MasterChef Australia (2009–…): Season 14, Episode 42 - Episode #14.42 - full transcript

VOICEOVER: Previously,
on MasterChef Australia,

Hey.

You are the top 10
of MasterChef 2022!

(ALL CHEER)

..so the judges threw everything
at them.

MELISSA: Whatever ingredients
are under there, you must use.

Oh.

Every single one of 'em.

MINDY: What a strange
combination of flavours.

JULIE: There's some things in here
I've never seen before so...

..this will be interesting.



They managed to make
stunning dishes...

What is on this plate
is an all-singing, all-dancing

chorus of flavours.

..but Billie's dish won the day.

Fish pie of dreams.
Absolutely fantastic.

(ALL CHEER)

Tonight, two more immunity spots
are up for grabs.

MINDY: I've got a real fire under me
at the moment

and I'm hungry for a win.

It's twice the prize
and twice the pressure.

# '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. #

Morning, gang.
Good morning, everyone.

So yesterday after the mystery box,

the judges did something
that they don't ever do -

they told us what's coming today
and they told us to go home

and have a think about
a pressure test recipe.

JOCK: Morning!

I love this kind of stuff.

Oh, good,
you've all brought your homework.

I wanted to think about the
food that I really love to cook

and I wanted to bring
some creativity to it.

You look like a bunch of
very well-behaved schoolchildren.

(LAUGHTER)
TOMMY: Far from it.

He-he. That won't last.

It's no secret that you already know
today is a pressure test.

Last night, we asked you to go home

and write your own recipes
for today's challenge.

You should know these dishes
inside out.

So we are expecting some incredible
cooking in the kitchen today.

As you know, the best dishes
from each challenge this week

are not only safe from
elimination on Sunday

but they have a shot at winning...

..THAT shiny pin!

I was like...

There. (LAUGHS)
JOCK: I still got it.

But what you don't know

is that today, we are looking
for the top TWO dishes.

(ALL EXCLAIM)
ALVIN: What?!

You've got two hours to make your
personalised pressure test dish.

Everything you need
is in the pantry,

it's on the shelves, in the garden.

It's open slather today.

The ball is well and truly
in your court.

JOCK: Sarah...
(CHUCKLES)

..if you could describe your dish
today, what would it be?

Um, I, uh...

It's called Shattered Rose
and it's inspired by my love-life.

(ALL LAUGH)

A Shattered Rose.
That sounds intriguing.

Yeah.

Alvin, you've done your fair share
of pressure tests this season.

Yes. (LAUGHS)
Thanks for the reminder.

Is this pressure test more your vibe
rather than somebody that comes in,

lifts a cloche and you're like...
(GROANS)

This is definitely more my vibe.

I get to cook something I love
and a challenge I set for myself.

So...I hope not to disappoint.
Nice.

I reckon we're gonna have
a good day, guys.

Good luck. Your two hours
starts now.

BILLIE: Good luck, everyone!

TOMMY: See that?!
DANIEL: 70 kilos of mussel!

Far out.
(LAUGHS)

I want to win today.

This reward is MASSIVE!

Immunity AND a chance
at an immunity pin is massive.

My pressure test dish is Phamcy Pho.

It's pho but it's fancy.

With, you know, better ingredients -
wagyu beef.

I'm gonna do all of the extra
little bits like tendon, tripe.

I'm gonna add truffle to it today.
Really refine it.

Make those flavours sing even more.

Holy shit, this is heavy!

MONTANA: Still gonna forget stuff
even though I've got a list.

If there's a day to play it smart,
it's today.

Sugar, cream.

I could do a savoury
and have some fun

but I wanna play to my strengths.

I wanna do the best possible dessert
so the dish I'm making

is a caramelised banana mousse
with a caramel centre

and tropical flavours.

ALDO: Oh, my God, I'm blind.
Caster sugar here.

My pressure test today,
I'm gonna cook a pasta dish.

Spaghetti with sea urchin.

The taste of sea urchin,
it is the classic umami bomb.

You eat them, you taste ocean
in your mouth for hours.

Salt.

So I'm gonna also serve
a palate cleaner, a lemon sorbet.

I really hope that I'm
in with a chance

but there are so many
incredible cooks around me

so I need to try my best.

ANDY: You right, Jules?
Here, I got ya. I got ya.

Holy sugar!
(JULIE LAUGHS)

I'm regretting this! (LAUGHS)

Thanks, Andy.

(SIGHS)
(LAUGHS)

JOCK: I love a pressure test day
but this pressure test day,

I love a little bit more.

Normally, a chef comes in, they
reveal a dish, it looks impossible,

everyone's nervous, they're scared.

And it's hard. That's hard.

That's the pressure
that we put them under.

I think there is no greater pressure

than the pressure you put
on yourself.

Because you cannot escape it.

