MasterChef – Mon, June 6 – elimination

Punk pastry chef Anna Polyviou is back (yay – first female chef this season). The bottom three contestants from the mystery box challenge have just three hours to recreate and 15 minutes to plate up her Mess.
Now that looks a far cry from the Mess I’m used to, which is what you make when your pav cracks.


Last year Anna set the bottom three the challenge of making this carrot cake:
annacarrotcake
It was Fiona V Rose V Jacqui. As usual, Rose did quite well at following a recipe when the pressure was on (helped by landing in elimination so many bloody times) and was praised by Anna, while Scottish Fiona was sent packing.
****
So it’s Tiny Top Knot Harry, Floppy Fringe Charlie and Pony Tail Nicolette in the firing line but, wisely, Nicolette uses her immunity pin and Elise has to take her place. Elise has never been in the bottom three before but she loves cooking desserts; while we know Charlie tends to rush recipes and make mistakes and Harry’s strength is savoury.
Anna arrives and reveals her “pink Death Star”, as Harry calls it.


It looks fabulous but to make good on the “Mess” name, she picks it up and smashes it on the bench. How do they serve this in the restaurant? On a massive platter? Otherwise the floor would be covered in coulis. Actually, it’s probably more of an exhibition dish.

And they’re cooking … Elise seems calm but warning bells start ringing the moment we hear Harry say meringue kisses are easy. They’re not as pretty as Elise and Charlie’s.
We’re getting Charlie back story: He wants to open a cafe on the Mornington Cafe with his sister. Do I sense a Charlie redemption here? Has he finally calmed down and found his groove?
Uh oh – Harry’s stuffed up already! He’s realised he’s forgotten to put sugar in his sponge and has to start again.


Elise is doing well, but we get a talking head from Zoe saying Charlie looks to have forgotten to put gelatine in his berry mousse. Nooo!
It’s time to temper the white chocolate and Anna mentioned at the start how tricky this can be. None of the contestants has tempered white chocolate before but at least Anna said the temperatures they need are in the recipe.
It looks like Zoe is the anointed one of talking heads today, as she again points out Charlie is not stirring his white chocolate. So, that back story was because Charlie’s going home.


Ooh, Elise is a pharmacy technician. I guess those skills come in handy when making desserts as attention to detail is crucial. But she’s starting to feel the pressure now and she accidentally boils her mousse. She’s serving it anyway – a tactic that served airline captain Brett well when he cookied up his quail pate in the last elimination.
The red silicone moulds of death are wreaking havoc. Elise can’t pop out her domes (that sounds risque) and someone on the gantry hekofully yells out: “Don’t stress!” A brulee torch does the trick, but the moulds of death strike again for Charlie, due to his forgotten gelatine.
Charlie manages to get his white chocolate dome out nicely but Harry and Elise are having dramas and as Elise pushes on hers cracks appear. Harry starts slamming his mould on the bench and I have to look away. Even Mr Juz, who doesn’t watch cooking shows, glances up from his iPad and says: “I’m stressed out just watching this.”
Come on, Anna – tell them what to do – Australia is on tenterhooks.
Was I wrong – did we get Charlie back story because he is the only one who gets a successful dome? Anna yells at Harry not to blow torch it or it will melt.
Guys, at least get your other elements on the plate so you can serve something. Harry finally gets half a dome out. And then so does Elise! Thank god for that. The white chocolate bra cups are a bit banged up but at least they have something to serve.

Time to taste
Harry is first to plate up his Mess and it looks not too bad. Not as speccy as Anna’s, but pretty darn good. Anna tells him the chocolate looks good. Gaz asks the leading eotional questions and we see Harry’s cocky facade drop as he says he has no job or home to go back to. That and the fact he’s been locked up in the MC house with no access to Tinder. To cheer him up they let him smash his Mess. Geez, I wish Matt had worn his vanilla thickshake suit today. Gaz loves the curd and George says the choc is great. Anna doesn’t like the meringues but he’s done a great job overall.
Elise plates up and her mousse is running and there is a crack in her dome, which she tries to cover up with a choc disc, knowing the judges will still spot it. No tears from Elise. Hers is super splatty, because of the runny mousse. The judges aren’t fuss about the crack and they like the curd. Anna says she’s done well but the mousse is runny.
Charlie plates up but knows his chocolate dome in thick – he’s worried it won’t smash. At least he seems calmer about his lot in life. Chuck it, Chuck! He does and … ad break. We get serious looks from the judges and it did smash, so, total beat up by the editing suite. The judges like the flavours but note the chocolate is really thick and the curd is very soft (because he forgot the gelatine).

