Original subtitles

VOICEOVER: Previously on MasterChef Australia...

It was a personalised pressure test.

MINDY: I'm throwing everything at this dish today.

I want to blow the judges away.

They set the bar as high as they could go...

DANIEL: I'm emptying the tank today and it feels good.

..and lifted the lid on their own special creations...

Wow!

ANDY: The flavours here are insane.

..with immunity-winning dishes going to Daniel...

JOCK: It was a well-designed roller-coaster of flavour.

..and Mindy.

ANDY: That is unbelievable.

I can't stop eating it.

Tonight, there's one more chance for immunity.

SARAH: To win another pin but also to be safe for this week

would be insane.

It's time to get inventive.

# 'Cause you're hot, then you're cold

# You're yes, then you're no

# You're in, then you're out

# You're up, then you're down

# You're wrong when it's right

# It's black and it's white

# We fight, we break up

# We kiss, we make up

# You're hot, then you're cold

# You're yes, then you're no

# You're in, then you're out

# You're up, then you're down. #

Thank you!

(LAUGHTER, CHATTER)

It's top 10 week and it's all about top dishes.

Morning!

The people that get top dishes get immunity

and a chance to win the last immunity pin.

No Mel today.

Oh, Julie! (LAUGHS)

There's a pole there, Julie!

ALDO: Oh, they've got a cloche.

Morning, everyone. ALL: Morning.

Unfortunately, Mel can't be with us today,

but top 10 week continues.

Today is your last chance to save yourself

from Sunday's elimination.

Cook the best dish and you'll do just that.

You'll also earn a spot alongside Billie, Daniel and Mindy

in tomorrow's immunity pin cook.

I hope your creative juices are flowing

because we're bringing back a MasterChef classic.

The invention test. (ALL EXCLAIM)

ALDO: I love the invention test.

You think about things that are done in a classic way, in different ways.

Alvin, you look concerned.

Oh, kind of depends what we're inventing,

so that's why I'm sort of concerned.

What would you not like to see under that cloche?

Offal. Eugh.

That would be awful, wouldn't it?

No, no, that stinks.

Do you want to find out what it is? ALL: Yes.

It's a classic many of us grew up with.

TOMMY: Let's do it.

Fruit salad!

(JULIE LAUGHS) TOMMY: Oh, OK.

JOCK: Tommy's not digging it.

He's walking. (LAUGHTER)

What is going on? It's yummy-yummy.

DANIEL: (CHUCKLES) Fruit salad.

Fruit salad for me, very nostalgic.

You've had some great ones and you've had some poor ones,

just like my nan used to give us back in the day.

I can just remember the soup at the bottom.

It had the flavour of all the different fruits.

But then you think of when you travel,

some of the fruit overseas, when it's at its peak,

like in Peru or Mexico or Chile,

with some chilli salt on it, that's money.

So, that's what it is for me.

For you, it might be something totally different entirely.

And that's the beauty of the invention test.

It's all up to how you interpret it.

Montana, what's fruit salad mean to you?

My memory is definitely little plastic containers,

the soggy juice at the bottom,

and sitting out for too long and it's all warm.

Keyma, what about you? Venezuelan fruit salad?

Does fruit punch count?

Fruit punch? 100% it counts.

It's something like that. Tizana.

It's more like juice than fruit, but that's my memory of fruit salad.

Tommy, you were about to walk, mate.

Mustn't be much of a fan of the old fruit salad.

Yeah, fruit salad isn't very yummy-yummy for me.

(DANIEL LAUGHS)

I am... Just...the cogs are just turning right now.

I have no idea what I'm going to do.

It's not an easy one, but we are top 10.

Whatever fruit salad is to you,

draw on that inspiration and bring us some juicy goodness.

We're going to give you 75 minutes

to reimagine and re-create a humble fruit salad.

The best dish today will win immunity from Sunday night's elimination

and a chance to win this shiny, sparkly last immunity pin

in tomorrow's immunity cook.

JULIE: Oh, boy, would I like an immunity pin.

I've never had that feeling of that bling. I want it.

We want a fruit salad treat that is different.

Reimagine, make it yummy.

Are you ready? SOME: Yes.

Good, because your time starts...

..now!

(ALL CHATTER EXCITEDLY)

TOMMY: Alright! MONTANA: Let's go.

Invention tests are a funny challenge.

It has to be inventive, but it has to work as well.

I'm literally just grabbing every fruit avail...

Sorry. Yeah, just make it up as you go.

I feel that sometimes some people do really, really crazy ideas

that actually don't work.

Oh, my God, this is heavy.

ALVIN: I'll just take the whole thing.

(JULIE LAUGHS)

As soon as I saw that fruit salad,

I thought it's playing right into the hands of a dessert.

But as a fan, watching MasterChef,

my understanding of an invention test

is to push the limits on the brief as much as possible.

It's not a dessert today,

it is a cured kingfish with charred fruit, aguachile,

some pickled grapes, pickled cucumber.

An aguachile is essentially a ceviche in a super-flavourful liquid

of limes, herbs, chilli, all those really Mexican flavours.

