JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Come on, guys! Come in!
Good morning!
(GANTRY ONLOOKERS CHEER)
ANDY: Yeah!
Come on, Bella, Hannah, Pat!
LYDIA: I can't stop looking at this wall.
It's full of the judges' photographs
at different ages, doing different things.
I can't for the life of me think what this could be.
Good morning. Welcome back to the MasterChef kitchen.
It is never easy to wear a black apron.
You must focus today and deliver your best performance.
BELLA: I am feeling so nervous.
A 1-in-6 chance of going home is not great.
It's the highest I've had so far.
But I've got so much more to show the judges,
so I'm going to give it my all.
All week, we've been asking you to share your family faves.
So, it's only fair that today we share ours.
The photos over there represent our family traditions,
and family traditions often start with food.
Mum and Dad were schoolteachers,
so we were lucky that every single school holiday,
myself, my two sisters, Mum and Dad, we'd go up the coast.
Get the rods, and the whole family would go down and fish.
And then we would cook what we caught.
Flour into a pan, it'd come out pretty burnt, pretty crappy,
but it was the fact that the whole family was just
picking with our hands.
And eating something that we'd spent time
to catch that morning.
It's amazing that it doesn't have to be extravagant
for it to really mean something.
So, in my family, cakes are a very big deal.
(LAUGHS)
My mum was the family cake maker,
and all my weekends were spent sitting on the dining table,
perched, like, watching her make sponges and decorating cakes.
So many memories of me sitting in the back seat,
and Mum screeching at my dad to stop driving so fast
because she's nursing some giant cake
to take to, like, an uncle's birthday.
Those moments watching Mum make a cake were so formative
for me understanding food,
what it meant to use my hands, as well.
The love of doing that and creating something
beautiful out of nothing.
Poh's picture with loads of cakes, with her family,
it's really good to see her in her element.
It's almost like a little window in their real lives,
and it's actually pretty special.
We have an abundance of food traditions in my family.
It's honestly hard to narrow them down.
I think being Jewish,
we've never been super religious,
but what we've always been really into is the tradition.
We spent every Friday night together as a family.
We'd go out for Sunday brunch.
We'd do Pesach, or Passover,
every year with the extended family.
And I feel so lucky that I've had this my entire life.
We always sat around a table every meal,
didn't matter what it was,
and all focus was on eating together.
And it's not necessarily about the food,
it's about that togetherness.
And that's a very powerful thing.
POH: Yeah.
For me, obviously, family traditions are fundamental.
It's a necessity.
And when I first met my wife,
I knew she would be the lady I wanted to have a family with.
And by the way, she can't cook.
(ALL LAUGH)
But one thing she does,
she makes that tomato sauce perfectly,
to the point where she actually does the best one.
It's not just a recipe.
The smile, the warmth, love,
before all, passed on by the food.
This is the baton. That's the relay.
It's about passing on.
For today's challenge,
we want you to share with us your family food tradition.
We want you to bring us a dish
that represents you and your family.
We're giving you 75 minutes
with full access to the pantry, and the garden is open.
Sadly, the least impressive dish will send its maker home.
Good luck to you all.
We cannot wait to taste your food traditions.
Your 75 minutes starts now.
(CHEERING)
(EXCLAMATIONS, LAUGHTER)
Today's challenge, it's pulling on the memories
and trying to channel your family traditions
into a plate of food.
And, I mean, why do we cook?
For love, for family, for sharing.
So, I'm thinking about the things we do regularly,
like gingerbread houses for Christmas,
and feasts with our friends.
And my mind's going in 20 different directions.
So, today's challenge, family traditions.
It's a very open brief, which I think allows them
to really cook with emotion,
but that could also be their downfall.
Sometimes their emotions can get the better of them,
and they can mistake the dish being amazing
when it's possibly the memory.
So, they have to learn to wrangle that
and still deliver a beautiful MasterChef-worthy dish.
Food, for me, is always about connection.
So, today it doesn't matter what they cook,
but I want to feel connected to them.
It has to be delicious, but I also just want to feel
drawn in and understand them and their family,
where they've come from, and why it's so special to them.
And I just hope that our contestants can take that memory
and take that dish and then elevate it.
