Original subtitles

Previously on MasterChef Australia.

Please welcome the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle!

This very special guest.

Your time starts now.

Put everyone in a spin.

She has this aura around her.

Thank you.

They all served up dishes that delighted the Duchess.

Rubbing my temple because I can't understand how this is so good.

It's just a very easy, craveable dish.

Feels very Michelin star to me.

Bravo. And Petro won immunity and his place in the semifinal.

Then, letters from loved ones inspired an especially emotional cook.

Love you yesterday, love you always, Dad.

Oh, my goodness, Vinny.

Which was the end of the journey for Casper.

I'm really proud of what I've been able to do, and I love every minute of it.

You three are going to need these.

Tonight, it's time to have some fun with the judges versus semi

-finalists.

Hey, they're burning the deep. They're burning it.

Shut up!

Thank

you,

gentlemen.

Here we go.

Nice, nice, nice.

Ho and Jean-Christophe are wearing their cooking uniform.

I think I know what's going to happen today and I am so excited for it.

Vinny, Aaron and Petra, all your efforts have led you to this point.

The semi-final is a pivotal stage in this competition.

But before we get to it, we should celebrate and have a little fun.

There will be two rounds today.

And in the first round, you three will be ecstatic to know you won't be

cooking.

I've been waiting for this.

I can't wait to stand on the other side and see how that all feels.

There is no elimination.

Andy's still on paternity leave.

Poe and Jean-Christophe will be cooking.

And you three will be joining me to judge them.

Time to whip off those aprons and swap places.

I am very excited.

The judges have been pretty nice to me, so I'm not out to get them, but it's

going to be good fun.

Are you all drunk, Christophe? Yes.

Don't get too comfortable, guys.

In this first round, Poe and Jean-Christophe, you'll be cooking head

-to-head.

Mano a mano.

And I think I hear your hero ingredient arriving right now.

Cheeky, cheeky.

Good morning. Hello, thank you so much. Here you go, enjoy. Have a lovely day.

Oh, we will.

What's everyone's guess?

Corn?

Today my friend, you must hero

the humble

That's what you look like. That's what you look like.

All right.

We're giving you 60 minutes to cook a delicious dish.

The pantry and garden are open.

But remember, the potato must be the centerpiece of your dish today.

The winner.

will receive bragging rights for a whole 12 months.

The loser will do the washing up.

All right, final three.

Any words of advice for our cooks today?

All the advice you gave to us this season, try to remember that.

Channel all of it and put it on a plate for us.

Will you do the honors? You're halfway there.

Three, two, one.

The time starts now!

I need chicken stock.

I need butter.

I love it.

That thing is stepping the commission.

There's no running.

It's rolling.

I need sugar.

Sugar. Caster sugar.

You know, I feel like I've had my fair share of harsh feedback.

Probably warranted by the dishes that I've made, but... She hasn't picked up

the potato yet. Oh, spinach.

Spinach.

Spinach. Today's a chance for me to kind of get a dig back at the judges.

Some of that.

Ooh.

At least just one little dig, you know what I mean?

I think that'd be it.

Go, Poe. Go, Poe. Come on, Poe.

Lots of spinach.

I think a potato's a good one. It's a neutral root vegetable.

I feel like John Kristoff could be at an advantage here. I feel I've seen him

cook more with potatoes in my time.

Poe, she's a very versatile chef, but wheat.

In Asian cooking, I feel I have strength.

Wow. She's wasting no time.

What are you cooking, Poe?

I'm going to do a... I'm going to do a redemption dish. I'm doing the dish that

I went out on. Oh, God! I did the 12!

It haunts me every day.

I'm kind of numb right now.

The dough was raw. My pasta dough was raw. Only in the plating, but it was.

I can see where she was going, but I think the only thing that got in the way

of Paul today is Paul. Yeah.

So it's a Sardinian dish.

And it's a semolina dough, and you stuff it with potato and mint, quite unusual,

and a bit of pecorino.

So I'm doing my own little spin on it and kind of making it a bit Frenchy.

Nice. Ooh.

Ooh la la.

Not just cooking for the win, cooking for redemption.

I'm sorry.

Let's go crazy.

If you need any help taking anything, you let me know. Oh, thank you. I'll

give you $50 if you vote for me.

The bribes have started.

Pressure's off. This is just a fun day. It doesn't mean I'm not going to be

pestering them like they pester me throughout my cook.

Great day, Steve.

A little faster, I think. Oh, my God, so much alcohol.

Very fresh.

Looks like he's just having free drinks.

