Original subtitles

ANDY: Billie...YOU are our first semifinalist for 2022.

(APPLAUSE) Oh, Billie!

BILLIE: To be here in the semifinal is amazing.

Last time, when I won MasterChef, I was very young.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

I felt a huge amount of pressure to pursue a career in the food industry.

I would like to offer you... (GASPING)

..a job at the Fat Duck.

(CHEERING)

Going straight to the Fat Duck in England,

while it was such an amazing experience, I wasn't ready for it.

(EXHALES)

Just felt like I wasn't good enough to do it.

That scared me a bit, I think,

and steered me away from food and cooking.

Get one?

After having my daughter, I was working on the farm, loving it,

but was wondering what was sort of missing.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Coming back has been a bit of an awakening

and definitely a bit of a kick up the butt I think that I needed.

This is just deeply impressive food.

You're a very clever and thoughtful cook.

I've really found that love and that passion again for cooking creatively.

ALDO: Yes, Billie!

JOCK: We weren't here in Billie's season,

but I think we're beginning to see why Billie won.

Winning this competition again,

it would really cement the fact that I belong in food.

It's made me feel like me again.

MELISSA: Sarah, you have been busy

since the SECOND you left this kitchen -

books, restaurants, TV shows.

SARAH: Over the last eight years, I've worked nonstop

to build an incredible career that I'm now really, really proud of.

What's drawn you back to the MasterChef kitchen?

I mean, it's just such an incredible experience.

I think from the outside, a lot of people probably think

that things have just kind of fallen in my lap.

But I was raised by a tough single mum

and we didn't have a lot of money growing up.

From 17 years old, I was working five jobs.

I've always worked really hard at my skills

to allow my skills to push through.

I feel like I'm constantly having to prove

that I'm worthy of the success that I've had.

Why are you nervous to serve these kind of dishes?

ANDY: Yeah.

This is the direction that I would like to head in.

Do you feel more vulnerable because you've found your thing

and therefore you're revealing yourself?

Mm-hm.

My butter-poached lobster really was a turning point.

That has all the refinement of a three-Michelin-star dish.

I didn't realise that coming back this time,

it would give me so much confidence to go down that route of fine dining.

Phenomenal. MELISSA: Spectacular.

An absolute belter.

I could not have imagined that

when I first stepped foot into the kitchen eight years ago,

that dream of winning MasterChef would finally be within reach.

DANIEL: Can't believe I made the semifinal of MasterChef.

(CHUCKLES) You bloody ripper!

Oh, man. How good is that?

Being from Darwin and from my circle, MasterChef is world's apart.

I remember coming here and freaking out

'cause I'd never actually eaten a kohlrabi

or I'd never eaten a celeriac.

You're brunoising an onion. Do you know that that's what you're doing?

I just learned something.

Daniel. Yes!

(APPLAUSE)

The day I stepped in the MasterChef kitchen just changed my life.

I'm calling it You're Bacon Me Go Nuts.

It's a...textural journey... that ice-cream.

(LAUGHTER)

I'm loving this, man.

I...have studied my arse off.

This is my braised kale with a vibrant cucumber broth.

ANDY: Everything that you've learned in this competition was in that bowl

and we absolutely loved it.

I might be the underdog, but... JOCK: Stupendous work.

The flavours are endless. Very, very, very good.

Yes! I got a clap!

In my job as a firefighter, it became apparent to me that, unfortunately,

life can be short.

I had this realisation I didn't wanna kick the bucket

and regret not taking that step and seeing what was there for me.

I'm not here to put socks on centipedes,

I'm here to have a bloody crack at it, I'm here to win.

(CHEERING)

BILLIE: Oh, look at this.

DANIEL: It's so pretty, isn't it?

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Whoo!

Welcome to the semifinals.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Whoop-whoop! Yeah, guys!

It might seem obvious to say it out loud, but...

..one day out from possibly winning a whopping 250 large

and being crowned Australia's MasterChef for 2022.

Yeah, that's what you want.

(APPLAUSE)

Oh, wouldn't read about it.

Here to support you today are your old teammates turned friends.

They're just as excited as we are

to see one of you lift that trophy.

Alright, Sarah, Daniel, Billie,

as you know, today is a service challenge.

Yesterday, we asked you to go home

and have a think about your perfect three-course menu.

You will need to cook us an entree, a main and a dessert

for 20 diners plus the three of us.

All up, that is close to 70 individual plates of food.

No mean feat.

You will have four hours

until your entrees need to start leaving the pass.

From there, you'll have 45 minutes per course

to send all of your plates.

Only the top two contestants today

will secure a place in the grand finale.

This is far from your first service challenge so trust yourselves today

and bring it on home.

One more thing. What?

You didn't think that we'd make you guys

tackle this beast of a challenge alone, did you?

Oh, we get help!

So, back running the pass today is a friend and mentor

of this very kitchen.

He's back to inspire you, to push you

and to make sure that you deliver the best bloody food that you've got.

Please welcome, back in the house,

the man, the myth...

..the legend...

..Shannon Bennett, everyone!

Yes! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Yes!

BILLIE: Oh, it's so good to see Shannon Bennett.

Yes.

Hey, Sarah. Hi.

Dan. Billie. How are you? Good. How are you?

Good.

He did the service challenge in season seven,

and such a nice presence in the kitchen.

Always full of advice and wisdom.

I'm just so glad he's back.

Shannon, you've run a heap of these challenges in your time,

what's the one thing you think is gonna get these guys through?

It's the most simplest thing -

keeping things clean and organised is the key.

And not to panic.

