We all thought George Calombaris would get the flick but now all three MasterChef Australia judges will not be returning next year. George’s refusal to wear socks to the finale was the final nail in the coffin.
On the eve of the MasterChef grand final episode, Channel 10 says it could not come to a “commercial agreement” with George, Gary Mehigan and Matt Preston.
This is the biggest scandal to hit the show since John went rogue and cooked white chocolate veloute.
After 11 years with the trio at the helm, this could be the refresh the show needs.
I’m sorry to see Matt go but I am hoping for some female faces on the judging panel next year because, well, women work in the food industry, too.
Full story here.
And from the MC official Twitter account:
After 11 sensational seasons, we bid a fond farewell to our judges – Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris. Thank you for being a part of this remarkable #MasterChefAU legacy and helping make the culinary dreams of everyday home cooks come true! pic.twitter.com/uG0A3ec8jI
TV blurb: Today’s off-site challenge will take place at George Calombaris’ Hellenic Republic restaurant. Split into two teams, each team must prepare a three course feast for 120 guests to avoid elimination.
As we know, Reynold is back in the MasterChef kitchen tonight, but this time he doesn’t have to worry he’ll be asked to do something savoury. He gets to set the challenge for the pressure test for the bottom three from last night’s invention test.
Here’s a link to his dessert bar, which is about to get even busier http://www.koidessertbar.com.au/ From Reynold’s Facebook page.
The three contestants in the firing line are Chloe, Karmen and Olivia.
Apparently running on a treadmill, reading love letters and standing on your head are just what you need to prep you for a cooking comp. I’d just be reading cookbooks, but that doesn’t make for riveting TV.
They’re ready for the pressure test from Reynold – who gets a total fangirl welcome from the contestants – which is to create “Moss”.
It’s a dried fennel frond, apple blossom pearl, pistachio sponge, yoghurt foam, apple sorbet, and a sphere of pistachio mousse coated in matcha with a caramel gel interior.
George asks dessert enthusiast Karmen: “What’s it like standing so close to Reynold?” Reynold laughs like a nervous 15-year-old boy and tells George: “That’s not necessary.” Ah, Reynold – you’re just a dork who likes to cook – I love it. Yeah, George – just because they’re Aussies of Asian descent who like sweets doesn’t mean they’ll have the hots for each other.
Oops – forgot to do a “what’s Matt wearing?” update: Tamer than his usual ensembles but we saw this cravat on May 5. C’mon, wardrobe – mix it up!
Karmen says she is familiar with most of the techniques used in the recipe and she’s off to a quick start. Olivia is also doing well and George and Reynold are impressed, just advising her to keep her bench clean. Karmen is having trouble with her pistachio mousse and Chloe manages to overtake her, so she starts again. And again it seizes up. What’s going on – is she not reading the recipe properly? She decides to keep it and just add cream and it seems to work. Hope her sphere sets Ok.
Restaurant manager Olivia seems to be whipping through each task – hope she doesn’t come a cropper. At least with her job she’d be used to multitasking.
Karmen is catching up so the producers send Reynold over to distract her with questions that will enable to mention how her parents think she should stick with surveying.
Reynold advises everyone to make spare spheres but Chloe has just made one sphere – aargh – so risky. Yes, she’s pushed for time, but without a sphere there isn’t a dish. Better to spend time doing a second sphere and leave off something like the yoghurt foam if you have to.
It’s just over a week into the competition and, finally, microwave siphon sponges make an appearance. Poor Olivia, who’s been doing so well up until now, stuffs up her sponge because she second guesses herself, and then she leaves the gelatine out of her foam. This is what happens when George comes over to tell you how far ahead of the others you are – the Calombaris jinx.
Chloe moves on to her white chocolate cremeux, which I think is the second cremeux of the comp, following Charlie’s ginger chocolate version when he was in the bottom three. At least it’s not ABPC (another bloody panna cotta).
Karmen is having cremeux trouble so she decides to leave it off the plate so she can concentrate on other elements. Olivia is in a total flap and it doesn’t look good for her.