BILLIE:

MINDY:

Yeah. Cool. That's a cool idea.

Chillies and cucumbers are fruit as well,

so I'm definitely taking

a little bit of an artistic interpretation with it.

To be at this point in the competition, top 10,

and to cook against these guys,

your dish not only needs to be super tasty

but, like, I think they're definitely looking for

that inventive sort of flair today.

So far in my cooks, I've taken a couple of risks

and they haven't paid off.

They've put me in pressure tests and nearly sent me home.

So today, everything needs to be perfect.

Top dish gets us immunity from Sunday's elimination,

so definitely gonna fight for it.

What about THIS fruit salad?

I can one-up you on a neg front on that.

Really? Ours was out of a tin.

It was called Fruit Cocktail. Yeah.

And it had that syrupy stuff in it.

Everything was nasty. Nasty fruit salad.

Fortunately, we're not asking them to do that today, are we?

What we've asked them to do is reimagine and reinvent.

And that's what I'm looking for. I'm looking to see creativity.

I'm looking for them to think outside the box today.

I'm hoping that some of them look towards fruits

that some people don't imagine as a fruit but actually is a fruit,

like eggplant or tomato or cucumber.

I'm looking for a dish today that stands out from the crowd

because there's only one spot left in tomorrow's challenge

that could win them one of these.

Yeah. And, like, the competition is...we're at the pointy end.

You pin that on your apron, you're sitting pretty.

I can't wait to see how they're going to reinvent this.

Shall we look?

ALVIN: Oh, gosh. Gotta organise this place a little bit more.

Alright, stay.

To meet the brief, you want to try and be as inventive as possible,

so, looking forward to flexing the creative muscles.

Ah!

My strategy today is to think of something that's uniquely me.

It's so important, especially now at this point of the competition,

to know what you're good at.

And in a challenge like this, why not play to your strengths?

Hey, Alvin. How are you going, Alvin?

Good. Good, yeah. Savoury?

No, sweet. Sweet?

So, I'm making a reimagined rojak from Malaysia.

Ooh, yeah.

Essentially, it's a street snack.

It's packed with fruits, vegetables

and this really lovely, funky sauce with sesame and peanuts.

So instead of the toasted peanuts,

I'm going to put glutinous rice balls that I'm going to cook.

And there's going to be a peanut filling to it.

I love it. I also like your glasses today, man.

Looking good. (LAUGHS)

Last spot. Last chance to win the pin.

I really want it. I really want it.

Everyone really wants it. I know. Everyone wants it.

And I want it more. I'm excited.

I'm excited too. Good luck.

Today, I'm making my take on Venezuelan fruit punch.

I'm thinking do a colour jelly,

so a fruit punch jelly with a topping of condensed milk jelly,

compressed fruit.

So very tropical, punchy take on fruit salad.

Have you got a whisk there, Sar? I don't.

I do love invention tests. They give you the chance to be creative.

It's gonna be a sauteed coconut panna cotta

with a passionfruit syrup and some pop of finger limes.

There are so many amazing cooks around me

and, you know, it's getting to the hard part of the competition

when everybody cooks great food.

You've got to bring it on.

Delicious.

You good?

I am. Are you? Yeah.

I am excited about this fruit salad challenge.

I've just got an idea of something that, for me, is quite nostalgic.

Reinventing a dish means turning it into something that...

..it really speaks of you, your style,

but you still get an essence of that dish.

I'm doing a version of a fruit salad

that reminds me of my mum's pavlova growing up.

So it's all the flavours that she would put in a pavlova

but inventive-style.

The only memories I have of a fruit salad,

or the closest thing to it when I was a kid, was my mum's pavlova.

She would load it with passionfruit and strawberry,

and that's just about all the fruit I ate.

I'm going to make, like, a really beautiful

strawberry salad at the base

and small kind of meringues with a kiwifruit sorbet on top.

I think when you connect your emotions to food,

it's always a good thing.

My mum is known as the pavlova queen.

Her pavlova has become this infamous dish.

Even in my restaurant in India,

I brought in the big guns, my mum, to teach the staff how to make it.

Oh, to win another pin but also to be safe for this week

would be insane.

Very yum.

When the stakes are high, time flies in the MasterChef kitchen.

You got one hour to go!

(CHEERING) Whoo! Let's go, guys!

I nearly caught it. (LAUGHS)

BILLIE: What's Tommy up to over there?

I'm going to do a...

I've got to figure it out.

15 minutes has gone

but I don't know what I'm doing with this fruit salad.

I'm still kind of thinking about it.

I consider myself quite a creative cook -

I like to, you know, think on my feet with food -

but fruit salad is just fruit to me.

I don't have many of them. I didn't grow up eating them.

In Vietnam, it was like,

"Oh, dragon fruits are good this time of the year.

"Let's eat some dragon fruit for dessert."

Or, "Watermelons are good this time of the year,

"so let's eat some watermelon."

DANIEL: Hurry up, Tommy! (APPLAUSE)

Where are all the limes at?

I'm running back and forth from the pantry,

but nothing's coming to my mind yet.

