On a less depressing note: this means we have a top five: Emelia, Reynold, Reece, Laura and Callum. Presumably the remaining episodes will be... slightly less stressful?
Thanks for following along for another week! And a special thank you to Bridey for emailing her suggestion of getting Andy on Queer Eye for that green suit. I would absolutely watch that episode.
Feel free to email me your MasterChef takes any time of the week! I love to read them and I respond to what I can. I will be accepting loving odes to Poh for the next seven days. Or possibly forever.
Genuinely emotional at this. Poh is the reason this show has been successful from day 1. feel really devastated #MasterChefAU
— Bethanie Blanchard (@beth_blanchard) July 5, 2020
Hard to put into words what Poh even being on TV meant to me – this part Chinese-Malaysian kid, growing up in a sea of white – and so many other Asian-Australians.
— Benjamin Law 羅旭能 (@mrbenjaminlaw) July 5, 2020
What an absolute icon of Australian food. Gonna eat a goddamn century egg this week in her honour.#MasterChefAU
There should be a #MasterChefAU spinoff series where all the judges have to cook for Poh.
— Adam Liaw (@adamliaw) July 5, 2020
Goodnight!
Updated
Callum says that when Australians think about MasterChef, they think about Poh. Mel says millions of people around the world love her.
Poh says that MasterChef made her understand how important food needs to be in her life the first time around, and it’s done it again. She tears up, along with the rest of Australia.
As Poh’s #MasterchefAU campaign ends... so too does 2020’s last chance at redemption.
— Michael Lucas (@MrMichaelLucas) July 5, 2020
Goodbye Poh!! You have been the perfect contestant for MasterChef 2020: equal parts comforting and chaotic.
You could literally give Poh an hour to make instant noodles and she’d been like ‘so I have 4 minutes to go and I realise my kettle wasn’t on this whole time and I’ve set the flavour sachet on fire. On the bright side I decided to add four lobsters and a dessert’ #MasterChefAU
— Lan (@thatslantastic) June 29, 2020
I will miss watching you stare intently into an oven every single night. I will miss marvelling at your ambition and skill: the whole cakes and feasts that no one really asked for. I will not miss the anxiety.
Updated
Everyone is clawing at their face in shock. Except for Poh who looks like this:
Melissa starts the eulogies: “Poh, you are a national treasure. Every day we could be guaranteed we would get all of your heart, all of our soul, all of your love and all of your commitment. You have been part of the MasterChef Australia family since day one, and it has been the greatest privilege to have you back in this kitchen.”
Poh says “I’m a risk-taker, and that’s what happened today. I met my demise - finally. But I’ve had such a fantastic time.”
Poh is eliminated
Andy says the dishes that everyone presented “really reflected where your heads are at right now”.
“Callum, your dish was very centred and the brief was well and truly hit.”
“Reece, your dish: flat-out risk … but the way you edited it was very smart.”
“Poh…”
Andy loses the metaphor and just talks about the food: the pasta was raw and the sauce was rushed. She’s going home.
On the plus side, the dish looks beautiful.
The prettiest culurgiones we've ever seen 🧡 #MasterChefAU pic.twitter.com/xW7M8cJGFc
— masterchefau (@masterchefau) July 5, 2020
Unfortunately the first feedback after tasting is: “she was constantly confused about what she was going to do … and that is reflected here”.
Phil says she wasted so much time trying to make a perfect beurre blanc that the rest of the dish has suffered. The burnt butter is very basic, and there’s some raw pasta dough… Poh is done.
“I think the only thing that got in the way of Poh today is Poh,” Jock says.
Oh god, it’s actually happening.
The judges host an intervention for Poh
The judges are hosting a full intervention for Poh’s problem with chaos. “What is happening. What can we do.” Spiritually, we are all there with them. My heart can’t take this anymore!!!
Poh is not happy with her cook at all and pins it to her obsessive nature. She can’t shake a failure, and feels compelled to return to it and prove her worth. It’s so sad that she didn’t feel confident doing her Chinese mushroom dish.
You won’t see Laura or Reece or Reynold feeling this self-conscious about cooking what they know!
Callum and Reece have received nothing but effusive praise, and Poh is distraught with her dish. I don’t know if there’s a way out for her here. I feel sick.
