verde,

candied walnuts and goat's cheese.

It's a very clever dish
and the flavours, in theory, to me,

works really well.

Mindy's making fried saltbush
with bush tomato mayonnaise.

She's always championing
Indigenous ingredients

and I can't wait to taste it.

So we've basically got our batter,
our saltbush.

MINDY: Yep.
We're gonna fry up, ready to go.

Exactly.
Love it.

So we'll put in
extra virgin olive oil

that actually lends itself to this
really well because it seasons it.

Yeah, right.

And it'll actually highlight
the notes of the saltbush.

Love it.

I think everyone's been afraid of
deep-frying extra virgin olive oil

because they normally get
the temperatures so high...

Yeah! There's this kind
of misconception

that it's got a low burning temp
and it actually ruins a quality oil.

It's actually not the case.
Yep. What have you got it at?

About 180.
Nice.

Which is fine. It actually holds.

Particularly for vegies, when
you're deep-frying them, I find.
Yep.

And doesn't over-dominate,
which is really nice.

We're ready to rock'n'roll.

Do you cook much with saltbush?
Not a great deal.

The natives have such
a strong flavour

so the best thing is to go
kind of light-handed with them.

So we just very, very gently
dipping that in.

You wanna get all those leaves
covered.

Little bit of a shake-off.

What we're gonna do is just
gently dance it in here.

Once it's in there,
just dance it around a little bit

so those leaves open out.
Oh, we're dancing!

We're dancing, girl.
This is what we do.

And it's literally seconds in there,
like, less than a minute,

which is great.

Beautiful. You can see it.
That looks cool. Yeah.

So we'll get this out to
a paper towel.

Look how bright it goes.

It's absolutely gorgeous.

You can see all those flavours
are gonna start to come out of it.

Salt?
Touch of salt. Doesn't need much.

Called 'saltbush' for a reason.
(CHUCKLES)

Can I dance?
Yeah, please.

(LAUGHTER)
Get your groove on.

Disco. I love it.

So, we've had some eggplants
in milk for 10-15 minutes.
Yep.

And then they go in the semolina herb
mixture as the coating.

Right, shall we get 'em in?
Alright, let's get them in.

So I like cooking
with extra virgin olive oil.

It's a healthier option.
I just think tastes better.

I mean, health and taste
is a pretty good combo, right?
That's it.

Alright, so are we looking for

caramelised, light golden-brown, dark
golden-brown, what are we thinking?

Nah, light.
Light.

What else do we need to get?

Let's start getting onto
the salsa verde.

Got some basil, got some capers
and we've got some salt.

I'll look after these for ya.

Careful, though.
'Cause that oil's hot in there.

Don't burn yourself.
(LAUGHTER)

Alright.

Let's get into plating up.

I love to serve it on the stem.
Yep.

Because it just highlights
how incredibly beautiful that is.

And the idea is then just to
pick off those beautiful leaves,

dip it into the sauce
and just enjoy it for what it is.

I'm in.

Create a little stand for it
so it stands up.

Let's do it. This is kind
of our version of chips.

Snack on it.

Icy cold beer, glass of champagne.

Look at this!
Cheeky lemon.

Can I start taking these out now?

If you think they've reached
the point they're ready...
Mate, you're the chef.

I'm... Hey! A good chef delegates
from time to time

and I'm happy for you to make
the call.

(ALL LAUGH)

And am I seasoning them again
when they come out?

Yeah. We'll give them
a little sprinkle.

Season and taste. Season and taste.

So eggplants ready.

Salsa verde's ready.

How are we putting this together?

Eggplant down the bottom.

And then salsa verde
onto the eggplant.

You can use two hands if you want.

There's no clock,
so I can take my time.

(CHORTLES)

I think you've forgotten what
it's like to cook under pressure.

I've just been dealing
with an inadequate sous-chef.

That's been my issue.
Ooh! Burnt.

(LAUGHTER)

These are candied walnuts.
Candied walnuts.

Yum.

And the salad.

I think it looks lovely.
There we go.

Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
Let's go, guys.

Mindy, what's the rush? Come on.

Good food takes time.

Nick takes a little bit longer.

(LAUGHS)

There is no time in this kitchen.

Come on.

OK.

That looks epic! Love it.
Yeah.

Let's do it. Here we go, guys.

So this is our crispy saltbush
cooked in extra virgin olive oil

with a bush tomato mayo.

So good.
(APPLAUSE)

Beautiful.

We're done. So there's our fried
eggplant with salsa verde,

candied walnuts and goat's cheese.

Cooked in extra virgin olive oil.

(APPLAUSE)
Look at that!

Well done, mate.
Thanks, mate.

Don't leave me hanging.
Don't leave me hanging.

Fellas, do you wanna come over
and taste?

Yeah!
Yes, please.
Come on over.

Let's get into it.
Crispy saltbush.

Squeeze some lemon juice.
Yep.

Can I touch now?
You can.

OK.
Please proceed.
Oh, no!

Just pick off the little leaves.
Yeah, OK.

Yeah, just enjoy it.

Crunchy.
Crunchy.

Yeah.
Delicious.

Wow. That's really good.

It's yummy, isn't it?

Couple of beers, happy days.
Oh, out on the beach.

Alright, do you wanna taste Nick's?

Yeah, let's do it.
Course you do.

C'mon, Nick, what have you cooked
me?

Can I finish?
(LAUGHS) Yeah, take it with you.

I'll bring it with me.

Fancy! Huh?

As we're used to with you, mate,
it's a beautiful-looking dish.

Fancy.
Get in there, Mindy.

Yeah. I will.

Mm.

Candied walnuts - genius.
Yeah.

Bit of crunch.
Yeah, love it.

It's beautiful because it hasn't
soaked up too much of that oil.

Yep.
That little crust on there.

And those candied walnuts
are incredible.

Oregano in there is really good.

Lovely with the salsa verde.
Beautiful.

Very smart, Nick.
Thanks, Jock.

You learned a lot
in the MasterChef kitchen.

I had great teachers.
(LAUGHTER)

You guys are the best! I miss you.
(LAUGHTER)

Still trying to score brownie
points, huh?

Well...

Mindy, thanks for that. Take a seat.
Yeah, no worries.

Thanks, Mindy.
That was delicious.

Alright, what a great day we've had.

So, go home, get some rest

'cause you are gonna need every bit
of it as the competition ramps up.

Thanks, guys.
See you, guys. Thank you.

ANNOUNCER: Sunday night
on MasterChef Australia -

Marco Pierre White
may be intimidating...

SARAH: He's all
about perfection.

..but wait until
they cook for him...

JULIE: Whoa!

..on elimination day.

MARCO: Be very careful.
God, he's dangerous.

Captions by Red Bee Media