MINDY: Come on, Tommy!

Today's the last chance to win immunity.

If I miss out today, I'll be in that elimination at the end of the week.

Only six people. Terrible odds.

The time is just tick, tick, ticking away.

I don't know what to do with this fruit salad...

Ahhhh!

..but I'm thinking if I want to do well in today's challenge,

I have to go back to my roots, draw onto my heritage.

I've got lots of South-East Asian fruit -

longan, dragon fruit, mangosteen, star fruit.

These kind of flavours are comfortable to me,

so hopefully having that little bit of comfortability

is going to help me, you know, invent something.

Then it gives me an idea.

Durian.

DANIEL: Yes, Tommy. (LAUGHS) Go, mate.

Durian has a bad rep for being pretty unpalatable.

Some people say it tastes a little bit like onion and garlic,

a little bit like socks, but I love it.

Durian, pomegranate, coconut oil.

When I was younger, my mum loved durian, the kids not so much.

So she used to get a tub of vanilla ice-cream, durian,

mix it through so that we got used to that taste.

There is a dish that I'm thinking of - che ba mau -

which is a three-coloured Vietnamese dessert.

I'm trying to figure it out,

change it so that it's, like, THESE fruits today.

I'm going to try a durian custard

and then I'm going to do this thing which uses the water chestnut,

and I cut it up small and then I wrap it in tapioca

and it looks like a pomegranate.

A coconut granita, and I'm just gonna make a jelly out of the star fruit,

and it gives it that third colour.

I'm going really, really out of the box today

because I really want to show the judges that I can be creative.

I'm just going to play around with it

and make it really kind of interesting.

DANIEL: Smells good, Tommy! BILLIE: It smells great up here.

MINDY: Do you notice Julie's necklace today?

JULIE: It's my new predictive jewellery range.

It's funny how often it turns out

I'm wearing what the challenge is going to be,

and I swear to God I'm not getting emails or anything like that.

BOTH: Julie Goodwin. Hello.

That was nice, what we just did there.

Yeah, it was good, eh? How are you going?

I'm good, thank you. What are you making?

Thai fruit salad curry. Thai fruit salad curry.

27 years ago, I honeymooned in Thailand.

I fell in love with Thai cuisine.

It was the first time I realised that there are parts of the world

where you can eat noodles for breakfast.

I was stoked!

Let's hear about it. It's a Thai curry paste.

But instead of getting, you know, fish or seafood or whatever,

there'll be fruits.

So, star fruit, tomatoes, pineapple.

There's obviously...there's Kaffir lime zest in the paste, lychees.

I've got seven or eight fruits. (ALL LAUGH)

So I thought, well, why not just go the whole hog

and make the whole thing about the fruit?

Sure, go the whole hog, without any pig.

That's one way of sticking out from the rest of the crowd.

I'm assuming that you want that. I have my eyes on that.

I've never had one. You've never had one?

No. In my season, there was no such thing.

Well, good luck, Julie. Thank you. Cheers.

Every beautiful Thai curry starts with a curry paste,

so that's what I'm making now.

Galangal, ginger.

Lemongrass, garlic, it's got chillies. And that's about it.

Reinventing the fruit salad ain't no easy feat.

You've only got 45 minutes to go.

Keyma. Hello.

What's happening?

I'm planning to make, like, a tropical fruit punch,

so a jelly cup with fruit punch underneath

and condensed milk jelly on top.

Cool. You need a few things to set.

You've got a bit of time pressure. Yes, I have.

And I have to put... Yes, I have. Have you set anything yet?

No.

Wouldn't the jelly be the first thing you'd get on?

Oh, my God.

Thank you.

Aldo. Hey, Aldo.

Hello.

What are you making? A salted coconut panna cotta.

OK, so a panna cotta middle of the plate, I'm guessing.

Correct. Then I'm going to have the passionfruit syrup.

Then I'm going to have the compressed pineapple

with finger lime and rum.

So you're compressing the lime and the rum into the...

The lime is going to be just the zest of the rum.

OK. The zest of the rum?

Uh...

(MAKES SCRAPING NOISE) You'd be there for a while, wouldn't you?

The zest of the lime. Zest of the lime, yeah.

Zest of the lime, just a little touch to just balance it off

the sugar that I'm going to put it in as well.

I'm building the sauce that will sort of cook the rojak.

It's got all the things that you wouldn't think would make

a sauce in a fruit salad.

So oyster sauce, shrimp paste

and some tamarind and some chilli paste.

So, this will be quite a taste sensation for the judges,

let's put it this way.

Ooh, yeah.

BOTH: Sarah. Hi.

What are you cooking?

So, I'm making a version of Mum's pavlova.

Ooh.

So, my mum's, like, the pavlova queen.

She used to make it all the time.

I wanted to do a play on the fruits that she used to use.

So kiwi fruit and strawberry. Yep.

So I'm going to do kind of a strawberry salad at the bottom

and then a small kind of meringue just for the texture going through,

and then a kiwifruit sorbet on top.

OK. What's Mum's name?