I've seen situations that just say, "Oh, my God, it's all over."

Half an hour later, you've nailed

one thing you didn't think that you could nail

and all of a sudden, you're back in the game.

And I suppose my job is to make sure that all three of you,

your dream stays alive

and we make it as hard as possible for these three

to decide who goes home.

So let's have some fun doing it.

Righto. Now we're all here, let's do this.

Prove to us that you belong in the grand finale.

Good luck. Your time starts now.

Go, guys! (CHEERING)

Go, guys!

ALDO: Go, Sarah!

MAX: Come on, Dan! Let's hustle!

DANIEL: Planning my menu last night, I didn't sleep.

I'm so nervous to do three courses by myself.

I spent all night thinking about it, this menu.

I wanted to really show where I've come from in cooking

to what I am now.

Being from Darwin definitely has inspired a lot of my food.

Let's go, Dan. Tropical. Nice.

Today, I wanna show off my understanding of tropical flavours.

Something with fruit, with the natives.

I think the pressure today is it's a bit more personal.

This is my chance to show the judges how much I've learned

throughout this whole time, in regards to flavour and techniques.

(EXHALES)

Wow. Well, thank you so much for coming back into the kitchen.

You walking in here just, I think, was that extra boost of energy

that they needed.

This is big. This is a really big day.

This is the big-time.

This is the culmination of all of that work

is all coming now to stories on the plate.

And this is where you wanna be, I mean, cooking your food.

And I think in the kitchen right now, we have three epic cooks

so I can't wait to see what they're cooking.

Alright, Shannon, few minutes into service, you better get in there

and see what they're up to. Good luck, mate.

Thanks, buddy. Thank you. Good luck. Cheers, mate.

ALDO: Go, Sarah.

My cooking style that I've discovered over this season

of French techniques with Indian flavours

has really inspired my menu today.

My entree is scampi served with a consomme,

served with a kind of masala salsa on top of the scampi.

My main is my take kind of on a saagwala.

So it's a lamb spinach dish.

'Saag' is spinach. It's a spinach curry.

So for this dish, I am just keeping it really quite light,

so not heavily spiced, because this is my take on the saagwala.

And then finishing off with a chai dessert.

So I'm doing a milk chocolate chai mousse with the poached pears,

and then a hazelnut caramel as well.

Everything is riding on this menu.

It's showing my journey cooking this style of food.

And this is what I wanna do for the rest of my life.

So it needs to be perfect.

The first thing I need to do is get my lamb prepped for the main.

I'm just moving on to the brine for my lamb,

so I wanna get that in for quite a bit of time.

I'm brining my lamb because

I want to add as much flavour and tenderness as possible.

Come on, guys! Come on.

Let's go, guys. Come on!

Come on, Billie.

Oh, I feel really lucky to be here again for the semifinal.

Lots of work to do though, holy hell.

I've come to realise I really love cooking dishes

that are stemmed from memories.

You know, especially being a kid,

I think that's when a lot of your fond food memories start.

So for my entree, I'm doing a pea, mussel and horseradish soup.

And then the main is a bit of an ode to a childhood classic -

apricot chicken, which I always loved growing up,

so I'm doing apricot duck for the main.

And then for dessert, I'm doing a lamington.

I'm not starting on the entree straightaway

because I need to put all of my focus into this dessert.

The entree's quite simple in its prep

so it's one of the jobs I can leave to the tail end of this four hours,

hoping that I have enough time.

Go, Billie. Go, Bill.

You got this, mate.

This lamington has a lot going on within the dish.

It's a dessert that I've been working on.

So, it's a chocolate mousse with a cherry, strawberry and orange centre.

It's covered in a tempered chocolate coating,

served with some coconut snow and some nice little crispy bits as well.

Nice, Billie.

So I've started my dessert and the spheres are in the blast chiller.

The next thing I need to start on

are preparing these ducks for the main course.

Good hustle, Billie.

I need to work fast

because I have so many elements still to do for this dessert.

Keep it up, guys. Go, Dan!

Oh, how big are they?! Nice.

You don't get fish this small in Darwin. (LAUGHS)

I get to work on my entree

and I'm most excited about doing cured kingfish.

Good filleting, Dan!

I often cook a raw or pickled fish at home, we call it namas,

and it's just that quick, beautiful thing,

it's very refreshing, very zingy.

And this is a refined version of that.

Dan.

G'day, Shannon. How are we? Good, mate.

Explain to me quickly, I know you're under the pump.

Entree, I'm doing a lemon-myrtle-cured kingfish.

Mm.

Um, it's gonna have a coconut emulsion underneath it,

like a little creamy element.

Um, then a pineapple sauce, like an acidic number.

The main is gonna be a barbecue coral trout, curry sauce.

Curry sauce, I'm calling a coastal curry, like, a mix between a laksa

and a jungle curry sort of sauce.

The dessert, I'm thinking of doing a chilli rum pineapple tarte Tatin.

Mm. And a coconut sorbet.

There's too many similarities in your entree to your main course.

Hearing Shannon's concerns, oh, it's really thrown me off.

Fruit, uh, fish. Fruit, fish.

Yep. Entree, main.

If I'm, uh, a diner out there,

I'm wanting variation in what you're doing.

You've gotta have a real think about this

and work out a substitution that's not fruit-based.

OK. Mm.

Hearing that your menu isn't great from the start is such a concern.

Fruit, uh, fish. Fruit, fish.

You've gotta have a real think about this

and work out a substitution that's not fruit-based.

OK. Alright. Good luck.

Thanks very much. Cheers.

