MasterChef starts tonight

Juz 356 Comments

MasterChef starts tonight on Channel 10, after a week’s delay.

The Project, which airs just before, will include a tribute to chef and judge Jock Zonfrillo, who died on Monday.

The season name Secrets and Surprises has been dropped.

Will you be watching MasterChef?



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356 Comments

  1. I’ve changed my mind about fifty times whether or not to watch. I’ll see how I go when 730 rolls around, but I think it will be too sad and upsetting to watch it.

  2. I decided on LegoMasters for the night. Nice happy show even though Brickman will shed a tear.
    I will see what the reviews are before deciding whether to watch the replay.

  3. Oh dear. I made a mistake.
    Jimmy Barnes singing The Bonny Banks on The Project came up in my Twitter feed and I watched it.
    I shed more than one tear.

    • I caught the last bit of that when I switched over to 10. Tears started then. I tried MC for maybe five minutes, but that was it.

  4. I watched the replay. Truthfully, I mostly had it on mute until the judging.
    They seem to be a nice bunch of contestants this season. No one mentioned their nonna : although someone mentioned their Ukrainian/Russian grandmother (not babushka) so close enough. Do we have bingo cards for this season?
    I like the twist. For those who are not watching yet, the winner of the best dish got an apron that will allow her to return after an elimination. She is not allowed to tell. I think it’s better than an immunity pin. Feels fairer.
    There wasn’t a lot of Jock. Jamie was the “hero” of this episode. He is good television.
    I did shed the occasional tear but then, I would have anyway. Cooking is emotional for some people. I am having tofu for dinner. I defy anyone to become emotional over that stuff.
    I did cry at the end. I didn’t turn it off soon enough. They put up a small tribute to Jock. I was caught by surprise. I think it’s the unexpected that got me.
    I think I’m good for the next episode.

    • Thanks, Bobi. I like that secret apron idea. That solves the problem of a strong performer for weeks then having one bad day and being eliminated

  5. I’m not a Jamie fan and have just finished watching the first episode. Jamie comes across as very pretentious, with his tight clothes and puffed out chest the whole time.
    Super happy that Brent has come back, I did like him in his first season. I’ll be interested to see how far he gets.
    Also love the apron twist.

  6. I am hoping that some people are getting the going-to-be-here-for-a-long-time edit otherwise I will be really disappointed.
    Such as the calm, older gentleman who cooks crayfish a lot hardly gets a look in and yet he seems really interesting.
    Jock is not on screen much. I am pleased. I need to get used to it.

    • Jock actually said to a crushed amata “You’re not going to be here for a long time if you don’t”

      Probably should have been edited.

    • I did read that they had a problem with some of his lines but decided, after some reflection, that it’s best to leave some of it well alone.
      I can imagine that if they overanalysed, there would have been zero Jock appearances. I don’t envy anyone that job.

      • I wondered how they were going to edit the episodes. If they tried to take Jock out completely, the shows would be ten minutes long, and weird. There are bound to be some statements that seem inappropriate because of his death, but every single one can’t be fixed or removed.

        I think I might try to start watching next week. If that makes me tear up too much, I’ll just have to miss this series.

        • I am picking my episodes.
          So far, it is mainly the ones that has everyone cooking. It seems to be a lighter touch.

  8. I mostly watched the whole show tonight for the first time this series. Jock wasn’t in it much before the tasting, whether through editing or some other reason, so that part was okay. But any amount of Poh these days is still too much Poh for me

    Of course I don’t know the contestants yet, but why are there so few of them? What’s happened to Brent? I like the older guy, who has a lovely smile.

    I was surprised that so many of them seemed to be thrown by the mystery box being pantry staples. With pantry staples and two more ingredients of my choice, I could think of at least half a dozen dishes to make.

    There were the usual worries – I don’t know if it is cooked through, I wonder if the pastry is done, I’m not happy with how it looks coming out of the oven, and so on. First thing I learned when I started cooking was how to tell if something was cooked to desired doneness. That was after much trial and error, but if I were going to apply to be on MasterChef, I’d want to have confidence in my ability to know if something was cooked sufficiently.

    • 🤣 I didn’t watch because of Poh. I don’t hate her or anything and I quite like her cooking but I can’t bear too much of that rictus smile. It’s distracting and can’t possibly be real. I prefer small doses with Poh being secondary.
      I, too, like the older gentleman. I hope he lasts for a while. I was disappointed to see him bottom three in the elimination episode.
      I’m guessing that “I don’t know what to cook” is more nerves. Like, they need to cook something in a short amount of time that will be better than everyone else’s and be a standout, as well as the emphasis by the judges that it if it’s basic then it must be perfect (remembering the first episode).
      I am sympathetic because my brother can look at my empty fridge (truly) and cook something spectacular that will also have leftovers for me that can be frozen. It beats me 🤷‍♂️.

    • Same reasons. Poh’s a real room clearer. The fake smile is all $howbiz. I’ve seen her in the wild, donning a resting bitch face..

      • Ah, I had forgotten that she was probably a neighbour of yours. 😀
        And as someone who suffers with resting bitch face, I’ve given up 🥴.

        • 🤣🤣🤣 I had to laugh at comments made about Mel’s and Andy’s shoes…but not one word about Poh’s “army boots.” Lol🤣🤣🤣

    • With all due respect to the cooks, Chou pastry is not that hard.
      I might wander off for a week or so and come back when things get more interesting.

  10. Oh dear, it’s a service challenge for 30 diners. Surprise helpers are Matt and Sachi.

    One teams picks coral trout for main, with its fiddly filleting and lots of bones. The other team picks pork belly, because of course they do. There are also a heap of prawns to be cleaned for one of them, but I’ve lost track. Starts out with the dumb piece of butcher paper and a texta to write down two frigging dishes. And, as usual, no one has any idea how to work out portions for 33 people, or remembers how to add or multiply.

    I understand it will be a stressful situation for the teams, but we have been here so many times. I would love for someone, anyone, to have an original thought.

    • Glad I missed tonight.
      I’ve never understood the fascination for pork belly: the crackle is always soggy, it’s mostly fat (I need an emoji here for a slimy tongue) and I don’t eat pork – ever since I found out that pigs have the IQ of a five year old – and they always serve it at these challenges.
      Now trout, I like but I wouldn’t do a challenge where would one, tiny, overlooked bone could send me home. I’m not stupid.

  11. Tonight they have a rotisserie chicken which they have to use in their dishes for a chance to beat the chef for immunity. Declan is making a quesadilla. Melissa tells him the correct pronunciation. Andy, after smirking at Declan, calls him “amiga” as he leaves. Amiga is the feminine noun, Andy. Twat.

    Adi is making butter chicken and is unsure how to get the smoky flavour that that dish requires. I would add smokey paprika, but that might be a cooking sin. I didn’t pay much attention to the others, except Robbi, the older guy, whose warm salad got good reviews.

    Theo, who I don’t know, gets to cook against the chef. I also don’t know who the chef is. I’m a bit lost after not seeing any of the first week or so.

    I’m finding it difficult to get interested this season. Part of the reason for that may be Jock’s death. And part of it may be that it just isn’t that interesting. Same old, same old.

    • I have a rule: don’t correct pronunciation unless you a teacher/professor in that language.
      I have a “friend “ who constantly corrects my pronunciation of bruschetta – Firstly, she’s not Italian and secondly, she’s wrong – but I just smile and let it go because when she eventually figures it out, she is going to twisted with embarrassment.

      • Arthur’s mother had a weird pronunciation for lasagne. Woolif used to imitate it, thinking it was the correct Italian pronunciation. 🤣

        • Number 2 son ALWAYS corrects my pronunciation of “paella.” I do make it a lot but all my friends say PAY ELLA, so, I just go with the flow, (when in Rome) 😋

    • I’m also bored with this season so far and it is a bit strange watching knowing that Jock died shortly after filming was completed.
      Not finding any of the competitors interesting yet. No stand outs.
      Didn’t think the rotisserie chicken cook was challenging. In fact most of the cooks have not been very challenging so far.
      With the raves they gave Darren’s dish I was surprised that two of the judges only scored him an 8.

  12. I watched the beginning.
    Watching people guess ingredients is like watching paint dry. It would be better if they just drew names out of a hat.
    I love the guys in this show – so laid back and lovely – so I watched an additional five minutes and then I changed the station.
    It would be interesting to see the ratings. They would have to be down. No matter how much they try to avoid Jock, every time I see him, it is sad. This season is not going to get better for me. Perhaps they could just gallop to the end.

    • I agree that guessing the contents of the seafood stew was boring to watch. Someone needs to come up with new ideas for elimination challenges.

      The cooking and judging parts were better. We did have the obligatory tearful tribute to a dead nonna. Did no one ever learn to cook from a beloved second cousin?

      I like the guys this season, too, especially Robbie and Declan. None of the women have made an impression on me yet.

      When the judges were discussing Robbie’s dish, they were carrying on about his age and how well he was doing in spite of it. Sheesh, he’s 65, not 100.

      I can watch now without getting teary about Jock, but every once in a while during the show, it hits me again, and that is unsettling. I’ll keep tuning in for a while.

  13. Some of the things people are making tonight from the giant ingredients in the giant mystery box sound quite appetizing. But why use a big Toblerone as the available chocolate? Bleh.

    I don’t know if it is because of covid, or because of editing, but various people keep disappearing on different nights. Maybe I’m not paying enough attention, but where is Robbie tonight?

