We start with a recap of the season. Jock says they started with home cooks but now they have evolved into cooks who use complex techniques and make world class food. So clearly this doesn’t apply to Kishwar who can make the most basic food in a finale and still get a perfect 30. Now they are recapping some of their biggest mistakes – like eliminating Depinder, Tommy etc. This third round is a pressure test – Kishwar gets in a cry for good luck before the chef even walks in. Today the pressure test will be set by Aussie food legend (and incidentally the person who set the first ever Finale pressure test) Peter Gilmour. He enters with a genial smile on his face carrying TWO cloches. They have to make both dishes simultaneously. There is a savoury and a sweet dish – this is a legit big, finale worthy challenge. The savoury dish is shaved squid with koji butter emulsion, chawanmushi custard and a lot of small delicate garnishes. The dessert is called golden crackle which looks
Here we go – the end of the line. Phew. It’s been a long hard season for those of us who have seen this show for years. We start with a loooooong intro about the 3 contestants. Andy says Pete is basically ready to step out and start a restaurant. Mel says Kishwar has come a long way (by cooking the same stuff over and over again). Mel also adds that no-one expected Justin to be here – I mean who could have predicted this surprise when the judges were randomly eliminating super-star contestants. No one could have possible seen this coming. There are going to be three rounds in the Grand Finale – and for the first time, it will be held across 2 days. Today Round 1 and 2 – tomorrow Round 3. For Round 1 – they start with a mystery box with ingredients chosen by some of the best chefs in the country. A parade of big name chefs who have appeared on the show this season show up – Khanh Nguyen, Martin Benn, Darren Purchase, Alla Wolf Tasker, Kirsten Tibbals etc. Each of them have brought