All language subtitles for MasterChef Australia (2009) - S17E53 - Mystery Box Final Immunity

(JUDGES APPLAUD)

LAURA: Mystery box day! (LAUGHS)

Come on down the front.

Good morning.
ALL: Good morning.

You're the top five
of MasterChef: Back To Win 2025.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

How amazing.

Well done.
Yeah, Deeps.

Huge!

Take stock of that for a moment.

With the five of you left,

the odds of winning are moving
further and further in your favour.

You are so close to doing
what you came back here to do.

Righto.
Should we get this week started?

Yeah.
Yep.

You've got a mystery box
waiting for you at your benches.

Head on over.

BEN: Lot of running.

LAURA: I'm not doing that. I'm not.

I can't, I can't.

(ALL LAUGH)

Now we know you're gonna love
what's under those mystery boxes,

but let me make this clear.

Our expectations
have never been higher.

If you don't want to end up
in tomorrow's elimination,

you are going to need to bring us

the best dish
of your MasterChef career.

Because this mystery box
is for immunity.

That's right. Whoever cooks
the top dish today

will be safe
from tomorrow's elimination.

The four remaining...

..will be cooking tomorrow
and someone will be going home.

And that's not all.

Get ready for this.

God!

After this challenge,

there are no more chances
for immunity.

Whoa.

So go all-out.

Go on. Lift your lids.

Oh, wow.

Hey!

Interesting.

Oh, my God,
these are our ingredients.

At the start of this competition,

we asked you to put together
your dream mystery box.

And surprise! Here it is.

I would have taken it
way more seriously if I'd known.

(ALL LAUGH)

We outsmarted Callum!

Oh, shit.

Immediately know exactly
what the contents of this box are

because I chose them,

but I thought I was choosing them
for someone else.

I didn't realise I was choosing them
for me. (LAUGHS)

Callum, what's in there?

Well, I've got a couple of things
that grow at my house, actually.

I've got some
beautiful three-cornered garlic,

or wild garlic.

I've got some pine mushrooms,

got some Jerusalem artichokes,

persimmons,

kangaroo,

mussels,

bonito,

and then a nice little tin of Milo.

Ben, true or false -
were you drinking a Guinness

when putting
these ingredients together?

I'm starting to think I might have

been drinking
more than one Guinness.

(ALL LAUGH)

What have you got in there, mate?

Um, yeah, I've got a...
I've got a nice dark beer.

Um, I've got some peanut butter.

(LAUGHS)

Shiso, oysters...
(LAUGHTER)

..sweet potatoes,

finger limes,

sorrel, I think.

Is that sorrel?
Yep.

And is this venison?
Yep.

Oh, I love...
I love all of these things.

I... I'm not sure
I'm going to cook them all together

just to put you at ease.

So you just put your favourite eight
ingredients in there?

That's what it sounds like.
I'm guessing I was, like, in a rush.

Uh, I don't know. I don't remember.

My own ingredients...

My own ingredients are... Yeah.

What have I done?

I've chosen ingredients that I love,

but maybe that don't go together
so well.

So this is going to be a struggle.

But, yeah, I mean,
I'll do something with this.

I have to.

Laura, what are you seeing
in your mystery box?

LAURA: Kangaroo tail,

King George whiting,

some Davidson plums,

turnips, pistachio paste,

warrigal greens, some Madeira,

and cinnamon myrtle.

Couldn't be a more Laura mystery box
if it tried.

I know, right.

Depinder,
what is in your mystery box?

DEPINDER: So there's actually
some of my favourite ingredients.

We've got some prawns.

Um, a spatchcock.

I've got some peanut butter,
some curry leaves,

some ginger, some pineapple,
some pumpkin.

And there's, um, kokum.

It's used to, um,

increase the tartness
or to add acid to dishes.

I've got some of that.

Jamie, your mystery box
is such a Jamie mystery box.

Tell us what's in it.

JAMIE: So I've got some little
potatoes.

I've got razor clams,

which is incredible.
(GASPS)

Um, some coriander,

some heirloom tomatoes,
some jamon, radish,

some bacalao, salt cod,

and a nice bottle
of manzanilla sherry.

Oh!

It's a good box.

JAMIE: By all rights,
I've picked my own ingredients,

this should be out of the park.

But everyone else in here

has also picked
their own ingredients.

And all of a sudden,

it dawns just how hard
this is going to be.

This is going to be tough.

You'll have 75 minutes.

You do have
your under bench staples.

Cook anything you'd like

and make sure you use
at least one of the ingredients

from your ultimate box.

Game faces on, people.

Your time starts now.

(APPLAUSE)

I'm going no chaotic energy today,
mate.

The strategy today is definitely -

need to stay focused,
clear thoughts.