The contestants have to make sure each element of the dish is in a specific place (fridge, freezer, bench etc) as they have 10 minutes to plate up when it’s their turn. But Olivia has forgotten her matcha sphere, and as she runs to get it she stacks it, just like Chloe the other night. What the heck are they polishing those MC floors with – olive oil? So, Olivia’s sphere is stuck in the freezer and probably won’t ooze when it’s cut. Time to judge
Chloe lucked out in that her sole sphere looks good. She’s done a great job to get all those elements up and she seems to have a balanced outlook on life and a laidback temperament. Reynold likes the look of the sphere but the caramel inside is too pale. The sponge and mousse get the thumbs up.
Karmen is next to don the mad scientist goggles and play with liquid nitrogen to make her yoghurt snow. She’s devastated she missed the cremeux (or creme-ooh, as George calls it) but George gives her props for what she’s achieved. Her caramel centre looks better than Chloe’s but the plate is not as pretty. She gets ticks for a lot of her elements.
It’s Olivia’s turn and the siphon gun isn’t working, so she improvises. Olivia is totally going home, which is such a shame as she’s done a few delicious-looking savoury dishes, like this one: Please come to my house and cook this, Olivia.
As she predicted, her sphere is too frozen and her sponge is dense. Gaz does like the flavour of the mousse but Reynold says the caramel is too blond and her matcha coating is uneven.
The judges pretend she’s in with a shot but one missing element easily outweighs three poorly executed ones. The announcement
The judges praise Chloe for her attitude and her dish. Olivia is going home but there’s no shame in bowing out on a dish that would have been a finale test in previous seasons. Can you imagine Poh or Julie having to create “Moss” back in their season? They would have failed miserably. Where are they now?
Olivia is working full time in The Cook’s Garden (Google says it’s an English style pub in north Sydney – wonder if this is where she was working before?), heading up the pastry section. She hopes to launch a cooking program for high school and university students. Tomorrow night
Nicolette, Con and Anastasia have to cook a dish using popcorn. Expect a tonne of popcorn parfaits.
Hi gice. Let’s boom, boom, shake, shake the room …
I hope to have a premiere recap up later (allowing for SA time difference), but chat away in the meantime. And for those of you drinking tonight, feel free to have a big slug when the phrase “food dream” or the word “journey” are uttered.
HERE WE GO …
So we start with a fast-paced montage of the highlights of the season and it does look jampacked and super glossy. MC’s budget (and ad revenue) must be sooo much bigger than MKR’s – no dodgy home restaurants where people’s carports have been decorated with velvet curtains to hide the Colorbond. Good to see some past contestants return to set challenges down the track, including this little number from our old fave from last year, Reynold the dessert king. Reynold’s dessert creation – looks like spheres and soda siphon microwave sponge are still trendy. And then there’s this blue orb thing, which looks super cool. No idea what this is but I can’t wait to see them make it. Wannabe contestants are ushered into the warehouse, along with their loved ones, and the judges are treated like rock stars when they walk in. Matt is wearing a stunning purple tartan suit and a black cravat with a shimmer to it. First cravat of the season. Usual spiel about the winner getting $250,000 but, unlike last year, Matt says they don’t have a set number of aprons to give out.
First up to cook is teacher Celia, who got through in 2014 with her audition macarons but had to pull out due to lasting effects of a brain injury she’d sustained in a snowboarding accident. Okay, yes, it’s the usual “I’m doing it for my kids” “you can achieve anything” yadda yadda, but how cute is little Nathan (even if he does have a rat’s tail) encouraging his mum whip up a spectacular plate, and the footage of Celia cooking with her kids at home. We know she’s going through anyway, but that dessert looks awesome. Yum! “It’s a level up from what you brought us before,” says Gary. Surely it’s time to bring in the kid for a teary hug? Aww. First one through. It’s schmaltzy and the “uplifting” music is corny, but I’d rather watch someone with a brain injury cook a killer dessert than fame-hungry people who barely know one end of a spoon from another on MKR.
