1 ANNOUNCER: Previously on MasterChef Australia, our top four took over The Press Club kitchen... This is terrifying. ..re-creating an elaborate George Calombaris menu... Let's go. Let's go. ..for a room full of VIPs. That is spectacular. Georgia was the star performer... It's tasty. It's really tasty. ..and became the first cook through to the semifinals. Oh, my God. Tonight, they're three of Australia's best amateurs... I'm going to give today everything I've got. ..but if they want to make the semifinals... Brett Graham! ..first they must conquer a pressure test devised by the highest ranked Australian chef in the world. To survive this challenge... REYNOLD: I hope it's all right. That's a brave move. ..they must cook their fish to Michelin-star standard. It's the last thing that I wanted to happen. This could really cost me. And this time, just the smallest mistake... Beautiful. Spot-on. That's an absolute smash. ..will send someone home. # Burning up # in my heart # like a flame, # like the brightest shooting star. # In our souls, # we all know # our dreams make us who we are. # In my heart # like a flame, # like the brightest shooting star. Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Able 2016 REYNOLD: It's tough. It's getting really tough. It's been blood and sweat and tears throughout this whole competition. Yesterday was one of the toughest challenges I've ever been in. I love desserts and dessert is where I want to be. And my dream, pretty much, is to have a dessert bar. Oh, thanks. No worries. Do you want jam? Yeah. Yeah? Jam? I'm so relieved that I don't have to fight for my position in the competition today. So I'm cooking everyone breakfast so that they can focus on themselves, get into a good head space and cook their best. It feels like the last supper. With only four of us left, you can really notice how quiet it is in the house. Mm-hm. JESSICA: (LAUGHS) Not at the time. BILLIE: I'm feeling pretty good this morning. I feel ready and focused for today. At the beginning of the competition, my food dream was quite standard. But now I've realised what kind of food I want to cook and that's simple country cooking that means something to me. I was so close yesterday to getting through to the semis, and it's just made me hungrier to get through today. Thanks, George. That's OK. DRAMATIC MUSIC JESSICA: Reynold and Billie are the most insane competition today. Reynold is actually a genius when it comes to making desserts. And Billie is just the most amazing all-rounder. She always puts up amazing food. I am going to give today everything I have got. DRAMATIC MUSIC CONTINUES Good luck, guys. Like, what a helper. Seeing Georgia on the gantry alone, the enormity of today's task really hits me and I realise I just need to prove myself again today. I know I can do that and get through to the semis and I could even win this competition. Well, welcome back to the MasterChef kitchen. As you can see, no Gary 'cause he's sick, so you've just got the two of us. You are very, very close to your goal. As good as your cooking has been all through this competition and as amazing as your effort was in The Press Club yesterday, the reality is that for one of you, it all ends here today. Normally there are two types of pressure tests - the extremely hard ones and the extremely, extremely, extremely hard ones. But today, we're adding a third type. Brace yourselves because you're about to be stretched to your limits. Either you bounce back or you'll snap. You are the cream of the crop. You are the best of the best amateur cooks we could find. And it's beholden of us to bring in someone who is at the very top of what they do. From his early days, this Newcastle-born chef was destined for greatness. He worked at Banc in Sydney, where he won the Josephine Pignolet Award for the best young chef. He then moved to London and worked with the inspirational Philip Howard at The Square. There, he was named the UK's best young chef. Wow. 10 years ago almost to the day, he opened his own restaurant in London. Within a year, he had won his first Michelin star. He now has two and is knocking on the door of the third. He is the world's highest-ranked Australian chef and his restaurant, The Ledbury, is ranked number 10 in the world. Please welcome Brett Graham. MOMENTOUS MUSIC Oh, number 10 in the world. JESSICA: Brett has the top 10 restaurant in the world. I mean, Peter Gilmore is top 50 in the world. And if Brett is top 10, this is going to be insane. I can't even imagine what kind of dish he's going to present. I'm feeling