Yesterday was a super intense cook.

I feel like I held on
by the skin of my teeth.

Sarah, you're going home.

(EXHALES)

That last challenge
was pretty hectic for me.

Um, obviously
didn't quite go to plan,

and little knocks of your confidence
like that can really take a toll.

But I've come in here today.

I've been given
this mystery box of ingredients

that I absolutely love.

And considering I have
some delicious bacalao, salt cod,

it's pretty hard
to go past a classic.

Today I'm making bacalao al pil pil

with some razor clams

and a few little accoutrements
to make everything pop.

So bacalao is salt cod.

A beautiful taste of Spain.

Traditionally,
you would be having

beautiful pieces of salt cod

that have been cooking down
in some olive oil.

And as that gelatine
starts to extract out of it,

you create this beautiful emulsion

that ends up dressing
this amazing piece of fish.

So I'm doing a bit of a, say,
modern version of that.

Get it into a sous vide

and just allow all of that collagen

and all of that deliciousness
from the meat

to come out
and really infuse that olive oil.

I think this dish
gives an opportunity

to utilise all the things I love,

and is a perfect way

to really showcase
a lot of technique.

Taking out this mystery box
means automatic top four.

That puts me at my benchmark.

So I would love to hit it.

Probably mixed emotions
when I saw the mystery box

that I'd chosen for myself.

You know, I love
every single ingredient

in this mystery box.

They're all very me
in different ways.

All these beautiful ingredients

that are honestly
some of my favourite ingredients

to cook with.

From the kangaroo tail to turnips,

to the King George whiting.

I'm a lucky lady.

But my challenge is going to be
creating something different

for the judges.

So the dish I'm going to make today

is a smoked cinnamon myrtle
King George whiting with turnips.

So I'm going to use
the King George whiting

as my main piece of protein.

I'm going to char down some turnips
and I'm going to salt bake those.

I'm going to char up
some of the stems

and then pickle those down
in some Davidson plum.

And I'm going to juice the turnips
and make a little sauce.

I know the flavours
in my dish work together.

And now it's going to come down
to presentation

and nailing the extra technique.

I think I can definitely,
like, fall into the trap

of going back to things
that I know work.

And I think you kind of need
that a little bit,

but it's, you know,

just maybe adding
new little techniques.

I've got one mission today,

and that's to make sure
that my dish is the top dish.

POH: Right,
only five contestants left.

And this mystery box
is a really crucial one

'cause we're only looking
for one person

that gets their immunity

and the other four
are going into elimination.

Yeah, the odds are stacked up
against 'em today.

And even though
they do have their own mystery boxes

set by themselves,

there was a bit of a mixed reaction
when they lifted the lids, hey?

Laura, she's like, you know,

if I put a mystery box together
for Laura,

they would be
her ingredients there...

Yeah.

..whereas Ben,
he was, like, a bit...bewildered.

BEN: I would swap my mystery box
with anyone today,

but I can't. Argh!

Yeah, I'm a little bit put out
by my former self

for choosing this box.
I don't... (LAUGHS)

I'm struggling a little bit

to think how I'm going
to put many of these together.

So what I'm thinking is

I'm going to take
a couple of routes on this.

Um, I'm going to try and make
a sort of dumpling

out of the sweet potato.

With that,
I think I can build a dish

and put the oyster cream
and some sorrel on it,

but if I'm not happy
with the dumplings,

I'm going to go for
a single mouth oyster sort of snack

using the same components.

Because sweet potatoes aren't ideal

for making
gnocchi-style dumplings,

but I'm going to give it a...give
it a nudge,

and if it doesn't work out,
I've got a plan B.

It's obviously not ideal
that I'm cooking two dishes.

I wish I'd given myself
some ingredients that went together

a little bit better than this,

but at the same time,

from adversity comes,
you know, great things sometimes.

So if I can just get my head in this
and figure it out,

I think I can come up
with something excellent.

Yeah,
I want to avoid every elimination.

I've been trying to avoid them all.

It seems to be
I end up in most of them.

So, um, I don't
need any more practice at them.

I just want to keep out of one
for a change.

Only one top dish
and only one hour to go.

(CHEERING)

Oh, golly, I'm very lucky

that this is not
an all-in mystery box today,

because if I was using
all this stuff,

I'd be in big trouble.

Because I've got kangaroo
and mussels and persimmons,

Jerusalem artichokes,

pine mushrooms.

I've got a tin of Milo in there.

Lifting up that box,
and I've realised

that this is a box of ingredients
that I've chosen,

but it wasn't necessarily
for myself.

Um, so I don't really have
what you'd call a dish,

uh, in mind in its full entirety.

