MasterChef Australia - S13E58 - Gem Stone Duel - Ticket to Finale

In case you missed it we are down to the top 4 now – this is without doubt the least impressive Top 4 ever in MasterChef. Like how have Justin and Kishwar made the top 4? Kishwar is the most unidimensional contestant to ever appear at this stage in the show and this includes Elise F who parfait-ed her way to Fourth place in Season 8.

Sigh anyway, on the bright side, it will all be over soon. So back to the episode.

They are in white aprons – so maybe this is not an elimination. They walk to the front of the room- there are 2 plinths with jewels in them.

Today they are playing for a place in the FINAL! WTF! How can you get people to skip the Semi-final?! Surely a more sensible advantage would be to give a place in the Semi-Final and put the others through an elimination. It makes no sense that someone will reach the final without the giant service challenge that tests if they can actually run a commercial kitchen or not.

Sheesh.

Anyway, there are 2  rounds – both head to head duels.

The jewels are to be the inspiration for their cooking today - Rubies and Emeralds.

After picking the jewels – we have Justin vs Kishwar (Ruby) and Pete vs Elise (Emerald).

Justin thinks the red colour of the ruby would be good to hero – so he picks duck, plums, and rhubarb for his dish.  

Elise says the one line she has said for nearly every episode this season “I need to play to my strengths today” i.e. she will make pasta…..again. The only positive is that at least she is experimenting with the pasta. She is making what she calls “emerald ravioli” – she is making them bright green and cutting them like emeralds.

She says she needs to think differently today since she is up against Pete – easily the best cook left in the competition. So now her strategy is not only to suck up to Jock by making pasta to double suck up to Jock by using native Australian ingredients. So she goes out to the garden to find warrigal greens to add to her pasta filling. Somehow she can’t find the greens today, so she is now running around the garden aimlessly.

Pete is going very deep into Pete mode and is making butter poached Zucchini with zucchini puree, onion puree, confit garlic and basil. Mel says that zucchini is predominantly white – and Pete is like have you seen the outside of the zucchini sis.

Kishwar is making a ruby chicken – smoky chicken, with a ‘ruby sauce’. She’s pointing out to judges that this is a very UK dish – Jock agrees that it’s a very popular dish in Scotland.

Meanwhile, Elise is still in the garden looking for green stuff – she has finally found some stuff she can use. She is making green pasta dough with yam daisy and a bush pepper sauce. Mel is talking about what all Elise has done so far in the competition but Elise is mostly ignoring her. Jock is begging her to motor and give herself enough time to plate this.

Justin is adding annatto seeds to his onion for the colour – but its not the colour he wants, so now he’s thrown in half a box of annatto seeds. Now his onion puree has bitterness from the annatto. What did you think was going to happen sherlock?

After all this – Kishwar reveals her “ruby sauce” is basically a makhani which she is making in mustard oil. So a red gravy from India. Again. Wow, so UK.

Elise has overdone her filling and it is mostly tasting like garlic. She is still making his raviolis with 6 minutes to go. While Pete is already plating. His dish looks excellent. He is surely winning this.

Elise has put in her ravioli into the water with 3 mins to go.  Jock is helpfully saying that Elise is killing him – because this is exactly what she needs right now. Maybe once again she has shot herself in the foot by overthinking on external bullshit when she should have just focused on the cooking.

Justin’s dish is looking super fancy – but pretty sure Kishwar’s basic makhani curry is going to win this.

Pete is worried about the missing spritz of acidity on his dish – I mean bro Elise has served garlic pasta, you are surely through this one.

Round 1 Tasting

Pete – Jock says its lucky he didn’t do the spritz of acid – because it was perfect the way it way and the acid would have ruined the balance. Mel says good to see structural integrity of the zucchini intact. The lemon myrtle oil holds the dish together and is excellent.

Elise – Jock is saying lets overlook the terrible plating and look of it – and think about the tasting. Jock says he is amazed that the pasta is cooked – but all he can taste is garlic. Elise has expectedly lost this.

Justin – The duck is nicely cooked. Andy says that puree is anatto heavy – but Jock says he liked the puree as he likes the hit of bitterness. It tied the dish together. Maybe Justin is in with a chance after all.

Kishwar -  Who am I kidding.  Justin is definitely losing - Andy says this basic bitch makhani curry is absolute perfection in a bowl. Mel says crown jewel of curries. Jock also loves it. Surely she’s winning this.

So its Pete vs Kishwar in Round 2

Mel reveals one more jewel – it’s a pearl. They have to come up with a dish inspired by a pearl. The winner goes to the Finale.

Pete is going for oysters because that’s where pearls come from. He is making an oyster emulsion, with fresh oysters and leeks.

Kishwar is doing something conceptual. She is going coconut sago with tapioca pearls, a ginger lychee sorbet, and serving with fresh fruits.

Justin is trolling Pete from the gantry saying that oysters are an aphrodisiac. Elise is giving a dorky grin and doesn’t know where to look.   

Pete has never shucked oysters. This is exactly the kind of WTF move we expected him to pull. He is still struggling some 10-15 mins later. Andy tells him how he can just put them on the hibachi and they will steam open. Nice to see the judges helping someone other than Kishwar. Okay, no more Andy jokes this post.

Kishwar is balancing her sorbet – and its in the churner with just 18 mins to go.  Jock says she’s going to be cutting it fine with that sorbet.

Somehow there are only 7 mins to go. Justin and Pete are still bantering – this is while a place in the finals is up for grabs! Unbelievable. Maybe this was a stress out Kishwar ploy.

Both of them are plating now – Pete has put his emulsion, followed by fresh oysters and the leek sheets to hide them completely.

Kishwar’s sorbet has come together just in time. She has got it on the plate.

Round 2 Tasting

Pete’s dish is excellent. Andy says “This is why we do this job”. He likes the leeks – they remind him of kelp. Mel says it was subtle, restrained, modern, elegant. Jock also really enjoyed yet. He would have liked more oyster though.

Kishwar’s dish is also nice. Mel says the flavours are beautiful and tropical with lots of fragrance. Jock likes the sago texture and the nice pop of flavour from the fruits, but he wishes the dish in general had more amped up flavours.

This seems super close.

Pete wins and goes to the final. Yes! Finally, some good news!

Justin has jumped into Pete’s arms. This is hilarious. Now Pete has gone nuts and hugged everyone including the judges. Andy has also jumped into his arms! Nice, wholesome scenes.  

Next up we have the semi final which is a giant service challenge. The rest, Justin, Elise and Kishwar have to prepare a 3 course menu for the challenge.

Seems like they wont have the fun episode with the judges cooking etc. Oh well – just a couple of episodes to go now.