really nervous right now. His accolades are like, "What?!" Brett, welcome. Why do you think it is that Australian chefs have done so well around the world in the last decade or so? I think they've just got that great attitude and they really get stuck in and have a go, you know. I've got lots of great Australian cooks in my kitchen. My sous-chef is Australian and a lot of my other senior guys are Australians as well. How do your team feel about this dish that hides under that cloche? It's one of those dishes that has probably broken more chefs than any other dish. You know, there will be a couple of people watching this now who might break out in a cold sweat... ..when they see what's under the cloche. Well, Brett, would you like to put a cold sweat on the brow of Billie, Reynold and Jessica and reveal the dish? Yes. Today, you'll be re-creating my flame-grilled bonito with pickled cucumber, celtic mustard and shiso. Wow. Wow. JESSICA: It's one of those deceptively simple ones. It always is, yeah. Wow. That looks incredible. Get close. Get close. It smells incredible. Do you want to talk us through each of the elements? Yeah, so there's quite a few different elements there. This is the avocado puree, which is seasoned very lightly with lime juice and salt. Pickled cucumber with apple juice, apple vinegar and some sesame seeds. Then this is a tartare of the trimmings from the bonito. Inside there is cucumber, avocado, and shiso leaves. And then it's rolled around a thin film of cucumber jelly. So you have to roll that into a sort of roll shape like that so it's nice and neat. And the bonito is cooked in a pan until the skin is crispy and then lowered over the flames to give it a sort of flame-grilled feel on top. I'm just clocking everything on the plate. This dish is absolutely stunning and I want to make sure I get every detail right. It looks absolutely spectacular. It looks amazing. I'm wondering what these little crispy bits are. They're some little fried shallots. OK. Do you want to taste? Absolutely. It looks amazing. Dig in. It's a very unforgiving fish, this. Overcooked and it's like well-done chicken. And the dressing is made with the bones that have been smoked from the bonito. The flavour in that is just amazing. That smoky... Oh. It's sweet and salty and sour and then the smokiness of the fish is just beautiful. So, amazing dish. The things you really have to focus on is the real attention to detail. Making the jelly, you've got to make sure that you're quick, you're organised. If you're not organised when you make that jelly, it will be very thick. When you roll, it will break and it won't look like that. The fineness of that, it's wafer-thin. Putting everything else aside, I'm fixated at the moment just by the cooking of the fish. I mean, you said it. You overcook that fish and it's dry. If you undercook it, it's inedible. You want the skin to be crispy, so when you put it on the rack to heat it over the flames, it doesn't stick. So it sort of, you know...you've got to make sure that you get that judged properly. Cooking this fish is either going to make me or break me. It's such a fine line to get that fish just right. Right, guys, the rules are pretty simple today. You're going to have two hours to replicate Brett's flame-grilled bonito. You're going to have five minutes at the end to cook the fish and plate up. BILLIE: My whole MasterChef journey could come down to five minutes of cooking a piece of fish. I am so nervous about getting it wrong. We'll be judging your dishes on how closely they match Brett's on taste and looks. Brett, would you like to get them going? Good luck, guys. Your time starts now. Go, guys. Come on. MATT: Go on. Come on, guys. GEORGIA: Good luck, guys. Let's go. Come on, Reynold. JESSICA: Today's going to be a really, really hard one. This dish is really going to come down to the small, finite details. So I draw a diagram for all the different components so I can use it for plating later on. I think things like where the dots of sauce are plated, the way that the cucumber is cut, the way that the fish is filleted, they're all really going to count today. BILLIE: I'm sorting through the ingredients and I realise we've only been given one fish. I've got to be really careful. If I ruin this, then I... ..I won't have a dish. The first thing I get on to is gutting the bonito. If I mess up this fish, I'm definitely going home today, so I'm going to take my time in getting this fish right. Reynold, sketched Brett's dish? It's in my head. It's in your head? BRETT: All