Yeah.

Is there any potatoes in there?

Come on, Jeff.

60 minutes goes quick.

All right, boys, so...

This is the point where we get together and we have a little chat about what's

going on, what we're concerned about, what we're excited about.

So, obviously, we have Jean-Christophe versus Poe. Yes.

Heroing the humble potato.

Yes. What do you want to see?

From Jean-Christophe, I want to see some real high-level French technique.

Mm-hmm.

What am I going to be doing? I want to see some layering of flavors.

Yep. And I want to see bananas.

Okay, so all the things that he asked you for all the time. Well, that's fair.

Exactly. That is completely fair.

Yeah. What do you think, Aaron?

I think the same. I'm a bit worried about John Christoffer. I don't see any

potatoes on his bench right now.

I just see a lot of alcohol.

I think the beauty about food and what I want to see today is I want to be

surprised. I want to try something I've never had before.

Something unexpected.

Something unexpected.

Something unexpected with potatoes. We say that all the time.

Who do you think is going to win this challenge?

You know, Poe, she's going all out for it. But then again, John Kristoff hasn't

won before.

He's got a lot more motivation as well. So Andy won last year. Poe won the year

before. John Kristoff is the only judge who hasn't won this challenge yet.

He's won Michelin stars, but not this challenge. Exactly.

Shall we go see what they're cooking?

Yeah. Let's do it.

I know this looks very crumbly, guys, but that's how this dough is.

Just in case you're thinking, what the hell is that idiot doing?

Actually, maybe it is a bit... Okay, I don't need glasses right now.

Hi, Poe. Hi.

This is the most chill I've ever seen you. Really? In the last three years.

You call this chill? Yes. Maybe it's because I've made this dish three times.

So this is double redemption. It is double redemption.

What are you making?

I'm doing this dish called colorgione. It's essentially a Sardinian potato

dumpling. But I'm changing the sauce. I'm changing the sauce because I learnt

something in your veloute class.

Oh, yeah.

But, yeah, that's my dish. So, Poe, you've got the Sardinian potato

dumplings and veloute. What's in your veloute?

It's going to be Jerusalem artichoke.

I really want to do a really beautiful crimp. I want to show you guys something

that you've never seen before.

So it's going to look rad.

Oh, my God.

Let's get out of here.

She's just kicked it up a gear. Go away now. Bye. Thank you.

I cannot let Jonka stop beeping.

Cannot. You've got 45 minutes to go.

Oh, my God. I'm so stressed.

Come on, let's go.

Time's ticking.

Let's go, chef!

I'm good. I'm excited, actually, to be given a tremendous ingredient, potato.

Oh, that's clever.

Yeah. Oh! Oh!

What?

He's doing the Vinnie style.

He's wrapping on the butter.

Have you seen that technique before? Never. Never have I either.

So, I'm hoping to use the potato.

In four different ways.

Oh, here comes the alcohol.

There we go.

I think I want to win, yeah, because... I want to win because I think it would

be a privilege to win something on MasterChef, of course.

I've been here for three years now, so why not?

But, you know, I'm against the legion there.

So, yeah, it's a lot to do, yeah.

Now, who needs a bottle opener?

Can somebody open this for me? That would be lovely.

Yeah, sure.

Thank you. I got you. I got you.

Wow.

Sophia, you look fantastic.

Look, I don't think that flattery is going to help you today.

I'm putting my full faith in you as a chef. What are you making us with

potatoes? So I'm thinking of several dishes I used to do, which I used to

enjoy. So I'm going to take a bit of all of them and put it in one dish, which I

don't know how it's going to look like.

So the first one, I'm going to be doing some potato, which is going to be

layered around, and in the center, some chicken mousse.

Then I'm going to do some little potato crisps. Then I'm hoping to do some

potato first. Then I'm using to use the water of the potatoes, the liquid, to

combine into my sauce.

So there's four elements.

Wow. That's a lot.

Yeah. That is a lot of elements.

I have no idea

what Jean-Christophe is trying to make. I think it's potato four ways, but I...

I have no idea.

I just hope that when it's in front of us, it's more obvious.

But he's not filling me with confidence. I think the real question is if he's

even going to get a dish up today.

He's so relaxed for 45 minutes.

Oh, my God. No one look at my bench.

Looks good, Po.

A whole table day.

Judges, week in, week out, have been putting up under immense pressure, and

today's the day where we put it back on them and we get to have a bit of fun,

and I'm all here for it.

I'm very excited, but, oh, my God, it's the same.