That's what they need to do to stay in the competition.
Mm.
MAN: Power walk, Lydia. Power walk.
LYDIA: Power walk.
What are you making?
Chicken ball avgolemono soup.
Oh, yes! Now we're talking.
It's a chicken stock amped up with avgo - egg -
and lemones.
So, avgolemono - egg lemon soup.
It's a very Greek soup.
The second someone has the sniffles,
it's chicken stock's going on and this soup is being made.
You have balls of chicken and rice.
As they cook, the rice sort of gets all brothy
in the soup and thickens up the soup.
So, it makes it very nourishing.
It just represents my family, and they love it.
The soup is simple, but I am going to elevate it
by being very generous with those fresh herbs,
little bits of haloumi in the chicken balls.
And then, of course, who doesn't like crispy chicken skin?
I'm going to get the broth on straightaway
and have that simmering
literally for the entire 75 minutes.
Oh! Wow! Hello!
ALYONA: My mum and my sister are still in Estonia,
and my grandmother is still in Russia.
I haven't been home for three years.
I want to make sure I cook something
that truly means something to me.
For most of my childhood, I would spend summers
with my grandparents in Russia.
My grandmas would cook so much food.
I would go in the beginning of summer really tiny,
and I would come back a little chubby kid,
and my mum was like, "Oh, my gosh, what happened to you?"
My mum didn't really cook that much,
but what I remember is every birthday,
every celebration, she would whip up a cake.
So, I'm gonna make my Russian honey cake.
It is with my own little twist.
Like, so, I put a little bit of lemon myrtle in it,
and I put some macadamia nuts, as well.
I have to cook the layers as soon as possible.
After that, I'll need to cool it,
because if I construct the cake while the layers are still hot,
my whole cake is just going to collapse.
And I don't want that to happen because, for me,
what's important is that beautiful layer effect.
That's exciting!
Flavour Town, population - Olaolu.
Sorry, I won't distract you. No, no, it's great. I love it.
Oh, really? Thank you, yeah.
Alright, we'll stand here all...
I'm just, like, locked in, but I'm hearing it all.
Yeah. We're here to support you
and encourage you on your journey to success.
Thank you.
Today, I'm making a spiced plantain cake
with toasted peanuts.
Which represents my family traditions
because it reminds me of growing up in Lagos.
There's a Nigerian street food called boli and peanuts,
and basically it's a roasted plantain
that you have with peanuts just as a little snack.
And, so, when I was young, every now and then,
we'd get a chance to have street food
and have the peanuts and the boli,
and it was just this mix of, like, sweet and savoury
and crunchy and starchy and soft.
I have really fond memories of it,
so I've turned that into the inspiration for a dessert today.
I love this flavour,
but turning it into a cake is definitely a risk.
So, I've got some warm spices.
I've got nutmeg and ginger and cardamom.
Now, this is an elimination cook.
Chances of staying or going can hinge on the smallest details.
So, I'm trying to figure out how I might elevate the dish.
Just a touch to accent the plantain.
Because I wanted this cake to be the best it can be.
Yoo! Come on, Olaolu!
Make sure we can taste that family tradition!
You've only got one hour to go!
(ALL SHOUT ENCOURAGEMENT AND CHEER)
I'm really excited for this challenge.
My eye went straight to this photo
of Poh with her mum and a birthday cake.
It reminded me of birthday parties at my house.
So, today, I'm making an apple-and-cinnamon entremet.
These are my pistachio- and-white-chocolate spheres.
My strengths in the kitchen are definitely desserts.
I love making cakes, cookies, tarts, entremets.
I think the thing I love most about cooking desserts
is there's so much room for creativity
and all the different ways you can make it look pretty
and eye-catching and beautiful.
My dream is to have my own patisserie one day,
where I can surprise people with unique flavour combinations
through sweets that they already know and love.
ANDY AND SOFIA: Hey, Bella. Hey.
OK, I can see you're pretty locked in,
so I'm gonna keep this very short.
Thank you. What are you cooking?
I'm cooking a spiced apple entremet for you guys today.
It's a birthday cake I like to make my family.
And I've never pulled it off in 75 minutes,
but I figured today is the day to try
if I want to keep my spot in this competition.