MICHAEL: You got this, Dan!

I'm going to take on Shannon's advice and just alter things.

It's still the bones of the dish, so it will be the fish -

a light fish entree and a cooked fish main, but changing it.

Let's go, Dan!

I'm thinking for the entree,

I can still do the lemon-myrtle-cured kingfish and the coconut emulsion,

but do a pickled red onion instead for that bright acidity.

That eliminates the pineapple.

MONTANA: You're good, Dan. Keep your head straight.

I'll be using a lot of lime and kaffir lime for it instead,

rather than repeating the pineapple.

Keep working, Dan. Keep working, mate.

I'm going to add a paperbark oil.

Beautiful black oil

that just contrasts really well with everything.

So I figured that's gonna add a very, very cool dimension to the entree.

So to make that, just need to burn some paperback.

Yes, Dan! Work it, mate. Work it.

Kill the flames with two bowls and then...

Oh, no, it's made a little vacuum.

(LAUGHS)

Oh, it's sucked all the oxygen out.

Once I finally get the bowls to crack open,

I throw the paperbark in the blender with charcoal powder and oil

and just blitz it on high for five minutes.

And then strain it through a soup bag

and then you get this beautiful, like, squid-ink-colour oil.

Gonna go back to being a fireman? Or are you gonna be a chef now?

Or you haven't decided? See how well I go with this.

(CHUCKLES) Do you rate yourself now, mate?

Good work, Dan. Yoo-yoo.

Well, the good news AND the bad news is that you're halfway there.

Two hours to go!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Let's go! Come on.

Shake those tail feathers!

Good work, Sarah! Go, Sarah. Come on.

SARAH: So, I am going to pressure-cook some lamb for my jus.

It also gives me the option of adding little pops of shredded lamb as well,

so I think it's a really nice addition for the main.

You're on a roll now, Sarah.

I need a lot of time to prepare my entree and main.

There's so many elements going into each dish

and so I really need to make sure I get all of the prep done

before service.

Sarah just looks so unflappable, doesn't she? It's amazing.

Mm. She's just so calm.

Very calm. I'd be like a headless chook.

MINDY: Let's hustle, Sarah!

So, I am just moving on to my scampi.

So for my menu today,

I'm starting off with a scampi with a really beautiful broth.

Need to move. There's a lot to do.

This dish, it's all about simplicity and perfection,

so I am skewering these to make sure they stay nice and straight.

Pop them into the water, blanch them for one minute,

and I need to allow them to cool before I peel.

It's gonna take a while.

It is pretty ambitious, doing two extremely complex dishes

that need a lot of prep work,

but if I nail this, I know it's gonna be amazing.

Little more! Little more! Yeah, get it, Billie.

You got it! (LAUGHTER)

(CHEERING)

Whoo!

Uh, so...

..got a few things on the go at the moment.

I've done my fruit inserts for the lamington.

I've butchered all of the duck,

got the necks in the oven to make the sauce.

Got the duck breasts, are in the sous-vide machines,

and I'm starting the chocolate mousse for the dessert.

Go, Billie.

My dessert is a lamington.

It's not a traditional lamington, but it's my new take on a lamington.

This dessert is quite technical and time-consuming,

so I've got a huge mountain to climb to prepare my entrees and mains.

Hey, Billie. Hey, Shannon.

That mousse actually looks great. Yeah, I'm pretty happy with that.

That looks really good.

Oh, yeah. That's good. That's good, Billie.

Thank you very much.

I'm feeling really good about the dessert.

MICHAEL: Yes, Billie.

My mousse is looking really nice.

It's light and it's all combined really well.

MAX: Billie, it looks so light, mate.

(CHUCKLES) Hope so.

Then inside is the cherry, strawberry and orange sorbet

so it provides that temperature contrast.

I need to get it into the blast chiller

so I can actually dip these lamingtons in the chocolate.

Look at Billie. Oh, that's a little insert into the...

MONTANA: Yeah, for the mousse. Must be like a jelly or something.

Doesn't matter where you're at on your prep list,

you've got 90 minutes until the entrees leave the pass.

Come on. (ALL SHOUT ENCOURAGEMENT)

I'm feeling pretty good.

Just need to keep the momentum up so I can get everything done.

ALDO: Go, Sarah. Come on.

MINOLI: She's still doing scampi?

Hmm? She's still doing scampi?

Yeah, she is. Doing really well, Dan.

SARAH: Oh, my God.

This scampi is a nightmare to peel.

I totally underestimated how long this was going to take.

But I need to jump onto the dessert

so I can get started on poaching the pears.

My dessert is masala chai pears,

and I am going to sous-vide my pears

'cause they need a long time to cook to make sure they're nice and tender.

Sarah. Hello.

ANDY: Uh, the all-important scampi.

Uh, you've got a lot to peel, hey?!

I know. That is a lot.

There's 1.5 hours to go.

Like, I don't know what I was thinking.

Salsa made? No, the salsa's not made.

Sauce is not finished, salsa not made.

Honestly, I have a lot to do.

That was a really bad idea, wasn't it?

(ALL SHOUT ENCOURAGEMENT)

SARAH: I'm almost done.

No, I'm not. 20 more. (CHUCKLES)

Wish I could do them for you.

I wish I could just come in and help you.

I know. (LAUGHS)

The key is the entree, just keep pumping through this entree.

Just push through, yeah.

Because that's number one priority for you.

Yep.

I think I've just underestimated the amount of time

the prep for the scampi would take,

so I'm just gonna have to push.

Billie, Dan, Sarah, it's time to get your priorities right.

