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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Entertainment
Meg Watson

MasterChef 2020 Australia grand finale: series ends with burns, tears and $250,000 – as it happened

Melissa Leong, Jock Zonfrillo and Andy Allen, the judges of MasterChef Australia 2020. In the grand finale tonight they will choose the season 12 winner between Emilia Sharrad and Laura Jackson
MasterChef 2020 Australia winner: in the grand finale tonight, judges Melissa Leong, Jock Zonfrillo and Andy Allen will choose between Emelia Jackson and Laura Sharrad to crown the season 12 champion. Photograph: Network Ten

She’s done it!! Emelia holds up the MasterChef trophy, sparks are flying behind her. No one touch. No one can hug. But it’s still pretty great.

At the end of it all, Emelia is an incredibly deserving winner - and she proved it again tonight. The judges did not find one single fault with any of her dishes.

She kept her cool, and even told the judges to get lost when they got in her way. You love to see it.

Thank you so much for following these liveblogs and joining me for what turned out to be a historic season of this sweet and weird show. I can’t wait to do it again some other time - but I hope next time around, we’re also all allowed to leave our homes.

Reynold is getting $20,000!!! I love it. We’ve gone full Oprah.

WOW! Laura is getting $30,000.

Now to the bad crying: Laura says “I can’t breathe” and struggles to get the words out about how sad she is. She’s also so proud of her friend, Emelia.

Laura and Emelia hug

“Laura, I’ve watched you come a long way ... not just as a chef, but as a woman,” Jock says. This show has really come full circle. Here we are again: another kind of creepy moment between Jock and Laura. And this time he’s in a kilt.

Updated

“I just can’t believe it,” Emelia says. “It’s the most special experience of my life. I owe it to the three of you [the judges] and this little lady [Laura].”

She’s crying, but in a good way! Not a guttural Reynold way, like last night.

Emelia and Laura are having one, long, illegal hug to celebrate.

Emelia and Laura hugging

Updated

EMELIA WINS!!!

“Before the desserts arrived, there was nothing in it. But this was the course that decided the winner,” Mel says.

Laura’s dessert was strange to behold at first, but delicious to eat. Emelia’s classic flavours were more familiar, but equally as delicious and well-balanced.

“We said today would come down to the smallest of things, and it has. Laura, while your gelato and crumb had some textural issues, Emelia - your dish had NONE.”

EMELIA’S DONE IT. SHE’S THE WINNER OF MASTERCHEF: BACK TO WIN.

Emelia looking happy

Updated

This is it!!! Everyone’s gathered around for the announcement

Time to taste: Emelia's pistachio dessert

Emelia’s dessert is a pistachio financier with Davidson plum. It looks like a well-dressed woman at the races - but at the start of the afternoon, before she throws up in the Flinders Street Station toilets.

Jock “really enjoyed” it - the flavours, the techniques, all of it. “There’s an elegance to it”.

“Emelia has managed to show us French patisserie magic,” Mel adds.

It’s balanced, refined and smart. I’m not hearing one negative. She could have it in the bag on this one!

Updated

Dani, quick! Jump in.

Time to taste: Laura's artichoke dessert

Laura’s finished her dessert: artichoke ice cream with caramel, and kumquat gel.

Andy says “it’s a finale dessert if I’ve ever seen one.” Rude. Reynold is sitting right there.

The first flaws of the day: the texture of the ice cream is a bit icy, and the chocolate crumb is a sandy.

The flavours of the dish are “spot on” and “beautiful”, but it could be the textures that let her down in the end.

An important thread for your consideration:

There’s a mysterious beeping noise. It’s the fridge door, which is open. Laura’s gelato could be in trouble! Will it set in time?

The drama’s great, but don’t fridge doors start beeping after like 10 seconds being open? It’s probably fine.

Anyone playing bingo please cross “mention of nonna” off your cards.

Laura is a little concerned about the flavour combination of her dessert: “it’s not your usual strawberries and cream!!”.

The last dessert she made was literally called strawberries and cream, and it was a total success. Maybe that would have been a better bet!

Emelia is trying some psychological warfare on Laura, her good friend suffering a medical emergency. “Ohhh babe, are you sure that’s the right decision.”

I kind of love it.

Speaking of insecurity:

Emelia says that coming third in season 6 “cast so much doubt on my life”. She’s felt like she doesn’t deserve to be here, amongst her peers.

Third is... amazing though?!! Plenty of people in the Back To Win season did a lot worse than that.