I'm looking at the mussels
and the kangaroo

and thinking what savoury dishes
I can cook,

but because I don't have a lot

of kind of like aromatic ingredients
or spices,

I think I can cook a good dish,
but maybe not a great dish.

And there's a lot riding
on today's challenge,

because whoever wins today
is going to be in that top four.

I'm just trying to rack my brain.

Normally, I'm quite methodical
and strategic

with how I normally tackle
these MasterChef challenges.

But today...

..I have absolutely
stitched myself up here.

Oh, yum.

Now we're talking.

I'm just stoked to be here.

Like, I cannot believe
I'm in top five

and I get to cook

with some
of my favourite ingredients.

I've got pumpkin,
I've got some kokum,

which is like same family
from the mangosteen.

I've got some ginger,
some pineapple,

had some beautiful prawns,
some peanut butter,

and I also had a spatchcock chicken
and some curry leaves.

When I picked these ingredients,

I made sure I had ingredients
that correspond to dishes

that can be both sweet and savoury.

POH: Depinder!

Hey, guys.
I love that you're buzzing today.

You're, like, buzzing.
It's top five.

I'm so happy to be here.
I love curry leaves.

It's my favourite herb.

I'm actually dying to do
a curry leaf ice-cream for you guys.

So I'm going to do
a curry leaf ice-cream,

a pumpkin peanut butter puree,

caramelised pineapple slices

and kokum solkadhi granita.

Kokum is, like, really, really tasty.

Can we give it a nibble
or you wouldn't...?

Yeah, for sure. I've got plenty.

This is...
Depinder, this is very sour.

This is like sour plum.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's really tasty.
Smells like it.

Yeah. So I'm obviously going to have
to work around balancing

all of these flavours and stuff.
Yeah, you are.

And salty.
Oh, my God.

Yes. And the flavours
are going to be really unique.

OK.
Like, I promise you.

You wouldn't have tasted
anything like this before.

I have done these elements before

and I've done a few savoury desserts
in the past.

This dessert
is going to be different.

There are a lot
of unfamiliar flavours.

It's going to be best
of both worlds,

sweet and savoury.

And then I need to get started
with my kokum granita.

It's got this beautiful aroma,
but it's also really sour.

It's almost, like, used
instead of tamarind.

It's really hard to tame this down.

But if I get it right,

I think it's got a really good chance
of being up the top.

It's really tasty.

OK, guys, you've got one chance.

45 minutes to go.

Come on!
Allez!

CALLUM: So I've spent a bit of time

thinking about
what is the best dish I can cook

with this random cluster
of ingredients.

I don't think I've got
necessarily enough

kind of aromatic-type ingredients
to make, uh,

as good of a savoury
as I can of sweet.

So I'm gonna go dessert today.

So the dish I'm gonna make

is a
Jerusalem artichoke-stuffed choux.

I'm going to do it

with a smoked pine mushroom
and Milo ice-cream...

..and persimmon.

I know that the judges will think
that this is a wacky idea,

but that's kind of
what I'm going for today.

Because Milo has
that real kind of malty savouriness

that you find in, like,
beer or whisky,

it actually ties together
quite well with savoury flavours.

So as long as I get the balance
and the ratios right,

I think it could be a lot of fun.

Whoa!

Sorry.
Pine...pine mushroom anglaise.

JAMIE: Pine mushrooms anglaise?
It's a thing.

Of course it's a thing.
(LAUGHS)

It's a thing for you, Cal.

Jamie, how are you?
Very good, Chef. How are you?

I can smell something Spanish there.

(CHUCKLES) Everything.

Pretty much.
Everything Spanish.

So I've got the salt cod
in with some olive oil

and a little bit of jamon
in the sous vide.

Um, that is then going to be used
to emulsify or to blend

with some of the jamon fat oil
that I'm making,

essentially making
MasterChef's version

of a little bacalao al pil pil.

I can't wait to see it!

And make sure
it's not too salty, too.

Oui, Chef.

There's no doubt in my mind

there's a lot of salt
happening on this plate,

but it's the acidity
of the tomato water,

the sweetness of the jamon, and the
charriness from the razor clams,

they're going to bring
everything together.

I can hear a smoked mushroom
and Milo ice-cream behind me,

and I'm sure
Depinder's throwing everything

at the wall
in big, bold flavours

in ice-creams and desserts.

That's fine.

I know that this is going to be
a plate of food

that anyone in this kitchen
is going to demolish.

LAURA: I'm going really well.

Um, I'm feeling quite in control
at this point.

I've decided to use
the King George whiting today.

I'm going to use
some cinnamon myrtle.

I'm going to use lots of turnips.

The turnips are still in the oven.
They've got a timer on.

I'm just juicing the turnips
and some of the stems now.

