Theresa and Cecilia were two of my least favourite contestants this season - constant fuck ups by both, and Cecilia should have gone weeks ago after putting up that parsnip with the personalised message to her son (she was only saved then out of sympathy).
Tonight was a good episode. It’s like a whole different editing team put it together. Minimal focus on the judges - more focus on the contestants. Equal air time for all four dishes. Issues raised with all four such that the result wasn’t predictable (and no obvious musical tones to alert us to moments which will lead to disaster).
Great elimination challenge last night,I was sorry to see Cecelia go,Her dish looked yummy but she didn’t highlight ham as her main ingredient so that was why she had to go.
Maggie Beer, Anna Polyviou And Kylie Kwong. The Queens Of The Kitchen.
Next Week On MasterChef Australia.
It is another massive week on MasterChef Australia as we are joined by some of our most loved and respected stars in the culinary world.
On Sunday night, the Queen of the Australian kitchen, Maggie Beer (pictured), returns to MasterChef Australia to a hero’s welcome. In a surprising twist, the judges reveal to the 15 remaining contestants that today’s cook will be turned on its head.
Punk pastry chef Anna Polyviou turns up the heat on Monday night with a pressure test like no other. The three contestants facing elimination must replicate her stunning dish, Anna’s Mess. It is the Death Star of desserts, with a recipe that is eight pages long and contains 74 steps. But it is what Anna does with the dessert that stuns the contestants.
Wednesday night we celebrate Chinese New Year with a team challenge in which the contestants will be cooking in the heart of Melbourne’s Chinatown precinct.
Joining them is Australia’s most famous Chinese chef Kylie Kwong to help guide and mentor them. Two teams have three hours to cook and 90 minutes to serve 500 guests. The contestants cook up a storm to feed the masses and raise money for charity. The team that raises the most money will win the challenge.
It is surprising to see Maggie Beer returning to the MasterChef kitchen as she is now a judge on The Great Australian Bake Off which airs on Foxtel. Was there an agreement between Ten and Foxtel which allowed Maggie to appear on both channels?
The CNY challenge is one of the episodes I have been looking forward to. If you go back to early part of this thread (around February 9) you can see the photos and Chris’ recount from the day.
I doubt she would have an ‘exclusive’ contract with Foxtel. Probably just a contract to be a judge on The Great Australian Bake Off. It would cost Foxtel, and other networks, too much to have an exclusive contract.
I doubt it has anything to do with an agreement between 10 and Foxtel.
They weren’t scraps in the invention test. They were just unused prime ingredients.
The immunity challenge was a crock. From the comments that prawn dish would have got 8s and they took 2 marks off just for a bit of bitter melon that they could have just put to the side.
It was nearly a disaster having my favourite four contestants all in the losing red team, so it was a narrow escape that they all got through. I like Cecelia too, but I was willing to lose her to save Zoe and Mimi.
It looks like they’ve pencilled in Matt for the win. We know from past seasons they sometimes identify someone they think will represent the show well as winner and then that contestant can do no wrong (Andy being the standout example). But it usually happens a lot later than this.
Last night’s flipping order saw invention test done before mystery box. It is a good idea, hope it will be repeated next season.
Maggie Beer was very nice and her critiques were firm but fair.
Anna Polyviou was a fabulous mentor last year. I was expecting ego galore but she was extremely supportive and gave invaluable advice. Looking forward to seeing her again tonight.
Her creations are always so complex, and it shows there are many ways to spruce up the presentation details on a dish. Looking forward to seeing her again tonight.
Anna’s dessert tonight is even more complex than Heston’s creation for last year’s grand final…
Harry and Elise had so much trouble getting the white chocolate domes out of the moulds, I thought they would not have one for plating. Luckily, after long struggles, they got the domes out with seconds to spare.
Charlie made fewer mistakes than Harry and Elise, but those mistakes were big: not tempering the chocolate properly and forgetting to add the gelatine to the curd. Those were the reasons Charlie was eliminated. Mediaweek has a long interview with Marty Benson, who is executive producer of season 8. He took over from Margie Bashfield who was EP for the first seven seasons.
And then end up with whatever you use to grease the moulds all over your beautiful crisp white chocolate shells?
Their problem was the limited timeframe. Chocolate will slip out of moulds like that easily when it is very cold but an hour in the fridge (or was it the blast chiller?) probably wasn’t long enough to get it to that point (as the producers very well knew when they set the challenge).
