Original subtitles

NARRATOR: Previously on MasterChef Australia...

..our home cooks took on titans of the industry...

From Serai in Melbourne, Ross Magnaye and his team!

Let's go!

..in a whole week of David versus Goliath battles.

CATH: We're taking on the professionals at their own game.

They bravely tried to win bragging rights and immunity...

BRENT: I've just gotta back myself and go for it.

ROSS: It's a challenge. I'm competitive, bro. We wanna win.

..with dishes that were out of this world.

JOCK: That is delicious. It's so good.

MELISSA: Flawless. Absolutely incredible dish.

But three times out of four, the professionals prevailed.

Oh! (LAUGHS)

Tonight... (DRAMATIC CHORAL MUSIC)

..a demonstration...

ADI: This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

..and an elimination with a global superstar.

(UPBEAT MUSIC)

CATH: We deep-breathe. MALISSA: Yep. Breathe in.

Yeah. Just breathe in.

(EXHALES) Breathe out. (LAUGHS)

Yeah. RUE: How are you feeling, Ralphie?

Well, you know, kinda a bit nervous. Yeah.

It's black-apron day.

BRENT: What's it gonna be? Hey?

Good luck today, guys!

Maybe if we all do well, they'll just let us all stay.

ADI: Yeah, wouldn't that be nice? (LAUGHS)

PHIL: Looking around at the cooks that are here,

it's getting stiffer and stiffer competition.

In. (APPLAUSE AND CHEERING)

The dishes are getting better.

The level of flavours and complexity that people are putting up.

Morning! Good morning!

It'll be tough to stay in the competition from here on out.

Good morning, everyone. ALL: Good morning!

(LAUGHS) All this week, you've been head-to-head against the pros

and, unfortunately, you're standing here today

because you were unable to beat them in a classic MasterChef challenge.

But don't be disheartened

because today you are in for a little surprise.

Ooh!

Today, we're being joined by someone we all know and love.

RALPH: Ooh.

He owns a string of renowned restaurants,

two of which sit on the coast of NSW.

(CONTESTANTS MUTTER)

They're beloved for serving fresh, simple seafood.

He's an unlikely celebrity chef

and has been gracing our screens since 1985.

Oh, wow.

With over 25 cookbooks and over 30 TV programs...

..of course you know who I'm talking about,

it's Rick Stein!

(ALL CHEER)

(RAUCOUS APPLAUSE AND CHEERING)

CATH: What?! THE Rick Stein! It's just...

I'm just jumping for joy.

(CATH SQUEALS EXCITEDLY)

(CATH SCREAMS)

Morning.

That's him! That's him!

ADI: My mum loves him!

Hello, mate! Good to see you. Good to see you.

Come on!

Rick, welcome back to the MasterChef kitchen.

Lovely to be back, I must say.

How have you been? Yeah, really well.

Travel back on? Yes.

Tell me somewhere far-flung that you've been recently.

Well, I haven't been anywhere apart...

Oh, yeah, I went to Iceland.

Oh, Ice... Pfft! It wasn't very nice.

(RALPH MUTTERS) That's for fishing with my boys.

Wow. And where else have I been?

France, of course, Greece, Italy, Spain. It was nice.

You join us every year.

You stand here, you're looking at a whole new line-up of contestants.

What do you think when you see all these new fresh faces?

As I'm a bit of an old dude,

what I really like about younger people

is just their...their enthusiasm and their hope

and their sort of expectations out of life, you know.

It just invigorates me.

Adi, you're smiling ear to ear. Big fan of Rick?

Big fan of yours, Rick.

I feel like I've got your show on, like, almost all the time.

Your food always feels really accessible,

but you're also really respectful of where it comes from,

which I really appreciate.

I'm just so thrilled that you're here.

(LAUGHS)

Well! (LAUGHS)

Today, Rick is gonna show us one of his cooking secrets.

Rick, what are you gonna show us?

Well, I'm gonna actually clean a squid for you

because it's much better, if you can, to buy a whole squid.

Basically because they look so beautiful,

it just enthuses you and I think that's true about produce generally.

If it looks good, it makes you cook better, you know?

So, I just want to do justice to it.

Rick Stein, who I've only ever seen on television,

and now he's giving us a masterclass.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Look at those.

(WHISTLES) Beautiful.

I don't think I need to tell you just how fresh those are.

But I will tell you how fresh they are.

(LAUGHTER)

And, um, what I'm looking at is the sheen on them.

They've got a wonderful shine about them.

Beautiful.

So, I'm going to show you how to prepare one.

You have the head, the tentacles and the body.

And the first thing to do

is just to pull the head and tentacles away from the body.

Like that.

And out will come all the innards.

PHIL: Rick is great. He's kinda like the David Attenborough of food.

He's just got that soothing voice and he just engages you right away.

And find the little backbone to the squid and pull that out too.

There it is.

Getting a squid demo from the seafood man himself - how good!

Life's good.

Now, then, I'm gonna cut the tentacles away

from just in front of the eyes like that.

That's good.

What we want to do now is just squeeze this

and get the little beak and we cut that out.

RALPH: I love eating squid, but I've never cooked squid before.

So, I'm trying to take in as much as I can

so that I can actually try and perfect this.

You can eat the skin. It's perfectly edible.

And it looks good if you want a bit of a rugged finish to your dish.

But today I'm gonna take it off.

Just find a bit of purchase

and just pull it...pull it off.

THEO: I'm pretty comfortable with squid.

I just love the way he's going about it,

cleaning his, because I often don't take skin off

and, yeah, I just love watching him work, it's great.

I'm gonna just show you two ways of preparing the tube.

The easiest way and the most common way

would be to cut them into rings, which is just like that.

This is so tender, this. You're gonna love cooking with it.

And you can cut them a bit wider if you like and cook them simply

and don't overcook them.

Aim for about a minute, no more. 30 seconds to a minute.

Of course, the other way

is you just do a little diamond pattern across like that.

As you cook them, they'll curl up in that really attractive way.

Whoo! (APPLAUSE)

And there are zero prizes for guessing

what round 1 is actually about.

CATH: Yeah.

You're gonna be cooking with calamari.

(CONTESTANTS LAUGH)

Use what you've just learnt

and bring us a quick and delicious calamari dish.

You'll have a total of 45 minutes

to bring us something absolutely delicious.

Whew! OK.

And the four least impressive dishes in round 1,

they'll send their makers into round 2

from where one of you will go home.

(TENSE MUSIC)

So, make the most of your time because it starts now!

MALISSA: Ohh! Let's go!

Oh, have fun, guys. Have fun, guys, cooking for Rick.

PHIL: Mate, just cook good, just cook good.

I need pepper, pepper, pepper, pepper.

Today I'm making salt and pepper squid.

The reason for that is it's the only squid I've eaten

and it's the only squid I can kind of familiarise flavours with.