I know that it is hard but we gotta
expect good things here.

Yeah.

We know that there are going to be
nine brilliant dishes out there,

two of which will be, you know,
right at the top, so game on.

Snap-snap.

I'm kind of bringing my whole history
together in this dish.

I'm bringing in flavours
from the south-east

but I'm using native Indigenous
ingredients

to actually bring it to life.

I'm a Widjabul Wia-bal woman
of the Bundjalung Nation.

I feel like I'm propped up
by my ancestors

and I just love that
I can showcase our culture

through the food
of our Indigenous people.

I opened my restaurant,
Karkalla Byron Bay, 12 months ago.

At Karkalla, we really try
and create an experience for people.

What we really love to do
is to try and connect

Indigenous and non-Indigenous people
with Indigenous culture through food.

And I feel really proud
and privileged to be able to do that.

We have all these amazing ingredients
growing all around us

that we don't even realise are there.

A lot of our natives,
we source and forage ourselves.

We go out onto the beaches
and into the park lands.

If I can inspire Australians

to be using these
beautiful native ingredients,

I'm gonna feel like a winner.

For today's pressure test,

I'm cooking a crispy skin snapper
with a hot-and-sour sauce.

I'm throwing everything
at this dish today.

I want to blow the judges away.

I'm gonna be putting so much
technique, so many flavours,

so many elements onto this dish,

a beautiful hot-and-sour sauce,
coconut rice.

I'm gonna do all these beautiful
crunchy elements onto this dish

to really take the judges
on a ride of Mindy flavours.

DANIEL: So today, I'm making
paperbark barramundi

with an aromatic broth
and some native ingredient oils.

I dubbed it the Mindil Sunset.

It's a little conceptual but I
wanted it to somehow reflect home.

In Darwin, we've got this beach
called the Mindil Beach

and the Mindil Beach markets
are unreal.

You've got this melting pot of
different cultures and street food

and, like, the best sunset ever.

Like, it really is amazing.

I gotta get the broth
on straightaway

so I have to char some vegetables
to make the base of my broth

and then put the fish carcass in

and sort of let that get all
friendly together and...delicious.

I think this dish represents me

because it's this rustic style
of cooking and native ingredients

and South-East Asian flavours.
It's just bold, but...

Gotta work to get that bloody
broth on, eh?

TOMMY: Hey, hey.
Far out. (CHUCKLES)

..I really wanna try and refine this
and make it pretty

to sort of show the techniques
that I learned here.

I'm emptying the tank today
and it feels good,

and it's cool to do this in
a pressure test under my own recipe.

Catlike reflexes!

You're all in the zone.

SARAH: Today, I am...
making my take on a falooda.

It's this Indian street food drink.

So it's this beautiful rich,
pink colour.

It's flavours of rose and raspberry
and it's really interesting

because it has vermicelli noodles
through it, it's got basil seeds.

So all those flavours
but done in my way.

I'm not overly confident
with desserts.

I usually get the pastry team
to do it in my restaurant

but the judges want to be blown away

so I'm definitely pushing my skills
today to do that.

BOTH: Sarah.
Hello.

How are you going?
Good.

Dessert today?
I know. (LAUGHS)

Talk to me about this shattered
love-life of yours.

Yeah.
(LAUGHS) Let's not go there.

No. We have to!
That's the name of your dish.

(LAUGHS)
"Shattered Rose."

No, so really, though,
it's inspired by falooda.

So basically,
it's this beautiful pink drink

loaded with vermicelli noodles,
basil seeds, raspberry, rose,

all these kind of flavours,
basically.

So how are you gonna transform
that into a dessert?

God, you've got everything
going on here.
So... Yeah, it's a lot.

This is scientific, Sarah.
(LAUGHS) It's a lot.

With liquid nitrogen and stuff.

Basically, it's
like a raspberry chocolate mousse.

Has a basil seed pannacotta
filling inside.

Yeah.

And then served with a raspberry
ice-cream on the side.

Was there vermic...
Are you putting...?

Yeah, vermicelli noodles. Yep.
Where are they?

So those, I am gonna fry.

So I want them to be crispy
rather than soft.

There's a lot of soft elements going
on so...

..that's gonna be
the textural element of this.

Good luck, Sarah.
Thank you.

This cook is all about timing

and there's a lot of elements
that need to be prepared

in order to layer this correctly.

So I just need to focus
to get this right.

Well, you guys are all shooting for
the stars and that's what we wanted.

You've only got 90 minutes to go,
though.

90 minutes!
BILLIE: Whoo!

DANIEL: Where's the time gone, Tommy?
I don't know, man.

I don't know.

I'm not crying.
Are they tears or...?

No, no. (LAUGHS)

It's just oniony.

So it's just making me cry.

Julie Goodwin.
Hello.

Pork belly roast.
Come on, give me this.

