Original subtitles

(CHEERING)

Let's go, guys!

I'm feeling really good - immunity cook today.

(CHEERING CONTINUES)

I am absolutely so, so, so pumped for this challenge today.

I'm gonna pull out all the stops.

I'm, for once, cooking for immunity

where I can actually show off as many crazy skills

as I can pull out of the bag today

and bring something that's absolutely spectacular.

Good morning. CONTESTANTS: Morning.

I hope the four of you are ready for today's immunity challenge,

because you are in for quite the treat.

OK.

To round out Nostalgia Week,

we had to break out the big guns..

..and bring in someone very special

who is no stranger to the MasterChef kitchen.

She made her debut alongside me as a contestant

in the very first season of MasterChef Australia.

Julie?

She's gone on to have an incredible career.

We're talking multiple cookbooks...

..and a show that's in its 16th season.

Whoa!

Please welcome the one,

the only...

..MasterChef alumni...

..Justine Schofield!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

This is so cool. What's in the box?

I remember watching her on season one

and I loved her!

Bienvenue.

CASPER: Super excited to have Justine in the kitchen today.

She's an absolute legend.

Justine! Come here!

Seeing the career that Justine's built from being on MasterChef

is pretty inspirational.

She's had heaps of cookbooks and her TV show,

and that really inspires

and pushes me to do the same thing.

Hi, guys!

Oh, I've got goose bumps! I know!

The place hasn't changed at all.

Justine. Welcome back to the MasterChef kitchen.

How long has it been since you've been here?

I think it's been 11 years as a guest,

so, competitively, 18 years.

A long time ago.

Still get the buzz, though.

Yeah, yeah. Good to be on this side, though.

18 years.

Luke, you were one years old.

Wow.

You know, a lot happened in this place for you.

Absolutely. I mean, it changed my life.

I'm getting emotional just thinking about it,

but it was just such a beautiful place.

It changed my career.

And, above all, it was learning the art of cooking

in an intense way.

I have to say, I learned so much from watching you

and talking to you, Juzzy,

and so much of my, like, basic French technique

I learnt from you.

So I really, really appreciate that.

Justine, was Poh afraid to you?

Oh. Was she?

We were like this! No.

I bet you guys are dying to know

what's in this box Justine brought in.

Yeah. Just a little bit.

Yesterday, you worked together as a team

to create the dish of the day.

Now it's everyone for themselves

because you are going into battle

for what's in there.

Come in for a closer look. Oh, fun.

Today, you're playing for...

..an immunity pin!

(CHEERING)

An immunity pin. It's so shiny.

I like shiny.

I definitely want this immunity pin.

I'd love the safety net it gives.

All this week, we've been celebrating nostalgic food.

Juzz, what type of food is nostalgic for you?

Well, having a French mum, Francoise,

French food is life for us.

And nostalgic food for me is, you know,

a pot-au-feu cooking on the stove for hours and hours,

something braising in the oven,

um, an emulsified sauce

and the waft of tarragon in my mum's kitchen.

Oh!

It reminds me of my mother with her long pearl necklace

just whisking over the stove top.

And I know all of us here

probably have exactly the same memories in our own way.

Oh.

Ooh-la-la! Incredible. C'est incroyable.

Aw, Jean-Christophe.

So today you will be cooking something very dear

to Justine, and, of course, myself.

Classic French cuisine!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Bon appetit!

Yep. (LAUGHS)

French cuisine is not my fave.

But, you know, there's a lot of really good French techniques

and French classics out there

that are loved by basically everyone,

but I'm not well versed in them.

OK, guys, you will have 75 minutes

to create a classic French dish.

The pantry and the garden are open.

People, please, don't hold back.

Oui, oui, ou non, non.

We want to be blown away

because the best dish today

will win this immunity pin.

We are expecting some epic food today,

but we won't be here to see you make it.

That's crazy!

That's right.

We won't watch a single minute of your cook today.

Oh, wow.

Because we are tasting your dishes blind.

That's so fun.

So we won't know who has cooked what.

We're gonna leave the kitchen and kick up our feet.

The first time we see your dishes

will be when it's time to taste.

Oh, my gosh. Right-o, Justine.

They are all yours.

Thank you. See you later!

Come to me, my pretties!

SOFIA: Miss you already. Good luck!

Are we ready? CONTESTANTS: Yeah.

Good. Because your time starts now.

(CHEERING)

Let's go, boys!

