MasterChef – Tues, Jul 18 – top chefs judge

The top five contestants must create either a sweet or savoury dish and present seven plates of food for the judges, as well as four of Australia’s top chefs to avoid elimination from the competition.



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    • I hope not. I’d like to see her in the final 2 simply because she’s never sucked up to the judges or been overly dramatic. Arum’s my other pick.

      • I just want to chop off the bottom half of Matt’s coat. Diana sounds subdued and snuffly in her voiceover. Either she has a cold or she was eliminated and is doing her to-camera bits afterwards. Shannon looks nice in his snappy outfit.

      • Obese diabetics with truly corrupted taste buds. Lavender in things is deeply ordinary- and not what I want to eat.
        Those poor kids will either have to lie to dad “yes, can we have coriander ice cream of boring old chocolate?”. Or break his heart by tipping his carefully constructed creamy liquorice and lavender dish into the bin and begging for a golden gaytime or a paddle pop.

    • Oh just say it –
      Tamara is making … us all sick.
      Tamara is making …Something she’s done 1000 times before .
      Tamara is making …red mounds of goop.
      Tamara is making …Gary have special thoughts.
      Tamara is making …Me lose the will to live.
      Tamara is making …Fennel surprise- the surprise is that anyone can eat it
      Tamara is making …Weird gesticulations and hand wringing ad nauseuem
      Tamara is making …faking surprise and humility a capital offence
      Tamara is making …Standard fare that wouldn’t be praised if anyone else cooked it.
      Tamara is making …Me think violence might be the answer after all
      Tamara is making …Me really dislike her
      Tamara is making …This show a farce

      Thoughts anyone?

      • Sorry Brussellsprout; trying to do a “like” for your witty comments but ended up doing the opposite. Excuse the ancient one, not used to social media but agree with all your points.

  1. The producers are setting this up as “Tamara redeems herself”….
    Oh how I’d love to see her fall face first in the chocolate mousse.

    • Imagine her face if the brief was cook whatever you like so long as you haven’t cooked it before in the competition.

  2. First mistake with Arum’s dish is he didnt serve the SKIN!!!

    All these judges are so desperate for crispy skin

  3. When Ben put the shortbread in the freezer to cool, the next scene there was a worker near the chiller. Did that person swap the shortbread, I wonder

  4. Could Tamara have possibly made a bigger deal out of transferring the domes from the rack to the plate!!

  5. Talk talk talking up Tamara’s dish before they taste it. If she doesn’t win this competition I’ll be stunned. It feels like it’s been organised ahead of time.

    • I’m hopeful that they’ll follow the pattern from previous seasons and the one they’ve praised up all seasons doesn’t quite make it to the end. I’m thinking Georgia, Emelia, the south Australian on with the dead relative (Brother?) and I’m sure there were others. Mind you, Tamara is “next level” annoying.

      • There was a Sarah from a couple of seasons ago who was the favourite all the way through. She made it to final 2 & the judges did everything to help her bar cook it for her. But thank God she didn’t win.

        • Are you referring to Sarah Todd, the model that married an Indian? I remembered the judges were very nice to her and she was the one that got a second chance. She didn’t get to the finale. I think just Top 6. The season was won by our dear Emma Dean. She was another one that the judges helped all the way. She is the one can’t even cook potatoes chips

          • I’m not sure what her last name was. There was a Sarah for 2 years running who were both favourites. One was eliminated due to raw chicken. The judges just couldn’t save her after that, much as they would have liked to. Probably the one you’re referring to. The other made it to the finale either final 3 or 2.

      • There was Samira too. They partnered her with Rishi in the 2nd chance to get back into the comp. She was helped along the way by the judges

        • Ah, Amina’s evil twin sister… (I LOVED Amina). I can remember Samira because she always had such a sour puss face and always came across very bitchy. Plus her cooking skills were vastly overestimated.

  6. “I think we’re tasting the dish of the day” really? FFS I think I’m tasting spew at the back of my throat.