So this why this is my dish 'cause...

Oh, wow.
Look at this.

..whenever I ask what's for dinner,
that's what they say.

Pork belly roast.

And I'm guessing that's
what she'll say too.

That's my new granddaughter.

Oh, how good.
(LAUGHS) Yeah.
How good.

Normally, my food is all
about the flavour,

it's all about feeding people,
it's all about making people happy.

But today, I also want to show
a bit of technique.

Normally when I'm at home,
I put this dish on the table

and the table can barely stay upright
with the weight of all the food.

It's all big
and everyone serves themselves.

Today, um, I'm hoping to show a
little bit of growth in this kitchen

and I'm going to plate it
like a fine-dining dish.

I'm gonna TRY to plate it
like a fine-dining dish.

That's my goal today.

So on my plate, there's gonna be
a beautiful sweep of pea puree

with some fresh peas on there.

The pork with crackle and in between
the pork and the crackle,

some beautiful, cylindrical
roasted apples,

crispy duck fat potatoes,

some honey Dutch carrots and a gravy.

And I'm adding a little
beetroot tuile.

A beetroot tuile?
Sounds good...

Beetroot tuile?
Yes.

On a roast.
In 90 minutes.

You've only got 90 minutes.
Oh, bloody hell!

I'd better get on with it. (LAUGHS)
Good luck, Jules.

I know this is a risk.

I know that plating fine-dining food
is not my jam.

And I'm concerned that I won't be
able to make this elegant enough.

But it's top 10 now and...

..I need to sort of show, I guess,
that I'm still worthy of being here.

I need to show that I still have
it in me to grow and to learn,

to improve.

But what I'm trying to show
is that I can learn new things,

and this is a new thing for me.

BILLIE: The smells so far
have been amazing.

Um, looks like there's quite
a variety of dishes down there.

There's a couple of desserts.

Beautiful-looking pasta.

Tommy had so much meat,

but the smells coming from
his filthy bench... (CHUCKLES)

..are amazing.

There's HEAPS to choose from.

So, yeah, tough time for the judges
later, I think.

So the dish I'm making
is Pork Snacks by Porkface.

And this thrice-cooked pork,
with pork floss, some steamed buns

and some condiments to sort
of go with it as well.

So this is a thrice-cooked
pork belly,

so first I've got to boil the pork,

then I have to fry the pork,
then I have to steam the pork.

'Porkface' is actually
a term of endearment

that, um, my parents used to call me,
in fact, my entire family,

'cause I loved pork so much
when I was a kid.

And this dish is an ode to pork,
really,

all the elements
that I like about pork

and everything that
I like to do with pork. (CHUCKLES)

I think a lot of the stuff that
I do is connected to my heritage

and my culture.

So one of the messages
that I wrote in my recipe is:

Ee-poh is my late great-aunty,
who I adore.

She's been so integral in my life.

This woman is 4 foot nothing
and when she goes into the kitchen

and she cooks,
all those lovely nyonya flavours

just come through and I...

..I just love her and I miss her,

and all the food that she does
just reminds me of home.

So...this one's for her.

Can you put to some music, please!
Andy!

Alright, you teach me your move.

Hips. (LAUGHS)
This one?

(LAUGHS)
There we go.

You're cooking with such
great energy today.

Oh, my God, I'm so happy! (LAUGHS)

So my pressure test
is Venezuelan hallacas,

which I think is the core
of Venezuelan cuisine.

It's a really rich pork stew

and a lot of what we call alinos,
which is vegetables.

And then it's wrapped
in cornflour dough

and then you wrap it in banana leaves

and then we just cook it
all together.

(SIGHS)

So this is our Christmas
traditional dish but...

..for me, the Christmas Day

is nothing compared to the day
we make hallacas.

You will have at least 12 people
in the production line.

We all gather together as a family
and we cook together

so that brings me so many memories
and so many memories of joy.

I hope the judges can, you know,
have some fun eating this hallacas

and actually feel really connected to
my culture as well through this dish.

Don't put too much pressure
on yourself,

you only have one hour to go!
JOCK: Let's go, guys!

Come on!
(JUDGES CLAP)

No pressure on yourself.

One hour to go, that's it.
No pressure. No pressure.

(CHUCKLES)

The Sunday roast usually on my table

is just platters and platters
of stuff all along the table,

everyone helps themselves.

But today, I want to bring all
that flavour and all that heart

but make it look like something you
would receive in a nice restaurant.

There's an hour to go and I'm still
waiting on all the pork to be right.

So I start to work
on the roasted apples.

You just gotta have apples
with your pork roast,

and today, I'm making some little
cylindrical pieces of apple

because I want these beautifully
roasted and neat and tidy.

Every element on this plate
has got to play a role.

I'm ticking things off.

I think it's really starting
to take shape.