Has anyone seen shallots?

Pardon? What are you looking for? Shallots.

Yeah, over here. Jeez. It was right in front of me.

If it was a snake, it would have bitten me.

MALISSA: Where's the fish sauce?

ADI: Um....fish sauce is here. Oh, thanks, darling.

CATH: Oh!

Seafood is not my strength.

But I'm really excited about pushing myself.

Alright, come on, Cath. Let's get to it now.

Being a black-apron day today, I really wanna think outside the box.

(SIGHS) OK.

CATH: Just relax. Enjoy it.

Just have fun. Have fun!

Yep.

Awesome. Look where you are.

Rick Stein's in the house.

Rick has just highlighted how beautiful and fresh this squid is.

Let's go. This is gonna be epic!

So I'm gonna do just a little squid ceviche

with some, um, tropical flavours.

Really fresh and zesty.

Alright, OK, let's go for it.

(MUTTERS)

Let's get this tricky skin off, shall we?

Now, this is gonna be the important, Cath.

(TENSE MUSIC)

PHIL: The skin is an absolute nightmare.

THEO: Yeah, I'm not taking it off.

I think I've got some ink.

Yeah. Beauty.

So, what are you looking for? What are we looking for?

Less ingredients. Yeah.

You know, like, I think that's gonna be the key today

to make the squid shine.

I'd do a som tam and... Yeah. Beautiful.

That's what I'd do.

And really lightly cook the squid and fold it through that salad.

Yeah. Like, really sharp, really punchy.

Or the best tempura going, you know.

Yeah.

Like, gossamer-thin tempura... Yeah.

..dropped in the oil and out.

The world is your oyster. You can do anything at all with it.

Everywhere from raw through to a slow braise.

Yeah. Yeah. And everything in between.

ANTONIO: Let's go, Rue, let's go, Rue!

RUE: I have decided to do a seafood stew.

I just want this to get as much flavour as it can

in a short amount of time.

The shells of the prawns and the heads of the prawns,

they have so much flavour.

If I can get as much of that in my stew, that would be awesome.

So I've picked a small pot and I'm doing everything in small portions.

Feels like... I think I need salt.

Rue, this is Rick. Hello!

Hi, Rue. (LAUGHS) I know.

You know?

Good. I know.

I am fangirling hard. Oh.

The smells... Really good.

..from your bench are... OK.

..very good. There's prawn heads in there too.

OK, yeah, so I'm making a prawn stew

and I was thinking I would cook my squid in the sauce.

That's interesting, actually. Yeah?

I mean, if you get it right, it'll be lovely.

(LAUGHS) Yeah. Sorry to be...

No, no. I think that that's fair.

So, um, I'm trying to pack as much flavour as I can

and I'll reduce it a little bit with some tomatoes

and then I am going to quickly blitz it.

Hopefully I'm not taking on too much.

There's not a lot of liquid in there, so it will...

Condense. ..concentrate quite quickly.

Yeah. Make it a good one.

Thanks, Mel. OK. Cheers.

Yep.

I'm hoping that this plate of food actually proves to the judges

that I can pack a lot of flavour in a stew in 45 minutes.

All we need is one delicious squid dish.

You've only got 30 minutes to do it!

RHIANNON: Yeah, go, guys! Whoo!

RALPH: Whoo-hoo! 30 minutes. Jesus.

THEO: I am cooking peri-peri squid because I love the flavours

and you can cook the squid very quickly on the fire,

which just really imparts that smoky flavour, which I love.

RHIANNON: Go, Gracie.

Um, so I'm making an ajvar sauce with squid on top.

Ajvar is a traditional Croatian sauce.

Velvety capsicum and eggplant.

It's sweet but it's a little bit, um, smoky from the charring.

It's a feast for the eyes, anyway. That's right.

Look at this pan of joy! Yeah, a little, uh...

Oh, it's lovely. I love the curry leaves in there.

I'm gonna, uh, do sort of a bit of a Sri Lankan spin on the squid.

Ol' curry, very alive, fragrant. Yeah.

It's just a sauce, the squid and then some, um, crispy curry leaves.

RHIANNON: Go, Declan.

DECLAN: As soon as I saw Rick Stein walk through the doors,

I've just put so much pressure on myself

because I'm the seafood guy

and Rick is an idol of mine...

You know what? I'm not sure it makes a lot of difference.

..in the way he works with seafood.

It's awesome to have, um, Rick here and I'm doing something that I love,

so, you know, I've taken a lot on board the last few weeks

and it's just, like, simplicity is key.

Yeah, I just really wanna not take away

from...from how beautiful and great squid is to work with, yeah.

Fish and...and seafood is something I'm so confident with

and I'm in my element.

RHIANNON: What are you doing, Dec?

Just gonna tenderise it to start.

Yeah.

I juice kiwifruits. Marinate the squid in that kiwifruit juice.

It's a method that I do at home to tenderise it.

MELISSA: Hello, Declan. Hello.

Hi, Declan. Rick, how are you?

Good.

One fish-obsessive to another. The pleasure is mine.

Oh. (LAUGHS)

And for you, Mel. Always a pleasure. Thank you so much.

Lots going on here. Yeah!

Yeah. Yeah, it's coming together. Fill us in.

So I'm just gonna do a squid on the hibachi.

Yeah.

I've got a little lemon, uh, ginger dressing.

And then I've got some pork. Some pork chorizo.

What do you think about the flavour combo?

As soon as you put chorizo with something,

you're compromising everything else.

Yeah.

Taking a risk? Yeah.

I really wanna impress Rick, but he's not sure about my dish

and now I'm building up with a head noise

and putting a lot of pressure on myself.

It's just all a bit overwhelming.

you're compromising everything else.

Yeah.

Taking a risk? Yeah.

I've got so much pressure on myself to impress Rick.

Thank you very much.

But risk on a black-apron day this far into the competition,

I'm pulling out of that.

I'm ditching the pork sausage, the chorizo.

It's such a strong flavour

and I want to emphasise the sweetness of the squid.

I'm just gonna stick with what I know and that's squid.

I know I still need that salty element brought into the dish.

So I grab some anchovies

that I can crush up and put in my sauce I'm gonna baste that squid in.

I'm just hoping the flavours work well together.

I don't want to be in this round 2 cook.

I really need to up my game

and I need to put something good on the plate today.

(TENSE MUSIC)

So I'm gonna do a Maharastrian squid curry today.

Maharashtrian seafood curries are really punchy.

They have a lot of coconut and a lot of lime or tamarind or kokum,

lots of different tangy flavours

that really complement the seafood well.

Hi, Adi!

Hi, Mel. Hi, Rick. Hi, Adi. Hi.

Um, you just lit up when you heard the Rick Stein being bellowed.

Yeah. I needed to, like, pull myself together.

So, Rick, I'm originally from India,

but I actually have not cooked Indian food in this kitchen yet.