Every year, I'm like, I'm going to be so polished this year, and it just never

is. I won't have time to do that.

I won't have time to do that. I won't have time to do this.

Time's getting away from me. I've got 30 minutes left.

I've got my dough done. I've started my velouté.

My filling's made. Yum.

I'm having mega flashbacks to my time in the kitchen.

And as much as I love it, there is some kind of, you know, real trauma.

Every day, no joke, every day, this dish comes across

my mind. Flips across my mind and goes, hello.

And I'm going to put it to rest finally. I'm going to put it to bed.

You've got 30 minutes to go!

Here we go, that's the potatoes.

Yeah!

Potatoes. Finally got potatoes.

Oh! JC!

Did you just take a bite?

Yes.

John-Christoph has been a little bit of a madman.

It's 30, John-Christoph!

No way.

Yeah!

He's having lots of chitter-chats. Do you need anything, Paul?

No, I'm good, thank you.

But less chitter-chats, more cooking.

I'm excited to cook in front of them and all of them. Honestly, I am, because

it's something you share, yeah?

But I'm a little bit behind.

Oh, oh, oh, Jane, see?

Oh!

What?

It will.

Chef. I can't believe this. Look at that.

He's impressed himself. Yes, chef.

So the sauce is on, but it's going to take at least 20 more minutes before I

use the juice of the potato, the full potato, to thicken my sauce.

And I'm about to make chicken, a chicken mousse.

All right, now.

Yeah, it's tight.

Of course it's very tight.

Poe, Jean-Pierre Thoff, you have 25 minutes to go.

Flower,

that's flower, that's flower.

Jeff, whereabouts are the potatoes?

The potatoes, the first plot which I was on about is this one. Okay.

If I don't put it in the steamer in the next minute, I'm done.

That's it.

How long does it take the steam to cook through? It should take 20 minutes.

Okay.

So now I'm making a chicken mousse.

A lot to do still, so these are going to have to go in the steamer. Yeah, they

should. All right.

Thank you, chef. Look at you.

You're nearly a chef already.

Jean-Christophe wanted several potato elements on his dish.

What the hell am I doing?

But at the moment, I'm doubting whether he can finish any of them. He's so far

behind. Chicken mousse, which hasn't been finished yet. It needs 28 minutes

to cook. The potatoes in the oven are... I can't see how he can get this done.

Let's see.

If any of you are feeling a little bit traumatized, just get yourself a

position as judge so that you can come back once a year and try and redeem

yourself. Wait for a reprimand challenge.

It's coming.

Everything has to support the potato because that's the hero.

And that's why I've chosen the Jerusalem artichoke velouté.

It has a sort of subtle note of nuttiness to it, like me.

Subtle note of nuttiness.

It tastes delicious.

I'm really happy with it.

Are you happy? Does everything taste good? I'm happy.

Have you left yourself enough time to make pretty little dumplings for us? I

feel like I have. I mean, I haven't started them, which is a problem.

I know, I know.

You're going to give us a third time lucky.

I know, I know, I know.

Oh, it's a rollercoaster in there.

Wow. It's a rollercoaster.

You're going to poet.

I'm going to poet. I'm going to poet. Poet.

Let's go, Poe.

Oh. Oh, no.

Oh, my hand.

Oh.

These little fingies go.

Oh, we've got to see the crimping.

No one does it as fast as you. Oh, my God.

Watching Poe work is just amazing.

Oh, look at that.

Thank you.

This is a masterclass in its own.

The crimping on her dumpling.

It's just perfect, and I don't even know why I'm surprised. It's Poe.

Beautiful Poe. That is very cool. That is very cool.

Imagine that. Her redemption would be beating a Michelin star chef.

Jean-Christophe!

Where are you, asparagus?

Where is he?

Where is he?

The last one. The last one of the season.

Jean-Christophe is really freaking us all out.

Now he's back. He's back. Come back. Come on, Jeff. Come on. Come on. Quick,

Jean-Christophe. Come on, David.

Come on, don't stop.

Where did the asparagus come from?

A minute ago, Jean-Christophe started adding new ingredients to his dish.

What is he doing?

What am I doing?

It's a doubling of the plate!

Go, Pope!

Nice one!

Beautiful ball!

It's a ball.

He is here that everywhere there's ingredients flying

Things are popping

off is he going to get on this plate?

The glory is 10, 9, 8, 7,

6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

I can see you just smashed

it. I can feel it. I don't know. How are you feeling?

I'm not sure if I've done enough to beat John Christoph.

Good luck, yeah?