SARAH: Got my mousse in the freezer

so I just really need that to be
rock solid when it comes out

so I can spray it.

I'm making my ice-cream now.

I've got my vermicelli to do.

So still quite a lot to do.

I think the most important thing
in this ice-cream

is not to have overkill
with that rosewater.

I'm being careful with this
rosewater and it's definitely key

but I have to say that my palate
for rosewater,

because I'm so used to it
in Indian desserts,

is probably on the stronger sides.

Aldo?

Can you taste the rose?
Rosewater?

That's all. It's gonna be
very strong after.
Yep.

So I'm just trying to balance to
make sure that I get it right here.

DANIEL: My broth's on the rip.

That's just simmering away,
doing its thing.

I'm just soaking my paperbark,
I've filleted my fish

and I've portioned it up so now
I've just gotta pretty much

roll my little paperbark packages
and get them all nice and done.

I think I've done really well
with the concept of the dish

being the Mindil sunset
and all that sort of thing, but...

..all the inspiration I've taken on,
I think I've done a good job

of putting this whole experience
of MasterChef onto a plate.

I've got one package made.
Gonna try and make another two.

That way, I've got, essentially,
two backups. (CHUCKLES)

A lot of the techniques that
I'm using today I've learnt here.

And also, I suppose, the refinement
and the flavours that I like

where it's somewhat modern Australian
but with South-East Asian influence.

I want to do this dish justice

and I want to really showcase
the flavour that I'm going for,

particularly with the broth.

So I'm gonna give it everything today

and really focus on it
as much as I can, to nail it.

BILLIE: What is that, Mindy?

I'm making fish floss,
it's gonna go on my rice. Yeah.

I could take the easy route
and just do the fish

but I wanna really pimp it up today,
so I'm gonna be doing fish floss.

This is like a traditional
Thai fishcake.

A lot of people don't know
much about it

but they're amazing in terms
of flavour and texture.

It's almost like a fish version
of pork crackling.

When you do it, the proteins,
when they hit the oil,

they come back together, see,
look at that.

Yeah, I noticed that! So cool.
It's amazing, isn't it?

Delicious.

I've got really limited chances now
to bring food that I'm proud of,

that I know represents me.

I just love cooking like this.

I mean, when I cook like this,
I feel that nothing can go wrong

because I'm really doing stuff
that I absolutely love.

Hot, sour, spicy, crunchy fish,

all these beautiful textural
elements over it,

this is exactly the type of food
I love to eat and I love to cook.

This has been a crazy journey,
you know?

My first series of MasterChef, I won
the first immunity pin of the season

and I held onto that pin
all the way through till finals week.

I need to get into this immunity
challenge and I need to win it.

I have had no immunity pins,
no immunity wins.

It's my turn.

This could be our best tasting
ever... Julie, you're on fire!

(MEL LAUGHS)
You right?

Yep.
30 minutes to go!

(JUDGES CLAP)

Daniel, how did you not put that out
for Julie?

Montana was all over it.
I didn't need to.

She's got a job in the Top End
after this, I reckon.

Sarah to here

Sorbet vessel.
Amazing!

KEYMA: Oh, my God, this cook today
is bringing so many memories

of the night we make hallacas,
and I'm so happy.

Delicious.

The stew's looking amazing.
It's rich, it's thick.

I've got my pork crackling
in the air fryer.

So now it's time to move on
and form the hallacas.

I'm just pressing the dough

that has been enriched
with sofrito and chicken stock,

and then it has all the beautiful
flavours from the pork too,

and then I fold the sides
and I cut the ends

so it just looks like a rectangle.

And then I just fold all that
and fold it in banana leaf

and then put it in the steamer.

All of the elements are under way
and they looking amazing.

Everything is tasting delicious.

But I still have so much to do.

I have to make the sauce,
finish my garnishes,

and have everything ready.

So I'm pushing hard.

How are you going, Alvin?

Great, Keyma
That's good.

I'm just eating pork.

The pork fillet is still
in the pressure cooker.

The condiments are done.

The kohlrabi is pickling
as we speak.

The next thing I need to do
is pork floss.

It's literally just dried up pork,

which doesn't sound very tasty
when you say it,

but it's such a snack that you can
actually eat by the spoonful.

It transports me home.

Tasting the pork floss...

Ugh.

..it takes me back to,
you know, my parents' home,

like, sitting in the round table...

(SIGHS)

..buttering boring white bread,

but then, you know,
drenching it with pork floss

and then just eating it.

It's so simple.

I used to eat that
for breakfast at home with...

(SNIFFLES) ..with Mum and Dad.

(SNIFFLES)

It's just really special.

It's just beautiful
what food does sometimes.

JULIE: So, I've got pork
in the pressure cooker

and I've got pork in the oven.

(SIZZLING)
Oh, yeah.

And the crackle's just starting
to look crackly and delicious.