I'm just taking
all the bones out to the fish.

Today I'm thinking about
new and different techniques

to showcase to the judges,

and I'm salt baking these turnips.

I'm also thinking about
using the marrow

from the kangaroo tail
to dress those turnips in.

There's only a tiny bit,

but it's like a bit of marrow
out of this kangaroo itself.

Like, some have got some,
some don't.

And I want to make a little dressing
to put over those turnips

when they come out.

But the thing that I'm loving
is, like,

you can see your cogs turning
on how you can up the ante.

Yes. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Because, like,
you want that top spot,

but you're also staying
so true to yourself.

Which I don't think I can...
I can't stray from that.

That's the wrong day to do that.

Remember, one top dish.

I know. I'm coming for it. (LAUGHS)

Thank you.

BEN: There's just under 35 minutes
on the clock.

I don't have time
to think if I'm stressed.

Right now, I'm making two dishes.

While the sweet potatoes
are roasting in the oven,

the venison is curing.

Andy.
Now...

Ben, how are you?
Yeah. I've...

I must been quite a rush,
I think, when I, uh,

responded to these questions.
Stoked?

I'm not stoked at all. Um...
OK.

I love the ingredients.
Right.

Uh, struggling a little bit
to find the best way

to put them together
in a creative enough way

to win this challenge.

So what...what ideas have you got?

So basically, I'm going to take
a couple of routes on this.

I'm going to use the sweet potato

to make a sort of dumpling,
a potato dumpling

and put the oyster cream
and some sorrel on it.

But I've also got some venison
I'm curing in, like, salt and sugar

curing in the fridge already.
Right.

So my fallback position...
Yeah.

..is you're going to get
an oyster with, um,

some venison tartare
and the oyster cream.

So you're cooking two dishes?

I think
you just need to find clarity quick.

Yeah, yeah...

I know this is a bit
of, like, suck it and see.

Yeah.
But like, yeah.

I think the quicker you decide
on what's going to work

and what's not, the better.

Yeah...
Because cooking two dishes...

Yeah.
..is probably not going to work.

I think, um...

I think Andy's dead right.

I don't have time
to make two dishes.

I've got to put 100%
into one of these dishes

and get rid of the other one.

Otherwise, I won't even have a dish.

ANDY: You're cooking your very own
mystery box

and we are expecting greatness.

30 minutes to go.

(CLAPPING)

Is that my timer?

(TIMER BEEPS)

This is exciting me
for the best cook we've had yet,

and that means the best tasting
that we've had yet.

Are we feeling that everyone's
going for that one spot,

that first spot in the top four
or what?

Yeah, 100%.
Absolutely.

Whoo! Man. I'll start with Laura.

She's got a beautiful
King George whiting there,

which she's going to put over the
hibachi, put some cinnamon myrtle.

Um, then turnips is like her
favourite vegetable in the world.

She's going to salt bake them.

And she's got the kangaroo.

She's scooped out the marrow
from the tail...

Oh!
..and she's going to make

a little kind of, um, vinaigrette
or a sauce with the marrow.

Stunning.
Wow.

She really knows how to pull

the flavour out of ingredients,
doesn't she?

And I think, like,
because we've seen Laura

use these ingredients so often
in this kitchen,

she's now trying to take it
to another level.

Yeah.

OK, Depinder.

She's doing a kokum granita.

She's also planning to use

the peanut butter and the pumpkin
as a puree.

Whoa!
And then a curry leaf ice-cream.

Whoa!
So it sounds bangin'.

That is a serious combination
of flavours.

Yeah, but if she can pull off these
unusual flavour combinations,

that's what's going to
pull her through today.

Oh, OK!

Jamie's doing a bacalao al pil pil.

Um, basically speaking,
he's using the salted cod,

a vacuum water bath

with some Iberico ham.

But the only thing I'm worried with
a dish like this - the saltiness.

How are you going to balance to make
sure you got the right flavour?

What's going on with Ben?
I would love to tell you.

He's cooking two dishes.

He mentioned an oyster cream.

He mentioned a Guinness caramel.

He mentioned a cooked venison.

He mentioned venison tartare.

He mentioned all of these things,

but he didn't have any clarity
on which way he was going to go.

So it's a rough cook for him.
I hope he can bring it together.

Would you be surprised if I told you
Callum was making a Milo dessert?

Tell me that's not the exact
Milo tin logo.

Not bad, eh? (CHUCKLES)

Uh, no.

(LAUGHS)

Would you be surprised
if I told you he was making

a Milo dessert
with Jerusalem artichoke

and mushroom and persimmon?

Look...
Oh, my God.

..I want to say...I want to say yes,
but no,

because it's Callum.
I know, exactly.

You're running out of time.
15 minutes to go!