Lorraine. Lorraine's Pavlova.

Can it be the top dish today?

I have my eye on being safe for the week

because I got eliminated at top nine.

I at least want to get to top nine in this year's competition,

so I'm definitely gunning for that.

I definitely feel the pressure to beat where I came in my season.

Say 30. MINDY: OK, I'll tell you in 30.

You want to show that you've grown.

ALDO: Sar? Sorry?

Have you started the sorbet? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Oh, not in yet.

When? When are you putting it in, mate?

Two seconds.

The competition this season has definitely been tougher.

Walking into the kitchen, I very quickly realised

that everyone is very, very talented

and I really had to do a lot of work to get to this point.

So today I need a dish to keep me safe from the elimination.

MINDY: How's your sorbet going, Sar? Getting there.

Slowly.

JULIE: Ooh! Sorry, Mon. (LAUGHS)

So I've got my cured kingfish in the fridge.

I'm working on my aguachile base.

Hibachi. Mm.

I'm charring these fruits on the hibachi.

I wanna get a really nice sort of smoky Mexican depth of flavour on it.

JOCK: Montana. ANDY: Hey, Montana.

Hello, hello.

This looks like a very interesting bench.

Yeah. What's going on here? What are you making?

So I'm doing a sort of kingfish ceviche.

Well, cured kingfish. Yep.

Aguachile, sort of charred cucumber, grapes.

Ooh, OK. Chillies. Some pickled grapes,

pickled cucumber, coriander oil.

Yep.

It's a reinvented fruit salad

in the sense that I'm using a whole bunch of different fruits

in the aguachile base.

So I've got cucumbers, grapes, star fruit,

chillies technically are a fruit,

and then the pickled grapes on top just visually cue the fruit as well.

Very different than what we expect from you as well. Yeah.

It's exciting. Yeah, I love how you're thinking about this.

I remember having this tiger's milk ceviche before.

Tiger's milk is basically a bunch of chillies and aromats blitzed up,

and they put fruit in theirs as well

and it was, like...totally flipped my mind what I thought ceviche was

at the time. I'm excited too.

This is such a great idea.

I think it all comes down to balance at the end of the day.

Good luck.

Far out.

Oh, God, doing a dish that's right up Andy's alley is definitely a risk

because something they know like the back of their hand,

always opens you up for critique.

I mean, I dunno, I just hope I made the right decision.

You've already had 45 minutes, you've just got 30 minutes to go.

Let's go, guys! 30 minutes!

(ALL CHEER)

Argh!

I'm making my version of che ba mau,

which is a Vietnamese three-coloured dessert.

To reinvent that, I'm gonna do four different elements

and just play on those South-East Asian fruits that I love to eat.

I've made my star fruit jelly.

Time for me to move on to my durian custard.

Durian, what do you reckon?

Mate, I reckon go for it. Yeah.

Figure it out, right? It'll certainly make you stick out from the rest!

(BOTH LAUGH)

In lots of places, hotels, shops, you can't bring durian into them

because they just stink up the place.

But I love it and I'm hoping to make the judges love it as well today.

He's cutting the durian.

I've got a good durian here.

Keyma's gonna go, "Eugh!"

Anyone gonna have durian in this kitchen, it has to be me, right?

Ugh!

It smells beautiful. It's a good durian, actually.

Just gotta make it taste even better with the custard, I'd say.

Durian isn't a very sweet fruit.

It's kind of got this mix of sweet and savoury.

But I think when it's added to the custard,

it gives it that little extra sugary lift.

Oh, look at that! Now, that's a durian.

That's probably all I need.

To make my durian custard,

I've got egg yolks, milk, sugar, and durian in the mixer.

Blitz it up, heat it up.

It's kind of like onion plus beet at the same time.

In a custard, it is amazing.

BILLIE: Danger, Tommy, danger.

DANIEL: Does it reek of durian, Tommy?

Yeah, it does, bro.

Oh, it smells good, actually. I can smell it from here.

I don't know how the judges react to eating durian.

'Cause I love it, but I know it's polarising.

Fruit salad for me - not that interesting,

which is why this makes the perfect invention test,

'cause we get to see reimagined versions.

And there are some pretty crazy ones out there.

Well, there's not one similar dish.

Like, they're all... (CHUCKLES) ..very, very different.

What are you liking?

I've gotta say Alvin.

Like, he's doing a rojak. Yeah.

He's kind of doing a sort of reimagined version of it. Sweet-savoury, yeah.

And I love rojak. Yeah.

Great concept, I reckon.

Same for Julie. She's doing a fruit salad Thai curry.

Yeah!

Which I think is a great idea.

And she's totally in the zone. Love it.

I think it'll be interesting as well

'cause she's thought outside of what is normal. Yeah.

As has Montana. Yeah.

Gonna make 'em stick out. Yeah, definitely.

I hope Montana can really bring home the concept.

It's just gotta be balanced.

We've asked them to really warp their brains and reinvent that fruit salad.

I think they've done just that.

I'm looking forward to it. It's just about execution.

Yeah. Can't wait.

