This is crazy.
This is wild.
I know.
Do you remember the first time we walked in here? Yeah.
It was like so long ago now.
It's pretty crazy to be top five of MasterChef. I actually can't believe
we've made it here, to be honest.
Very exciting.
I can't believe you made it here.
Coming in, I never would have thought that I would have made it this far and
grown as much as I have.
Oh, thank you, boys.
Let's do it.
This one.
Oh, no.
Okay. I see five benches all lined up in a row.
Whoa.
How are you? This is unreal.
It's not our usual setup.
Hello, hello, hello.
And I can see Andy. I wonder who it is.
In his cooking attire.
Good morning, team.
Morning.
Firstly, congratulations to our top five of MasterChef 2026.
You all walked into this kitchen as home cooks, and there is no doubt that you'll
be walking out as the new superstars of food.
This is a huge milestone in the competition.
You've worked relentlessly to get to this point, and the four of us couldn't
be more proud.
Aaron, top five.
How proud are your family going to be of you?
It hasn't really sunk in yet. It all feels so, yeah, it's still like a dream.
Annabelle, can you believe you made it to this point?
No.
But I'm very happy to be here.
Do you feel like a little bit like a rose among thorns?
Yes.
I'm kidding.
Now, there's no one else I'd rather be doing this with than these four boys.
Being around these boys has actually been really, really beneficial.
We are wired differently.
They are so confident in themselves and their ability. Being around them, I've
actually taken on a little bit of how they are, and it's been really, really
good for my own self-confidence.
Vinny, thinking about winning that trophy or what?
100%, yeah.
We're getting there, for real.
Like, now this is it.
Katha, so close to the end.
Top five was kind of like my...
So all I really need to do now is imagine holding that trophy, and I think
I can motivate myself to get there.
Yeah, it's got to do a little bit more than just imagine it, but if you work
hard, you never know.
Petro.
Yes, Chef.
What do you think got you to this point?
I think really resetting after every cook, whether it was a good cook or a
bad cook.
I try to come into the kitchen every day with a fresh mindset.
Ever since I started doing that, that's when I started cooking well.
Who do you think I can win?
I feel like I've had that belief for a while now.
I've been very consistent.
And I feel like I've just always trusted my gut.
Finals, they are in sight.
But you're not there yet.
Each day this week, the four of us have been pushing you to level up.
And today...
Time to keep up with me.
So doing a keep up with the chef challenge for the first time, definitely
a few nervy faces looking around.
But this is something that I have been wanting to do forever.
I am so, so keen.
Then am I excited for this one.
Keep up with me and cook the bestest.
You'll win immunity from tomorrow's elimination.
I'd love to be getting that immunity spot today.
The end is so close and I think everyone is going to be pushing hard.
You'll need to follow my every move and listen carefully because there's no
recipe and no dish to sample.
The moment Andy finishes his dish...
You will have an extra 15 seconds.
The minute that I hear we have 15 seconds, I
don't hear anything else beyond that.
You literally have to play it up as he's playing, because 15 seconds will go by
in an instant.
All the equipment and ingredients you need are at your benches.
So good luck and pay attention.
because you don't want to fall behind.
So let's get to it.
Be kind.
I'll do my best.
Looking around and seeing all the equipment, it is a little bit, like,
overwhelming. Like, two hibachis on our bench, seven, eight pots and pans.
Nervous.
We're using all of this equipment just for one cook?
Good luck.
It's going to be an intense one.
Let's get into it.
The dish I'm going to teach you is on the menu at our brand-new Three Blue
Ducks restaurant in Barad-Ur.
Barbecued lamb, burnt eggplant cream, and braised
bologna beans.
Obviously, I can't say the finished dish, but it's definitely all the things
that I love. Love lamb, love eggplant, love beans.
So, ingredients are fed.
I definitely look up to Andy. And then we've got all of our goodies,
seasonings, stocks.
I love his menus. I love all the dishes that he makes.
I am a little worried, I won't lie. I've watched a Keeping Up with Gordon Ramsay
and, like, no room for error.