good. OK. Brilliant. Good. Confident. I like that. Yesterday was tough. I mean, I did about 20 whitings. GEORGIA: Reynold, just get your hands in there. I think today is one of those days where, you know, I've got to be thankful for yesterday. If not, then I wouldn't know how to handle this fish at all. That's it. JESSICA: I've taken the guts out of the fish and the next step is to take the fillets off, so I make an incision around the head and just take it off in one fell swoop. I think it's the easiest way to do it. That's a brave move. Very brave. (LAUGHS) Very brave. I have no choice except to be brave and really go for it with this fish. We've only got one and I have to back myself to get it right. BILLIE: I'm filleting the fish and I'm just being really slow and careful to get it right. You only get one fish, yeah, Billie? So just be really... You know, I do want to scare you, but breathe. Think about the anatomy of the fish. Yep. Yeah? I'm feeling frazzled. I usually do well in pressure tests, but the enormity of this task is just throwing me off. My place in the competition is at stake today. 10 minutes in, guys. Thanks, George. Beautiful, Reynold. As I am filleting the bonito, I'm feeling pretty OK. I've just got to keep moving. I mean, I've got a lot of stuff to do. Are you happy with that? (HESITANTLY) Yes. Yeah? I guess so. Yeah? Yeah. Well done, Reynold. Thanks, guys. Keep going, mate. Now you've got to nail the rest. JESSICA: Almost every part of this fish is getting used in the dish. I've got to keep the bones and the trimming for the dressing and for the tartare roll. So once I check for all the bones, I get the fillets nice and trimmed up and pop them in the fridge to be cooked after time's up. Now I need to make the pickled cucumbers. So, to make pickling liquid, I put some vinegar, water, apple juice and dill into a blender, process it till it's all nice and smooth. And now we have to chop the cucumbers up. Brett cut his cucumbers in a particular wedge shape, so I want to emulate that because that's the task at hand today, really. I know that presentation and detail aren't always my strong point, but we are all neck and neck and the tiniest thing could send us home. So I slice up the cucumbers into little wedges and they go into a vacuum bag with a couple of tablespoons of the pickling liquid and then just set aside to pickle until we're ready to plate. There we go. REYNOLD: As I'm cutting the cucumber, I'm trying to remember what the wedge size is supposed to be like. I didn't draw it up at the start, so it's a bit blurry now. GEORGIA: Come on, Rey-Rey. Think back to eating it. Reynold looks like he's not cutting the cucumbers correctly. They're not the right wedge shape and they're also on the smaller side, so I'm worried that he's not getting those finer details right. I'm starting to regret not drawing Brett's dish. At this stage of the competition, little details count and they can send you home. But I'm not going to change my cucumber. There's no time, so I'm going to keep moving. He's only the top Australian chef in the world. No pressure! 1.5 hours to go. Come on, guys. GEORGE: Come on, guys. GEORGIA: Let's go, guys. Come on! 30 minutes down. You need to move quickly. TENSE MUSIC Let's go, Billie. Billie is just way behind the pack. She's spending way too much time on the fish. Come on, Billie. Go, go, go. BILLIE: I feel like I'm moving at half speed, but it's a two-Michelin-star dish and with one of us going home, the pressure is immense. I know I need to move on, but I need to do this properly. I'm really worried for her. Jessica and Reynold have already moved on. There's so much process still left to do. If she doesn't get cracking, she might not finish the dish. 1 DRAMATIC MUSIC BILLIE: Today we have two hours to replicate Brett Graham's flame-grilled bonito with pickled cucumber and shiso. But we're already over half an hour into the cook and all I've done is the fish. GEORGIA: Move like the clappers, Billie. I have spent a lot of time on this fish because I... ..I just wanted to get it right. We're competing for a spot in the semifinal, so I need to get every element of this dish absolutely perfect. But time is running out and I need to get moving. I'm finally done with the fish, so I can get onto the cucumber. I have to move faster, but I also need to move carefully. There is so much at stake today. Move quickly, Reynold. REYNOLD: I've got my fish in the fridge and my pickled cucumber is setting aside, so now I'm working on the cucumber jelly. The jelly's really important