    I would kill to get a big chunk of that tuna.

    • I thought the same thing Von, but right before Jock announced the bottom 3 there was a screen shot of Robbie standing there.
      Also have to admit, it was obvious who the bottom 3 were.

      • I did see that toward the end, but we saw nothing of Robbie’s cooking, nor his dish getting judged.

        I suspect that, in some of his interactions with contestants, Jock was harsh or heavy-handed, so the editors decided to cut those parts out. Hence the disappearances and re-appearances of some in the cooking segments.

        I’m sure the editors’ intentions were to be kind and respectful of Jock’s memory. They have instead made the show disjointed and choppy.

  14. Tonight’s elimination challenge is five lamington variations. One has raspberry mousse in it that looks like devilled ham, one is a Snickers bar imitation, one has matcha desiccated coconut, another has charcoal desiccated coconut…blergh, I don’t like lamingtons and can’t look at them any longer..

    They have five hours to make all five. As usual, it is a ridiculously short amount of time. Again, I don’t bake, but don’t the sponges and other glop have to cool before smooshing the goo on to the cake?

    I’ll come back for the last 10 minutes.

    I had to count my s’s and c’s before typing “desiccated”. Or is it esses and cees? 🙂

    • Larissa was the one eliminated.

      She gave a gracious exit speech. I think she was relieved more than anything.

      • Ah. That’s nice.
        I didn’t watch but in the promos she looked and sounded stressed.
        The pressure as a returnee must have been enormous.

  15. Tonight is a service challenge for “thousands” at some large place. Two teams are each cooking for, unless I mis-heard, four hundred. I don’t get the math.

    One team chooses freaking pork belly. Good luck with that, guys.

    The menu theme is surf and turf. Shouldn’t turf be horse meat?

  16. Ha ha, well, I guess that shows us :). Every appliance we don’t like being used is in use tonight, resulting in at least one ice cream. I haven’t seen any pork belly so far.

    I’m with Robbie, a juicer I know, but what the hell is a cold press juicer?

    The first cook is already over with. Barely had a chance to see any dishes being made.

  17. Declan wins round one, so he gets to compete against the chef for an immunity pin. His dish, Thai-inspired chicken in a broth, looked really appetizing.

    I love that Mel is willing to drink broth from the bowl, in her yellow dress, and has the confidence not to hold her hand under her chin while doing so.

  18. I like Mel. Have done since the days of Chef Line.
    I wonder if the answer the the Jock problem is the replace the whole judging panel. I know that sounds harsh but it’s almost like they need a rebrand.
    Good on Declan. He’s a bit of a hoot. Do we see his own cooking show coming up? It takes a special person to talk to the camera for half an hour.

    • Haha Bobi, I would watch Declan, however, Cath has no problem with the gift of the gab. But, there’s no way I could ever watch her. 🤣🤣
      Has anyone else noticed that Katy Perry’s theme song is no longer used. I’m actually having trouble remembering peoples names, because I always relied on the intro to put a name to a face.

      • I noticed that, Tech. I’ve been watching for a week or so and only know Robbie, Declan, and Ralph. I did know Larissa because she was distinctive, but she’s gone now. Last night I realised it’s because the run-through of contestants is no longer there at the start. This season is more hit or miss than usual. Maybe it’s because of Jock. Maybe it’s just bad editing all round.

        I got the impression that when the judges got the first dish in round two, they assumed it was Declan’s because it was fish, so they judged every single individual element. Then they seemed a little thrown when the second dish was fish as well.

      • For me, it was Larissa. And now Declan, of course.
        The others I remember as the loud woman with the reaaally annoying voice, the old, calm guy who I hope stays for many episodes and the absolutely delightful, really big guy with the fabulous laugh who I hope wins but probably won’t.
        Now you would think with all of that, that I would be clued in on names and yet for some reason, no one mentions names except at judging time.
        So once per episode their names are mentioned?
        Everything about this season is a mess.
        Maybe things will get better when we get to the pointy end of the show. Hope so.

  19. Ralph is “praying to all the nonnas” 🤣🤣. He better not go home tonight after I’ve just remembered his name.
    I have a shoulder of lamb in the fridge that I was going to do in the slow cooker but after watching the guy from Cyprus (it was Cyprus, wasn’t it? ) I might do it in the oven.

  20. I was just thinking there was no pork belly tonight…and…there it is.

    Damn it, people. If for no other reason, pigs are nice guys, so top using frigging pork belly.

  21. My heart was breaking for Robbie (an easy one for me to remember).
    I am so pleased that he will be there for another couple of episodes.
    There are a couple of people who have been getting almost zero airtime. I wonder if it’s the Jock editing or this is just what happens in the middle of MC.

    • I was stressing over Robbie’s dish too. But he made it.
      It is unfortunate that every episode is coloured by wondering if some things are odd because of the Jock edit. I doubt that will change for the rest of this season. I was liking seeing Jock joke with the contestants and enjoying himself. Then I remember he’s gone. It’s just sad.

  22. I enjoyed the episode tonight; it was more relaxed and fun than others have been.

    Declan is a smartypants and I love him. My guys, who now include Brent, all did well and I’m pleased about that.

    Andy having to pull up his sleeves and his pants legs because he ate something too hot for his tastes made me laugh out loud. What a baby.

    • I’m with you here.
      I think this was the first episode I watched all the way through – and I only had one or two “Jock moments”.
      A show with Declan and Robbie would be lovely. Their exchange when things were going bad was so delightful. I don’t think it went unnoticed by the judges.
      I have my fingers crossed for an all men semi-finale. These guys are so nice that I want to shed 20 years and get married again. Or maybe just date, cos I need to date all of them.

      • I’d like to see an all male semi-final. All the guys this year are likeable and clever cooks. None of the women have dazzled me much. I don’t dislike them, but I think they’re all kind of bland.

        I don’t know about dating any of the guys, but I would be happy to adopt a couple of them.

  23. This episode was right up my alley. Because roo meat is my main source of protein, (and I get it free within minutes of being shot) I do a lot of “low/slow” cooking, whether it’s roasted, crock pot or stove top.
    I was also worried about Robbie, truly thought he was getting the “eviction edit” while watching. I think the interaction between him and Declan is amazing.

  24. Tonight’s theme is nostalgia, make anything but you must use at least one cereal from a selection of popular breakfast cereals. The boxes are labelled with generic names, but everyone refers to them by their known brand names.

    Corn flakes and Weet Bix can be used to crumb some protein to be deep fried. The super sugary ones are a bit harder to use. Declan is making three kinds of muffins and the judges ask how he is going to keep them from being dry. Fruit, Declan, fruit.

  25. That was fun, although my teeth are hurting at the sight of all that sweet stuff.

    Declan, whose muffins were dry, Grace with the messy hair, and the woman with long braids are in tomorrow’s pressure test.

    Ralph’s crumbed pork chop and Robbie’s chicken schnitty had my mouth watering. I love crumbed fried anything and don’t have it often.

    • I didnt count but it seemed like there was a large number of fails in this episode. Must have been hard for the judges to pick worst 3.

    • That’s how I felt.
      I’m surprised there weren’t more savoury dishes. I would have thought it was a no-brainer. After all, one sweet thing tastes much the same as another sweet thing with the hero of the dish being … 🎶 yes … sugar.

  28. Remember that Declan has an immunity pin.

    It hasn’t started here yet, but I checked on line because I didn’t want to stress.

    Rest easy.

  29. I’m watching because this test is ridiculous. Four and a quarter hours to make it is even more ridiculous. I’ve never heard of brix level. I’d think a refractometer would be a tool used in surveying.

    It’s a very pretty dish and, from the description, sounds appetizing.
    But, come on.

  30. Declan is a self-employed carpenter, so knows how to be precise and follow plans. If I didn’t know the outcome, I would be less worried about him now anyway.

    Heh, didn’t really need to spoil the end for myself.

    • It is worth watching, if for no other reason than to see how Declan got through it. When he helped Alice with her spraying, I almost got teary. I don’t want to adopt him now; with his attention to detail, I want him to renovate my kitchen :). He is an impressive young man.

      Robbie’s face when Declan was safe was a joy to see.

      I did feel sorry for Alice. Still think it was a ridiculous challenge, and that they each plated a dish was remarkable.

      • I agree Von, so glad Declan made it through.
        I can never get my head around recipes that require a degree in chemistry to make. FFS!!! 🤯 The most “weird/chemistry” ingredients I use are bi-carb and MSG 🤪

    • I was tense watching so that makes a fun episode.
      I was sad to see Alice go – I felt like she was still finding her feet – but then again, maybe she’s too analytical for this show.

      • I was tense, too. I knew Declan would be safe, but didn’t know who was eliminated. The judges are making it obvious during tasting who will be sent home so it isn’t really a surprise when it’s announced.

        Alice is a perfectionist. Perfection can be hard to achieve when one is under a time limit.

        I liked that the chef took time to advise and help the cooks when they had a problem.

  32. Tonight two teams have to make three courses from a menu you’d find at a standard Chinese restaurant, for 50 diners plus judges.

    I can foresee so many problems arising.

    Now I want sang choy bow for dinner, but don’t have time for all that chopping and fiddling around with rice paper.

  33. I couldn’t watch much aside from the tastings. There was way too much of Cath rabbiting on about this, that, and anything else she could blab on about in the asides outside of the kitchen. She wasn’t the captain, so I wonder why we were subjected to that.