What are we getting layer-wise in the entremet?
It's a white chocolate mascarpone mousse
with an apple jelly and a Breton shortbread
that has some spiced apples sitting on top.
Right. So, shortbread on the bottom?
Yeah. Mousse.
Mousse, a little jelly. And then gel on the inside?
Yeah. And the mirror glaze. Mirror glaze, as well.
Amazing. If I can pull it off.
Wow. You are pushing it. What's it going to look like?
Mould-wise?
Just, like, a little domey... Yeah, great.
Oh, you're going that big! It's a cake-sized entremet.
Wow. I think so.
In 75 minutes. Hey, it is family.
You are under the pump. Yep.
You need to set yourself some little goals
in when you need to get things done.
Yeah. And try and keep on time.
Yeah. BOTH: Good luck, Bella.
Thank you.
My plan for this cook is to work
faster than humanly possible
if I'm going to get this entremet done in 75 minutes.
So, I need to get my mousse in the blast freezer
as soon as possible.
MAN: Nice work, Bella. ALITA: Nice, Bella!
Come on!
Wow. That is, um, that's a lot. A lot.
Not only do you have to make the element,
but then you have to construct it, freeze it, get it out.
The timing. Do another layer.
Construct it, freeze it, get it out.
Like, there's a lot of things
that if you don't hit your timings,
it can really just snowball.
It's a crazy amount of steps,
given where she's at, for less than an hour.
Yeah.
(ALL SHOUT ENCOURAGEMENT)
Dish of the day!
MAN: Come on, Bell! Let's go!
I love seeing photos of people when they're kids.
Look at that guy there. What happened to him?
Yeah. He grew some teeth.
That's when I was cute and innocent.
And then everything went downhill from there.
I reckon that looks like a mischief maker.
Nah, I was actually pretty sensible about that,
believe it or not, yeah.
So, things got worse? Ho!
(ALL LAUGH) The day after.
WOMAN: Looking good, Hannah.
Thank you.
I feel like being a mum of four kids
and lots of dynamics going on in the house,
I've definitely been in a few pressure-cooker situations
in my life, so maybe that's training
for what I'm doing today.
SOFIA: Hey, Hannah. Hello.
How are you? What's your family tradition?
My family tradition,
when I got married and left home, I was 18.
Wow.
And our family's really close,
so we started doing a Monday night dinner.
We would come together, Mum would cook a roast,
and we'd always have a good dessert.
Like, a pav or a sticky date pudding,
the classic Australian family.
And that is...that is the memory that
I, like, pulled in on today.
Love that. So, what are you cooking?
So, I'm cooking you a sticky date pudding.
It's one of those dishes that we've all had
heaps of over our time.
So, I think you need to create one of the best sticky dates...
It's so true. ..we've ever had.
Yeah. No pressure, guys. No pressure.
I'm really excited to see how your version
is better than the original.
Yes. Good stuff, Hannah.
Good luck. Thank you.
I'm definitely feeling the pressure today.
So, I want to kind of get a couple more elements on.
The way I'm gonna try and elevate the sticky date pudding
and make it stand out
is to do a really awesome ginger ice-cream
and some orange butterscotch sauce.
GRACE: Oh, what's Pat doing?
WOMAN 2: Pat's got the prawns! Prawns!
Seafood, seafood.
PAT: Andy's photos there, fishing at the beach,
takes me back to family holidays.
Every year, we used to go holidaying at the coast.
Throw in the fishing line, catch some flathead.
There was also always a big pile of prawns
in the middle of the table.
You only got to eat what you could peel,
so, you know, the quicker you peel, the more prawns you got.
I actually now live in the area we used to holiday
as kids in...
..and now I'm making amazing memories
with my little girl, Frankie.
Prawns play a big part in our family,
and, so, today I just want to really celebrate prawns.
My absolute favourite, and a lot of my family's,
is a prawn bisque.
It's just such an essence-of-prawn dish,
and, yeah, we really love it.
I'm just going to do some nice garnishes within the soup
that will complement that prawny flavour.
The butter poached prawn, a smoked mussel,
fondant potatoes, and some roasted fennel, as well.
I'm definitely fighting super hard to stay here today.