She gettin' there.

I've got gravy on the go,

I've done my apples,

and it's time to do my little
crispy duck fat potatoes.

Ordinarily, you quarter them,

you throw them in the water,
boil them up,

and when they're a bit sort of rough
around the edges, you bake them.

Today I'm looking for presentation,

so I cut them with a little
cookie cutter into sort of discs.

I've checked my roast in the oven.

The crackle's coming along.

I think it'll be ready
in just a few minutes.

I've got this lovely pork belly
in the pressure cooker,

which I'm going to
compress and chill,

because that makes it nice and easy
to carve into beautiful pieces.

And then I'll put that...

..I'll slow the oven down
and put that into the oven, so...

I feel like I'm getting
all my elements under control.

What's really going to
take my focus now

is getting that pork
absolutely right.

Alright. Pho's good.

Pho-ever!

So, my pannacotta has now set

and I want to add
these into these spheres.

So I've got my dough moulds,
I'm putting in the chocolate mousse,

and I want some raspberry
in there too

just to reinforce
that raspberry flavour.

The domes need
quite a bit of time to set.

I want it to be a perfect dome,

so if it's not in the blast chiller
for long enough,

then it's not going to get
that perfect sphere shape.

MINDY: Hey, Aldo,
have a taste of my sauce, babe.

Hot and sour.
Hot and sour?

And what have you got for fresh?

Just taste it. I've got
finger limes to go through it.

Beautiful.

That hot sour sauce
has to be everything.

It has to be sweet, sour, salty,

and it has loads
and layering of flavour.

Oh-ho!
It's got a kick, hey?

Yeah, no, but it's hot-sour.
Yeah.

That already tastes...
So insane.

Yeah.
..20 out of 10.

That's on the way,
and that'll just get better.

But the thing is, I've got a couple
of other things to deep-fry,

take this out, slice it...
Yeah.

..season it, rice flour,

'cause I like texture
on the surface of the skin...

..in.

It feels like you woke up
this morning and said,

"I'm going to win today."
Yes.

Oh, you know what?
I really bloody wanna!

I feel like it's time.
Come on, guys.

Like, I feel like it's time.

So, yeah, I do.
I do want a win under my belt.

Andrew to here

There's a lot of things
to try and get right,

but I think I've got it.

Alright, little fishy.

I've got everything where
it needs to be,

so it's time to get my fish on.

I don't usually cook a fish
this big at home.

Usually I'm doing, like,
maybe an 800-gram snapper,

but this guy's about 1.5 kilos.

It's an absolute monster.

I'm going to try to do it in the
deep-fryer, take the basket out,

dump him inside, and hope that it
cooks through.

Bathe this little baby.

The thing that makes me
really nervous about today

is that I've got one chance
to cook this fish.

Time is against me, I need to
make sure the cook on it's right.

And I've got one chance
to get this perfect.

JOCK: Hey, listen up.

We want the true pressure test
experience.

That being the case, we're going
to leave the kitchen now.

And the next time we see your dishes

is when you take the cloche off and
reveal it to us in the tasting room.

You've got 20 minutes.
Good luck.

ALDO: Now we got you, Billie!
Come on.

Yay!

DANIEL: So, 20 minutes to go,
the broth has reduced beautifully.

Like, the fish is all just
broken apart.

I strain it off.

And I'm just going to let
that simmer away and bubble.

But I've got to start
getting my fish on.

I've left it a bit late,
so I've got to get that on now.

I am bricking it.

To get an evenly cooked
piece of fish

you have to allow it to smoke away
and cook onto the coals,

but you have to take it off
at the sweet spot

because you've got this immense heat
from the coals

cooking from the outside,

and you need to take it off
so that the cook continues

with the steam and then finds
that beautiful sweet spot

in the centre.

Please be cooked.

And nailing that is tricky.

A lot of it relies heavily
on the fish,

so if anything goes wrong
with the fish,

all this work that I've put into
this broth doesn't even matter.

Keep pushing! Come on!

DANIEL: I need to open it up
and look inside

and hope to God
that it's cooked properly.

Moment of truth.

Oh, God. I hope it's good.

I peel back the paper bark
and the lemon myrtle.

Yes. Yes. That's just set. Yes.

It is just perfect.

Like, it's just got that beautiful,
little opaque centre right...

It's just cooked so evenly
and so gently.

Oh, I can't... I can't relax yet,
I've still got stuff to do.

Oh, I'm chuffed. I'm bouncing
off the walls right now.

I know that my fish is cooked
so I can focus on nailing the broth

and start putting in
all the natives.

OK, it's done. That's done.
I need to strain that back off.

Five minutes to go! Whoo!

Yeah, Billie. Look at my fish.

It looks beautiful, Dan.

MONTANA: All the elements
are finished.

It's just a matter of getting
the quantities right on the plate

and finishing it off.