He is a Michelin star chef, so he knows his stuff.

Only time will tell who's going to do the dirty dishes, and there's a lot of

them.

I don't know about

you guys, but my blood pressure went up about 20 points watching that cook.

Yes.

But now, we're going to let your dishes decide who wins today.

The first dish we want to taste is Jean-Christophe.

Jean-Christophe got his mousse steaming late, so I don't know if it's going to

be cooked through.

Go, Sam!

Plus, he was literally throwing things onto his plate at the last minute.

Good luck, Turnip! But it all comes down to taste, so who knows?

Hello, everyone.

Hello.

Jean-Christophe, what have you made?

Right. It's two titles. Which one do you want, French or English?

French. Autour du monde sur une pomme de terre.

English.

Around the world flying with potatoes.

Okay.

Around the world flying with potatoes.

Right.

with a chicken mousse, some sliced desiré potatoes, served with some

elements of asparagus, shiitake.

I was just about to explain my garnish, long chives.

And on the side, a sauce.

A sauce is so important.

Shall we taste?

Is that what I do?

It's like watching myself on a mirror.

Jean-Christophe, it is clear from your techniques and from the depth and the

layers in your sauce that you are a classically trained French Michelin star

chef.

The mousse is beautiful and light.

Those potatoes are delicate, perfectly formed.

But I think because you ran out of time at the end, the visuals were covered up

by your long chives.

Chef, the mousse?

It was really nice and light, like Spare said, and the beautiful layers of your

potatoes were really, really lovely.

I think these little crispy potatoes, oh, really, really well done.

The sauce is amazing. It's silky, it's layered. I was very impressed with the

way that you just threw in all the alcohols without any measurement. You

just went off feel, and you knew how to balance the sauce beautifully.

The way that you made the potatoes so fine in that Daryl malt was beautiful

when it came to the table.

So I'm just going to keep it simple.

For me, it's about that sauce. And the sauce is amazing.

It is perfect.

I love the sauce. I could drink it out of a jug.

Thank you for your lovely comments.

Thank you. Thank you.

The next dish we'd like

to try is toast.

Po's dumplings look so beautiful and so refined.

I'm really team Po today. I really want to see her get this dish redemption.

Oh, my God, this is legitimately scary.

So, Po, what have you made for us today?

I have made a riff on a Sardinian dish called colorgione.

And it's a potato dumpling, essentially, stuffed with potato, a bit of pecorino

and mint.

This is the third time you've cooked this dish in the competition.

It is.

How do you think this one went?

I think I've actually done okay.

You think you've done okay?

Yeah, yeah.

All right, shall we dig in?

Po. Yes, Aaron.

I love this.

Aaron, eating post.

Can you tell?

Everything from the crimping to the layering of the flavors to the balance.

I thought I'd missed an aspect of texture, but with the chewiness of the

wrapper, it was beautiful.

So, very well done. Oh, thank you.

The amount of mint that you put into your potato filling is just so spot on.

It just adds this little bit of zing, bit of freshness, but you still get that

lovely texture of the potato in there.

I loved the filling of your dumplings. The potato filling was really good. The

chew of your dumpling is also really, really lovely.

And the crimping is perfect, as you always do.

Thank you. It's a really, really good dish.

Thank you.

It's actually very nostalgic.

the potato and mint filling in a dumpling is like what we make at home

with our mint raviolis.

I love this, Poe.

You're an artist, Poe. You're an artist.

Third time lucky!

That was definitely a battle for the ages, but there can only be one winner.

The winner of today's face-off is...

Poe!

Thank you.

Never gets old, this feeling.

Thank you.

And don't worry, Jean-Christophe, the boys have something for you too.

That's a good kiss, by the way.

That's a good kiss.

Well done.

Okay,

fun's over.

In round two, you three are going to need these.

Go, lad.

Back in my apron, and I feel at home again. This is the way I'm meant to be,

and I'm excited to cook.

This round is a team challenge.

Yes.

Your task is to cook a final feast.

Both teams have 75 minutes.

You're obviously professional, so it shouldn't be a problem, right?

I want to see two mains.

At least three sides.

And something sweet from each team. Oh.

Oh, my God. This is pretty difficult.

And while I'm confident I could devour each feast by myself, I would love some

company down here.

Come on down.

Josh.

Oh, my gosh. I am.

The new judge, Megan Markle, dot McHugh.

And maybe somebody suave.

Just kidding, Luke, come on down.

This is honestly a dream come true. Like, I was just praying that by some

miracle she would call out my name.

