1 00:00:11,210 --> 00:00:13,730 Alright fellas, do it. 2 00:00:22,630 --> 00:00:27,390 So close to the semi-final. I'm actually feeling pretty good. I think I've hit my 3 00:00:27,390 --> 00:00:29,670 stride and I'm in a great mental space. 4 00:00:30,410 --> 00:00:32,450 I'm very proud that I made it to this point. 5 00:00:35,050 --> 00:00:36,050 Morning guys. 6 00:00:36,190 --> 00:00:37,190 Morning. 7 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:41,140 We're so happy for Andy because he's currently in his little newborn bubble 8 00:00:41,140 --> 00:00:45,040 and he can't be here, but he wishes all of you the best of luck today for the 9 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:46,040 elimination. 10 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:50,640 Petro, you won yesterday's challenge, which means you are the first person 11 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:52,940 into our semifinals. Congratulations. 12 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:55,540 Thank you. Thank you so much. 13 00:00:59,460 --> 00:01:05,260 With only three of you in black aprons, the odds of going home today are high. 14 00:01:07,050 --> 00:01:12,310 But on the flip side, your odds of winning this competition are huge. 15 00:01:14,350 --> 00:01:18,230 You all came here with a dream and you've all left your lives at home. 16 00:01:18,950 --> 00:01:25,810 You've sacrificed time with loved ones and today those same loved ones will be 17 00:01:25,810 --> 00:01:26,830 your source of inspiration. 18 00:01:31,350 --> 00:01:33,850 On each bench is a parcel addressed to you. 19 00:01:35,690 --> 00:01:39,230 Inside is a special ingredient that will shape your dish today. 20 00:01:40,490 --> 00:01:44,290 One by one, we'll get you to lift your lid to reveal what's inside. 21 00:01:46,110 --> 00:01:48,530 Aaron, can you please open your package? 22 00:01:55,910 --> 00:01:56,910 Okay. 23 00:01:57,190 --> 00:01:58,330 What have you got there, Aaron? 24 00:01:58,610 --> 00:01:59,610 I've got garlic. 25 00:01:59,630 --> 00:02:00,630 Yeah, he does. 26 00:02:02,010 --> 00:02:03,250 Garlic and a scroll. 27 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:09,940 It's from my partner, Crystal. 28 00:02:11,260 --> 00:02:12,260 Oh. 29 00:02:13,500 --> 00:02:17,020 Dear Aaron, you've done so well to get to this point in the competition. 30 00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:22,360 While it's been a whole lot of fun, I know it has also been really challenging 31 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:26,860 for you, pushing the boundaries of your comfort zone and constantly questioning 32 00:02:26,860 --> 00:02:28,400 yourself whether you're good enough to be here. 33 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:34,520 You've always been a good cook, there's no question about it, but you've leveled 34 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:35,520 up exponentially. 35 00:02:36,260 --> 00:02:38,020 I mean, you can even make dessert now. 36 00:02:41,079 --> 00:02:44,040 It's wild to think that life was so different nearly months ago. 37 00:02:45,180 --> 00:02:48,100 I know that every day and every experience is a meaningful step towards 38 00:02:48,100 --> 00:02:50,180 becoming the person and chef you aspire to be. 39 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:53,600 I want you to take a deep breath and look around the kitchen. 40 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:55,880 This is real. 41 00:02:56,760 --> 00:02:58,140 You are way more than good enough. 42 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:02,300 Little Aaron will be in awe of you. 43 00:03:07,920 --> 00:03:09,360 Good luck for the rest of the competition. 44 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:12,820 You're going to kill it and everyone's cheering for you. 45 00:03:14,640 --> 00:03:15,640 You've got this. 46 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:16,880 Love, Crystal. 47 00:03:20,340 --> 00:03:21,340 It's pretty special. 48 00:03:23,740 --> 00:03:24,740 It's really special. 49 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:27,040 She's the one who encouraged me to get here. 50 00:03:28,940 --> 00:03:34,280 Having someone like her behind me means that I've got someone to lean on and 51 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:36,060 someone who'll keep pushing me forward. 52 00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:38,800 Very important. 53 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:46,440 Having that permission to chase my dream because someone's there supporting me 54 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:48,560 and supporting my dream has been so important. 55 00:03:49,140 --> 00:03:54,220 Now is the time to really pull out all the stops and just keep going. 56 00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:58,340 Why do you think Crystal put garlic in your parcel? 57 00:03:59,380 --> 00:04:00,380 Um... 58 00:04:02,510 --> 00:04:05,490 She knows I love garlic, so I use a lot of garlic when I cook. 59 00:04:05,770 --> 00:04:09,690 So I have a whole jar of garlic in the fridge that's like about this big that I 60 00:04:09,690 --> 00:04:13,750 cook with. And I do remember mentioning in the mystery boxes here, there's never 61 00:04:13,750 --> 00:04:14,750 any garlic. 62 00:04:14,910 --> 00:04:17,790 So that's probably why she's put garlic in here today. 63 00:04:19,589 --> 00:04:22,590 Vinny, can you please open your package? 64 00:04:26,510 --> 00:04:27,510 Ooh. 65 00:04:29,430 --> 00:04:30,570 What have you got there, Vinny? 66 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:33,300 I have sardines and a little note. 67 00:04:33,780 --> 00:04:35,020 Are you happy with the sardines? 68 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:39,220 Yeah, yeah. I think they're a really cool ingredient. I haven't really cooked 69 00:04:39,220 --> 00:04:42,540 them very much, but... But, 70 00:04:43,420 --> 00:04:46,600 you know, I've had them a lot and they're very close to, like, you know, 71 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:49,300 our family and our traditional Sicilian cooking. 72 00:04:49,780 --> 00:04:53,400 Here's a letter from Vinnie. My dad... Can I open it? 73 00:04:53,620 --> 00:04:54,620 Yeah. 74 00:04:55,600 --> 00:05:00,020 So, my mum and my dad are separated and... 75 00:05:00,430 --> 00:05:04,010 Growing up, me and my dad, we didn't really see each other every single day. 76 00:05:04,710 --> 00:05:08,110 So it was only on the weekend we spent a lot of time together and I feel like we 77 00:05:08,110 --> 00:05:09,810 really bonded a lot then. 78 00:05:11,050 --> 00:05:16,390 To Vincent, the endless weekend drives to ripe, playing the song The Summer 79 00:05:16,390 --> 00:05:19,450 Wind and barbecue dinners will always be a special time in my life. 80 00:05:23,490 --> 00:05:27,170 Whether it was 30 degrees or 10 degrees, he always wanted to go for a swim. 81 00:05:28,010 --> 00:05:31,690 Thinking the cold water would end your two-hour swim, it never did. But me 82 00:05:31,690 --> 00:05:34,050 screaming out to you, let's go eat, would always do the trick. 83 00:05:36,110 --> 00:05:37,230 What do you want to eat, Pop? 84 00:05:38,430 --> 00:05:39,590 Barbecue pie, you would say. 85 00:05:40,850 --> 00:05:44,550 As time passed, even though my time spent with you was at a bare minimum, 86 00:05:45,030 --> 00:05:52,030 you still chose to sit at my restaurant to watch me cook and spend time with me. 87 00:05:54,570 --> 00:05:56,550 You asked me questions after questions. 88 00:05:57,210 --> 00:06:00,330 Looking back, as I see it, it has made you the extremely smart and intelligent 89 00:06:00,330 --> 00:06:01,330 man you are today. 90 00:06:02,950 --> 00:06:05,070 And also very handsome, just like your father. 