    Neither team’s dessert was counted because they were both bad. Ice cream!

    Red team won and will be in immunity challenge tomorrow.

    • Perfect description Von, “Cath rabbiting on…” 🐰 couldn’t have said it better if I tried. 🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇

  34. Both teams did a fried rice but there were no comments made by the judges. I was curious as to how you can make fried rice in 2 and a half hours, when the rice needs to dry out for a day, or at least overnight??

    • Someone told me that the rice makers can dry rice. I don’t know if this is true or not because I buy my rice ready made in a packet.
      Let’s pretend for a moment that this is true, and then let’s take this to its logical next step. If they made ice cream in an ice cream maker and rice in a rice maker, did the “cooks” actually cook anything at all. 🤷‍♀️
      It sound a bit like an existential question.

      • I totally agree Bobi, but why no judging on the rice?? Is this another weird edit? Because I definitely saw a couple of people cooking the rice. 🫤

  35. https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/reality-tv/poh-ling-yeow-finally-addresses-longrunning-masterchef-fan-theory/news-story/6b1482014ecd659114662dba35f7405c
    OK I just read this and don’t believe it for 1 minute. Or, maybe I’m just a skeptic. I have recipes I’ve been making for over 40 and I would have to admit that I would need my recipe book for more than 75% of them. Of course, I do have a lot of recipes memorized, but they would be the bog standard ones, not what I would call Masterchef worthy.

    • It also doesn’t explain all the times Poh pfaffed around for 20 minutes, dithering about what she was going to cook.

      Maybe she was a little upset that she hasn’t been on tv for a little while and needed something to get publicity again.

  36. Just sharing that I made my slow cooked roasted lamb ala that guy from Cyprus and it was absolutely delicious.
    I’m feeling very proud of myself. It’s been a while since I cooked anything that was worth writing home about.

    • I don’t usually eat lamb either. I find lamb a little fatty but the slow cooking seems to render a lot of the fat off without drying it out. That’s the problem I have with other roasts.
      I don’t eat pork which is what people recommend when I mention that. If one of the chefs could just show me how to cook a chook 🤣🤣, I would be set.
      I’m not going to lie. The kitchen was an absolute mess to clean up so I’m not going to be doing this very often and the smell is driving the dog crazy. He’s not used to me cooking red meat.
      And just casually, as an interesting side effect the house was hot and I had to keep the door open all day. I’m not sure that it’s the best way to save on heating bills.
      Still, when family come to stay (in winter), I might give it another go.

      • I’m glad you gave it a go and that you liked it. I’m not a fan of pork or lamb either, but I am going to try Theo’s recipe with roo. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

        • I would love to know the outcome.
          I’ve only had roo once and didn’t like it because it was too dry.
          I’m told it’s because there’s not much fat and therefore difficult to cook well. That would have been someone gently having a go at my cooking skills.

          • As I’ve said before, roo is my main protein and there’s only 2 ways to cook it, very quick as in steaks, or low and slow. I do a lot of low and slow, but I also make my own mince with it. I do a 60 to 40 ratio. 60% roo to 40% diced bacon. I have friends who say they dont like “game” and have tried my bolognese and lasagna and were surprised that they actually liked it.
            I will let you know how the roast comes out, probably next week sometime. Tonight is roo lasagne.😊

  37. Flambe tonight.

    Saying the word correctly is enough to give someone the right pronunciation. It’s not kind or courteous to go har har har and make a big deal out of a mis-pronunciation. Melissa did it right with quesadilla. The chefs tonight did not with flambe.

    Why are we getting so much Cath?

    • Is Cath the one one with the very broad Aussie accent? She gets a lot of air time.
      I’m hoping it’s because she’s going to go home soon. She’s starting to grate.

    • I have to mute the sound when she starts talking. I turn on closed captions so I can see what is being said without hearing her voice.
      She gets too much air time.

  38. Brent won the first bit.

    The chef he is cooking against is Gabriel Gate. Gabriel Gate! Good luck Brent.

  39. Brent won against the chef and now has an immunity pin. I am happy for Brent, his dish looked spectacular.

    I find it a little hard to believe Andy’s undercooked prawn.

    • I re watched the tasting after I saw your comment Von, and the very last shot of the prawn as Andy puts it back on the plate did look undercooked. But from the scoring, even if the prawn was cooked Brent would have still won.
      I started watching Brent’s first season again yesterday. Some of the dishes that didn’t make it through were better than some of the things being served up. I agree there are no women standouts and hoping for an all male semi.

  40. I find it hard to believe that Brent’s dish was better than Gabriel Gate’s. If Andy’s prawn was undercooked I can understand his scoring but don’t get the 8 from Jock.

    • I’m assuming that it’s a short run series because there are only so many variations of ice cream.
      Having got my snarky comment out of the way, I am a huge fan of Anna’s cooking (she of IMAC fame) and I could watch her cook all day.

  42. There are gice getting their desserts on the other channels tonight . Bruce Lehrman, Ben Roberts- Smith and Prince Andrew.

    • Oh dear, that may mean Robbie or Ralph is eliminated. I don’t want to watch any more now. Hope I’m wrong.

  44. We’re having a big ass thunderstorm here right now, so will skip a shower, hope the power stays on, and check back in the last few minutes.

  45. Oh, bullshit, MasterChef, the hell with you. The brief was to take one of those classic dishes and put their own spin on it. Jock and Andy gave Robbie such a hard time because his curried sausages weren’t dissimilar enough to the standard that he decided to make a different dish. Rhiannon’s moussaka, no matter how nice it may have been, was a bog standard moussaka, and they raved about it. Be consistent, judges.

    Between crap pasta and overcooked prawns, I would give the win to the prawns, no matter whose dish that was.

    I shouldn’t be surprised because MasterChef was never going to let an old person get very far in the competition.

    • Absolutely.
      Bog standard bolognese should have gone home. What a mess.
      My guess is that he wasn’t entertaining enough. He was calm and quiet, making it difficult to edit for drama.
      Although I have to say, the prawn cocktails did look pretty awful.

    • I have to agree. I hate it when there’s 10 mins to go and the judges sow doubt into the contestants. What are they meant to do???

  46. Not surprised Robbie was eliminated. Too bad he decided to make another curry but at least he attempted to do something different when he switched to the prawn cocktail. He really had no time to switch and prepare something decent. Malissa’s dish did not meet the brief. Nothing different about that compared to the usual bolognese. Moussaka..no original spin on that either.
    Really wish they would start eliminating more than one contestant if dishes are total failures.

  48. I don’t really understand the challenge and rewards tonight, aside from it being three pros vs. three MC cooks. There’s a mystery box that’s the same for all six, and as usual, they only have to use one item from that box.

    So far it seems to be six takes on how to use pineapple. I’m not very interested.

    • I have to agree.
      There was much chatting to real chefs that I didn’t know and who pretended to be worried.
      There was not much chatter from the MC people and the focus seemed to be on two women who always gave me the impression that they were going to be eliminated any day now.
      I gave it away.

  49. It wasn’t interesting and, of course, two of the MC contestants pull out the ice cream machines.

  51. Three pros versus three MC cooks again tonight, although they are one on one for each course. The menu is set by another chef who I don’t know, Khahn something. Entree is tofu something-or-other. Main is a Wagyu beef pie and some sides. Dessert is an ice cream sandwich. Thank god we don’t have to go through a whole show without seeing an ice cream machine in use.

    Again, too many to-camera pieces by Cath and now Riannon too.

    Another episode where I’ll only listen a bit, but will watch the judging. Or not.

    That chef with the long beard should wear a net over that thing.

  52. It sounds like the pro chefs are making some basic mistakes. Huh. The bearded chef said he didn’t get the broth clarified. I know how to clarify a broth, I wonder why he couldn’t. Maybe I’m not listening closely enough. 🙂

    • Often I think those pro chefs take a dive. A drover’s dog can be called a chef these days.

      Thanks for the commentary. Not watching.Takes up too much thyme.

      The guest chefs are greeted like a Golden calf.

      Ice cream. Overkill.

    • I’ve often wondered about the real chefs.
      It would not be interesting if it wasn’t possible to win a pin but I’ve watched enough of Chef’s Line (a highly underrated show) to know that the chances of beating the chef, or even the apprentice, are diminishingly small.

  53. Three chefs vs. 3 MC cooks again. It’s a relay, with no handover time or communication among the three. Declan first, Cath second, Adi third. Declan preps and sets up reasonably well. Cath comes in, is totally flummoxed, and futzes around making a salad for the first few minutes, then throws all the various Asian sauces together. First chef sets up, second chef does some things, I’ve lost track. Third chef seems to have messed up the rice….Adi is trying to do something with the mish-mash sauce…

    A relay with no handover may not have been the best idea :).

  54. Cath’s accent gets more ‘Strine every time she opens her mouth. I wonder if she wants to audition as voice-over for some really awful movie similar to what Barry McKenzie was.

    She could just stop talking so much, but there is little hope of that.

  56. I tried to watch. I really did. I had some hope. The interchange between Andy and the second chef had me amused and I thought, “Goodo”.
    But then Cath was too much for me. There was so much of her just talking and faffing and staring. I get it. She doesn’t know what to do. The answer is to find a direction and move. That’s the whole idea. Even I could do that. Ffs.
    I changed the station and didn’t come back.
    The sooner Cath is sent home, the sooner we can all get our sanity back.