Come on down, Luke.

You okay?

I wouldn't quite say Andy's job is in jeopardy, but I will say he might just

want to think twice about the next time he has a baby.

Luke, Dot, any words of advice for our cooks today?

We want to see something amazing today. We want flavour, we want textures, and

we've come hungry.

Yeah, more is more.

Are you ready to get going?

Yeah! Come on!

Time's up!

It is Poe and Jean-Christophe versus our top three.

Come on, guys!

Can't lie, I really want the boys to win.

It's time.

I want to do today. Is that okay?

Yeah, of course you can. Do whatever you want.

Tell me first what you want to do, and then I can adjust.

No, I think the other way around, because, like, I can adjust to French.

So I was thinking of doing il flutant, because it's really fast.

Yeah? Okay. I love il flutant. Okay. Perfect.

So I was hoping to do something with red peppers for some reason.

Nice and red, very fresh.

Like a brandy. Like a brandy. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's what I meant.

They look so excited.

So we're going French.

I'm really interested to see what happens here. Me too, but I think these

three are going to work so well as a team.

They know each other's flavours.

They know how to work together.

Yeah. What am I getting again? Steak, potatoes, eggs.

It'd be pretty cool to be the first ones to beat the judges and actually have

those bragging rights. I'm so ready. Bring it. Let's go.

The concept for our final feast is boys' barbecue.

We're going to hit hard with the proteins. We've got a big piece of

tomahawk steak. We've got these beautiful prawns as well that will

butterfly. And have all these accompanying sides that will play well

with all the different flavours.

Do you know what you're doing or are you just shopping? What's the plan?

I'm on meat.

Seafood. I'm going to be on dessert today.

So we're all trying to place our strengths. We've been cooking with each

other for six months now.

Almost. Telepathic, in a sense.

We get to all band together and cook. You know, for a common goal, bragging

rights today.

I want to see some atu.

The judges have not left.

They're good.

Do you want to do, I think, do potato... Ratatouille.

Are you talking about potato?

I think, well, as a French thing. What do you think?

Yep. And then I'll do a couple of that one. Do you trust me? Okay. What do you

mean, not trust you? Yeah, okay, all right. I've been with you for three

years.

How's the team dynamic?

Poe and Drunkard's off. That is. He's just come second place, but he's the

Michelin star head chef.

Yeah, but Poe moves to the beat of our own drum.

So this is...

Teamwork's going to be interesting.

Definitely orange and fennel, classic French.

Yeah, it's definitely Frenchy.

Okay.

I'm not quite sure what John is doing, but there's chicken and there's a fish

dish.

And he's also doing a potato dauphinoise.

And then I'm also going to do a dessert, which I'm going to do an infotainment.

I'm just staying out of the hurricane's way and letting him do his thing.

Sorry, best face ever.

Hi, guys. I'm going to be on dessert and sauce today, all right? All right, yeah.

We're working really well. I'm really happy with the flavours.

I'm really happy with what we've got going on here.

Our barbecue feast is looking great.

Vinny's chilling it on the steak.

Aaron's prawns look amazing.

How many boys do you want?

Six. And I'm on dessert.

Wow. Hello, final three.

Hello. Hello, boys. How are we going?

That was great.

Who's the lead singer in the band?

Me. All right. Okay, here it is.

Well, today I'm in charge of dessert.

So I'm making a chiffon with plants and strawberries and figs and masticas.

So did you say you're making a chiffon against hope?

That's a great point.

Yeah, but if I can knock it out of the park, it'll be pretty cool. We'll see.

You're going to have to nail it. And if you do, I'm excited to see what happens.

If you don't, there could be a bit of strife.

Good luck.

Thank you. Nailed it.

I don't like how comfortable Luke looked at the moment.

What is that smell?

There's too much power for a young man like that, and I think he's going to

abuse it just a little bit.

They're facing each other, but there hasn't been any banter.

I want to win. I want to have fun. We are MAPS fit and we have numbers on our

side. I think we're in with a good chance today.

This little family is looking forward to a feast. You've got 45 minutes to go.

Come on out. 45 minutes to go. 45

minutes to go.

It's like from the pub, we're watching lots of little busy ants just doing a

heck of a lot of stuff at once.

The boys are doing Sunday barbecue vibes.

All right, Aaron, do you reckon you could watch that while I go top the

pantry for some sides?

Like really vibing the barbecue with all the smoke.

I don't know where, but something smells.

It's mine. When I look over at Poe and Jean-Christophe, I've seen like these

thick floating islands that Poe's done.