The judges’ verdict
Harry’s version was the best so we know it has to be Charlie. Poor Charlie – you seem lovely but the peculiar pressure of the MC kitchen was not for you. Anna gives him an uplifting chat and offers him work experience in her kitchen. So, when is Channel 10 giving Anna her own Chopped-style show? She has that theatrical vibe.

Epilogue
Charlie has completed work experience at Burch and Purchese. He is currently working at East – Bar and Dining in Mount Martha. (Working at? Does that mean he’s a waiter? Only three desserts on the menu but it’s close to home for him east)

Bye, Charlie!

Bye, Charlie!



Tomorrow night

It’s a reinvent-the-eclair immunity challenge with Chloe, Brett and my new fave, Trent. Yum! Surely Chloe is the frontrunner, though, with her dessert track record. Will she do some kind of smoked caramel, parfait-filled eclair?



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45 Comments

  1. Hers is the dessert with eleventy-eleven steps? I don’t see the point of accentuating to the contestants the number of steps in a recipe; they know when this chef walks out that she is not going to ask them to bake a lamington out of the CWA cookbook.

    Tonight could be interesting. I hope they show more of the actual cooking, and less of the drama and sob stories.

  2. Peppy la pew setting the challenge (copyright from BDD).

    I think they will find a way to eliminate Charlie. Cute blonde girls beat boys. Harry massive ego with the mini knot will beat poor worried Charlie.

    Oh, and they also showed Charlie’s backstory!
    The kiss of death

  3. “Harry did a mistake” ~ The guest chef isn’ t too bright. The skunkhawk haircut can’t hide that.

  4. Harry needs Lifeline’s number.

    It is a bit obscene smashing a dessert you have just spent hours labouring over.

  5. Harry showing us the Meryl Streep levels of emotion, choking up, some forced tears and then a smile at the end.

    OMG! I hate those pre-tasting interviews

  6. What a silly idea to smash the dome before eating. I wouldn’t want to eat this in a restaurant

  7. Recap is up. But now I want to eat eclairs after that promo! making do with dark chilli chocolate instead.

    • Well done on plating the recap up so quickly, Juz.

      Harry’s life depended on two chocolate domes, then. That’s just laying it on a bit too thick, even for this show. Reality is going to hit him like a ton of brookies .

    • Yeh. “Ma$terchef History” and all that. Coz she’s first female to win two ammunity pinz or whatevs?

    • I’ve skipped over those but Channel Ten is going hard on the Offspring ads. Just give us a starting date, already!

      • Yes, same with Love Child on ch 9. They show promos for weeks saying coming soon, then starts June. It’s June now. Just give us a fucking date.

  8. Well, we all knew that Brookie Boy was going to be safe after making him out to be the big underdog and all his ‘disasters’ along the way. Plus “I quit my job, and I live with my mother.” Tears.

    Poor Charlie was scripted to go. I actually saw him walking down the street on Saturday – and he can push my domes out any day … so to speak.
    And while Scary Dessert Woman is gone for now, small children have nightmares for weeks.

    Really not looking forward to the Chloe Show tomorrow. I hope the judges find a nose ring in her choux pastry. Though Matt would probably enjoy the crunch.

  9. Did I hear Elise say she was usually “cool, calm, and collective”?

    From the start, they were all saying, if this disaster happens, I’m going home; if that disaster happens, I’m going home; if some other entirely avoidable horrible thing happens, I’m going home. That’s why it is called an elimination round, guys.

    One decides not to read the recipe first. One forgets sugar. One forgets gelatine. One doesn’t have time to put gloves on to remove the chocolate domes. Two of them look to the gantry for divine intervention when their domes won’t come out of the mold. Good grief. I was totally surprised that all three managed to put up a reasonable facsimile of the Mess.

    Charlie seemed to find some calmness tonight, and just kept on plodding through, which is probably why Anna offered him work experience. Panic doesn’t go over well in a professional kitchen. So he ended up doing pretty well out of this elimination, since he was unlikely to win the whole shebang.

    The safe ones on the gantry should just shut the hell up if they can offer no better advice than to be gentle, stay calm, and an occasional woo.

  10. Some of the gantry, I won’t mention any names because you’d throw the brookie at me, do so much useless yelling that you’d have to ask if they were want to help or hurt the people they are yelling at.

