Skip to playerSkip to main contentSkip to footer
daily Vid
  • 2 days ago

Category

📺
TV
Transcript
00:00Oh
00:20So dark. Oh guys. What's going on here? Wow, what is that?
00:25It is like walking into an enchanted forest. There's little trees and shrubbery and there's moss all over the floor
00:35Oh my god, it's a fish. It's a fish eating a cornetta.
00:39And it looks like there's edible things perched from a fish's mouth
00:45hanging from the tree. I don't know if it looks delicious. Sitting on the rocks. They can't be edible. Surely not.
00:53This is like
00:55unbelievable. Oh my god. Oh my goodness.
00:57What the hell is that?
00:59So beautiful. Oh, here they are.
01:02What about this?
01:04Amazing.
01:06Morning all. Morning.
01:09The kitchen is looking a little wild today.
01:12We are definitely stepping into the grain unknown for this elimination.
01:18These beautiful bites were made by a Kiwi legend.
01:22Oh.
01:24He made the top 100 chefs list this year.
01:30His ethos around New Zealand ingredients has earned his restaurant three hat status.
01:36It was awarded the best dining experience in 2024 and the third best restaurant in the world by food and wine.
01:47Oh my god.
01:48Holy shit.
01:49That ain't it.
01:50This is insane.
01:52It made the San Pellegrino world's 50 best restaurants list this year.
01:57I just got crisps.
01:59Crisps.
02:00Please welcome the mad genius of the South Island executive chef of Queenstown's Emmersfield, Vaughn Mabee.
02:11Born Mabee from New Zealand.
02:23His food is some of the best in the world.
02:26To see him in the flesh, he's a little scary walking into the kitchen.
02:30What's happening guys?
02:32Honey walked in like a boss.
02:36Mohawk.
02:37Just chilling.
02:38What's up?
02:39Kia ora.
02:40How good?
02:41Chef.
02:42Chef Vaughn.
02:43How are you?
02:47Vaughn, welcome to the MasterChef kitchen.
02:49Thank you for having me.
02:51Your approach to food really pushes boundaries.
02:54What's your ethos with cooking?
02:56Our restaurant, Emmersfield, it's on an island.
02:58Our ethos is just using what's around us.
03:01I'm motivated in telling a true story of our land, you know, Aotearoa and its cuisine in
03:08a different light to the world.
03:10Vaughn's restaurant is famous for its tasting menu of sensational snacks and one bite wonders.
03:16Up here are eight of his favourites.
03:19These are all loaded with world class New Zealand ingredients, flavours and technique that
03:24you cannot experience anywhere else.
03:28And, lucky you, you get to taste them right here, right now!
03:33Yes!
03:35That's an excellent start to an initiative.
03:38This is sick.
03:39First up, Laura.
03:41It kind of feels like I'm having snacks for free and it's an absolute vibe.
03:46Like, this is some of the best food in the world and we get to have it in this kitchen.
03:50This one is kind of one of the most nostalgic flavours of New Zealand.
03:54Growing up in New Zealand, we make white bait fritters.
03:57Inside is actually aerated white bait mousse and it's encaptured inside the fritter around it.
04:05That is so good.
04:06The weird and wacky ideas that he's come up with as dishes is so inspiring.
04:10This is what we call the duck foot.
04:13I mean, there's duck feet, like literally duck feet as a snack.
04:17We cook it in its own consomme and the claws are made out of black truffle.
04:23That is so cool.
04:25There is fish heads that have got almost Cornetto-like ice creams hanging out of them.
04:29I want to get into his brain and be like, how the hell did you come up with this kind of stuff?
04:33This is the New Zealand native green bone.
04:36Inside there is like a little aerated horseradish ice cream.
04:39The cone might be a tiny little thing but...
04:41Wow.
04:42As soon as I break that cone, my mouth just fills with all this flavour.
04:46It's so sour and so bright.
04:48It was amazing.
04:49It's like the ultimate palate awakener.
04:52This is the wing of the titi, also known as the mutton bird.
04:57I think the thing with all of these dishes is that they look really simple
05:01but so much thought and attention has been given to how to pack all that flavour in.
05:06Quite amazing how much flavour you can pack into such a small amount of food
05:08and to have those classic kiwi flavours makes it even more special, I think.
05:12Awesome, man.
05:13I think it's spectacular and if we're going to have to do this in the challenge,
05:16it's going to be a bit of a worry.
05:17Now this is the same bird Ben just tasted. This is the titi, this is the heart.
05:22So the heart, you know, it's the purest part of any animal.
05:25So we glaze it with a wild birch syrup, the sap we take out of the trees.
05:30So sweet, salty and fatty.
05:32You're just going to eat it like it's a lollipop.
05:35Best lollipop ever.
05:36Oh, yum.
05:38That looks amazing.
05:40Oregon Depender has chosen the worst mystery box to win yesterday
05:43because this is very cool right now, give you a try of these dishes.
05:46So this is the New Zealand Pawa.
05:48It's an endemic black abalone.
05:50Both of these bites I've been lucky enough to try.
05:53Wow.
05:54It's like that Willy Wonka thing where you cram a three-course meal into a tablet.
05:58Like there is like so much flavour going on in these bites right now.
06:01Have you ever seen this before?
06:03No.
06:04It's called kaio in a native tongue in New Zealand.
06:06English name is a sea tulip.
06:08We harvest them in some of the purest waters down around the south of New Zealand.
06:13That's delicious and totally unexpected.
06:16Vaughan wants to use what's around him and celebrate all of the things that are beautiful
06:22and unique about the part of the world he's from.