If we can't keep up or if we do something wrong, then we'll be going
into tomorrow's elimination.
Lock in. At this stage of the competition, I have very high
expectations.
The strategy is to multitask. You've got to be doing...
but also, like, keeping your ears open and listening.
You ready to roll?
Yeah, let's do it. Sandy, let's do it.
We're going to grab two eggplants, and they're going straight on the coals.
You'll notice one hibachi is pretty full with coal, then the other is quite low.
Straight out the gate and start talking about grabbing this, grabbing that. If
you were to look into my mind at that point... ..everything was just
white.
Medium-sized saucepan.
That's going to go straight on the heat with a decent glug of extra virgin olive
oil. It's like he's flicked a switch.
One brown onion. He's like full chef mode.
In half, tails off.
We all good so far?
Yeah. Yeah, chef.
I hope so.
It's only going to get worse from here.
How are you hanging in there, Aaron?
I'm doing all right. You're a bit quiet out there.
I'm good, thank you.
He's moving so quick.
This is going to be for our eggplant puree.
But sometimes I tunnel.
And I just do.
With our eggplant, I want to get this little gastro and I want to stick it
over the top.
My strategy is to make sure that I compartmentalise all the elements. So
I'm very quiet.
Onions in the pot.
But I'm also just locked in and laser focused.
Once our onions are done, from there we are going to butcher our lamb. So go to
your fridge and you'll notice we have the rack, which is like the Ferrari, but
then we also have my favourite cut, which is the lamb rump.
So I want you to cut a two-pronged piece of lamb. So right in the middle of the
rack. I'm loving watching Andy. I know. I've never seen him do this. For the
longest time.
So we should be left with something that looks like this.
And the first thing we want to do is take off the fat cap.
So I want to run my knife down quite close to the eye, okay?
We want to follow that down to the bones.
Then turn the knife 90 degrees.
We have this beautiful fat cap here.
I'm pretending to nod, but picking up lots of teeth.
So now from there...
We're going to French this rack.
Pretty chaotic right now.
I can't really see what Andy's doing with his rack of lamb.
Using your knife, we want to scrape over the bones.
This is going to look really nice in presentation.
If you don't do this properly, we will notice it.
He's yelling out, this should look like this, it should look like that. But I'm
no real stranger to lamb. I've Frenched a few racks in my time as well. So I
feel like I have the knowledge of what I'm looking for in this lamb.
Get off any fat, any sinew and any meat.
I'm worried about Annabelle. Yeah.
Oh God.
Okay. I've already fallen behind.
I've literally never frenched lamb in my life.
I just wish that I had a picture of the finished product.
Did Annabelle take off all of her hat?
Andy's showing us how he's frenching his lamb so I'd run over to his bench.
So now from there.
Uh-oh.
They've cut too much fat off mine. I think I need to start again.
So our onions, don't forget them. They're caramelising.
I need to move really, really fast to make sure that I don't fall even further
behind. But the lamb is the star, and I am happy to start this again because,
yeah, lamb's got to be perfect.
Great.
Right, is everyone keeping up?
Yes, Chef. So we're frenching, we're frenching.
We want these super clean, so don't skimp here.
Oh, man, it takes a while to French these. I should be able to hear the
scraping. It's not an amazing sound.
The Frenching is taking a long time. I'm having trouble actually getting all the
sinew off my bone.
There's not a skerrick of meat or sinew or fat left on there.
My lamb is not looking how it should exactly.
From there, slice the fat calf into three pieces lengthways.
This is going to flavour our beans.
But I don't want to fall behind.
On the low hibachi.
Place the fat straight on.
So I'm going to move on to the next step.
From there, we are going to butcher our lamb rump. Again, it has a beautiful fat
cap on it, but fat equals fire over the hibachi.
So we're going to remove most of the fat cap.
So using a nice sharp knife, we're then going to put our rump cap, we're going
to put it next to our lamb cutlet.
Andy, want to try this one?
Yep. So while you're doing that, I want to get my stock on. I want you to get a
large frying pan for the sauce. We're going to do a demi-glace, which is a
heavily reduced lamb sauce.