There is 45 minutes to go. Come on. You can do it.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

BILLIE: Oh, my God, I'm dying.

I knew this challenge was gonna be tough and full of pressure,

in regards to time, but I didn't anticipate

having to move this fast at this stage of this challenge.

I'm very quickly running out of time

and I haven't even started my prep for the entree.

Heat the mussels up in there.

MICHAEL:

What have I done with that again?

For my entree, I'm doing mussels in a pea and horseradish soup,

and the entree's quite simple in its prep

because I knew the dessert would take up a lot of my time.

With the mussels, I wanna cook them quite quickly

in a white wine, shallot and garlic broth.

And then I'll use the cooking liquor that the mussels have come out of

to form the base of my pea and horseradish soup.

(SIGHS) That's a few more.

She's such a machine. Yep.

I'm trying to work really fast.

This is quite manic, but I have to try and control the nerves

and keep going.

(MUTTERS)

All my elements for my entree are done.

My main, my curry's been simmering away great,

that just needs to be strained and then reduced and balanced

and then that'll be done.

Uh, the fish now is just going in the sous-vide.

While that's in the sous-vide machine,

I get started on the dessert.

Oop.

The coconut sorbet is just gonna reinforce that, like,

nice tropical flavour.

I'm quite happy with it, so I throw it into the ice-cream churner.

Now it's time to get ready for service.

Go, Daniel!

Listen up, guys,

we're pretty hungry

but we're nowhere near as hungry as these guys.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

30 minutes to go. Come on.

BILLIE: Wow.

Seeing the diners come in

makes me realise that we're getting pretty close to service

and I am feeling a bit frazzled now.

I'm currently multi-tasking on a lot of different elements

for this entire menu.

Get rid of you. Oh, my God, I made a mess.

I need to finish the garnishes for the entree

and start the apricot gel for the main course.

(MUTTERS)

MELANIE: She seems stressed.

Only 30 minutes left.

My main, I have to start searing the duck,

so that might be a job that I'm doing WHILE I'm serving my entrees.

Great work, Billie!

MICHAEL: You're on a roll now, Sarah.

SARAH: This is the last one. Great.

I've finished peeling my scampi

but I still need to make my salsa, blowtorch my scampi, and plate.

For my salsa, I've got finely diced shallots, chive, coconut, vinegar,

finger lime and some fried garlic.

This is going to add a really beautiful freshness

and I think it's just gonna really finish off the dish.

ANDY: We've got a restaurant full of hungry diners

and service starts in one minute.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

SHANNON: Wow, look at that. Looks like squid ink.

It's like a car oil, even. (LAUGHS)

Amazing.

Mmm. Wow. Smoky?

Really smoky.

Shannon's a big fan of the smoked paperbark oil

and I'm so happy with that.

Good boy, Dan.

Service is about to start,

so I've taken the cured kingfish out of the fridge.

I've just gotta wash the cure off now, pat-dry them

and then I need to slice it, ready for service.

Bang.

ALL: Ten, nine, eight, seven,

six, five, four,

three, two, one!

JOCK: That's it! (APPLAUSE)

Oh.

I've been running around like mad for this last four hours

and now it's time to start sending out the entrees,

but I didn't quite get everything done in those four hours,

so while I'm cooking these duck breasts,

I'm also sending out my entrees.

Service, please.

Great work, Billie.

ALDO: Come on, Billie. Looks amazing. Come on.

I've gotta watch these...

SHANNON: Once you've done these, they're OK for the moment,

but I would try and turn them down even more.

The duck? Yep.

Just so they're nearly ready to carve.

Yep, OK.

I'm running back and forth from the entree service to these duck breasts.

This is not ideal,

but I didn't want to wait until just before mains service

to perfectly cook these ducks.

Thank you.

I can hear the sizzle of the skin and hear the fat coming out.

I'm sending out these entrees

and I can't give my full attention to these duck breasts.

(SIZZLING)

DANIEL: Prepped, ready for service now.

The way I'm gonna be plating it is

I'm doing a spiral of the coconut emulsion,

then I'll be spreading out, layering the kingfish.

On top of that, I'll be laying three rounds of the pickled onion.

Then dripping on the paperbark oil

and then garnishing with a few little garnishes of kaffir lime

and micro coriander.

SHANNON: You're a chef now. (CHUCKLES)

Service!

(CHEERING) Yes, Dan!

Thank you.

I'm really stoked with the way the kingfish came together in the end.

I wanted it to somehow reflect home.

Like, put a lot of myself in it, and I hope they like it,

I really do.

Whoa.

MELISSA: Oop.

Thank you. Thank you.

ANDY: Yeah, right. OK.

Didn't expect it to look like that.

It actually looks really, really good.

Yeah.

So, this is the entree from Daniel - lemon-myrtle-cured kingfish,

coconut emulsion, charred and pickled red onion and the paperbark oil.

Wow.

Yeah. Presentation's fantastic.

I agree.

What about this guy? Huh?

The smoked black dressing is bloody delicious.

I don't know how he does it.

He looks like...a tornado.

You know? And there's a lot of work here.

He spent a lot of time on that kingfish

that he cured in lemon myrtle, salt and sugar for just the right time.

The coconut emulsion has kind of a zingy yet rich kind of quality to it

and then you have that gorgeous, smoky paperbark.

The texture of that kingfish was beautiful.

It's a fantastic dish. It's a real triumph for Daniel.

BILLIE: I'm really quite rushing to get these entrees out.

I'm really happy with the mussels, but

I'm really not happy with how they look.