06:24This is the native New Zealand tawaka mushroom tart.
06:28So when you eat this it goes sweet, crispy, fresh and then you have this powerful mushroom flavour.
06:34Each of these bites is really succinct in its idea and it's packed full of unexpected technique and flavour.
06:40I have a feeling we're going to be doing that today.
06:43What you just tasted is your inspiration for today.
06:47We want you to create your own spectacular one bite wonder.
06:52And you've got your work cut out for you today.
06:55Because we want the perfect bite times five.
06:58One morsel for each of us.
07:01So we're giving you two hours.
07:04The pantry and garden are open.
07:06And unfortunately the least impressive dish will send its maker home.
07:11Take it away Vaughan.
07:13Your two hours starts now.
07:16Come on guys.
07:24I'm definitely excited for this challenge but also nervous is absolutely the right word to use.
07:30These three guys are such creative incredible cooks.
07:33I know they're going to put up something super magical.
07:36So it's trying to think how the hell am I going to save myself today
07:40and what is it going to take to put up an incredible dish.
07:43You know what I'll get my fish last.
07:46Because that's going to be the smartest thing to do.
07:50Honestly speaking it's an honour meeting you and to go with your passion.
07:56I mean I love cooking but this is another world.
07:59Vaughan I can guarantee we're going to get some exceptional food.
08:02Like we've got four of the best cooks that this kitchen has ever seen cooking
08:06right at the top of their game at the moment.
08:08If it was you out there where would you start?
08:11I mean for me I start with like focusing on one ingredient.
08:15And then around that I would create something whether it's the way it's shown to you
08:19or the way it's given to make it more elaborate where they can stand out amongst the other chefs.
08:24Love this.
08:25If I was potato starch where would I be?
08:28You know what the beautiful thing is about these four?
08:30Like this challenge and why I love it I have no idea what they're going to cook right now.
08:34I'm excited to eat.
08:36Yeah, same.
08:39You okay Ben?
08:40Good chef, thank you.
08:41How do you feel having other's own kiwi in the kitchen?
08:43It's always nice.
08:44Yeah?
08:45Twice as hard for you though.
08:46Twice as hard for you to understand what we're saying right?
08:49I think Vaughan's food is amazing.
08:55Great to have another kiwi in the kitchen.
08:56I'd love to know how he makes it because it would help me today.
08:59But really inspirational start to the morning with some of that amazing food in there.
09:03So just trying to think of what I can do that's going to sort of pack the same punch.
09:08I'm more of a cook a dish sort of person than cook a mouthful sort of person.
09:12Small bites isn't really my style so it's going to be a challenge for sure.
09:17But Vaughan talks about a connection with food and white beta definitely makes me think of my childhood.
09:21And I'm sort of thinking that if I can get some white beta into this dish it's going to help me form that connection and hopefully cook a better dish.
09:28Ben.
09:29Hello, hello.
09:30How are you mate?
09:31Pretty good.
09:32Pretty good, yeah.
09:33Pretty good?
09:34You feeling the pressure a little bit or what?
09:35100% yeah.
09:36There's never been more pressure in this room than right now.
09:37You know it could be the last cook in here so I don't want that to be the case.
09:40I'm just trying to make the most precise flavourful mouthful of food I can do.
09:43I'm actually going to use, having seen the white bait, I didn't taste it up there but I saw it and it just brought back my childhood memories of eating white bait.
09:49And you know just pretty much white bait and egg is all you need but I'm going to have to obviously do a bit more than that.
09:53So I'm actually going to take a chicken wing and I'm going to stuff it with a white bait mousse.
09:58Just so you really get that sweetness from the white bait when you eat it and hopefully take you to my childhood in New Zealand as well I imagine.
10:05Sounds really cool. Sounds like something that interests me a lot.
10:10You know like that's cool.
10:11Yeah.
10:12White bait, chicken wings.
10:13Yeah.
10:14Obviously I want to see the kiwi wing win, sorry.
10:17Wings on mine.
10:18I will not be biased am I promise.
10:20No you won't be.
10:21Not all around here.
10:23He's also bigger than you Andy in case.
10:25Bigger than most.
10:26Good luck mate.
10:27Thanks Andy, appreciate it.
10:28Good luck mate.
10:29Thanks chef.
10:30The chicken wings I want to stuff them in, you can either pull the bones out raw or pull them out cooked.
10:33It's far easier doing what they're cooked.
10:35So frying the chicken first, it gives it a bit of colour on the skin and then cooking it gently in the stock is just going to make it cook through without overdoing it.
10:41Hello.
10:42Are you excited?
10:43I am always chef.
10:44Is it your forte?
10:45Yeah I think so.
10:46Yeah I'm excited for it.
10:47I'm normally pretty level-headed on these things but this is going to be one for my kids today.
10:59So most of them are going to be running high but yeah I'm really excited.
11:03One of the things I love to do with my kids is to educate them about all things food and so we'll often go out on little adventures.
11:10We'll go pick apples up in the lead hills where I'm from.
11:13In the cooler months I've got wild mushrooms growing everywhere just near my house and seeing Vaughan's creations today and how much it sort of spoke of you know a sense of place.
11:23I just thought that was really awesome and so I'm going to do a mushroom and chicken tart.
11:30Something that I noticed with Vaughan's dishes were they were little works of art like they looked really interesting before you even had a chance to eat it.
11:35So I want to create a dish that essentially looks like the judges are going to be going mushroom foraging themselves to pick up a little mushroom looking dish.