I'm keeping up so far.
I've got my lamb fat on the hibachi.
So we're going in with one litre from a heavily reduced, beautiful lamb stock.
I've got my lamb stock on, reducing down into a demi-glaze.
We want to bring that to the boil.
By now, we should have a nice amount of smoke, but no fire on our lamb fat.
Fire.
Petra, what's going on there?
Petra, your lamb's on fire.
That's not what we want.
Oh, come on, bro.
Oh,
come on, bro.
Not again. The hibachi always seems to go up in flames on me.
Hibachi is very temperamental, and it seems like Andy is working his magic,
and I'm not at the moment, but...
I don't want to serve burnt fat.
Are we going to be using the other points of the lamb rack?
No, they're back in the fridge.
You've got to listen.
Yeah, I'm just seeing if I can cut off some more lamb fat so I can put back on
the grill so they're not burnt.
Mate, you do you. Good thinking.
I've been on page, but now this feels like I'm falling behind, so I quickly
trim up my fat and put it on the grill.
But then... Uh-oh.
Looking around the room. Oh, no.
It looks like everyone's hibachi is a bit of a fire hazard.
Uh-oh.
I'm a little worried about how much heat is coming out of everyone's hibachi.
Just like Petro just saw.
Fat equals flavour, but it also means fire.
Looking around, I see flames everywhere.
Oh, my God.
It's a hard one. Cooking on the hibachi.
It is so unpredictable.
Oh, my eyes will choke.
Everyone set their lamb back on fire.
Looking at mine, it looks like it's all pretty rendered out, so I do take it off
early.
Andy, is the lamb fat meant to be off the grill?
The lamb fat is not off the grill.
Right.
As much as I trust my intuition, Andy probably does know a little bit better,
so I chuck it back on.
It could always be a little bit more rendered, maybe.
Right, barbecued lamb, burnt eggplant cream, braised velote beans.
There's a bit going on, hence why we've got to keep up.
We should have our demi-glace coming up to a boil and also our onions
caramelised for the puree.
You should have your eggplants, which we're going to have a look at now.
They should be starting to somewhat collapse on one side.
We'll give them a flip.
How are you hanging in there, Aaron?
Doing all right, chef.
So I love a smoked eggplant directly on the cold, but there is a lot of
monitoring that's needed when cooking with a hibachi.
And in this instance, we can't.
As I turn the eggplant, I realize that one side of the eggplant is split open.
And I'm really worried about the flavor.
And then it goes back on.
I don't really have time to stop, so I try to move it around a bit.
But how much smoke is going to impart?
into the flesh now that is split.
So, back to our mirepoix or the bean.
We've got a small saucepan on.
We want to cut a 2.5cm wedge of onion.
We want a piece of carrot.
Andy's doing a mirepoix of carrot, some onion and some celery with some garlic
and oil.
Halve that, so we're looking at a piece about this big. We're going to keep it
nice and chunky because we want to remove it once we've cooked the bean.
This is really smart because then it flavours the beans much more than you
would a lamb stock.
With the mirepoix, we're going to go a good amount of olive oil.
But Andy is moving very, very quick. Just crush two cloves of garlic.
Andy, did you take the skin off the onion? No, I didn't take the skin off
the onion.
Great. How many cloves of garlic? Sorry, Andy. Two cloves of garlic just crushed.
Skin on. And they can go in.
It's pretty fun. You're keeping up with Andy today.
Now our lamb butt.
You know that's going to have flavour. That can go into our mirepoix. And from
there, a lot of beans.
This is like a MasterChef bucket list thing to do, and I'm doing it with one
of my favourite chefs.
We are then going to make a cartouche. A very quick cartouche.
25 centimetres in diameter. I'm trying to find my pace right now, and I think
I'm keeping up with Andy just...
I've made cartouches before, so I know how to do it. Fold on the point. We're
going to slice the end off.
We should reveal a nice cartouche to go over the top of our beans.
But today, I don't know what's happening.
I've only got a semicircle.
Bring them up to a boil.
Now I'm on the back foot a little bit. I have to do this step again.