JUSTINE: Wow. Look at this stuff. Incredible.

It's way more than what we ever had.

You guys have it easy!

You should be making three courses for us.

Um... Celery. Where are we?

There's absolutely pressure

when you cook French cuisine for Jean-Christophe.

So I'm gonna have to really, really impress him

with this dish.

And when I think French,

I think it needs to be crazy fancy.

Oh, lobster.

Yes, I love lobster! Do you know what else I'll grab?

Some caviar, just why not? Why not?

So I'm gonna make a lobster bisque.

The risk with the bisque is that there's not going to be

enough time today to get the full body that I want.

Woo!

EMILY: Let's go, Jack!

But the immunity pin is a massive deal.

Bisque, Jack?

Lobster bisque.

So today is the day to take a risk.

So I'm going to give it everything I've got.

Come on, Jack.

Oh, the French butter went. I was going to use that.

Oh, there's more French butter.

Yes, that one's a really good one.

Yeah. Classic French cuisine.

What do I need?

Definitely have used quite a lot of French techniques,

but I don't do a lot of classic French cooking -

probably more in my dessert

where I definitely have more strengths,

not so much in my savoury, not classics, no.

Yeah.

Yeah, Hannah! (CHEERING)

I'm not falling back on my super safety net of dessert.

Let's do this.

Because I think the judges are gonna have fun

trying to pick who's cooked what.

So I'm kind of hoping it throws them off a little bit.

Beautiful, Hannah. Go, Hannah!

Watch out, boys, I'm coming for you.

Um, today, I'm going to cook duck a l'orange.

I don't think you can get much more French

than duck a l'orange.

I've never made this before,

but I'm not here to just sit in my comfort zone.

And I think whenever I've got a white apron on,

I'm just going to push it.

Other elements I've got are fondant potatoes,

green beans on the side.

I have to nail the cook on the duck. That's like...

Obviously no-one wants a brown duck breast to eat.

I have to nail that beautiful sauce.

I think really, today, the hero is

that sauce a l'orange, you know?

So today's the day.

Bring on the duck a l'orange.

I can do this. I can do this.

All I see is literally,

carrot, celery and onion today, eh?

Yeah, classic French.

I'm super excited to be cooking French cuisine.

One of my housemates was French.

I lived with her for a bit over two years,

so I'm not unfamiliar with, you know,

those French nostalgicky kind of dishes.

So, today, I'm doing a roast chicken

and baked potato.

So poulet roti and then pommes boulangeres.

I'm also gonna do some braised leek as well.

The inspiration for my dish comes from knowing that,

you know, there's a big, like, tradition in France on a Sunday

to have that roast chook in the middle of the table,

sort of like a long Sunday lunch.

So that's what I really want to do and invoke that nostalgia,

hopefully, for Jean-Christophe and Justine.

I'm sure that's something they had growing up.

Um, I can do a roast chicken in about 45, I reckon,

especially with the spatchcocking method.

But I'm going to be pushing pretty hard for,

I think, getting this baked potato thing done in time.

I'm gonna cook the pommes boulangeres

pretty much as a bit of a flex,

because it is quite a technical dish.

And if I can nail it in the 75 minutes,

it gives me a really good shot at winning that immunity.

Pommes boulangeres is a classic French side dish

with layers of caramelised onion and potato.

Pour in some stock and truckloads of butter.

Butter everywhere!

And as the stock reduces down,

the potatoes start to crisp up.

You want that crispy top

and then underneath you want a really nice caramelised onion.

I hope it's enough to impress the judges today

for the immunity pin.

You know, with four people,

the odds of winning the immunity pin are pretty good.

So, yeah, I'm feeling pretty confident.

ALYONA: Come on, Casper, let's go.

He's like cooking at home, you know? He's just like...

This is another day in the office for Casper.

# La, la, la, la, la-la, la. #

He's like, "Maybe, maybe that one."

(CHEERING) Oh, that's a lot!

Today is a bit different for me

because I don't normally cook French food.

French cooking is very, very technical,

very classical, lots of technique.

So it's a bit out of my comfort zone.

Today, I'm cooking against some very, very talented cooks

who have had their dishes been top dishes multiple times.

I've been in basically every elimination challenge.

So winning an immunity pin today,

it would be everything to me.

Let's go with my egg and my salt.

And basically every single lesson that I've learned

in the MasterChef kitchen is running through my head.