(CLAPPING)

Oh!

LAURA: Beautiful. We love to see it.

I think the flavours
are really interesting.

They haven't really tried
these flavours before.

It's really wacky,
It's, like, really different,

so I'm actually quite excited.

This dessert will be
both sweet and savoury.

So my curry leaf ice-cream
looks beautiful, it looks green.

Texturally, it's smooth, silky.

At the same time, I'm also making
some white pepper meringue.

It's going to add
a pop of heat to it,

but it's also going to elevate
how I plate it up.

I'm going to make
white pepper meringue twigs

and I want them to be really fine
so they actually melt in your mouth.

BEN: I don't have time
to make two dishes.

I don't have time to make gnocchi,
make whatever, make a dumpling.

It's...it's...

I should just choose the best thing
and run with it and do it 100%.

I was going to make, like,
a sweet potato dumpling,

but I can't see it working in time.

So you're going to get, like,
a one 'mouth-er' of, um,

cured venison tartare,
fried oyster, oyster cream.

Yeah, I think that's where
we're going.

We're not getting dumplings?
You're not getting dumplings.

It's not going to happen.

I've got to focus on
just making that single,

delicious fried oyster
and venison dish the best I can.

So I've got oyster cream done.

I've shucked a lot of oysters,

but I've got to do something more
than that to elevate it

and give it some real interest.

A Guinness caramel would be
just what this dish needs.

So I've caramelised some sugar
in a pan,

and then I start adding the Guinness
to it and a tiny bit of cream.

I don't want it to be sweet
and I don't want it to be bitter,

but just getting that balance right.

There's a number of textures
and flavours.

So the oyster is going to be crunchy

and the caramel
is going to be sweet,

and then they'll be left with chew
of the venison that's cured.

So a nice salty finish.

A little bit of salt from
oyster cream and a little bit

of the high notes
from the sorrel on top.

Five minutes to go!

(CLAPPING)

Five?
Yeah, five.

(EXHALES SHARPLY)

Five minutes to go, I've got

all of my elements pretty much
where they need to be.

I'm feeling pretty good
at this stage.

I've got the razor clams
on the hibachi.

I've had my bacalao in the sous vide
for about 45 minutes.

I take it out and drain off
all of the liquid from inside.

That cooking liquid
is perfectly seasoned

because of the salt cod itself,

and you get this beautiful
white gelatine

that started to come out
of the fish.

This is what's key to start
the emulsion of this sauce.

So you're going to emulsify the...

..this which was from
the bacalao with...

A little bit of this.
..the charred stock.

Yeah.

I get it into a pan.

I've got my razor clam
and sherry stock.

And I've also got my tomato water,
which is seasoned.

The most challenging part
of this dish is without doubt -

the salt balance,

but it's the acidity
from the tomato water.

There's a little bit of smokiness
from the shellfish

and the beautiful salty goodness
that comes from that pil pil.

You're going to be ready on time,
yeah?

Yes, Chef.

All of the elements are done
so I can have a taste.

It's too salty.

I taste some of the cooked salt cod.

That's also too salty.

(GROANS)

JAMIE: Today I'm making
bacalao al pil pil

but when I taste it...

..it's too salty.

I'm pretty disappointed,

but at the same time,

I'm not going to give up
my opportunity at immunity.

The jamon is not salty at all.
It's beautiful and sweet.

I've got the freshness
of the tomatoes.

I can add in more of the potatoes in
to balance out all of the saltiness.

It's going to provide a little foil

for all of the other big flavours
to work.

So I'm confident I can fix this.

Three minutes to go!

Coming together?
Yeah.

I just need to cook my fish
and I'm almost there.

My salt baked turnips are done.

My pickled stems
are in the pickling liquid.

I've got the bone broth
onto my sauce,

and pretty much the last thing
I need to crack onto

is cooking my fish.

I love cooking over fire and I love
using a hibachi in this kitchen.

I want to get
a really nice smokiness

and dark charcoal kind of colour.

But I need to be really careful

because this fish won't take long
at all to cook.

They're so small and delicate.

DEPINDER: These are so delicate.

Oh, my God,
they are so bloody delicate.

All of my elements are ready to go.

I've tasted everything together
and I really like the flavours.

Now it all comes down
to how I plate it up.

And I have to be really concise
about how much of each element

I'm going to put on this plate.

I just need to make sure
the flavours are balanced

with both sweet and savoury.

I put my pumpkin
and peanut butter puree

on the base of the bowl.

I put some of those
charred pineapple slices on top.

On top of the ice-cream, I put
some of that solkadhi granita...

..and it's looking amazing.

And the meringue twigs on top.

They've also got a really nice
flavour from that white pepper.

And it kind of just brings
the dish together.