Really? Yeah.

How come? I don't know.

This is unheard of!

I like cooking from around the world.

Talk to us about why this dish.

So the state of India that I come from, which is called Maharashtra,

is really famous for seafood.

I know it well. It's coastal.

Filmed there. Yes, I'm sure you would.

Big on coconut and sour flavours.

The first great fish curries I had were in Goa.

Which is next door to Maharashtra. Next door to Maharashtra, yes.

So, I mean, and the tartness, I'm full of enthusiasm for that.

Bring it on home! I will. Thank you so much, guys!

Whoo-hoo-hoo!

Rick Stein in the house! It's Rick Stein.

Talking to me about my curry.

Oh, it's amazing, isn't it? Yeah.

Ooh!

I feel pressure making Indian food in this kitchen

because I so want to do it justice

and I want to make my family proud.

I was born in India,

but my parents moved to Australia when I was just a year old.

Growing up, I ate a lot of Indian food

and my mum was a fantastic cook.

But I never really learnt how to make it.

That's why I went and saw my grandma.

(SPEAKS FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

I recently went to India.

My grandma taught me how to, like, roll a chapati properly.

And I learnt curries from my whole extended family.

My heritage and India is such a diverse country

and even the food culture is so varied,

so I'm very proud of it.

RHIANNON: That smells amazing, Adi.

Thank you!

MasterChef Australia is a really big deal in India

and a lot of my family watch it,

so I really want to show them that, "Hey, I'm on this show.

"I'm cooking our food and I'm doing it well."

PHIL: Yes, Phil's using chillies.

Phil. Jock, Andy, how are we?

There's a bit going on here. First time with squid.

There is a bit. Tell us the dish.

I'm doing a confit scallops and squid.

I'm gonna make a little tomato vinaigrette number to pour through.

Is that what this is? No.

This is some cauliflower that I'm just giving a little pickle to.

It's also going to go into the dish.

Pickled cauliflower? Yes.

OK. Right.

And is this your little tomato number here?

Yes. Yes, it is. That's just the tomato juice for now.

Right. What are you gonna add to that?

'Cause it's literally tomato water right now.

These aromats. All that gear?

Yeah. Yeah. Wow. OK.

You have a bit going on. You've got so much to do.

I'm not talking to you any longer. OK. Thanks, guys.

I need to add the aromats into that tomato vinaigrette.

Calamari and scallop are a bit more on the meatier side

when it comes to seafood,

so I think they can stand up to those flavours

of the ginger, coriander, limes.

But if I don't balance those flavours

in the pickle and the vinaigrette,

then it could overpower the whole dish

and kind of dull the...the flavour of the...the squid.

Which is the main element of the challenge today.

It's a bit of a risk, but I'm going to give it my best shot

and cook my heart out.

Whoo! It's punchy.

You might be cooking with squid, but this is no game!

15 minutes to go! (APPLAUSE)

RHIANNON: Yeah! Go, guys! Come on! You're all going awesome!

CATH: Right. It's going very, very quickly.

Let's stir it.

RALPH: So today I'm making salt and pepper squid

with a chilli vinaigrette.

I'm going against Malissa right next to me

and we kinda got similar dishes.

Yeah, it's a bit daunting,

but I need to do the best I can and put my best foot forward.

MALISSA: Who doesn't love a good salt and pepper calamari?

It's something you'd eat on the beach.

It's something simple, but hopefully I can nail it.

So I am making a prawn stew with, um, some poached calamari.

Poached squid!

I'm tasting the stew so far.

And I'm liking the flavours that are in them.

Oh! Bloody hell.

But it tastes really prawny, I'm not gonna lie.

Hey, Rue. Hello.

Your dish is about calamari? Yes. So...

So you're making a prawn stew? (LAUGHS)

I'm confused.

The squid is being cooked in the stew.

OK. Yeah.

OK. OK.

Alright. Yeah?

Some decent flavour going on there. OK.

But you just don't want to, like, over...overtake the beautiful squid.

What this is about. OK. Seasoning, balance.

Make the calamari sing. OK.

Yeah. Yeah.

ANTONIO: Let's go, Rue! Oh, my gosh!

(SIGHS)

Is...is this the right dish?

Ahh! It's too late. Like, there's no time to change now.

I'm going to have to balance that sauce

to make sure that you're not tasting more prawn than squid.

You got sugar?

Yeah, I do. You need some? Oh, I got some of Ralph's.

(TENSE MUSIC)

I'm doing a charred squid on the hibachi.

Some fennel.

A little bit of watercress.

After a couple of alterations,

I'm going to be serving it with some blanched fennel and watercress

with anchovies and citrus dressing.

My squid goes on the hibachi

and this is the main element of today's dish,

so I really need to nail the cook on this squid.

Maybe a bit more on there.

I really want the squid to have that fresh, citrus punch to it.

So the hood comes off. I'm happy with the cook on that.

I take the tentacles off. So it is a bit of an uneven cook.

The hood's more consistent,

whereas some tentacles are sitting up a bit more,

sitting off on the side and stuff.

Come on and cook, cook, cook!

I've really got to leave it on there sort of till the last minute

till I know it's got a nice thorough cook.

CATH: I'm making the brine for my squid ceviche.

Even though you're eating the squid raw,

the brine does cook the squid a little bit.

Well, the pressure's on.

I'm just trying to cut up all... everything so finely and delicately.

I'm going to dice the squid quite small.

It is going to be sitting in this brine for about 3 to 4 minutes.

I'm excited about this. Yeah, same.

Do you know what? I am too! This could be an absolute banger.

I can see chilli, shallots, pineapple.

I can see lime. Yes.

Yep. Um, all beautifully prepared.

That dice looks absolutely stunning as well.

Cath, bring it together. Get yourself on the gantry.

I'm so excited! (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)

Five minutes to go! Let's go, guys! Come on! Hustle!

(APPLAUSE)

ADI: Today I'm doing a Maharashtrian squid curry

which is really tart and sour.

I really want to go hard

and make sure that I've cooked a really punchy, big dish

that is gonna keep me definitely safe from the bottom.

I just need to make sure that I can cook the squid perfectly.

I'm gonna poach my squid in the curry sauce itself.

Everything is down to the wire for me.

I'm so happy with these flavours now.

Yes!

It just needs a little hint more of sweetness to offset the sour.

So I'm just getting the sugar out...

Oh!

Oh, my God! It's way too much!

ADI: My curry paste... Yes!

..just needs a little hint more of sweetness.

Oh!

Why did you do that? Why did you do that?

I just hope that I've not stuffed up

all of this balance that I have spent so long working on.

'Cause an unbalanced curry means "Hello, round 2."

You've only got 10 minutes to go! Come on!

(APPLAUSE) RHIANNON: Yeah, go! Come on!

ANTONIO: Let's go!