Callum’s mushroom and noodle dish is next. He had a fantastic cook in terms of timing. He’s confident in the flavours. There is no bath water in the broth. Tick tick tick.
Oodles of noodles and we're so here for it, @callumskitchen! 🍜 #MasterChefAU pic.twitter.com/a4cXRol7Lp
— masterchefau (@masterchefau) July 5, 2020
The judges love it from the outset. He’s filled the brief in terms of highlighting the mushrooms; it’s rich and complex in flavour. Andy goes so far as to say he’s put up a “near perfect plate of food”. Jock adds: “It’s going to be hard to see that one in the bottom today”.
Oh no.
If Poh goes, it will go down as the equivalent to Molly dying on A Country Practice #MasterChefAU I cant watch 😭
— Gabrielle Jackson (@gabriellecj) July 5, 2020
My husband, as a Poh and Reece devotee, feels so sick about this #MasterchefAU elimination, he’s threatening to go to bed before the result is called, as did Michelle Obama on the night of the 2016 election.
— Michael Lucas (@MrMichaelLucas) July 5, 2020
Hey, what does it taste like though?? Mel says the dish has really thrown her. Andy says it’s an “...interesting plate of food”... but in a good way!!
Every judge is surprised by how much they like it. It’s “elegantly restrained” and smart and balanced. Reducing the amount of ice cream and granita was a great call. The beetroot in the granita really grounds the earthy flavour of the potato. They have nothing but praise for it!
If I were Reece, I’d be a little offended by how much surprise is in their voices but still!! Great news.
Time to taste (again)!
Reece’s ice cream and chippies is the first dish to be tasted. The big concern here is balance: will the other flavours over-power the potato?
The judges haven’t tasted the dish yet, but they’re taking a sec to reflect on Reece’s cook. Phil says that the dish has come together better than he expected. Also Reece’s restraint on the amount of ice cream and granita could play in his favour.
Andy tries to chime in with an inspirational speech, but he’s immediately and rightfully drowned out with laughter for trying to use the expression “bounce”. Dad!!!
We need a support group.
Me: can I get a mental health plan doc?
— lizzyhoooooo (@lizzyhooooo) July 5, 2020
Doc: what’s your main source of stress?
Me: Poh
#MasterChefAU
Me watching Poh the last three months tbqh #MasterChefAU pic.twitter.com/rfpIyPdR0q
— Dean Nye (@Dean_Nye) July 5, 2020
To recap the cook: Callum seems confident, this could be his redemption. Reece is still a bit worried about the flavour balance in his potatoes and cream dish. Poh is having an absolute meltdown.
In the end, she got the butter sauce on the place but she’s really upset. This isn’t a dish that will get her redemption. “I think I’m going home,” she says.
The choral backing is starting up as if Poh has just been fatally shot in a Martin Scorsese film.
With seconds left on the clock, she is sprinting across the kitchen for a ramekin. She is a blur. She is The Flash. They could use the energy Poh generates in the last three minutes of every cook to power the MasterChef kitchen for weeks.
Poh is abandoning her butter emulsion: the exact thing that she ruined during the last round of cooking. THERE ARE 60 SECONDS LEFT. She’s now doing a make-shift brown butter sauce. This means she’s essentially serving the exact same dish she cooked earlier in the competition. Except now some of it is green?
Reece has reduced the amount of chocolate ice cream and beetroot/raspberry granita on his plate, so the potatoes have more chance of dominating the flavour. Seeing it come together, it actually looks better than first described. It’s essentially chippies and ice cream: my standard order at Macca’s. I’m sorry for doubting him.
Poh’s ruined the timing again. “This is a complete echo of round one.” She’s rushing to get the butter emulsion on track while also cooking her dumplings.
Callum is the exact opposite. He’s smashed it. He has so much time that he’s having a full tasting session to fine-tune the flavours before serving. At this point, he’d even be ok if some extra water splashed into the dish.
Back to Reece: he thinks of ditching the smoked chocolate ice cream completely, but decides to leave it in and somehow finesse the balance.
Meanwhile, online: Hayden is back and standing up for Laura.
So many tiny men yelling at a young woman through Twitter!