11:45But the thing is when you commit to a dish like looking like something like if it doesn't look accurate then it sort of loses a bit of that magic.
11:54So yeah that's the goal today. Make sure I execute everything to the highest possible standard in terms of flavour but also in terms of getting that presentation aspect right.
12:04My chicken liver parfait goes into the oven and now it's time to make the mandarin and thyme gel.
12:08Let's go Kyle. Smells great.
12:11Thanks mate.
12:12Single bite snacks is what we did at Alba for years.
12:18And I feel like this whole journey in this competition has been all about me sort of gaining back some confidence and sort of moving through that journey that I had with that venue that I love so much.
12:28So today I want to pay homage to that memory and create something that represents who I am now and what I'm about.
12:34So I'm making anchovies on toast.
12:36I feel like this is a nice little ode to my past but as well it sort of represents where I'm going in my future and I'm confident in my cooking again.
12:44I feel like it's a bit of a flex for me to be in an elimination at top five of MasterChef and say I'm putting anchovies on toast.
12:53But the toast is going to be crystal bread.
12:56Crystal bread is essentially completely transparent starch toast.
13:01It's completely hollow, it's completely see-through but somehow still tastes like bread.
13:09Crystal bread takes a long time to cook so that's the first thing I need to get onto.
13:15I take water, kuzu starch and potato starch and start whisking.
13:20This needs to start boiling and come together looking like a pretty gross paste but greatness will come.
13:27Jamie?
13:29Oui?
13:30I'm so interested.
13:32Yeah me too.
13:34I need at least 90 minutes for this to dry out in the oven because the danger with crystal bread is if I don't cook it out properly the effect won't work and the texture will be gummy.
13:43Jamie?
13:45Chef, sorry.
13:47No you are.
13:50How are you mate?
13:51Very well. I'm making anchovies on toast.
13:53Right.
13:54Yum.
13:55Yeah.
13:56You've got a smoked confit tomato, a little anchovy custard.
14:00I'm making crystal bread.
14:01So it would be a crystal clear wafer.
14:03Shatters like glass but still has that beautiful taste of bread.
14:06So it may be anchovies on toast but it's definitely MasterChef worthy.
14:10Mate, crystal bread.
14:12We've never seen that in a MasterChef kitchen.
14:16I think you know your way around crystal bread.
14:18What can go wrong?
14:19To be honest, I've never made it myself.
14:21Wow.
14:22I've eaten it in many restaurants around the world.
14:24I guess the only thing that can go wrong with it is that it's not crispy.
14:27Mmm.
14:29You've got your work cut out for you.
14:30Good luck.
14:31Thanks guys.
14:33There's no backup.
14:35There is no backup for the crystal bread.
14:37All of my bread is in one basket.
14:39Um, and we're hoping that that is a clear vision of us going into the top four.
14:52Tiny dish!
14:53Huge stakes!
14:5590 minutes ago!
14:57Woo!
14:58Let's go guys.
15:02Keep going, Cal.
15:03Let's go, let's go.
15:04Run, run, run.
15:09This is such a challenging challenge.
15:14You've got one shot in one mouthful to win the judges over.
15:19This fish would just tame itself.
15:22Stay on the chopping board.
15:24Ah, look, any day you're wearing a black apron in this kitchen is a pretty terrifying day.
15:29To be honest, I feel like these three boys have been my biggest competitors since day one.
15:35So today is going to be a huge elimination.
15:39But, I came back to win.
15:41I did not come here to set different milestones.
15:44It was to get to that final spot.
15:47And I am trying to do everything in my power to get there and to make sure I walk out of this kitchen a winner.
15:54It looks so fresh.
15:56It's beautiful.
15:58Absolutely beautiful.
16:00Today I think it's all about sticking to my strengths.
16:03And I want to play around with Japanese flavours as well as native Australian ingredients.
16:07So today I'm making a seaweed tart.
16:10Inside that's going to have a native citrus gel, a toasted nori jam and a smoked fish head emulsion.
16:17Babe, how long are you smoking that for?
16:21Probably about ten.
16:23Ten minutes?
16:24Yeah.
16:25Then I'm going to have the fish which I'm curing.
16:28It's a traditional Japanese technique called kombu jime.
16:32So you slice up my coral trout, wrap it in the kombu and just allow that to pretty much kill for as long as possible when it's cooked to really take on that beautiful kombu flavour.
16:40Laura, that looks amazing.
16:43So you're going to smoke it inside that?
16:46No, so it's going to go into the cryback so that it penetrates more flavour quicker.
16:50Beautiful.
16:51Showing some techniques, girlfriend.
16:53We love a bit of technique.
16:56I feel like I'm making dolmatis.
16:57There's definitely a lot of pressure today to really make sure both the Japanese and native Australian flavours sing, work cohesively and I think it's going to come down to not just the flavours of both the cuisines but also the textures as well.
17:13And you know, you want a really fun, textural, explosive mouthful.
17:17So yeah, I'm ready to absolutely nail this challenge.
17:19There's no other option but to nail it today.
17:22You're working on your tart shells now?
17:24Yeah.
17:2540 down, please.
17:32Steaks are so high today because whoever's going home today is going to miss out on being the top four and top five is good but it's not top four and it's certainly not winning.
17:40So I've decided to put as much technique as possible into this dish to prove that I should be the one to stay.
17:46So I'm going to add a few extra elements to go with my chicken wings, stuffed with white bait to really stand out.
17:50I'm adding a chicken liver parfait, a chive oil emulsion and a seaweed crisp.