Now I'm getting on to comfy garlic. We're going to need comfy garlic in a
couple of stages of this recipe.
One, in the demiglaze. Two, we're going to use it in the eggplant cream puree.
Sorry, how many garlic cloves?
You want about 12.
12, okay.
Seven, eight.
There is a lot of garlic cloves in this comfy garlic.
And what I'm doing is I'm moving on to the tasks that Andy's doing in real
time, but then coming back to the things that I haven't quite finished yet.
But taking the skins off garlic is like one of my least favourite jobs.
Oh, I'm so bad at peeling garlic.
OK, once we've got our garlic cloves, we're going to sit in this olive oil
bath and confit.
I have no idea how Andy got the skin off his garlic so quickly.
Like, I am literally up to my third piece and he's done 12.
So I want you to choose your largest banana shallot you've got. And now he's
getting on to his vinegar shallot.
And I'm still peeling bloody garlic.
We want a really fine brunoise on this.
I decide my tactic is to ask Andy lots of questions, so hopefully he slows down
a bit.
Andy? Yep? Have you put the two cloves of garlic into the demiglaze yet?
No, there's no garlic in the demi-glace. And from there, grab sherry vinegar.
Unfortunately, it doesn't work.
Just tubber.
We're going to go on to a medium-high heat, bring those up to a boil, and then
we'll reduce it just so they're ticking away.
Pop number five, we're full.
So, next up, the eggplant.
It should be nice and soft now.
Andy's grabbing his eggplants out of the hibachi, and I'm only just starting the
shallot. I've got so many balls in the air at the moment and I'm pulling
further and further behind.
Remove all of the flesh, trying to not get any of the black skin in our
eggplant. Like, it makes you feel a bit stressed.
We keeping up, gang?
Yes, chef. No.
This garlic's taking me forever.
But I'm, like, determined to keep smiling.
Because when you're cooking stress, no good.
Keeping up, Vinnie? Yep.
Okay, we're going to bring the pan with the onions.
Then we're going in with our eggplant.
We good?
Getting there.
I reckon this is the hardest all along.
Yeah, I agree. There are so many things happening at once. I'm going to take the
demi-glace and I'm going to put it where the eggplant was.
Because I want some really intense heat on that eggplant.
There are two hibachis, five pods going.
This is the ultimate test of quality task. Yeah.
Righto, let's get on to the lamb.
We want another rack on the hibachi. You're going to have to determine for
yourself how much coals you need. You don't want an inferno, but you want
caramelisation.
We need our cooking salt or our fine salt. And we are going to heavily
season.
We're going to start with the cutlet, skin side down.
Rump tap.
Also, skim side down.
We're going to have to be careful because fat equals fire.
I shouldn't see flames on our lamp.
That's why it goes up.
And if I do, it's time to turn.
How are we looking, guys?
Looking good.
We good?
Yeah.
A bachi hasn't been my strong suit, but lamb's looking pretty good so far.
I see a little flare-up from moving the lamb, so it doesn't burn.
We should have our eggplant really starting to caramelise. I've got tongs,
and I'm furiously scraping off any of the bits that are catching.
But I feel like every minute I'm going back to my eggplant because it's
catching so easily. The eggplant will steam all of that caramelisation off,
OK?
And then we get it on, we scrape it all off, and then we start again.
I am already concerned about my eggplants because I know that that's
gone a bit too far on the hibachi.
Show us your eggplant.
Oh, it's looking a bit dark in there.
Too much?
Caramelization, not burnt.
I realize that's taking my caramelization a bit too far as well.
With immunity on the line.
Yeah, it's not good.
My eggplant is a few shades darker than his.
But today we've got to keep up with Andy.
We want caramelisation on all corners of the lamb.
So, I don't have time to put some more eggplants on the hibachi.
I've just got to work with what I've got and hope that I can enjoy it. the
flavors later okay pretty happy with my cutlet so i'm going to make sure that
there's one layer of coals in my cooler hibachi we're going to now slowly cook
this lamb through so the cutlet on the low hibachi heat and i've still got my
rump caramelizing who wants a quick recap yeah me please okay we
have our balotti beans in our beautiful mirror fry with the lamb fat in it Our
demi-glace should be coming down.