That pressure test, when I learned how to make

this shortcrust pastry really quickly,

and all these eliminations

where ideas that I've had haven't really come to fruition,

but I've practised and refined these techniques.

I want to come up with something that's

so crazy and out there,

and almost impossible to do in 75 minutes,

to really show myself and the judges that I belong here.

Vinnie, how are you? Good, good. How are you?

Good. Oh, what's a French dish

without echalottes or French shallots, right?

Yes. Exactly right, exactly right.

What are you cooking?

Today, I'm going to be making some pate en croute,

which is basically like a terrine.

So, some pork, um, some chicken liver as well

that's been mixed up and cooked inside of a pastry.

So I need to make the jelly

that goes on top of the terrine to set.

And I also need to make my mustard and my salad

to go alongside it.

Mm. Stunning.

That is a really complicated dish to make right.

It is, it is, it is.

You've done this before? Yeah, but not very good.

What type of pastry are you using?

Are you making it from scratch...?

Making it from scratch.

You're making it from scratch on top of it?

Yeah, yeah. OK.

You're making one of the most complicated dishes.

Not to scare you or anything! (LAUGHS)

But if you nail this,

well, there's a big reward for you.

Yeah.

I can't wait to see how this turns out in 75 minutes.

But you're making one of the most complicated dishes.

Not to scare you or anything! (LAUGHS)

But if you nail this, well, there's a big reward for you.

Yes. And you will totally deserve it.

Yeah.

I can't wait to see how this turns out in 75 minutes.

Thank you.

This dish has a lot of steps.

It's very, very heavily on French technique.

I need to make sure that my meat is mixed

and emulsified correctly.

Then I need to make my pastry for my pate en croute.

I need to fill it and layer it properly

so that you get that really nice marbling effect.

And then I need to cook it

and bake it in the oven with enough time

to let it rest and cool,

so I can pour in this jelly and fill all the cracks.

Oh, man, that isn't going to be done.

In France, they have chefs

dedicated just to making this.

So this is going to be so hard to get right.

What would you make? Uh, I would make...

Would you make a tower of croquembouche?

I think I would. Yeah.

Because there's no point in...

Because that's the most hectic thing you could do.

Remember what you're playing for - an immunity pin.

You've got 45 minutes to go.

(CHEERING)

45 to go!

Ooh. He got the sous vide out.

This is the best part, right?

Just relax and learn off the others

and say, "I wouldn't do that. I would do that."

It smells so good.

I know it smells good, doesn't it?

Looking good, Jack. Come on.

Keep pumping flavour into there.

When I think French cuisine, I think pretty fancy.

So I am doing a lobster bisque.

At the moment, I've got the lobster tail in the sous vide,

got the bisque on, getting all that beautiful bisquey goodness

that's coming through there

from the lobster shells, the mirepoix.

I hope there's gonna be enough flavour and time

to reduce this as well with some cream

towards the end of the cook.

A very well known French technique is a bisque.

You've got to get the shells nice and caramelised.

The more time that that's spending bubbling away,

the more flavour is going to be extracted

from those shells and the more body it's going to have.

Nice, Jack. Keep pushing. You got it.

What do you think?

Do you think Jack's going to nail this?

I think, hopefully, today.

So I want to increase that temperature to a bit of

a higher heat

rather than a low simmer as long as possible.

This ensures it enhances the flavour

in a short amount of time.

Um, it's a waiting game.

It's a lot of nurturing, a lot of love going on

to get the maximum flavour out of it.

So that's kind of what I'm doing today.

I hope that it's gonna be enough.

He's quite calm, though, so...

I think he's quite calm all the time.

Is he? Yeah, so...

That's a good thing. Hard to judge.

It's good to be calm in the kitchen, right?

The one who's usually not calm is Vinnie.

He just goes crazy. Oh, Vinnie.

Vinnie and his terrine. Yeah.

ALYONA: Duck a l'oran... a l'orange.

Duck a l'orange.

(ALYONA AND AARON IMITATE FRENCH VOCALISATION)

Duck a l'orange. Beautiful, Hannah.

How's it tasting? I haven't tasted the stock yet.

Delicious! Just say it's good.

It's good. Yeah. Great.

Of course it's good.

I'm feeling good about my duck a l'orange.

Fondant potatoes are in the oven.

And right now I've got my duck stock on.

Then I'm going to start working on getting that duck cooked.

And then I can focus on my sauce.