I'm going into my black-apron mode and blocking everything out
and just getting in the zone to smash out a great dish.
I'm a bit nervous serving a bisque to a Frenchman,
but, you know, food doesn't judge,
so let's just make sure it's great-tasting
and hopefully he loves it.
Give it everything you've got!
You have 45 minutes to go!
(ALL SHOUT ENCOURAGEMENT AND CHEER)
MAN: Come on, Bell! Let's go.
BELLA: I still have so much to do for my entremet.
This time pressure is really getting to me.
How are you feeling, Bella?
Nup. She's in her zone.
My mousse is now setting in the freezer,
and it's time to make the apple jelly.
I combine some apple puree
with a bit of sugar and gelatine.
Did she just put more gelatine in?
Yeah.
Oh, she's adding more gelatine. She's more gelatine.
Oh.
I need to motor if I'm going to get this entremet done.
My apple jelly is now setting in the freezer,
and then it's time to make the Breton shortbread.
I need to run to the pantry.
My mind is getting really scattered at this point,
but I am still focused on this end goal
and just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
WOMAN: How's it tasting, Lyds.
Happy? Yeah, good.
I'm tasting my avgolemono soup.
It's getting quite flavourful.
It has a good amount of depth for such a short period of time.
But I really need to get these chicken balls on.
The chicken balls are the minced meat,
lots of parsley, dill, lemon zest,
salt, pepper and rice.
And then they're poached in the soup.
Lydia, tell us, what are you doing?
I'm making an avgolemono chicken ball soup.
Avgolemono is, like, one of my favourite soups.
I make it out of minced chicken balls with some rice in it,
and dill and lemon and parsley.
So, are you going to introduce the rice into your soup?
The rice will be raw in the mince balls
and then cooked in the broth.
You're not worried about the rice to be cooked on time?
No.
I've cooked this soup a lot of times, so...
OK. Good luck, yeah? Good luck, Lydia.
Thank you. Good luck.
The rice is meant to be cooked in these chicken balls,
but it's not yet.
Um...but it will be.
ALYONA: I take the honey cake out of the oven...
..and it's perfect.
GRACE: Nice, Alyona!
That looks awesome!
I feel really focused.
It's, like, I feel everything around me has just disappeared
and I'm the only person in this kitchen.
The other element that I need to nail is the cream.
While my layers are cooling in the fridge,
I need to make the cream with some sour cream
and lemon myrtle through it
to get that native Australian twist.
This cake is really me.
WOMAN: Look at this guy go. MAN: Flash me that cheeky smile.
(ALL LAUGH AND CHEER)
And my spiced plantain cake comes out of the oven
and it smells great.
WOMAN: Beautiful, Olaolu. WOMAN 2: Gorgeous, Olaolu.
I'm worried about doing a cake for an elimination cook,
so I'm going to elevate this dish
while also sticking true to the heritage of the dish.
I'm hoping that the judges see something that they recognise,
but then, when they eat it,
are very surprised by what they're experiencing.
The spiced plantain cake is quite sweet...
WOMAN: Go, Olaolu. Yum.
..so I'm going to use lime syrup as a bit of a soak
to cut through some of the sweetness.
Ooh! Salty cream. WOMAN 2: Salty!
I am also making a kind of salted Chantilly
because the salt can help,
you know, balance out the sweetness.
This dish has a lot of meaning to me.
Um, it was a treat when I was younger,
and to be able to re-create it, but in my own spin,
I think that's the ingredients for being safe today.
Make it delicious!
30 minutes to go!
(ALL CHEER, SHOUT ENCOURAGEMENT)
MAN: Keep pushing!
Hannah, what kind of caramel do you want?
It's just like a butterscotch caramel,
but with orange in it.
Love it.
Nothing like an experiment in an elimination, Han.
Going bold, girl. I love it.
I'm feeling pretty relaxed at this point
because I'm ahead of my cook.
My sticky date pudding's in the oven,
crumb's in the oven.
My ginger ice-cream is done.
Hannah, how's it looking? Have you tasted it?
Yeah, I'm really happy with it.
Yeah, great. Gingery.
Beautiful.
And I know I've got time up my sleeve right now,
which doesn't happen a lot in this kitchen.
JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Hannah, how are you?
Oh, yes. Good, thank you. Hi, Hannah.
Ooh! What are you doing?
I'm going to do a sticky date pudding
with an orange caramel,
with a ginger ice-cream and a ginger crumb.
I need to let you know... Yes.
..back in the UK, the first thing I start doing
is to drive up to Whitehaven Caramel, up north,
to buy those sticky toffee pudding.
Oh, stop it. And I mean that.
You're talking 300 miles, yeah?
So, I think I've got an enormous amount of expectation on yours.
OK.
Did you manage to put a bit of salt into your cake?
Ooh.
Did I salt it? Hmm, stop it.
Anyway, we see.
The doubt is starting to creep in a little bit.
HANNAH: I'm feeling really nervous.
Look, those ones are working,
and they're cooking and they're fine,
but I'm a little bit concerned I didn't mix them well enough.
If the sticky date pudding isn't good, I'm going to go home.
So, I'm going to make another one.
My ice cream's done. My caramel needs a little bit of work.
I don't want this to end now.
It's all hustle from here! Just 15 minutes to go!
(ALL SHOUT ENCOURAGEMENT, APPLAUD)
WOMAN: You've got this, Bella.
You've got this, girl, you've got this.
BELLA: My entremet is still setting in the blast freezer.
It's almost. Almost.
Almost there.
It's almost set, but it definitely needs some more time.
How's your timing going? OK.
I'm still a bit worried about the set of the entremet, but...
Is it...obviously, in there? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
OK, cool. I'm gonna keep it closed.
We're getting towards the end of the cook,
and I have a lot to do.
My Breton shortbread base with cinnamon apples
is in the oven cooking,
and I just realise I need to make my mirror glaze.
If I just keep moving,
I do have a chance of getting this on the plate.
WOMAN: Oh, that smoker.
MAN: Yeah. Patty. Yoo!
PAT: A lot of the elements for my prawn bisque
are starting to be finished.
The mussels and prawns are all but done.
Potatoes and fennel are done.
WOMAN: Oh, wow, Pat. That's perfect.
Such good colour.
But the star of the show
is still in the pot and not finished,
so I just really need to focus all my energy into the bisque.
And I'm really just adjusting the salt and the lemon
until I'm just absolutely stoked with the flavour.
I love the taste of the dish,
but I just want it to be a bit more intense,
so, hopefully, I can get that flavour down
and get the seasoning perfect,
get these prawns cooked perfectly,
and, yeah, we'll be on the money.
I'm feeling good. I enjoy making this cake, and so I feel good.
I just want to make sure I keep moving fast.
For my spiced plantain cake, I have a salted Chantilly done,
the cake with the lime syrup cooling.
But this is an elimination cook and the stakes are really high.
I'm like, "Mate, step it up."
I decide to make a ginger custard to top it all off.
Yoo! Come on, Olaolu! ANNABEL: Let's go, buddy.
Too easy for you, brother.
And the custard can be very ginger forward
and a little bit fiery,
so when you have a bite,
you have a bit of extra, like, oomph.
WOMAN: Oh, wow. Look at that.
MAN: Oh, that was quick.
Oh, is this a honey cake?
Yeah. Oh, I love this.
That looks so good.
Nice, Alyona.
I am so proud of what I see in front of me...
Come on, Alyona.
..because I have never made this cake
in such a short period of time.
You need a turntable, girl!
Normally, I serve it with fresh raspberries,
but maybe just fresh raspberries are not going to be enough.
So, I think I'm gonna make this raspberry sauce.
That's also gonna look really beautiful on the plate
and complement the cake.
WOMAN: Come on, Lydia! Use those muscles, lady.
It's time to 'avgolemono' the soup,
which is the whisking of the eggs and lemon juice together.
The eggs is to thicken your soup?
Yeah. I'm tempering them with lemon juice.
I'm going to temper them by adding the hot broth,
and that will bring up the temperature of the egg
so it doesn't split.
Ooh!
The eggs thicken the soup,
and the lemon gives it acidity and yumminess.
I check out the chicken skin, they look great.
Pulling them out.