Yeah, cool. I'm feeling good.

ALDO: There is actually no cream,
it's all from the urchins.

Can you smell what
the pho is cooking?

I've strained my pho broth
into another pot just to balance it.

I've got to now dig
through this pressure cooker

for all my little treasures.

I'm digging for some brisket.

I'm digging for some tendon.
I'm digging for some thyme.

Digging for everything here.

Daniel, will you take this rose?

Yes, I'll... Absolutely.

Sarah, ask me again in five minutes.

I think for me,
throughout the competition,

I've definitely chosen the moments
when I want to push my own limits.

And today was about that.

I really wanted to create a dessert
that is pretty technical.

And I think this dish
will wow the judges.

I'm happy with the shape
of my sphere.

I want to finish this off
with a velvet spray.

So I've got white chocolate, some
cocoa butter and some red colouring

to just bring that beautiful colour
to the sphere as well.

JULIE: This could be interesting
or it could be a disaster.

But either way, you probably
want to be watching.

It's time to stop worrying
about how things taste,

I've got all that under control.

Now what I need to do
is focus on the presentation,

and I'm going to make sure
that the judges get one dish each.

It's so different to how
I normally plate things up.

You know, if I did this
for my family, they'd be confused.

But my goal
is to demonstrate to the judges

that I'm still learning,
still growing,

and that I'm worthy.

Come on, guys.
We've got two minutes!

Last two minutes of the game.

Go hard. It's nil-all.

I'm Italian
and I'm putting myself to shame

because of rolling pasta.

Am I bloody serious?

Check out this baby.

This fish is an absolute monster.

It's looking really angry right now

after being thrown
in that deep-fryer.

This cook on this fish is perfect.

It's crunchy on the outside,

it's still got this juiciness
on the inside.

It's exactly what I wanted.

I'm going to jazz this fish up.

I've got my hot-and-sour sauce,

loads of finger lime in there

that's going to really pop
with flavour.

I've got fresh coriander,
ground toasted rice.

I've got fish floss on there.

That cook on that fish is perfect.

I might be in for a chance
for a win.

They complete cooking in there,

they will just harden
with a bit of time.

So, the hallacas is ready
and now it's time to plate up.

I put my banana leaf underneath
and I add some sofrito sauce,

then the hallacas
and the garnishes on top.

So, you can see the soil,
you can see the pickles

alternating, like, onion
and chilli and then pork crackling.

It's looking amazing.

It looks like a fine-dining hallacas.

I'm proud of seeing this dish coming
together the way I envisioned.

I hope the judges really like it.

One minute to go, everyone!
Come on, let's hustle!

I'm really happy with the dish.

I've had a taste
of individual things

and I've also had a taste
of everything together.

It all works.

The pork belly is just beautiful.

It's kind of sticky, it's sweet.

The pork floss is kind of like
there's that warmth from the ginger

and the, you know,
like, lovely sort of umami,

sort of sweetness
from the pork as well.

Fantastic.

I hope I've done enough to win one,
at least one of the two top dishes.

You know, there's two spots here.
Come on.

10...

(OTHERS JOIN IN) Nine, eight,

seven, six,

five, four,

three, two, one.

Come on!

DANIEL: Far out.

That was intense, man.

My little snack-size buns.
Oh, my God. They're beautiful.

That's my pork. My pork floss.

Oh, beautiful.

Today's cook is all about
getting every element perfect.

You know what I mean?
Like, I've thrown everything at it.

I've made a fish floss,
made a really hot, sour sauce,

which has all those
beautiful natives in it.

Every element of this dish
counts today.

ANDY: Mindy.

Whoa.

You win the "biggest cloche" award.

Well, I'm not even going to ask you
what it is. Reveal it first. Go on.

Oh...
Wow.

Mindy, what have you made us?

So, this is my crispy fried snapper
with hot-and-sour sauce.

Mindy, do you reckon this is going
to get you that elusive win?

Oh, I hope so. I'm hungry for it.

I don't know if you've seen it,

but I've got...I've got a real fire
under me at the moment

and I'm hungry for a win.

So, fingers crossed
that this is my day.

Alright. Thanks, Mindy.

Look at the inside of it. Beautiful.

Oh...
It's juicy.

That is perfect.
It's absolutely perfect.

It's just clinging onto the bone.
Just.

Oh, yes.
Good job, huh?

Yes.

That right there is Mindy Woods
at her absolute best.

That is unbelievable.

You know, when we went
round to her bench, Jock,

and there was the sauce that was,
like, already hot and sour,

we felt like it was nearly ready.

But little did we know that she was
going to reduce it down even more

and then fold all of those
finger limes and desert limes

and blood limes through it
to just make it pop again

and bring back the acidity
that was there in the first place.

It's just made for a deeper, richer,
more punch-in-the-face fish.