Our eggplant really starting to caramelise with the puree.
I've got my vinegar shallot off the stove and our confit garlic.
I'm going to take mine off.
There's a lot going on.
Oh, it's fantastic.
It's a good test.
OK, I want everyone to go to their fridge.
We are going to get out the pancetta.
I absolutely love pancetta. Probably about two millimetres thick.
Probably one of my favourite ingredients.
50 grams of ladon, nicely cut.
I feel like at the start of the competition, I was just slamming it in
every single dish that I made.
We are then going to get our small frying pan and our pancetta.
Ladon can go in.
Andy's failing us to put a small amount of pancetta into our pan to crisp up.
But I feel like, you know...
I'm Italian. You've got to put a little bit extra, right?
I definitely feel at this point of the cook, my strategy has shifted, and I'm
just going to trust my instincts and my intuition.
I'm going to take my eggplants off now and keep them aside.
I'm really happy with the caramelisation I've got on my lamb rump.
Yeah, I think, you know, I'm using intuition where I need to.
So I'm going to also transfer that to the low-heat hibachi.
Every hibachi is different. And so this is the main area you've got to use your
intuition.
Because they are just so unpredictable.
Here we go. We're moving on. Okay, my beans are there.
I'm going to start to fish everything out, bar the beans.
This is why we've kept the mirror pie nice and chunky.
And I'm going to remove some of the fat from the lardons.
And then I'm going to put my beans in.
So beans are now in with the lardons.
Give them a quick saute off.
You're doing so well.
There's a lot on the go.
This is make or break time.
Andy has not missed a beat.
I want to get the creme fraiche out of the fridge.
But we're nearing the end and everything seems to be moving so much faster. I'm
going to get a bunch of chives.
How much creme fraiche?
Feels as though he's ramped it up now. I'm going to get two leaves of sage. I
think the adrenaline in him has kicked in. Chervel as well.
They can go in with the beans.
And it's getting to a point where it's almost near impossible to try and keep
up. We're going to take half a tablespoon of creme fraiche and
introduce it to the beans.
Aaron, you're very quiet.
You all good?
I think so.
Okay, let's hope so.
I am going to get a thermometer.
And take a look at the internal temperature of my cutlet. I'm getting
about 47 degrees.
So I'm taking that cutlet off.
So Andy says we should be taking off our lamb cutlet. And I insert the probe, and
it is done.
I'm happy with my lamb rump. I'm taking that off.
Now I look to my rump, and it's looking rare on one side.
But keep up with the chef. So I'm going to do exactly what Andy does.
So our lamb rump and our lamb cutlet should be resting.
I take that rump off and I hope this doesn't come back to bite me.
Our eggplant puree, we're going in.
Tablespoon of creme fraiche, two teaspoons of lemon juice, salt plate,
white pepper.
We're not far off finishing.
Guys, this is the home stretch.
And I reckon my strategy of like doing whilst listening has maybe like gone out
the window a little bit. We are blending this on high.
Andy's moving on to blending his eggplant puree.
And we want a nice silky smooth puree.
But I'm still chopping herbs.
This is not how I wanted this challenge to go.
Sauce, let's get on to that.
We want to transfer that beautiful sauce.
into a smaller saucepan.
I'm actually good in price.
Look how much there is to do.
We're going to put that back on a low heat.
He's going fast, isn't he? Yeah, that's what I meant. It's not easy.
I am going to put my two show pieces of confit garlic into my sauce.
So the nicest ones you can find. From there, add nearly a tablespoon of capers
just to cut through the richness of that sauce.
The demi-glace is starting to look like a sauce, and I'm following Andy's
instructions exactly.
I've also put a tablespoon of the vinegar shallots into our sauce.
Okay, I'm going to get on to my lamb now. Let's carve it.
So I'm going to bring it over to my board, and I'm going to slice straight
down the middle.
I can't wait to eat, Abe.
So we want one beautiful cutlet for this plate.