17:56When the judges bite into the snack I want to have a whole range of feelings from firstly the texture, the crunch, right through to then big flavours from the parfait, right through to the sweetness of the white bait.
18:06The chicken wings are the tuile and the parfait's in the oven.
18:08Now it's time to make the mousse to stuff the chicken wings with when they're ready.
18:12To make the mousse I basically blend up some white bait with some egg, salt and a little bit of cream until it's really light and fluffy.
18:19White bait's got a very sweet, slightly salty flavour and I think that's going to go really well with the chicken.
18:23Is that your mousse, babes?
18:25Yep.
18:26Beautiful.
18:27It's almost all white bait.
18:28Taste everything, yeah?
18:29Yeah.
18:30Let's go, Jamie!
18:31Woo!
18:33Great energy, Dave.
18:35Always.
18:36I'm here for it.
18:38I'm working on my home feed tomatoes, my anchovies on toast.
18:42Did you put a bit of sugar on your tomato?
18:44Sorry?
18:45Did you put a bit of sugar on your tomato?
18:46No, no.
18:47Not yet.
18:48But now that you've said it, it might bring out some more sweetness, huh?
18:51It's every five minutes left and all the things that take a lot of time are in the oven.
18:56So I've got my confit tomatoes in there.
18:58The bread is the main thing that needs time to, like, to just dry out.
19:03Now moving on to my anchovy cream, which is almost like a custard.
19:07It's a good time right there.
19:10Right, so I've got to infuse this cream with the anchovy flavour
19:15and then mix it through some egg yolks, essentially making a custard.
19:18I want the fat from this to really cover the mouth
19:21so that even after the anchovy and the crystal bread's gone,
19:24you're left with this unmistakable anchovy flavour
19:27that's just sitting on the palate.
19:29Do you want it to be really intense?
19:31Um, not too intense.
19:33You're still going to have an anchovy on the top.
19:35Oh, OK.
19:36How long is your crystal bread going to be in the oven for, Jamie?
19:39Uh, till it's ready.
19:40You can't overcook it.
19:41Oh, OK, cool.
19:42This needs to be in a 170 oven for a long time.
19:47I need all of the water to cook out
19:48and the starch to just solidify around the outside.
19:52The slower you can do that, the clearer you can get the bread.
19:54What we don't want is any of that moisture to not have evaporated
19:58because then you're going to get something real gummy
20:00and it won't be nice.
20:02So, it's a waiting game.
20:03I'm wearing a black apron and I'm resting my entire competition
20:09on whether this one thing that's never been done in this kitchen
20:13gets done on time.
20:15But I came fourth on my last season of MasterChef
20:18and the further into this competition I've gotten this year,
20:21the more and more confidence I've had that I will be here at the end.
20:24I just need to keep pushing.
20:29You only have 75 minutes left to go.
20:31Good luck, please.
20:33I'm going so fast in this kitchen.
20:36Wild.
20:40My chicken liver parfait is cooking in the oven.
20:41It's now time to make my mushroom tart.
20:44The pastry from my mushroom tart case is here.
20:46It's flour, it's water, it's olive oil
20:47and, of course, all those dried mushrooms in there as well.
20:51Callum.
20:52Hey, gents.
20:53What's your one bite?
20:54Mushroom and chicken liver tart is the dish.
20:56So, actually, slightly inspired by your mushroom tart.
20:58Oh.
20:59But, yeah, I guess as soon as I walked in today
21:01and just saw the moss and it kind of felt like you were walking through a forest.
21:05It's like my favourite thing in the world.
21:06We show all my kids, like, food things.
21:07So we've got, like, picking apples and picking strawberries
21:09that go foraging for mushrooms.
21:10So I want you guys to do a little bit of a forage today.
21:12So it's going to be little mushrooms on a plate
21:13and they're going to be stuffed with chicken liver parfait,
21:16chicken skin, a little mandarin thyme gel.
21:19Wow.
21:20And then a little mushroom stem made out of, like, a mushroom butter as well.
21:23So it's going to be a good time, I reckon.
21:24And this incites me because I know that, like, Callum has the technique behind him.
21:29Awesome.
21:30So we've got to pull something like that off.
21:31So, unfortunately, that means, Callum, very high expectations over here.
21:34Have your expectations as high as you like.
21:36I can't wait.
21:37Way out.
21:38Good luck, mate.
21:40I wish you luck, Callum.
21:41Thank you, Jeff.
21:42Is that your shell, Cal?
21:44Yeah, beautiful.
21:45My mushroom tart case dough is resting.
21:47I'm now going to make a port mushroom dashi jelly.
21:51The mushrooms and the dashi are going to give that real savoury umami flavour.
21:55And the port in there just gives a little bit of sweetness
21:58just to make sure it's not too earthy as well.
22:00I'm going to set this into a jelly into little moulds.
22:03And this is kind of going to be, if you can imagine,
22:05an upside-down mushroom with all the little gills in there,
22:07all those kind of lines that join the mushroom together.
22:09This is going to be that part.
22:11You can boil it, we good.
22:14Um, all right.
22:16My white bay mousse is finished.
22:17I now need to start stuffing the chicken wings.
22:20I need to sort of pull the bones out, which is a very fiddly task.
22:23Come on, fire it out.
22:25I hold it by one end and just wiggle each of the two bones
22:28that's inside the winglet.
22:31Stuff it with the mousse and then roll it up in cling film
22:33so I can steam them and cook the mousse through.
22:36Can't put too much in because they'll be too big to eat.
22:40I've never cooked white bay in this way.
22:42I've taken a bit of a risk, but hey,
22:44it's what you've got to do in this competition at this stage.