It looks clumsy and not well thought through at all.

Service, please.

Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

But I feel like I have bigger fish to fry.

I need to concentrate more on this duck breast for the main course.

So I just hope the flavours that I've got into everything are there.

JOCK: Amazing. Thank you. MELISSA: Hello. Thank you.

ANDY: Thank you.

Gentlemen, we have our entree from Billie.

Mussels with pea and horseradish soup.

Yeah, I'm on the fence.

I mean, there's some lovely technique here,

the soup has a beautiful texture.

Yeah.

The balance is an issue.

It's too far on the acid side,

and that really hasn't let the horseradish shine through.

The mussels have been cooked obviously in wine

and it's now hanging around

as quite a prominent flavour in the soup itself.

What I will say, though, is the mussels are beautifully cooked.

It's an interesting one. I'm not altogether sure I love it.

The balance is out, and we never see that from Billie.

Never.

Alright, we're good to go.

I need to get this entree out.

I've got my scampis done, I've blowtorched them.

Adding my salsa, a little bit of lemon zest,

and then the consomme is gonna be poured at the table.

OK, service!

I'm so happy with the flavour of this dish.

It's been such a struggle to get this done.

But I really need to push hard now

because I have spent so long on this entree,

I've fallen behind with my main

and I've got less than 45 minutes to get it out.

JOCK: Thank you.

Ooh, wow.

From Sarah, her entree of scampi, curry, salsa on top.

I am...

..mystified how she managed to do that.

I thought this dish was never gonna come together.

Not only has it come together, it is absolutely stunning.

Full flavoured, but it's not overpowering

to the point where you can't taste the scampi anymore.

And then that little salsa,

it's, like, zesty, it's oniony, it's herby and finger limey -

those little pops of onion and finger lime together

along with the scampi and then the clean broth,

it's just delicious.

Look at the consomme, it's so clear,

it belies the amount of flavour that's going on.

You know, it's spice-laden and it's really, really beautifully balanced.

When you get seafood that's prepped like that, that's all you want,

and she's really stripped it right back, given us three elements

and knocked it out of the park.

Service!

Yes, Dan. (APPLAUSE)

The last of the entree plates go out and it's straight onto the next step.

How do you feel after that entree?

I feel like one-third of the way done. (LAUGHS)

OK.

Mains is gonna start soon.

I'm probably gonna have to eat into the mains service time

because I still have to... do so much for my dessert.

The sorbet is out of the churner, tastes really nice,

super smooth and creamy.

Now I've just gotta put it into an ice-cream tray

and get that into the freezer.

Now it's time to do my tarte Tatins.

Oh, there's rum in it. Dan, it's smelling really good, man.

A good tarte Tatin to me is

the fruit's cooked beautifully tender underneath

and the caramel goes up the sides and the pastry soaks it up,

and it gets, like, nice and chewy -

easily my favourite dessert.

But it just comes down to cooking time

and making sure that it caramelises properly.

Tartes are looking really good. I'm excited about 'em.

Just gotta finish balancing my curry,

quickly cook this fish, and then that's it.

BILLIE: Service, please.

ALDO: Well done, Billie!

That looks ridiculously good, Billie.

No. No, go home. Go home.

I have all my elements ready for the main course.

I have the radicchio, I have the apricot gel,

I have the apricot and duck sauce,

and the only thing I have to do now is to slice into these duck breasts

and see how they're cooked.

It's the biggest part of the main dish, so I'm very nervous right now.

Oh!

Bugger.

I slice into the first duck breast

and, while there's still a blush of pink there,

it's definitely overcooked.

It's... Yeah, it's not good.

ALVIN: How's it look?

ALI: A touch over. Oh.

Oh, Billie.

My heart is sinking right now.

It's a big mistake. It's a really big mistake.

Could be, yeah, big enough to send me home.

Oh, shit.

BILLIE: I can't believe I've overcooked my duck breasts.

I think I let the pressure get into my head.

I was focusing so much on dessert.

SHANNON: How did you go? Did you cut one?

I did. It's a little... It's a little bit over.

It's a little bit over there but the skin's down...

You'll get a bit of heat from this.

Yeah, I know.

There's nothing I can do about this duck breast

and no way I have time to cook anything else,

so I'm just gonna have to go with it.

It's devastating, seeing those pieces of duck,

knowing that they're overcooked.

But as I'm plating this dish,

I know the other elements of the main, I'm really happy with.

Service, please.

I'm just gonna have to trust the slip-up with the duck

won't cost me my place here.

ANDY: Ooh, we got some duck.

JOCK: Ooh-hoo-hoo. Thank you.

That doesn't look medium. No.

Thank you.

So...

..this is Billie's main of apricot duck, roasted radicchio.

I'm gutted for her.

That's... Look how cooked it is down one half.

You can see it's grey at the top

and then it's slightly pink towards the base.

It's a shame for Billie.

Like, I'm really gutted for her because if you look at the bottom,

you could kind of get away with medium,

you know, it's, like, just in that medium category.

But the bit up the top is definitely just over.

Rendering...best I've seen in the MasterChef kitchen, ever.

Sauce - delicious, fantastic.

Clean flavour but also deliciously sort of smooth and fatty

and...and really, really glossy and beautiful.

I love the freshness and the tartness in her apricot puree.

It sort of has this sharpness that it needs and it almost gives the dish

its fresh element that kind of brings everything together.

And then the radicchio was absolutely perfect -

the right amount of char that you want

and then that really soft sort of fleshy texture

to the rest of the radicchio itself.

There's nothing wrong with any of the other elements...

Nup.