That's what we're looking for, pink to pink.
Nice and pink, huh? Look at that.
Vinny's looks great.
And I'm going to carve the lamb rump across the grain, half a centimetre
thick.
Amazing.
He's not just a thick fish chef, huh? No, no, he's a good guy too, isn't he?
I'm going to pick a beautiful showpiece of the lamb rump.
I'm going to transfer back onto the rack.
Look at Vinny.
Take care of her. Look at her. How's our lamb looking, crew?
Good. Are we good?
Oh, boy.
I cut into my rump, and it's actually looking okay, but it's a little bit
unevenly cooked.
Here we go, here we go. Lamb cooked subjective, right?
The whole dish revolves around this beautiful lamb.
Please, please, please, don't be over.
It needs to be blushing pink.
Oh, I like it like that.
It's perfect.
Oh!
First thing that's gone right for me, this cook.
Righto, we are plating.
Oh.
I want my beans, which are warm. I want my eggplant puree.
We're getting on to the plating, so I'm going on at probably 1.30 o'clock.
of our eggplant puree.
I'm going to do another one, and I'm going to put a lamb cutlet on the plate.
I don't think it registers in my head that we just started plating, but I can
see that the eggplant puree's colour is different.
I'm then going to get my nice piece of lamb rump, and I'm going to put that
next to my lamb cutlet.
Mate, this looks pretty good. I'm then going to spoon the beans to fill in the
gap in the middle.
Plating is not my strong suit.
Got a little bit of a beanie rough around the edges to it.
We're getting very close here, guys.
Far out.
And I'm going to spoon my sauce around the outside of the plate.
We're so close, guys. We are so close here.
And to finish, garnish with three or four leaves of red onion. Come on,
please, come on.
Because I... Oh, my God, my bloody beans are still in the pan.
And... I am, like, frantic.
Done.
We can start the countdown.
Oh, no.
15. 14.
Oh, give me a hug. Sorry, bud.
One more, dude.
Oh, shut up. That was so hard.
I think I went pretty well. Like, I'm looking down at my plate, and I'm, like,
surprised at what I've got on there. It really has all come together in these,
like, final few minutes. Wait, did you get capers in your sauce?
Yeah.
I thought you just said the caper juice.
Really?
But I realise, no capers.
And I'm like, I don't know.
It's just, yeah, it's really annoying.
Give it up for Andy Allen, everybody!
Yes! That was great, Andy. So good to watch.
Well done.
Looks delicious.
Looking around the room, I think mine probably looks the least like Andy's.
My ratios are definitely out. I don't have many beans on the plate.
Dig on in.
Yeah.
I was just like chasing my tail for the whole cook. So the fact that I even got
something up, I am really happy with.
It's really weird that none of you know what it tastes like.
Andy,
that eggplant puree is sublime.
First dish we'd love to taste is Petro.
If something's going to let me down today, it's going to be I didn't use my
instincts when cooking the lamb.
I took it off even though I kind of knew that was probably still under.
Hopefully it doesn't cost me.
Petro, tell us, how was it to try to catch up with Andy?
It definitely did feel like that. It felt like a constant game of catch-up,
for sure.
It was a lot of fun, though. I had a blast.
Any part of the cook that you felt that it was a little bit difficult for you?
Using instructions. I think I probably didn't use my instinct as well as I
should have when it came to cooking the meat.
Let's see our take.
Petro, I got good news.
Your sauce is elite. I love it.
I love it. Right now, my lips are just like puckering together from the
gelatinous nature of that reduction. It's so beautiful, really bold flavour,
and then the perfect amount of capers and shallots to brighten it back up.
I feel, though, the rub is under.
That's the bad news.
which is unfortunate because we were nearly at a perfect plate here.
That sauce, you could easily just drink it from a jug.
You'd want more of it if you were being served it in a restaurant.
I love the beans. They are so well seasoned.
They've got a lovely texture. All of those flavours that Andy injected in
there, you know, the fat, that little bit of smokiness, the fresh herbs.
You've... Absolutely nailed it. I think it's the best, most accurate thing on
your plate.
