Original subtitles

ANNOUNCER: Previously on MasterChef Australia...

Please welcome Ixta Belfrage! (CHEERING)

..Ottolenghi's protege brought a mystery box...

(ALL GASP)

..with a mini-me...

(CHEERING)

..and the results were magnificent.

ANDY: It's so, so good.

SOFIA: It's phenomenal.

This is exemplary. It's delicious. I love it.

Then...

Blayne Bertoncello!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

..oh, my!

(ALL EXCLAIM)

His pressure test was the end of the journey for Rue.

Give it up for Rue, everybody!

And the team relay...

Changeover starts now!

..was wall-to-wall action.

This is chaotic. Argh!

I loved it!

POH: Looks pretty damn good. SOFIA: Looks like one person made it.

It is superb.

And the purple team won immunity from tonight's elimination.

Ah, it's sombre.

BEN: Yeah, it feels like there's a storm brewing.

I know. There really is. Yeah.

Makes me uneasy.

Yeah, I think there's going to be a big surprise.

Yeah, something big.

Oh, what's up there? Oh.

What is that?

Is that a statue?

OK. Oh! Oh! Oh!

Oh, my God.

DARRSH: Egyptian pharaoh or something there?

That's exactly what I was thinking. Yeah.

I can see, like, a sculpture.

It actually looks like a pharaoh with, like, the head thing.

JAMIE: What? Who is that?

Some chef, chef's head? Is that Jean-Christophe?

Lick it, lick it.

Lick it. (LAUGHTER)

It's butter.

Ah!

My God!

Who is it? Who is it?

(LAUGHTER)

Oh-la-la!

(CHEERING AND LAUGHTER)

(LAUGHTER)

Lick it.

I'm sure that Jean-Christophe eats a lot of butter.

Most of us are 80% water. He's probably 80% butter.

But I can say 100% that the real Jean-Christophe

is easier on the eyes than the butter sculpture.

It smell lovely, I've got to say.

He was once voted world's sexiest chef,

and you can see why.

CONTESTANTS: Ooh!

The butter can blush!

(LAUGHTER)

The sculpture is made entirely of butter.

Butter is the backbone of culinary perfection.

And today, we want you to bring a dish

that celebrates it...

..in all its golden glory.

It is such a versatile ingredient, from sweet to savoury to statue.

Think of all the incredible things that butter makes better.

Mm.

And bring it on.

Samira, what's going through your head right now?

Oh, I love it. I love butter, but I'd better not say that

because you never know what's going to happen.

"I'd BUTTER not say that"? That's a good one! (LAUGHTER)

On fire today.

Churning them out.

Oh, stop it. I can't.

Tim, big butter boy or what?

I go through a lot of butter making toasties.

Just the flavour that butter gives you is second to none.

And, um, you're going to get a more relaxed,

fun side of me today, I think.

And, um, hopefully that reflects on the plate.

There it is. Beautiful.

As much fun as all of this sounds,

sadly, it is an elimination day and one of you will be going home.

Right, we're giving you 75 minutes.

The pantry and garden, they are all yours.

You can cook us anything you like, but remember,

we are looking for butter perfection.

Yes, it's butter. Yes, it's versatile.

But we want creativity.

Push yourselves to the absolute limit.

Right, everyone...

This is serious now.

I think butter is every chef's best friend,

but only if you know how to use it.

You've got to make sure you proportionate,

and that, for me, I think is the trick to excel.

So, as we say in French, please make la difference.

And good luck.

Alright, your time starts now!

(CHEERING)

TIM: I'd better get a couple, just in case! (CHUCKLES)

I like it. Today we're going to have some fun.

Tomato and butter? Yes. Ooh!

That's delicate. What about Beau?

BEAU: Yeah, I've never cooked marron before, so...

You haven't? Never? Do you know you've got a black apron, right?

Yeah, yeah.

This is the time to do it, eh?

Wow. This is adventurous.

And Audra?

I'm doing a frangipane.

Ooh! Yeah. I'll buy it.

Jamie, you're feeling good? JAMIE: I'm feeling good.

Use butter every day. Excellent.

Good luck.

Let's go, Theo. Let's go.

Nice one, Beau.

Yes, Jamie! Let's go, guys!

Alright, let's do this.

Today I'm going to use what butter is so essential for,

so I'm going to be making a tart.

I'm really excited

because this is a tart that I make all the time.

I love it.

The butter will be showcased in that pastry.

DECLAN: Our Lurpak butter,

I'm going to be poaching a John Dory ballotine

in a butter bath,

and then I'm going to be using the butter in my, like,

pea fricassee beurre blanc sauce.

Beautiful, Deccas.

SNEZ: A lot of butter. Yes, Snez.

I really want to make this, like a beef bourguignon in a little pot.

And then I want to make like a pastry on top.

It's going to really hero this butter.

This puff pastry is going to be so buttery.

Butter, butter, butter - it makes everything better.

And for these guys today,

we really want to see it being the integral part of the dish.

It's so good because butter is just one of those ingredients,

I mean, everyone has it at home, whether you're a fridge

or an on-the-kitchen-bench kind of person.

It adds so much to everyday cooking,

but also chefs just can't live without it.

That's right, and I think really what I'm looking for the most,

as a French man -

because cooking with butter is part of the religion, honestly -

I don't want the butter element to be abused...

Mm. Yep.

..into overdosing.

So it's about using the right butter,

salted or unsalted, at the right time,

at the right proportion.

If it is a classical technique that they're using,

every element has to be absolute perfection.

Yeah, there's nowhere to hide if you are going to go classical.

Yeah. You could be in danger of going home.

And that's what's going to happen at the end of this cook.

We'll be sending one of these cooks home,

which is crazy to think about with the talent that's out there.

Yeah.