It all rides on the dessert! That’s good news for Emelia - who is the dessert queen, and also has two functioning hands in this moment.

Time to taste: Emelia's beef main

Emelia’s dish is “a French classic”, Jock says: beef short rib with pepper and onion. It is, however, covered in Szechuan peppers (not very French).

Andy says the beef is cooked perfectly!

“Never before has meat and two veg been so magnificent!” Jock adds. “I’m in a state of cat-like happiness.”

Can someone on Twitter please get me a gif from Cats.

Mel says that she’s made the right choice in committing to doing the whole dish her own way.

“At this point, we’re neck and neck.”

A further update on Khanh: he is definitely drunk

You just know that Khanh spent 90% of the dinner talking about the fashion.

Over at the dining tables, Callum has spent too long in iso and forgotten how to interact with people.

Time to taste: Laura’s pork main

Laura’s perfectly cooked pork is plated up with the thyme, masala and sage sauce combo.

“We normally associate Laura’s food with simple, but done well. This is simple, but really sophisticated,” Andy says. He says the three sauces are challenging - but in a good way.

Jock says it’s “beautiful”. Mel agrees that she’s nailed the pork - “she’s taken it to the next level by understanding Australian produce”.

We have not heard one piece of negative feedback yet. How are we judging this thing.

“The weight of two pig shoulders off me”?

Laura is testing the temperature of her pork. She’s looking for 52 degrees - and she gets 51.8! God, I’m so happy she has a small win in this moment.

Am I going for Laura? Is it the negroni talking? Who knows!

I have seen a variation of this joke, three nights a week, for the past three months. And it’s still funny.

Updated

“Mamma mia!!” Laura says, nursing a third-degree burn.

“I just need to not forget about this pork,” she says. A medic tenderly snips bandaging from her charred hand.

She then grabs a giant heavy tray of pork, straight out of the oven - the tray searing a new imprint on her palm.

Bangin.

Time to taste: Laura’s bonito entree

Laura’s entree is seared bonito with various native Australian ingredients: blood limes, lily pillies, sheep sorrel, fried saltbush, Geraldton Wax oil.

Jock thinks “it screams Australia”. Andy says it’s “technically perfect” - “smoking those fish heads was genius”.

The balance of flavours is smart - the sour, the salty, the freshness. “My mouth is still zinging,” Mel says.

“Those two girls have knocked it out of the park,” Andy says. Those bloody sheilas are having a red hot crack, eh!!

Time to taste: Emelia’s scallop entree

Emelia is plating up her entree. Her scallops are “beautiful and golden”. They’re surrounded with ribbons of turnip and apple.

It looks beautiful, rich and fresh.

Mel says the scallops are “meltingly tender”, the puree is silky, and she can’t stop smiling.

Andy adds: “it’s a ripper of an entree”.

Jock says “there was nothing I didn’t like about it … that has to be one of my favourite entrees I’ve eaten this year.”

Huge! A big success. Are we scoring, or what? How does this work?

This is incredibly accurate.

Also: literally not one word has been said about Jock’s kilt. Wild times.

“I know what it’s like to come second and I don’t want to go through that again,” Laura says.

It’s important to remember that they’re not just fighting for the MasterChef title, they’re also fighting for $250,000. That is a life-changing amount of money - for you, your business, your family, everything. All in the middle of a potentially generation-defining recession!!!

There truly is a lot on the line.

They’ve finally let all the past contestants sit down at a table. It’s 2am. They’re ravenous, sleep-deprived, and ready to eat two three-course meals.

Is Laura now the fan favourite?

Everyone is concerned about Laura’s emergent medical crisis, but she refuses to let it affect her. I’m immediately having flashbacks to every burn I’ve ever had. A bad burn can affect your whole body. She’s gonna collapse once all this adrenalin wears off.

Updated

“This has caused me unnecessary stress. I am very angry at the beef,” Emelia says.

Chris will be distraught. The beef betrayed her.

Meanwhile, past MasterChef guest judge Darren Purchese is playing favourites on Twitter...

Emelia’s pressure cookers are lined up like a series of menacing bombs. She takes the lid off once more and… the beef is “FINALLY COOKED”.

“It can still work. My dish can still work,” she tells herself, anxiously.

Jock asks Laura how she’s going and she says “I don’t care about my hand, I care about the pork.”

It doesn’t look great, mate.