    • For me Cath is the new Mindy. Annoying voice and an opinion on everything and everyone.🥴

    • Cath was useless in the relay but very bad decision by Declan to do Chinese/Cantonese against the chefs from Stanley.
      I think Cath will be eliminated soon.

  58. Well, I watched that entire episode.
    I must admit that I do like the chose-the-time-based-on-ingredients challenges.
    I thought for a moment that they were going to give it to Brett but I’m glad they didn’t. His dish looked delicious but not as delicious as the one cooked by the Chef.

  59. Although I know now which team won, I expect the chefs to win every time. I do enjoy the time/ingredients thing and mostly enjoy watching the cooking. The big hunks of red meat put me off these days though.

    I thought Brent was waiting for seafood, but no. Are caviar and zucchini flowers usually in these challenges?

    The young chef gave me a laugh when he said he’d been watching MC since he was a child. Oh, okay kid, thanks.

  60. Melissa has lovely table manners. I notice that often, but more so this week. She brings the fork or spoon to her mouth instead of lowering her head to the dish. And doesn’t eat with her fingers unless it is a finger food.

    Dipping ones head almost into the plate like a pig at a trough is a pet hate. Although I know I do it too with spaghetti bolognese, looking at the state of my napkin afterward. But I’m not on tv.

    Why do we have to hear from Cath after every single judging comment?

    • I thought I was watching the Cath show to begin with. Even before the first ad break she had given 3 different narratives. So, if you are not a Cath fan, fast forward 11 minutes.🤣 I wished I had.
      I loved the young chef and how he was “fan girling” over Mel.

    • I have started to dip as I get older, otherwise I wear food down my shirt.
      I remember it happening to my Mum and that little sigh of frustration she used to make. I wonder if it’s in the genes or I’m just not paying attention.

  62. You know, Leo doesn’t really get a great edit on this show but his dishes always look really good. I wonder if it’s because he’s not much of a talker.
    Unfortunately Cath’s safe from elimination tonight so we have to put up with her for another week.
    We are about to start Round 2 here but I am guessing at the person to go home based on the opening scenes. I could be wrong 🤷‍♂️. I’ll get back to you 🤣🤣🤣.

  63. I’ve obviously watched way too many episodes of MC if I can pick the loser before the show has even started.
    It is sad but any of the other options would have been sad as well.
    I think I’m over invested 🤣🤣.

  64. Ok, let’s just re-name this series to The Cath Show and be done. I nearly turned it off when the first throw to a comment was to her. But I love Rick Stein, so will persist. He looks well.

    I love squid, too, but watching them all separate and clean a squid is giving me the icks. I hope it isn’t one of my guys who goes home, but am only 20 minutes in here..

    • 🤣🤣🤣 I thought exactly the same thing…”The Cath Show” after 3 minutes in.
      But, honestly, it’s a Rick Stein episode, and, pick a country and cook whatever you like??? I actually rewound and thought “REALLY??” For me, it should have been, pick a country and cook a seafood fish from there. I really don’t like cook whatever you like.

    • Oops…that should have been “seafood dish”🤣
      And…why didn’t any of them rinse their squid under the tap. I really didn’t understand how everyone of them were cleaning squid with a tea towel. EWWW!!!🤢
      Is that a new thing i haven’t heard about?

    • I thought the same regarding Cath. It helped to use the mute button. She is being featured way too much.
      Didn’t get the 2nd challenge…choose a country and cook whatever you want. Would have been better if it was a random choice which country they got. Have them pick from a bag like they do when they get into teams. Also didn’t understand why they weren’t cooking a seafood dish for that challenge with Rick Stein being there.
      Another season of too many cook what you want challenges.

  65. I felt sure Declan would use his pin if his second dish didn’t go well because he is sensible. It was too bad for Phil, picking a dish that needed more time than what he had.

    Panna cotta makers, if a panna cotta won’t come out of the mold easily, wouldn’t you run a knife around the edge to loosen it? Or put the lower part of the mold in warm water for a minute, anything rather than continually tapping the bottom of the mold hoping for a miracle? Melissa got through with her plan B, but I wonder if she needed to do that.

    Panna cotta makers

  66. I always like watching Josh Niland work a fish, but he lost me about 3 minutes into cutting up that John Dory.

    Josh has portioned everyones fish for them to do whatever with. The brief is to think “outside the box” (I hate that phrase), but the chefs seem to be trying to put the wind up most of the cooks over their ideas.

    Will be interesting to see how some of these dishes turn out. 🙂

  67. Adi, Theo, and Grace are in tomorrow’s pressure test, for overcooking, under-seasoning, and bad bread. Did we see Cath’s dish? Anybody? Maybe I’ve got so good at tuning her out that it automatically happened, but I don’t remember what she cooked.

    Pressure test will be from Luke Nguyen and the promo as usual shows shock, horror and dismay at whatever the test is.

        • Was weird that the presentation of her dish to the judges was edited out but I didn’t mind that at all.

      • I have watched enough episodes now that I sometimes forget the Josh issue.
        It’s knee jerk for me to put down bad editing to something Josh said and move on. It may not be true but it makes life easier.

        • Jock could be harsh to contestants when they were cooking, but wouldn’t usually be at the presentation of their dishes for judging. Like Smythe, I didn’t miss her, but noticed when they were all together at the end that I hadn’t seen her dish.

          I don’t have many Jock moments now. No doubt that will be different at the last episode.

  69. Pressure test tonight is Luke Nguyen’s pho. The shock and horror is that they aren’t given a recipe, although all the ingredients are put in front of them. They’re only given 2 hours and Luke told them the broth needs at least an hour in the pressure cooker.

    Initial impression is that Adi will romp it home, Theo will fail miserably, and Grace will just plod along. Of course it won’t be that simple.

    Oh, and they have to make their own rice noodles. Who does that?

  70. Theo’s dish was the best, closest to Luke’s. Adi’s broth was under-seasoned, but Grace’s broth was greasy and she was eliminated. That’s the one I preferred to see leave. She often didn’t have her long hair under control and I hate to see that in any kitchen.

    Tomorrow night we have Curtis Stone and his oversized ego as guests.

    • Yay, Theo. Sneakily in the back of my mind, I’m thinking that he might be the winner-winner. He seems like a solid cook.
      Again, MC telegraphed the loser in the opening credits. They need to revisit their editing formulae.
      If I have nothing to do at some point, I might have a quick look at Ep1 and see if they do the same thing for the whole series. It’s really lazy work by someone.

    • Both Grace and Malissa swing their hair around while they are cooking. Of course it’s not hygienic but that’s typical of MC. Still seeing some of the contestants taste food with fork or spoon and then put the utensil back in with that food without washing it.
      Thought they helped Adi out too much with the rice noodles. Theo and Grace seemed to figure the recipe out on their own unless assistance from the judges and cast chef was edited out of the episode.

  71. Aw, geez, it’s the Cath Show again. It’s a service challenge with two teams, Curtis running the kitchen. Brown team has spent about half their time yakking and writing down their menu, which includes ice cream. Cath is doing the ice cream but can’t seem to work out that 250ml of cream and 250ml of milk is 500ml without writing it down. I am not confident in this team.

    Surprisingly, Curtis hasn’t pissed me off yet.

    • Had to mute again and this was the longest I’ve ever muted. The Cath show just went on and on and on.
      Can’t believe how long it took the brown team to start cooking.
      The sweet potato tart looked nothing like a sweet potato tart. Too much custard and not enough sweet potato, IMO.

  72. I’m in and out on this one, most of them are driving me nuts at how inept they are..

    Declan decided his “made to order” steaks would all go out medium rare since that is the most popular request. It seems that was ok, but that is not made to order, is it.

    And how much time is wasted while they walk around high-fiving each other because one element was done?

  73. No surprisingly, the green team won this challenge. They cook for immunity tomorrow.

    Future MC contestants should have to work in a professional kitchen for two weeks as a kitchen hand, even a dish washer. Anything to give them an idea of how a real kitchen operates.

    Tech made a comment above about the squid being cleaned with a tea towel. They did the same with the beet root tonight. Beet root is always dirty and needs to be cleaned under running water.

  74. I couldn’t watch tonight.
    I don’t know why because there’s no rational reason for it but Curtis is just too much for me. It’s one of those cases where I just can’t stand his face.
    Awful, I know.

  75. I think the biggest disadvantage for the brown team wasn’t that they were one man down, but, it was having Cath and her “ice cream PTSD”
    (Did I say that out loud?) 🤣🤣🤣

    • Gotta be tough dividing your time between cooking and being such a busy paedophile. I don’t remember this guy. His photo is easy to find but I couldn’t upload it. He’ll need an immunity pin in jail.

  78. Tonight is a long commercial for Coles. Curtis is here to spruik for Coles, but the others have mentioned the store umpteen times too.

    Contestants are making their own condiment, winner gets theirs on the shelves at Coles. Tomorrow. Good trick, Coles, ready to make and bottle something and get it on shelves in 24 hours.

    At some point, someone wins immunity from Sunday elimination, but doesn’t get an immunity pin.

    I’m not very interested tonight, so am mopping the kitchen floor while listening.

    • Ha, the show was filmed months ago. I got caught up in all the hype and forgot this was fantasy land. Duh.