22:47Hi Ben!
22:48Hello, hello.
22:49Tell us, how are you going to wow us with one bite?
22:52Well, I took one bite.
22:53I've got these lovely little chicken wing stuff
22:55with a white bay mousse here, just cooking through.
22:57Almost done.
22:58Yep.
22:59They're going to be sitting on top of these lovely seaweed and chive twills.
23:02That's already done.
23:03Yep, chicken parfait, chicken liver parfait underneath that.
23:05Yep.
23:06And on top a little bit of a green oil emulsion and heavier.
23:09Wow.
23:10A lot of texture, a lot of flavour.
23:11Strong flavour.
23:12Yep.
23:13Yeah, and a lot of flavour.
23:15Just make sure that you're not just going for technical powers.
23:18Also make sure that it's carefully balanced.
23:21Have I just really screwed up here by adding so many big flavours?
23:30I really hope I haven't committed to the wrong dish.
23:43I know I have some big flavours in my dish,
23:45but with a small bite of food, a single mouthful,
23:48it's the proportions and the quantities
23:51and the way it's put together
23:52that's actually going to control how it eats.
23:54Finally.
23:55I'm confident with the concept of the dish
23:57and if I can get the balance right,
23:59I think I can do something really special with it.
24:01How's that, Benny?
24:02Beautiful.
24:03Beautiful, mate.
24:06My parfait's in the oven, which is good.
24:08My mushroom tart case dough is resting.
24:13My gills gel is cooling down the blast chiller.
24:18I'm just working on a little thyme and mandarin sauce
24:22I'm going to make as well.
24:23I've chosen to use mandarin as one of the flavour profiles
24:25I was in today with my mushroom and my chicken liver.
24:27And where that idea comes from is all the way back in season two,
24:31I was in London and I got to cook a challenge with Heston
24:34and I got to make his meat fruit, which is chicken liver and mandarin.
24:38And I remember eating that that day
24:39and just having a similar kind of magical food experience
24:42like we've just had with Vaughan here.
24:44And so when I thought of something to kind of break through
24:47the earthiness of that mushroom
24:49and that sort of silky saltiness of the chicken liver parfait,
24:52mandarin just seems like the obvious choice
24:54to link those two things together.
24:56What's that for, pal?
24:59Just a little sauce, like puree thing.
25:02Beautiful.
25:03Is that going to go inside the mushroom?
25:05Yeah.
25:06That now goes into the blast chiller.
25:09Time to start rolling out my dough for tart shells.
25:12No pressure.
25:14You have 30 minutes to go, guys.
25:17Let's do it, guys.
25:18Bring it home.
25:26There's 30 minutes to go.
25:32My fish is still curing.
25:34My smoked fish head stock is reducing down.
25:37My nori jam still bubbling away.
25:39The next thing I'm going to get onto is making my native citrus gel.
25:43I'm using lemon, aspen and desert lime today.
25:46I feel like with Japanese cooking,
25:48you'd use lots of yuzu within the dish
25:50to bring out that really nice acidic flair.
25:53And these flavours are going to really complement that yuzu style of flavour.
25:59Oh.
26:01She needed 100ml and she got it.
26:03Now that my citrus gel is on the stove,
26:05I crack onto rolling out my seaweed dough.
26:08Oh, my heart is racing so fast.
26:10Laura, did I just hear you say that your heart is beating so fast?
26:13So fast.
26:14Yeah?
26:15You're feeling it, aren't you?
26:16Definitely.
26:17Yeah.
26:18So nerve-wracking.
26:19Like, there's so much at stake today.
26:20I can see it in your eye.
26:21So much at stake.
26:22Have you got confidence in your idea?
26:24Yes.
26:25Like, at first, I feel like you're going to get hit with all the native citrus
26:27because I feel like it's so prominent.
26:28And then you flip to the Japanese side.
26:29Then I want you to get the smokiness from the head emulsion.
26:33So it's really a two-part journey in a single mouthful.
26:35Yeah.
26:36Yeah.
26:37Sounds amazing.
26:38If you can pull it off, it's genius.
26:39That's what you need with, like, any little snack.
26:40Like, you just want to be blown away
26:42and you've only got one mouthful to do it.
26:43So that's what I'm trying to do.
26:45Yeah.
26:46Blow your socks off in one mouthful.
26:47Well, we don't need to tell you what's riding on this.
26:49So we're wishing you all the best.
26:50Oh, God.
26:51Thank you so much.
26:52Thank you, ladies.
26:53What are socks off?
26:54Are you wearing socks?
26:55I'm not wearing socks.
26:56Put some socks on Soph.
26:58Just one bite between you and the top four.
27:01Fifteen minutes to go.
27:09That's perfect.
27:10Stunning.
27:11Oh, my God.
27:12Perfect.
27:13Perfect.
27:14Oh.
27:15Wow.
27:16Yes.
27:17I just got goosebumps.
27:18Soap.
27:19How are you going?
27:20Good, man.
27:21Having fun?
27:22Yeah.
27:23How are you travelling?
27:24Good.
27:25Nice, mate.
27:26I'm going to make a jelly or like a clarified butter or something like that.
27:28And today I'm kind of doing both of those things.
27:30So I've got my jelly setting away.
27:32I'm now going to make a little stem for the mushroom.
27:35It's going to be butter, black garlic and slippery jack mushrooms.
27:39Nice, pal.