ALANA: It's a great challenge!

I love butter. I use butter all the time.

I've always got little fingers while I'm trying to bake and cook,

little fingers coming up and, like, digging at my butter.

So my butter is never a perfect square.

It ends up, you know, with finger marks all through it.

It's a butter challenge,

and we need to show the judges our creativity.

So I'm going for it hard today.

I'm going to be cooking

a burnt butter parfait with a wattle seed flaky pastry

and an apricot jam.

LAURA: How are you going, Alana? Just got to get this pastry in to cook.

You got it, girl.

For me, coming back into the MasterChef kitchen

is all about pushing myself.

So I'm going to go out on a limb and give it a little extra touch.

Alana, you're going to make your own butter?

I'm making my own sour cream butter.

Wow. I'm using lots of butter that you've given me,

'cause it's beautiful butter.

But this is a special sour cream butter recipe.

Because it's sour cream,

it's got those lovely cultured flavours in it. That's right.

But I want the whey to drop out of it as well,

because I might use the whey from that in the caramel.

Yeah, it's very interesting. Thank you.

Thank you. Well done.

Even though we have this beautiful butter to use,

I'm making my own sour cream butter as well.

I think it's just going to give a very different sort of cultured,

tangy flavour, and just another layer of butter.

Are you happy with your butter there, babes?

Yeah, I've got to clarify it. Yeah?

I feel like this bench is going to use the most amount of butter. (LAUGHS)

Today I'm going to make fattet jaj with a vermicelli rice.

It's a traditional Middle Eastern dish.

It's absolutely delicious.

Every single element of this dish will have butter in it.

So fattet jaj is a crispy pitta bread

with shredded chicken,

garlic yoghurt and crispy nuts on top,

and a burnt butter ghee.

It should be good.

I like to use a lot of ghee in my Middle Eastern cooking.

Ghee is pretty much a clarified butter,

so it means that you can cook with ghee

at a higher point because the milk solids

are not there to burn

and it gives a nice, shiny fat finish.

So butter and I are really good friends.

Nice, Samira.

Butter is love.

More butter, more the love,

You know, this was one of the first dishes

I actually learned to cook myself when I was 14 years old,

and it was a disaster.

But today, I will do it to perfection.

POH: Oh, Samira, that smells brilliant.

You'd BUTTER get a move on! You have one hour to go.

(CHEERING) Let's go, guys.

Let's go, Theo.

Go, Deccy. You got this, man. Beautiful work, Declan.

Let's go, Darrsh.

How you going, Tim?

TIM: Yeah, good. Thanks, man.

I'm going to be doing duck confit marylands.

And I'm going to be dousing in butter,

cooking in the oven until they're nice and sweet and succulent

and buttery.

Then I'm pairing that with a celeriac puree,

which will be very butter-heavy.

Then I'm doing some mixed Japanese-style mushrooms

cooked in butter and herbs,

and then a duck and pork jus,

which will have butter in it as well.

I love butter.

I run a toastie business, so I use a lot of butter

to make them extra crispy and crunchy.

But today I'm trying to show

a little bit of technique for the judges.

I love the idea of confit cooking in fat for a long period of time

at a really low temperature.

It gives the duck a beautiful buttery texture,

and just falling off the bone.

But we don't have the luxury of having hours today,

so I'm going to do a quick confit, cooking it at a higher temperature.

Hello, Tim. What are you making?

So I'm doing duck confit.

In 75 minutes?

Um, yes.

That's in the oven already. Can I see quickly?

Yeah, absolutely. So tell me, show me.

So, you know confit is a slow process.

Yes. To keep the legs tender.

We're going a bit faster today.

I'm just hoping that, at least cooked in the butter,

it's going to help make it nice and tender. OK.

So do you think they're going to be cooked on time?

Yes.

Alright. Good luck. Good luck. Thank you.

Good luck. Appreciate that.

I'm really starting to question this whole dish...

..especially in an elimination.

Um...

Let's go, Tim.

Jean-Christophe was questioning about the confit duck.

He's worried about if I can get it done in time.

But I'm going to stick with my plan.

I trust my gut.

I cook a lot of duck,

so I'm confident the cooking it in the butter

is just going to give it a beautiful, luxurious flavour.

And if I don't think it's going to be done in time,

I can always pan fry it to finish it off.

Oh, la-lo-la-la!

(LAUGHS)

Jean-Christophe, I think it's time.

Can I interest you in any of these utensils?

Oh, yes. I tell you what, I fancy making an omelette.

An omelette? Yes.

You've got a saucepan.

You've got some lovely butter.

Ooh-la-la. Look at that.

Oh, my gosh! And I love making omelettes with butter.

Yeah, well, if you're not going to take the nose,

I'll take the nose.

LAURA: Do it Sofia, do it. Oh, it feels so wrong,

but so right.

OK.

I bet... I bet you love your butter. Ah!

I'm sorry, Jean-Christophe! It's alright, go for it.

This is a lot of butter, isn't it? Bon appetit.

I am going to make an omelette.

Unsalted.

(SINGS) La-la, la-la-la! Hey, Chef!

Are you sure you don't mind? Is this a cook-off, Chef?

100%. You can have this all this side. I'll move it. Are you sure?

That's very kind of you.

No salt, no pepper, nothing. Just plain eggs.

So what are you doing, by the way?

Beef bourguignon.

So you think you're going to be done on time, yeah? I will, Chef.

I think you're going to love it. It'll be good, Chef.

Ooh, an omelette challenge!

Don't overcook it, Jean-Christophe.

Yeah!

You know, I just realised,

I'm in front of everyone making just an omelette,

so I'd better not to mess up. No pressure.

Oh-la-la, la-la!

(APPLAUSE) Bravo!

Wow, Chef. Thank you for everything.