  7. Well LP picked yesterday that Tamara’s in the elimination so it will be “cook what you want” and Terese picked Ben and the ice cream.
    I did get a shock tonight … I actually heard Tamara respond “Thank you” to a compliment. It’s really peeved me all season that her usual response to praise is “Yes” as if she feels it is her due to be lauded at every opportunity.

    • The chef was complimenting both her and Arum. She said “thank you” twice to make sure the attention was only on her.

  8. No hiding tomorrow. Tamara doesnt perform well in restaurant sevice challenge. Hopefully she will do the same tomorrow

  9. I seem to remember quite liking Tamara earlier in the show when there were more contestants, but since her return she has been so overexposed, and her whole perky “oh my god, you chose little old me” grates on me so much. If Ben does another ice cream I am finished with him as well. I would love Diana to win, but the edit doesn’t support it, she is only shown in a positive light when it absolutely can’t be avoided, otherwise she is ignored, or thrown under the bus. So I have to pin my hopes on Karlie hanging in there to take Tamara out in a Battle of the Blondes.

    • I also like Diana – she’s probably a bit too serious/stern for the judges though. Doesn’t suck up to them like Tamarachef. They seem to use her on the talk back parts as little as possible, especially last night.

  10. So glad Diana did so well – and Gary even praised her for being so efficient in the kitchen. From the moment Arum’s duck was dodge we knew his goose was coked. A dodgy main element always outweighs a supporting player, ie, Ben’s crumb. Arum’s plating also did not look great. I liked Alla Wolf-Tasker being worried that Diana’s dish would be the modern trend of style over substance – I’m guessing she does not eat at George’s restaurants. I’m still thinking a final two of Karlie and Ben. Tomorrow night it’s a service challenge recreating a Heston dish, so Diana should be fine.

  11. Did anyone else notice that during Ben’s plating Gary says: “I don’t want to see any element left off that plate.” Then during the tasting he says to the other judges “He would have been better just serving it as a dish of ice-cream”. He such a hypocritical asshole! They really need to ditch him.

  12. Sometimes I think the judges and guest chefs just said things for the sake of talking. Also I wonder how much was scripted.

    • et Tu Peter Gilmore – he delivered the script about being unsurprised to see “she who can’t be named” in the finals.
      I am still happy with Chef Wolfe (sp?)
      As she said ‘oh I thought Diana’s salad might have been style over substance”. Clearly showing she had seen too much of Masterchef style playing tricks!!

    • Dont they like to say they are working on opening their restaurants. So standard answer. But when? This year, next year, next 5 years or in the horizon.

      Arum is not such a great cook. I actually cant see him opening a restaurant

  13. Love the way Tamara kept saying she wanted to redeem herself after being sent home last time. Sent home? She didn’t make it out of the car park!

    The judges are building her up with so much praise lately, it seems she can do no wrong. I fully expect her to walk on water soon.

  14. Oh wow, what a surprise, Tamara had dish of the day.
    I thought Arum was in trouble when his pork was over cooked.
    Ben made a weird ice cream again. I’ve never eaten lavender & don’t think I’d want to. I’d feel like I was eating pot pourri.
    I was hoping Tamara’s mousse wouldn’t set. Then got excited when she dropped it, but she managed to fix it. Damn

    • I once had a lavender pannacotta, not by choice as it was alternate serve at a wedding, and I’d already made my husband swap the main because I don’t like fish. It was gross, it was like eating toilet water.

  15. Recently I had some lavender scented kitchen bin liners.

    Now, thanks to watching Ma$terchef, I can try eating them.

    Here ,in hospital, the Lavender Ladies visit you.

  16. Interesting article highlighting Diana as the bookies favourite, even though Tamara is in the title. It’s a pre recorded show, so even though they might record 2 endings, lots of people know who makes the final 2. Sportsbet odds at the moment have Diana and Ben at 1.55 and 2.25 respectively, with Tamara and Karlie having massive odds, so maybe it’s Diana and Ben at the end?

    http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/reality/where-masterchef-australia-2017-finalists-stand-is-tamara-graffen-a-dark-horse-20170718-gxdky8.html

  17. I don’t know if I can watch anymore. The outcome feels predictable. Tamara WILL be in the bottom 3 tonight, but will be saved tomorrow tonight, which means she’ll be in the final 3. The judges preferred winner will be either Ben or Tamara: pretty with personality. The show is dying a slow death so I think they need a winner who’s not going to fade into obscurity. They’re desperate for another Poh, Julie Goodwin or Adam Liaw.