  79. Brent, Rue, and Rhiannon made the best condiments. Now they cook whatever they think their condiment complements best. Or something like that.

  80. Rue’s condiment won, and she has immunity for Sunday.

    I just went on Coles website, but her sauce isn’t there. Being way over here in the west, we might see it in a few weeks. I won’t buy it because the sauce I make is pretty good, but I’d like to see how it is packaged.

    It would have been nice to see Brent get a win, but that Rue did is fine. Just quietly, Rhiannon is starting to irk me a little.

    • I didn’t really watch. I tuned in for five minutes to see a couple of the sauces put forward. I was singularly unimpressed..
      With all due respect to Rue, another bbq sauce amongst the hundreds of bbq sauces on the shelf, won’t cut it.
      I expected better from the contestants but on reflection, it was really more of a stupid idea from the producers. What were they thinking .

      • Same here Bobi. I barely watched. Checked out what the condiments were and then watched the final dishes. Thought someone would come up with something totally original and innovative for a condiment but I should know better.

    • I hate to blame everything on Jock but, again, I’m wondering if it’s the editing.
      We really don’t get much of some cooks cooking.
      And there’s not much dwelling on interchanges with some of quieter cooks.
      Just Cath because she only seems to talk to the camera. 🤫

  82. I don’t think I’ll be watching tonight except at the end to see who is eliminated. Ninety minutes of Maggie Beer is about eighty-five minutes too much.

    I might check out Dancing With The Stars, or just end up at the antique Law And Order SVU marathon.

    • You didn’t need to watch. It was boring. Their were nine food pairs with one of the ingredients being shown and one hidden under a cloche. They chose numbers from the bag and then had to decide if they wanted to cook with the obvious ingredient or the one under the cloche. They could cook whatever they wanted using that one ingredient. Antonio was the only one to choose the hidden ingredient. The bottom 3 needed to cook with the ingredient they didn’t choose. I actually thought they were going to challenge them by having them pull numbers and then go in numerical order to have them choose which pair they would cook with. Then they would have to use both ingredients to create a dish rather than just one ingredient.
      Overall there was a lack of creativity and innovation: Brent cooked on the hibachi again, Declan made a crumble (not a top ten dish according to Mel), Antonio made ice cream with a ganache and caramel (too sweet), Malissa a pasta (broth too salty), Rhiannon a curry, etc. Declan, Antonio and Malissa had to cook again and as you all know Antonio was eliminated.
      I am now muting Rhiannon and Cath. At least very little Cath during this episode but way too much Rhiannon and most of the time she was teary eyed/crying. She was fangirling Maggie Beer big time.

  83. I didn’t watch this one, so have no idea what the challenge was or how the cooking went.

    Antonio was eliminated because of a bad rough puff. He was crushed, I felt for him.

    • I didn’t watch either.
      I knew who was going and I knew it was going to be a rough day in the office for him. I didn’t need to see it all.
      Some episodes it’s not really about the cooking.

  84. Damn you, Maggie!!! Damn you, Maggie!!! 🥺 so sad to see Antonio leave.
    The one thing I got from this episode is…I really hope how “OLD” Rhiannon made Maggie feel, when she reiterated (over and over and over…) how her mum and her had “watched Maggie ALL OF THEIR LIVES” 🫢

    • That’s not really surprising. Aren’t the results determined by viewers’ votes? It will be interesting to see if it wins.

  86. When the contestants lifted their mystery boxes tonight, a crapload of confetti flew out. Surprise! The brief is for them to make something that will surprise the judges. Their time started when there was still confetti all over their benches and the floor. Nice. I suppose it could have been worse, it could have been glitter.

    Mel and Andy are walking around asking everyone what their dish is. Not much of a surprise then.

    Cath and Rhiannon – not so much of them so far, but any time of them is too damned much.

    • Plenty of Cath as the episode continued.
      Agree that there wasn’t a surprise when the judges knew what they were making.
      Rue’s was the best, IMHO. She thought more out of the box than just stuffing a different than what might be expected filling into a pastry.

      How many times has Ralph made caramel?

  87. Ralph, Rhiannon, and Larissa go into tomorrow’s pressure test. There were some very well done dishes tonight, especially from Declan, Brent, and Rue. I think Cath’s did well, too, but I don’t like her so I don’t care.

    Declan’s was exceptional, almost like one of Heston Blumenthal’s creations that looked like something completely different from what it was. I think Declan has got his mojo back, which seemed to be lost after Robbie left.

    • I didn’t watch, again. I still haven’t got over Robbie going home 🤣🤣.
      I like your recap. I have a perfect picture.
      I tuned in just in time to see Rhiannon’s reaction. She went up two steps in my estimation because it was real and funny. She can stay for one more week.
      Please keep Ralph safe. Please let it be Larissa. She’s such an uninteresting cook. What’s the bet she does ice cream.
      Speaking of, I made some home made ice cream for the girls ( I know that it is absolutely freezing here but the girls won’t care 😀). It is delicious and I didn’t need a machine. Who can’t make ice cream. Fftt.

  89. Tonight’s pressure test is set by Nelly Robinson. I like Nelly, don’t like his Peter Rabbit inspired Mr. Macgregor’s Garden dish so much. It has yogurt foam, tempered chocolate twigs, what looks like candied carrot tops and other things, including chocolate soil I think.

    With two and one quarter hours to replicate it, Ralph is packing shit, Malissa/Larissa whatever the hell her name is, is not shown much because they keep showing Rhiannon talking. And talking.

    I’m waiting for a break in the rain to put the bins out. That has my interest more than this test. 🙂

  90. MC has telegraphed the end less than 25 minutes into the show. Rhiannon doesn’t have any more connection to Peter Rabbit because her dad is English. Pffft.

  91. Wow, Nelly is a harsh judge. It was obvious that Ralph was struggling during the cook, but he did get all the elements done. He was eliminated though. I like him and will miss him.

    Going by presentation alone, I would have sent Rhiannon packing. Her plate looked very sloppy and she couldn’t even do a quenelle with the sherbet. I am not unbiased though. I didn’t see Melissa’s presentation.

    Tomorrow is another service challenge. Let us hope they have all learned something from the previous ones.

    • Was fairly obvious Ralph was a goner. I understand that he wanted to be precise but he was taking too much time for each element and then he started rushing when he realized he was running out of time. At least his presentation looked better than Rhiannon’s and her elements weren’t perfect either but guess his dish had more issues than hers.

    • I tried to be fair because presentation isn’t everything but, of course, I couldn’t be. I so want it to be she-who-will-always-be-Larissa-to-me.

  92. So sad to see Ralph go. 😪
    It was pretty obvious from the edit. I was hoping it would be one of the others, but not this time.
    Yes, Von, I thought Nell was really tough on Ralph, not one positive comment.

  93. Service challenge is at an art gallery that has a replica Greek temple outside. The theme is Greek food, modernised, for a main course and dessert.

    Red team has Theo, Brent, Declan and Lmelissa. Theo, who’s Greek, suggests two traditional Greek dishes, lamb shoulder with mashed potato, and something that sounds similar to baklava. Red team is letting him lead without question.

    Blue team has Adi, Rue, and the two Yakking Queens, and is doing a seafood stew. Their dessert is something else that sounds similar to baklava, but has a mousse too maybe – I’m not sure. They have a lot of seafood to clean and prep.

    Shannon Bennett is trying to emphasize to both teams that the idea is to modernise their Greek dishes.

    I don’t know how many people they are cooking for.

  94. Theo’s phyllo pastry looks like a stack of over-cooked pappadums. Declan has somehow stuffed up the mashed potatoes, they are drowning in butter.

    Blue team doesn’t have their stock on yet, with one hour to go.

    This challenge is giving me the giggles.

    • It sounds like a mess. I might give it a quick fast forward through tomorrow based on my need for a laugh.
      It sounds like Declan is starting to drown. It’s almost impossible to muck up mashed potato and yet … 🤷‍♂️
      I might have to bow to the inevitable and accept that it’s Declan’s time to go.

      • Yes, mashed potato is cooking 101 to me.

        He did manage to save them, how I don’t know because I wasn’t watching that closely.

  95. The judges loved both team’s main. They loved red team’s dessert, but blue team’s had too many flavours and they clashed.

    Red team won, so Theo’s dad won’t be yelling at him.

    I did notice that they had experienced waiters tonight; only a couple of times did anyone pick up a plate and put their thumb in it. I always notice that because that is a basic skill for a waiter, it’s the first thing I was taught and I still do it, even for my own food served to me only.

  96. The thing that struck me was the number of times they called zucchinis courgettes. I’m sure I heard “zucchini” 3 times and lost count of “courgettes.” When did this happen?? Did I miss the memo about changing it? What next?? Calling eggplant “aubergine” or coriander “cilantro” ? 🤯

    • Oh dear. This is me.
      I am more Zucchini than courgette but I have been known on very rare occasions to courgette when the server gets that deer in headlights look.
      I am aubergine, unless I am talking to a 16 year old very Australian lass at Coles.
      But I am always Coriander.
      I mention the very young because you try asking for that large, unleavened flat bread in a supermarket. 🤣🤣🤣 They look at you as if you are a terrorist about to take them hostage.

  97. Yesterday’s red team, Declan, Brent, Theo, and Melissa are making a sweet coffee concoction to get immunity from Sunday’s elimination. Brent is making an ice cream with other bits; he has an immunity pin so I’ll assume he will be safe whatever happens. Melissa’s syrup has crystallized. Declan is doing ice cream and something complicated, and I don’t know what Theo is making. As usual, the judges are walking around putting doubts in everyones head.