— Hayden Quinn (@hayden_quinn) July 5, 2020
You shut up Scott #MasterChefAU https://t.co/ApfKhfMAB3
The Laura hate out there really can be next level. I like the odd pasta joke as much as anyone else (and have absolutely made fun of Hayden too), but there’s still a line.
And a red flag for Reece: Jocks point out that potato is a subtle flavour. It could easily get drowned out by the beetroot, raspberry and chocolate in his dish.
He tastes it all together, and yes of course: chocolate ice cream is definitely more flavourful than some cream that’s had a potato floating in it.
Callum’s cook is going much better the second time around! I cannot say the same for Poh. Time is still a concern. She’s using her “everything is fine” voice which means nothing is fine.
POH I WILL FOREVER BE YOUR RIDE OR DIE BUT THIS IS STRESSING ME THE FUCK OUT #MasterChefAU
— Benjamin Law 羅旭能 (@mrbenjaminlaw) July 5, 2020
Not only is Poh returning to a dish that tripped her up in the past, she’s also complicating it. She’s making two colours of dough, so the dumplings will be two-toned green and white. Double the room for error. Excellent.
Her only fan here is Laura who screams “Italiana!!” from the gantry.
Poh is sticking with the redemption dish.
“My head is telling me not to do this,” she says. But, oh well...
She explains her plan to Phil and Jock, and they love it. Couldn’t be more supportive.
Someone please check on Julie.
I do not like this stressful show
— Julie Goodwin (@_JulieGoodwin) July 5, 2020
I do not want my friends to go.
I do no like it Cal my pal
I do not like it Reece the beast
I do not like it Poh my bro
I DO NOT LIKE THIS STRESSFUL SHOW! #MasterChefAU
Poh shoots for redemption
Poh, against all good sense, is going for redemption. She’s making Sardinian potato dumplings which she stuffed up earlier in the competition and the butter emulsion she stuffed up about 10 minutes ago.
“Maybe I can redeem myself,” she says. “I am feeling really really full of doubt,” she adds. What could possibly go wrong? Do these Sardinian dumplings even go with a random guy’s French butter sauce? This is chaos.
Poh hasn’t entirely made up her mind though. She also has a Chinese mushroom dish in mind that she knows she could execute perfectly. She’s worried that it might not be impressive enough, because it’s easy for her.
I wish Poh had more confidence in herself. Especially considering the number of white men on this show who have previously whacked a big steak on a pan and served it with some garlic butter and a big, self-satisfied grin.
On to Callum. He’s rebounding from his nightmare first round with a mushroom bonito broth, buckwheat noodles and a soy-cured egg. Unlike Reece’s dish, I can actually picture this dish in my head, so that’s a good start! But is it going to be too simple to avoid elimination?
Reece, the vegan, says that this veggie-centric brief is not really his wheelhouse. He’s going to play to his strengths and do a sweet dish: a “potato stack” with “potato cream” and beetroot and raspberry granita and smoke-salted chocolate ice cream.
Who would have thought you could take two good things (potato, sweeties) and make it sound so... bad? What do you reckon? I have no idea what this dish is.
Round two: make your own fancy thing
Reece, Callum and Poh now have to make a dish using one or more of the ingredients of Phil Wood’s fancy mash from the first challenge. They can choose from potatoes, cauliflower and mushroom. They don’t have to use all three vegetables, but whatever they do choose: it better be fancy.
They have 75 minutes and an open pantry. The contestant with the worst dish is going home.
It’s such a relaxing show.
Callum, Poh and Reece in elimination tonight??? excuse me while I go scream
— Isha Bassi (@Isha_Bassi) July 5, 2020
#MasterChefAu pic.twitter.com/Poig7BjbLy
I love to watch accomplished chefs get destroyed by a single potato.
I love potatoes so much that they would be the last food I’d like to eat before I die but this dish is bloody LUDICROUS!! No one needs potatoes cooked 17 ways smooshed through a sieve, piped, baked, deep fried.
— Kylie Orr (@KylieOrrWriter) July 5, 2020
Phil needs to get out more.
#MasterChefAU @masterchefau
Mel delivers the obvious news: the best two plates of fancy mash came from Emelia and Laura. This means that Emelia and Laura, along with Reynold, are officially in the top five! It also means that either Reece, Poh or Callum are going home today.
