MasterChef Australia (2009–…): Season 2, Episode 22 - Elimination Challenge 3 - full transcript

Last night
on MasterChef Australia.

You're about to embark on
the French team challenge.

Two teams cooked
a classic French menu

for two formidable names
of the culinary world.

- Tetsuya and Guillaume Brahimi.
- Magnifique.

And while the blue team served up the best
and won the reward...

Pilu is waiting for you.
Go and enjoy yourselves.

... the red team were not
so lucky.

Now it means that our whole team will
be going into elimination.

Tonight, the red team face off
in the fight of their lives.

You'll all face a basic skills test.



First up, it's a race to create
the perfect pesto.

Then, their culinary knowledge stands
between their dream and elimination.

You're one mistake away from walking
out that door for the last time.

Red team, nine of you sitting here,
one of you will be going home.

You know, overall,
it was an amazing effort,

but yesterday the blue team just
knocked it out of the ballpark.

We'd really done pretty much everything
we could to win this thing.

I think the blue team just had a couple
of cracking dishes that were really

way beyond what we've done.

It's cooked perfect.
Really.

Red team, it's all down to you now,
not as a team, but as individuals.

One of you is going home,
and it could be you.

Take some time now to gather
yourselves, go upstairs,

and we'll see you back here
shortly.



Coming upstairs, we're all just gutted.
After a day like yesterday,

which was probably the best day
I've ever had in a kitchen ever,

it's hard to cope at the moment.

I kinda feel like I'm finding my feet
in the competition a bit,

and it just doesn't feel right to go home
from what we did yesterday.

There's still a lot to be learned.
For me, it's really important to stay.

I'm just saying, I think I'll be lost
if I go home now.

It would just be like.

Blue team won the French challenge,
so we're off to Pilu at Freshwater for

a beautiful lunch and a MasterClass.
Very excited.

I'm so happy that I finally made it
to rewards lunch.

And the victory is pretty sweet.

I'm going to prepare like
a Sardinian lunch,

and it'll be about four dishes.

I'm going to do some
prawns with fregola,

and little grape tomatoes,
we've got a few different colors.

Then I'll do culunzones,
or ravioli,

and then obviously, I couldn't let you
come without trying a suckling pig.

This is going to be an absolute feast
for the senses,

the stomach and the mind.

After a beautiful lunch, we now get
to go into the kitchen for a MasterClass.

So this is the culunzones.

Giovanni's going to show us
how to make the little raviolis.

And then, this is the filling. It's potato,
mint, pecorino cheese,

and then what you do, you pipe a small
amount of this onto the dough like this.

Pick it up like this, then you push
with the thumb in the back here,

and then you start pinching and pinching
and pinch, pinch.

So that's the idea.

The more you practice, the more you're
gonna get them like that eventually.

We've had a lovely day, but obviously
if we do spare a thought for the red team.

You just really try to remain positive
for each individual.

This is the first time I've had to don
the black apron.

You feel very vulnerable, because you're
one mistake away

from walking out that door
for the last time.

To determine which one of you
will go home today

you'll all face a basic skills test.

This is the way it's going to work.
There'll be two rounds of basic skills.

From round one we'll pick the worst
three performers.

They will go through to the second
and final round.

The person that performs the worst
in round two will then be eliminated.

There are so many basic skills as a chef
and everyone on the red team

is extremely strong. I'm looking around,
I'm feeling pretty intimidated.

But first we must find out what
you are making.

And the answer.

Pesto.

This little green bowl of pesto
could possibly send me home.

So I'm incredibly nervous.

Here's the challenge. You've got a 10 minute
time limit, and within that 10 minutes

not only you have to produce the same
quality of pesto that I have in front of me,

but you also have to choose
your ingredients.

You've got 10 minutes to do this,
that's not long at all.

Why? You have to do this
the old-fashioned way.

In a mortar and pestle.

All that in 10 minutes? Guess they don't
call it an elimination round for nothing.

The last thing you get to do
is to have a taste.

So you know what you're
aiming for.

What we're gonna look for
is this classic Genovese style.

We wanna see a pesto
that is brilliantly green,

that's maintained the color
of the herb.

We wanna see a balance of flavors
in the ingredients.

They all mesh together
beautifully.

We have to make a classic
Genovese style pesto,

so, basil, pine nuts, garlic,
parmesan, and olive oil.

I'm fairly confident
with that.

Your 10 minutes
starts now.

The time starts,
and it's a mad rush.

It's worse than the Boxing Day
sale at Myer's.

It's just a mad scramble because
there's no more friends in this competition,

it's just competitors.

Ten minutes isn't a long time.
Everything goes out the window,

your train of thought, your brain,
your calmness. Everything goes.

Basil flying everywhere, pine nuts
being thrown across benches,

we've just got to be on autopilot
and make things happen quickly.

I'm chopping my way
through the basil,

and I'm doing one process at the
same time as another,

and I've just toasted my pine nuts
and thrown them all in

and I realized I've used probably about
three times the amount I need.