    Another word that we can do without is silky.

  98. Brent’s ice cream didn’t set, Theo’s dish was too sweet, Declan’s plan A and
    plan B both worked so he presented both. He got very good reviews from all the judges, but Melissa’s dish won.

    Second cook is sweet or savoury, using tea. Melissa is up against pastry chef Kaylene Tan. I can’t imagine Melissa beating a professional chef at anything, but we’ll see.

    I am proud of Declan for his effort, and his presentation.

  99. Oh come on. We don’t need to watch the tastings if the judges are going to make it so obvious whose dish they prefer. Jock pulled a wtf face when Kaylene’s dish was presented and they all pulled disapproving faces as they tasted.
    Melissa’s tea-smoked chicken was the winner and she now has an immunity pin. Her chicken did look good, but boo anyway.

    • Yes, I have to agree, Von. I don’t like Malissa. I think its her high pitched voice that drives me nuts. The more excited she gets the higher her voice goes. (Nails on a chalkboard) 😳
      Kaylene Tan is one of the contestants on Dessert Masters.

    • I dislike Sweet challenges.
      I’m not really a sweet eater so that doesn’t help. It seems to me that they drag out these challenges when it looks like someone may go home otherwise. It’s like betting everything on 10% of your skill set.
      Melissa/Malissa only seems to be able to “cook” sweet dishes.

    • So Malissa will be with us a bit longer. Oh well.
      I’m a vegan and, of course, don’t eat chicken but I have to admit it looked really good. It was a well thought out dish.

      • Vegan, Smythe. I did not know that.
        I do a couple of vegetarian dishes a week, as I suspect most of us do these days, but vegan looks too hard for me.
        Cheese, milk, yoghurt, wine – these are a few of my favourite things.

        • Have only been doing it since January but I’ve been a vegetarian (lacto-ovo-vegetarian) for many years. Going plant-based is a lot harder.
          The one thing I miss the most would be cheese. I’ve tried plant based cheeses and they are horrible, IMHO.

          • I am impressed Smythe, but, I couldn’t imagine a world without cheese. It really is my favourite food. I hardly ever eat sweet things but give me any kind of cheese, any time.

  100. Elimination night. Round one is a taste test. The things to be tasted are all presented as little round blobs in a petri dish, with colour being the only difference.

    Adi and Declan into round two so far. The one Declan lost on, cucumber, looked like globs of snot; I could not have put that into my mouth.

  101. Rue and Brent are the others in round two. It seems they have to make a dish highlighting a colour.

    Declan has red, Brent has yellow, Rue has orange, and Adi has green. Adi has no idea what to make, but decides to scratch her armpit while she is thinking about it.

  102. Declan is safe, but may never get the red food colouring off his hands. Brent, after deciding not to play his pin, is also safe. Rue’s dish had too much alcohol in it and too many elements on the plate. Adi gave her own dish a very harsh criticism as she presented it to the judges. I don’t know why contestants do that. But the judges agreed with her, and Adi was eliminated.

    Maybe next elimination we can see Cath or Rhiannon sent home. Fingers crossed.

  103. Cath and Rhiannon are still around but there’s another elimination just around the corner.
    Brent….another octopus dish and cooked on the hibachi. Is that the third octopus dish he’s made? The hibachi is his friend.

      • Agree with you. However, he still has the pin so if he winds up in an elimination challenge again he can save himself. For whatever reason I have a feeling he will wind up in the top 5 or even the top 3. He will also continue to use the hibachi and probably cook another octopus dish. 😉

  104. I am glad that Brent’s dish was a success.
    It looked delicious and and I so much wanted a taste. Well, more than a taste but I’ve had dinner 🤣.
    None of the other dishes appealed to me. Not even Declan’s. Too fiddly.

  105. Tonight’s mystery box is the dreaded everything box. They have to use all the ingredients in their dish. I think that is the way it should be with all mystery boxes, instead of only one item being enough. There was one extra thing, brought in by a farmer and that was – ta da! – garlic.

    It doesn’t look particularly difficult to me, but I’m not in the contest.

  106. I didn’t pay much attention to the cooking because I really don’t like lamb. Rue, Cath, and Malissa are in the pressure test tomorrow.

    I felt bad for Rue; she seems to have lost confidence and faith in herself.

  107. At the start of the cook, I thought, ooh, not an hibachi in site…and there it was! Not 1, not 2 but, 3.
    Feeling bad for Rue as well, I’m hoping it will be Kath or Melissa tomorrow.🤞

    • Of course one of the contestants using the hibachi had to be Brent.
      Malissa has the pin so if she has issues with the challenge she can save herself.
      If only Rue and Cath are left, hoping that we will see Cath exiting the MC kitchen.
      However Rue is not holding up well under the pressure of the kitchen.

  108. Watching the judges muck about with the contestants tonight during the cook-off has amused me. Very funny. Yes, yes, even Kath. 😃

  110. It’s a pressure test tonight, with a beef and oyster dish from chef Clare Smith. It looks fairly simple, but of course it isn’t, and the cooking time is 5 hours, with 15 minutes to plate and serve.

    Cath being brought to tears at the sight of the dish made me want to smack her. I forgot Malissa has an immunity pin.

    I won’t be watching much because the sight of big hunks of red meat grosses me out these days.

    • I’d forgotten that. When it was plated, I was surprised at how small the piece of meat was. I’m assuming now, in hindsight, that there was a lot of wastage in the attempt at “taste”.
      As you can hear, I didn’t really fancy the meal (oyster sauce looked and sounded gross). I just enjoyed the interactions and the tension.
      I am feeling mellow tonight.

  111. Malissa played her pin. Rue and Cath each had an element missing. Cath’s sauces were better. Cath and Malissa survive to screech another day, and Rue was eliminated.

    Cath’s steak looked overcooked to me when she was plating, but it was rare when it was put in front of the judges. Odd.

  113. Disappointing elimination. Maybe Sunday?
    Looked like Cath’s steak was not seared as well as Rue’s and there appeared to be a yucky layer of fat on top.

  114. Service challenge at O My restaurant, which has a spectacular veg/herb garden/farm as part of it. The three teams, Dec and Brent, Malissa and Theo, and Cath and Rhiannon, have to pick a veg/herb to feature, before they find out which course they are serving. The guys chose tomatoes, the women chose lime, and Theo/Malissa have thyme.

    Head chef at O My has helped them with their choices and how to use them

    I’ve already screamed “shuuut up!” at the tv several times. You all can guess which team I’m yelling at.

  115. The words I’m shouting at the tv are getting more and more, um, colourful. I may not make it through the show.

    No idea how many people they are serving, but it doesn’t matter since we never hear from the diners any more. Let’s say they are cooking for the judges, full stop. Mel is off sick tonight.

    The chef is very helpful. I would pay a lot to get my produce from that farm.

  116. Theo’s and Malissa’s ricotta and basil raviolo with other basily things looks good. Jock and Andy love it.

    The women’s fish with lime is nowhere near ready when the diners have finished their entrees. Somehow, miraculously, they get their mains out in a reasonable time. The judges wax poetic about the dish. Cath is not happy with the dish and gets teary again.

    No course has had a bad critique yet, so it must be the guys who cop it.

    Dec and Brent serve a dessert of tomato and honey panna cotta with tomatoey granita. The judges like it.

  117. The granita was strawberry, not tomato. Theo and Malissa, Declan and Brent are the top teams and are into tomorrow’s challenge which I think is an immunity one.

    The other two will be around somewhere, probably yelling inanities from the gantry.

  118. Chef very nice and supportive of all of the teams. He was very calm in the kitchen with the “cooks”. I think I would have needed to wear ear plugs when approaching one of those teams. Mute button is going to wear out.

  119. Tonight’s immunity challenge calls for dishes that make sounds, are noisy to eat. It is an odd one, and the judges are evidently going to bite into the food in front of a microphone. I’m not looking forward to that.

    The guys are making savoury, Malissa is using popping rocks in a sweet dish. She throws a handful of popping rocks into her mouth while she is prepping. Yuk, keep your hands away from your mouth when handling food. Then while she is separating eggs, she keeps the yolks and lets the whites go down the drain. Boo, Malissa, I didn’t like you before and seeing you as an unhygienic food-waster has confirmed that dislike.

  120. Brent’s tacos crunched, but the judges didn’t think much of the rest of it.

    Malissa’s sweet dish crackled but was unbalanced.

    Declan’s sizzling steak sizzled well, but lacked something.

    Theo’s crispy betel leaf kangaroo won round one. He will compete against the guest chef.

    I would prefer not to hear the judges eat at a microphone again. Or anyone.

  121. Theo is competing against Japanese cuisine chef Chase Kojima.

    The choice is between a large pantry with few cooking utensils, or a small pantry with every appliance known to man. Theo picks the large pantry and is cooking Mexican. Chase is left with the small pantry, is doing a fish dish…and Chase is a brilliant chef.

    Shannon asks them both if they want to swap one item. Chase refuses :).

  122. I think the judges made it look closer than it really was. Chase’s fish won over Theo’s pork.

    I would order Chase’s dish in his restaurant and happily pay it’s likely high price. Theo’s dish looked good, but I cannot get used to under-cooked pork being acceptable now.