No worries, Chef, anytime. All the best.

Hello, hello. DEPINDER: Oh, yes!

I thought I might give you a little bit of something.

This is what we call it, omelette baveuse.

So, just undercooked.

Oh, my God.

Thank you, Chef. Bon appetit. Enjoy the show.

No salt, no pepper.

Needs a bit of salt. Come on, Jean-Christophe.

(LAUGHTER)

Let's go. Come on, mate. What protein?

Marron with pars... Oh, OK. Sounds delish.

Smells good, Ben. Thanks, mate.

What about mine? Lamb smells stronger than...

Raw fish. Yeah, I hope so.

(LAUGHS) What?

Thanks, mate.

Today I'm going to make a beurre noisette-poached lamb fillet.

And I'm actually taking the technique

that Curtis showed us a few weeks ago...

CURTIS STONE: See the caramelisation I have on that pork loin?

..where you half-cook the meat in the pan.

He used pork, but I'm using lamb.

Drop it in.

This goes into your water bath for about 10 minutes.

To finish it, he used beurre blanc, but today I'm using beurre noisette,

which is brown butter.

Ben! There he is.

How are we going?

They're calling me Pinny now instead of Benny.

Uh, what's Pinny going to cook today?

So today we've got...

I'm sort of going to do the lamb fillet in a similar way

we did the pork fillet in the Curtis challenge,

but I'm going to poach it in beurre noisette.

Butter in the parsnip puree. Really nice sauce.

Hm...

It's an interesting...

..flavour profile.

Yeah. I think lamb isn't pork.

Um, yeah. It's got a lot more flavour in the lamb backstrap.

Like, is there enough butter in the dish...

Yes. ..to celebrate butter?

Yeah, I guess that's the question.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

And the lamb is quite a rich, fatty meat. Yeah, yeah.

So I'm wondering if that's going to fight harder

than the beurre noisette.

And if it does, that's a mega part

of your butter component kind of gone.

Yeah, absolutely.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this evolves.

So am I. I mean, it's exciting.

So the judges are concerned, and rightly so.

I think that lamb's already a rich meat,

so beurre noisette could make it richer.

And it's going to be fat on fat on fat.

But I'm still going for the same dish.

I still think it's a good idea.

Plan B, I guess, is play the pin.

I could easily change the dish from here,

go and grab a lobster or marron that just cooks in minutes, you know?

LAURA: Come on, Benny. But I'm not going to today

because of this guy.

This guy, this guy.

We've given you open slather, so make sure you lay it on thick!

Oh! 43 minutes to go!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Let's go, guys! I think it's a little bit wet...

..but we'll see.

MALE CONTESTANT: Nice, mate. DEPINDER: Nice, Deccas. Just do it to what you want it.

LAURA: Oh, good one, Tim. Love it.

Yum!

Mm.

It's going to be delish.

Jamie! Hello! Hello.

So, you love butter.

Love butter. Tell us what you're making.

I'm doing some beautiful kingfish,

and then I'm going to bring it up to temperature

in a beurre noisette. There's going to be a bit of bonito in there

with some butter beans because I couldn't resist.

Good luck, Jamie. Good luck, mate.

LAURA: What are you making, Theo? THEO: Uh, choux buns.

Nice. Good one.

What flavour? Raspberry?

I'm doing, um, actually, a pumpkin seed praline.

I know exactly what you're making. Oh, really?

Pumpkin seed praline with raspberries and chestnut.

Yeah, that's amazing.

(LAUGHS)

Our minds work in the same way. I love it.

Darrsh! Darrsh. DARRSH: Yeah.

Tell us what you're making. Very French going on over here. Very French, very savoury, yeah.

Uh, we're doing a butter-poached marron.

Right. Beurre blanc. Uh, butter emulsion over the top,

like a parsley butter emulsion. So, classic French.

Classic French. Good luck! Cheers.

Everyone loves butter.

Delightful.

DEPINDER: OK, Sarah, are you doing a butter chicken?

SARAH: Yes! Ah! Nice.

Butter challenge, I have to make butter chicken.

I mean, I love this dish.

Look, this dish, for me, is probably one of the first dishes

I was taught in India.

So there's definitely a lot of pressure for me,

um, you know, making a dish like a butter chicken.

The funny thing is with the butter chicken,

even though there is butter in a lot of elements,

it's not overpowering.

There's lots of ways

that the buttery deliciousness comes into this dish.

What bread are you making, Sarah?

Roti.

Nice. With butter? Yes.

But have to get creative.

I need to give this my all and think outside the box

a little bit with that visual aspect.

SOFIA: What do you think makes a good butter chicken?

I think it's actually the smokiness,

where you get that smoky charcoal flavour

from the butter.

But it's all about the visual aspect, too.

So I do kind of want to play around with how I'm plating it.

I don't want it to just be, you know, like a big bowl of gravy.

Curries are hard because it's that whole ugly-delicious thing, isn't it?

Exactly. So I'm actually making chicken skewers instead.

You're plating on skewers? I was thinking about it, yeah.

Do you know how you're plating it?

Yeah, how I think I want to plate it, yeah.

You know how you think you want to plate it?

I think now you need to decide.

Are you going to lean into the ugly-delicious,

or are you going to plate it in a way that is different?

Yeah.

I do have extremely high expectations

of your butter chicken.

Good luck. Thank you.

My mind is in a strange place.

I'm confident, I like the flavours,

but I am thinking to possibly plate this

in a non-traditional way.

I'm not sure, though.

How is it, Alana? Buttery? Super buttery.

Yep. Super buttery.

Yep. The butter is definitely coming through.

This burnt butter ice-cream, which is going to be the parfait,

is really rich with that sort of burnt,

toasty flavour of the butter,

plus really luscious with that viscosity in the ice-cream as well.