  18. When Ben decided to make another ice cream (so predictable) I just wanted him to immediately be eliminated. He has become a “one trick pony”.
    Tamara overacts and, again, too much focus on her. Dish of the day…ugh! However because Ben is stuck in Ice Cream Land I wouldn’t have cared if he had been eliminated and Tamara had remained. I’m surprised that I was even thinking that but I am so tired of Ben and ice cream.
    As soon as I saw Arum put the foil on the duck and leave it there I knew he was in trouble. He should have known the foil would keep the heat in and the duck would keep cooking. Even if the duck had been cooked properly there was nothing outstanding about his dish.
    Next season’s audition dishes will all include ice cream. 😉

  19. Oh dear; she whose many errors are invisible to the Judges, survives yet again. Her giant toadstools posturing as macaroons beat Eliza’s elegant dish. I have been in many Paris patisseries and never seen anything like Tamara’s grotesque offering. Eliza, who had never been in an elimination through the the whole contest, outcooked most of them and no simpering to the judges. Compare and contrast how many times Tamara has been in elimination plus being sent home (to the garden) before coming back again! Buona fortuna to Diana or Karlie; both excellent cooks, no kow-towing to the judges, especially Diana who we are hard-pressed to find sometimes in the camera vision. Presume she is edited out to make more ME time for Tamara. Ben,hard worker, but how many times is one permitted to make ice cream in a competition? Does no-one make a stylish pie, tart or flan any more? No, probably too old hat and too tasty by far. As for the invention tests; I am (almost) speechless. at the appearance and (imagined) taste of them, Eeeurgh. They look and sound ghastly. Sorry Masterchef, my last season of watching something made entirely for judges and chefs, not competitors or we, the cooking, eating, discerning public. My David Herbert and Stephanie Alexander recipes, among others, will do just fine, delicious and yum,( as Tweezer George would say), having style and substance. Just hope the teachers’ pet doesn’t win. Would make the show even more disappointing than it has been this season.

  20. I feel this will be the last year I watch Masterchef, unless they shake up the format and change the judges/ judging. I’ve watched every year except the Emma Dean year and this is the first year I’ve yelled at the TV, muted the judges, and felt angry more than entertained. Even my husband says “why are you watching this, you’re not enjoying it”. A show that started so well and is now embarrassing and unrelatable.

    • Terese, you are so lucky to miss Emma Dean season. Or else your poor husband will need to get you a new TV and maybe even some new furniture

      • I didn’t watch the Emma season either, but she is now on some twiddly cooking show in the mornings (DH keeps turning over when he gets tired of the news). I can’t believe that someone who cooks so basically as she does on that show, could come anywhere near winning MC. And as far as TV style goes, she has a good personality for a call centre.

    • But…… the judges said all 24 could be winners! What BS.

      Many of them were one trick pony. They practiced 101 times to perfect the audition dish. After that it is all downhill.

      Darren Purchese always comment on Tamara Instagram. I think she has done work experience with him.

      Also read that she is thinking of moving to Melbourne.

  21. And Ben wants to produce a range of artisan ice creams. Ive not been able to take to him, he’s a bit cocky for me, so hope he doesn’t win. I hope Diane wins.

  22. Judges are trying to save a sinking ship. They now want to go back to basics.

    MATT Preston wants the next season of MasterChef Australia to move away from unattainable culinary masterpieces in favour of home-style cooking.

    Speaking at Brisbane’s Regional Flavours, Preston told Confidential he was already tossing around ideas with judges Gary Mehigan and George Calombarisabout season 10, which he hoped would include more of what they saw during this year’s homecooking week.

    “I thought there was something really good about that. We saw food that was really approachable,” Preston said.

    “That’s a really healthy thing to get back towards — showing people how to make a great pasta, salad or burger that’s a little bit out of the ordinary rather than a gigantic pile of crispy golden shards that sings a John Farnhamnumber when you eat it.”