  123. Chase was fun to watch. Was surprised Theo kept adding more and more spices to his sauce. He went too far with those spices.
    The 3 remaining women contestants’ voices are over the top shrill. Luckily none of them talked into that microphone.
    This is the season of the hibachi.

  125. Tonight, it’s like watching paint dry. I am at the stage where I don’t care who wins and who goes home. Ugh. I’ve decided to read a book.

  126. I have no idea what’s going on tonight. I’m mostly watching DWTS, but it looks as though the contestants were given a lot of ingredients and told to make something sweet. Kirsten Tibballs is there.

    Theo has immunity. Brent still has his immunity pin. So it’s Declan and the screech harpies who are on the line.

  127. Declan is safe. Malissa was eliminated. Next elimination should be a double, with Cath and Rhiannon being sent home.

    I’d like to see an all guy final this season.

  128. Didn’t care which one of the ladies would be eliminated but wish all 3 (or even 2) of them could have been sent home. Every time they talk it makes me think of fingernails scraping across a chalkboard.

    How many more ice creams will we see in the last remaining episodes? Next contestants to make ice cream should be immediately eliminated.

  129. I thought it was odd that we got “Rhiannon’s story” and thought for sure she was going home. However, nothing about Malissa.
    Well done Declan.😊

  130. Tonight’s mystery box has some tomatoes, and a pair of secateurs. Cooks have to use the tomatoes, two ingredients from the garden, whatever from the pantry, in a 60 minute cook.

    Theo is making dolmades from his mother’s recipe. Asked what makes hers special, he answers that there is a lot of love in it. Brent is using a hibachi for a pork belly dish. Rhiannon is using a hibachi for eggplant and fish. Declan is making a Thai fish dish with a lot of chillies. Cath is making lasagna. A couple of them know 60 minutes is not enough time but hope time expands for them I guess.

    When the cooks enter the kitchen, the judges applaud them, Lately the cooks have started to applaud them back. They need to stop doing that, it is
    so dorky — “I like you!” “I like you more!”

  131. Brent’s and Declan’s dishes were both good, Brent won out for flavour. He will go into Thursday’s immunity cook.

    Cath stuffed up her ricotta. Rhiannon mucked up her fish because she didn’t know how to use a hibachi. Theo needed more time for his dolmades. No sympathy for any of them, they all knew where a problem might be before they started cooking.

    • I had to laugh at Cath and Rhiannon when they were telling the judges what they were making…”a beautiful #, with a beautiful #, and topped off with a beautiful #.”
      (#…insert ingredient.) 🤣🤣🤣

  132. Kath’s voice is so annoying but I have to give her her due. She is a good cook. She deserves to be there more than Declan who always gives the impression that he is hanging on by the skin of his teeth.

  133. I tried to watch it but got bored so I just watched the ending to see what dishes they cooked and who won. Didn’t think this was a difficult challenge for the top 5 even though 3 of them made mistakes. Basically cook whatever you want as long as you use 2 items from garden and the tomatoes that were in the mystery box.
    I am guessing that Brent will be in the finals and will probably use a hibachi for at least one of his dishes.

    • And I think that you have just put your finger on what is wrong with this season.
      Every episode almost starts with, “Here’s the pantry”. 👉
      There are no surprises, there is no stretch to their skills and it is all same-old, same-old. If these people haven’t been memorising recipes then they deserve to go home.
      The only pressure seems to be time which oddly, most of them ignored last night.

      • I thought this season was supposed to be “secrets and surprises.” Even though they dropped the theme after Jock’s passing, it has still been mentioned.
        For me this season, the only secret is there is NO surprise.

      • I noticed both Brent and Declan said they had been working on their recipes for a while. The others seemed to just grab an idea out of thin air while on their way to the pantry. Theo said he’d been wanting to make dolmades, but then he chose the day with the least cooking time to do that.

  134. They are somewhere in the Murray. It’s a time auction, not my favourite challenge.
    Declan is a reckless bidder, but he has Murray cod and he does know fish. Theo has pork, Rhiannon has yabbies, and Cath has rabbit, about which she knows nothing. I didn’t see who gets what vegetables.

    This is another episode where I will check out until the judging.

  135. Theo’s pork chop gets good critiques. Cath’s rabbit fricassee misses out because of over-cooked liver and blah sauce. Rhiannon’s yabbies are raw and she should know now that she shouldn’t use a hibachi because her latest two efforts were badly cooked on a hibachi. Declan’s fish was restaurant quality, but he burnt his onions. Theo goes into the next immunity challenge with Brent.

  136. I really liked this challenge. Fricassee rabbit, lol, we had fricassee chicken 2 nights ago and we eat it a lot, Cath really didnt know what she was doing. Yabbies, an abundance of them here straight from the river, tons of things Rhiannon could have done…but failed. For Declan I was yelling at the TV, “check your spices.” Thankfully, he did. Good to see Theo make it.

  137. More cooking with hibachis! It’s hibachi overload. Rhiannon should really give up on using the hibachi since she doesn’t have a clue how to cook with it.

    • I think she figured Brent’s hibachi skills would magically transfer to her when she picked up a hibachi.

  138. Tonight they are on a cactus farm in the Murray. The brief is to cook Mexican dishes. Rhi is out sick so it’s Declan and Cath cooking. Declan makes fish tortillas with tomatilla salsa, and corn, coriander and onion salad. Cath starts with octopus (to go on the hibachi, Smythe!) but can’t boil water, so she switches to chicken wings. She ends up with Buffalo wings, avocado cream, and basic Tex-Mex salsa. Declan wins and joins Brent and Theo for the immunity challenge.

    Now a surprise. The immunity challenge cooks have to make something featuring cactus. There are three proteins with three prickly pear and another cactus glaze from them. Brent is cooking hibachi. 🙂

    • Hibachi again in the 2nd round…haha. These top 5 seem to be one of the least innovative and creative cooks compared to many of the previous top 5. Cactus glazes and cactus salsa. Boring! There were other ways the cacti could have been used instead of just in a glaze or salsa. Grill the cacti, pickle the cacti, make a cactus salad, cactus tacos, cactus enchiladas, etc. They should have been required to make cactus be the hero of the dish.

  139. Brent features more cactus flavour than the others. He goes into the immunity challenge with some kind of advantage tba.

  140. Correct me if I am wrong but hibachi seems to me to be an indoor bbq?
    If it is, how Australian. 🤣

  141. Well done, guys. According to the judges, each of their dishes was the best they’d ever tasted from the cooks. Many complimentary phrases and adjectives were used. Good for Brent, Theo, and Declan.

    Each course looked the same. The grain was plopped on to a dish, topped with the pulled protein, or the crumble, add the sauce in a squiggle, voila.

    I think Declan won first one in to finals week.

    • I watched the promos and all the food looked disgusting. It just looked like plopped down mess. I guess you had to be there … which, as you can probably tell, I wasn’t.

      • I really enjoyed this episode. It was definitely a “challenge,” as they had to feature a grain in their dish.
        The BEST thing was, I actually forgot about Cath and Rhiannon. There was no commentary or cheering from them, which made this ep enjoyable. 😊

    • I think he was bitching about the pressure tests. I don’t enjoy watching amateurs trying to replicate a complicated concoction whose recipe is five pages long with 1500 steps to it. I don’t remember if old MC had that type of pressure test or not.

      But of course, he has to repeat that they didn’t leave MC over money. We’ve heard it, Gary. Stick with your story, no one else is still thinking about it.

  143. Contestants are competing in pairs. Each member competes against the other member in the first cook. Losers from the first cook go into the second cook for a finals week place, with Declan. Brent and Rhiannon get anchovies as the ingredient to be featured. Cath and Theo get Dijon mustard.

    I think I know whose dish is whose from the promos. All the cooks are predictable now as to what they will choose to cook.

    Cath is doing her best bobble-head impression. With only four cooks, there is too much of her and Rhiannon. I’m going back to DWTS until the judging.

  144. Brent and Cath were in round two. Brent made chicken skewers, probably on a hibachi, with a salad. I don’t know what her intention was, but Cath presented something that looked like a poop emoji on a plate. Cath was eliminated 🙂 :). Finally.

  145. I watched the entire first round but only watched the end of the 2nd round. They could cook anything and I knew that Brent would use the hibachi. Have no clue what the slop on the plate was that Cath made.
    I don’t think either round was much of a challenge. All Theo did in the 1st round was cook fish and make a dijon mustard sauce and dill oil. Why did Brent choose to make pasta? That made no sense. Didn’t matter, though, since he still made it to the top 4 by winning the 2nd round. At least Rhiannon’s round one dish seemed to be well thought out and somewhat complex compared to the others.
    Bye to Cath. Am surprised she lasted as long as she did.
    I don’t care which one of the final four win. Overall this season of MC has been uninspired and (I know I’m repeating myself) BORING.

  146. I thought that Cath was a better cook than Rhiannon but along with everyone else, my care factor is low. 🥱

  147. Mystery boxes tonight, which have a photo of the cook’s family and a letter from them, which is read aloud, with tears of course. I understand that the contestants miss their families, but could do without the maudlin, sentimental side narratives.

    Each family has requested a favourite dish, which the cooks are supposed to elevate to MC standards. Declan is doing chilli prawn noodles, Rhiannon has laksa, Theo is making peri peri chicken, and Brent is making pork sambal, using a wok, pressure cooker and…hibachi.