Doing alright, brother? Yeah, mate.

Good man.

Let's do it. Let's do this, sweetie.

Come on. Give yourself enough time.

I've tried the ceviche.

Oh!

Awesome.

I'm delighted.

It's beautiful and fresh. I love the flavours.

(WHISPERS) Let's go. Let's go.

OK. It's OK. You can do this.

(NORMAL VOICE) It looks beautiful.

Feeling really proud.

JOCK: Time's almost up!

10...

ALL: 9, 8, 7,

6, 5, 4,

3, 2, 1!

That's it! (APPLAUSE)

(CHEERING)

My God!

Good job, brother. Good job. Looks delicious.

RUE: I think the cook on the squid is fine.

What I'm worried about is just the prawn sauce.

So I hope the sauce complements the squid

versus, um...overpowering the dish.

I hope I've done the right thing.

(FOREBODING MUSIC)

JOCK: Squid's the name of the game today.

We're only looking for the bottom four dishes to go into round 2.

The first dish we'd like to taste belongs to...Cath.

ANDY: Yeah, Cath. (APPLAUSE)

CATH: I'm feeling really chuffed today

because I didn't play it safe.

I went out of my comfort zone.

If I go into the second round, I've got my head held high.

I'm really, really proud.

Cath, what have you cooked us? I've cooked squid ceviche today.

I'm gonna guess that this is not something you do at home?

Uh, you guessed correct, yeah. Amazing!

Yeah, well, great.

Can I just say it looks beautiful? Thank you.

I think it looks beautiful. I'm really proud of myself.

That's lovely.

Cath.

Ahhh! Yes! Yes!

(LAUGHS)

I am so proud of you, Cath. Oh, thank you.

I'm so proud of you that you found the confidence to step out

and go, "You know what, I've never done it before but I'm gonna do it."

You got excited about the produce. Oh. I have, yeah.

You got excited because Rick's here.

And it looked fantastic, tasted fantastic.

Yeah, thank you. Well done.

Yeah, thank you.

All the flavours go together really well

and, for me, it tastes - dare I say it? - rather Australian.

Yeah. (LAUGHS) You know?

I mean, with the pineapple, particularly.

Yeah. It's so fresh.

I'm really, really enjoying it.

Thanks! ANDY: Nice work, Cath!

Thanks, guys. Thank you! (SQUEALS) (APPLAUSE)

I'm really stoked! Yeah!

Whoo-hoo! I get a clap!

Mwah!

Rick Stein, he loved it.

I'm so over the moon and so proud.

I'm just... Yeah. It's a great day in the kitchen today.

(SIGHS)

JOCK: Theo!

I made peri-peri squid.

It's stunning. Like, stunning.

The cook on the calamari is perfect.

There was a Turkish term for a sort of barbecue king.

You're one of them. ANDY: Nice one, Theo!

Grace.

The squid on an ajvar.

Grace, I think you did an outstanding job today.

Thank you! It was a very tender piece of squid.

I thought the presentation was stunning.

Thank you!

Brent.

BRENT: Sri Lankan-inspired charred squid.

I love it! I absolutely love it.

Well done. Thanks, Rick. Thank you.

That's an absolute cracker.

Peaking with flavour.

And you couldn't have cooked the squid any better.

Stunning.

Thank you.

Next up - Phil!

(APPLAUSE)

PHIL: It's a pretty plate of food.

But unless it tastes delicious that doesn't really matter.

I'm hoping that's not gonna see me unstuck today.

Phil, what have you cooked?

I cooked confit squid and scallops

with pickled cauliflower and a tomato vinaigrette.

All in all, I think I'm pretty happy.

I'm questioning the balance with those aromats.

Needed more of a lift of... a heavier tomato.

Sorry, where was the tomato? I'm sorry...

Oh, in the vinaigrette. Yeah, in the vinaigrette.

Crikey! JOCK: You can't taste it?

I couldn't taste it. That probably says it all, you know?

All it needed was just the slightest bit more acidity or more freshness

to really help everything along the way.

But we'll see where you end up. Well done, Phil.

Thanks, guys. (APPLAUSE)

THEO: Good job. We'll see, we'll see.

Rue!

(APPLAUSE)

Oh, God!

Come on!

I am feeling so nervous.

Why would you make a stew in 45 minutes?

Breathe! Breathe! Yeah.

I'm just hoping...

..my dish is good enough to keep me

from cooking in round 2.

(EXHALES DEEPLY)

Rue, what have you cooked today?

I made a prawn sauce on the bottom

and I poached my squid in the sauce.

OK.

(EXHALES DEEPLY)

(EXHALES)

JOCK: Rue. Yep.

I'm so happy for you! What?!

(APPLAUSE) What?!

What?!

It's beautiful.

The flavour that you've got in that broth in 45 minutes is sensational.

It is just incredible.

The simplicity is beautiful in this and the calamari is perfect.

Dishes that are so strikingly simple like that, there's nowhere to hide.

But you didn't have to hide anywhere, so well done.

Thank you! Wow!

I loved it.

I mean, what I liked particularly

was the stock you made with the prawns.

And you can taste that in this so, so well.

I mean, it's just an essence of seafood dish.

It's just simple perfection. Well done.

Well done, Rue. Thank you! Oh, my gosh!

(APPLAUSE)

MELISSA: She did good.

Oh, my gosh! I could cry tears of happiness.

Oh! Rue!

(LAUGHS)

You doubted yourself too much. Oh, my gosh!

Next up it's Declan! DECLAN: It's me.

(APPLAUSE)

Hello, guys.

Hello, Declan. Hello, hello.

What have you made us today?

Charred squid on the hibachi with a citrus dressing.

Did it makes you nervous today to have Rick here?

Oh, definitely. I'm just honoured to be cooking seafood for Rick Stein,

so I hope that does it justice.

(EXHALES DEEPLY)

Well, that's...that's very interesting.

You can taste the barbecued effect on it.

For me, I think the...the citrus dressing

is a little bit on the tart side.

But I just...I just like the presentation.

I thought...I thought it was nice.

Thank you.

ANDY: Unfortunately, I got a really thin piece and it's overcooked.

OK.

I'm looking at Mel's and hers is maybe double, triple the size.

Same with Rick's.

Because it is a bit uneven,

it's just suffered from the cooking process.

Sorry.

I don't think this entirely landed for you today.

Thanks, Declan. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

(SIGHS) Bloody hell.

I'm pretty disappointed in myself at this point.

JOCK: Ralph.

RALPH: Salt and pepper squid with a chilli vinaigrette on the side.

RICK: First thing is there's not enough salt and pepper

in...in the batter.

OK.

And that sauce, it's just a bit overpowering, really.

No problem. Thanks, guys. MELISSA: Thank you, Ralph.

ANDY: Malissa!

MALISSA: I've made salt and pepper calamari

with a lime and chilli dressing and a cucumber salad.