Laura looking upset
“This is fine” Photograph: Network Ten

Jock gives her a little pep talk. She needs to take a second, breathe, and figure out a way to cook 60 exquisite restaurant-level dishes with one hand, in excruciating pain, on national TV, in front of a huge national audience who largely want her to lose.

Easy, get to it.

Oh damn. I don’t think Laura has 20 mins to kill right now.

While we’re all feeling some sympathy for Laura, it’s worth mentioning...

Laura burns herself

Laura has grabbed the hot handle of a pan full of caramel and absolutely scalded her hand. She immediately calls for the nurse and runs to the tap.

“This is the most excruciating burn I’ve ever had,” she says. “The pain is getting worse and worse. I cannot even grab anything. I can’t keep my hand straight. I can’t close it.

“I have lost this competition.”

Laura running her hand under cold water
Get it girl! :( Photograph: Network Ten

Updated

+1

Some backstory: there’s a reason why Emelia hates plan Bs! It was a plan B which ended up sending her home in 2014. Her curd didn’t set, and her plan B threw the balance of the dish off.

I don’t know if that’s a great reason for never, ever having a back up.

Emelia’s beef is still not cooked! She’s added another 20 minutes to the short rib, and it’s still not enough.

“Is the beef still cooking?” Jock asks.

Jock looking stunned
tfw the beef is still cooking Photograph: Network Ten

Andy tries to convince Emelia that she might need a plan B on this beef, but Emelia’s not having a bar of it. “I’ve always hated plan Bs,” she says, determined.

Andy is very nervous. He looks like he’s just witnessed a murder on a billionaire’s yacht.

Andy in a tuxedo, stunned

Laura says her dish is inspired by foraging for native ingredients with her husband Max. Is this what it’s like to live outside the major east-coast cities? Cheap rent and foraging for elaborate dinners. Meanwhile, I’m locked down in Melbourne and eating popcorn for dinner.

Callum says he’s most excited for Laura’s menu. No surprise there. The Davidson plum boy is gagging for some more Davey plums!!

Laura says she needs “a half-time negroni” so I absolutely called it, hey.

Emelia’s beef ribs aren’t cooked enough in the pressure cooker. They need another 20 mins - but it’s going to push the whole timeline out because she needs the stock to use in her sauce.

She’s pushing on with the dessert. We’re somehow 90 minutes down.

Let’s use this ad break to get a sweet, cleansing word from Julie Goodwin!!

Emelia’s pressure cooker problem

Right on cue, we have some pressure cooker drama.

Emelia has had her beef ribs cooking for 50 minutes and they’re just not cooking. They’re too tough, and they need more time - which she can’t really afford.

“This is something I didn’t account for,” she says as the clock ticks ominously.

Surprise: Chris The Meat Guy is stoked to eat some beef. “Mmm beef and onion, what an intriguing combination. This truly is ingenious cooking.”

We pan to Laura’s menu on the fridge and she’s written herself a note: “get it girl”.

I have a feeling that Laura is exactly in the target market for those canvas artworks at Kmart that say “live laugh love” and “don’t talk to me until I’ve had my coffee”.

Laura’s menu

Laura is going large with the native Australian ingredients (the specialty of Orana, Jock’s restaurant which she worked at after her first season of MasterChef).

Entree: Seared bonito with smoked emulsion

Main: pork and a “triple sauce threat”

Dessert: Jerusalem artichoke ice cream and cumquat.

No pasta!! “I can’t believe it,” Jock says, and same.

“I really want to win, but if she does that’s fine. But she won’t, because I’m so determined,” Laura says.

All the past contestants are watching from afar, all awkwardly standing. Did Channel Ten not splurge for seats? This is a FOUR HOUR service challenge.

Emelia’s short rib is going in the pressure cooker which historically, is a total nightmare in the MasterChef kitchen.

“Four hours might sound like a lot of time, but it’s not,” she says. I totally believe that. 60 plates of food is nuts.

Emelia says the menu represents here: “It’s classic flavour combinations, it’s technique-driven, it’s done a little bit interestingly. It’s big and rich and bold.”

Emelia’s menu

Entree: seared scollops with turnip and apple

Dinner: beef short rib with onion crumb and Szechuan pepper sauce

Dessert: pistachio financier with Davidson plum and raspberry sorbet and “Davo-raspberry meringue”.

No choux pastry!! At least she’s giving one the Davidson plums one final run this season.

“Who would have ever thought that this was going to happen: me v Loz!!” Emelia says.

Not many people!!!! That’s for sure.

Everyone’s got the sharpies out. Surely they’ve planned this all out ahead of time.

