Not one but two MasterChef contestants bit the dust, a cephalopod mollusc got smoked and Matt Moran talked about the best way to ruin a perfectly good rack. It’s The Weekly Serve, Pedestrian’s weekly MasterChef column penned by apron-clad expert Katie Head…
What a week guys! Coconut Cherry Bombe Alaska, bye-bye large earlobes Alex, hello handsome Irish chef Colin from The Four In Hand in Sydney, no immunity pin for Jay, a battle of the sexes team challenge at The Mean Fiddler on Wednesday and sayonara sushi loving Seamus in Thursday’s Rapid Fire elimination challenge. Phew.
I loved last night’s show – a combination of teamwork, Mystery Box and Invention Test components made for an excellent challenge to watch. Plus at one point, I think Matt Preston made a sound that bordered on having an orgasm.
The remaining 21 contestants were grouped into teams of three of their own choosing. They then had to randomly pick a mystery core ingredient and specific cooking technique that had to be used together to produce one totally tasty dish.
We had Pork En Papillote* (Craig, Sun and Peter) Fried Lamb (Kate, Arena, Alana), Smoked Octopus (Rachel, Chelsea, Ellie), Braised Scallops (Matt, Shannon, Andrew), Poached Squab (Dani, Danielle, Cleo), Snapper En Crute** (Hayden, Jay, Michael) and Roast Venison (Adam, Kumar, Billy).
*En Papillote = cooked in paper
**En Crute = wrapped in pastry.
BEST DISH – They didn’t win last night, but team Roast Venison (Adam, Kumar and Billy) delivered a perfectly pink plate of Bambi that I could have easily devoured, had I not just tucked into about 6 slices of roast beef from my own oven.
Kumar with the pre-roasted venison
Team Pork En Papillote (Craig, Sun, Peter) delivered the winning dish last night, and kudos to them – Matt Moran said he’d never even seen red meat cooked in this style before, so they totally nailed it.
WORST DISH – Team Smoked Octopus (Rachel, Chelsea and Ellie). You had me at Smoked Octopus. I am a food lover through and through but that just sounds wack, especially when served with a motley crew of poorly cooked accompaniments. Say hello to the Bottom Three, ladies.
WHO CRIED – Chelsea took one for Team Tears last night, although I’m not sure if it was because she lost the challenge and is facing off against her two ‘roomies’ in tonight’s Pressure Test OR because she wore a ridiculously over-bedazzled top on national television.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT – Dead heat between “basically we’re going to have to cook pigs in a bag” (Craig) and “I don’t understand why you would stuff a perfectly nice rack” (Matt Moran).
BIGGEST BEEF – Last week my biggest beef was that it was all too obvious who the top and bottom players were going to be in the Sunday night challenge. However, grouping the remaining twenty-one contestants into seven teams of three totally unbeefed that last night. You really got a chance to see everyone cook – or at least stir some sauce on camera.
Someone making sauce:
However, having a montage at the beginning of the episode focusing on the fact that three boys and no girls have been eliminated so far pretty much guaranteed that last night’s losers were going to be a trio of ladies – Is it too much to ask for a scoop of unscripted with my serving of reality TV?
See you next Monday!
Love, Katie.