Today, I'm going to use a duck breast

because it's the best way to do it in 75 minutes.

I have not cooked duck before in this kitchen,

but I have cooked duck before, though.

I'm not that crazy!

Obviously no-one wants a brown duck breast to eat.

The most important thing to get right on this duck

is rendering the fat on top of this duck

and be blushing pink in the middle.

If you don't, it becomes chewy and it's horrible.

And nobody wants chewy, horrible duck.

If I had 75 minutes, I would actually do a duck a l'orange.

I've actually done that before and I think I won it.

Really? Yes.

Hopefully my duck will cook perfectly.

I can get that off to rest it,

and then I can really spend some time

working on this sauce.

VINNIE: I think Justine's fair to be worried

that I'm cooking a pate en croute,

a dish that I've only made once that wasn't very good.

But definitely putting a lot of faith

and trust into my intuition and my techniques

from everything that I've learned so far in cooking

and everything that I've learned in this competition.

I really need to get my terrine

into the oven as quick as possible,

because that's the thing that's going to take me the longest.

But I want to make sure that, also,

I've got enough flavour in this

because once it goes into the oven and I've packed it in,

I can't really do much more to it.

So, for my filling, I've pulsed all my meat

to the right texture,

and now I'm adding in all my additional flavouring elements.

So I've got my shallots,

my garlic, my cognac reduced down.

I'm gonna season my meat with that.

Then I'm adding my allspice.

I'm adding my nutmeg,

I'm adding my prunes in there,

which will go really, really well with the pork,

and the pistachios,

which will add a nice bit of crunch as well.

I want it to be like a mosaic almost,

like all dotted with different textures and different colours,

and everything stays together in a slice.

The fillings are looking really good.

They're smelling really good. Yes, Vinnie.

I put my final layer of pastry on the top and seal it all.

I'm really excited.

This is starting to come together really well.

AARON: Yeah. Get it in there, Vin! Yeah, Vin! Whoo!

LYDIA: Hello. Such a pleasure to meet you.

Oh, it's so nice to be up here.

Oh, my God. It's cool up here.

It makes me want to be a contestant again. Love it.

Does it? Really? Really? Kind of.

CASPER: For my roast chicken and pommes boulangere dish,

I really need to get my pommes boulangere in the oven.

So I'm putting in my caramelised onion

and then shingling the potatoes on top,

really sort of nicely, neatly.

Yum, Cas, that looks awesome.

I've got my potato in the oven.

I can take it out just as the time is finishing.

So now I'm just about to get my chicken on to sear.

I really want to serve it

sort of like French family style,

like you would have a Sunday roast.

The chicken in the oven shouldn't take too long

using the spatchcock method.

(CONTESTANTS EXCLAIM) Oh, baby! Casper!

Jeez!

That looks unreal.

Flipping over the chicken,

It's got this really nice golden crust all over it.

It looks amazing and smells just as good too.

I'm really happy

with how it's looking, but now I just need to get it

into the oven to cook the rest of the way through.

We want classic French! 30 minutes to go!

(CHEERING)

Go!

Keep cooking! Come on! Let's go!

Done my exercise for today, that's for sure.

30 minutes to go...

How's the cook on the duck?

..and I'm starting to notice

that my duck is taking a really long time

to render down.

And it's not coming away from the pan,

which means that it's not ready yet.

It's very hot. It's very hot.

I've cranked the heat a little bit

as much as I'm willing.

These pans are so thick, so they take longer to heat up.

So it's rendered really nice and slowly,

but I probably should have accounted for 30 minutes,

which is, to me, a bit insane on duck.

I'm starting to worry a little bit about this duck

because I've never had it cook for this long before.

You've got 20, you've got 20.

I know that I've probably still got enough time to cook it,

but it does need a rest.

And I know I need time to refine and finish my sauce.

I'm trying to figure it out in my head,

like, where I put my time right now.

I want a little bit longer.

Hannah, how are you going?

Yeah, I'm feeling a little bit like,

here's the pinch time now. Yeah, OK.

And I'm feeling it for sure. OK.

Turn that over when you're ready.

Let's have a look at that.

Ooh, it's still sticking

so it might not be there yet. It's not ready.

You've got this, Hannah.

I want a little bit longer.

My duck is taking a really long time

to render down.

And I'm starting to worry

because there is no duck a l'orange

without the duck and orange sauce.

Oh, I'm worried about Hannah.