Again, I just thought maybe a bit more salt and pepper.

And the sauce was a bit...a bit strong.

ANDY: It's just not a beautiful, crisp, clean batter.

Thanks, Malissa! Thank you!

Thank you. (LAUGHS)

The next calamari dish we'd like to taste belongs to Adi.

(APPLAUSE)

ADI: I rushed this dish so much at the end

and all of the time I took balancing

could have been thrown off with my sugar.

My family is gonna be watching MasterChef, even back in India,

so, like, if I don't get this right, they're all gonna know about it.

Hi, guys. Hi, Rick. (CHUCKLES) Hi!

Ooh, look at the squid.

Adi, what have you made for us?

I've made a Maharashtrian squid curry.

Amazing.

Adi... Yeah?

The cook on the squid is...is amazing.

Yeah. Thank you.

It's...absolutely set to perfection.

It's so delicious, it's so moreish.

I just wanna grab some bread and put it in there

or dump the rest of it in that rice and just eat it.

Like, it is...stunning cooking. Well done.

Oh, thank you. It's made me a bit emotional. (LAUGHS)

Very, very nice. The squid's cooked perfectly.

It's delicious. Very, very moreish, I would say.

MELISSA: You executed everything perfectly.

Balanced everything to the nth degree.

And I'm so happy for you.

So I hope this elevates your cooking

to the next level and the next level and the next level.

Well done. Yeah. Thank you so much, guys.

All of you. Thank you.

Your aunties will be proud.

She skipped! (ADI LAUGHS)

CATH: Awesome. So nice.

That was so nice. Yeah, that was really nice.

Such a quite, like, "Oh, I cooked my own food."

Yeah, I know! I feel like that too!

Yeah. I can feel it.

Well, Rick Stein in the house has raised the level of cooking,

like, double, I reckon.

The good news is that means we ate a lot of good dishes.

The bad news, if you weren't up there today,

you're gonna be in round 2.

(TENSE MUSIC)

The people going into round 2 are...

..Ralph...

..Malissa...

Mm-hm.

..Phil...

..and, finally...

..Declan.

Everyone else, congratulations.

You're safe. You can head up to the gantry.

Good luck.

DECLAN: Obviously, very nervous being in round 2,

but, you know, I've got to shake this off

because someone is gonna be going home.

Now, round 2, it's all about what's under there.

Ready to find out what it is?

Yes, please. Yes.

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)

MALISSA: Oh! PHIL: Yes.

Rick, you've travelled and eaten

in some of the most extraordinary places around the world.

How does that influence the food that you love and then, I suppose, cook?

Well, I mean, it's totally influenced me, really.

I mean, you name it, wherever I've been,

I've got elements of that in what I cook.

Early trips to Italy.

India, particularly.

Australia, even.

It's good we're on the list. (LAUGHTER)

Well, Mexico,

it was my first introduction to, sort, of foreign food.

Yeah, that was when I really started to think, "I need to travel more.

"I need to go to different countries and experience their cuisine."

And I've never forgotten. Fabulous. Very strong wines.

Would match your Aussie reds, that's for sure.

Spain. OK, there I am in Cadiz.

I'm just about to eat a grilled mackerel

with pirinaca sauce.

I'm so happy to be in Cadiz!

If you love Europe, go to Cadiz. It's like I'm there already.

Yeah.

That's me in France, in...in Paris.

And we sort of celebrate every November.

Me and a few friends go to

this restaurant in Rue Saint-Honore

and we just eat seafood.

The thing I love about French food

is that it's always designed to go with French wines.

(LAUGHTER)

Speaking of Mediterranean cooking, let's take a plane to Italy.

That's actually in...in Puglia, near the town-city of Ostuni.

And we're in a lemon orchard.

The big farmhouse

in that part of the country.

You see, you don't have to be a vegetarian

to love vegetable cooking

and I think Southern Italy is one of those places

where you just love it to bits.

MALISSA: Mmm.

DECLAN: Rick's an absolute icon.

It was probably only six months ago

I was sitting on the couch with Nan watching Rick on TV,

like, just, you know, taking in what he's doing.

And six months later, here I am!

OK, in this round,

you'll need to choose one of these photos from Rick's map

and make us a dish featuring that country's cuisine.

All of you will have 75 minutes.

It goes without saying,

whoever cooks the least impressive dish in this round

will be going home.

Are you all ready?

Your time starts now! (APPLAUSE AND CHEERING)

CONTESTANT: Show us what you're made of!

This time we'll go with some self-raising.

I'm feeling a lot of pressure right now.

Honey, honey, honey.

I was really hoping I'd cook an absolute banging dish

for one of my food heroes in round 1.

(WHISPERS) I know - a beer batter.

RALPH: Breadcrumbs, breadcrumbs, breadcrumbs.

DECLAN: But didn't pull through,

so I'm really gonna have to shake off whatever's happened

and focus on the challenge in front of me right now.

RHIANNON: Go, Dec! CATH: Come on! Let's go, boys!

Been to Mexico a fair few times,

so I'm going down the Mexican route today.

Um, and I'm going to be doing a beer-battered flathead

with a Mexican salsa and some other little garnish elements

to, yeah, complement it.

Smells delicious, Deccy.

The cook on my beer-battered flathead is gonna be my biggest thing,

and as well as, like, the depth of flavour in my salsa.

You know, I do have the pin if I want to lean on it,

so I don't want to think about that until the final moment.

I wanna save it.

You know, this could come in handy later on.

ANDY: I'm begging to know what Declan's gonna do.

Rick, he's got an immunity pin.

So at any stage throughout this cook, he can play that immunity pin

and get himself up to the gantry and safe.

I think he was a little bit rattled on the first cook.

It was a big thing, him cooking for you.

And I'm hoping that he can find his path and cook a really great dish.

Yeah. But will he play that pin?

Confidence is one thing, but you want to be in the right side

of confidence and arrogance, right?

Otherwise, you're gonna end up going home with a pin still in your apron.

Yeah. Nobody wants that.

Nah.

When I walked into the pantry,

I saw these beautiful ripe apricots

and immediately they reminded me of my nonna

because she has beautiful fresh fruit trees in her backyard

including an apricot tree.

So... (LAUGHS) ..I'm gonna take it as a sign.

THEO: You're going dessert, Mal?

Yeah, I'm doing a dessert. Nice!

(SINGSONGS) Malissa! Hello! How are you?

We're very good. How are you? That's good. I'm good, I'm good.

What are you doing?

I'm doing an olive oil and honey panna cotta.

OK. And then some glazed apricots.

And the lemon crumb on the bottom.

I love panna cotta. I love panna cotta.

Oh, good!

So I've made myself a bit of an expert

into what really constitutes a good panna cotta.

Expert! OK!

But I'll be looking for the wobble. OK, um, yes.

I'm hoping that it's gonna have a really good wobble to it.