..other than the cuisson on the duck.

So apart from the duck, we've got a perfect plate of food.

Yeah.

But we don't have a piece of duck, so where does that leave Billie?

Service, please.

How good does a beer sound, Sarah?

Oh! I think a bottle of champagne for me.

Bottle of champers?

Yeah. 'Cause I'm a bit more bourge than you.

(CHUCKLES)

ALDO: Sarah, check the lamb.

For my main, my dish is inspired by a saagwala,

so it's lamb with a spinach puree.

Go, Sarah. Come on.

I've got my saag on the go,

I'm cooking my lamb at the same time.

Let's hustle, Sarah!

I'm feeling pretty frazzled right now

and we only have 45 minutes to get out each course.

There is still a lot to be done.

(WHISTLES)

SHANNON: Burning the bloody hairs on my arms.

Plenty of heat in this one.

I realise the time's getting away with me

and I really need to get this fish on.

OK, have you tested one?

I don't have time to do a tester piece.

You've done this before, right? Yes.

Yeah. Done.

So I put all the fish on the hibachi at the same time.

Cannot stuff it up now.

Like, you know, that skin. Yeah.

It's gonna curl no matter what.

Have you seasoned it? Yes.

OK.

I reckon this one's not far off ready.

I can smell it.

Smell it starting to char?

No, no, careful. Yeah.

Sticking. Sticking.

Oh, of course it sticks.

The old fish-and-hibachi thing has got me again.

Knew it would happen.

I just don't have time for this to be sticking right now,

and that's what they're all doing.

I'm worried about how I'm gonna fix this.

Like, what do we do now?

ALDO: Come on, Dan, come on!

BILLIE: Final four. OK.

Service, please.

Those two.

My last mains leave the pass and it's a big relief.

I'm excited about this dessert

and I think I have time to really perfect it.

(EXHALES) Just need to make the coconut snow.

I need to make the coconut snow.

Go, Billie.

I imagine this lamington just looking quite plain on the plate,

so it's just a chocolate-covered cube.

But the idea is that cutting in, you get that really rich, creamy mousse,

that nice sorbet

and the coconut snow as well, which adds a bit of fun.

It wouldn't be semifinals without a bit of liquid nitrogen,

and, yeah, I'm pulling out all the stops

to try and make it through to the grand final.

Oh, wow.

She's so organised.

OK, that's good.

Dan, Sarah...

..no more time now, I want mains up.

Let's go. Everyone.

Mains away. Come on, your plates leaving the pass.

MINDY: No mains have gone out for Dan or for Sarah,

and Billie's finished her mains.

Come on, Sarah!

MICHAEL: I think he and Sarah are both in a bit of strife.

JULIE: It's driving me mental how long that's taking.

Service starts, which to me means... service starts, you know,

diners should be getting food, and Billie's doing that.

BILLIE: Final course.

Billie is ready to serve her dessert,

Daniel and Sarah are not sending out their mains.

(SARAH SIGHS)

ALDO: Sarah, call service. I'm not ready.

DANIEL: We almost have ready for one plate, almost.

JULIE: Things are starting to sort of fall over a bit for them.

MICHAEL: I don't think Sarah and Dan are gonna get done.

Argh! I need to hold someone.

Wow, half an hour into main service and we have not seen a single plate

come out for Daniel OR for Sarah at this point.

That's very worrying.

If they finish service late, we're gonna have to judge it accordingly.

DANIEL: Oh, my God, where am I at?

So I'm now late for service

and the diners and the judges are waiting for their mains.

Oh, man.

Every piece of fish was over the hibachi just stuck to the thing.

SHANNON: Oh, my God. Yeah, oh, man.

And now I'm thinking it's probably 'cause I sous-vided it,

it's probably moistened the skin too much.

I shouldn't have done this. Argh. Oh.

MELANIE: You've got this, Dan!

You've gotta push. Yeah. I know, mate, yeah.

I've gotten myself out of sticky situations before.

This is a terrible feeling, but...I can get through it.

Where's all my...bloody...

The way I'm gonna try and unpeel it is get a palette knife underneath

and just sort of wiggle it underneath and pop it off.

Oh, shit.

It seems to work, but the skin's not charring up the way I want it to.

(SIGHS HEAVILY) You got this, Dan!

It's gonna have to do. It's all I can do right now.

I've gotta get something out.

You gotta start serving.

I just need to cut 'em and portion 'em, and then it's done.

Go, go, go. (ALL CHEER)

MAX: Let's go, Dan! Come on, mate.

ALDO: Come on, Sarah Todd. Come ON!

I'm really behind here and it's not great.

Oh, my God.

I need to check.

Tastes good though.

I'm really happy with the flavours

and I think everything works really well together.

Come on, Sarah!

So I'm plating one dollop of saag, two pieces of lamb,

finishing it with that beautiful shredded lamb and my jus.

OK, service.

When diners are waiting for their next course,

they get quite frustrated

and this is definitely going to be taken into consideration

with the judging.

Oh, God.

So this dish needs to be perfect.

Beautiful!

You've got just six more plates, Sarah. Come on!

SHANNON: Yeah, nice. DANIEL: It's very moist.

Yeah, it's beautiful.

The mains are finally going out.

Service.

I'm hopeful that the flavours are good enough to get me through.

Five more plates. OK.

It tastes what it's supposed to taste like

but it's just not as good as it can be.

Service! (APPLAUSE)

Well done, Dan! Well done, Dan!

Thanks, guys. Love you.

MELISSA AND JOCK: Thank you.