Emelia says she’s intimidated because she’s “just a little old cake maker” - lol ok - and Laura is used to doing service in a professional capacity. (Emelia has her own hospo business, but she makes bespoke cakes and desserts. She doesn’t have to cook for customers in a restaurant environment.)

I should have also mentioned: to mark the occasion, Andy has finally covered his ankles. Great job, mate.

The big challenge

There’s just one round of cooking tonight, and it’s a HUGE service challenge.

Emelia and Laura will have four hours to prepare a three-course meal of their choosing. It can be anything they like - as long as it includes an entree, a main and a dessert.

They are cooking for everyone: judges, and past contestants. That’s 60 plates of food each.

They’re judged on the meal as a whole.

A reminder: these cooks are used to going up against one another. Emelia and Laura placed third and second, respectively, in season six of MasterChef.

Emelia was eliminated after a whipped chocolate ganache went awry. Laura - who was just 19 at the time! - ended up narrowly losing in the grand final to Brent Owens.

They’ve both grown a great deal since then. Emelia didn’t have any cooking experience; she now has a successful business focusing on bespoke cakes and desserts. Laura who, again, WAS JUST 19 when she made the last grand final, has since worked at highly respected restaurants including Orana (famously, with Jock) and Andre’s Cucina (with Andre Ursini). She now runs her own restaurant with her husband (who is also a chef). She is only 24 years old.

Emelia has already cried! Who had it on their bingo cards?

Andy says that the more she’s opened up throughout the competition, the better her food has got. I swear we did not even get a shot of her until eight weeks in.

Quick fashion shoutouts:

Reynold is wearing a long winter coat indoors like a mad scientist.

Sarah Tiong is rocking a purple suit.

Amina has matched her lipstick to the flowers on her hijab.

Amina in red

Andy is in a black suit and bow tie (of course he’s a bow tie guy).

Sarah Clare has cosplayed as Betty Draper (in the later seasons, when she’s cool).

Sarah in a 50s outfit

And of course: Jock is in a kilt, and matching tartan tie. I love it.

They enter the MasterChef kitchen, and the whole gang is there. Hayden, Khanh, Callum, Poh, Reynold, others!

They’re all clapping and grinning, all standing the mandatory 1.5 metres apart, but surely breaching the health department’s gatherings guidelines.

Laura’s being escorted to the MasterChef kitchen in a midnight Uber through the pandemic-ravaged inner suburbs of Melbourne, dozens of shuttered restaurants flicker past our eyes.

Emelia follows, with a slick of fresh red lippy.

Question: why is this challenge starting in the middle of the night?

This package is still going. Need a long-read to fill the time? This one’s great.

We’re on! And the judges, all the past contestants and guest judges are getting their own dramatic flashback package. We’re leaving here at 2am for sure.

I am not mad about seeing Katy Perry again though.

Updated

IT’S GRAND FINAL TIME!

Welcome to the very last liveblog of the 2020 season of MasterChef: Back To Win.

The episode will kick off at 7.30pm on Network Ten. It’s Emelia v Laura after Reynold was sent home last night. Emelia and Laura earned their place in the final after recreating a complex toffee apple dish from chef Martin Benn.

Reynold’s version had some technical problems which ultimately saw him eliminated from the comp. I have only just rehydrated from all the crying.

And let me tell you: people are not happy about it.

Here’s a taste of the responses I’ve had from Guardian readers:

“In eliminating Reynold, this show has shown that it has stifled innovation and creativity in favour of copycat cooking.” - Nick

“2020 season ends for me tonight when my vote for winner was eliminated … My heart is breaking for the precious brilliance of this fragile individual who lost his dream to another’s recipe.” - Sue

“I am truly devastated that Reynold, a ‘FOOD GENIUS’, was sent home last night … I hated watching Masterchef in its earlier years because the audience did not have a say and a few ‘so called food critics’ had all the power! … Last night just reminded me of why I stopped watching the show in the first place.” - Sevda

“Reynold [is] clearly the best cook ever seen on Masterchef … [I] won’t watch another minute of it.” - Rhonda

Well, I hope at least some of you are still watching!

Tweet me @msmegwatson and let me know if you’re doing anything special for the grand final. Bonus points for anyone making special pastries or pasta to mark the occasion.

Before we get going, I am going to go and make a negroni. 1) in honour of Laura’s dedication to Italian cooking, and 2) because oh boy, it’s going to be a long night!!

Updated

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