Petro, delicious plate of food, the eggplant puree. The texture of that is
absolutely gorgeous.
But I think it definitely is smokier than Andy's. And your sauce is a little
more reduced as well, but it's still very beautiful.
This plate is full of character.
Your plate is talking to us, saying...
I'm not satisfied to be on top five. I want to be on top four.
And this is showing.
Thank you.
Thanks so much, guys. Thank you.
The next dish belongs to you.
I nearly said, Aaron, what have you made out of that bit?
How did you enjoy keeping up with Andy, Aaron? I thought it was so much fun. It
was so cool, like, just to get that experience.
I didn't even know you were still here.
I didn't hear you, I didn't see you.
For the whole course, you were just like... Was that the strategy, Aaron,
you little silent assassin, just to listen and do?
That was definitely the strategy, to save a bit of time, but also to not get
confused and try and keep up as well.
which I think I didn't do with the eggplant. I went a bit too hard on the
caramelization.
Yeah, I did notice when I went around and had a look in your eggplant pot, she
was pretty scorched. We'll see if that affects the flavor at all.
Anyway, let's see how it tastes.
Stunning on the frenching of the lamb, of the cutlet.
It looks beautiful, especially how white that bone still is. Like, it hasn't had
a lick of flame.
That's exactly how we want it.
My rump had beautiful caramelisation. Probably could have done with a couple
more minutes.
Yep.
Your fears have come true. The eggplant is a little bit bitter, unfortunately.
Actually, I didn't mind the eggplant being a little bit bitter because I'm
used to eggplant, you know, having that slight hint of bitterness.
You nail the texture.
The cook on the cutlet was perfect.
Beautiful preparation on that.
Beans were delicious. Love the work you did on the pancetta.
Lovely knife work. I always notice that with you.
Great job. Thank you.
You're up next.
There's definitely, like, quite a few flaws in this dish.
Annabelle, how did you go keeping up with Handy Allen?
I think I fell behind a little bit.
But I'm just glad I got, like, what I got on the plate because at one point I
was like, I think I'm not going to get stuff up. It was just, like, getting a
dish up was hard today, let alone, like, a perfect dish.
A bit lean on the bench? Yeah, the girl portion.
Did I keep up with Andy?
That is debatable.
I don't think I did.
Getting a dish up was hard today.
You can see a bit of my struggle on the plate.
Annabelle, first I would like to congratulate you because by the time he
finished, he was knackered and you just... You did it on time, with grace.
Now, the test.
I really liked it.
What I liked is all the elements really balance each other well.
The beans element, the way you display your lamb, the little quenelles are
perfect. I think it's great anyway.
I love the colors.
It's very inviting.
Annabelle. So glad that you went back and frenched again.
Your cutlet, like, absolutely smashed it. It looks beautiful.
Yeah. Like, really clean, no meat left on the bone, but also kept away from the
flame, which is also really important.
Both the cook on it and the butchering was perfect. The puree texture just
wasn't quite right, and it was also just a little bit acidic compared to mine,
but... You really had to multitask. And I think for that, you did such a good
job mentally, even though you were behind a step pretty much at every pace,
just to keep going. Well done.
Annabelle, I think the star of the show on your plate was the lamb.
You cooked that and prepared it really beautifully.
Everything else was nearly there.
And I love your attitude. Love seeing your smile today.
It feels like you're really thrilled to be in top five.
Well done.
Next dish we'd like to taste is Casper's.
Casper, how did you find that?
Yeah, that was really fun, like intense for sure.
Are you pleased with the result?
Yeah, no, I really am. I think the only thing I'm like kicking myself a little
bit is at the end, I got a bit confused about the capers and so I didn't put the
actual capers in.
I think it's a decent-looking plate of food that you put up, especially with
the intense pressure that you're under.
It's all going to come down to the details with this one, but it's a good
start with the look.
I'm missing those cases already, though.
But we'll wait and see.
Hopefully this plate tastes good.
Casper, looking at the dish, I think it really resonates well.
Seasoning on point, texture great.
The beans are cooked fantastically well.