27:40Even though the little stem I'm making here is quite a small part of the dish,
27:43I think it's a really important part because that sort of fat from the butter
27:46as it melts in your mouth is going to offset some of that sweetness from the mandarin gel
27:50and that kind of savoury earthiness of the mushroom dashi jelly that goes on the top as well.
27:56So it's going to be a really important sort of balancing act.
28:01How long till the crystal bread comes out, Jamie?
28:04Um, I'm pushing it a little bit.
28:07The crystal bread's going to come out and I'm probably going to have minutes to play.
28:11It's not a lot of time, but it's going to have to be.
28:14Oh, that smells incredible, Jamie. Tomatoes look amazing.
28:18Yeah, they do.
28:20Take my confit tomatoes out.
28:22They're still just holding together.
28:24And although they look beautiful, top four is on the line here.
28:28So a little bit of smoke is just going to elevate them that little bit more
28:31and take it to the next level.
28:33My anchovy cream is now done.
28:36It all comes down to this crystal bread.
28:39They look like ice cubes.
28:41They actually look like ice cubes.
28:43What's that? No, no, no.
28:46I can't push it any longer.
28:51They need to come out of the oven right now.
28:56If this doesn't work, there's no re-dos.
28:59I'm going to be putting an anchovy on a spoon.
29:02This snack needs to be your saviour five minutes to go.
29:05Come on, guys.
29:07I'm praying it's worked.
29:17I'm trying to get this crystal bread out of the pan, but these round ones just aren't de-moulding.
29:35How are they?
29:36Good.
29:37Good isn't filling me with heaps of confidence.
29:41Can't remake it.
29:43I move over to my squares and I can see them retracted from the edges.
29:53We could be on here.
29:54Pretty clear.
29:55Happy Jamie?
29:56Yep.
29:57These are so fragile, but it's holding form.
30:00It's clear.
30:01It's worked.
30:02Are they super delicate?
30:03They are right now.
30:04They're firm up.
30:05Yeah, but what happens when stuff gets put on them?
30:07Things go on it.
30:08Um, not sure.
30:09Nice one, Cal.
30:10I take my mushroom dashi and port jelly out of the fridge and turn it out and they look
30:28exactly like little mushroom gills.
30:30They look really good, mate.
30:32My porcini tart case has come out of the oven and they're looking good and they're nice
30:36and crunchy.
30:37The next thing that goes in is that chicken liver parfait.
30:39Around that I'm going to pipe some of that mandarin and thyme gel and top each with a
30:43little donut of chicken skin.
30:45Chicken skin donuts baby.
30:46I've punched out my little circles with chicken skin so I can put the stem through the
30:51skin.
30:52Next up is the mushroom dashi and port jelly that make them kind of the gills of the mushroom
30:56and finally that black garlic and slippery jack mushroom butter that forms the stem.
30:59Two minutes to go!
31:00Oh my God, they look so perfect.
31:01The last little thing I need to do is make a little Geraldton wax powder to dress the
31:13coral trout with.
31:14By pouring liquid nitrogen over the actual Geraldton wax, it's going to keep its colour and also
31:19the freshness of flavour that I want to accentuate in this dish.
31:22I've got my tart shells and I start to pipe in my three different emulsions.
31:27The balance of these is so crucial.
31:29There's a little bit more of that citrus gel, a good amount of that smoked fish head emulsion
31:34and three little dots of that nori jam.
31:37I feel like my heart rate has intensified so much in the last like half an hour because
31:42I just, I, because this means so much to me and then like obviously it means so much
31:48to everyone else.
31:49Let's just make sure that every single thing I'm putting in this tart is the most incredible
31:53version of itself.
31:54The crystal bread holds unto itself, but now I'm piling stuff on top of it.
32:03The last thing I want to do is weigh it down so much that it collapses.
32:07The flavours are all there.
32:09The anchovy comes through in the cream, obviously you get the beautiful anchovy on top.
32:13So hopefully the crystal bread stays nice and crisp.
32:16Works.
32:17One minute to go!
32:19Oh my God, that was bad.
32:23Thank God they're durable.
32:25I'm trying to get this on the plate as fast as I can.
32:28I've fried off my chicken wings, chopped the end off and then divide that into two.
32:32It's only a small mouthful, but any more than that and it won't fit in anyone's mouth.
32:36Slice some thin slices of parfait and put that on top of the twirl.
32:40It's not as refined and pretty as I would like it, but it's still going to taste amazing,
32:44I hope.
32:45Time to serve your snacks in ten!
32:48Nine!
32:49Three!
32:50Seven!
32:51Six!
32:52Five!
32:53Four!
32:54Three!
32:55Two!
32:56One!
32:57Epic!
32:58Epic work, everybody!
32:59Hey, bro.
33:00Well done, mate.
33:01It's into you, mate.
33:02Well done.
33:03Nice work, boys.
33:04So hard.
33:05One bite has to explain everything that you want to say today.
33:11Can I see?
33:12Can I see?
33:13Can I see?
33:14Whoa!
33:15Um, you know, this could be my last cook and if I don't go, one of them is.
33:28Not about me.
33:29Yeah.
33:30Yeah.
33:31Woof.
33:32Hey, Laura.
33:33Hi.
33:34Hi.
33:35Hi.
33:36Hi.
33:37Hi, Lars.
33:38Hi.
33:39Hi.
33:40Hi.
33:41Hi, Lars.
33:42Wow.
33:43Hi.
33:44Wow.
33:45Wow.
33:46Look at that.
33:47Wow.
33:48Look at that.
33:49This is my seaweed tart with cured coral trout and native citrus.
33:55When we pop this one bite in our mouths, what do you want us to experience?