And I'm going to lightly pan-fry the haloumi,
so as the judges are eating the soup, every now and then,
they might get a little mouthful of
salty haloumi goodness.
Don't get left behind! Ten minutes to go!
(ALL SHOUT ENCOURAGEMENT)
WOMAN: Make sure it's plated, guys.
(TRAY CLATTERS) Sorry, that's hot.
The adrenaline is running through my body.
I don't think I've taken a breath for the past hour.
It's the moment of truth.
I need to unmould this entremet.
WOMAN: Yes, yes. It's coming. WOMAN 2: It's coming, Bella.
Gentle, gentle. No.
That's OK. You've got more time.
My entremet should pop out of the mould easily.
I'm really worried.
MAN: Careful, Bella.
Hot knife?
I don't know.
Can I cut this mould?
Do what you need to do, girl.
(ALL SHOUT)
If I don't get this out,
I have nothing to put on the plate today.
You've got it, Bella.
MAN: Just tell the judges not to look.
I don't know about this.
Can I cut this mould?
(ALL SHOUT ENCOURAGEMENT)
WOMAN: Do what you need to do, girl.
MAN: Just tell the judges not to look.
If I don't get this out...
..I have nothing to put on the plate today.
That's it, Bella! Come on!
This is do or die.
At least the judges will be able to taste something.
Finish strong! Three minutes to go!
(ALL SHOUT ENCOURAGEMENT, APPLAUD)
MAN: Keep pushing! Keep pushing!
HANNAH: I managed to get my second pudding out of the oven,
but this sauce is just not quite hitting the mark.
There's something not right with it.
I'm really worried. Is it the best pudding in the world?
And is this sauce actually going to work?
MAN: Keep going, keep going, keep going.
LYDIA: If this bowl of avgolemono soup
doesn't represent family tradition for me,
I don't know what does.
Is the rice cooked? 100%.
30 seconds to go! ANDY: 30 seconds!
(ALL SHOUT ENCOURAGEMENT)
BELLA: I'm not happy with this.
This is not how I'd be presenting it at home.
But hopefully the inside
will have some pretty layers and flavours.
ALL: 10, 9, 8,
7, 6, 5,
4, 3, 2, 1.
ANDY: That's it, everybody!
(CHEERING, SHOUTING)
LYDIA: Oh, my God.
Lydia, what is the dish?
Chicken ball avgolemono soup.
It's essentially an egg and lemon broth.
Lydia, why the big smile?
Very proud to give you this dish
because it is a dish that you cook for your loved ones,
and I love that I'm doing that for you.
Oh, I thought you were gonna say you love us.
I do love you all. I do love you all.
I still have to pinch myself to remind myself where I am.
And we're going to taste a dish.
You obviously chicken skin at your own...
Oh, nice. ..your own crunchy leisure.
Yeah. I love crunchy leisure.
OK. Thank you very much. JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Fabulous.
Thanks, Lydia. Please enjoy it.
Thank you. Well done, Lydia.
Whoa, that looks so cool.
ANDY: So inviting. I want it to be good.
I want it to be mine.
I'm gonna eat it all.
Ah!
(GROANS)
(LAUGHS)
This is unbelievable.
Mmm.
Oh, my God. That woman is unbelievable.
Jean-Christophe, what's on the side of the jug?
Do you know when you eat something good
and your brain just is not even thinking?
You're just consuming and experiencing?
Mm.
I will remember this and crave it for the rest of my life.
It is just so delicious.
That broth is just packed full of chicken-ness.
Chickeny-ness, and lemony-ness.
Everything that she said she wanted it to be is there.
So, those chicken balls,
like, they just fall apart in your mouth.
It's a bowl-slurpingly delicious chicken soup.
She's used quite a lot of pepper in there, as well,
so you get this beautiful warming hug of spice
at the back of your palate.
And then adding in that haloumi,
it's, you know, it's this salty,
squeaky fun time with all those little cubes in there.
Just having the pleasure to enjoy this wonderful soup,
we feel like a family in a way.
Yeah. Uh-huh?
What was the most pleasurable part
is when she introduced the egg
as tempered the broth
just at the last minute, at the right temperature.
I would say that is in the top five tastiest things
I've had this year, for sure.