And then...

I cannot quite figure out what Jean-Christophe is doing, though,

because he's got, like, toasted couscous, some chicken, lots of

vegetables. They look fantastic. Hi.

So you're on dessert?

Yeah, I'm on dessert. So I'm doing il sautant.

I stick mandarin into the custard. But I have to do two other sides. So I'm going

to do anchovies over radish and parsley.

Beautiful. Super bright.

So lots of brightness. Sorry, I just have to quickly... Got it, Jean

-Christophe. Okay, Jean-Christophe. How are you, Sophia? We're so good. We've

just had a little update from Poe on what she's doing. Okay. So that must

mean you're in charge of mains.

Yes, I am. What are you cooking? So I'm going to be doing a chicken dish, which

is the drumstick.

I've got some sweet potatoes,

you know in a microwave just for my fish dish Chopped on and then I do with my

desert.

Hold on. You're doing you're both doing a dessert.

Ah

Okay, that's good. I'll have to do it.

That's great.

Do you know John Christophe is also doing a dessert? I have no control over

the men.

Are you guys talking?

We don't need to because she knows what she's doing. I know what I'm doing. And

we love each other so much.

The dynamic between Paul and John Christophe is really interesting.

They are so solo workers. You know, they teach us to communicate and who's the

team leader.

It's not much talking, is it?

No talking. I don't think there's no talking. Has to be a team leader.

And here they are. No team leader. No communication.

They're breaking all the rules.

The jumper sucker's doing a dessert as well because he wants to.

What was I doing, though?

What was I doing? It was around the 25-minute mark in the last cook. Where

it all fell. Where, like, Cyclone Jean-Christophe hit, and it was a bomb

sight.

And I think we're getting close.

Oh!

I can't believe it.

This is the battle of the century.

The judges versus the contestants.

Poe and Jean-Christophe seem to be working completely solo, but together

they have... So much experience and a few Michelin stars on their side.

This is going to finish slowly.

Here we are. Now I can flambe.

The boys are working together so well. Everything is going really smoothly and

their barbecue feast looks unreal.

What do you think about this? It looks beautiful.

The competition is well and truly on.

We've got some flames from JC.

Hey, they're burning the dish. They're burning it. They're burning it.

Shut up!

You got this, J.C.

The gantry vibes are very loud.

Oh, Poe!

They're loving it!

And I'm hearing a lot of Go Poe and Go Jean-Christophe, and that's just not on,

you know? They're on our theme just because you got eliminated. That's not

my fault.

You know what? As long as we have some fun, and I reckon we're going to put up

some really tasty dishes, I reckon we might be all right. We are working

awesome as a team today.

Our barbecue feast is coming along beautifully.

Potato gratin. We've got Aaron on the grilled zucchini side.

Petro's making his cake.

And I'm on the potato gratin.

Luke, do you see the care I'm taking with every layer?

I just want you to know that Jean-Christophe is also doing a gratin.

Of course he is.

Yeah, I think that's very, very well done.

I definitely am a little bit concerned. You know, I'm making a French dish

against a Frenchman.

This is so important.

Not having too much liquid.

I haven't made potato gratin before.

I know what it's supposed to be like, but I haven't actually made it.

But you know what? I reckon I got it. It'll be fine.

It'll be fine.

I don't even have to think of this anymore.

We're not really a team.

We're more like two chefs working in two different restaurants and hoping that

our dishes and menus match.

No, I think it's going to be okay, actually.

I need some fish and some pet feral.

But I think John Christopher Saturday was going to do a dessert, but I

convinced him not to.

I'm going to get my stuff done on time, but I'm a bit worried about him.

I'm just trying to get my two-size, my desserts pretty much done.

And then I'm also onto my radish with anchovies and chard fennel with ouzo

reduction.

Jean-Christophe, how are you?

So far so good.

I'm happy with the dishes that we came to this side together.

And I think we've got a big chance anyway. We have no choice.

We are not going to embarrass ourselves together.

Contestants and judges, everything's riding on this cook!

You've got 15 minutes to go!

What am I doing?

You've gone red, so it's a good one. That's how you know. One.

My steaks are looking spectacular.

They're presented beautifully.

Looks beautiful, Vinny.

Aaron's prawns are looking so delicious.

Aaron, how are you going?

So far, so good.

Our sides are looking really, really good. I've got some charred zucchini

with a lemon and tarragon dressing and some endive and fig salad.

All right, we're pretty good, yeah?

Yep. Petro's cake's in the oven and it's time to check on my potato gratin.