One minute to go!

(CLAPPING)

CALLUM: Today I've
stitched myself up,

but actually, looking at the dish,

I think it's the kind of dish

I never would have come up with
outside of this competition.

Have a beautiful little
kind of hockey puck

of the choux stuffed
with that Jerusalem artichoke.

I'm going to pop that smoked
mushroom and Milo ice-cream on top,

decorate the whole plate with a
little bit of extra diplomate cream.

And finally,
those Milo biscuits go on.

Please be as gentle,
as gentle can be.

30 seconds to go!

(CLAPPING)

Mm, I like it.

Looking down on all these elements,

I'm actually really excited
about this dish.

I'm not quite as upset with past Ben
as I was before.

I think, um, I think we've sort of
settled our differences.

And now I'm just trying to make
this absolute perfection

in a single mouthful.

So I'm going to put
the oyster cream on the bottom,

the venison on top of that.

I'm going to brush some of
the Guinness caramel on there,

fried oyster
and then some fresh sorrel on top.

It actually tastes pretty good.
Yeah, I like it. (CHUCKLES)

This is it! 10...

ALL: Nine, eight, seven,

six, five, four,

three, two, one!

We're done here!

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Bravo!

How did you go, mate?
Oh, good, mate, I think. Yeah.

We gave each of you a mystery box
full of your favourite ingredients.

You had to bring us a dish that saves
you from tomorrow's elimination.

With the final immunity up for grabs,

we are looking for perfection.

Let's see who's done it.

The first dish we'd like to taste
belongs to Callum.

CALLUM: If this was a black apron
day, if this was elimination,

I'd probably be feeling
very nervous.

Because there's no way around it,
this dish is risky as.

Like, it's a very unusual
flavour profile.

And I just hope that the judges
are on board

with sort of how savoury
this dessert is.

Wow.

Oh-ha! It's growing wheat.
Oh, wow.

What... Is that biscuit?

The wheat thing?

Yeah, that's the
Milo...Milo biscuits.

Tell us what it is.

It's a Jerusalem artichoke
stuffed choux

with pine mushroom Chantilly...

..smoked Milo ice-cream
and persimmon.

Callum, when you sort of have
a quick look at the dish,

you go, "Oh, yeah."

And then there's just so much detail
in there

and it's very different plating

to any other dessert
you've brought up here.

Yeah. I was really, um, I guess,
aware when I lifted that box

that, A, I'd slightly stitched
myself up.

Um, and I guess I knew that to beat

the very solid techniques
that were going to be behind me,

there had to be a level of intrigue
with the flavour combination

and then enough technique
to back it up.

So Milo and mushrooms...

..does it work?

Yes, it does. (CHUCKLES)

This is such
a lovely autumnal dessert,

and I love that it's just inspired

this really unusual combination
of flavours.

Love the way you use the persimmons.

It's just got this really lovely,
kind of slippery, um, mild crunch.

And then, um, I love that combo

of the sweetness of
the Jerusalem artichokes

and the pine mushroom Chantilly.

Yeah, love the savouriness of it.
Thanks, Poh.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Callum.

Your sense of coordination
and executions

is like you've got a brigade
next to you.

There's so many details.

And your mix of ingredients,

to sample everything
that your brain is giving you.

And this is what is fantastic
about you, Callum.

I agree with everything.

Creativity off the charts,
technique is all solid.

I just think the ice-cream
is a little bit too smoky.

That's my only critique
on this...this whole plate.

OK.
Thanks, Callum.

Thanks, guys.

(MOUTHS SILENTLY)

Thanks, pal.

The next dish is yours, Depinder!

(CLAPPING)

DEPINDER: I'm really happy
with my dish.

But I can't shake off the fact

I've used really wacky flavours,
like the kokum.

So I just hope
that the judges understand

what I've tried to do
with this dessert here.

So today I've made...

..curry leaf ice-cream
with a solkadhi granita...

..a pumpkin peanut butter puree

and white pepper meringue twigs.

Are you confident this is top dish?

It's a really good dish.
I hope, yeah, you guys love it.

Yep, yep. Let's go for it.

(LAUGHTER)

You don't sound confident, Depinder!
Um, yeah.

I'm confident that this will be
the top dish.

(GRUFFLY) That a girl! Let's taste!

Depinder...

..this is what we call in French,
'un phenomene d'osmose'.

Osmosis assemblage,
basically speaking.

Everything there, it is,
all together,

react to something unique.

And this, again, is another dish

that I was not expecting
even myself to try to dare

to mix white pepper, the pumpkin,

I can go on and on and on.

Everything in your dish is
so well balanced, so well...

And the sugar -
which is very important -

because it's a dessert,
and the saltiness, too,

together, they are very combined,
is excellent.