91 00:06:08,150 --> 00:06:09,970 You're not just my son, but my best mate. 92 00:06:10,190 --> 00:06:12,850 You are and have always been a winner in my eyes. 93 00:06:13,870 --> 00:06:17,590 If this is the last hit of advice I can give you, keep it simple. 94 00:06:20,170 --> 00:06:22,250 Love you yesterday, love you always, Dad. 95 00:06:23,940 --> 00:06:26,160 Oh, my goodness, Vinnie. 96 00:06:32,300 --> 00:06:35,600 Do those sardines make even more sense now? Yeah, they definitely do. 97 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:40,780 Yeah, I'm already thinking about what to do with these sardines. 98 00:06:41,220 --> 00:06:45,740 If it was my dad, he'd probably do full sardines, cooked whole, on the barbie, 99 00:06:45,820 --> 00:06:48,480 pretty rustic, like a lot of Sicilian dishes are. 100 00:06:52,460 --> 00:06:53,460 Gaspar. 101 00:07:00,730 --> 00:07:01,730 Yep, the grapes. 102 00:07:02,510 --> 00:07:07,190 As a family, there's a lot of, like, just memories around grapes. 103 00:07:07,970 --> 00:07:11,730 There's probably a few years, like, when I was living back at home where, like, 104 00:07:11,730 --> 00:07:14,810 every night we would just hook into a bag of grapes. 105 00:07:15,730 --> 00:07:19,310 So we'd go through, like, a bag of grapes a day and we'd have to, like, 106 00:07:19,350 --> 00:07:23,930 duck down to the shop at, like, 7 o'clock just to get some grapes. 107 00:07:26,430 --> 00:07:27,430 Dear Casper. 108 00:07:27,980 --> 00:07:31,120 As the final weeks of MasterChef approach, we have been reflecting on 109 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:33,640 your passion and flair for cooking and where that may have come from. 110 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:37,860 We knew from a young age that you loved creating things and making people happy. 111 00:07:39,060 --> 00:07:42,740 Little did we know it would lead to where you are today and what a journey 112 00:07:42,740 --> 00:07:43,740 you had. 113 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:48,760 We encourage you to follow your dreams. 114 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:53,060 Don't feel constrained by what you think are the expectations of others. 115 00:07:56,160 --> 00:07:57,160 You got this, bro. 116 00:08:00,450 --> 00:08:03,250 Take time to breathe and reflect on your goals and ambitions. 117 00:08:04,070 --> 00:08:06,150 At this moment, you have an opportunity like no other. 118 00:08:07,570 --> 00:08:08,650 We wish you all the best. 119 00:08:09,090 --> 00:08:10,350 Lots of love, Mum and Dad. 120 00:08:12,670 --> 00:08:16,050 It's really nice to reflect on all these memories that we hold, like, so close. 121 00:08:17,210 --> 00:08:21,330 It's, like, the best motivation to just smash this cook and get through. 122 00:08:25,210 --> 00:08:26,210 Hey, Petro. 123 00:08:26,850 --> 00:08:29,050 We haven't forgotten about you. You've got a letter too. 124 00:08:29,390 --> 00:08:30,390 Oh! 125 00:08:30,490 --> 00:08:34,330 Thank you. 126 00:08:37,350 --> 00:08:41,530 My letter is from my dad, Gus, and my mum, Georgia. 127 00:08:42,669 --> 00:08:44,870 Dia Petro, as they would call me. 128 00:08:45,470 --> 00:08:49,990 Cooking shows were always a staple in our household, and the conversation was 129 00:08:49,990 --> 00:08:54,250 often, imagine being on MasterChef. How amazing would that be? 130 00:08:55,550 --> 00:08:57,950 Look at you now, living that very dream. 131 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:04,540 From when you were a little boy, it was clear that food would be such a big part 132 00:09:04,540 --> 00:09:05,540 of your life. 133 00:09:06,020 --> 00:09:08,600 And learning alongside your Yaya Sophia. 134 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:14,860 We would be so incredibly proud of you and how far you've come in this 135 00:09:14,860 --> 00:09:15,860 competition. 136 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:18,500 And we're sure she's watching over you. 137 00:09:20,860 --> 00:09:21,860 Sorry. 138 00:09:22,940 --> 00:09:26,880 We could not be prouder that your journey has led you to the MasterChef 139 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:27,880 kitchen. 140 00:09:28,300 --> 00:09:32,580 No matter the outcome, you have already done something truly amazing with lots 141 00:09:32,580 --> 00:09:34,160 of love, Baba and Mum. 142 00:09:37,460 --> 00:09:42,920 Got quite emotional hearing about you, Sophia, because, yeah, quite sadly she 143 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:44,460 passed away whilst I've been in here. 144 00:09:47,820 --> 00:09:52,140 But I did get to cook that dish in the family tree challenge, and that was 145 00:09:52,140 --> 00:09:57,020 honestly probably the most special cook because I got to call her and say, 146 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:00,020 that, you know, I cooked that dish. 147 00:10:01,260 --> 00:10:02,540 And she was so happy. 148 00:10:04,140 --> 00:10:07,660 And then a week later she'd passed away and I... 149 00:10:07,660 --> 00:10:14,620 So, yeah, family means everything and a big part of why 150 00:10:14,620 --> 00:10:15,620 I'm here. 151 00:10:17,420 --> 00:10:23,200 Oh, when boys cry, like, it just, like, it gets you, it gets you in the heart. 152 00:10:26,060 --> 00:10:28,380 It's so lovely to be a part of someone's story like that. 153 00:10:28,620 --> 00:10:31,880 Everyone standing up here, we're all feeling it. 154 00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:40,200 Those messages from home should give you the motivation to do your absolute best. 155 00:10:40,860 --> 00:10:42,820 You will have 75 minutes. 156 00:10:43,460 --> 00:10:46,120 The pantry and the garden are open. 157 00:10:48,060 --> 00:10:55,000 But you must make your ingredients from your package the star of your dish. 158 00:10:56,970 --> 00:10:57,970 Dig deep. 159 00:10:59,430 --> 00:11:03,670 Because your time starts now. Come on. 160 00:11:04,910 --> 00:11:11,790 It is so tense 161 00:11:11,790 --> 00:11:12,790 down there. 162 00:11:12,990 --> 00:11:14,630 You know, this is to get into the thing. 163 00:11:15,050 --> 00:11:16,050 Let's go. 164 00:11:17,010 --> 00:11:18,030 Unfortunately, it's an elimination. 165 00:11:18,530 --> 00:11:19,530 What's popping? 166 00:11:19,790 --> 00:11:21,770 Nothing. Just hop in, mate. 167 00:11:22,610 --> 00:11:23,610 Try a different one. 168 00:11:23,950 --> 00:11:26,910 Okay, feel as though everyone right now is just... So zone it. 169 00:11:27,230 --> 00:11:28,610 Let's go maybe a bit of this. 170 00:11:28,930 --> 00:11:29,930 A bit of this. 171 00:11:32,290 --> 00:11:35,290 Sardines is not an ingredient that I know back to front very well. 172 00:11:37,290 --> 00:11:42,430 But I really want to pay homage to those memories with my dad. So I'm going to do 173 00:11:42,430 --> 00:11:43,950 the sardines barbecue today. 174 00:11:50,150 --> 00:11:54,150 I'm feeling very motivated to get one of those last two spots in the semis. 175 00:11:54,510 --> 00:11:58,050 And I've got everybody back home really, like, cheering me on and supporting me. 176 00:11:58,130 --> 00:12:01,670 It's like that final push before it's really on. 177 00:12:01,990 --> 00:12:05,870 I really am feeling inspired by that letter, like, hearing just what my 178 00:12:05,870 --> 00:12:07,870 family has to say about me and how proud they are. 179 00:12:08,070 --> 00:12:10,750 At this point in the competition, it's really important to have, like, a good 180 00:12:10,750 --> 00:12:11,750 support network. 181 00:12:11,910 --> 00:12:14,990 The three other boys that are in this top four, they're all from Melbourne, so 182 00:12:14,990 --> 00:12:15,990 they're in their hometown. 