as it's the wrapping for the bonito tartare roll. It's kind of like the seaweed that wraps around a piece of sushi. For the cucumber jelly, I've juiced some cucumber in the Thermomix and then strained that through. Good work, Reynold. After I strain the juice, I pour it into a saucepan with some agar and bring that to the boil. Once that mixture is boiled, I pour it into a flat tray. Beautiful, Reynold. It's crystal clear and it's looking just like Brett's. I'm feeling pretty comfortable making this cucumber jelly. I've made heaps of jellies in desserts before and I'm confident with this step. Looks very good. Thank you. Looks very good. There you go. Excellent. Well done, Reynold. Thanks, guys. I really want to stay in this competition. I'm gonna fight my absolute best. I mean, this cook is going to determine whether I'm going to stay or not. I've got to get it right. JESSICA: I've done my cucumber jelly. It looks pretty good to me, so I'm just going to let it set. Now I'm moving on to the avocado puree, which goes along on the base of the dish. I've got three ripe avocados into a blender with a little squeeze of lime juice and some salt. I'm just going to try and blend them with some water till it's nice and smooth. GEORGIA: Good work, Jess. I think I've got the avocado puree fine. It's a good colour. It tastes good. Jessica, how are you getting on? Oh, pretty good. OK. Can I have a little taste there? Yeah, please. Very nice. Yeah? Promise? And whereabouts are you with the dressing? Um, that's the next step. Make sure you don't underestimate how much time you need then to get all those little details right, OK? (LAUGHS) I am not. I am absolutely not. Thank you. I'm pretty happy with how everything's going, but I've just got to keep pushing on. Time is absolutely flying by and I really want to move on to this shiso dressing. Oh, yeah. That worked. Good work, Billie. Keep moving. Yep. Thanks, George. I feel like I'm behind in time, so I'm starting to multi-task. I've got my cucumbers pickling and I'm blending the other cucumbers for the jelly and I'm chopping up my avocado for the puree. I just hope that I don't forget any of the steps. You're doing really well, Billie. Just keep moving, hon. What do you reckon? They're nearly halfway. They've got to get this dressing on. They need to smoke these bonito bones to get some flavour into this dressing. If they rush that step, it won't taste right at the end. You've definitely set them a really tough task, because you know what? Time is slipping away and they've still got so much to do. Guys! One hour down, one hour to go. Come on! Let's move! TENSE MUSIC The shiso dressing on this dish was what absolutely made it. This is what gives it the Japanese kind of influence, the intense smokiness. It's just absolutely delicious. Like, I could drink a bowl of it. The thing that gives the shiso dressing this amazing richness of flavour is some smoked bones from the bonito, so I've put my charcoal onto the gas flame. I've chopped the bones up nice and small, washed them really well until all the blood came out, dried them out, and they're getting smoked in a steamer on the stove for a good five minutes. To make the shiso dressing, I take the shiso vinegar that's been infused with some white soy and some garlic and bring that to the boil. It is smelling amazing. There's a whole lot of smoke piling out of there, so I definitely know it's working. Once that's done, I add the smoked bonito bones, cover it and just leave them to infuse. GEORGIA: Go, Reynold. Doing great. Just keep moving quickly and concentrate, OK? REYNOLD: This dressing needs to be perfect because it's going to be poured over the whole dish at the end, so I'm hoping I'm going to get this element right. The recipe says that I'm meant to slice the garlic for the dressing, but I'm going to microplane it instead to get through it quickly. Yeah, there's one dressing there that the recipe hasn't been followed and instead of slicing the garlic, which the recipe says, it's been microplaned into there. The amount of flavour that releases is too strong. And the garlic's going to give a real heat to that dressing rather than that lovely softness that your dressing has. Gentle background flavour. Yeah. GEORGIA: Good work, Billie. I'm slowly getting into the swing of things and my multi-tasking is starting to pay off. I just need to keep working at this pace. BRETT: OK, Jessica, how long has this been infusing now? Just over 10 minutes. I was just about to strain it next. Probably about 12 minutes at the moment. Nothin'! You