Next up is the coffee roaster dude with one of those button earrings. We know he gets in because we’ve seen footage of him in the preview, freaking out in a team challenge. Good on him for giving the death dish, risotto, a go – and for wearing a glove when handling the raw meat. Hope he’s not one of those “I don’t do desserts” guys. Matt the coffee roaster has an intense look about him. George likes him because they have the same hairdo. The risotto is a winner but George’s “Will you make us proud?” goes down like a lead balloon. And then he pulls out the signature “big boy”. Can we hurry up and get to the cooking competition?
Next, Anastasia serves up water buffalo from her friend’s farm and it has that “garden on a plate” look George favours.
Remember when we used to want our plates full of food?It’s the first time they’ve used water buffalo on the show. Way to guarantee air time – but not coming to a Coles near you soon. The judges love it.
They whip through the next few people.
Charlie the golfer has done a poached pear and it looks simple, but it’s amazing how many times people have served up hard pears on MC. What’s with golfers and cooking shows – first Tarq on MKR and now this dude.
And here we have Michaela, 23, from the promo, who plans to do a croquembouche in an hour. Even if she fails they’ll bring her back next year for a redemption arc. Her profiteroles look pale and her filling is runny. She spends her time in front of the judges spinning sugar, which is always entertaining when you know it’s not you cleaning up after. Michaela’s in a spin. Gary doesn’t look impressed at her decision to do croquembouche in the one-hour timeframe. Gary likes the spun sugar but that’s about it. “There’s a fine line between bravery and experience,” says Matt, kindly.
More montage and I hope we get to see who made this. Yum! Aw, the poor lady who spilt cinnamon everywhere. Some decent-looking macarons which could have won people a finals spot five years ago aren’t enough to win an apron.
Carmen the qualified surveyor from Perth has the familiar story of Asian Aussie going to uni to please parents. She’s been working as a waitress to get her foot in the door of the hospitality industry. Look at the gloss on that caramel! As she plates up her choc pave with salted caramel and peanut and popcorn ice cream, George makes little monkey noises of excitement and then leans in to sadistically ask: “Are you nervous?” Gary goes to his happy place. Of course, she gets through – this ain’t no season one cupcake challenge standard cooking. She almost comes a cropper afterwards when her excited family tries to Clothesline her to the ground with jumping cuddles.
Zoe, 31, is making a Greek yoghurt panna cotta and she’s brought half of Greece with her to cheer her on. What’s the bet Yaya gets a cuddle from George later on? Yaya rocks a comfy cardy. Oops – they’re multiplying! Can Channel 10 give the yayas their own show? Zoe’s other Yaya is there, too, and soon it’s not a cooking competition – it’s a competition to boast about what they each taught Zoe and to shower her with compliments. “They look beautiful Zoe – so like you,” says Zoe.
In the judging chamber the panna cottaa has the necessary wobble. Matt thinks it’s one of the best they’ve had. George heads out to fetch the family and Yaya No.1 pounces on him like a long-lost son. What a good Greek boy that Georgie is. Even Gary and Matt get a cuddle. Hope she didn’t break a hip doing the zorba after.
Heather gets through with kingfish sashimi. That’s all we know. Tall Ash gets the nod for his barra and scampi and a couple of other people, including an airline captain.
Miles the ranger from Central Queensland is doing a spicy Laotion pork belly dish – that’s going to be tough in the time. Looks like he’s passed on his passion for cooking to his son, who’s now an apprentice chef. He wants to start a cafe in the former Shell servo in which he lives. “I like bold flavours. I don’t have too many subtle recipes in my entourage (sic),” he tells the judges. Matt notes the pork needed more time, but the flavours were good. He tells them he’s been practising hard and they give him the nod to cook again for the second chance round. Ranger Miles, I don’t think you’ll last long, but what a lovely family you have. Harry, who made the salmon dish, also gets a second chance, as does Lauren who made a super sweet peanut butter and jelly dessert, and nameless rapping Turkish delight girl. Souffle girl gets another go because Matt likes her balls, but not her souffle.
Nicolette, 19, is doing a lemon dish using fruit from her dead grandad’s tree. Poor grandma has come along to the audition and she looks like she should be home having a rest and a nice cup of tea. Pretty She’s Greek, so of course they send George over to make her cry. She’s through, and at 19 she’s one of the youngest to ever appear on the show. SA’s Laura (who lost to Brett) was also 19.