Yeah, absolutely.
That is just so, so, so silky and beautiful.
Like, I feel so privileged to eat that.
Same. (SIGHS)
I think she's safe. What do you reckon?
Oh, yeah. I reckon she's alright.
BELLA: I know I've fallen short
in the way my dish looks today...
..but hopefully the textures
and flavours will be enough to save me today.
Hi, Bella. Hello, Bella.
SOFIA: Hi, Bella. JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Hello, Bella.
BELLA: Today I've made you my apple-and-cinnamon entremet.
So, there's a Breton shortbread with some cinnamon apples,
a white chocolate and mascarpone mousse,
and an apple jelly and a mirror glaze.
POH: Thank you. ANDY: Thanks, Bella.
Thank you.
I can really see the vision, but it's a little wonky, huh?
Yeah, particularly because
we know how good and how precise she can be.
There's definitely defined layers there.
OK.
I actually really like the flavours.
I think she's done a really good job of balancing the sweetness.
Having said that, I do feel like
when I was cutting through that gel layer,
it's heavily set.
It was an interesting choice,
and I feel like it's only a choice that she put in there
because she was doing an entremet.
Because it doesn't taste amazing,
and it definitely doesn't have an awesome texture either.
We've seen hundreds of entremets in this kitchen.
They're meant to look flawless. Exactly.
Yeah, and we didn't get that, unfortunately.
You look at her mousse, and it's quite dense,
it's a bit gluggy.
There's no aeration in it.
I think it's a shame, because I absolutely adore this girl.
She's super talented, she's so driven.
I really respect her.
I'm trying to think very carefully
what will be my verdict.
Hello. Hi.
Alyona, What have you made?
I made my celebration cake.
It's inspired from Russian honey cake.
Thank you so much. Thank you.
Let's check out those layers.
Oh! Oh, it looks very good.
Whoa!
I can still taste the honey.
It's really fragrant, still,
so it's really subtle and very beautifully managed.
I love how it looks. I love the colours.
I think those layers are stunning.
I think she's done a really good job.
Hello, Pat.
I've made a prawn bisque with a butter-poached prawn,
some lightly smoked mussels,
roasted fennel, and fondant potatoes.
This is very inviting.
It is just amazing.
Just smell it. The power of the shells of the prawns.
The mussels. The stock has been done very well.
I think it's seasoned perfectly.
ANDY: Nailed the brief, nailed the conception of the dish,
nailed the execution of the dish.
OLAOLU: It's a big risk by doing a cake
for an elimination cook,
because cakes are generally simple.
But I'm hoping that the fact that I have elevated it
in terms of really swaying the balance of the dish
is enough to keep me safe from being eliminated.
ANDY: Olaolu. Hello.
Hey, Olaolu.
Mmm!
I've made a plantain cake with some peanuts.
It's inspired by a Nigerian street food dish -
boli and peanuts.
How old were you when you were smashing plantains
and salted peanuts?
I don't remember not doing it. Oh, really?
Probably from five, six, seven. Oh, wow.
You know, it's kind of just roasting on the fire
on the side of the street, and you get it hot.
So, it's a memory that you've then channelled
to basically create something.
Yeah. For me, cooking is a lot about creativity.
And, so, well, Nigerians don't really eat dessert.
So, and I have a big sweet tooth,
so I wanted to kind of turn that into a dessert.
And that's how this came about.
We'll taste now. Thanks, mate. Good luck, Olaolu.
What do you think, guys? It's pretty cute.
I think it looks nice. JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Yeah, it is.
Yeah.
Looks pretty good. Nice.
Very pleased.
I absolutely love this. It's good, huh?
I was really concerned that the cake was way too simple,
but the texture is just impeccable.
I think the cake is absolutely epic.
It's lovely. It's gentle.
And it has a bit of intensity from the spice.
It's just perfect.
This cake, to me, is like carrot cake and banana bread
met at Christmas and had an overachieving child.
(LAUGHS)
It has that beautiful spice mix through it,
and then you get these little sweet, tangy pockets
of that lime syrup.
Also, that Chantilly.
It's so light and fluffy, and salted so perfectly.
Plus the crunch and that extra bit of salt
from those quite heavily toasted peanuts.