But, yeah. It's so simple.

But actually it's so complicated. It is hard to execute, yes.

Alright. Good luck.

(LAUGHS) Good luck, Malissa.

Thank you.

If I go home on an Italian challenge,

my family will not be happy with me.

They'll lock me out! (LAUGHS)

Basically, all I'm worried about is, uh...my panna cotta not being set.

So I've decided I'm gonna make two panna cottas -

one in the plastic panna cotta mould and one this very small bowl.

Yeah, I'm kind of gonna have a plan B today

because I have learnt in a lot of my other cooks

you need to have a plan B.

GRACE: Well done, Phil.

(MUTTERS)

This is my first elimination cook.

It was bound to come eventually and I'm ready to go.

No, ready to go with this cook, not ready to out the door.

So, today, I'm gonna go with the cuisine of Italy

and I'm gonna cook spaghetti con l'anatra

or spaghetti with duck sauce,

which is from the Veneto region of the north of Italy.

So last year, I actually took off and I went and lived in Italy for a while

and was winemaking over there in Veneto

just outside the city of Vicenza.

This is one of the big dishes to the local area

and one that I loved quite a lot

and I wanted the opportunity to cook it since I've come here

and today I got that chance.

This dish usually takes a couple of hours to cook,

so I'm not gonna have a lot of time to spare.

So it is definitely an ambitious task today,

but I'm quite confident I can get this done.

The secret to this dish is just all in the duck itself,

making sure that the sauce is reduced down, nice and flavourful,

and...and just really sings with the rest of the dish

which is just that spaghetti.

I've really got to do it justice and make sure it delivers.

Wherever you're going in the world today with your dish,

you've only got one hour to take us there.

Come on! Let's go!

ADI: Pop it in the freezer. Fridge? Freezer?

Freezer, then fridge.

(MUTTERS)

Getting round 2 is never a great feeling,

but now that I'm here I've just gotta do the best I can

to make sure that I get back up there

and get another chance to cook.

So I've gone France.

My dish today is a take on a croque madame.

Really good friend of mine,

we went to France just not so long ago and this is something

that we literally had every day for breakfast.

So just kinda when... the second he said France,

it kinda just took me there immediately.

Don't overmix. Yep. Yep.

The traditional version of a croque madame

is a piece of bread, you've got your ham and cheese,

another piece of bread, bechamel sauce,

perfectly cooked egg.

We've got 75 minutes to make our dish today

and I've decided to go left of field and not make the sandwich.

Give them a dish that reminds them of a croque madame,

but a new take on it.

Ralph.

What's the dish? I can't work it out. Yeah!

Normally I get a reasonable idea just looking at the ingredients.

Going on a play on a croque madame. OK.

OK. So I've got my bread element.

I've got my mash with my bechamel and cheese combination.

Uh-huh.

And then just a bit of bacon just for the ham in it

and then I'm gonna do a perfectly cooked egg on top

and then at the bottom, just some breadcrumbs

to kinda give you texture and tie it all together.

Are we going to recognise this adequately as a croque madame?

Not saying this to try and scare you. Yeah.

I'm saying this 'cause I feel like this is legitimate.

It has to be absolutely faultless.

(TENSE MUSIC)

You need to execute this... Everything.

Oh, my gosh, like... Yeah. Everything on the plate.

It has to be restaurant-ready.

Oh, God, like...this dish is a bit risky.

Every element needs to be perfect.

If I don't have that, then I might as well pack my bags and go home.

Are we going to recognise this adequately as a croque madame?

Yeah, you need to execute this...

Oh, my gosh, like, it has to be restaurant-ready.

RALPH: Oh, God.

This dish is a bit risky.

Especially on black-apron day.

But today, I'm not listening to the judges.

I'm just gonna follow through.

'Cause I've got a clear vision in my mind

of how I want this to taste and look.

You know, I can give them a dish that reminds them of a croque madame

but in a much different way.

My idea today is try and make

a really rich potato foam

which will act as my bechamel...

..and elevate my croque madame reinvention...

CONTESTANTS: Come on, Ralphie. Onya, mate!

..to help give it another extra layer of flavour.

That should be alright.

Hope your next trip's not out those doors.

45 minutes to go!

(CONTESTANTS APPLAUD AND EXCLAIM)

ADI: Go, guys! Come on!

Get it on!

ANTONIO: Are you gonna go with the foam?

Remember, don't overmix. Yep, yep.

Alright, alright, alright.

This bad boy.

Forgot the most important part.

The wine.

What have you got in the apricots, Mel?

Honey. Thyme. Oh, yep.

And, uh, a bit of salt.

Ah, great.

My panna cotta is done and that is setting in the fridge.

It's gone quick.

And I've also made my crumb and have popped that in the oven.

And I'm gonna get started on

putting my apricots on the hibachi.

Let's talk about this central element...

Yes, the panna cotta. ..the panna cotta.

How is she going? She's going good.

The setting's going well. I've still got a bit of time.

We've seen...some great ones. I know.

We've also seen some absolute failures, haven't we?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

We've experienced puddle cotta more than once.

OK.

It really is all on a knife edge that it sets properly.

That it is still that beautiful texture that we hope for...

Yeah. ..carrying great flavours.

Ooh, have all my fingers and toes crossed for you.

Everything's crossed. (LAUGHS) Let's do it. Yeah!

Whatever country you're in, we want those flavours front and centre.

20 minutes to go!

CATH: Let's go, guys. Come on! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Come on, Phil! Go, Declan!

ADI: Bring it home. Make it tasty.

Flavour, flavour.

So right now there's 20 minutes to go on the clock

and there's so much to be done.

So far I've been working on balancing and reducing this sauce.

GRACE: Happy? I think so. So far, so good.

It's all riding on the flavour of the sauce today

and making sure that pasta is cooked perfect.

The last few minutes of this cook have gotten away from me

and I've gotta just get straight on to rolling out my pasta.

Usually it needs time to dry out after cutting it.

But I don't have that luxury today.

GRACE: Beautiful, Phil.

It's gonna be a really rushed process.

But right now there's nothing I can do about it.

I'm genuinely concerned right now.

The amount of work I have to do and time is ticking away.

Time for a beer. I put two in there.

One for me and one for the beer batter.

The pressure's on today.

I'm just... I'm really feeling a bit rattled, still, from round 1.

GRACE: You're doing so good.

Almost there.

Thankfully, my salsa is finished.

CATH: That smells nice.

I taste it and it tastes amazing.

So I set that aside.

I've also made the beer batter for my flathead

and the cabbage slaw.

But when I taste my cabbage slaw,

I realise that I've added way too much jalapeno mayo

and it's just a sloppy mess.

But I really don't have time to rectify this right now.

Hello. G'day. How are we?

I am...

I'm...

..kind of picking up that you're, like, you're a little bit flat.