I'm making my little apricot sort of jam compote here.

Put a little bit of champagne vinegar in there

so that gives it that nice zippy freshness.

I'm pushing it hard on this cook,

and I really want to show the judges a technique of making my own butter.

I strain the curds that are in there.

Get as much of that whey out of there.

I want to whip this now a little bit just to lighten it up.

It is looking perfect.

And there's a nice kind of sweet, tangy, cultured flavour.

LAURA: Oh, my God, Alana. Woo! Woo!

And then I take that leftover whey

to make this whey caramel. Well done.

Could you believe it?

There is so many different layers

and flavours of butter,

so I'm pretty happy with that.

Time to churn out a banger! 30 minutes to go!

Come on, guys. Woo-woo-woo! Let's go.

Butter.

(MUMBLES INGREDIENTS)

..butter.

I'm not going to interrupt your train of thought.

No, you're good. What are you making, Beau?

So I'm going to do marron. Never done it before.

Never used marron before? Never. Yeah.

Yeah. OK, so...

Never done this dish before. Never used marron before.

Why are you doing that?

I thought to really get through in this competition

and make it to the end,

you got to push the boundaries.

We want you guys to push yourselves. Yeah.

But it is a black apron day as well.

It is.

Just... I want to push myself today.

Yeah. You haven't cooked marron before?

No. We cooked some the other day.

And the feedback that we kept giving everybody

was about how delicate it was.

So just keep that in mind and show us what you can do.

Big risk, but I hope it pays off for you.

Cheers.

It's a big risk today to try and cook this dish.

Let's go with marron.

But think a bit of pressure really brings the best out of me.

So there's no turning back.

Moment of truth.

We need to smooth out his little turkey neck.

(LAUGHTER)

Look, I'm basically performing surgery on him now.

BEAU: Here we go. Look at this bad boy.

DEPINDER: Nice work, Beau.

Thank you.

OK, everyone, please.

20 minutes to go, please. Come on.

Let's go, guys. Let's go, Benny.

I've got the lamb and butter into the water bath.

But I'm starting to get a bit worried.

Andy and Poh, they were not convinced by the dish.

You know, most lamb has quite a bit of fat in it

and has a reasonably strong flavour.

So will they taste the butter?

I don't know.

So I decided to make a compound anchovy butter...

..that definitely gives me the butter element,

but we've got to make sure it's not all fat

and the dish is perfectly balanced.

Samira, I want to put my face in there.

It smells epic. Thank you.

I'm so hungry.

Butter is like the best gift you can give me when it comes to food.

The chicken is going perfectly well in the broth.

I'm feeling good.

BOTH: Samira.

Well, there's a lot of butter there.

So you're doing a fattet jaj? Yeah. Fattet jaj.

That's what I'm doing. Yes.

My bestie makes that for me.

It's delicious.

So you have the fried bread in ghee. OK.

You will have the chicken. Yeah.

You will have the garlic yoghurt with a nice garlic hit.

And then you're gonna have all the fried nuts on top and a burnt butter.

Oh, wow. OK. It sounds del-i-cious...

They're really... ..like, so tasty.

Just make sure that we can taste the butter.

I know you've got it kind of everywhere. Yeah.

But I know your yoghurts. I know your stews.

They're punchy, you know? Yes.

So make sure we celebrate the butter.

That's what the challenge is all about. I agree with you.

And you're going to have a very happy surprise when I serve this up.

I have no doubt butter will shine in this dish.

Right now, I need to cook my crispy pita bread.

So my dough is looking so fluffy and wobbly.

So I'm just going to give it a nice charry-ness.

DEPINDER: Beautiful, Samira. That's how we do it, girl.

That's how we do it. That's how we do it.

Beautiful!

I finish it off in some ghee. Nice. I love that.

It's all about the butter. Samira, that smells epic.

The air is thick with butter. It smells so good in here. It does.

But it is an elimination. Are you guys worried about anyone?

I'm really worried about Ben.

I know he's got a pin, but I just feel like

lamb's the wrong meat to do with beurre noisette.

Because it's already such a... It's a fatty meat.

It's a strong-flavoured meat. ANDY: Yeah.

Do you think today could be the day he uses that pin finally?

Could be. Sarah's cooking butter chicken.

She wasn't sure if she was going to go for the classic

or try and reinvent the wheel.

If you're going to cook a classic, it has to be absolutely perfect.

It has to be the best version of that dish

that we've ever had in our lives. Yeah.

Or it has to be something new but better.

My little concern, I think, out of all of them so far is back to Tim.

Yeah. He's like a steam train and he is using the butter

as an element of pushing the duck,

and already that is going to take ages.

Yeah, that scares me.

Andy. Yeah.

You don't say, 'but-ter'.

You say, 'beutteur'.

'Bu-da'. What do you say? You say, 'bleurgh'.

'Beuttuer'.

You can't even say it the way he says it. Buda! B-U-D-A.

It takes too long to say it the way that you say it.

'Beuttuer'. It's like I'm going to fall asleep.

It's what do you...? You call it 'beuttuer'.

'Meurde.'

Get that duck out, Timmy!

Get that duck out! Come on, Tim. Come on, Tim.

TIM: The time's running out. There's less than 15 minutes to go.

I've got the jus. I've got the puree.

I've got the mushrooms and asparagus and shallots.

Alright, I'm going to get it out.

I'm not ready to really look at it but...

At this point I'm just worried about the duck.

Tim, how's the duck?

ANDY: Is it cooked? Please tell me it's cooked.

Alright. It's still a bit under.

Damn.

I'm just giving it five more minutes in the oven

and finish it in the pan. Far out.

How much time have I got?

You've got 10 minutes to work this out.