It's a really delicious flavour combination.
This is hard to do.
The fact that he can really sit there
and take this memory and distil it into
a very simple cake and anglaise, but then have the smarts to go,
"I'm gonna do this, this and this to it
"to really, really bring it back to a MasterChef-worthy palate."
Dynamite, mate. Dynamite. I'm super stoked for him.
I think we should be waiting for a long run with him.
HANNAH: The end of this cook was a blur.
Hannah. Hi, Hannah.
JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: How are you?
Hello.
I'm not feeling super confident in my dish,
but I'm hoping it's good enough to get me through.
Hello.
Hi, Hannah.
How are you?
I've made you a sticky date pudding
with a ginger crumb and a ginger ice-cream,
and an orange butterscotch sauce.
I'm troubled. You're troubled?
Mm. What are you troubled with?
The pudding itself is lovely.
It's really well cooked, it's nice and moist,
but the butterscotch is not a butterscotch.
She's cooked her orange juice down so much
that it's got this kind of marmaladey flavour.
It's like an emulsion butter.
Oh, yeah. It's nothing toffee.
I just didn't use the sauce, and I used the ice-cream,
which was very ginger forward, which I really enjoyed.
I love the ice-cream. I absolutely adore the ice-cream.
It is the best thing on that plate for me.
It is so delicious.
But do you think the ice-cream is good enough to save her?
Yeah, I don't know.
Today was an emotional challenge.
You shared your family traditions with us,
so we know these dishes,
they were cherished memories on the plate.
Thank you for sharing that with us. Well done.
A big effort from everybody.
But there was one dish
that made us totally feel like one big happy family.
And that belonged to you, Lydia!
(CHEERING)
Lydia, that avgolemono was like the biggest hug on a cold day.
Literally, every single one of us was slurping
straight out of the bowl and we could not speak.
We were just diving into the lemony chickeny goodness.
It was really, really spectacular.
Thank you.
Congratulations... Thank you, they were...
..you are safe.
However, this is an elimination
and, sadly, someone will be going home today.
SOFIA: There were two dishes that missed the mark.
If I call your name, please step forward.
Bella...
..and Hannah.
Hannah, your sauce was unpleasant.
OK. Yeah.
Bella,
while we really admire your ambition,
time got the better of you.
There were flaws in most of your elements.
I'm so sorry...
..but we have to say goodbye...
..Bella.
Bella, we absolutely loved having you
as part of the MasterChef family.
Your cooking is well beyond your years.
What is it about this experience
that will stay with you the most?
Um...cooking with these amazing bunch
of people has just been so inspiring.
Um, yeah, being able to, like,
bounce ideas off everyone and just be with people
that share that same passion.
Um, yeah, it's something that I can't take for granted.
Um, and I've enjoyed every moment.
Bella, I just wanted to say,
your ambition, your tenacity, your grit, your determination,
your ability to just push through under extreme pressure,
you are one of a handful of people
that have those attributes in absolute spades.
That means a lot.
Bella, I'm so broken-hearted for you right now.
You're so young and you have so much talent.
I know you're going to be a superstar,
and I want you to promise me
that you're not going to let this moment define you.
It's what you actually do after this, yeah?
Yeah. Yeah.
Come and give us a hug.
I've learned so much from this experience,
and I am proud of the way that I've showed up every day
in this competition and pushed myself.
You are a younger version of Mary Berry.
(LAUGHS)
All the best to you. Don't give up.
Poh made me promise that this is only the beginning,
and I'm going to stick to that promise
because I want to share the food I love with so many people,
and I'm going to find a way to do that.
Give it up for Bella, everybody!
(CHEERING)
ANNOUNCER: Next week on MasterChef Australia...
Please give it up for Catherine Zhang!
Victoria Minell!
Khanh Ong!
..it's viral wonders week.
Crazy.
Their content is absolutely awesome.
And with their first service challenge...
(ALL CHEER)
Never really cooked for a lot of people before.
..and a surprise immunity pin on the line...
(CHEERING)
..they're absolutely clamouring
to create something stratospheric.
Are we going viral here? Yes.
POH: I flippin' love this dish so much.
This is, like,
competition-winning-worthy stuff.