Um, yeah, I am, but, um...

Going to ask you the difficult question -

do you think you really need to consider playing that pin?

Yeah, I think it's all gonna come down to my fish fry

and how happy I am with that.

So you need to make sure that all of these elements...

Yeah. Yeah. ..not just the fish...

..are at 100%. Of course.

Let's go. Alright, buckle down.

The most critical component of this dish today is the cook of the fish.

Everything's riding on that.

I'm the fish guy and I've really gotta prove myself.

When I put it in the batter,

I can immediately see that it's way too runny.

BRENT: Happy? Nup.

It's pretty much not even coating correctly.

This is a recipe I know and I've cooked this many times.

Hmm. Not really what I was going for.

I don't have enough time to make another batch,

so, yeah, I'm gonna try and fry another piece of the fish,

see how it turns out.

BRENT: I reckon...

I reckon...

I reckon he might use his pin.

CATH: Yeah?

OK, soft-boiled egg.

(MUTTERS)

Think, think, think.

I've decided to make a potato foam for my croque madame reinvention.

'Cause I'm trying to make a bechamel essentially out of potatoes.

So I wanted to have a runny texture

just so that it actually just foams out.

So I've put the mixture into my siphon gun.

Sprayed the foam onto the plate.

ANTONIO: How's the foam?

Absolutely amazing. I'm happy with it.

So I've finished all my elements,

including that lovely cooked egg.

And now it's time to plate up.

Alright, that's perfect, perfect, perfect. Now...

With this dish, plating's gonna be important

but balance is gonna be important.

So I want a good serving of breadcrumbs at the bottom

and then I'm putting bits of bacon at the bottom of it as well.

And then I've got that lovely potato foam.

On top of that, I've got that perfectly cooked egg

and then I'm sprinkling a bit more bacon around it

and then a little bit of breadcrumbs and then finally that cheese.

So I'm plating a dish that eats like a sandwich.

It screams 'France', so I'm happy with it.

Confidence coming back. Yeah, we're stepping into it.

MELISSA: Final touches You have two minutes to go!

(ALL CHEER)

ADI: Good luck, team. Make it beautiful!

CATH: Come on, Ralph!

Come on, buddy.

DECLAN: I pull the fish out of the fryer.

Ooh, feel it. Feel the pressure.

I'm not happy with it. It's still not cooked right.

Yeah, the wheels are definitely off the bus.

Not happy with my cabbage slaw. Not happy with the fish.

Like, it is a bit of a disaster.

I'm a bit torn.

But I don't wanna be that person that goes home with a pin.

Alright, yeah, I think I'm gonna play my pin. So...

Yeah. (CONTESTANTS EXCLAIM)

Yeah. Yeah. CATH: Oh, Declan!

Yeah, gonna play my pin.

RHIANNON: Oh! Yeah?

Yeah. JOCK: Playing your pin?

Too risky? Too risky?

I don't wanna serve something I'm not happy with

and I'm definitely not happy with this, so thank you, yeah.

No harm in that. Oh, thank you.

Well done, mate. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE) Head on upstairs, mate.

Thank you.

At first I'm like, "Oh, yeah, Declan, he's safe."

And then I'm like, "Oh."

Now the odds are gonna be one in three,

which, you know, those odds are not good.

(LAUGHS) Yes.

RHIANNON: Go, Malissa. ADI: Go, Mal.

All my elements are ready to go.

Has she turned out a panna cotta?

It's time to plate up my panna cotta.

It seems set. GRACE: Yeah?

Wobble. It's wobbling.

Oh! Come on. Interesting technique.

I can see that it is set but it won't come out.

I just can't get it to come out.

Nup, it's...it's in there.

It's not coming out.

NARRATOR: Do you have what it takes to compete

Applications for contestants are now open.

Head to the link and apply.

Oh!

Nup, it's...it's in there.

It's not coming out.

I'm, you know, trying to warm it with my hand.

Trying to use my finger and a knife and it's just not coming out.

One minute to go!

CATH: Come on, Malissa! You've got one minute!

Come on, get it on the plate!

So I have to use my plan B.

Come on, quick. RHIANNON: Oh, God!

Oh, my God!

I'm frantic at this point, and this is not what I wanted.

Get it on, get it on! Come on, you can do it!

Come on, I don't have time. Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God, oh, God!

ANDY: 10...

ALL: 9, 8, 7,

6, 5, 4,

3, 2, 1.

That's it!

(CONTESTANTS CHEER)

Good job! My hands have got cream all over 'em!

(LAUGHS)

Oh, my God!

Yeah, it was a one-in-four chance

but old Deccy decided to jump ship and head up to the gantry,

so that does...does slim the chances a little bit.

If the dish isn't up to scratch today,

that will mean I'll be, uh, walking out those doors very sad

'cause I'm, yeah, not ready to leave.

I'm really happy with the sauce itself

but I am slightly worried about the pasta.

I'm just hoping this dish has done enough

to see me through for another week.

(SIGHS) PHIL: Good luck.

RALPH: Good luck. Thank you, thank you.

That cook was crazy.

I'm really happy with all my elements.

But I have no idea... if my backup panna cotta is set.

Well, aren't you just a beaming ray of sunshine!

(LAUGHS) (LAUGHS)

What have you cooked us today?

I've made an olive oil and honey panna cotta

with a lemon crumb and honey-roasted apricots.

Let's talk about the cook today.

You've chosen Italy. Yep.

Your family background is Italian.

Why this particular dish?

Well, I love panna cotta.

You know, it's such a traditional Italian dish.

So I thought why not give it a go,

try something different today and test myself with a dessert?

Now, when we came to visit you,

you said you wanted to serve us

the classic, wobbly, turned-out, beautiful panna cotta.

Yep. This isn't it.

No. What happened?

I had it in the freezer at the end of the cook,

so I think it really kind of stuck to the mould.

It was chaotic,

so with about 10 seconds to go,

I just grabbed this one out the fridge and thought,

"Just get it together. Plate something up."

Um, I'm glad I had a plan B today.

We'll taste now. Thank you. Thank you so much. Enjoy.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I thought that was brilliant.

I thought it was really beautiful.

Panna cotta itself, set beautifully.

And just a nice touch of honey. Not too much, not too sweet.

And also the olive oil.

Just making it so rich and giving it that slight grassy edge,

which, when it was paired together

with the grilled apricots, beautiful.

I thought that the texture of the panna cotta was luxurious.

It had that richness to it.

Nice balance of flavour with that touch of honey, as you say.

It all came together really well with that biscuity crunch.

This is a triumph.

I don't know if she put a bit of salt on the apricots,

but the apricots are fabulous.

Italians have this way of paring things back.

A very, very accomplished dish, I think.

All's right with the world.

Good luck.

I'm hoping that today's risk pays off.

Obviously, a croque madame is something they all would have eaten

and they know the flavours.

