Returning to the Masterchef Kitchen after Monday’s Terrine Tragedy offers our remaining four contestants an “incredible opportunity for redemption.” But as usual we begin in the Masterchef House before dawn. The lights come on and our contestants take down and pack their photo’s of loved ones before donning the black aprons which signify an elimination challenge.
Dani sums up their feelings – “it’s going to be a tough day.” This is confirmed by Matt Preston in the Masterchef Kitchen – “the black aprons say it all. It’s going to be a dark day.”
The judges want to know the contestants stories (as if they haven’t seen enough back-stories by now). The challenge is a Food Autobiography. To cook three dishes that tell the story of your life – your childhood, formative years, and where you are now.
Michael thinks this is going to be quite hard. Looking down at his stomach he tells us – “there’s lots of stories there”. Well we had noticed he’s certainly porked up a bit since moving into the Masterchef House.
Three dishes, three hours and an open pantry. But as the voiceover warns us “amongst incredible dishes lurks disaster!”
The cooking commences.
Alana is making a yabbie salad, smoked lamb cutlets and a chocolate desert. Sounds familiar. We’ve seen variations of these before. But this time she promises they will be “restaurant quality.” The lamb cutlets will also have a middle eastern accompaniment. Perhaps she grew up in Beirut?
Dani it appears grew up in a suburban chinese restaurant (from the 1970’s). She will be cooking a corn and crab soup. Another one of her pork and scallop Asian dishes and that most demanding of deserts – a banana fritter and ice-cream.
Michael is going long on proteins. He plans a duck dish, a big plate of pork (three little piggies) and to finish some fish and chips.
Finally Kate is doing a smoked trout salad, a spiced pumpkin tortellini with prawns and a caramelised white chocolate desert.
Time for the spontaneous walkabout by the judges. A long discussion ensues with Michael who appears to be planning to cook every possible cut and breed of pork. With a beautiful suckling pig wonder Matt Moran and Gary why would you bother with the belly of an older porker? This has Michael feeling confused as he admits he’s “not really in the zone today.”
Kate’s first attempt at her verjuice jelly is too rubbery. She has time to try again which fortunately works perfectly.
Dani tells us her corn soup will be a veloute. Whilst Michael is cooking his duck sous-vide. Perhaps they are hoping for bonus points for fancy French terms. They must have already forgotten yesterday’s farce.
Michael is happy with his duck which he thinks is cooked perfectly. Whereas Dani knows that her banana fritters have to be cooked perfectly. Given the last time StKildaFlaneur ate banana fritters they were cooked by a 12 year old girl in a family run food hut in a small rural village in Laos we think she may be right.
Time is fast running out, but there is time enough for some more Dani disasters. She wonders why she has left everything to the last minute? Her oil isn’t hot enough and she can’t get her icecream out of the cooking pail. Still she manages to plate up…more or less. Michael is also in a spot of bother. His three little piggies have become two little piggies.
Time for tasting.
Alana reminds us that “staying in the competition means everything at this point.” Her Yabbies are beautifully sweet but Matt Preston worries that her entrée is “too busy.” The lamb cutlet is pronounced “textbook” and Gary is salivating over her chocolate mousse which Matt Moran concurs is “hard to beat.”
Michael admits he hasn’t had a good day. First up is his Two Little Piggies. Matt Preston makes an astute observation, reminding us why he’s one of Australia’s leading food critics, noting “it’s all about the pork.” For Gary though it’s a “winner, absolute winner.” Less successful is his duck which receives a mixed reception. The final dish is fish and chips with mushy peas and a lemon sauce, which Matt Moran thinks tastes like a lemon curd tart. Looks like Michael made a desert after all. Gary is similarly unimpressed pronouncing the sauce disastrous and horrible.
Kate is next up. The two Matts sum up her smoked trout as “wow what a great dish,” her stuffed prawns as “a cracking dish” and her ice-cream sandwich is “an absolute knockout.”
We think Kate and Alana must be safe.
Dani gets off to a bad start as Matt Preston observes her dishes don’t look very good. But will they taste delicious? Not the corn soup. It’s been cooked too long and the crab meat is not delicate. The pork belly and scallops are pronounced a great combination. It all comes down to the desert. A solitary pale banana fritter lying in the shadow of a giant pail of ice-cream. The flavour combination is good (who would have thought it – banana fritters and ice-cream?) but unfortunately Gary notes that the ice-cream is far from successful.
The four contestants reassemble. Alana is on the edge of tears. We are reminded that “for one of you the dream is about to end” As the audience leans forward on the edges of their collective seats…the screen bursts into flames – and we have time for a cup of tea.
To no great surprise Alana and Kate are pronounced safe….and Dani’s out! She doesn’t think her dream is over, but at least one facebook page is now defunct and the Masterchef Cookbook publisher can breathe a big sigh of relief.
Dani will surely be missed. But fear not. Her website has now been launched www.danivenn.com laugh, eat, live.
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