Then it’s the siblings and we’ve been led to believe only one will make it through. Why can’t they both make it, if they’re good enough? Would be good to see them go head to head in challenges, although they would have the edge on other contestants in terms of emotional support in the MC house. Little sis is up first with a dessert and she embarrasses her teenage kids by mentioning her pants are falling down as she cooks. Theresa’s pistachio fallen ice cream looks cool. You know she’s in when she gets the spoon percussion on the stainless steel bench from Matt.
But they make us wait to see if big bro got in – first there is pork belly guy and another panna cotta girl, the fish ‘n’ chip girl.
An Adelaide lady is up next. Hopefully we’ll learn your name one day, Indian lady from SA.She’s from an Indian family and she likes to talk as much as she does cooking, especially since her father told her being a chef was a man’s job.
And now we get big bro Jimmy cooking tuna with granita and, George style, he pulls out chopsticks to plate, much like George and his tweezers. He seems a cheery soul and his warmth makes for good TV. They are totally going to make his sister give him an apron.
“That is one of the best dishes I’ve tasted in top 50 ever,” says George. Stoked. I’m Team Jimmy – any of you who are Team Theresa are dead to me.
They’ve given out 19 aprons in this episode and Matt says there are five to give away tomorrow to the second chancers – what happened to no limit on the aprons? There are 11 people left, but then the announcer says only four will make it through. Does someone leave? Guess we have to stay tuned.
And it’s time for the second chancers to cook. I was pondering how many contestants last year who were second chancers actually made it far into the comp, and thanks to Wikipedia, I now know this:
Auditions Part 2 – Sixteen second chance contestants were given the chance for the nine remaining spots in the Top 24, in a two challenge rounds. In the first round, an Invention Test, contestants had 75 minutes to cook a savoury dish from their choice of three different world food markets. The 8 best dishes won their makers a spot in the main competition. James’s dish was so good that he received an apron during the tasting. The other seven contestants receiving an apron were Georgia, Mario, Billie, Andrea, Jamie, Amy and John. The remaining eight contestants faced a Pressure Test set by Shannon Bennett for the one remaining spot in the Top 24. They had two hours to create his layered Warm Chocolate Orange Mousse, with a number of technical elements including tempering chocolate. Rose’s version was declared the best and she won the last apron.
So, winner Billie and Gary’s fave, runner-up Georgia. Speaking of Georgia, check out this recent pic from Facebook. She looks very different to her frazzled panda eyes MasterChef days.
DAY TWO
There are 11 contestants and five aprons. Four are up for grabs today. Losers go to a pressure test tomorrow to fight for the final apron.
George: “Flavour, passion etc.”
Each person gets a basket with 10 fave ingredients they supposedly use all the time at home. They only have to use one thing from the basket – boring – I like it when they have to mix weird stuff together.
Harry, bartender with the weird hair, catches his own seafood near Magnetic Island. He’s a veritable Ozzy from Survivor. He’s making lobster with some spicy flavours. So, Harry got airtime so he’s either amazing or appalling.
I like graphic designer Jordan’s honesty: “My favourite things probably aren’t the best to cook with – more just to eat as a snack.” They include oreos, apples, feta, prosciutto. She loves desserts but decides this is the perfect time to do savoury, with egg yolk ravioli. Yeah, don’t play to your strengths when you are trying to get on to MasterChef.
Our park ranger is making a spicy pie but he has Gary wincing when he says he’s not going to pressure cook his meat. He changes his mind but it makes me think Miles does not watch the show.
Snapper lady is a dab hand at filleting a humungous fish while coral top lady is a dab hand at Frenching lamb ranks.
Poor Jordan has stuffed up two batches of pasta dough. Make something else, Jordan! No, she keeps going even though she now only has one egg left for the filling. So it will be one ravioli
Adam from SA (go SA!) grew up on a chook farm, so he’s making roast chicken and chips with a mushroom medley. He wants to win one of his fave things, which is tinned stock powder. They blur it out but it looks like Vegeta. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, Adam! That stuff may fly on MKR but not here.