Hey, Aaron. Yeah, hear me. I think there's too much liquid in this.

Cooked, but it's wet as.

Pour it out.

How?

Like... I check on my potato gratin and it is so wet.

It's like a soup. It's like a potato soup.

So I decided that maybe I'll try and push a bit of weight on the potatoes to

get a little bit of that excess moisture out.

And maybe I just need to get them in the oven at full temp.

I'm just hoping that that liquid evaporates and dries up, but if we

don't, then we're definitely not in with a chance.

Let's chat about plating, yeah?

Yeah.

Yum.

Woo, come on, guys. Come on. It looks and smells incredible.

Okay, ignore me. Just please, take everything from the oven.

Yeah. There we are. So first one. Oh, amazing.

Okay, okay. Yeah, cut it for the amazing.

Look at that.

The gratin du football.

Now that's a gratin. That's how you want your gratin to look. That is a gratin.

Vinny, come have a look at that gratin.

So far, so good. We got everything we need.

That is one dish, two dishes. You got the chicken, which is very, very hot.

Yep. Ratatouille, done. Now the fish dish, which is basically some hard

-cooked fish mixed with sweet potatoes.

and stuffed into a red pepper baking oven with some mozzarella.

Please, please, please... Bon appétit.

Huh?

Oh, my God.

Ho and Jean-Christophe have pulled this out of the bag. Their French feast is

looking unreal.

Here, just don't... Give that to the board.

Finish with some oil, please.

With what? Some oil.

Just a bit of oil. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got it, I got it. OK.

Come on, come on, come on!

Pedro, what about this cake?

Yeah, trying to get the cake out.

I'm running out of time. This cake has taken a lot longer than expected. It's

been so big.

I made the cake a little too big, which is why it took longer to cook, longer to

cool.

I want three even layers of cake, so I need to slice it evenly, remove the

layers, and then start my piping.

Whoa.

But my cake is still warm. The boys could be in trouble.

Which means that this cake will just collapse.

Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

We might not get a cake up here.

What is he doing?

Oh, he's taking the cup off.

What?

We just need to talk.

I just need to remove them.

Oh, he's going to decorate the whole thing in two minutes.

Careful, Petro.

At the moment, I'm focusing solely on my cake. That is my objective. This is my

dish, and I do not want to not put up a cake.

Petro, is it still hot?

Yeah.

There's no more time to cool down this cake, so...

I'm cutting it. There's steam coming out of it. But I have to ice it. I've got no

choice. Oh, my God.

This is so hard to watch.

So I've got a masita chancili cream.

And then I'll be putting my macerated strawberries on top of that. And I'll

finish off with chancili cream all over.

Oh, he's doing it.

Can we wait?

Don't worry. Let's go forward. We have the time to do that. Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

Get on the plate. Oh, my God, they've got to move it.

Time is up in two, five, six,

seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.

That's enough.

Woo!

That's a very nice bonding.

We feel so close.

This has changed our relationship after making that cake at the end together.

For three home cooks, I think we did a pretty bangin' good job, I reckon.

In terms of flavour and what we've done, I think we're definitely in for the

chance.

It's amazing what you can do with no communication.

I mean, we could be quantity over quality, but I'm feeling very confident.

I think we've got some solid flavors and I think we've balanced each other's

flavors well.

I think we're going to win.

The first final feast we would like to try is by the judges.

Oh my goodness.

Wow.

Ho, Jean-Christophe, can you please talk us through your final feast?

Lots here.

Jean-Christophe, do you want to start?

Oh, no, you start with the main. Oh, no, it's still going. Okay.

So, I made crispy, spicy chicken gigolette,

an oven-dry ratatouille, a gratin dauphinois,

and... A brown dad of red peppers.

I did a chard fennel with an orange and ouzo agrodolce.

Radishes and parsley with a lemon anchovy dressing.

And il sotans, or floating islands.

Are you going to eat all that by yourself?

The answer Vinnie is yes

When

I eat these

dishes it is so clear to me that you are speaking the same language

I think you've understood each other on such a deep level with these dishes.

It's all pretty Frenchy, but I think, Poe, you have been really considered

in knowing what Jean-Christophe is cooking and very deliberately made

beautiful support acts.

This is the full package as far as I'm concerned. I love it.

A bit awkward to say because I think I kind of have to disagree with you when

you say that you really like it. Go for it.

Because I flip them a little bit.

The chicken, the

couscous on that is genius.

The gratin is delicious.

This little bad boy is pretty good.