The clock's ticking. It's not too far off.

I'm not giving up.

So I'm starting to lift the duck out.

I can sort of get it off the base.

It's not perfectly released,

but I'm seeing that the skin is looking rendered.

Go, Hannah, go!

I decide to chuck it in the oven

so that I can just focus on this sauce.

Do you know when Poh was in the kitchen with us?

This is what she would do. (GIGGLES)

Yeah, yeah, yeah!

We were like, "What are you doing, Poh?"

Poh-sition, we call it. Poh-sition! Exactly.

Oh, that smells so good, Hannah. Han, yum.

Keep your eye on that prize!

13 minutes to go.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Oh, my God.

AARON: 13 minutes! Come on!

You want this! Come on!

GRACE: What are you doing now, Casper?

CASPER: I'm braising my leeks.

I'm just getting, like, a nice sear on them.

Yeah.

And then we'll put in some wine,

a bit of cream

and just let them bubble away.

Oh, yeah. OK.

I've put my leeks on to braise.

I've got my chicken in the oven.

I've got my potatoes in the oven as well.

So I'm feeling... I'm feeling good.

Sounds delicious.

VINNIE: These last few minutes for me are super important.

I've got a lot of loose ends for my pate en croute.

that I need to tie up.

Vinnie, the beast is in the oven.

The beast is in the oven, yes. The pastry is looking good.

It's browning up really nicely.

Beautiful.

And I've got my jelly that goes on top

of the terrine to set.

Is that going to set in time?

Yeah, so... Yeah?

..I've got my gelatine leaves soaking

but I've also added a bit of agar agar.

OK. So it can set at room temp a lot quicker.

As soon as it comes out of the oven... Yep.

I'm gonna put it in the blast just to get the heat out of it. Great.

Pour this in. Yep.

Straight in the freezer.

As much time as possible to cool and then that's it.

I want it to be as authentic as possible.

OK. Good luck, Vinnie. Thank you.

Yes, Vin!

I'm definitely feeling really, really happy

because I think this cook today and my dish that I've made

is a testament to myself as well as what I can do.

(CHEERING)

Come on!

Last chance! Get it in the blastie!

And looking at my dish, smelling my dish,

having everyone cheering me on...

Yes, mate!

..I definitely feel like this is the motivation

that I needed being in this competition.

Can I help you? Look good? Thank you.

Yeah, it looks beautiful. Looks good.

That immunity pin is staring me down.

I can just feel, like, eyes on me.

That pin is, uh, it's kind of tormenting me.

It's calling to me. I think I need it.

Nice. Caviar!

Maybe bring it back to the room later.

JACK: (LAUGHS) Yeah, I'll put it in my pocket.

Um, so I'm just finishing off my lobster bisque now.

I've strained my bisque.

I put it straight into a clean saucepan

with about 200mls of cream.

I've got to get this reducing.

This is what's going to give it

that beautiful orange colour.

Nice, Jack. Nice one, Jack.

Get all that flavour there.

To be honest,

I'm a little bit scared to cook for Jean-Christophe today

because he is all over every French technique.

So it's really important that I nurture this bisque

to the last minute.

And if I don't nail it, he's going to know.

Can I have a taste of your beautiful bisque?

Yeah. For sure, for sure. I haven't seasoned it yet.

I'm just waiting for it to reduce a little bit.

A good bisque has a few key things.

Yeah.

It's not adding too much tomato

because I don't want it to taste like tomato soup.

And also the perfume of the herbs

that you're going to add to this.

I've got some fennel.

One of my favourite herbs

in any type of French cuisine is tarragon.

Tarragon, OK.

Making a dash to the pantry

because Justine did mention tarragon.

I really want to include this in my dish today.

It has that aniseedy kind of flavour to it.

Definitely going to add some tarragon

in the bisque I think, for sure.

Yeah, definitely going to listen to that.

Let that reduce down probably for the remainder of the cook.

And then the lobster tails next.

I'm going to get a good sear on that.

That's going to go on top.

Some caviar, some finger lime.

Hopefully, it all comes together.

I've got a bit to do.

Now THAT'S a bisque.

Don't let time slip away!

Only five minutes to go.

(CHEERING) Five minutes to go! Come on!

Let's go!

Five minutes ago and now I've got

the mum octopus arms going.

It's starting to get a little bit crazy.

Huh!

You've got this, Hannah. Deep breath.

I pull this duck out of the oven...