If that's not falling off the bone...

Yeah. ..it could send you home.

I'm planning to fry my duck in the frying pan

at the end to make sure that it's cooked through.

It's all going to come down to this damn duck.

LAURA: Come on. Sarah. Hustle, hustle!

Oh, my God, that chicken.

SARAH: The chicken is cooked on the hibachi.

Sarah, that looks beautiful.

I'm not messing around with this.

I'm just making tasty, authentic butter chicken.

My gravy is where the magic happens.

I'm using the donga method to smoke my butter chicken.

So I've got a pot

with a big piece of piping hot charcoal

and butter goes over the top.

And this creates this beautiful amount of smoky, buttery deliciousness.

Not only the chicken,

but to get it all beautifully through that gravy.

Nice, Sarah, that smells epic.

And I was thinking to serve the chicken separately,

but it's butter chicken. Keep it rustic.

I'm going to plate this butter chicken in all its glory,

how it's meant to be. Yum-yum-yum.

Beau's just hanging in there. You ready for this?

(CRACKING SOUND)

You happy? It looks good.

Beautiful.

The marron, I'm thinking it looks OK.

So what I'm going to do here is just lift the flesh out.

A little bit nervous knowing that I'm a novice with this marron,

but tasting all the elements, definitely taste the butter.

The parsnip puree is loaded with it.

And then the nduja anchovy butter is 90% butter,

but also bringing out that umami flavour.

DEPINDER: Let's go, Timmy. LAURA: Come on, Tim.

TIM: Starting to plate up,

I've got my celeriac puree.

You got to go, Tim!

I can't wait any longer.

How's the duck, Tim?

Yeah, I'm going to pan-fry it.

You got less than five minutes. You got less than five.

Thank you. You got to go.

I get my duck into the frying pan

to start sizzling away for that caramelisation.

Get it nice and golden.

But it's also going to help to cook that duck even more,

which is what I need right now.

I'm not sure if it's going to be falling off the bone.

I'm cooking this duck as long as I can.

It's not going to go on the plate until the very last second.

I'm not going to know if it's cooked well

until the judges cut into it.

Nice work, Pinny!

Happy?

I'm not saying no, put it that way.

If you're happy with you, don't play it.

Uh, Ben's got a big decision to make

because his dish isn't 100% how he wanted it.

So he's got a massive decision to make.

So he's going to use it. You think so?

Well, if I was a betting man, I would say yes.

No pressure, but both Jean-Christophes are watching.

There's only four minutes to go.

Let's go, guys. ANDY: Four minutes!

Let's go, Benny.

How is it, Ben? Yeah, yeah.

The lamb's real nicely cooked.

That looks beautiful, Ben.

But I'm not that happy with the parsnip puree or the sauce

or the compound butter, which I've just made.

I've been thinking to myself the whole cook,

if a couple of these elements aren't right,

I'll just play the pin.

But it's just so hard. I don't really want to give it up.

LAURA: Benny? Good?

I don't know. What?

Just the flavours, man.

It's just it's a lot of fat.

Are you playing the pin?

Um...

Far out, Ben.

I don't know.

How is it, Ben? Yeah, we're good.

Wowee!

It's a really big risk,

but I'm actually going to roll the dice.

I'm not going to play the pin.

Cross your fingers.

OK.

DEPINDER: Nice one, Alana. Looks great.

ALANA: Tastes really good, too.

I'm actually feeling pretty confident.

The burnt butter parfait is all ready.

Then there's the wattle seed flaky pastry.

It's going to just sort of melt in your mouth

with all those beautiful buttery layers.

The sour cream butter is exactly how it's supposed to be,

and my apricot jam lifts

and makes that really fresh flavour on the plate.

LAURA: Nice, Alana. Nice. Nice, nice.

I have put butter on butter and butter on butter

in every element on this dish.

But also the flavours are balanced. Looks gorgeous.

Thank you.

'Butter' be good. You've got one minute to go.

Allez! Come on, guys.

Come on, guys! Let's go, Samira.

SAMIRA: I'm feeling great. I definitely feel like I've hit the brief.

As you can see, everything is kind of loaded with butter.

We've got the ghee-fried bread.

We've got the butter-infused rice.

You've got the ghee-fried nuts.

And we've also got our chicken,

which was sauteed in lots of butter as well.

So butter is the hero. I'm creating butter as the hero.

Oh, my God. Yum. Looks delicious.

Time to butter us up in 10...

You've got to go, Tim.

JUDGES: Nine....

Jesus Christ! JUDGES: ..eight...

Ready to go.

..seven... Alright.

..six... Perfect.

..five... Oh, my God.

..four...

..three...

..two...

..one!

That is it.

(APPLAUSE)

Well done, everybody!

How did you go, Darrshi? Good, mate.

Looks really good, man.

How did you go, alright, mate? Oh...

Did you get it up?

Yeah, it's just going to depend on that ducky.

That was a pretty up and down cook.

Um, tried my hardest. I don't want to go home.

I just want to stay and keep fighting,

keep learning and keep cooking dishes that I love.

BEN: Alright.

I haven't used my pin, and it's a pretty big risk, I have to say.

I'm hoping some people have made some big errors.

It's my dish. It's not perfect. Um...

Fingers crossed is all I can say.

We gave them all the tools for success today -

75 minutes, open pantry, garden was open

and a big old face-full of butter. Yeah.

They should be creating some pretty amazing dishes, right?

We all love butter and we're so excited to try all of these dishes.

But at the end of the day, it's an elimination.

So somebody's going home. Oh, yeah.

Shall we get the first dish in? Yeah.

Good luck, Samira. SAMIRA: Thank you.

I'm super proud of my dish, and I think it showcases butter.

So I'm feeling confident now,

but we just have to wait and see.