And the way you are,
you're like this.

You're so humble and it's scary

because if you produce this
all the time,

every time you manage
to knock something epic

and you are the way you are...

I tell you what,
just keep doing what you do

as long as you can
because you are fantastic.

Thank you, Depinder.

I just loved it. It's all these
really unfamiliar flavours

that you find in a dessert,

but they just kind of keep morphing
into one another on the palate.

And I love those little
matchstick meringues

that really did add something to
the dish, not just textural.

Yeah. You should be
so proud of yourself.

(WHISPERS) Thank you.

Uh, Depinder, will you give me
a little happy dance?

If I get a little, a little,
a little beat going for you?

Come on, everybody!

(LAUGHTER)

Everybody, come on!

You should be dancing
the night away.

'Cause that's your best one yet
for me.

Oh, my God!
That, that...

The difficulty in that one is
through the absolute roof.

Like, you're playing with fire here.

For me, the granita was
the highlight.

Um, tasting it by itself,
it is so salty.

But then you put that on the plate
with all of the sweetness,

the herbaceousness from
the curry-leaf ice-cream,

the tingle of the white pepper,

and then that beautiful kind of
nutty peanut butter pumpkin flavour

that is just like grounding
everything.

Whoo-hoo! Bye-bye.

That is like, honestly,
that is the best dessert

that you've put up, for me.

You pulled this out
at the right time.

Well done.

POH: Well done, Depinder!

Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Huh?

That was great.
Oh, my God!

I didn't think
that was going to happen.
Brilliant.

We'd like to taste your dish, Ben.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Yeah!

I can't wait to taste this one.

This cook's been like a metaphor for
my journey in this competition.

It's been quite up and down,

but I finally settled on an idea
for this dish.

And the judges are just going to
have a single mouthful.

It's all or nothing. In it goes.

I'm just hoping I've got it right.

Ben, what did you finally land on?

Beer-battered oysters
with cured venison,

oyster cream, Guinness, caramel
and sorrel.

That was an adventure.
It was.

Long and windy road to get to here,
wasn't it?

It was a little bit.
Yeah. I tried a few things out,

ditched a few things,
but, um, yeah, I think this was
the best use of the ingredients,

given the mystery box I managed
to stitch myself up with.

I'm really interested to see
what it tastes like

because it looks very simple.

I think we're just going to
take one each. Yeah?

Right, Ben, first,
I would like to congratulate you

for having this sense of creativity.

It makes sense. I like that.

The Guinness,
the venisons, oyster, sorrel.

It is good.

It's very good, actually.
In fact, it is superb.

The only thing
I'm on the line missing

is a little bit of this.

Or a little bit of vinegar
with the venison.

Otherwise, I think it's great.

Ben, it's a really intelligent dish.

The way you use the Guinness
as a sauce with the venison

gave it this really chocolatey
kind of flavour,

which was really lovely against
the salinity of the oysters.

And I think deep-frying was
a great idea as well,

because it kind of married
the two together.

Shame about the acidity...
Yeah, yeah.

..just to give it
that little bit of brightness,

I think
that would have been perfect.
I agree.

I think you can just get the balance
a little bit more dialled.

But, um, mate,
for how confused your face was,

I'm surprised that you got anything
close to that.

Cheers, mate.

Next one we want to taste belongs
to...

..Laura.

LAURA: I'm so happy with the dish
that I've put up today.

It looks beautiful,
but my biggest concern is -

is this enough?

Have I done everything in my power

to elevate my ingredients
and to win immunity?

Like, all my fingers
and toes are crossed.

JEAN-CRISTOPHE: What is your dish?

LAURA: Smoked King George whiting,

salt-baked turnips
and a turnip broth.

Laura, knowing it is the last
immunity of the competition,

do you want this one even more?
Definitely.

To be the first person
to get into top four would be huge.

Um, I think that would be so good
for my mind space.

I think we're about to find out.
Let's go.

Laura, the question always
with this dish is,

have you been able to take
the ingredients to another level?

Um, I think you're going to be
up there.

I think you're definitely
going to be up there.

For me, the cinnamon myrtle oil

combined with your pickled turnip
stems,

which you've put the ooray plums
in there,

it's giving off like rhubarb,
pickled rhubarb.

And it's really delicious.

It's got a beautiful acidity to it,

a nice amount of tartness
and some great crunch.

So, massive tick.

Um, the fish is dynamite.

The skin is really beautiful
and crispy,

and, combined with that cinnamon,
myrtle oil and smoke throughout it -

also haven't seen that
from you before.

A very, very solid dish.

I think you've definitely upped
your ante with technique.

Um, but you just don't lose
your soul.

And I think that's very,
very important

because that's what has made you
so successful

in this competition over and over
and over again.