MINDY: Keep going, girl.

MONTANA: I'm making a fruit salad-inspired aguachile

with a cured kingfish and coriander oil.

There's a massive risk in doing something that the judges love

and I'm definitely feeling the pressure.

The aguachile itself is a pretty simple element -

fruits that have been charred on a hibachi

and blitzed together and strained.

So it really comes down to

getting the balance on it absolutely spot-on.

Balance is all about having that perfect ratio

between sweetness, saltiness, acidity, a little bit of bitterness.

Trying to figure it out.

You can have one of the most creative ideas

but if the balance is off, it doesn't mean anything

and I've come undone on a few cooks where my balance has been off.

Is this the dressing? Uh, yeah. It's not finished yet.

What are you...? What have you got? Um, so...

..grapes, chillies, cucumber, star fruit.

Nothing? I can't tell you anything.

I know you can't. (CHUCKLES)

DANIEL: Everything taste good, Mon?

Uh, yeah, it's not finished yet.

Still needs a little bit of work.

I'm gonna boost the acidity, get a bit more salt in that broth.

Straight up in fruit salads in 15 minutes!

(APPLAUSE)

JOCK: Let's go!

(LAUGHS) 15 minutes?!

I may need to change my pants! (LAUGHS)

The glutinous rice balls are in there now

so it needs to be kind of squidgy.

Kind of like mochi.

Um, and with this lovely sort of peanut filling.

So I hope it works.

Good!

ALDO: What is he doing?

How wobbly is it gonna be?

Wobbly, of course.

When are you popping?

Got time.

Stop, you two. (LAUGHS)

Oh, God, actual can openers.

Hang on.

Top 10 and I can't open a can.

I'm used to ring-pulls these days, people!

What is this?

The curry paste is cooked, which is the base of the fruit salad curry.

OK, more is more when it comes to cooking.

None of this less-is-more rubbish.

I've shredded up kaffir lime leaf really finely

and the fragrance of that is just something else.

Hoo-hoo!

I think that thinking outside the square

is one of the most beautiful things about this whole competition.

I really like the opportunity to go somewhere really left of field.

(BLOWS RASPBERRY)

What I want from this curry

is to hit the brief of a reimagined fruit salad,

but I also want it to just be a stand-alone great dish.

I have to find a way to do that that is heroing fruit.

Oh, I can't open the fish sauce.

Originally, I thought about putting protein in it

but then I was worried that might detract

from the idea of a reimagined fruit salad.

Jackfruit, it's kind of got a meaty texture to it

that I think will go well as a substitute.

Looks good, Jules.

Lychee juice and fish sauce, it tastes good. Tastes good.

I'm cooking that in the lychee syrup instead of using sugar,

and a bit of fish sauce,

so a bit of sweet and a bit of salt that will go into the jackfruit.

Ooh, it's fruity!

Make sure it's not too sweet.

I'm gonna cook the jackfruit until it's really tender and really dark.

I wanna give it a lot of flavour, a little bit of bitterness,

so that it's a bold ingredient in that dish.

Yum.

Oof!

Yeah, worried about that.

That was the jackfruit that was in it. Yeah.

Does that burning pan at the end have the jackfruit in it?

Yeah. Yeah. Is it alright?

Ye-ah! Ye-eah?!

It's great. Alright.

I'm really happy with it. It's yummy.

The only way to win in these challenges is to hit the brief

and to do it in a delicious way.

Julie, Julie, Julie.

She jumped then. No need to... Leave her alone.

10 minutes to go! (YELPS)

(SPECTATORS CLAP)

Think, Alvin, think. So you need...

Yeah. DANIEL: Let's go, Sarah! Hustle, mate.

(CHUCKLES) You've got it.

I'm going alright.

I, um...

Yep, I've got everything kind of on the go at the moment.

I've got my sorbet churning

and now just moving on to that bottom salad part.

So today, I wanna take all those elements

from my mum's classic pavlova

and flip it on its head.

I'm creating the fruit salad at the base,

pavlova and then finishing off with a kiwifruit sorbet on top.

How's it looking?

It's not really turning out as good as I envisioned it.

I mean, it's...

The kiwi's not working.

I check my sorbet and... it just doesn't taste great.

Now that it's cooled down,

it's really lost a lot of that fresh kiwifruit flavour.

I don't know what to do.

It's just not turning out as exciting as I thought.

Just... Just... You better keep going. Quickly.

Like, seriously. How? You know what to do.

You adjust in... Come on. Just... I don't know. It's not working.

I'm pretty worried.

I really thought that element was going to be the part that elevated it

to being inventive.

Yeah.

Without this sorbet, it's just gonna be a classic pavlova.

Can't think of anything inventive. My brain's just stuck.

I'm just trying to think.

I'm not, like, in love with my dish now.

The kiwifruit sorbet's not working out.

I'm not sure what to do to fix this.

I just can't think right now, for some reason.

I don't know why.

MINDY: Come on, Sar.

I can't change my mind.

I really can't.

What's wrong with me?

Like, my pavlovas are good.

But it's just pavlova.