OK. So we have our main from Daniel -

barbecued coral trout, coastal curry sauce.

How's your cuisson looking?

My fish is actually nicely cooked.

Yeah, yours looks good.

It's glistening.

Start with the fish 'cause it's a little bit...

..to the reverse of Billie, isn't it?

Um, the cuisson on the fish was beautiful.

It was, like, still glistening, super shiny and great,

but then you get to the skin.

Because he's gone really hard on it, hasn't had time to, like, crisp up,

so it's really rubbery.

It's sort of somewhere in the middle for me.

The curry sauce is not perfectly balanced.

The fish, the skin, not an overly pleasing thing.

I'm a little bit disappointed, I'm a little bit left wanting here.

I kind of enjoyed the curry sauce with the fish.

Obviously, not the skin.

It definitely reeks of a dish made in haste.

Yep.

But I've gotta say, what he did put on the plate, except for that,

was pretty good.

OK, service.

We're getting some lamb.

Thank you. Thank you.

OK, an unfortunately late main of lamb, saag and spiced jus from Sarah.

My lamb's nicely cooked.

OK, Sarah's slightly late lamb dish, it was worth the wait, I reckon.

The lamb is cooked perfectly.

But for me, the stars, weirdly, is not the lamb loin at all,

I REALLY enjoyed that saag.

Pairing that with that spiced jus, it is genius.

And that was what we were looking for with Sarah -

to be able to bring that French technique and Indian flavours

and merge them, and she definitely has.

Such a beautiful nuance of flavour within it.

And then you look at the spice jus as well, it's very complex.

It was a very smart main course.

Very, very tasty.

My lamb was cooked perfectly.

It was just not on time.

Home stretch!

HARRY: Home stretch, Billie. ALVIN: Home stretch, baby!

Whoa! Home stretch.

I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

We are so close to finishing this insane challenge.

And all I have to do is send out these desserts.

Service, please.

Plating up is pretty simple for this dessert.

I put the lamington in the middle of the plate

and scatter around some of the coconut feuilletine mixture

and then put a huge spoonful of the coconut snow on top.

Ooh. I went heavy-handed on that one.

Thank you.

Hi. ANDY: Ooh.

JOCK AND MELISSA: Thank you.

Wow! This looks very cool.

This is Billie's dessert of lamington.

It looks pretty cool. Huh? Yeah. I think so too.

(CRUNCH!) Oh-ho, yeah!

Whoo! I'm into that.

Look at that!

What are we calling this? Coconut snow.

Wow. What a dessert.

That's crazy, that one.

What a dessert. (LAUGHS)

That was a cracking dish.

Absolutely loved it.

A really, really different take on a lamington.

The chocolate mousse - great flavour,

really nice aeration through the mousse.

Beautiful little centre to that as well, um, cherry.

And then round the outside,

that feuilletine all crumbled up with the coconut snow.

I mean, there's nothing to complain about here. No.

All of these flavours and these textures have a sense of nostalgia

and play about them,

and we know that when Billie is firing on all cylinders

and she's able to kind of take that inspiration

and then really pair it with perfect technique,

she can achieve dessert greatness.

I think it screams of a dish that has been worked on

throughout the whole cook.

She's executed it perfectly and that's all you can ask for

when you're cooking three courses in a service challenge.

Service, please.

ALVIN: Yes, Billie! Yes! Oh, yay. I'm finished.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Yes, Billie!

Well done, Billie!

Thank you.

All of my mains are out and it's time for dessert.

Where's your mousse? Mousse, yeah.

Get your mousse ready.

I've made my mousse, so that is ready to go.

Ginger crumb is done.

I have poached my pears.

I just need to put it all together.

Still not quite there.

Those pears have been in the water bath for over three hours

and they're not quite cooked through.

Oh, my God.

I've already put myself behind with service

and this could mean that I'm gonna be late with dessert as well.

You think just chuck it in the pot for a little bit longer?

You haven't got time. Really?

No. No way.

I think this will be what sends me home.

Oh, God.

Applications for next season are now open.

Go on! Get on it!

Must be getting pretty late now.

Come on.

Still not quite there.

SARAH: Those pears have been in the water bath for over three hours

and they're not quite cooked through.

Goddamn!

I'm already behind.

There is nothing I can do at this point,

I have to serve.

I've got my pears on the plate,

one dollop of my mousse with some spiced ginger crumb...

Oops.

..and a caramel.

ALDO: Come on, Sarah! Hustle!

Service.

I'm now really questioning, you know, is it enough?

MELISSA AND JOCK: Thank you.

Dessert from Sarah.

Masala chai pears.

JOCK: This is a great dessert.

I loved the spice combination that's going on in it.

Tastes fantastic.

It's got that touch of Sarah that she does - that spice.

Really good, but the pear, it's undercooked.

I mean, mine was pretty undercooked.

I'm just looking at yours, Andy, you had a bigger bit of pear than I did

so that must be... It's crunchy.

That must be really crunchy.

It's really not a texture that is either here nor there,

it's not fresh and crunchy, it's not tender and poached,

it's somewhere in between.

Unfortunately, she's left the door open with the dessert.

Where will that leave her today? We'll soon find out.

SHANNON: Let's go, Dan. You've gotta catch up.

You clean everything down, and send, OK?

(ALL CHEER)

Bang. Straight out.

Thank Christ for that.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

I just hope the puff pastry is cooked perfectly, there's enough caramel,

the pineapple is nice and tender.

You've got your sorbet made, yeah? Yeah, it's done.

You gotta hurry. It's in the freezer.

Now I've just gotta get my sorbet out.