I've snuck in a few cashews
with my pine nuts,

just to add a creaminess
to the pesto,

hoping the judges aren't gonna see or
notice, that might just give me that edge.

Most of them picked up pine nuts,
but Jake, he picked up cashews.

Yeah, not good.

Well, a classic Genovese pesto
has to be basil,

has to be parmesan and pine nuts.
That's principally what our pesto was.

There's no winner today. One of my
teammates is going home, so

hopefully it's not me, but whoever it is,
I'll be disappointed.

We only have ten minutes to make
a classic Genovese style pesto.

The worst three performers will go
into a sudden death elimination

where one person is going
to go home.

Guys, you need more energy,
you've got five minutes to go.

I'm not even thinking about amounts
going in,

I'm just going psycho on the
mortar and pestle.

I know I've got to make a cup
and a cup sounds like a lot.

I decide to chuck another clove
of garlic in to try and build my volume up.

The whole time I can hear
this huge amount of noise.

There's nine mortar and pestles
banging on those benches,

just going hell for leather.

As I'm pounding away, I can see that
my pesto is going too thick,

and not the paste that I want.

As the time's slipping away,
I'm starting to panic.

You have one minute to go, guys,
pressure's on.

I taste my pesto.

I realize I've got too much
parmesan in it,

so now what I have to do is start
picking leaves in the last 60 seconds

and getting them into the pesto
to bring out that basil flavor.

There's about 40 seconds to go,
I've got to get this baby into the bowl,

I decide to taste it and...
Whoa, baby, she's got some garlic in there.

It's an in your face pesto.

You have 10 seconds.

00:09:31,679 --> 00:09:32,815

00:09:33,015 --> 00:09:34,127

00:09:34,327 --> 00:09:35,487

00:09:35,687 --> 00:09:36,727

00:09:36,927 --> 00:09:41,159
That's it, guys. Time's up.
Step away from your benches.

So ten minutes is up. Pesto is done.
Can't do anything about it now.

It's definitely too cheesy.

I've got a cup. I've got the right
consistency, but...

Taste? Who knows?

You've just completed making a cup
of traditional Genovese pesto.

The three least impressive pestoes
will earn their makers possible elimination.

Let's taste our first pesto.
Jake's.

Is there cashews in there?

Tiny amount.

Interesting.

It's nice and green, but the basil
flavor is not there,

it's dominated by cheese and
dominated by garlic.

Whoa.

In your face.

It's green, it's vibrant.
It looks gorgeous.

And from a visual point
of view, wow.

So much lemon in that. Could
be spinach, when I close my eyes,

with a little bit of cheese.

Can't taste the basil.

The flavor of basil is the first
flavor you taste.

The other flavorings are there
as a support,

so the flavors are in balance,
it's a good pesto,

it's a sort of pesto
I was looking for.

Job well done.

I should be feeling really happy.
I'm not.

I'm looking down the line,
and I'm thinking,

one of these people is going home,
and there's not a single one there

that I wanna lose.

We said from the start what we were
looking for is the three worst pestoes.

Well, if you're gonna cross
your fingers, do it now.

I'm just about to name the three people
that failed to impress us

with their pestoes.

When I call your name, I'd like
you to step forward.

The first person going through
into the elimination round is

Daniel.

The next person

is Sharnee.

The third and final person
in the elimination round is

The third and final person
in the elimination round is

Courtney.

I'm relieved, but I'm not happy.

You know, one of my teammates
and friends is going home.

Now unfortunately, you need
to say goodbyes.

For one of these three, their journey
in the MasterChef kitchen will be over.

You just work your butt off, okay?
You can do it, okay?

I'm really not ready to go home,

because I don't feel like I've shown
the judges what I'm capable of.

I'm extremely passionate about food.

It's the one thing I feel like I can
really put all my personality into,

and I guess the search for
perfection really drives me.

This is my last chance. If I don't
get this right, I'm going home.

My food dream is to become
a well respected chef

and own a restaurant that's
booked out every night.

I really need to be in this for quite a bit
longer to get what I want out of MasterChef.

For twelve years I've been putting all my
time and efforts into something

that's now what I want to be doing
at the end of the day.

Pouring beers certainly wasn't
on my agenda when I left school.

I really do need to stay here
long enough to sort out

what I wanna do.

Sharnee, Courtney, Daniel.
The final round of this challenge will be

Name this herb.

Under each of these cloches behind me
sits a culinary herb.

One by one, you will lift up the cloches
and reveal a herb.

You'll be able to smell,
touch and taste that herb,

then have 20 seconds to write down
what you think the name of that herb is.

It is my last chance in the competition.

If I get one thing wrong here, that's it,
I'm going home.

It's time to name that herb.

And the first herb that you need
to name, is...

We kind of look at it and I go,
just cooked with that.

But like always, you're worried that
there's a trick in these things.

Are they tricking us?

Sharnee, Courtney, Daniel, reveal
the name of the first herb, please.