The rice with the coconut,
the fish floss,

the shredded kaffir lime leaf.

Man, it is a riot of flavour.

You right over there, mate?

I can't stop eating it.

This is brilliant cooking
from Mindy.

And you could see,
it was written all over her.

And, you know, from the second
she walked in the door today,

she had a clear vision.

Thought long and hard last night
about what she was going to cook

and how she was going to cook it,

how she was going to sort of
grasp both of the cultures

that she grew up with

and just meld them together

in a way that makes clear,
concise sense on a plate.

Hard to see how this isn't a
top-two dish today, to be honest.

ALL: Good luck, Julie.
Thank you.

I'm pretty happy walking
my dish up to the judges.

It's done what I wanted it to do,

which is just take me
outside my comfort zone,

do something a little bit different,

and make something really tasty
and from my heart.

MEL: Julie Goodwin.

I just hope that they'll take that
lid off and say, "Wow."

I hope they'll be thrilled.

Applications for next season
are now open.

Go on, get on it!

Julie, what are we
about to experience?

This is my pork belly roast.

Ooh.
Wow.

That's amazing.

Thanks, Julie.
Thanks, Julie.

If we look at it,
the pork belly's nicely cooked,

the cooked apples
are still nicely tart.

The pea puree
has a nice freshness to it.

There are some nice things to enjoy.

The crackling is perfectly crackly.

There's nothing really wrong with it,
but it doesn't feel right either.

Yeah.

Out of everyone that's still left,

actually, out of everyone
who's been in the top 24,

whose house would you want to go
round to for a Sunday roast?

MEL AND JOCK: Julie's.

There's, like,
some decent flavour on here,

but it's not as good
as if it would be

the long tail spread at Julie's
house on a Sunday afternoon.

Yes.

Hi, Keyma.
Hello.

How are you?

Very well. How are you?
Good.

Alright. Please reveal your dish.

Oh, so cool.
Whoa.
Wow.

I cooked
a modern Venezuelan hallacas.

Thank you. Enjoy.
Thanks, Keyma.
Thanks, Keyma.

I think this is the best thing
Keyma's ever made.

It carried her spirit today, it
carried her vibe. She was so proud.

And flavour-wise,
it's got everything that you need.

The pork belly is beautifully cooked

and there are so many ingredients
in the middle of that tamale.

And you can see it in the middle
of that maize package,

is just a glorious stew,
as she called it.

I mean, the stew
is the star of the show

encased by that
very thin layer of maize.

And it's what happens

when you have all of these beautiful
spices that come together

and you can't discern
one specific one.

They just come together
in such a glorious way.

Alright, Sarah,
show us what you made.

Wow. Dusky pink, eh?
Dusty pink.

Love a bit of dusty pink.

What's going on here?

Just the finishing touch.

Is this a Bachelorette crossover?

(LAUGHS)

No. It's just a shattered rose,
you know?

It's all about the flavour.

I want the essence of a real rose
flavour to come through.

Wow. You went hard there. I like it.
(CHUCKLES) Yeah.

A lot of rose.

So it is Shattered Rose.

It's inspired by falooda.

It's got flavours of rose,

the vermicelli noodles, basil seeds,

there's a little kind of surprise
on the inside and raspberry.

I've got to commend Sarah for really
throwing the boat out there today.

This isn't necessarily
in her wheelhouse,

but I feel like she felt
that she really needed to impress us

with another side of her
to really stand out from the pack.

The ice-cream, the texture
was sensational.

Really, really delicious.

The amount of air in that mousse
is the way a mousse should be.

And I think it's the first time
this season

that someone's brought us a mousse
that actually looks like a mousse.

I think it was brave. I think it was
a brave thing for her to try.

I agree.

You got a licence for that thing?
I do not.

I'm trying not to crash it.

It's just too easy to blame my race
for all this.

But never mind.

Alvin, do you wanna show
us what you've cooked?

I would love to.

So, today I made for you
Pork Snacks by Porkface.

Pork Snacks by Porkface.
Yeah.

So, underneath the pickled kohlrabi
is thrice-cooked pork

in this lovely sort of soy sauce.

And then the condiments

you have the chilli,
you have ginger and shallot.

You've got extra sauce.
And you've got pork floss.

The flavours here are insane.

So insane.

Start with that pork belly.

The complete trip of cooking it
three times has just made it sticky,

beautifully tender.

It has, like, those little
crusty edges around the outside,

which are my go to,

and it's just rich and slightly
acidic, slightly sweet.

I feel like it's exactly
what Alvin was looking for

and it's worked.

From my heart,
Alvin has done such an incredible job

replicating these flavours and these
textures really, really faithfully.

And that pork floss, I mean,

I remember when we couldn't have
pork floss in our house often

because I would break into the pantry
and just eat it by the fistful.

It's so delicious.