Sarah is, like, losing her mind down there

and it's so hard to watch.

ALDO: Come on, Sarah.

You gotta back yourself, babe. You know how to cook.

Think of what's in that pantry. Freeze-dried fruit.

Go and have a look.

Come on, girl, you can do this.

Pick it up, babe!

I don't know what to do.

ANDY: What do you mean you don't know what to do?

Stick with it and try and amp it up

or have you got a belter that you can just fully pivot on?

I need to just snap out of it

and pull this dish together.

JULIE: Come on, Sar.

Yeah.

ANDY: Tommy is the messiest cook.

TOMMY: Hey, stop bagging me out, bro!

Like, I'll say it to your face.

Like, look at this!

I'm making a dessert today, brother.

I'm taking the idea of fruit salad, che ba mau,

and kind of fusing them together and making it my own.

I'm reinventing this to make it MasterChef fruit-salad-worthy.

The final element for my dish, I did tapioca water-chestnut balls.

They're super chewy on the outside, crispy on the inside.

But they look like pomegranate.

The brief is to be creative

and I think it's really, really interesting

to make something look like a fruit.

I've got water chestnuts chopped up,

tapioca flour, some red dye.

I give them a quick squeeze, put them into boiling water.

DANIEL: Tommy, are they little tapioca pearls or something?

So, it's, like, water chestnuts covered in tapioca.

It forms a layer on the outside.

It's an illusion.

I definitely think I've been inventive today.

I'm pretty excited to serve the judges my dish.

Looking forward to tasting your reinvention

of the old fruit salad!

Five minutes to go.

(ONLOOKERS APPLAUD AND CHEER)

MINDY: Five minutes to go!

No, no, not gonna work.

Five minutes to show off the fruits of your labour, Jules.

Hoo-hoo-hoo! Thank you, Dan!

Five minutes to go

and I'm just gonna add in all the pineapple and the lychees

and all the beautiful star fruit

to the curry sauce,

just so that that's got time to warm through.

I want them to remain whole

and I want everything to maintain its shape and its flavour.

MINDY: Smells great, Julie! Ah!

OK.

I've got, like, nine or ten different kinds of fruit

in this one little dish,

including all the tomatoes and the chillies and the eggplant.

So, I am really happy with

how the flavour and the texture work together.

DANIEL: Yes, Julie, that's a 'rice' effort.

(JULIE LAUGHS)

(CHUCKLES)

MONTANA: Did he say, "That's a rice effort?" JULIE: It's a rice effort.

Go home! Honestly!

Julie likes them.

I'll see what else I can come up with.

I would love that immunity pin.

I've never worn one.

I just can't even imagine

the kind of peace and confidence that must give you.

I mean, I aspire to that. Yes, I do.

Three minutes, gang! Three minutes!

MINDY: Go, guys! DANIEL: Let's go! Let's go, guys!

BILLIE: What are they, Alvin?

Um, bean-curd skins.

It'll be a good, like... Crunchy. Yeah.

How you eat rojak at home

is you wrapped it in a newspaper.

And, so, I thought what would be good,

if I put little bits of crunchy bean-curd skins over it

that looks like newspaper.

Ah! Ah! Ah!

It's so good, it jumped out on my tastebuds.

Genius!

ALDO: I'm actually good.

Just finishing my last things,

then I need to get myself organised for the plating

and...that's my hope,

that I've done something good.

ANDY: What?

Why you coming here? Don't come. I'm just lookin'! I'm just lookin'!

What's this? Is this candied chilli?

Yeah, he's about to do his panna cotta.

You've got beautiful eyes, both of you, actually.

For the first time, I can look into your eyes...

Don't try and suck up. Let's see this panna cotta.

Yeah, I got the wobble. Getting there.

BILLIE: It's fine. It's perfect.

(LAUGHS)

What did she put in the pot? She's gonna do a balsamic reduction.

SARAH: I am creating a balsamic glaze

and I'm gonna finish with the freeze-dried strawberries,

to bring that tartness to the dish

that I wanted from the kiwifruit sorbet.

Sarah, where's the sorbet?

I got rid of it.

So, I'm just gonna finish with freeze-dried strawberries...

Where's the meringue going? Just on top?

Yeah. With cream, and then a drizzle of the reduction?

Yeah, and, uh...

What now? You're still frowning at me.

I'm not frowning. It's just not...

It's not helping the situation here.

Like, come on!

I'm hoping that with these two elements,

it's gonna be a really beautiful dish.

But I feel pretty disappointed.

My dish just isn't inventive enough for this challenge.

One minute to go! Come on!

ANDY: One minute!

I still have to unmould my jelly! Oh, my God!

Come on! Let's go, guys!

Let's go, Keyma! (WHISTLES)

Come on, gantry. Give us a hand.

BILLIE: Come on!

ALL: Ten, nine, eight,

seven, six, five...

MONTANA: Done.

..four, three, two, one!

JOCK: That's it!

MONTANA: Oh, my God! (LAUGHS)

Look at your bench!

Oh, you're so good!