Basil

Basil

Basil

All three of you are correct.

The first herb is basil.

I'm certainly relieved that it is,
in fact, basil,

given that we just spent ten
minutes making pesto.

Well done. Fantastic start. It's now
time to name the second herb.

I look at it, I know straightaway
it's mint.

But once again, I'm just looking
for the trick, I think,

there's got to be more to this.

This is MasterChef, there's got to be
more to this answer.

So I'm standing back in my spot
writing mint, M-I-N-T,

and I can hear Courtney next to me
writing something a lot longer.

Courtney has written something
different, and I'm a little worried,

because she's not the sort of girl,
that's gonna get this thing wrong.

Daniel, Courtney, Sharnee, time
to reveal your answers.

Mint

Mint

Spearmint

Sharnee and Dan have both written mint,
and I've written spearmint.

I know in the back of my head,
I'm going, oh my God,

I've thought about this too much.

I hope I haven't been too cocky,
and I'm sort of thinking,

why didn't I at least just
bloody tasted the herb, you know.

Well, we've got two mints,
and one spearmint.

And Courtney, that means that if you
got this right,

you've saved yourself in this competition,
you don't have to name any other herbs.

If you got it wrong, it means that you're
walking out those doors tonight

and this is the last time you'll see
the MasterChef kitchen.

The three of us were all sort of thinking,
someone's right here, someone's wrong,

someone's staying and
someone's going.

Sharnee, Daniel, Courtney, I can now
reveal that that herb you've named

is in fact...

Sharnee, Daniel, Courtney, I can now
reveal that that herb you've named

is in fact

mint

and not spearmint.

I didn't quite imagine this moment happening
for a little while in this competition.

I hadn't pinned myself for one of the
best cooks,

but I certainly hadn't pinned myself
as number nineteen.

Courtney, I'm afraid that means you've
been eliminated from this competition.

Yeah.

It's really disappointing because,
you know,

she's one of the strongest cooks
in this competition, she's a great girl and

you know, we're all
gonna miss her.

Courtney, what are some of your proudest
moments here in the MasterChef kitchen?

I think, yesterday.

Standing in the room, and I just thought,
this is a once in a lifetime thing.

Couple of months ago, I was pouring beers
looking out of the window,

never would have put myself
in that room, so

gotta be happy with that.

I hope you've enjoyed your time
at the MasterChef kitchen,

I hope you've learned as much
as you possibly could.

Unfortunately, now it's time to say
your final goodbyes,

and to leave us here in
the MasterChef kitchen.

Thank you, Courtney.

She's a fantastic cook. She's
a fantastic person,

she brings such positive energy
into everything she does.

I think everyone is just gonna
be devastated

that she's leaving the competition.

The hardest part is I just wasn't
ready to go.

Really feel like I was just
finding my feet.

Sometimes of all the time in life
you need a bit of luck.

Today I just didn't have it.

We've been to the reward lunch,
and we're now back at the house waiting for

the red team.

- Everyone in that team is skilled...
- I know that someone's not gonna be

coming home and that's certainly something
that we all were thinking about.

We hear the clumps coming down
the stairs and there's three missing.

Courtney, Dan and Sharnee.

I don't think I would pick them
as the bottom three.

They're all... all three of those
people are really strong cooks.

Oh, Courtney's gone?

The lift doors open and
Dan and Sharnee walk out,

and there's just a gasp.

If I had to pick at the start of the day
who's the most likely to go,

Courtney wouldn't have been anywhere
near the top of the list.

We all thought Courtney would be here
until the very end.

She was a great cook, and I think
everyone's really shocked.

I'm happy you guys have made it through,
I mean, seriously, congratulations.

I'm glad to be back at the house
but I'm still quite in shock.

Courtney's gone, she was definitely
one of the favorites in the house,

and I guess me staying on meant her
going and that's...

never leaves a pleasant feeling.

I'm extremely gutted and disappointed
to be back so soon,

but coming home does put things
in perspective.

It's not the end of the world,
your mates are still here,

and your friends are proud of you.
- Well done.

Three gees for Courtney.

I think pouring beers is a thing
of the past for me.

I'm not back to the bowling club.

Sometimes you need a bit of a push
and shove in life,

and MasterChef's given me that little
push and shove that I've needed.

Everybody, I propose a toast for Courtney,
for job well done, and bad luck.

Courtney has taken extended leave from
the bowls club to realise

her dream of launching a boutique
catering company.

She has made her peace with pesto
and now once again, cooks it regularly.

Tomorrow night
on MasterChef Australia.

It's the joy of watching
George and I cook.

It's time for MasterClass, as Gary
and George serve up duck two ways.

That's all. As simple as that.

And George shows you how to make
the ultimate creme brulee.

Gary's gonna love this.

Plus, Justin North shows you the tricks
for perfect pork crackling.

And the Master of Indian cuisine,
Kumar Mahadevan,

drops by to cook a spicy prawn curry.

Oh, I love this,
it's fantastic.