183 00:12:16,770 --> 00:12:19,490 Why? Family, yeah, they're a long way away. 184 00:12:20,690 --> 00:12:21,690 I, um... 185 00:12:27,419 --> 00:12:31,460 Yeah, I really miss my family. Like, they are a massive part of my life. 186 00:12:32,460 --> 00:12:36,660 Both my parents were in the Navy and being a defence family, we were, like, 187 00:12:36,700 --> 00:12:39,760 posted away. We were used to being separated from each other for, like, 188 00:12:39,860 --> 00:12:40,860 long periods of time. 189 00:12:41,380 --> 00:12:45,360 But we're really, really close. You couldn't ask for better parents. And 190 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:49,820 getting letters from home and hearing, like, all the nice words and those 191 00:12:49,820 --> 00:12:51,220 memories with food. 192 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:53,320 It reminds me why I'm here. 193 00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:58,460 But it is a really hard ingredient to, like, hero. Like, I love eating them by 194 00:12:58,460 --> 00:13:02,720 themselves, but then, yeah, how do you turn that into some, like, cohesive sort 195 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:03,720 of dish? 196 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:10,160 Semifinals are on the line, and if I'm going to find myself there, I need to 197 00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:14,540 dig deep and do what I do best in this kitchen, get creative. 198 00:13:17,660 --> 00:13:19,740 I'm feeling good, under the pump. 199 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:20,960 Great challenge. 200 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:24,280 Hoping that I can deliver on the brief today. 201 00:13:25,020 --> 00:13:26,420 Crystal has sent me garlic. 202 00:13:26,660 --> 00:13:29,600 I have to find a way to make that the star of a dish. 203 00:13:30,460 --> 00:13:33,320 So I'm making a garlic spanner crab spaghetti. 204 00:13:35,140 --> 00:13:38,080 And I'll have a garlic sauce, a confit garlic oil. 205 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:41,320 We'll have some garlic chips as garnish and also the wild garlic flowers. 206 00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:46,800 The reason why I've decided to make pasta is because the garlic flavour has 207 00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:49,080 to shine through. And especially with the spanner crab. 208 00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:53,720 The spanner crab is quite a delicate flavor, more like a sweetness, and it 209 00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:57,540 won't actually overtake and play the main protagonist of my dish. So that's 210 00:13:57,540 --> 00:13:58,580 why I've gone with that today. 211 00:14:00,380 --> 00:14:05,720 There's a lot riding on today's cook, and I've been quite strategic with what 212 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:10,100 I'm making today because I want that place in the top three, and I want to 213 00:14:10,100 --> 00:14:11,880 make a dish that would make my partner proud. 214 00:14:13,580 --> 00:14:16,640 My partner, Crystal, she's the most important person to me. 215 00:14:17,310 --> 00:14:20,390 She and I have been together for a decade now. 216 00:14:21,430 --> 00:14:24,030 She's always wanted me to go out there and chase what I wanted to do. 217 00:14:24,490 --> 00:14:25,950 She's my number one supporter. 218 00:14:26,910 --> 00:14:31,430 If I didn't have Crystal, I would have never applied for MasterChef. 219 00:14:32,410 --> 00:14:33,870 I wouldn't have left my job. 220 00:14:34,830 --> 00:14:36,950 I wouldn't be here at all. 221 00:14:37,490 --> 00:14:43,850 And by being here, I've gotten more and more confident in my ability, my skills 222 00:14:43,850 --> 00:14:45,290 or my instincts. 223 00:14:49,260 --> 00:14:53,060 And I think I can finally see white crystal season me. 224 00:14:53,280 --> 00:14:58,160 I have so much self-belief now, and I'm ready to push myself into the semi 225 00:14:58,160 --> 00:14:59,160 -final. 226 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:10,840 My dad's letter was really lovely. 227 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:14,380 It's pretty cool to have my dad as one of my best mates. 228 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:18,100 We share a lot of good times together, and a lot of them do involve cooking. 229 00:15:18,810 --> 00:15:20,970 My dad is a chef in an Italian restaurant. 230 00:15:21,430 --> 00:15:24,350 I learnt so much about food and cooking from him. 231 00:15:24,930 --> 00:15:28,670 And the food that he cooks is very rustic, old school. 232 00:15:29,490 --> 00:15:33,350 So I'm going to really channel that today and keep it really traditional and 233 00:15:33,350 --> 00:15:34,350 really close to my heart. 234 00:15:34,850 --> 00:15:37,830 I'm going to have the butterflied sardines and cook them on the hibachi to 235 00:15:37,830 --> 00:15:39,870 get that barbecue memories of us going. 236 00:15:40,290 --> 00:15:43,990 And then some really quick braised beans, some caramelised zucchini and 237 00:15:43,990 --> 00:15:46,350 some artichokes with a sweet and sour agrodolce. 238 00:15:46,760 --> 00:15:49,600 and a really nice fresh herb sauce, just to really tie it all back together. 239 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:55,340 So the first thing I need to work out is how I'm going to prepare these sardines. 240 00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:59,700 Traditional Sardinian recipes that I've grown up with. Sometimes serve them with 241 00:15:59,700 --> 00:16:00,700 scales on them. 242 00:16:01,420 --> 00:16:05,720 These are just a couple of test sardines, just to see whether or not I 243 00:16:05,720 --> 00:16:06,720 need to take the scales off. 244 00:16:09,240 --> 00:16:14,120 But I think when an ingredient is as good as these, you don't really need to 245 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:15,120 do too much to them. 246 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:20,100 So just a really nice sear on the hibachi, really crispy skin. You can see 247 00:16:20,100 --> 00:16:21,100 those little blisters. 248 00:16:24,260 --> 00:16:25,260 Are they salty? 249 00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:26,879 A bit. 250 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:27,880 Yeah, yeah. 251 00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:32,380 Try how salty they are. They're pretty salty, but they're really good, and I 252 00:16:32,380 --> 00:16:34,320 don't think I need to scale them, so awesome. 253 00:16:35,180 --> 00:16:38,560 It's a bit of me and a bit of my dad both in this, you know, and if I just 254 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:42,000 pour my heart into this dish like I do when I'm cooking at home with my dad, 255 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:43,340 I'm going to make a really good dish. 256 00:16:48,490 --> 00:16:52,430 I've got a good crema recipe if you need it, Casper. Can you tell me? 257 00:16:54,370 --> 00:16:56,750 Today, my family have picked green grape. 258 00:16:57,630 --> 00:16:59,510 So I'm going to do a dessert. 259 00:17:00,930 --> 00:17:02,890 So that's what you've been trying to do, yeah? 260 00:17:03,130 --> 00:17:04,130 Yep. 261 00:17:05,869 --> 00:17:09,869 Sweet, floral, but they also have a little bit of acidity. They're really 262 00:17:09,869 --> 00:17:11,290 nice at the moment and they're crunchy as. 263 00:17:12,349 --> 00:17:15,790 For this grape dessert, I'm going to draw on a lot of things that I've 264 00:17:15,790 --> 00:17:17,470 learned and done well across the season. 265 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:24,240 I'm thinking about balance of flavours and textures and temperatures. 266 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:29,220 So for the base of this dessert, I'm going to have a little almond biscuit. 267 00:17:29,500 --> 00:17:31,700 I know almond goes really well with grape. 268 00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:36,080 On top of that, I'm going to have a little white chocolate cremeux made with 269 00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:37,080 the juice of the grape. 