(THEY GREET SAMIRA)

I've never had chicken in a jug before.

That's a new experience. (LAUGHS)

Samira, what have you made?

Today, I have brought you a little taste of home.

So, fattet jaj and a Middle Eastern vermicelli rice.

So, talk to us about butter. Where does that go in this dish?

So there is butter in almost every element.

So I have made fresh bread which I've then fried in ghee.

Of course you have. Yeah.

I sauteed my chicken in some ghee as well

and made a nice sauce out of that.

And a burnt butter ghee.

I fried my nuts in it

and the vermicelli is cooked in the ghee.

Same with the rice.

And why did you choose this dish to showcase butter?

I wanted to show you guys something from when I was a child.

When Dad used to pick us up from primary school,

we'd jump in the car saying, "What has Mum made for dinner?"

And the moment he would say fattet jaj,

my heart would be jumping for joy.

Ah, nice. Ha-ha! Let's go.

I did not expect that to go on the bread.

Everything gets layered up. Oh-ho!

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Wow, wow, look at that. Oh, wow.

SAMIRA: May you eat with gladness and good health.

Let's plate this thing because I can't wait to eat it.

Yeah, like, can we shut up and eat?

Oh!

I've got to hand it to Samira.

This will be the best dish I eat all day, I guarantee it.

Maybe the best dish I eat all week.

Maybe the best dish I eat all month.

This is pure, pure class.

And there's no better dish to bring out on a day like today.

Because it is all about the butter.

Let's start with her use of ghee.

She's not only incorporated that into various elements

and fried it off, she's taken it to the edge

so that it gets that extra depth of flavour, that nuttiness.

And then when you fry elements in that,

like her rice and her vermicelli,

there's something about the way the butter is mixed through

that makes every grain and noodle an individual delight,

even though you're scooping in whole mouthfuls.

This is real shovel-into-your-gob food.

It is so more-ish.

Do you know what fascinates me is that thing is swimming in butter?

But because of that garlic in that acidic yoghurt,

that just cuts through everything

and you just keep going back for more.

I think my favourite dish from Samira so far.

SOFIA: Yeah. Me too.

What we had is stunning.

Not just the dish itself,

but the transferring something to us.

Oh, it's 10 out of 10, just for that.

She's poached the chicken first. Shredded into the ghee.

So that piece of chicken is succ-u-lent.

Those little squares of fried pita, it is just...

(PITA SNAPS) ..a delight.

This is one of the dishes I will memorise for a very long time.

Good luck, Sarah. Thanks.

I am really feeling the pressure now.

There's some really incredible cooks here today,

and I decided to just embrace

the ugly-delicious with this butter chicken.

(THEY GREET SARAH)

This dish has to taste amazing.

And if it doesn't, I could be going home.

So, Sarah, tell us what you've made.

So I've made butter chicken.

And fresh roti.

Butter chicken is one of those hot favourites. Right?

So how do you think this rates?

Yeah, I'm really happy with it.

I think there's some nice char, some nice smoke in there.

Um, good amount of butter as well.

Butter chicken gravy and also the donga method.

So, smoked charcoal with butter to make it a little bit smoky.

Oh, yes! Yes, yes, yes. Cool.

Thank you. Thanks.

Thank you, Sarah!

Wow.

The thing, though, about butter chicken

is that while it's a really common dish,

a good version of it absolutely deserves

a place in a restaurant. 100%.

It is the most bastardised Indian dish of all time.

Yeah. Yeah.

That is a nostril-tickler.

Oh! Oh!

I've been lucky enough to have my fair share of butter chickens.

Good butter chickens at that.

This is right up the top.

I feel like people think that this would be a weird one to cook

for a butter challenge,

but this dish doesn't exist without butter.

The butter provides that roundness to the sauce, and it's skilful.

It's easy to do it.

It's hard to master.

And that is special.

You know, rocking out with two elements, like that,

that she threw down,

and she had the flavour to justify it.

Like, the smokiness -

I love that she used that traditional method.

It's so cool.

And just that viscosity of that sauce is so perfect.

I'm really relieved that Sarah went with a traditional

butter chicken... Oh, same.

..and didn't try to sort of spec everything up... Same.

..because if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

And Sarah knew she had to cook us one of the best

butter chickens we've ever had,

and she did.

It is very good.

Hey, Alana. Hello. How are you?

Hello. Very good.

Wow. Mmm.

So, I've made a burnt butter parfait

with a little flaky butter pastry on the bottom.

I made sour cream butter and added some salted honey.

And from the whey from that, I made a caramel as well,

and that little apricot and ginger jam.

So you made your own sour cream butter?

Yes. Oh, wow.

Yeah. Hopefully it tastes delicious.

Well, we can't wait to try it.

Thank you. Thank you.

Well done. Good luck, Alana.

This is a bit of a love letter to butter from Alana.

(OTHERS CHUCKLE)

And I think it's really capitalised on butter as a flavour,

not just butter as a technique or in a sauce.

So, her parfait is so obviously

that deep caramelised butter flavour, buttery pastry,

a caramel, which is made from the whey,

which is such a great use of ingredients.

She's one of the contestants

I feel really listens to her ingredients.

Mm. Does that make sense?

She really knows how to draw the essence of whatever it is out.

Yeah, she's a little silent assassin, isn't she?

Yeah, I think, Alana just gave us an amazing treat.

Using the butter into a parfait,

just enough without to have the parfait to be split

when it's iced,

it is a big deal, and she's succeeded.

Hello.

How are we?

Theo, what have you made?

Choux buns with a lot of butter in them.

Let's hope the 'choux' fits. JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Thank you, Theo.

Now the buttercream on the top and the chestnut creme pat

is super light,

and the fresh strawberry with this complements.

So I am super excited about this dish.