  148. Every dish got rave reviews. Rhiannon ended up using packet noodles, but got away with it. Theo’s was poorly presented, and to me looked the same as most other things he has cooked. Declan’s and Brent’s looked the most appetising, although I thought Brent’s pork looked tough as it was being cut.

    Brent won and is through to semi-finals.

    The judges are very effusive in their praise for everything lately. That makes me laugh, because we here are finding it all a bit boring.

  149. I felt this episode was heavily edited. In the first 20 minutes Jock says 1 word when he teared up over Brent. Andy did all the talking. Not even a word from Melissa.
    Aside from that, I agree with Von’s comments. I just finished re watching Junior MC 2020, and those kids could cook, left 90% of this year’s contestants for dead.

  150. Agree with both Von and Tech Hater. The boredom continues. Thought it was funny that Brent thought there could be a hibachi in the mystery box. No mystery what equipment Brent will use to cook. I imagine if he is in the finals all 3 courses will be cooked on the hibachi. 😉

      • OR…Have his own “BBQ MASTERCHEF” tv series.🥩🍤🍗🍖
        Having said that…I always wanted to see him do well this season.

  151. I don’t like pressure tests with no recipe. It’s a Peter Gilmore dish with squid, pippi, and scallops, served on crispy eggplant, with an XO sauce and aioli. Contestants go to Peter’s restaurant, where they are shown by Peter and his head chef and his sous chef how to make everything. Which they have to remember.

    I kept up on the XO sauce, was ok on the squid prep, then lost track until the eggplant. They have 2 and 1/4 hours to make and present. With such a short cook time, I think the judges could refrain from going around telling the cooks how important every item is, and how short time is. Of course Rhiannon is happy to yak away to anyone at her bench.

    Peter Gilmore said the XO sauce should “reduce down”. Aargh.

  152. Again, MC telegraphed who was to be eliminated in the opening credits of the episode.
    Ffs, no wonder everyone is getting increasingly annoyed with this season.

    • I didn’t see the first few minutes. But it was obvious not too far in who was not going to make the cut. Really, watching the first 15 minutes and the last 5 minutes is sufficient.

  153. I did feel sorry for Theo, who couldn’t get the squid peeled, totally lost any momentum, and then got behind on all the other elements. Declan helped him by talking him through the process for the squid.

    Declan’s dish was the best. Rhiannon’s was good, but her sauce split. Theo’s had many faults and he was eliminated.

    • I am devastated.🥺 Never thought he would go before Rhiannon.
      I did make his slow cooked Greek roast with roo last week, and it was divine. Definitely have that again.

    • Did I mention previously that also made his slow roast?
      I also endorse divine.
      His cookbook I will buy. His cooking show I will watch.

    • Was surprised that Theo was eliminated instead of Rhiannon but he couldn’t even peel the squid, needed help (nice of Declan to assist) and everything went downhill for him. It’s nice that contestants are willing to help one another but this is a competition.

  154. Tonight it’s keep up with the chef, Curtis Stone. The dish is steak au poivre, pureed potatoes, roasted marrow bone, and some kind of red wine sauce.

    Declan, who can’t decide if he wants a beard or not, cuts all the fat off his huge hunk of red meat. Bleh. Rhiannon immediately gets behind, puts milk in to whatever it is, instead of buttermilk. Brent and Declan are keeping up I think. I don’t often peel my vegetables, but I was screaming at the tv watching these guys peel potatoes so slowly and badly.

    Curtis has made a big deal out of the beef they are using being carbon free. So someone has developed a cow that doesn’t fart. Or fly on a plane.

  155. This is hilarious, I can’t look away. Dec got behind at some point, but I think has caught up. Rhiannon catches up, then flubs something else. Brent was cruising along, seemingly unstressed, but left his steak on too long.

    Why isn’t there a container of spoons on their benches for tasting. You know they aren’t using a clean spoon every time if they taste and then put the spoon down by the dish. Even Curtis tasted something, then wiped his spoon on his tea towel, presumably to re-use.

  156. Everyone plated up every component. Rhiannon’s potatoes were grainy. Declan had a good effort, but the judges missed the fat on his steak :). Brent’s elements were the closest to Curtis’s, although the judges didn’t say anything about his jammy bit or the buttermilk cream on his toasts. Brent won the advantage, which is 30 minutes extra time in the semi-final cook.

  157. That was sort of brutal. However was this really a dish fit for a semi-final…steak, mash, jam, sauce and pre-made bread. The only one who wasn’t that frazzled was Brent.
    Of course Curtis had to plug Cole’s carbon neutral/free beef.

  159. I actually thought that this was a bit blah, for a semifinal. And, from the start, edit was showing Brent had it in the bag the whole time.

  160. Tonight is the semi-final, a service challenge, 3 courses for 23 people. Why are the judges and Shannon dressed as though they’re going to a funeral?

    Brent, who has an extra 30 minutes, is doing octopus, pork belly, and some dessert. Declan is doing scampi and something else for the other two courses. I don’t know what Rhiannon is doing. I know who lost and am not that interested in the rest of the show before the end.

    All the ex-contestants are on the gantry, being extra helpful by shouting “c’mon”
    many times.

  161. Declan was eliminated, so it is Brent and Rhiannon in the final. I saw the entrees, the judges didn’t like Declan’s, and from their comments at the end, they found fault with his dessert as well.

    Declan was my guy, and I don’t much care who wins. I like Brent but am so tired of his octopus done on a hibachi. Rhiannon’s something on betel leaf has been overused as well. For presentation, Brent’s dishes always look the same, and Rhiannon’s always look like slop.

    I’d like to skip the final, but will watch to see Jock’s final – with the mute button close by to avoid Rhiannon’s nasally yap yap.

    • If they ban the hibachi then I want the ice cream maker banned as well.
      At least the hibachi is cooking. The ice cream maker is just putting two ingredients in a bowl and freezing them.
      And more than that, any “cook” who makes ice cream from here on should be automatically eliminated on the basis that they can’t make a decent dessert.

      • Due to Brent’s success with the hibachi this season even more contestants will be using it next season. 🙁

  163. So it looks like they have to recreate an Amaury Guichon dish. I’ve followed him on YouTube for a few years now, and he has the most unbelievable desserts. This might be a very interesting finale. He’s also going to be a judge with Mel on Dessert Masters.

    • If you have Netflix you can catch Amaury’s show School of Chocolate, which is a good watch.

  164. No surprise that Brent is in the final (very predictable) but he cooked hibachi grilled octopus again, made another salsa and then served a dessert featuring ice cream. His dishes have become too repetitive and boring. I’m surprised he didn’t put the pork on the hibachi. Weren’t the judges pressuring the contestants to elevate their dishes and be creative. Brent just seems to cook the same old thing.
    Declan tried to be creative but he gave himself too much to do.
    Rhiannon’s entree and main did not look appetizing. What is it with betel leaves this season?
    Maybe the final will be interesting. All in all a lackluster season.
    Wondering if Rhiannon will wind up winning to disprove claims that MC suffers from ageism but most likely Brent will be the MC AU 2023 champion.

    • I’m not shocked at Declan’s elimination.
      Likeable guy but, really, he was still only there because other contestants were tripping over just before the finish line.
      Put me in the Don’t-Care basket for who wins this season. Maybe Brent by a hair’s breadth?

  165. Round 1, same as last year, process of elimination, cook something that tells a story AKA cook whatever you want.
    …and there it is…the hibachi.
    Had to laugh at Brent’s boy yelling “come on Rhi Rhi” from the gantry.

  166. It’s the finale.
    Jock is in full dress up mode. He looks very handsome 🥲.
    I’m not sure about whateverthehellhavetheydone with Melissa’s dress.
    The hibachi is out. 🙄
    I came in late. Did Rhiannon use an air fryer?
    Brent’s kid is cute. Tears have started (not by me).
    I think he’s getting the winners cut. I won’t swear to it but I have decided to go back to DWTS anyway. The music is upbeat.

  167. Well, there you go.
    Not the best of seasons but fun fun to whinge about.
    There was a lot of Jock on the finale, as there should be. For me, the finale was all about Jock. It was sad. I can’t imagine how the contestants felt watching it back.
    I’m going to bed now with a cup of tea and I will shed a quiet tear.

    • I felt the same way, Bobi. I would have been very disappointed if this episode wasn’t all about Jock.
      Yes, it was fun to whinge about 90% of these contestants this season.
      And, like you, one last cuppa, then bed.
      No spoilers from me either.😉

      • I watched the final 30-40 minutes, and thanks, guys, for no spoilers.

        It made me laugh when Jock made a kissy face at the chef during the judging.

        And that’s that.

        • Sad to watch knowing that Jock is gone. Was good that the final few minutes were totally dedicated to him. It was a wonderful tribute.

    • I only got one video, Tech. Are there more? Although that one, from Jock’s wife, made me cry, so maybe just as well I didn’t get more.

      • Sorry Von, I did see other videos of his wife saying she wanted to release other programs he has done, unfortunately I didn’t save links.
        And yes, you were not alone with the tears. Desi and I always watched MC together and he always said Jock was the best judge. I can relate to Jock’s wife’s grief as Desi also passed quite suddenly and unexpected. So, this was quite the emotional rollercoaster season for me. I know one thing though, I won’t be able to watch the Block. Without Desi, that won’t happen.

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