34:00I think that contrast of Japanese flavours and the really wild, intense citrus that the
34:20natives have given to this dish.
34:22Do you think you've balanced the intensity of your ingredients?
34:24I think I have.
34:25I still, I think it's got enough punch, but it's also still really clean.
34:29I think when you're like sitting down, having lots of snacks, you want it to kind of have
34:32that intense impact, but you want to be left going and I could have another one that,
34:36you know, it wasn't too much.
34:37So hopefully I've hit that.
34:39Thanks, Laura.
34:40Thank you so much.
34:41Thanks, Laura.
34:45Okay.
34:46What do we think of Laura's snacks?
34:49Beautiful.
34:50Looks like deceptively simple.
34:51Yeah.
34:52Do you know how much work has gone into that?
34:53Yeah.
34:54Completely agree.
34:55Yeah.
34:56All right, let's have a try.
34:58I think Laura's created something here that's really special highlighting the native Australian
35:11citrus.
35:12I'm not really familiar with it, but I love the Geraldton wax.
35:28It kind of got that pine like, like almost like a conifer finish.
35:32I think all in all, it's a really good dish.
35:35Yeah.
35:36What she set out to do was really highlight Australian native citrus in here.
35:41What she's done really beautifully is pair it with Japanese ingredients that really scream
35:46umami, like that nori jam, for instance, combined with that really kind of rich fish head emulsion.
35:54Those two things are just like holding everything at bay and then letting the finger lime, the desert
36:00lime jam, just zing on zing on zing on zing.
36:04The Japanese do simplicity and clean so, so well.
36:08And I feel like they are two adjectives for what I would describe Laura's dish there.
36:12That was delicious.
36:13She just layered every single ingredient with so much technique.
36:17Like I love the way she cured that fish, wrapped it in the kombu and it just left it having the
36:23most beautiful texture and was just seasoned perfectly.
36:27What I like very much too is she's used most of everything.
36:30I mean, using the fish heads to get the gelatin to make it to the emulsion.
36:36I mean, it's a lot of work.
36:38It's phenomenal.
36:43Walking my dish up to the judges, I'm definitely concerned that this dish won't be good enough
36:50to keep me in the competition.
36:52I know it's a delicious dish, but it doesn't look amazing.
36:59Hi Ben.
37:00Hi Ben.
37:01How are you mate?
37:02I've put all of my heart into this dish and I just hope it keeps me safe.
37:13Ben, what have you made?
37:20I've made a whitebait stuffed chicken wing with a chicken liver parfait, a parmesan and seaweed
37:28twill and a chive oil emulsion.
37:32At the start of the day, you were pretty inspired by Vaughan.
37:35How did that shape this dish?
37:37I think a few things, seeing some of the ingredients from home, which I haven't seen for a while,
37:41particularly whitebait being one of them.
37:43But I think more than anything, those dishes had layers of flavour in them and texture in them.
37:48And so I wanted to try to create something leaning into that a bit where there's plenty of texture,
37:53plenty of flavour and plenty of layers.
37:55I'm sensing you're a little bit worried with this one.
37:59Yeah, I'm worried every time I cook in here, this one, you know, this isn't the way I typically cook.
38:04I do know it's delicious and I do know I gave it my best, so I can't really do much more than that.
38:09But we're looking forward to tasting it. Thanks mate.
38:12Thanks Ben.
38:13Awesome bro.
38:19Trying to see that whitebait.
38:20Yeah, I'm trying as well.
38:21Moose.
38:22Maybe, is that what this is, those little ones there?
38:24Yeah, there's a sliver of it in there.
38:27Mm-hmm.
38:28That tastes good in there.
38:37Mm-hmm.
38:39I mean, it tastes good.
38:42Mm-hmm.
38:43i mean it tastes good i just feel like the the end result the execution of it there's just too
39:00many things going on there like even the kind of the caviar gets lost because there's just so many
39:06things yeah and i get it there's all these things that i love but i just feel like if you had just
39:10taken a few of those things out it would have been a more well executed dish and i hate to say that
39:16because he's a kiwi yeah but yeah i'm uh men it's definitely a tasty little tower i love the layering
39:25of those really savory flavors that he's put in there parmesan and seaweed chicken and caviar
39:31they're all flavors that we know work together really well and i think ben's used that to his
39:34advantage i wanted more white bait you know for me that that was the story when we went up to ben's
39:41bench and yeah mate i wouldn't even know that was white bait in there yeah um because there is so
39:46much flavor going on with the palms and crisp with the parfait the only thing i've got in my palette
39:52and still know is the parmesan yeah yeah same strong i think you can definitely see potential in ben's
39:59dish and you can understand what he's trying to achieve here because there's some solid flavors in
40:03the individual elements i just feel like they struggled to really come together and and it's
40:08fallen short a bit hmm
40:12oh my god they are adorable oh wow get it all in there oh you can smell the mushroom yeah it's a little
40:34mushroom stock just to finish these are mushroom and chicken liver tarts from the tart shell up it's a
40:39porcini tart case there's then a chicken liver parfait mandarin and thyme puree around that on
40:45top of that is a little donut of crispy chicken skin mushroom dashi and port gel is the little gills
40:51and then the stem is made from black garlic slippery jack mushrooms and butter were you thinking of your
40:56family while you were cooking this dish today callum yeah i think today it was literally walking
41:00through those doors of the master chef kitchen and just seeing um the trees and the moss and the rocks and
41:05it just instantly took me back to uh to that moment with my family that in the colder months we get
41:10you know chuck a jacket on and go for a little explore um yeah i've actually um i've got my
41:15phone in my pocket can i show you a little photo i would love to see a little photo uh this is um
41:20this is my daughter el helping me grab down little pine mushrooms
41:24so wow she's the same size as the mushroom it's literally arrogant it's bigger than her head