..and I can see pink juices coming out,

which is great,

but I wish I had more time to finesse that sauce.

That's not going to be done in time.

It is on the sweeter side.

I want to balance that

with a little bit of vinegar and salt.

Hopefully, the sauce is going to be OK.

VINNIE: My salad is ready. My plate is ready.

I just take my pate en croute out of the blast chiller,

just to test if it actually comes out of the tin.

This is kind of the moment of truth,

because if I can't get my pate en croute

out of my tin, I won't have a dish to serve.

Tap the bottom a bit.

Moment of truth.

It releases.

(CHEERING)

It looks beautiful. Perfectly browned.

Crispy on the outside. Holding together beautifully.

It is so good.

My craziness today has definitely paid off.

Very ambitious, but it worked.

When the judges eat this dish,

I want them to be transported

to a little cafe or a bistro in France,

or maybe even having a picnic

out in front of the Eiffel Tower,

just eating this and not a care in the world.

CASPER: The potatoes are looking good.

They're colouring on the top - really nice and crispy.

Just crossing my fingers for this chicken.

GRACE: How's it looking?

It's like legs are getting cooked,

but the breast is undercooked.

Waiting for this chicken to cook is so stressful.

The roast chicken is the centrepiece

of this entire dish.

No matter how good my other elements are,

if my chicken isn't cooked perfectly,

I've got no shot at an immunity pin.

Gosh, I really hope you're plating up now

because there is three minutes to go!

(CHEERING)

Last push, guys! Last push! Go! Come on, Casper.

Let's go, buddy.

I'm feeling the stress a little bit right now.

The cook on the chicken could be off,

so I'm leaving it in there for as long as possible.

One minute to go.

(CHEERING) One minute!

Time's running out. One minute.

Casper!

I need to get my chicken onto the plate...

Come on, Casper.

..and try to put some of the little aromats

and garnishes that I've had roasting in there

to maximise the flavour.

But I'm really pushing to the wire.

Because I'm serving the chicken whole

and the potatoes in their dish,

I don't really have a chance to test any of it.

Look at them potatoes. Those potatoes look epic.

I'm just crossing my fingers.

Come on, Hannah! Get it on the plate!

How's the duck?

HANNAH: I'm slicing the duck and I can see pink.

Beautiful.

The colour's looking amazing.

Fondant potato on, my beans.

Sauce is in the jug. I'm stoked.

And then I realise...

Don't forget the butter.

Ugh!

I didn't put butter in the sauce.

How do we get...?

I can't...

I look at the clock.

I think I can do this. I'm gonna risk it all.

I'm going to chuck it in and put that butter on.

Ten...

ALL: Nine, eight,

seven, six,

five, four, three,

two, one!

(CHEERING)

Time's up.

Let's go!

How are you, mate? Good job. You?

That was wild! That was wild!

I fought really hard today.

I pushed myself as much as possible.

I think the flavours are there.

I think the dish is beautiful.

I took time to present it nicely.

So no matter what happens,

I'm proud of myself and I'm happy.

VINNIE: Knowing what I know about French cooking,

I think I've nailed it, but, also, that's not very much.

Maybe not!

I won't even know what it tastes like

when the judges try it, because I won't even be there.

So I feel as though if I have nailed this dish,

I'm definitely in for a good chance.

Well, we've asked our four contestants

to cook a classic French dish.

Lucky we've got a classic French judge

with a bit of swag going on,

because, at the end of the day,

we're going to give out an immunity pin.

Mm. Do you think it's going to be really obvious

who's cooked what dish?

Nah.

We're going to be like inspectors.

Let's get the first dish in.

Here she is. Hello, everybody.

Oh, this almost feels like it's my dish.

Yeah!

Ooh!

Ooh, game on.

Wow.

The dish is lobster bisque

with sous vide lobster tail,

caramelised fennel and caviar.

Enjoy, guys. Lovely. Thank you. Merci beaucoup.

I think the lobster has been sous vide very well.

It was kept dry,

but in what is about keeping the textures and the flavours,

it was impeccable,

and the depth of the bisque

was very well executed.

You can get the shellfish, you can get star-anise, Pernod.

It's well seasoned.

The lobster is cooked to perfection. Mm.

It is so succulent.

Yeah. Melts in your mouth.

I think they've absolutely nailed that.

Let's get into the sauce.

It tastes quite hollow for me.

I can definitely get the alcohol.