Hello, Ralph. Good day.

So putting my dish down today, I'm a little bit nervous

whether they're gonna like my interpretation of it.

What did you make us?

So I've made you...

It's my inspiration behind croque madame.

I've got my potato foam with that perfectly cooked egg

and some bacon and breadcrumbs at the bottom.

So it's a croque madame reinvention?

Yeah. Kind of my twist on it.

It's risky, huh? Yeah, it is.

But if it pays off, it pays off.

If it doesn't, I'm glad that I was actually able to take that risk.

Alright, Ralph. We're gonna taste it now. Thanks, buddy.

Alright, thank you so much, guys. Appreciate it.

Look, I think we've all... We're all thinking it.

It was an interesting concept.

MELISSA: The flavours distilled in this bowl of food

are pretty true to a croque madame.

You do get the bechamel cheesiness.

You do get the bacon-y goodness.

And the egg gives it a bit of a luscious quality to it.

I got there. I got there in the end.

I agree. I mean, I... I actually enjoyed eating that.

But it's a bit like that sort of trend

for deconstructed prawn cocktails.

You just say, "Well, why, you know?" (LAUGHS)

I mean, what's wrong with the original?

If it ain't broke... If it ain't broke, exactly.

I think this is one of those dishes

where we're gonna have to taste everything

before we realise just where it sits today.

Mm. Yeah.

Phil. Hey, hey.

How are you, mate? Good. And you?

Pretty good.

Phil, what have you cooked?

I've made spaghetti con anatra.

Which is spaghetti with a duck sauce.

Big deep breath out. Yep.

First round 2 in an elimination. Yes.

How tough was it? It was pretty tough.

Like, it was good too that it was a round 2,

so I could at least have a cook and get that feel,

but mentally it definitely weighs in

that, like, this could be the last cook in the kitchen.

Yeah. Let's dive into the memory of this dish.

Take us there.

(EMOTIVE MUSIC)

So, yeah, last year, I was kind of at a dead end with work

and so we took off and did a bit of travel

and lived with this beautiful family that took me in in Vicenza

and, like, made me one of their own.

Every Tuesday, we'd have the sagra festival,

where the whole...kind of all the neighbourhood would come together

and have these little street foods and catch-ups

and this was their main dish.

Are you happy? Is it like for like?

I'm happy.

This is the way it is to me and the way I remember eating it.

Nice one, mate.

Well, I hope that this isn't the last dish that we taste of yours

because with an attitude like yours,

we just want you to stay in the MasterChef kitchen

as long as you can.

Um, but we'll taste it now.

Cheers, Phil. Appreciate it.

Thanks, mate. Thank you.

The main thing that I'm worried about on the dish is my pasta.

I'm not ready to leave this competition or this kitchen yet.

Just hope to God that I've done enough.

(TENSE MUSIC)

JOCK: Ah, the pressure of round 2.

Um...I think there's so many dishes

Phil could have chosen from... from all over the country of Italy.

And I think 90% of them would have been more appropriate

because he would have been able to do them in time.

There is no way that this dish would have been made

back there in the winery in 75 minutes.

Not a chance.

Taste everything in there.

The duck itself is just that... that dry stiff way that it is

before it just relaxes it.

Well, I was just thinking I'm...I'm a late convert to pressure cookers

but actually in that time if you'd put it in a pressure cooker,

you'd probably have got there.

It's a shame. I mean, the pasta works OK.

You know, the pasta itself could have done with a lot more structure.

I understand where he tried to go with it.

He just picked the wrong dish today.

I really wanted to buy what he was selling today.

Unfortunately, the...the obvious missing ingredient here is time.

You know, when you taste a great dish,

you know that they've got it, right?

They've got the sort of essence of what the dish is all about.

And this doesn't have it. Mm. No.

Rick, have you enjoyed coming back into the MasterChef kitchen?

Fabulous. I mean, I really, really enjoyed it.

I mean, I think the thing that, to me, matters so much

is it's serious.

You're all very committed

and I think it's all in the interest of good food and good cooking.

And, um, I believe in it.

So thank you very much. I've had a lovely time.

Well, Rick, mate. We love you. We love your food.

It's been such an honour having you here today.

Everyone, give it up for Rick Stein!

(CHEERING AND WHISTLING)

Well, Declan, after you played your pin, you were safe...

Yep. ..and that left us with three.

And the brief for you three was to take us on a food journey.

One of you did just that.

This cook, they brought us a dish. It was as good as a plane ticket.

It was Italy all over.

Well done, Malissa, you are safe.

(ALL CHEER)

Yay.

So, fellas, that means we're down to two.

Yep.

Ralph, we couldn't really fault your flavours.

But your reinvented croque madame, it just didn't take us to France.

Phil, your dish was Italian-inspired.

But of all the dishes from Italy

that you could have been inspired by,

sadly, we felt that was the wrong one for the time frame.

And I'm so sorry, mate.

That's why you're going home. CATH: Oh!

Oh, my God!

Oh, Phil.

(GASPS)

Phil, since day 1,

you have taken every single opportunity

to learn and grow and we have loved watching every single minute of it.

Oh, I think just not only as a cook

but as a person I've just changed and grown so much.

I've learned so much from you guys and these guys

and I've loved every single minute of it.

It's just given me a purpose in life again, 'cause I really was lost.

Last year when I left my job and was following the food and wine dream

but didn't know what it was and this kind of has galvanised that decision

to take that leap of faith and I'm forever grateful for this kitchen.

Well, Phil, it might feel like the end today

but we know that it's just the beginning for you.

So time to say goodbye. Come and give us a hug. (CHUCKLES)

Let's do it. Well done.

Thanks, mate. Let us know if you need anything.

Appreciate it. We're still here for you.

Thank you. Appreciate it. Lovely to meet you too.

Well done, Phil. Thanks for everything, mate.

Appreciate it.

It's been such an amazing experience.

I knew MasterChef

was gonna be a huge part of my food life and food journey.

It's given me a huge amount of passion and invigoration

for food and the industry as a whole.

Give it up for Phil, everybody!

(CONTESTANTS CHEER, EXCLAIM AND WHISTLE)

I'm gonna take this week, go home, relax,

have a nice glass of wine with my wife, enjoy some downtime,

and then, yeah, get straight back into it.

NARRATOR: This week on MasterChef Australia...

..they're on the brink...

..of being...

..top 10.

THEO: It's D-day.

RHIANNON: I want it so badly.

GRACE: I'm gonna absolutely give it my best shot.

Now... Maggie Beer!

..these legendary Aussies...

Hey!

DECLAN: Josh Niland

is the icon of fish in Australia.

RHIANNON: Holy crap, Curtis Stone.

I nearly wet myself. (LAUGHS)

..lead them one step closer

to the finish line.

ANDY: There's something special in this food.

We're all digging it.

Captions by Red Bee Media