    Remember the season when they gone back to basics? They have challenges on how to crack an egg, Masterclass on how to boil an egg. They never seem to get it right.

    http://www.couriermail.com.au/entertainment/confidential/masterchef-australia-matt-preston-wants-show-to-go-back-to-basics/news-story/33b0565dcf708d47010c5a59d75898fd

    • Umm, didn’t they go back to basics this year with Heston’s Masterclass featuring the egg.

      Perhaps, the revised MC budget doesn’t allow multiple pieces of prime cut (oops protein) being mascaraed while the amatas actualise their culinary dreams.

      Ice cream is approachable, we just don’t want to see it episode after episode.

      Also the eliminations challenges were out of proportion where the contestants were in the season. At the start it was follow the 103 page recipe and towards the pointy end of the competition it is cook what you like as long as it includes fennel or ice cream (or better yet fennel ice cream with honeycomb).

  23. Is the prize money for MasterChef $250 000? There’s a blind item that a network has admitted they may not be able to pay the prize money promised to their winning reality star. If that’s the case maybe I won’t mind Tamara winning after all. Oooh aren’t I mean? But then again it could be Survivor. Since ch 10 is in receivership is probably one of their shows.

  24. It is hard to remember that it is only a week or so ago that Ben had his ‘epiphany’ about making icecream. Before that we all loved him because he didn’t follow the pack. Such a tragedy that he has been dazzled by some over-the-top praise.

    I hope he wakes up very soon, and goes back to where he was.

    • Yes, he made his very first one in Japan, and it turned out well. So I guess he’s running with it, unfortunately.
      I’m still Team Ben, though. He’s humble, hard-working and grateful for everything.

      • Or did he make it for 10 previous challenges and we didn’t see it because he got the Invisible Elena edit for the first half of the season?

  25. Just caught up thanks to the encore. Flicked through a new recipe book, had a shower, tried on some jewellery and stared out the window for a good 10 mins and barely missed anything. Same old shit from everybody.
    Tamara is annoying in every way possible.
    Ben cooks ice cream.
    Karlie allergic to smiling.
    Diana too serious and barely in the edit.
    Will it/won’t it cook/set/whatever.

    AAAarggh. I have been watching Ninja Warrior the last week and have not really missed Mastershit at all. Still hoping Ben wins because he’s the least annoying and the only humble cook left bar Diana. The obvious downside to this season has to be the fact that winner or not, we will not be rid of Tamara. In the world of media she is perfect for a TV food travel show or sprucing some bullshit product for the Mastershit brand, and her overzealous personality fits right in with almost every person on the Food Network. I can not stand her even more after she made those sad excuses for macaroons last week. They were not macaroons, they were bullshit sandwiches.

    My dog SHITS better looking desserts than whatever those were.
    /end rant.

  26. Really wanted Ben to go after he decided to make ice cream again. Arum should have gone with a safer option. Duck is always tricky to work with.

    Still have absolutely no idea who’s going to win. No one’s been truly outstanding. Diana seems the steadiest so she’s my pick.

  27. Tamara for sure will have one of those afternoon cooking show on C10. I think there are a few of the ex MC contestants cooking in the afternoon

    Ch 10 might as well have a channel just for them

  28. I managed, with the help of my new best friend the mute button, to get through last night’s episode without puking or throwing something heavy at the tv.

    Since I’m watching mostly with no sound, I’ve noticed that most of these finalists turn the stove burner flame full on, no matter what size the pot is. And when plating, they take one portion at a time to a plate, instead of taking the tray of food to the plates. Still, the judges talk about how far they have all come.

    Even the venerated one’s frigging rolled apron had to be front and centre. It was surprising that her sublime mirror glaze on those cutting-edge domes of pure excellence didn’t keep her captivated by her own reflection for longer. Then Peter Gilmore excitedly said “Here she comes!”, as though it were the Queen or someone talented approaching. That was it for me; I’m done.

    I’ll watch some of the finale, as long as Narcissa is not in it. But MC has lost me.

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