270 00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:41,500 To top the dessert off, I'm going to do a granita. 271 00:17:42,460 --> 00:17:45,220 Every single element that I'm putting on this plate... 272 00:17:45,580 --> 00:17:48,720 besides my little almond thing at the bottom, is going to have grape in it. 273 00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:52,520 If I have five grape elements on the plate, it is just going to sing grape, 274 00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:55,620 but now I've got to make sure that they are distinct enough so that they all 275 00:17:55,620 --> 00:17:57,240 just don't mellow together when you beat it. 276 00:17:57,900 --> 00:18:02,180 I've just put the granita mix in the freezer. I added in some verju, which is 277 00:18:02,180 --> 00:18:04,680 acidic, just to sort of help cut through the sweetness. 278 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:08,680 This granita is going to provide a lot of relief to the fish that is inherently 279 00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:09,740 going to be pretty sweet. 280 00:18:10,140 --> 00:18:13,520 I'm feeling pretty good about it, yeah. So now I'm going to tuck down, get 281 00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:14,520 started on my... 282 00:18:15,390 --> 00:18:16,390 Almond cookie. 283 00:18:17,090 --> 00:18:20,310 I've had quite a few good desserts in this kitchen, so I'm feeling reasonably 284 00:18:20,310 --> 00:18:24,550 confident. If I'm cooking something that I think I'm good at, usually the outcome 285 00:18:24,550 --> 00:18:25,550 is pretty good. 286 00:18:28,310 --> 00:18:29,770 I love this challenge. 287 00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:48,220 When the families show their support, it's one of my favorite every season. 288 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:52,180 And it's an interesting one because all the ingredients that the loved ones have 289 00:18:52,180 --> 00:18:55,900 chosen for our contestants, they're all amazing, but they're actually really 290 00:18:55,900 --> 00:18:57,160 difficult in their own way. 291 00:18:58,700 --> 00:19:03,300 Aaron's got garlic, and the problem with that is that garlic is so powerful as an 292 00:19:03,300 --> 00:19:05,680 ingredient. He's going to make a pasta with a garlic sauce. 293 00:19:06,060 --> 00:19:09,280 He's making an emulsion, and he's going to just stir that through his pasta. 294 00:19:09,700 --> 00:19:10,800 He's got spanner crab. 295 00:19:11,110 --> 00:19:13,610 and place it on top of the garlic pasta. 296 00:19:14,950 --> 00:19:18,950 It's a really simple dish with really big flavours. 297 00:19:19,250 --> 00:19:23,590 He is going to have to do his absolute best work to make sure that this is an 298 00:19:23,590 --> 00:19:25,490 immaculate bowl of food. Yeah, yeah. 299 00:19:26,510 --> 00:19:32,490 So Vinny, he's got grilled sardines. He's got grilled artichoke, white bean 300 00:19:32,490 --> 00:19:36,290 agrodolce, caramelised zucchinis. So there's lots of hard-hitting flavours 301 00:19:36,290 --> 00:19:42,090 there. My concern is, is he showing enough technical elements to justify us 302 00:19:42,090 --> 00:19:43,490 taking him through to the next round? 303 00:19:44,170 --> 00:19:47,630 So he needs to be an absolute wizard with flavour. 304 00:19:49,730 --> 00:19:52,270 Kasper, using grapes. 305 00:19:53,390 --> 00:19:58,610 I think grapes are a very tricky ingredient because it's not that much 306 00:19:58,610 --> 00:20:02,310 you can do with it. To be able to get flavour and texture and interest out of 307 00:20:02,310 --> 00:20:03,910 grapes, he's going to have to work really hard. 308 00:20:04,530 --> 00:20:06,410 He's going to be doing a grape cremeux. 309 00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:21,420 He's gonna have to adjust sugar, for sure. 310 00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:41,980 Right now, I'm just peeling my crab. I'm just slowly working my way through that, 311 00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:43,040 making sure there's no shell. 312 00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:45,520 I'm just setting myself up well for the next step. 313 00:20:46,020 --> 00:20:47,020 Hi, Aaron. 314 00:20:47,180 --> 00:20:50,040 Have you recovered from reading that beautiful letter from Crystal? 315 00:20:50,340 --> 00:20:51,340 Not really. No. 316 00:20:51,700 --> 00:20:52,700 How did you meet? 317 00:20:52,960 --> 00:20:55,760 We met in uni, actually. Oh, my gosh. We had the same class together. 318 00:20:55,980 --> 00:20:59,700 I saw her walk in late to a lecture theatre, and I was with my friends at 319 00:20:59,700 --> 00:21:02,620 the time, and I was just jokingly saying, I'm going to make her wifey one 320 00:21:02,620 --> 00:21:04,200 day. Oh, my gosh. 321 00:21:05,290 --> 00:21:08,430 All right, so she chose garlic for you. She did, yes. 322 00:21:08,670 --> 00:21:13,350 The key for you in doing this justice is going to be all about balance and all 323 00:21:13,350 --> 00:21:17,470 about seasoning and making sure that this is the best pasta we've had in this 324 00:21:17,470 --> 00:21:18,470 kitchen. 325 00:21:20,030 --> 00:21:25,470 The challenge with garlic is you can use it in a subtle way 326 00:21:25,470 --> 00:21:31,790 or it goes the complete opposite and it's completely overpowering. 327 00:21:33,470 --> 00:21:38,030 For it to be the star of the dish, it has to stand out in a way that isn't 328 00:21:38,030 --> 00:21:39,030 offensive. 329 00:21:39,850 --> 00:21:42,710 Aaron, that's the best garlic peeling I've ever seen. 330 00:21:43,650 --> 00:21:48,150 So I've decided to boil the garlic, which is the blueprint of my sauce. 331 00:21:48,470 --> 00:21:51,970 With the boiling garlic, I'm just trying to boil off the harshness from the 332 00:21:51,970 --> 00:21:52,869 garlic itself. 333 00:21:52,870 --> 00:21:57,290 So it actually retains the garlic flavor and sweetness without there being any of 334 00:21:57,290 --> 00:22:00,610 the harshness of it. So I want to make sure that everything's just singing with 335 00:22:00,610 --> 00:22:01,850 its own natural flavor. 336 00:22:07,850 --> 00:22:11,730 So, just went and checked on my granita. It's, like, going pretty well, so I'm 337 00:22:11,730 --> 00:22:14,010 going to get started on doing my grape cremeux. 338 00:22:14,410 --> 00:22:18,770 So, to make my cremeux, I'm heating up equal parts of cream and grape juice 339 00:22:18,770 --> 00:22:21,390 just to drive home that grape flavour. 340 00:22:22,090 --> 00:22:25,710 Then I will add some gelatin, white chocolate and a bit of butter and then I 341 00:22:25,710 --> 00:22:26,710 can just let that set. 342 00:22:28,190 --> 00:22:32,250 This cremeux is going to be a little bit of the body for the dish. 343 00:22:33,390 --> 00:22:37,470 I think it'll be, like, a nice contrast to the granita and the biscuit. 344 00:22:37,950 --> 00:22:42,350 I'm hoping it's going to bring a lot of that, like, honey floral flavour of the 345 00:22:42,350 --> 00:22:43,289 grape. 346 00:22:43,290 --> 00:22:44,290 Is that your promo? 347 00:22:44,410 --> 00:22:45,410 Yeah. 348 00:22:52,170 --> 00:22:57,830 Mixing it around, and I'm, like, tasting a little bit, and I'm thinking... Oh, I 349 00:22:57,830 --> 00:23:00,230 think it is, like, just a bit too sweet. 350 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:03,420 And I can't really taste the grape flavour in the cremeux. 351 00:23:03,940 --> 00:23:05,780 The cremeux is not very gravy. 352 00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:11,960 I knew from the outset of this that grape was going to be a hard ingredient. 353 00:23:12,540 --> 00:23:16,760 But it's really starting to dawn on me now how hard this is going to be. 354 00:23:32,330 --> 00:23:34,790 White chocolate is such a dangerous ingredient, isn't it? 355 00:23:35,390 --> 00:23:37,650 My cremeux doesn't have a whole lot of grape flavour. 