I just wanna double-check the consistency for it.

So I go to the freezer to grab it...

..then I'm, like, surely I didn't put it in the blast chiller.

Oh, I left it in the blast chiller! What's wrong?

Oh. I left my sorbet in the blast chiller.

There it is...

Oh!

..a solid block of sorbet.

You've gotta go, Dan.

Like, could you cut chunks and then fix it?

In the history I've been doing this, everyone's got all the plates up.

You can do it! ALDO: Come on, Dan!

It can be done. Come on.

(SMASH!) Oh, my God.

Be really neat. OK? Really neat.

Two, four, six, eight, 10, 12...

You gotta go. Gotta go. Service.

All the plates up.

(SIGHS)

I feel terrible.

I'm the last person to send the desserts out.

Thank you. Thank you.

Oh, dear.

Sauce.

From Daniel,

his dessert of rum caramel and pineapple tarte Tatin.

You got the best-looking one over there.

Um...this was meant to be with a coconut sorbet.

Yep.

It's a dessert that kinda... exemplifies his cook.

It's great on paper...

..and a great idea, but...

..the execution just isn't there.

And it's because he's been on the back foot

basically the whole four hours of prep.

There's some good work going on here,

but, unfortunately, there's just a lot of attention to detail

lost today in this dessert.

This is dangerous territory.

I really feel for him.

(SIGHS) You know?

Unbelievable entree, pretty good main course, fail on the dessert.

Yep.

SARAH: Congratulations, guys.

Oh. Well done, you two.

Wow. That was crazy.

Wow, is everyone really sore?

Yeah. I've got a shin splint. I don't know where that came from.

Oh.

Well, I think we just witnessed

how hard a three-course service challenge is for the semifinals.

We really need to kind of weigh up

whose flaws outweigh other people's flaws

to decide who's going to end up in our grand finale.

Yeah. It's not clear-cut, is it? No.

I think we've got a very, very big decision to make.

That was the service challenge to end all service challenges.

Shannon... (LAUGHS)

..I'm sure these three appreciated you being here as much as we do.

Yes.

For me, uh, you should be all very proud. Extremely proud.

Thank you. Thanks, Shannon.

Put your hands together for Shannon Bennett!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

First and foremost, this was a service challenge.

We can't ignore that fact.

And some of your courses were late.

Daniel and Sarah, both your mains and desserts were tardy.

That can't be overlooked.

Let's get down to the food.

We'll start with the entrees.

Billie, we were excited about your entree

and though the mussels were sensationally cooked,

the flavours of your dish were out of balance.

We were left a bit confused. OK.

Daniel.

That kingfish was cured beautifully.

And the play between the coconut emulsion

and the paperbark oil was unbelievable, mate.

Well done.

Thank you. Thanks, guys. Good on you, Dan.

Sarah.

The scampi were perfectly cooked.

The broth was clean and complex

and the salsa was bright, fresh and acidic.

It was you at your very best.

Well done. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

When it came to the mains,

unfortunately, none of your dishes were flawless.

Billie, everything on the plate was perfect...

..except the duck was overcooked.

Mm-hm. Yep.

Daniel, the fish itself, mate, it was cooked beautifully.

But the skin, it was stretchy.

Sarah, the flavours in your dish,

they were rich and complex

but you were also late for service.

Now to desserts.

Billie.

Your lamington was perfect. We wouldn't change a thing. Well done.

Thank you. On you, Billie.

Sarah, your pears were undercooked.

Daniel...

..that dessert...

..was not your finest work.

And while the flavours were good,

the execution was well off the mark.

This...combined with the fact

that two of your dishes were served late...

..is the reason why, I'm so sorry, Daniel, you're going home.

(WOMEN SIGH)

It's all good. (CHUCKLES)

Oh, shit. It's fine. It's fine.

JOCK: Ah, Daniel.

Mate, it's been an honour, watching you grow.

Your progress throughout this competition has been extraordinary.

We've loved having you in the kitchen.

Have you enjoyed being here? Surely.

I've loved every minute of it.

I can't put it into words.

Like, I genuinely never expected even to make it here,

let alone make it this far.

It's been so hard.

(LAUGHTER) Seriously, so, so hard.

Like, the work and effort I've put in, it's paid off tenfold.

And I honestly hold all of that to everyone here and to you guys.

Yeah, I'm very proud of myself.

Well, Daniel, you're a credit to not only yourself

but this competition.

But for now, it's time to say goodbye, buddy.

This is the best bit. ANDY: Oh, he's gonna bear hug me!

He's gonna bear hug me!

(LAUGHTER)

Well done, mate.

Oh. You did the Territory proud, you know that. Keep cooking.

I made top three. Like...

How cool is that? I made top three.

Oh! Well done, guys.

I've genuinely fallen in love with food in a different way

since being here, in a way that I never expected.

Proud of you, mate. Thanks, mate. Thank you.

To me, that's an amazing prize on its own and I'm so thankful.

ANDY: Billie and Sarah...

..you've been dreaming about it since day one

and you have done it.

You two are into the MasterChef grand finale for 2022!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Thank you. Thanks, Shannon.

(BOTH LAUGH) Which way do we go?

ANNOUNCER: Tomorrow night on MasterChef Australia,

it's all come down to this.

Will Sarah take the title?

SARAH: That dream of winning MasterChef is finally within reach.

Or can Billie make history...

Is this the dish you wanted to bring us in the finale?

..by winning for a second time?

And... Please welcome...

Oh, my God.

..one huge mega star.

..Heston Blumenthal!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Captions by Red Bee Media