You can definitely get the cream and a bit of acidity.

But I was really hoping to get that body,

the natural body from the shellfish.

I think it could be a little bit more luxurious

in its texture,

you know, a bit more silky and viscous.

But, you know, as a sauce, as a French sauce,

I really love it.

Place your bets. Who do you think it is?

I think it's Caspar.

CASPER: I'm feeling pretty good about my dish.

I feel confident in my abilities,

and the potatoes look really nice.

Oh, my God. It's a big one.

Wow.

But I'm just a little bit worried

about the chicken.

Hello, hello! Oh, wow.

Oh, my God. It's a big one.

Oh!

Wow.

So we have a poulet roti...

..with pommes boulangere,

some braised leeks.

Bon appetit.

I think it looks like someone who really wants to...

Win. ..set himself apart from the others.

He's really just gone,

"I'm gonna put everything on the table."

A lot of work done. 75 minutes. Yeah.

The certainty of the "he" there from you.

I think he's someone who knows how to please.

Ooh!

Ooh! Ooh-la-la!

I mean someone who has a lot to offer.

One dish is not enough.

And I can't wait to try this food.

Starting with what I love -

those bloody potatoes.

Mm-hm. Oh, my gosh!

Huh?

I feel like those potatoes are so good,

they could be my favourite thing on anyone's plate today.

There's so many different textures in there.

It looks like, for a gratinated potato,

it's got crispy edges around,

it's got like beautiful, fluffy, tender potatoes.

And, for me, that's what I was hoping to see -

someone just not hold back

and going full throttle French on something.

The chicken - it looked very promising.

Beautiful golden skin.

Looks like countryside France somewhere.

But, for me, the breast is overcooked.

I don't know how the legs are,

but my breast is pretty, um, pretty overcooked.

My part of the chicken was cooked quite well,

which was the thigh.

I loved how tender the leeks were.

They were just melt in your mouth.

And the potatoes were really tasty

and quite more-ish.

The thing I've enjoyed the most is this pommes boulangere.

The onions are absolutely impeccable,

the right herbs.

The pommes boulangere, c'est tres, tres bon.

Overall, someone has really tried

to give this everything they've got.

They want that pin with all of those dishes.

They've given it a nudge, haven't they? That is a proper nudge.

And I think it's Vinnie.

HANNAH: I'm proud of myself today

for putting up a duck a l'orange

It does look like how I wanted it,

so I'm really proud of that.

Oh!

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Madame Justine.

JUSTINE: I'm back.

Hopefully, my duck is perfectly cooked

and that my sauce is balanced

and cuts through the richness of the duck.

The cook has instructed me to add the sauce in the centre.

Ooh.

It's a good sauce.

We have a duck a l'orange

with green beans and potato fondant.

Enjoy, guys.

Thank you.

Thank you. Merci beaucoup.

That's playing safe.

How do we feel about how it looks?

I like the look of it.

Yeah. Simple.

Tidy. Yeah, tidy.

Considered, safe. Yep.

Pretty keen to see what that sauce is like.

It's got a nice little shine on it. Nice colours.

I think it's Hannah.

I think it's Hannah, too.

It's very safe.

I think this person's cooked the duck really well.

It was presented beautifully and, like, the austerity of,

you know, a little pile of beans,

a little bit of zest in the middle.

They were particular about how they wanted the sauce poured.

I think the colours overall were really enticing.

Great little fondant. Very tender.

The sauce...

..it's just a little bit too sweet.

Too sweet, too thin.

And I think, overall, but particularly with the sauce,

there's not enough seasoning in this dish for me.

There is orange juice.

Canard a l'orange, for sure,

there is orange juice in the sauce,

but it's clearly because that person tried to make

a classic orange sauce for the duck

by doing a caramel.

And it is too sweet.

Uh, good news for me -

the duck is pretty close to perfect.

Lovely caramelisation on the skin.

Beautiful, blushing, rosy pink

all the way throughout the flesh.

Spot on.

Um, for me, the downside is the sauce,

and it could have been fixed so easily!

Like, as soon as I got a piece of orange,

like, fresh orange,

draped it through that sauce and then got everything else,

it was there, because it just gave it

that extra bit of acidity and freshness that it needed.

Oh, they got so close! They got so close!

VINNIE: I'm feeling very nervous,

but also really excited to be able to show the judges

what I was able to do in 75 minutes.