356 00:23:38,130 --> 00:23:39,930 White chocolate is a bit too intense. 357 00:23:40,830 --> 00:23:43,090 I can't afford to remake the cremeux. 358 00:23:43,310 --> 00:23:47,170 Right now, I've really got to try and temper the sweetness that the white 359 00:23:47,170 --> 00:23:48,170 chocolate brings. 360 00:23:48,210 --> 00:23:52,950 So I'm going to be putting in some of the grape pulp into my cremeux to let 361 00:23:52,950 --> 00:23:56,870 that infuse a bit and hopefully get some of the tannin out of the skin and bring 362 00:23:56,870 --> 00:23:57,870 a bit of balance. 363 00:23:58,310 --> 00:24:00,130 But I'm hoping that this works. 364 00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:05,720 I actually have no idea what my family would send me. 365 00:24:05,940 --> 00:24:07,080 Maybe passion fruit? 366 00:24:08,700 --> 00:24:11,220 Well, I would have had potatoes, and I would have done my jacket potato. 367 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:13,900 He's grilling some artichoke. 368 00:24:15,580 --> 00:24:17,320 Yeah, nice, Vinnie. Good job. 369 00:24:18,660 --> 00:24:22,820 The next thing for my sardines is my agrodolce dressing. 370 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:27,380 Agrodolce is the Italian word for sweet and sour, and it goes really, really 371 00:24:27,380 --> 00:24:28,380 well with fish. 372 00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:33,240 In here, I've got some currants and some white wine vinegar. So it's going to be 373 00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:35,340 the start of my agrodolce, which is going to season my salad. 374 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:38,940 Really want it to be really well-rounded and hold up to that really nice, oily, 375 00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:42,920 salty sardines, because I need to make sure that my dish absolutely shines in 376 00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:46,720 flavours and is just true to me and what I like to cook and my family as well. 377 00:24:55,950 --> 00:24:59,130 I've got most of my dish ready to go, and it's time for the main event. 378 00:24:59,970 --> 00:25:03,610 I need to fillet and prepare four perfect sardines. 379 00:25:06,010 --> 00:25:09,710 So you left the scales on, but you took all the bones out? Yes, correct, 380 00:25:09,870 --> 00:25:10,870 correct, correct. 381 00:25:10,890 --> 00:25:12,390 Have you cooked sardines? Yeah, yeah. 382 00:25:12,710 --> 00:25:16,110 Are the scales... I've never scaled a sardine. 383 00:25:16,730 --> 00:25:18,890 I don't know whether the fishmonger has done that. 384 00:25:20,350 --> 00:25:23,650 Sardines don't take very long at all to cook, but I want to make sure I get a 385 00:25:23,650 --> 00:25:24,670 beautiful crispy skin. 386 00:25:25,659 --> 00:25:28,160 So I'm going to cook my fish two different ways. 387 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:31,860 On one hand, I'm flipping them over and cooking on both sides, and the other 388 00:25:31,860 --> 00:25:34,140 hand, I'm only cooking them on that skin side. 389 00:25:34,860 --> 00:25:36,540 Careful on the flesh side. Yep. 390 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:41,620 Any wrong move and they could stick to the grill, they could tear apart. 391 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:45,360 And I need to make sure with these sardines, the heat is hot enough to 392 00:25:45,360 --> 00:25:48,700 crisp up the skin, but not too hot that it burns before it cooks all the way 393 00:25:48,700 --> 00:25:49,700 through. 394 00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:53,340 Taking myself back to when I was a kid and I'd watch my dad cook on the 395 00:25:53,340 --> 00:25:56,320 barbecue. He'd always be moving things around. He'd always be managing that 396 00:25:56,320 --> 00:26:00,940 fire. So I'm really making sure that I'm taking that much care today to cook 397 00:26:00,940 --> 00:26:02,980 these sardines like my dad did when I was a kid. 398 00:26:10,380 --> 00:26:11,540 Amazing work, Aaron. 399 00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:15,160 Time is of the essence. 400 00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:17,280 But all in all, I'm feeling pretty good. 401 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:20,520 I've got the Arthur's restaurant veg. 402 00:26:21,980 --> 00:26:24,020 Binguini. Oh, it looks beautiful, Aaron. 403 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:26,500 And my crab's prepped. 404 00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:28,440 Now it's time to build the sauce. 405 00:26:29,260 --> 00:26:33,480 I get the boiled garlic into a blender and I add some cream, a bit of butter, 406 00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:34,580 just to get a nice base. 407 00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:38,200 Good, Aaron? 408 00:26:38,460 --> 00:26:44,360 Yeah. This dish is such a balancing act. The difficult thing with garlic is that 409 00:26:44,360 --> 00:26:46,220 it's harsh, it's strong. 410 00:26:46,500 --> 00:26:48,460 It takes a lot of... 411 00:26:48,670 --> 00:26:53,630 understanding and technique and leaning on instinct to take away the harshness 412 00:26:53,630 --> 00:26:54,990 without taking away its perfume. 413 00:26:55,270 --> 00:26:56,730 I can smell the garlic. 414 00:26:57,450 --> 00:26:58,450 The hero. 415 00:27:00,230 --> 00:27:05,730 I'm tasting the sauce, and there is a nice sweetness to it, a nice roundness, 416 00:27:05,870 --> 00:27:08,050 but I feel like it needs a bit more complexity. 417 00:27:08,710 --> 00:27:13,110 The garlic sauce is the style of the show, so I decided to add some confit 418 00:27:13,110 --> 00:27:14,110 garlic. 419 00:27:15,280 --> 00:27:17,980 The mashed confit garlic has gone into the sauce to give it another kind of 420 00:27:17,980 --> 00:27:19,340 like element of garlic flavour. 421 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:28,640 Don't let this be your last cook in the MasterChef kitchen! 422 00:27:29,120 --> 00:27:30,160 Ten minutes left! 423 00:27:32,220 --> 00:27:35,680 Come on, Vinnie! 424 00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:36,920 Come on out! 425 00:27:37,360 --> 00:27:38,420 Come on, Casper! 426 00:27:40,620 --> 00:27:42,740 Ten minutes to go. 427 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:44,880 My granita can be... 428 00:27:45,180 --> 00:27:49,440 grapes and washed up but my cremeux is at the temperature now where I can put 429 00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:50,440 in the parking bag. 430 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:51,520 Good job Kath. 431 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:57,800 And as I'm starting to taste them I'm realizing even ingredients that were 432 00:27:57,800 --> 00:28:01,980 like singing grape now that they've cooled down it's a lot more subtle. 433 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:10,160 Yeah I'm starting to feel like maybe a little bit nervous that I need more 434 00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:11,160 grape flavor. 435 00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:15,040 It's not easy to hero grapes in a dessert. 436 00:28:16,460 --> 00:28:20,180 But it's too late in the cook to really pivot hard right now. 437 00:28:22,380 --> 00:28:26,160 So I'm really sort of racking my brain and trying to figure out the solution. 438 00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:38,860 My challenge today is to hero grapes. 439 00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:41,860 And I really need more grape flavour. 440 00:28:43,320 --> 00:28:46,420 But it's too late in the cook to really pivot hard right now. 441 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:51,220 My brain is sort of racing, you know, what can I add to this to fix it? 442 00:28:52,220 --> 00:28:54,280 Maybe like some pickled grapes. 