    • I strongly suspect that those schlock peddlers, the Producers, tell them to yell, you can imagine them saying “show some energy guys”.

      I hate shite like that.

      Which is why my favourite cooking show is the Great British Bake Off and the short lived Australian version. No Muzak, no squawking peanut gallery and you learn a thing or too

      • Yeah I loved the Australian Bake off too. They have done more seasons but it’s on foxtel which I don’t have. Really pissed off they did that.

      • Great British Bake Off is one of my favourite shows. I don’t understand why the Australian version was not a hit.

        • I love GBBO and enjoyed the first season of GABO (no Foxtel for me, either). I think the GBBO presenters Mel and Sue contribute to its success, and for me Anna Gare and Shane Jacobsen were awkward.

  11. Harry…I don’t what I will do with the rest of my life if I leave MC. My life will be over. OMG….there is nothing to life except MC???? Well Harry, if you want to be a chef you will go out and get work experience like most chefs have done. MC is NOT and should NOT be your entire life. Wah…wah..wah. His dessert was the best according to the judges and, unfortunately, his ego has been fed more. I expect that he will create a similar dessert and name it Harry’s mess.

    Tonight…it’s all about Chloe. It’s too much about Chloe. BUT it’s not the year of a female to win so it can be all about her (and I wish it wasn’t) but she most probably won’t be MC 2016.

    Nice of Anna to offer Charlie work experience.

    • Yes. I was charmed by Anna. And seemed to be very down to earth.
      And that hairstyle was an interesting way to keep hair out of the soup.

  12. If it’s the Chloe show tonight, I will be a no- show.
    Enough already please, and if she wins a second immunity pin, her ego will know no limits.
    $hine, there are other contestants on this show. Where is Karmen ? My only favourite female contestant after Nidhi. The rest all blend into one panna cotta.

    Zoe and Nicorette yelling with their unhelpful comments from the gantry show how immature and manipulated they are by the show’s producers. Shut the hell up please !

    • I notice that Mimi does very little yelling from the gantry.
      I might move her up my list of preferred people (bizarre hand gestures and all).

  13. Thanks for the great recap Juz.
    How heartbreaking to have to smash it after all that work. That looked really yummy aside from the white chocolate. Not much of a fan.
    So when Zoe or whoever it was noticed that Charlie had left his gelatin out, why didn’t she tell him?
    I imagine Nicolette was glad she used her pin when she saw what they had to cook.
    When they were banging those white chocolate domes to get them out I was cringing, sure they were going to smash. Why didn’t the chef come over & give them some tips when she saw they were having difficulty. The idiots up the top were not helping saying it should just slide out when IT’S NOT SLIDING OUT!!!
    That was nice to offer Charlie work experience, glad he took her up on it.
    Those eclairs tomorrow night look yummy. Profiteroles & eclairs are one of my favourite desserts.

    • Imagine how much tastier it would be with dark choc. I tweeted Anna and the Shangri-la to ask if it would be put on the menu. Anna retweeted it but no answer.

      • I totally agree with you. I am not a fan of white chocolate but I think it looks better with white chocolate.

        Have a look at the recipe. All the different components are doable but w ll take time to set without blast chiller. If I try the recipe, it will be a deconstructed version. (By the time you smashed the dome, it is deconstructed)

        I will also use dark chocolate for some pieces of tempered chocolate. Not going to bother with the domes

  14. Hallelujah! Charlie finally kicked the bucket!! No Golden Ticket for you son!

    World order is slowly being restored…. now for Mimi, Zoe, Chloe…

  15. Charlie’s orbit was short and sweet. He got into the comp on poached pears and it wasn’t long before Marco was crowing that his was the greatest dessert he’d ever eaten on Ma$terchef.. I don’t think Gary liked him and George looked at Charlie’s Mess like it was an unwelcome guest.

    Those turds on flatbread the other night were the beginning of Charlie’s end.

    I’m expecting a male winner as it’s a male’s turn. Perhaps Trent is being groomed but the way Harry is learning to turn on the tears at just the right time makes him a threat.

    I can see how pumped people can be for Ma$terchloe tonight, yeah? Keep pushing, gice.

  16. Aw, Charlie… I hope he goes far in his pastry career. Great work ethic and nice guy all round.

    That leaves the rest of the blokes and Karmen to root for. I forgot, I also am liking Anastasia – but seriously wish they’d stop booting out all the ones that are likeable and human-seeming. Enough with the Zoe and the Chloe…

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