Hello. Hey, Deccas.

Hi, Declan. How are we?

Deccas, what have you cooked?

John Dory ballotine with zucchini flowers

and a pea and dill butter sauce.

Interestingly enough,

reminds me just so much of the fish and chips

that I used to have growing up.

And I think that's a combination of this beautiful butter sauce

that reminds me a little bit of tartare,

especially with that thin,

crisp batter on the zucchini flowers,

which gives that chip-like effect.

So, a lot to love here.

Jamie, what's the dish?

JAMIE: Beurre noisette poached kingfish.

A few different textures of pumpkin, squash and sea succulents.

What a dish. I really love that.

Like, you can taste the butter in every single element,

Mm-hm.

But it doesn't come together really heavy and rich.

It is very light.

I haven't played the pin, knowing that my dish is not great.

Yeah, I would be absolutely gutted to go home wearing this thing.

OK, Ben, what did you make?

I made fillet of lamb poached in beurre noisette,

infused with rosemary and thyme.

There's a freekeh tabbouleh and anchovy butter.

There's a parsnip puree, which has also got butter in it.

Lamb in butter - that was our question,

whether we'd be able to, you know, taste the butter.

Yeah.

You've then doubled down and put, like, a compound butter.

Yeah.

Have you managed to keep the balance of the dish now?

No, I mean, it's... The dish isn't perfect by any stretch.

Would have liked a little bit more time

to balance everything a bit better,

but I still think, broadly, it's there.

It feels like the way you cook is very experimental.

Are you, like, flying close to the sun

because you've got the pin on?

The pin's a weird one.

I'm not sure it helps your cook, actually.

I think, like, every time you make a slight mistake, you kind of go...

"Should I play it?" Yeah. Yeah.

And it just...it's kind of always in your head.

And it's not something you can really understand until it happens.

In all honesty, I kind of think I might cook better without it.

Time will tell if you made the right decision, mate.

It will. Do you want to finish it up?

Yeah, I will. Yeah.

His hand's shaking.

Enjoy. Thanks, mate.

JEAN CHRISTOPHE: Thank you, Ben.

Bless him.

I feel like the pin is really starting to weigh him down.

Yeah.

It doesn't look like the dish cooked by a guy

who's confident enough in that dish to not play his pin.

Yeah.

You know, it doesn't look faultless.

And for me, if my dish wasn't faultless,

I'd be... Straight up.

..putting my hand up with that pin in the air.

Yeah, especially today. Yeah. Yeah, a lot on the line.

Oh, that's not a good face. Bizarre.

ANNOUNCER: In the mood to cook?

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and try these delicious, MasterChef-approved recipes

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I'm afraid to say

I am not impressed about Ben's dish.

The lamb fillet, yeah, is nice and pink,

but I can't get any butter smell or flavours out of the meat.

The parsnip puree is bland,

and I can't get any butter.

Now, the tabbouleh is a little bit crunchy.

The sauce... (SIGHS)

I just hate it when it's a disaster.

It's a disaster.

It's a disaster. That's it.

Did everyone find, also, the butter did not cut through the lamb fat?

Not at all. Yeah.

It actually just made it this weird kind of murky flavour.

You know, when butter gets cooked down so much,

like, it gets that... Cheesy?

..that real, um, unpleasant taste, it loses all its freshness.

Mm.

I think that the thing that he based his dish around,

being that lamb cooked in beurre noisette,

he knew that wasn't going to be enough.

And then, it was like,

"Well, I'm going to put a compound butter on a dish

"that's already got a sauce and a puree."

It just didn't need to be there.

No.

I think the lamb, yes, it's nice and pink...

..but is that going to be enough to save him

from leaving the MasterChef kitchen with a pin on his apron?

Oof. Oh-la-la-la-la.

I'm worried for him.

Hi, Snez. Hi.

So, I made a butter puff pastry and beef bourguignon.

I think the beef bourguignon is well presented.

I like the flavours. I can get the wine.

The puff pastry with butter is delicious.

Darrsh. Hey, guys. How are you?

Hi, Darrsh. What is this?

We've got a butter-poached marron.

Butter and parsley emulsion over the top.

You've got some pickled apples, a beurre blanc,

and some sauteed chard on the bottom.

Classy-looking dish by Darrsh.

If that came to the table in most restaurants,

then I'd be like, "This is... ..this is going to be great."

And it was.

Really beautiful butter poaching in that marron.

And I really like that Swiss chard on the bottom -

simple but really delicate and light touch with it,

and perfectly balanced.

Couldn't think of a better dish to cook for this challenge.

Oh, yeah.

Hi, Audra. Hello. Audra.

So, today, I've made for you a frangipane tart,

brown butter-roasted nuts and roasted apricots.

This is what I really recognise as a frangipane tart.

First, the presentation is extraordinary.

This is the front cover of a magazine.

Then we come down to the tart.

The butter, which is important,

you've got that nuttiness inside -

it's just perfect.

So I absolutely love it.

BEAU: I'm a novice with this marron.

I think it looks OK,

but I don't know marron.

I really don't.

Hello. Oh, hello.

Oh.

Ooh!

So tell us what you've made,

and describe where the butter elements are.

OK, so I've got marron with a parsnip puree.

There's a lot of butter in that.

Then, an nduja, anchovy, lemon, shallot butter.

Then, the salad is pickled fennel,

grape, herbs and the claws.

Nduja and anchovy are quite strong flavours, yeah?

Yeah.

So what we want to know is...

..'nduja' taste the butter or not?

Yeah, you certainly do. (LAUGHS)

I think that the creaminess...

Was there a joke in there?

Smashed it. Straight over.

Smashed. 'Nduja' taste the butter or...?

Oh, 'nduja'!