Callum asks the judges to not applaud as he brings his dish to the front. He says it’s the worst cook he’s had in the competition. He’s left the bath sauce off the dish entirely, so it’s missing quite a vital element.
Phil says that when one thing is missing, the whole dish falls flat. It’s a big fail. But Callum knows it, so there’s no use going on about it.
Poh looks extremely pained as she brings her split sauce up to the judges. She says she lost track of time. Again.
The verdict: the fancy mash was great, but the sauce is rubbish.
Does anyone else find pressure tests boring? The only possibility for drama is when someone messes up and there’s no opportunity to get creative at all.
Laura’s non-split sauce is the next for tasting. It’s rave reviews from old mate fancy mash. She surely secures her top two spot.
Reece is up next. His butter sauce is split, but the other elements of the dish stand up quite well. The potato is a good consistency and the flavours of the sauce still hold up. That probably won’t be enough to make the top two though...
Time to taste!
Emelia’s dish is first up to taste. She is literally glowing with contentment. She loves it. Too easy.
The fact that Emelia can do all this shiz in a fucking sheer white blouse and a goddam perfect red lip makes me forgive her for that spelling of Amelia/Emilia. #MasterChefAU
— Vaya (@VayaPashos) July 5, 2020
And it pays off: Phil says it’s a “really good effort” (but in a sincere way). It’s “harmonic” and perfectly balanced. Jock says it’s “really, really close to Phil’s”.
Two split sauces, and one that’s been drowned in bath water. I feel like I know who the top two contestants will be in this challenge.
Callum dumps his sauce in a foot spa
Three minutes to go and Callum is sweating profusely.
The good news: he’s pulled his sauce back from the brink! It’s looking good!
The bad news: as he puts it in a water bath beneath his bench, the container tips over. The sauce is completely drowned with warm foot spa water.
There’s nothing Callum can do about his buttery bath soup. He has to press on. It’s actually heartbreaking to watch him struggle this much.
Cut to Emelia: everything is perfect. Not even slightly bothered.
Wow, and another one! Reece’s sauce has also split. (Have we seen Reece at all in this challenge before now?)
Poh’s sauce is completely split. There are three minutes on the clock. This means we definitely have to suffer through another Poh cook tonight. I’m so sorry.
Oh, here we go.
Poh is running out of time with her sauce, so she’s upping the heat and dumping big mounds of butter in there (the one thing she said you shouldn’t do).
Surprise: it hasn’t worked out. The sauce has split. It’s lost its consistency and it’s a big soupy mess.
There’s a suspicious lack of Poh in this cook so far
"The hardest part of this challenge is managing time" ... Everyone looks at Poh #MasterChefAU
— Brandon Black (@Serious_Black96) July 5, 2020
Emelia and Laura are tracking perfectly. Laura has “never split a buerre blanc!!”. Emelia’s potatoes have come out of the oven and do not look at all like poos.
Callum tries to fix this by piping the potato into small moulds, but they’re still not really the right shape and they also don’t have the necessary hollow centre.
It doesn’t look great. In lighter news:
“Potato Duchess” is the title I dub myself when I accidentally finish an entire family size of chips by myself #MasterChefAU
— Lan (@thatslantastic) July 5, 2020
After tinkering with his sauce that he may have ruined, Callum moves on to the potato. But as the piped potato sits on the tray, it loosens and falls over. They should look like little castles, but he has created some big white chocolate poos. An array of dog turds that have been left out in the sun for days.
There are somehow only 30 minutes to go. The first 45 minutes of this cook must have been incredibly boring.
Callum is trying to adjust his sauce with some vinegar, and feels “really happy with it”. He’s leaving it until it’s time to add the butter.
Jock and Phil try to do the same intimidation technique with Emelia, but she’s not having it.
The punters are loving it.
What the fuck is Andy wearing... this is by far the worst look all season and that is a HUGE CALL #MasterChefAU
— Basic Masterchef Quotes (@BasicMasterchef) July 5, 2020
Tonight is proof that Wardrobe at #MasterchefAU loves Melissa and hates Andy
— Maya (@tweetmayatweet) July 5, 2020
Andy is looking very Miami Vice tonight.