HR person Sarah is doing beef cheek with pasta but she doesn’t have tomatoes so she’s using apple instead. That’s going to be beef with stewed apple. I want to see a picture of everything else in her basket so I can figure out what I would have made.
“I’ve spent a lot of time Frenching,” says Elise AKA coral top lady. Ooh, have you? She lucked out with some decent ingredients that complement each other – I reckon she took a punt they could be used for an invention test.
Vegeta dude is chastised by the judges and has a d’oh moment. Miles the ranger is happy with the flavours of his pie but he’s lining quite a large tin – will it cook in time?
As usual there are people in the room who are invisible, although we get glimpses of other raviolis.
Apple beef cheek girl thinks her dish stinks and she doesn’t want to serve it. She fell into the trap of thinking she had to serve a protein. Matt goes over for a pep talk and who wouldn’t be cheered up by a six-and-a-half-foot block in purple tartan suit and a cravat. Wisely beef cheek girl – Sarah – decided to do crepes with fruit compote.
Snapper lady Mimi looks like she knows what she’s doing and is getting a few confessionals where she has to explain the components of her dish. She’ll be safe.
Ranger Miles’s pastry is undercooked and he can’t get the damn thing out of a tin. He leaves it in the tin. The pressure test beckons.
The judges taste
1 Harry’s lobster with sambal and broth: “I think you’ve got some talent,” says Gary. It’s delicious.
2 Jordan’s egg yolk ravioli with basil oil: The music builds as Gary cuts the ravioli. Will the yolk be runny? Cut to ad break. Geez, never saw that coming. Yes, it’s runny. Gary appreciates the effort but they all think it needed more elements.
3 Mimi’s snapper with chilli and broth: This looks lovely and she’s done the trendy broth in a bottle thing. Give me that and a bowl of steamed rice and I’d be happy.
Matt thinks it’s a beautiful plate of food given the limited ingredients she had. She’s one to watch. We get a lovely closeup of George’s sweaty head. Gazza hands her an apron on the spot – after Matt does the obligatory fake “ponder”. Well done, Mimi.
4 Invisible Lauren’s beef with eggplant puree: Beef good, not so the raspberry “gastrique” (which Google tells me is a fancy name for a sweet and sour sauce). Hopefully there’s not too much gastric on this season.
5 Invisible Molly’s salmon tartare: Good but too rich and lacking freshness
6 Invisible Melissa (older lady with the funky headscarf) fennel and salmon ravioli: George damns her with “It needs … flavour.” There’s no sauce. He uses the word “lubricate” and it sounds so wrong.
7 Invisible Jenny (or is it Ginny?) has managed to serve up multiple ravioli: Ricotta and orange rav with a lentil orange salad. She confesses she thinks Gaz “has got pretty eyes”. Argh.
8 SA boy has served his chicken and chips sans stock powder. He gets the thumbs up from Gaz.
9 Beef cheek apple girl Sarah-turned raspberry crepe girl: George commends her for putting up a dish. The crepe is fine and they’re happy she learnt a lesson.
10 Park ranger Miles serves up his stuck pie: George tries to prise it out of the tin and manages to get it out in one piece. Gaz has to eat humble pie and says it’s tasty. Matt loves the flavour. George says it’s hugworthy.
11 Elise’s pistachio-crusted lamb with parsnip mash (continuing the theme of MKR where everyone did parsnip mash): Elise is one of those weirdos who loved the pressure of the challenge. Gaz loved the lamb (which actually looks super rare). They liked her Frenching skills.
The other aprons go to: Elise for the lamb, Harry (who reminds me of last year’s winner, Brent) for the lobster and Adam the chicken man.
Tomorrow night they’ll do battle for the final apron. So, based on tonight’s air time, does it go to Sarah or Jordan. They have to recreate a Shannon Bennett dessert, so I know many of you dear readers will be delighted to see you favourite MasterChef regular on the tellie again.
MasterChef doesn’t start til May but the promo is out. Will you be watching?
I’m looking forward to a cooking show that’s about food more than it is personality.