(KISSES AND MUTTERS)

(SARAH LAUGHS)

(APPLAUSE AND WHOOPING)

The first dish we'd like to taste is yours, Tommy.

KEYMA: Go, Tommy. Good luck.

Hey, boys. There you go.

ANDY: Tommy, what is it?

Today, I've made a fruit salad che ba mau.

What are your layers?

The bottom layer is star fruit jelly.

The second layer is tapioca-chestnut pomegranate pearls.

The next layer is durian custard.

And then just icy coconut.

ANDY: Tommy, I'll start.

The star fruit jelly,

I thought you could have gone harder with the acidity.

Next layer up...

..those little chestnut tapioca balls,

they are epic.

They look like pomegranate seeds

but once you get through the bounce of the tapioca,

you hit the water chestnut,

it's like the texture of a pomegranate seed, it's unreal.

The durian custard - look, got to be honest,

not the biggest fan of durian.

But that's just personal preference.

Controversially, I loved the durian.

That's all I needed to hear.

I think it's such a beautiful savoury custard

that just died down the sugar everywhere else.

I think those little things are better than pomegranate seeds.

They're so beautiful to eat.

They're interesting, they're crunchy in the middle.

They've got that really nice, gelatinous bounce on the outside,

they're colourful.

The whole thing looked fantastic. I really liked it.

Great job. Well done. Thanks, guys.

(APPLAUSE)

He did a challenge really well today.

Good job.

The next reimagined dish we'd like to taste

belongs to Montana.

MONTANA: I'm so nervous, walking my dish up to the judges.

I have definitely pushed the boundaries on this brief.

You don't typically find fish in a fruit salad.

My fear is that I know I've had issues with balance

with savoury cooks in this competition so far.

Montana, what have you made us?

Fruit-salad inspired aguachile

with kingfish and pickled grapes.

Do you think

that pushing yourself out of your comfort zone

inevitably means a savoury dish?

Desserts are my comfort zone.

But I wanted to do something different, push myself a little bit.

Is this a top, winning dish today?

(SIGHS)

Enjoy another taste of MasterChef

with full masterclasses, best bits and delicious exclusives at:

Montana, what have you made us?

A fruit-salad-inspired aguachile

with kingfish, pickled grapes and coriander.

Do you think that pushing yourself out of your comfort zone

inevitably means a savoury dish?

Desserts are what I feel most comfortable in

but I wanted to do something different, push myself a little bit.

Is this a top, winning dish today?

I don't know. I hope it is. I just... I don't know.

Alright.

Montana...

Awesome!

Very, very good.

Very good.

All the hard work is in the agua, right?

Everything is in there - the balance, the aromas.

Stick your nose in there.

You've got that sort of hibachi, smoky...

Cucumber, when it goes on a hibachi, turns into something magical.

If you then juice that

and it's kind of hidden in amongst the chilli and grape juice,

it is just bloody delicious.

It's definitely a very different take on a fruit salad.

Well done. Thank you.

Montana...

Yes! Yes!

I know how much you want THIS, you know?

And it is - it is so important for your growth.

Yeah.

And I feel like you've just been battling and battling and battling

in this savoury land.

You've hit it, right here, you know? Yep.

The fish was beautifully treated.

I loved how it's got a bit of thickness about it

because you do get the texture and the flavour of the kingfish.

Really, really good stuff.

And I would...I'd pay good money for that at a restaurant.

Take a lot of confidence from this cook.

Well done, Montana.

Ahh! Thank you!

(APPLAUSE)

The next fruit salad we'd like to taste is yours, Aldo.

What have you made us, mate?

Coconut panna cotta with passionfruit syrup.

Aldo, panna cotta - beautifully set.

Nice amount of balance in there in terms of sweetness.

The syrup is very sugary.

The dish itself is too sweet because of the syrup.

I love all the flavours that are going on, though.

I just think the balance is slightly out.

Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

Next up, Keyma.

KEYMA: A fruit punch jelly

and condensed milk jelly.

Yum.

I'm gutted for you, because it's super tasty.

In terms of flavour, balance, conception of a dish,

you are onto something really, really good here.

You just didn't quite get it done in time.

Thank you, Jock.

Alvin. (APPLAUSE)

So, what's the dish?

It's a reimagined Malaysian rojak.

Alvin, you drew on a nostalgia

and you drew on experience as well,

and it shows on that plate.

You've got the palate of dreams.

It is singing, right there.

The sweet, the sour, the funk,

the rice balls with the chew, with the peanut butter.

And it's just a riot, mate, in, like, the best way.

That is topnotch.

Well done, buddy. Nice one, Alvin.

Very, very good. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

That is tasty.

Next up, Sarah!

SARAH: I definitely went through

a lot of thoughts and emotions in this cook

but I'm happy that I turned this around

and managed to plate a dish.

The flavours are there.

I feel like I would have my mum proud when it comes to the pavlova.

It's just not the most inventive.

Went through a few evolutions. (LAUGHS)

What did you finish on?

It is a strawberry and kiwi salad

with Mum's pavlova.

Lorraine's pavlova. Lorraine's pavlova.