No Andy. No. #putsomrsockson #masterchefau pic.twitter.com/ADGnOsZG8d
— J W (@jasonwilson76) July 5, 2020
Andy’s shoes should have a party and invite his trouser legs. #MasterChefAU
— Robin Illingworth (@bobillingworth) July 5, 2020
This sauce is a pretty complex creation. It contains riesling, vinegar, sake and mirin - and that’s before you add the butter. Everyone’s handling it quite well. Except, oh now wait.
We’re already up to the intimidating check-in portion of the show. Phil comes over to Callum and looks “horrified” about the size of his flame.
“Mm ok, but remember how I said the sauce had to be good, Callum?”
Jock helpfully suggests Callum reads the recipe. What a beautiful mentor/mentee relationship.
Hey, I’m not the only one noticing the music! It’s a lot.
Okay wow sound guy needs to lay off the Avengers: End Game soundtrack #MasterChefAU
— Fiza Zali (@fizawanders) July 5, 2020
The recipe on everyone’s benches is an absolute tome, printed in 8-point font. Callum explains that it’s not as simple as it looks (it does not look simple).
They’ll each need to cook the potato in four different ways, and that’s before they have to finely balance the butter sauce. If they get something wrong, they’re basically doomed.
Round one: extremely fancy mash
Today is a two-round elimination. The first challenge is a pressure test. Andy warns: “she’s a bloody doozy!!”
Chef Phil Wood - of Laura, Point Leo Estate and (formerly) Rockpool - will be setting the first challenge. He unveils the dish the contestants will be recreating: potato duchess (fancy, piped mashed potato) with shiitakes and cauliflower. It looks like it’s been laminated in butter.
They have 75 minutes. Phil warns the trickiest part of the sauce. It is “critical”, Jock says. “This will probably be the difference between you being safe and going into round two”.
Phil adds: “There’s a good chance you’ll split it. So don’t.” Some helpful advice.
The contestants who make the best two dishes (ie, the closes to Phil’s) are safe. Everyone else will be cooking in a second round.
Today’s an all-in elimination challenge and, if the ads are to be believed, “THE BIGGEST OF THE SEASON”.
Poh is sussing out the competition. Laura is so young with so much experience, she says. Emelia is calm and collected. Reece is a flavour wizard. And Callum is a major strategist, always thinking about the competition (is he? Or does he just try to cook his food in the correctly allotted time, Poh?)
The music is intense, even for MasterChef standards. Racing violins cut violently to an angelic choir. The MasterChef trophy shines electric from Channel Ten’s biggest spotlight. The judges solemnly guard it as Andy does his best Captain America impression.
A little treat (?) for anyone early to the blog:
INCREDIBLY HORNY CONTENT COMING FROM ORIGINAL #MasterChefAU WINNER JULIE GOODWIN pic.twitter.com/2geJXGMink
— jackson langford (@jacksonlangford) July 1, 2020
Welcome!!
Hello! Thanks for joining me for another MasterChef elimination. We’re really getting down to it now. There are just six contestants left - five of which will be cooking for their place in the competition tonight.
It was a good week for: Reynold, who is safe from elimination tonight. In Tuesday’s immunity challenge Reynold, Poh and Laura picked random ingredients from under cloches and had to mottle together a main and dessert. Reynold won the day with a shiitake mushroom dish and this brownie artfully half-covered in old cling wrap:
We've got a date with this Madeira gelato and shiitake mushrooms 😍 Well done, Reynold 👏 #MasterChefAU pic.twitter.com/Gi1AiLlWgC
— masterchefau (@masterchefau) June 30, 2020
Reynold’s dessert #masterchefAU pic.twitter.com/LLoLrWFt5f
— Nick Hebross (@hebross4000) June 30, 2020
He also had a hickey on his neck, so you know: great week all ‘round.
It was a bad week for: Poh. For the usual reasons. She started so well on Monday, after producing an entire Malaysian feast (this was not what she was asked to do) and making Melissa cry with happiness. But in the immunity challenge, her signature lack of organisation got the better of her and the dishes were just too clumsy.
It was also a terrible week for quails. Every second dish featured those poor little birds.
Tonight: Everyone except Reynold is cooking to avoid elimination. Who do you reckon is going home? Tweet me @msmegwatson or send me an email! We’re on at 7.30pm.