443 00:28:55,500 --> 00:28:57,620 Hopefully it will bolster the grape flavour. 444 00:28:58,100 --> 00:29:01,180 Put a bit of Chardonnay vinegar in there too, just to add a little bit more 445 00:29:01,180 --> 00:29:02,180 complexity. 446 00:29:06,649 --> 00:29:09,250 Making this dish is a bit like solving a puzzle in my mind. 447 00:29:09,450 --> 00:29:10,450 Is he doing a pickle meat? 448 00:29:11,290 --> 00:29:12,290 It's not a pickle. 449 00:29:12,690 --> 00:29:14,790 I just want, like, little cubes of pickled grape. 450 00:29:15,290 --> 00:29:18,950 I don't know if it's going to be enough, but if I can solve this puzzle today, 451 00:29:19,090 --> 00:29:23,370 I'm making my mark in the kitchen and I'm going to find myself in the semis. 452 00:29:25,170 --> 00:29:26,390 Five minutes to go! 453 00:29:27,550 --> 00:29:28,850 Come on, guys, let's go! 454 00:29:35,150 --> 00:29:38,670 The cook on these sardines is the most important part of this whole dish. 455 00:29:38,770 --> 00:29:42,530 Tested the ones that I cooked on both sides, and they go a little bit too dry, 456 00:29:42,610 --> 00:29:45,170 so I'm going to use the ones that I've only cooked on one side now. 457 00:29:45,650 --> 00:29:46,650 Yes, Vinny. 458 00:29:47,110 --> 00:29:48,110 Nice. 459 00:29:48,690 --> 00:29:52,310 My sardines today are cooking really quickly. They're only on my hibachi for 460 00:29:52,310 --> 00:29:55,210 about five minutes, and that's just enough to get them perfectly cooked 461 00:29:55,210 --> 00:29:56,210 through. 462 00:29:57,330 --> 00:30:01,070 It's time for me to start tasting everything together. 463 00:30:05,500 --> 00:30:07,440 And it is banging. 464 00:30:07,700 --> 00:30:10,660 Every single flavour is absolutely popping in there. 465 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:15,920 And it's turned up to 10, but the sardines aren't overshadowed. You still 466 00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:18,000 get that beautiful fish and that crispy skin. 467 00:30:18,480 --> 00:30:23,680 I'm definitely feeling the pressure because how I've prepared my sardines is 468 00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:24,920 a little bit more on the rustic side. 469 00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:29,240 I have poured my heart into this dish. I just hope that's enough to get me 470 00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:30,240 through today. 471 00:30:31,750 --> 00:30:32,770 Use your emotions. 472 00:30:33,050 --> 00:30:34,050 Three minutes to go. 473 00:30:34,310 --> 00:30:35,310 Come on, guys. 474 00:30:35,570 --> 00:30:36,570 Come on. 475 00:30:37,730 --> 00:30:38,750 Let's push, guys. 476 00:30:41,210 --> 00:30:42,210 How's it taste, Aaron? 477 00:30:44,130 --> 00:30:45,089 Like garlic. 478 00:30:45,090 --> 00:30:46,090 Nice. 479 00:30:46,430 --> 00:30:49,870 Three minutes to go. I'm tasting everything together, and this is exactly 480 00:30:49,870 --> 00:30:50,870 what I was after. 481 00:30:51,330 --> 00:30:55,530 The sauce has now got a nuttiness and sweetness and an unctuousness. I wanted 482 00:30:55,530 --> 00:30:58,490 to bring out different notes of the garlic, and I think I've achieved that. 483 00:30:58,770 --> 00:31:00,030 So, yeah, I'm really happy with it. 484 00:31:00,660 --> 00:31:05,360 Having an ingredient from Crystal, a letter from Crystal, it made the cook 485 00:31:05,360 --> 00:31:07,300 feel quite light. 486 00:31:09,260 --> 00:31:11,960 Regardless of what I do, I've done so well. 487 00:31:13,220 --> 00:31:17,560 I think to see how far I've come, to see where I'm going with how I'm thinking 488 00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:22,140 about food and how I'm creating and cooking now, she'd be over the moon. 489 00:31:32,780 --> 00:31:36,400 When I'm starting to ask myself all these questions, like, what is grape? 490 00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:39,920 Can I really pick it out in the components that I'm tasting right now? 491 00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:42,520 Are the judges going to be able to do that? 492 00:31:43,460 --> 00:31:47,720 Try to put the doubt to the back of my mind and make sure that I put the 493 00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:51,280 proportions of the ingredients on the plate that will bring balance to the 494 00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:52,860 dish and really highlight the grape flavour. 495 00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:58,920 To construct my dessert, I'm going to cut out little rounds of my almond 496 00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:01,140 biscuit, put that on the base. 497 00:32:01,770 --> 00:32:05,050 And then pipe my cremeux around the biscuit. 498 00:32:05,770 --> 00:32:08,290 Leave myself a little bit of pocket for some pickled grapes. 499 00:32:10,210 --> 00:32:11,710 Cap it off with some of the cremeux. 500 00:32:12,970 --> 00:32:17,370 And then really neatly shingle sliced grapes around the outside. 501 00:32:18,890 --> 00:32:20,450 I'm really happy with how it's looking. 502 00:32:21,010 --> 00:32:25,670 At the end of the day, if I make my parents proud with this dish, job done. 503 00:32:52,679 --> 00:32:53,679 Good stuff, 504 00:32:54,360 --> 00:32:56,260 guys. 505 00:32:58,800 --> 00:32:59,180 Good 506 00:32:59,180 --> 00:33:07,440 luck, 507 00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:09,080 Aaron. Good luck, mate. Thanks. 508 00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:16,980 Walking my dish up, you know, I think I would have made Crystal very proud. 509 00:33:18,570 --> 00:33:20,950 I've come so far from when I first started. 510 00:33:22,250 --> 00:33:27,070 Hello. The main thing I'm worried about is the balance of everything. 511 00:33:27,350 --> 00:33:31,610 Whether I've given enough of the garlic flavour but not too much. 512 00:33:32,390 --> 00:33:35,930 Aaron, your partner Crystal sent you garlic today. What's the dish? 513 00:33:36,890 --> 00:33:41,010 I've made a garlic pasta with spanner crab and the garlic is done four ways. 514 00:33:41,520 --> 00:33:45,440 I've got confit garlic that I put into the sauce. I've got a garlic oil, garlic 515 00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:48,560 chips, and finally just the garlic flowers to really accentuate that 516 00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:51,960 flavor. What was it like getting that letter from Crystal today and being 517 00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:53,920 reminded how much she believes in you? 518 00:33:54,540 --> 00:33:58,380 It was very special. So much of my strength comes from her belief, and I 519 00:33:58,380 --> 00:34:02,260 think it was so beautiful having that at the start of today. 520 00:34:02,460 --> 00:34:07,540 I think it really did make me feel very emotional, so I had to try and keep that 521 00:34:07,540 --> 00:34:09,159 in check while cooking, but it was also... 522 00:34:09,440 --> 00:34:13,580 Good booster, you know, helped to encourage me and show me that I have 523 00:34:13,580 --> 00:34:17,659 come a long way. And now after going through the entire journey, after all 524 00:34:17,659 --> 00:34:21,340 these months, you know, I can finally see a little bit of what she saw in me. 525 00:34:22,300 --> 00:34:24,400 We're going to touch your dish now. Thanks, guys. Thanks, Aaron. 526 00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:25,880 Thanks, Aaron. 527 00:34:29,340 --> 00:34:31,179 I can definitely smell the garlic. 528 00:34:31,719 --> 00:34:32,719 Garlic. 529 00:34:49,570 --> 00:34:54,370 Arun has been very brave to introduce four different methods of garlic because 530 00:34:54,370 --> 00:34:58,130 normally speaking, you don't normally put so much garlic in a dish. This is 531 00:34:58,130 --> 00:35:01,550 crazy. And you love garlic. Because I'm French, so I should know better than 532 00:35:01,550 --> 00:35:02,549 anybody else. 533 00:35:02,550 --> 00:35:07,570 I'm glad he did because the garlic is phenomenal in all the sense. 