From complex savoury creations to awe-inspiring artistic desserts, Andy Allen has tasted plenty of impressive dishes in the MasterChef Australia kitchen. The season four champion-turned-judge has arguably one of the greatest jobs on television, eating plate after plate of restaurant-quality food.
But unfortunately, this isn’t always the case, as contestants often take risks with flavour combinations or cooking techniques that don’t always work out — and the judges still have to try it.
With the show’s 18th season currently underway and 24 amateur cooks battling it out for the title, Andy has reflected on some of the best and worst dishes he’s ever tasted on the reality show.
The restaurateur revealed on PEDESTRIAN.TV’s podcast Villain Edit that, without a doubt, the worst plate of food came from season 13’s Tommy Pham in 2021.
“He did this oyster dish and it was, I’ve tried to delete it from my mind, oyster with buttermilk, fish sauce, chive, dill, and it just didn’t work,” he recalled.
“Bland food, under-seasoned food, you get your fair share of that. But that was one where I was like, that’s the closest I’ve been to spitting something out in seven years.”
Andy Allen’s worst dish in the MasterChef kitchen
While Tommy’s flavours were the issue, Andy admitted that sometimes the show’s logistics — specifically the fact that dishes are often cold by the time they’re judged — can turn a mediocre dish into a disaster.
According to Andy, the dish that became the biggest disaster once it had cooled down was his own back in 2012 during a challenge in Rome.
“I did a dish, and it would have been s**t if it was hot, but the fact that it was cold made it even worse,” he remarked.
Andy explained that he was inspired by an Italian local cooking a dish using the insides of a lamb, including the heart, lung, liver and sweetbreads. Already off to a great start!
“It was in front of Massimo Bottura — very famous, he’s been voted the number one chef in the world for many years. He came around, and he was like, ‘I hate offal’, which surprised me,” he recalled.
“And then not only that, but I overcooked the absolute s**t out of this offal, and it was then served cold. So he was an offal hater with all of the lamb’s offal cold and shrivelled up in front of him. I felt for him.”
Hopefully this year’s cast have learned from previous mistakes and won’t be replicating Tommy’s dish or overcooking offal anytime soon. After all, it’s MasterChef, not Fear Factor.
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