When the judges first taste this pate en croute,

I really want them to have

that nice crispy pastry on the outside

and then have a beautiful texture

of the terrine on the inside.

Holy dooley.

Oh!

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: En croute. Pate en croute.

Wow.

Crazy.

If I do get it right,

I think I'm going to have a really good chance

of getting that pin today.

So we have a pate en croute...

..with some mustard and a simple salad.

Incroyable. Bang!

This is very obvious now.

Who dares to do an en croute? It's only one.

This is Casper.

I just said Casper.

I feel like this is the dish

that is the most cohesively French.

Yeah. 100%.

Yeah, yeah. Like, the little green salad on the side,

the mustard and the pickles.

Pate en croute, like, 75 minutes?!

That's about as French as it gets.

(WHISTLES)

So it's down to the pate. Please be perfect.

(INHALES)

So it's down to the pate.

Please be perfect.

Oh! Oh!

Sacre bleu!

That's a lot of work. That's a massive gamble, that.

Wow.

Oh, my God, this is just... Quick, quick!

The layers in this are phenomenal.

I can see, like, three or four clear ones,

plus all the fruit in the middle as well.

In 75 minutes. Wow. That is so impressive.

Jean-Christophe is completely flabbergasted.

It's absolutely perfect.

This is a lot of work

in such a restricted time.

I couldn't even imagine to try to dare

to do a pate en croute in 75 minutes.

No way.

And to have it so well placed together,

combined, cooked together perfectly

with the right texture, the right seasoning.

I'll let you speak because I'm going to enjoy my food now.

Ah, this is proper French classic cuisine.

Like, I don't think you could think of

a more iconically French classic dish

than pate en croute.

And I thought that this dish

just didn't exist in this kitchen,

you know, in a 75-minute challenge at that.

It is just mind-blowing.

The pastry is so well done for 75 minutes.

Beautiful caramelisation

and a nice rustic charm to it as well, which was really cool.

The flavour of that filling is blowing my mind.

I didn't think we were gonna ever get anything

in here Frencher than you, Jean-Christophe,

but this pate en croute might be it.

I think we find the winning dish,

and I cannot possibly wait any longer to find out.

To round out Nostalgia Week,

we invited someone who's been part of

the MasterChef family since the very beginning.

If anyone knows this kitchen

and knows what it takes to succeed,

it's Justine Schofield.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Today you had the privilege of being guided by Justine

and having a break from us.

We asked you to cook a classic French dish

in a bid to claim that immunity pin.

You should have seen us guessing!

OK, so who made the poulet roti?

(GASPS) Oh!

Casper, your pommes boulangere was amazing.

But... Uh-huh.

..the chicken was unevenly cooked.

Righto, who was on the duck a l'orange section?

Hannah.

The duck - perfect.

Blushing pink.

The potato fondant, it was like butter.

But...

But!

..the orange sauce, it was overly sweet.

Who made the lobster bisque?

The lobster was perfectly cooked.

The fennel was delicious,

but...

..the bisque lacked body.

Which leave...

..Vinnie and the pate en croute.

To achieve that in 75 minutes is crazy.

The texture was perfect.

The flavours, incredible.

But...

No!

There is no but!

Congratulations! Yes!

(CHEERING) I can't hear.

They liked your idea.

Unbelievable.

Did you expect that? No, not at all!

Like, I want to know -

the courage to do a pate en croute in 75 minutes,

where did that come from?

Honestly, I was thinking about it, and I go...

The last two pressure tests,

there was the pastry that I learned to do really quick,

and then there's the layering and the seasoning

of every single thing from the last pressure test.

Oh! So I was like, "Pate en croute."

Vinnie's got a pin!

(CHEERING)

And now you are up the top, my friend,

there is a massive weight off your shoulders.

You've got that safety net in this competition. Well done.

Thank you.

Well done, everyone else.

We'll see you back in the kitchen soon.

Goodnight. Well done, Vinnie!

(CHEERING)

VOICEOVER: Next week on MasterChef Australia...

Please welcome Chef Matt Sinclair

and Chef Dobbers!

..it's all about perfect pairs,

with two mystery boxes... (CONTESTANTS GASP)

..two flavour combinations,

and two peas in a pod.

Whoo!

It's a lot of shoulder!

There's also two eliminations.

ALYONA: I'll do everything

in my power

to stay here

and fight another day.

Oh, no. Oh, God.

If I screw up, I'm going home.

Captions by Red Bee Media