534 00:35:08,010 --> 00:35:11,210 The cream garlic was fantastically well introduced. 535 00:35:11,810 --> 00:35:16,670 The confit is confit perfectly, you can see, and also lovely color of the 536 00:35:16,670 --> 00:35:17,670 confit. I like that. 537 00:35:18,140 --> 00:35:23,200 The crisp of garlic is impeccable. It could have easily missed them. 538 00:35:23,480 --> 00:35:25,660 Yeah, I really love that. I thought that was delicious. 539 00:35:25,860 --> 00:35:30,520 I think Aaron's pasta work was really beautiful and fine, cooked perfectly. 540 00:35:31,020 --> 00:35:35,840 It's amazing how all those layers of garlic he's used has resulted in quite a 541 00:35:35,840 --> 00:35:36,840 delicate result. 542 00:35:37,420 --> 00:35:42,560 The garlic is definitely the hero, but somehow I don't find it's overpowering 543 00:35:42,560 --> 00:35:45,660 anything, even the crab. I was really worried. 544 00:35:46,110 --> 00:35:49,230 we weren't going to be able to taste that crab meat because the garlic would 545 00:35:49,230 --> 00:35:50,230 overpower it. 546 00:35:50,390 --> 00:35:55,870 But the little pockets of sweetness and slipperiness that I got from the pieces 547 00:35:55,870 --> 00:35:59,770 of crab he chose were beautiful. I think it really added to the elegance of the 548 00:35:59,770 --> 00:36:05,290 dish. If I would serve this dish in a restaurant, I would be very happy. 549 00:36:09,730 --> 00:36:13,430 I'm feeling excited. I'm feeling nostalgic. You know, this is a very 550 00:36:13,430 --> 00:36:14,930 close to my heart dish. 551 00:36:15,950 --> 00:36:20,310 But I've also got that little feeling of nervousness. Is the flavor and the 552 00:36:20,310 --> 00:36:23,810 technique in my cooking going to shine through as much as I think it actually 553 00:36:23,810 --> 00:36:27,030 is? Or is this the one that does send me home? 554 00:36:36,530 --> 00:36:40,750 Vinny, your dad and sent you sardines? Yes, he did. 555 00:36:41,350 --> 00:36:42,370 What did you make with them? 556 00:36:43,550 --> 00:36:44,810 Dad and Vinny's sardines. 557 00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:49,140 So butterflied and barbecued sardines. And then on the bottom, I've just got a 558 00:36:49,140 --> 00:36:52,100 base of some white beans, some caramelized zucchini, grilled 559 00:36:52,100 --> 00:36:56,700 artichokes. There's some quick pickled currants. And then I've done a agrodolce 560 00:36:56,700 --> 00:36:57,900 sauce. Nice. 561 00:36:58,340 --> 00:37:00,380 What are your memories of sardines with your dad? 562 00:37:00,660 --> 00:37:06,320 Oh, you know, lots of fishing, lots of barbecue dinners. 563 00:37:06,750 --> 00:37:10,090 I'd often have, like, pasta con le sabre, which is, like, pasta with 564 00:37:10,090 --> 00:37:13,710 sardines. It was, like, a real rustic dish where they'd all break apart and, 565 00:37:13,750 --> 00:37:18,090 like, flake and stuff like that. So I really was channeling a lot of my family 566 00:37:18,090 --> 00:37:19,090 today. 567 00:37:19,190 --> 00:37:20,730 This dish is me. 568 00:37:21,010 --> 00:37:23,490 Yeah, you've stayed very honest and true to yourself. Yeah. 569 00:37:23,710 --> 00:37:24,750 We're going to taste your dish now. 570 00:37:25,050 --> 00:37:27,870 Thank you very much. Thank you. Good luck. Thank you. 571 00:37:30,030 --> 00:37:35,070 Very vinegary, rustic, and I think it looks beautiful. It looks like it's 572 00:37:35,070 --> 00:37:36,070 packed full of flavour. 573 00:37:36,280 --> 00:37:40,900 Yeah, it's very traditionally Sicilian. Very much the kind of thing that you 574 00:37:40,900 --> 00:37:42,280 would serve family. 575 00:37:43,100 --> 00:37:44,100 All right. 576 00:38:03,210 --> 00:38:06,610 It's a really delicious dish, and I think he has balanced all the flavours 577 00:38:06,610 --> 00:38:07,610 really beautifully. 578 00:38:08,390 --> 00:38:12,950 Fish, beautifully grilled, nice char marks, really nice and smoky, 579 00:38:13,050 --> 00:38:17,090 beautifully caramelised zucchini, all beautifully balanced. 580 00:38:17,650 --> 00:38:20,150 It smells lovely. It's delicious. It's very tasty. 581 00:38:20,830 --> 00:38:27,530 Mixing beans, artichoke hearts, oregano, carrots over there, the courgettes, the 582 00:38:27,530 --> 00:38:31,410 way he's cooked them up. I can see he kept the principle and the integrity 583 00:38:31,410 --> 00:38:32,410 once again. 584 00:38:32,910 --> 00:38:37,590 and be very faithful to what has been passed on to him. That's great because 585 00:38:37,590 --> 00:38:41,110 half of me is Italian and I was brought up with that. 586 00:38:41,450 --> 00:38:42,490 I think it's needed. 587 00:38:43,970 --> 00:38:45,830 I love the flavors in this dish. 588 00:38:46,050 --> 00:38:51,830 It's those classic Italian, Sicilian flavors that he's drawn on that is what 589 00:38:51,830 --> 00:38:53,070 I'm loving so much in this plate. 590 00:38:53,630 --> 00:38:59,410 Even something as subtle but as powerful as the currants, which just add those 591 00:38:59,410 --> 00:39:04,010 little bursts of sweetness when you're having a fish that is quite salty and 592 00:39:04,010 --> 00:39:05,970 oily. That said, 593 00:39:07,270 --> 00:39:10,090 I'm putting my restaurant critic hat on now. 594 00:39:10,370 --> 00:39:15,410 I have had sardines in restaurants where they are, you know, maybe not better in 595 00:39:15,410 --> 00:39:19,470 flavor, but there's something about the way he's prepared them, whether it's the 596 00:39:19,470 --> 00:39:22,790 decision to leave the scales on because he wanted that blistering, whatever it 597 00:39:22,790 --> 00:39:28,160 is. I found my train of thought interrupted when I was biting down on 598 00:39:28,160 --> 00:39:31,900 them. You know, I was sort of fossicking around in my teeth, trying to remove 599 00:39:31,900 --> 00:39:32,879 little bits and pieces. 600 00:39:32,880 --> 00:39:36,800 So all of that is to say, while the flavor in this dish is phenomenal, 601 00:39:37,540 --> 00:39:39,460 the eating of it isn't effortless. 602 00:39:48,140 --> 00:39:53,860 It's a very, like, sombre walk up to the judges knowing how high stakes this cook 603 00:39:53,860 --> 00:39:59,360 is. I worked hard to balance my dish today, but grape is really subtle. 604 00:40:01,820 --> 00:40:06,480 Is it still really present in the dish? I don't know. 605 00:40:08,820 --> 00:40:10,360 So tell us, what is your dish? 606 00:40:11,240 --> 00:40:17,160 So on the bottom is an almond biscuit. On top of the biscuit is pickled... 607 00:40:17,610 --> 00:40:19,870 grapes in a Chardonnay verjuice. 608 00:40:20,210 --> 00:40:25,230 On the top of that is a white chocolate cremeux made with grape juice as well. 609 00:40:25,610 --> 00:40:27,830 I've got the thinly sliced grapes. 610 00:40:28,150 --> 00:40:30,990 So nothing's been done to them. I really wanted to have that fresh element in 611 00:40:30,990 --> 00:40:35,930 there. And then to sort of be a bit of a refresher, I've got a granita made with 612 00:40:35,930 --> 00:40:38,890 grape juice and some more verjuice as well. 613 00:40:39,210 --> 00:40:42,010 Like I've taken some steps along the way to try and add a bit of balance. 614 00:40:43,090 --> 00:40:46,710 Kasper, how was it to receive a letter from your parents? 615 00:40:48,020 --> 00:40:53,060 Yeah, it was great. I think that's like motivation for me going into hopefully 616 00:40:53,060 --> 00:40:56,820 finals week and probably something that made me dig a lot deeper. 617 00:40:57,400 --> 00:41:01,680 Just that little extra boost of energy and motivation is exactly what I needed. 618 00:41:02,540 --> 00:41:06,780 So how did you feel when you opened your package and you saw the grapes? 