MasterChef Australia - S13E26 - Aila! An Invention Test

  A new week and everyone has dropped their expectations to the point that simply wearing white aprons gives them a lot of happiness.

They enter and see 5 silver cloches behind the judges. Aaron says, “I hate cloches” and Brent adds that the judges are sadistic assholes who always put something twisted and weird under cloches and they seem to enjoy the trauma they put the contestants under.

I have some hope from this episode because it is an Invention Test which is probably the best challenge at MasterChef and usually the most fun to watch.

Of course, my happiness at this nostalgia is gone instantly when I remember who the judges are and how randomly they are going to judge this kind of a highly subjective challenge.

Jock says don’t play safe – which means he will reward someone to taking the most minimal risk and will fuck over someone for taking a massive risk. I just know it’s coming.

Andy explains that the point of the invention test is that you have to be inventive. Surely no one saw that coming.  

Turns out they have to make something inventive with super-common vegetables - Onion, Zucchini, Potato, Carrot, Broccoli. Ugh could this possibly be worse.

The contestants are happy that at least no one is going home today.

Some of them have super cool ideas. Pete is making a carrot steak (hmm ok) and Tom is making a fake fried egg with carrot juice to replicate a yolk (WTF!!!!).

Kishwar is making an Indian street food platter with samosa and phuchka – which no one has ever made from these vegetables ever. Sureshot should be at bottom but she won’t because these judges don’t know jack shit about Indian food.

Depinder for some reason thinks this challenge is about “reinventing cuisines and techniques” – I don’t think you need to reinvent entire cuisines, just make something slightly different. She is making Thai green curry cake with onion ice cream. NGL that sounds utterly disgusting.  

Brent is not super confident – he is trying to make some version of honey glazed carrots dessert. This doesn’t seem like it will end well for him.

Sabina is making some smoked crème fraiche stuffed in potato skin. Jock says stuffed potato skin is a done thing and is not inventive. Sabina is pretty gutted since this is a very different stuffing and she has never seen this before. As long as it is somewhat non-standard, it should cut it I think in an invention test. Like Tommy is making banh cuon – but instead of rice noodle wrapping, he is using zucchini. Don’t see how this level of innovation is any different from Sabina’s.

On other end of the spectrum, Eric is making Chinese sesame rice balls – and using carrot through the dough.  

Scott is doing a potato sweet – he is making a crumble and serving with cinnamon anglaise. He thinks it will remind the judges of apples because surely who can tell the difference between a potato and an apple?

Now Sabina is making potato mille feuille – she is going to do thin strips of potato fried off. And then use her crème fraiche for the piping. This has surely been done before so I am worried for her.

Brent is still struggling about the inventiveness of the dish – now he is thinking of a carrot caramel.

There is the obvious disconnect between what “inventive” means for the participant vs inventive for the judges. Which is why invention tests to get a Bottom 4 make no sense. Rather eliminate basis Mystery boxes or team challenges where the judging criteria is more clearly about food.

 Tommy wants his dish to hit the judges in the face so he is throwing in chilli like nobody’s business.

Tom’s insane dish from space is looking good. His spheres are looking perfect and exactly like an egg yolk. I am sure he is safe regardless of how bad this dish tastes. I mean raw carrot juice all over the dish? Really?

Depinder says her cake tastes exactly like she thought – like thai green curry but with a sweet hit.

Eric’s oil is not hot enough and his sesame balls are greasy and terrible. Surely in the bottom 4.

The Tasting:

Tom’s Insane Alien Dish. Jock makes the mandatory dad joke  written into his contract and says “You got to be yolking”. Tom is worried about the balance of flavours because carrots generally suck. But it seems like the dish was good and he is safe.

Tommy’s barely inventive dish is very spicy. I am starting to think he does this just to see Andy struggle. Mel seems to be able to handle her chilli as does Jock.

Pete’s carrot steak. Andy likes the darkness of the carrot steak, overall, it tastes good and he seems to be safe.

Scott’s weird potato dessert is “curious” says Mel which is the polite Australian way to say, “This is garbage”. The cake’s density was off, and Jock is not convinced of its taste.

Sabina’s dish was delicious, and Andy actually describes it as “Flavour wise right up top” and then says she is surely in elimination because this is not inventive. Apparently substituting one element on a dish is inventive for Tommy but not for Sabina. Jock says this is like a chip and dip – which is like saying the zucchini dish was like the noodle dish because it was.

Kishwar brings up her “Indian Street Food Platter”. Literally the least inventive dish of the lot – because she has made samosa, phuchka and has served a chapati with samosa?? First of all, this is literally the most common dishes made from those ingredients. Secondly who the hell serves chapati with samosa. She should be sent home for that alone. But of course, no one cares about rules anymore and she is 100% safe.

Fusion Dan has made Broccoli Dan Dan noodles. Again, how is this inventive at all? Dan Dan noodles are super common as is putting vegetables in them. Jock says should have cut broccoli differently and could have given impression of mince. I think Dan is going to make it Elimination no. 8.

Brent’s pretty nice-looking dish is hated on by the judges because it didn’t hit the brief. Carrot ice cream and carrot caramel are not inventive, says Jock.

Eric brings his disgusting greasy sesame balls. Jock and Mel are eating classily while Andy has put an entire sesame ball in his mouth! Now he is struggling to either get it in or out. Eric’s almost surely in trouble.

Depinder’s abomination is apparently really good and Andy felt it tasted just like curry. Which means Andy has either had really, really bad curry or never eaten it before.

Sigh anyway, let’s get this over with.

The bottom 4 are Eric, Brent, Scott, and Sabina. I feel really bad for Sabina – because of double standards with Tommy being allowed to get away with something similar, and even worse Kishwar who should have been in bottom 4 on hearing the dish description itself. Ridiculous.

Will be a tough elimination to watch tomorrow. I quite like all these contestants.