And I honestly reckon the other highlight is Poe's radish salad. Just

the play of the anchovy and the parsley is, yeah, genius.

I'm delighted to see that. Thank you.

Well, I feel like I've just walked into a little farm restaurant.

And the tastes are out of this world.

This ratatouille, it's just every vegetable is singing.

This gratin is beautiful. I don't think I've ever had better in my life. There's

layers of flavour in there that you can't believe you get in 75 minutes.

It's delicious. I can't wait to get into dessert.

Po, I want to pour this cream all over my body.

It is so delicious. It's like

incredibly gentle and floral and kind of

feminine. It's just like this whisper of the most beautiful fairy-like flavors.

Jesus, Liz.

We've got another one of these to go.

This cream thing, that needs to be in the shelves, whether it's body lotion or

a dessert topping.

That needs to be in the shelves ASAP. It is unbelievable.

Thank you. And someone who grew up as a huge fan of yours, and I'll tell you

almost the reason why I fell in love with cooking.

I just want to say thank you for everything you've given me in this

kitchen and all the inspiration you've given me. Oh, look.

Ta-da.

Yeah.

The next feast we'd like to try is from the boy band.

Come on down.

That was probably one of the most fun cooks I've had in this kitchen today.

Everything that we put up is looking and smelling really, really delicious.

Oh, my goodness. That's a lot of steak.

I think it is a little bit of a possibility that we could beat the

judges today.

What did you make, boys?

So today we've made some herb and butter butterfly prawns on the hibachi.

We've got some zucchini with a tarragon, lemon and olive oil dressing.

Salad is some endive and figs with an orange and balsamic dressing.

And then I've done some ribeye steak on the hibachi with a red wine jus and some

potato gratin.

And... I have made a olive oil and mustardic chiffon cake.

Shall we see if it tastes as good as it looks? Let's give it a go.

I've got to start with steak because it's amazing.

Look at that.

That's what you want.

I love the sauce that you put with the prawn. It's got lots of herbs in it,

lots of brightness, lots of lift.

Let's talk about the gratin.

Lots of work in the layers.

Beautiful herbs, perfectly seasoned, a little bit wet.

You boys took a few risks today.

You've decided to cook a French jus against a Frenchman in Jean-Christophe.

And I honestly reckon I might have to exchange this fork and this knife for a

packet of nails and a hammer because that jus belongs in the Louvre.

It's unbelievable.

In the Louvre?

I don't completely get it. Hold on.

It needs to be hung in the Louvre. I thought you were breaking in.

Wow, this is a spread.

Very modern Australian, loving the vibes.

The prawns love the flavour you've got in there. Beautiful contrast with the

orange shells and that lovely bright sauce.

Great job, guys. Let's get into dessert.

Let's. Yeah.

Guys, what's in the chiffon cake?

I actually got the recipe from an Australian food icon.

No.

And I'm looking at her.

And you've chosen to cook a chiffon against Paul with her recipe.

So I'm excited to taste it.

Oh, he's nailed it.

The crumb on that chiffon, it is so light and fluffy, super airy. It

dissolves in your mouth.

No notes on that one.

Can you please give me another slice? I think Poe's got to taste this.

Like, it is a perfect cake.

Everything down to the flavour, the technique, the texture, and the company

I'm eating it with is just perfect.

This cake is exceptional.

You know, it's that perfect light finish with all these beautiful flavours, and I

think it's a lovely end to your finals feast. So thank you, boys.

Thank you, girl. What do you think, Poe?

Oh, Poe, you did it!

I mean, it's all right, it's all right.

Well done, boys. You should be very proud of yourselves. You make an awesome

team.

Let

me

just start off by saying I have had the best day.

Same here.

Round two was the classic contestants v judges.

Both of your feasts were exceptional.

But when it comes to execution, one feast was flawless.

And that was... The judges' feast!

The next

time we see you all will be the semi-final.

You'll need to prepare a two-course dining experience, serving a main

followed by dessert.

So you three, go home and think up a menu that will amaze.

Get a good night's sleep and we'll see you very soon. Well done.

Tomorrow night, it's the moment they've been waiting for.

I feel like I earned not just the jacket, but the place in the top three.

This is the one.

This is the challenge that I've dreamt of and I can't believe that I'm going to

be a part of it.

A service challenge that could rewrite their history.

There's no turning back now.

This is exactly what I want and where I want to be.

Come on, come on.

Your menu needs to show us how far you've come as a cook.

This is it. It's the semi-final.

There are only two spots in the grand finale.

Rue, you deserve one of them.