And then, you say, "Nju-do." Yeah? (LAUGHS)

Oh, you certainly do. (CHUCKLES)

Thank you, Beau. Thank you.

Cheers, mate. Thank you.

Wow, what a dish.

I think Beau has delivered

the most delicious dish so far

in his repertoire.

And he turned out a dish,

which I would pay a fortune to enjoy.

It is unbelievable how precise,

how faultless this dish is.

The marron is 10 out of 10 -

the colours, the textures.

The smell is exemplary.

It is... You know what?

I'm going to take that into my restaurant.

Ooh! Perfect. Yeah. That's it.

He's browned off his butter

so it gets that sweetness and that depth,

but I don't think he's overdone it on the nduja or the anchovy.

And I think he's tasted everything together,

and it works an absolute treat.

Marron was spectacularly cooked.

Like, for a guy who's touched that product once in his lifetime,

to pull it out like that and cook it like that, that's special.

Really, really special.

I do feel like this is showing evolution.

Mm.

So if this is Beau pushing himself, I want more of it.

TIM: I'm so worried.

Today wasn't my best cook.

I'm really hoping that this confit duck

is just falling off the bone.

Hey, Tim. Hi, guys.

Tim, what did you cook?

Today, I've made you confit duck maryland,

celeriac puree,

and there's some miso, garlic, mushrooms,

shallots and asparagus with a duck and pork jus.

Tim, you said you wanted to be more relaxed and have fun today.

(CHUCKLES)

Do you feel like you were? Not really.

(LAUGHS) Not really.

Um...

It's hard going from saying you're going to be relaxed,

and just knowing that this could be the last dish that I cook

in this hallowed place.

The pressure does get to you.

You do get in your own head.

Were you like that the first time in the competition?

Not really.

I want to get back to that bloke 'cause he was just loving life.

It's you, by the way. That bloke is you.

I know, yeah. He's in here somewhere.

He just needs to get out again.

You're an epic cook.

I hope we see you fight another day, but let's see how it goes.

Finish your dish. Thanks, mate.

Good on you, guys. Enjoy. Thanks, Tim.

Thanks, Tim. Thanks so much.

How do I want the duck to be versus how I expect the duck to be

are two different things.

I'm worried about Tim.

Let's have a look.

Let's have a look.

Man, it's so tough.

Look here. The fat hasn't rendered at all.

So hard to cut.

Oh.

The duck is a real problem.

It's so luxurious when you get a perfect confit duck leg.

It's lollipop meat. It's lol... Yeah.

But this is the opposite to that.

You can see the sinew in here.

It is literally like a rubber band.

It's impossible to break through.

Then I'm like... The celeriac puree, so kind of muddled up

with the miso mushrooms and the asparagus

that you don't get the real luxury of the butter in there.

And the sauce, just not balanced enough.

It's really sweet on the Madeira.

I'm super worried for him.

It is very dangerous, actually.

I think it's crazy to consider doing a dish like this.

Duck confit, obviously, we know is a massive mistake.

Confit is at least 90 minutes,

and before that, we need to keep the legs in a salt and sugar,

at least to make sure we can cure a little bit the meat.

And it's a shame that he missed

what is the most principal part of the dish

is to confit in butter the duck.

I think when you proclaim something that's so classic and that everyone

knows what the result needs to be,

there's nowhere to hide.

Well, a butter challenge -

it was always going to deliver on good food, right?

A few of you brought us the best dishes

that we've seen from you in the competition so far.

Jamie, Beau, Samira, your dishes were spot-on.

No notes. Keep it coming.

(APPLAUSE)

Oh, wow.

And, Sarah, I reckon that was the best butter chicken

that some of us have ever had. Wow.

You're all safe. Well done.

I wish that that was where our day ended.

But as much as we hate this part, we have to send one of you home.

If I call your name,

please step forward.

Ben.

And Tim.

Oh, my God.

Neither of you really nailed your butter components.

And to add to that,

Ben, on their own, your elements were OK,

but together, they didn't eat well.

Tim, you know that a confit duck leg

should be pulling away from the bone.

But I'm gutted to say that yours was very tough.

And sadly, your other elements didn't come together either...

..which is why I'm so sorry,

you're going home.

Thanks, mate.

SOFIA: Tim, our boy from Ballarat,

you came here to make your boys proud,

and you've done that and more.

You're truly an inspiration.

Thanks, Sof.

I never thought I'd have the opportunity to cook

inside of this kitchen again,

so for that, I'm forever grateful.

And to be able to cook alongside MasterChef royalty

is pretty special.

I'll catch up with these guys for a beer soon.

We're not invited? (LAUGHTER)

Any time. Any time, guys.

Thank you so much for your guidance,

encouragement and support.

Like, you guys are amazing.

Everyone knows you're one of the nicest blokes

to ever set foot in this kitchen.

Just wear your heart on your sleeve.

And everybody here loves you so much.

Oh, yes. And you should be so proud.

But for now, it's time to say goodbye.

Obviously, I'm devastated.

I didn't want to be going home just yet,

but I've cooked some dishes that I'm super proud of,

and I'm just so grateful for the opportunity for Back To Win.

But, yeah, time to go back to Ballarat.

See yous in Ballarat for a toastie.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Give it up for Tim, everybody!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

ANNOUNCER: This week, on MasterChef Australia...

Please welcome Sooshi Mango!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

..it's Viral Week.

King of FoodTok, Andy Cooks! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Instagram -

four million followers.

TikTok - six million followers.

YouTube - over 3 billion views.

(EXCLAIMING)

Australia's Dessert Master...

SNEZ: Oh, my God. (EXCLAIMING)

..John Demetrios! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

With inspiration from social media superstars...

(GASPING)

..they could be one cook away

from a viral sensation.

Captions by Red Bee Media