Masterchef Recap – 31 May 2011
Today it’s all about Jay’s continuing quest for that illusive Immunity Pin. He looks like he means business as he irons his chef’s whites before we see him purposefully striding out to sea on the 1,841 metre Busselton jetty. There is no need for Rachel to remind us that we’re still in W.A.
Jay is greeted by the other contestants and judges at the end of the pier as we await his adversary’s arrival by speedboat. Local chef Tony steps off brandishing a pair of magnificent red emperors.
Standing with George and Gary is a big, big man in a white suit and wide brimmed hat. He looks familiar. Could Boss Hogg be a guest judge tonight?
What is on the menu? The cloche is lifted and we discover a seafood stew containing mussels, marron, tiger prawns, scallops, red emperor and a flavoursome bisque. Invited to taste Jay is soon scoffing a prawn. He is confident and thinks he can “give it a good go.” Jay gets cracking with a 10 minute head start as Gary poses the question “who’s going to sink and who’s going to swim?”
Tony gives Jay a hint to save the carrots for later and Jay advises his intent to use his “food brain” instead of recipe reading. The ten minutes are up and Tony is looking to create a beautiful clear broth. As prepping continues there is plenty of banter coming from Jay. We hope he’s not getting ahead of himself. Different techniques are used for the bisques which has George looking concerned.
Tony looks like he’s finished in plenty of time, but realises he’s left the adductor muscles on his scallops. In the last few seconds he picks through his dish frantically cutting off these hard little strips. He hopes he’s got them all. Jay has also finished and feels confident – “if my seafood is cooked correctly I’ve got this one in the bag.”
Time for the blind tasting. Jay’s plate is up first. George shares with us his initial observations that the mussels have opened and the oysters have been shucked. We then learn that the broth has the flavour of crustaceans – an important element in a shellfish soup. Scores are in. Two 7’s and an 8, giving a credible total of 22.
Tony’s plate is next. The first thing noted is the more prominent placement of the marron in the piled crustaceans. By now we have realised the big guy in the white suit is Masterchef’s own Matt Preston. Bad luck for Tony – Matt’s found an adductor muscle. Time for scoring. The first two scores are given a 7 and an 8. It all comes down to Matt, and we remember that stray adductor muscle. We know it will be close. It’s an 8. Tony wins by the narrowest of margins. His job is safe! The difference in the end was his “absolute respect to all the seafood on the dish.”
The victor and vanquished make plans for a fishing trip as they start the long walk back down the jetty.
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