I can understand there is missing some capers, but somewhere we got the brine,
the saltiness of the brine. So I have full respect of your achievement.
Casper, this is a really solid effort. You've done an amazing job at keeping up
with Andy.
The lamb, the cutlet in particular, is just divine. It is buttery soft. You
manage to get beautiful flavour out of that meat.
The sauce, great reduction on it. Loved the shallots in there, the vinegar
shallots. I miss the capers, both texturally and flavour-wise as well.
But not too bad. But overall, really good job, mate. Thank you. Well done,
Caspar.
Walking up to the judges, and I'm feeling really, really good about it.
Following Andy is something that I've been wanting to do forever, and I feel
like that really shows on the plate.
Vinny, how was that?
Mate, I had an absolute ball that's cooked. That was so, so, so much fun.
I know it was early breed, you know, but after that experience, can you see
yourself in a kitchen?
Yeah, 100%. I didn't know whether that fast and furious pace.
Would be something that you enjoy.
Yeah, nah, I... It was like a thrill, you know? I was just like non-stop. If I
can be an apprentice of three blue ducks, mate, I'll be there.
Um, well, let me taste this first.
Yeah, you've got to put yourself out there, you know? You've got to ask.
Let's see our take.
So I've been to three blue ducks a few times.
And if I learnt this much within an hour with Andy...
I feel like working there would be incredible.
Vinnie, big plate of food.
Not only is there immunity on the line,
you've also just asked for a job.
There's a job if you want it, mate.
Well done. Really well done.
I had the rum, which was beautiful. Great caramelisation.
Medium rare from tip to toe, which was very, very important.
That's the benefit you get finishing it off over that really low heat.
I should have expected this, but the Italian loves his bloody pancetta,
doesn't he?
It felt like there was a lot on there, right?
It's a minor criticism. I mean, when does someone say, oh, too much pancetta?
Not me, anyway.
I have to say, Andy did not mention that the lamb is the most tasty.
It's well seasoned.
It's just incredible. That sauce is just perfectly reduced.
Look, I can see my... I can see myself in it.
Oh, no, we're never going to get away from him.
That's why you're on the floor.
I mean, are you mad or what? This is fantastic.
The garlic is very well confit. The beans are amazing.
I absolutely love the way you cook.
Thank you very much.
My line was perfect. Lovely and rosy and soft. You really got that beautiful
flavor out of the produce as well, which is what happens when you cook it
properly. Little confit clove was just such a delightful surprise, exactly as
Andy intended it in his dish.
I think what's special about your plate in terms of keeping up with Andy is
that... You've gotten the best out of every ingredient that he's put forward.
It was delicious. Thank you.
With
immunity
on the line, you were all clearly locked in.
Andy, are you proud?
Definitely. I wasn't pulling any punches. I wasn't slowing down.
All your hobs were full.
There was two different cuts on the hibachi at the same time.
That's real cooking, guys. Like, that is real cooking.
And you've got to smash it. You should be super proud.
And now you start to think about things that you learnt then because you've only
got a few cooks left.
There was one of you that not only kept up but also really enjoyed it.
And we really enjoyed your dish.
Did it!
Well done, Vinny.
At its heart, that dish, it was a lamb dish.
And your lamb, it was spot on. That means I'll see the dust when this is all
done and done with, mate. For sure. Bring your apron. That was cool, wasn't
it? I'm definitely going to take that up because that would be incredible.
Congratulations, Vinny. This is two amenities in a row.
You'll be back on the country tomorrow.
Well done.
But the pressure is on for the rest of you.
Because tomorrow, someone is going home.
Make sure you get some rest.
Because tomorrow's judge is going to put you through the paces in ways that you
might find surprising.
We'll see you soon. Have a good rest. She lied, didn't she?
tomorrow night please welcome our
final judges challenge
today you'll be making mine is a doozy of a pressure test malaysian snacks i
don't want to go home on a challenge like this
One of these incredible contestants.
My place in the competition is on the line right now.
Will be going home.
I'm just like kind of in full spiral mode.
I'm not sure what I've done. I can't believe that I made such a big mistake
this early on.