Beauty.

It was a bit of a tough one for you, wasn't it? Yeah.

How come? What was going on?

Just the kiwifruit just wasn't working for me.

You get stuck on an idea and it's, like, so hard to pivot.

And... Sent you for a spin.

Yes.

Like, I was happy with the meringue and it was trying to work out,

"How can I bring it together where it's not just,

"you know, a pavlova on a plate?"

It was...it was nice enough. It wasn't amazing.

The best part about it was the pavlova.

Mum's happy. Yes!

Um, good move with the balsamic.

Ties in well with the acidity in the coulis.

But...

..I think you just got caught out with the kiwifruit, really.

Yeah. And then you didn't know where to go from there.

So, it's just not standing out amongst the crowd,

which was the biggest thing I said to everyone today.

You haven't reinvented the wheel here

but it's good.

The fruit salad component, I feel like you could have really

gone in there and picked some very interesting things

to really make our minds go, "Ooh, yeah."

Because, as it stands, you've got a great pavlova -

the rest of it was just a bit, like, "Give me something!"

Like, "Give me something on an invention test day!"

Thank you. Well done. Thanks.

(APPLAUSE)

It's all good.

Next up, Julie Goodwin.

DANIEL: Go, Julie!

I definitely think I've done justice to my memories of Thailand.

I don't know where my dish is going to stand amongst everybody else

but I've tried really, really hard

'cause I really want this.

I want this more than I've wanted immunity

ever, in this competition.

Julie, you didn't win an immunity pin in your season, did you?

There was no such thing. No such thing?

Yeah. Tough to win it, then.

(LAUGHS)

This cook, to get into the immunity cook,

this is your last shot.

Maybe ever.

You reckon this can do it for you?

(SIGHS)

Julie...

This cook, to get into the immunity cook,

this is your last shot.

Maybe ever.

You reckon this can do it for you?

I hope so. I...

I really want it.

I can't even tell you how much I would love

a chance to cook for that pin.

It's the last chance.

I...really want this.

You're never coming back after this?

I don't know.

I'll need to come in on a bloody Zimmer frame if you have me back.

(LAUGHTER)

Julie... What did you make?

It's a Thai fruit salad curry.

I think there's nine, or something, fruits in there.

I just started thinking about the fruit in a red duck curry

and the lychees and pineapple,

and I just built it from there.

Red duck curry is, like, one of my favourite things.

So, I was, like...

.."A fruit version?"

It's better. It is better.

There are so many interesting, different fruits in there

that, like, get away, duck!

Go away. Don't come back.

Give me this version all the time now.

You've got so much body and so much power in that curry sauce.

So, you've ticked that box.

Then you get a piece of pineapple - sweet-and-sour goodness.

Same as the lychee.

And your palate just goes way back to the start.

You just go for another ride again

and you find yourself in star fruit land.

Like, it's...it's just a bowl of adventure.

But the hero for me is definitely the jackfruit.

There's just this dark caramelisation

on the jackfruit wedges.

And folded into that curry sauce...

Hallelujah, Julie. Like...

..fruit salad just taken to another level.

Julie Goodwin, this is where you excel.

You excel in the generosity.

You excel in this rustic yet refined in flavour.

It is SO good.

We all immediately think of fruit salad

as nothing other than just some chopped fruit,

maybe a bit of juice or whatever.

You know, like, it's either on an aeroplane, a room-service menu

or at your nan's house.

This is something else.

I just loved the roller-coaster and the depth of flavour you got in this.

So, not only did you come up with

probably one of the most creative ideas,

but you've executed it in such a brilliant way, Julie.

Well done. Thank you.

Thank you. (APPLAUSE)

Well done, my love.

This is a tough decision, eh?

Well...

..you guys came into this challenge locked and loaded.

Boy, oh, boy, we were spoilt for choice today.

Julie, Alvin, Montana,

can we get a round of applause for your three dishes, please?

DANIEL: Good one, guys. (APPLAUSE)

All of your dishes were inventive, they were tasty

and, without a doubt, worthy of that top spot today.

We landed on a dish that truly reinvented the fruit salad

in an original way.

And that dish belonged to...

..Julie Goodwin.

(GASPS) (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Thank you!

Oh!

Oh, my God!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE CONTINUE)

Fruit salad curry? Who would have thought?

Congratulations.

You did it!

Thank you! (LAUGHS)

Billie, Mindy, Daniel and Julie,

we are in for one heck of a show tomorrow.

If you want that shiny gold pin,

don't stop pushing until it is planted on your apron.

Go home, rest up, see you tomorrow.

Well done, everybody. Well done, everyone.

ALDO: Thank you.

(LAUGHS)

JULIE: This competition has just gone from

one huge moment to another.

I am SO thrilled!

VOICEOVER: Tomorrow night on MasterChef Australia,

it's their last chance to win a pin.

BILLIE: I cannot afford to lose.

Competitive me is coming out to play.

I just want to see what I can achieve here.

But what lengths will they go to

to get it?

Oh, my God.

Oh, my lord.

Captions by Red Bee Media