619 00:41:08,840 --> 00:41:12,700 There's so many memories that we have with grapes in the house, which sounds 620 00:41:12,700 --> 00:41:13,700 so funny to say. 621 00:41:15,049 --> 00:41:19,690 Just a good memory. It's like we're all like night owls, so we'd be up like, you 622 00:41:19,690 --> 00:41:23,190 know, 11 at night, 12 in the morning, just sitting around the kitchen bench 623 00:41:23,190 --> 00:41:25,370 eating grapes, like debriefing from the week and that. 624 00:41:27,110 --> 00:41:31,530 I'm trying to laugh because most of the people in the world, they will have a 625 00:41:31,530 --> 00:41:33,950 drink or they'll have a coffee. No, you're having grapes. 626 00:41:38,050 --> 00:41:41,210 So surely when you saw the grapes, you must have think, oh, no. 627 00:41:43,620 --> 00:41:48,520 And I know I love a challenge in my mind. If I can tick this off, then I'm 628 00:41:48,520 --> 00:41:50,160 ready for the finals. 629 00:41:51,180 --> 00:41:52,180 Thank you so much. 630 00:41:52,700 --> 00:41:54,640 Thank you. And good luck. Thank you. Thank you. 631 00:42:08,940 --> 00:42:10,240 Very pretty dish. 632 00:42:10,540 --> 00:42:12,760 Yeah. Should we dive in? Yeah, let's do it. 633 00:42:13,550 --> 00:42:14,550 Before it melts. 634 00:42:17,070 --> 00:42:18,850 Nice generous amount of granita. 635 00:42:19,450 --> 00:42:20,450 Yes. 636 00:42:37,530 --> 00:42:40,590 I'm actually quite a man. 637 00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:43,220 It's a lot of work. 638 00:42:43,680 --> 00:42:48,180 There's a biscuit, there's a cremeux, there's different style of grapes 639 00:42:48,180 --> 00:42:53,200 presentation, there's that granita. The freshness of the granita is amazing. 640 00:42:53,900 --> 00:43:00,340 And I really love this little almond biscuit which delivers the crunch. 641 00:43:01,160 --> 00:43:02,720 I enjoyed it for sure. 642 00:43:02,980 --> 00:43:07,340 The biscuit on the bottom is nice and chewy, ringing with almond flavor. 643 00:43:07,600 --> 00:43:09,460 I think the cremeux is lovely. 644 00:43:10,270 --> 00:43:11,630 Love the little pickled grape. 645 00:43:11,950 --> 00:43:17,710 But what I'm grappling with is the flavour of the grape is very subtle. 646 00:43:18,910 --> 00:43:22,470 I think that white chocolate is just punching so hard. 647 00:43:23,450 --> 00:43:28,470 And I don't know if I had known that the grape was in there, I would have been 648 00:43:28,470 --> 00:43:29,910 able to identify it as grape. 649 00:43:31,310 --> 00:43:35,910 I'm not getting any of the verju in there, which by its very nature is quite 650 00:43:35,910 --> 00:43:38,490 a delicate grape-flavoured product. 651 00:43:39,440 --> 00:43:43,380 And that chocolate, because there's such a mass of it around the pickle, I was 652 00:43:43,380 --> 00:43:45,920 struggling to even get the acidity. 653 00:43:47,100 --> 00:43:51,740 I don't think this is a balanced dessert, and I do not think it's a 654 00:43:51,740 --> 00:43:52,820 dessert that heroes grape. 655 00:44:04,280 --> 00:44:07,500 It is so clear to us how much you all want this. 656 00:44:09,480 --> 00:44:12,320 And you'll just have to prove just how far the three of you have come. 657 00:44:13,840 --> 00:44:19,360 Aaron, garlic is a powerful and challenging ingredient. 658 00:44:20,760 --> 00:44:26,440 But you harnessed it beautifully, creating layered flavors of garlicky 659 00:44:26,440 --> 00:44:27,440 goodness. 660 00:44:29,200 --> 00:44:31,260 And that's why you're in our final three! 661 00:44:45,520 --> 00:44:48,780 So Casper and Vinnie, it came down to your dishes. 662 00:44:51,580 --> 00:44:52,580 Casper. 663 00:44:54,940 --> 00:44:57,160 The technique in your dish was obvious. 664 00:44:58,080 --> 00:45:02,020 And you had several elements that showcased green grapes. But 665 00:45:02,020 --> 00:45:06,600 unfortunately, the white chocolate cremeux made your dish too sweet and 666 00:45:06,600 --> 00:45:08,060 overpowered the flavour of grapes. 667 00:45:09,400 --> 00:45:10,400 Vinnie. 668 00:45:11,860 --> 00:45:14,380 Your dish was full of heavy-hitting flavours. 669 00:45:15,000 --> 00:45:18,740 with the distinctly savoury flavour of sardines coming out on top. 670 00:45:19,360 --> 00:45:22,720 However, the cook on the fish lacked technical finesse. 671 00:45:25,400 --> 00:45:27,840 You both cooked with so much heart today. 672 00:45:30,680 --> 00:45:33,100 This was our most difficult decision yet. 673 00:45:35,300 --> 00:45:36,860 And it wasn't unanimous. 674 00:45:38,440 --> 00:45:42,780 Our decision came back to the challenge of heroing your ingredient. 675 00:45:45,020 --> 00:45:49,500 Which is why I'm very sad to say 676 00:45:49,500 --> 00:45:54,260 your time in the competition has come to an end. 677 00:45:57,300 --> 00:45:58,300 Casper. 678 00:46:14,939 --> 00:46:17,560 Casper, you've done so well to come to this point. 679 00:46:18,240 --> 00:46:21,940 You should be very proud of yourself because we definitely are. 680 00:46:22,680 --> 00:46:23,680 How do you feel? 681 00:46:24,320 --> 00:46:27,720 It's disappointing, but I'm just equally as proud for these guys. 682 00:46:28,060 --> 00:46:30,480 It's been, like, such a magical journey. 683 00:46:30,940 --> 00:46:34,240 Probably the most, like, special thing I've done in my life so far. 684 00:46:35,680 --> 00:46:37,080 All good things come to an end, though. 685 00:46:38,320 --> 00:46:39,460 Nah, you're just getting started. 686 00:46:40,520 --> 00:46:42,220 I just can't wait to see... 687 00:46:42,670 --> 00:46:45,770 what you do in the future because you are honestly one of the best cooks here, 688 00:46:45,850 --> 00:46:51,370 I think, and your mind is just genius level that I could not even begin to 689 00:46:51,370 --> 00:46:52,370 comprehend. 690 00:46:52,530 --> 00:46:56,270 He's a food genius and also beyond that, he's such a good guy. 691 00:46:59,550 --> 00:47:03,370 We spotted that talent from way back. 692 00:47:03,610 --> 00:47:08,770 Like, it was so clear to us that you've just got this really magical affinity 693 00:47:08,770 --> 00:47:09,770 with ingredients. 694 00:47:09,950 --> 00:47:11,770 It's also very clear, very loved. 695 00:47:12,090 --> 00:47:15,910 by all your fellow contestants, and I really hope you're incredibly proud of 696 00:47:15,910 --> 00:47:16,970 how far you've come along. 697 00:47:17,350 --> 00:47:21,150 You are brilliant, and we cannot wait to see what you are doing next. 698 00:47:22,310 --> 00:47:24,410 But sadly for now, it's time to say goodbye. 699 00:47:29,950 --> 00:47:32,910 I'm really proud of what I've been able to do and showcase. 700 00:47:33,590 --> 00:47:39,130 I've shown everybody maybe a different perspective on food, and I love every 701 00:47:39,130 --> 00:47:40,330 minute of it. 702 00:47:42,190 --> 00:47:44,610 I think I've learnt how much potential I have. 703 00:47:45,290 --> 00:47:46,830 The journey isn't over yet. 704 00:47:47,210 --> 00:47:48,850 I think it's only just up from here. 705 00:47:54,850 --> 00:47:55,330 Next 706 00:47:55,330 --> 00:48:09,270 week 707 00:48:09,270 --> 00:48:10,990 on MasterChef Australia. 708 00:48:12,360 --> 00:48:15,920 I'm a completely different person than the Vinnie that walked in here on day 709 00:48:15,920 --> 00:48:20,480 one. Our top three have their eyes on the prize. 710 00:48:21,460 --> 00:48:25,060 It is a privilege to wear the MasterChef chef's wife. 711 00:48:25,700 --> 00:48:26,700 Feels surreal. 712 00:48:27,140 --> 00:48:32,200 They're counting down the hours to the semi-final service challenge. 713 00:48:32,860 --> 00:48:38,540 I can't believe I'm here, about to run a service in a professional kitchen. 714 00:48:39,160 --> 00:48:41,320 But first... You won't be cooking. 715 00:48:42,850 --> 00:48:46,250 A chance to let their hair down. 716 00:48:46,570 --> 00:48:49,230 Time to whip off those aprons and swap places. 717 00:48:49,630 --> 00:48:53,550 Today, my friends, Poe and Jean-Christophe will be cooking. And you 718 00:48:53,550 --> 00:48:55,750 three will be joining me to judge them. 719 00:48:56,050 --> 00:48:57,570 Time starts now!