Thanks, Andy.

I feel, I don't know
how to explain it.

I think I feel cleansed
after eating that dish.

It's interesting, like,
it's a struggle cook

when you don't have aromatics to,

you know, make things sweet
and lift things,

and you have
to really rely on drawing out

all the natural characteristics
of every ingredient.

And you have done that to the max.

Laura, the turnips are heaven,
said almost no-one ever.

(LAUGHTER)

Oh, you're so good at bringing out
the best of those root vegies.

They've just got this absolutely
divine juiciness to them.

And I think when you add that little
touch of the bone marrow,

even though it IS a little touch,

it's about that kind of

entire mouthfeel, richness,
experience.

Thank you.
Well done.

CALLUM: Well done, mate.

OK. Next up, please,

we want to try Jamie.

JAMIE: Walking my dish up,
I think it looks beautiful.

It smells absolutely amazing.

But I am worried about all of
the salty goodness

that's on the plate.

I hope I balanced it well enough
for the judges.

So, tell us exactly
what is your dish.

JAMIE: Charred razor clams.
Bacalao al pil pil.

Jamon, roasted potatoes
and tomato.

I...

I think you took a risk to do a dish
like this using the salted cod.

It's really, really risky.

Um, how confident are you to think
this dish is going to work?

These are all things
that work together in my head.

And putting them together in a way
that utilises each of them

for their different qualities,
I think all the flavours work.

I'm really happy with this plate
of food.

The pil pil itself,
when you taste it,

it has such character
and a beautiful dimension about it.

You literally get all of
the characteristics of that protein

and that gelatine from the cod.

And then you get tomato
and then you get jamon.

It's all in there.

I loved it with the tomatoes.

I thought that was beautiful

because there was a great contrast

between, you know, sweetness of
tomato and then umami,

and then all the stuff
that goes really well

with the pil pil.

This had the hallmarks of being
a winning dish.

(EXHALES)

And there's so much great technique
in there.

But then, just at the back end,
it just goes a little bit too far.

Because then you taste the salt cod.

It's really salty as well.

Jamie, it's one of those dishes
that you want to dive into.

It has all, you know,
my favourite things in it -

tomatoes, potatoes,
um, razor clams.

I think as soon as I saw
the bacalao and the...

..and the jamon, I was like,

he's going to have to control those
if he's using those together.

I think you did get
a little bit carried away.

If you had had just, um, like,
just boiled potatoes...

Sometimes something
really simple like that

can just help get relief,

'cause everything is very enriched
on the dish

and just gave it that little bit
of respite

so that that sauce could breathe
and you could have gotten away
with it.

But I'm sure you were just wanting
to show more technique,

and, you know...
Yeah.

So sometimes,
like, yeah, think about

whether you're thinking
technique before

whether it makes sense for the dish.
Yeah.

Thank you.

You had the best chance of
success today

with your personalised mystery boxes.

And with the final immunity at stake
for the win,

we were looking for a dish
that we couldn't fault.

Even though a few of you got close,

one of you took perfection
to new heights.

Imaginative flavours,

intriguing textures
and the technique of a master chef.

It was definitely worthy of that...

(SHOUTS) ..happy dish, Depinder!

Congratulations!

Uh, thank you. Thank you.

Well done, mate.
Oh, thanks, guys.

It feels unreal.

I did not expect that this morning
when I walked through the doors.

And I'm just...

Probably the happiest day
I've had so far in this kitchen.

(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)

Well, Depinder, amazing work.

You'll be watching tomorrow's
elimination from the gantry.

Laura, Ben, Jamie, Callum,

you're going to need every wink
of sleep you can get tonight.

Because when you walk back into
the kitchen tomorrow,

you're going to need to face one of
your biggest challenges to date.

Goodnight, guys.
Thank you.

And well done.
Epic day, group! Well done!

Well done, mate!
Thank you.

Very good.
Thank you.

ANNOUNCER: Love what you see
in the MasterChef kitchen?

Now you can do it yourself with
the MasterChef At Home cookbook.

Head to the website
or scan the QR code.

Tomorrow night...

Please welcome the mad genius
of the South Island,

Vaughan Mabee!

..he's created
a wonderland of more-ish morsels.

CALLUM: This is unbelievable.

It's like that Willy Wonka thing

where you cram
a three-course meal into a tablet.

Now...

We want your own spectacular
one-bite wonder.

..it comes down to one bite

that blows their minds...

You've got one shot in one
mouthful...

Ah!
..to save them from elimination.

I'm wearing a black apron

and I'm resting
my entire competition

on one bite.

If this is my last cook,

I'm going to be swinging
for the fences,

as simple as that.

Captions by Red Bee Media