And it's that beautiful, sweet,
savoury thing

that it almost feels like candy.

It's delicious.
Top-two contender, you reckon?

I think it's gotta be.
Yeah.

It has to be.
Pretty good.

OK, Aldo. Let's see it.

Shall we do it?
Let's do it.

We've got sea urchin spaghetti.

With a chaser of lemon sorbet
and a little bit of caviar on top.

The flavour's great, but I question
the cook on the pasta.

It hasn't dried at all,

so it's naturally not
going to have a bite in it.

I love the lemon and the caviar,
though. That is so delicious.

Montana.
Here we go.

So, it's a roast banana
and white chocolate mousse.

Got a caramel insert, a little salad
of mango and passionfruit,

coconut and lime sorbet
and sort of dark coconut crumb.

I think the celebration
of tropical fruits is really lovely.

The banana, the passionfruit,
the mango, the coconut,

it's all there.

The texture of the mousse
is somewhat problematic.

It's not unpleasant,
it's just it should give way.

It should just evaporate
when you eat it,

and it doesn't quite do that today.

Tommy, what have you cooked?

Today I've made a Phamcy Pho.

The broth is insane. The cook
on all of the proteins is great.

I think the noodles aren't his best,
unfortunately.

You know, they are...
They just literally break up.

Yeah.

TOMMY: Good luck, Daniel.
Good luck, mate.

Cheers, guys.

I think I've really done well
with the concept of the dish.

Like, this is a bloody good version
of the fish and broth

where it's
somewhat modern Australian

with South-East Asian influence.

Here he is.
G'day, guys. How are we?

There's a good little grin there.
(CHUCKLES)

I really wanted to show off
everything that I've learned

into this one dish.

And I think I've done that.

Hopefully that pays off.

Daniel, straight up.
Show us what you made.

I've made...Mindil Sunset.

(WHISTLES) Wow.

Righto, mate.
Hit me with the Mindil Sunset story.

So, it really reflects,
like, where I'm from.

The sunsets in Darwin
and the greenery

and obviously
the fish and the Asian ingredients.

And I had the idea
with the paper bark.

It was something that was shown
to me from my old man.

I love the flavour of the fish.

You get that smokiness
and that lemon myrtle

just, like, hums through it

and just sort of, like,
perfumes the fish so nice.

That, working with the South-East
Asian ingredients and the broth

and it's just...

Clearly a big fan. Sorry.

(QUIETLY) We want to taste it now.
Yeah.

Alright, guys. Enjoy.

Thank you, mate.
Thanks, Daniel.

He's a very excited young man.
I know. It's so lovely.

It's like everything
worked out for him.

JOCK AND MEL: Yeah.

I think the most
impressive part for me

is that the real action happens
when you get everything together.

You do get the aromats
from the broth

with the fattiness
from the barra,

just coating your palate

while you're getting
this beautiful, subtle smoke.

But then you get hot
from the samphire,

freshness from the coriander,

and little pearls
of the finger lime as well.

Like, it just...

It's endless, the roller-coaster
that you're going on.

It is very, very good.

The fish is cooked
all the way through

and it's smoky and delicate
and beautiful.

And a texture to the fish
that was really beautiful

with the silky broth.

I agree.
I'm mesmerised by this broth.

You traverse this sweet,
sour, salty, savoury richness

that is going on,
and it just feels really nourishing.

Who knows where that bowl of food
may put him at the end of the day?

The two winners today

both brought us
their best dishes so far.

The first dish...

..was cooked by Mindy.

Yes, Mindy!
Yes, it was.

Mindy, you did it!

Finally.

Your snapper was the perfect
expression of your skill

and where your cooking is going.

Well done.
Thank you so much. Thank you.

The second dish...

..was cooked by...

..Daniel.

Yes! Yes!

Oh, Jesus.

Pretty happy about that?

Oh, can you tell?
(LAUGHTER)

You were so excited
to share your dish with us, mate.

And you had every right to be.

It was a well-designed
roller-coaster of flavour.

We loved it.

Well done, mate.
Thanks very much, guys. Cheers.

Congratulations, Mindy and Daniel,

not only are you safe on Sunday,

but you get
to throw your hat into the ring

for the immunity pin on Thursday.

Everyone else,

you've got one more shot of getting
into that immunity challenge.

You better bring it tomorrow.

Get out of here. We'll see you then.
Well done, guys.

Well done, guys.

Fantastic.

VOICEOVER: Tomorrow night
on MasterChef Australia,

top 10 week continues.

JOCK: I hope your
creative juices are flowing.

They'll have to
reinvent the wheel...

TOMMY: I'm going really,
really out of the box today.

ALVIN: This will be
quite a taste sensation
for the judges.

Let's put it this way.

Oh...

..to be safe
from Sunday's elimination.

Captions by Red Bee Media