41:29um and so that's kind of the idea of the plating you find like a hundred of these for every porcini
41:33you find so it's uh wow it's uh that's a real magic when you get one of those that's really amazing
41:38that you can walk in have that memory and have it power an idea like this well calum thank you very
41:44much we're going to test your dish now thank you thank you thanks everyone wow look at this
41:49oh my gosh i am gobsmacked by this it smells so much like mushroom it's really cool i don't want
41:58to break one of these little big things i think they're all right even with the cuffs so adorable oh my god
42:14oh my god oh my god
42:15it's yum that's so good i actually really like the kind of citrus mandarin it's amazing you can
42:24taste a little bit of the thyme there's thyme in there yeah the only thing that would make this
42:29better is if a fairy popped out of my mouth right now that was so delicious i think when something
42:36looks so perfect it's difficult because it can kind of only go downhill but the way it looked
42:41completely matched the flavor that parfait was so incredible and it's when food is really good we
42:49all end up shaking our heads because it's just like we just don't know what to do i'm kind of speechless
42:55that is such an amazing bite of food yeah for me um that's going to be hard to beat you know it
43:02almost looks like that's something a chef would be thinking about for quite a long time before they
43:07met it not something that someone's just gonna come in here and say we're doing snacks and bust
43:11that out in two hours you can see he just love cooking he's like a machine he has thought of
43:17everything from the thinness of that porcini shell he went to the effort of taking that little disc of
43:23chicken skin and drilling a hole in it so that he could place it on top of the parfait but under the
43:30veil so it would be hidden but wouldn't get soggy so it still had that salty crispness to it that was
43:36incredible i think there's been times where calum's been on the cusp of like just stephanie's
43:42authority on this competition and going i'm the one to beat this is it he's just said if he hasn't
43:48before i am the one to beat and i couldn't be more proud of him this is huge it doesn't matter how
44:00confident you are in your dish there's still thoughts in the back of your head
44:06jamie hey jamie hello oh
44:12if this isn't absolutely spot on there's every chance i'm walking out those doors
44:26so i've made anchovies on toast this is like no anchovies on toast i've ever seen
44:36where did you come up with the idea um it was certainly one of the things that represents
44:42alba very well and i think that the tongue-in-cheek nature of coming in here in top five and saying i've
44:50made anchovies on toast is probably about as big a tip of the hat to my not only my old venue but
44:57myself as a cook that i could possibly do so i love that i'm gonna taste your dish now cheers mate
45:03thanks jamie
45:07gentle gentle
45:17i mean for me that's super yum like it is it's like it's like spain in one bite you know that was
45:35a one bite wonder i loved how that crystal bread just shattered in my mouth and then it was just this
45:41familiar flavor that we all love and there was nothing mysterious about it it was just delicious
45:47yeah i felt like he definitely made the brief absolutely the answer to my question would i miss
45:53the bread i didn't at all you know and i think it's just because he's gone so hard in the smoked tomato
45:59and the fat of the olive oil that he confid those tomatoes yeah topped off with a very simple anchovy
46:05poor man packed apart that that belongs on a fine dining menu in spain and the reason i know that
46:13is not just because of the taste it's because what it's doing to my mouth afterwards like all the saliva
46:18is rushing to the front it's really setting me up to eat more i would smash 10 more of those with a
46:23glass of sherry no problem i was like i would just like a little line of those things in front of me and
46:28i'll just be like as one bite yeah not to the other part
46:40vaughn how do you think these guys handled today's challenge i thought everyone had their own cool
46:45thing going on some of it was super exciting for me and i honestly i was like wow how does someone
46:52bust something like that out two hours and i think you guys are all awesome give it up for vaughn
46:58before we get down to it we just have to commend one of you for plating up one of the most
47:11interesting well executed masterful dishes of the competition so far well done callum
47:19and callum's dish wasn't the only one that impressed us all of your dishes today showed us
47:30exactly why you're here but sadly one had a few minor problems and up against perfection
47:38it just fell short which is why i'm so sorry you're going home ben
47:51ben you proved early on to us that you're a fighter and you've absolutely lived up to the
47:57eliminator name almost i'm so glad i came back and i'm so glad what i've got out of it you think what
48:04we've done on the season you know got to cook along with gordon ramsey curtis stone been to doha
48:08cooked in a michelin star kitchen there cooked in vu de montere like it was just an absolute dream
48:12come true and to do it with such an amazing group of people is just it's just uh unforgettable so you
48:17know i i feel like i've won even though i haven't won the competition and i just want to watch these
48:22guys the best of luck because you know anyone could win this thank you thanks mate
48:25thank you thank you yeah i'm pretty gutted that i'm going home today but at the same time i've
48:37gained so much from being in it i had a couple of years out of professional kitchens and sort of
48:45almost lost my love of food a little bit and being back in this competition has really lit that fire
48:50again like what you see in the masterchef kitchen now you can do it yourself with the masterchef at
49:11home cookbook head to the website or scan the qr code sunday night four contestants four judges and
49:23four cloches you'll pick whose ingredient you want to cook with today but you're not going to know what
49:29the ingredient is until after you've made your choice
49:32what the hell is that it's a tussle for top dish i'm like trying everything in my power to get that
49:44win and a massive prize trust me gang it is one that you are not going to want to miss out on oh yes