know what's on the line. A place in the semifinal. Half an hour to go. Come on! Push! GEORGIA: Let's go, guys. BILLIE: My shiso dressing has boiled, so I take it off the stove. So now I need to grab my bones to put into the dressing. But I look into the bamboo steamer and they're not smoked at all. Is your flame on? I look underneath and the gas flame's off. If I don't get the smoke going again, it means the dressing won't have that smokiness to it. The dish won't work. 1 TENSE MUSIC Is your flame on? BILLIE: Just when I thought I was making up time, I realise I haven't turned my burner on. My bonito bones haven't been smoking. So I turn the flame on, which is simple enough, but I've lost valuable time. Every minute counts and now I'm really up against it. It'll get there. I don't want to give up and I don't want to let the stress get to me. I just need to dig deep and push really hard if I'm going to get everything done. JESSICA: Now that I've finished making my shiso dressing, I really need to move on to these little tartare rolls. This roll is really cool, but it's probably the most fiddly element of the dish, so I'm going to need to be really careful and precise. The first thing I do is make this lovely little filling for it, which is our trimmings from the bonito, some cucumber and avocado, all diced up nice and finely, and that gets mixed with some of the avocado puree and some of the shiso dressing. Good work, Jess. The outside of the tartare roll is the cucumber jelly that we've set. The jelly is very, very delicate, so I am cutting up little squares of jelly, transferring them very gently onto baking paper, and absolutely wishing with all of my might that they don't fall apart. There is just so much pressure to get this right today and it's going to come down to the smallest margin of error. I am being SO careful. Come on, Reynold. REYNOLD: This is probably the step of the dish I am most comfortable with. Plenty of times I've done this in desserts. I've worked with agar, I've worked with gelatine, so I'm pretty happy with the mixture. I'm happy with the colour and happy with the size of it as well. Beautiful, Reynold. On the doorstep of the semifinals, don't let this dish break you. 15 minutes to go! Come on! Let's go, guys. 15 minutes. JESSICA: There's only 15 minutes left so I really need to get started on these little elements that are the finishing touches for the dish, starting with these little crispy shallots. Something as simple as making crispy shallots is never as easy as it seems. If you fry them at too low, they'll go greasy and yucky and if you fry them too hot, they can get too dark and bitter really quickly, so very important. So I'm trying to get them to a nice kind of golden brown colour that Brett's were. GEORGIA: What's happening with your shallots, Reynold? Yeah, they're frying. Are they fine? Yeah. Getting there. OK. I'm making my crispy shallots and I feel like I'm on track. I mean, there's not much time left to go and there's a lot left to do with all these finishing touches. I'm getting there. Time is running out and I'm just racing to get everything done. Good girl, Billie. Get it in your dressing. My bonito bones have finished smoking, so I put them in the shiso dressing and set that aside and start wrapping up my tartare rolls. I'm trying to be really careful, but I just want to work fast and work hard. My roll isn't as round as Brett's. It's a little bit misshapen on the edges, but I don't have time to worry about it. I've just got to keep moving. There's a lot to do. Guys, five minutes! Come on! Move! SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC JESSICA: It's time to start plating up and this is such a complicated and precise dish. So I pull out the little drawing that I did at the start of the cook. I mean, it's a two-Michelin-star dish and I am competing against two amazing cooks. These little details are gonna count. I smear the avocado and mine doesn't look anywhere near as effortless as Brett's did, but it's on there. I've put a couple of dots of mustard where I knew that they were and place the pickle and the roll. So far, everything's going pretty well. BILLIE: There's only a few minutes to go and I take my shallots out of the oil. And they're too dark. And I taste one, and it is a little bit bitter. I think my oil is a little bit too hot, so I'm going to take it down and try and cook them a little more slow. Ah! It's another setback and I don't have long left at all. But I know that I can do this. I just need to keep motoring on. GEORGIA: Reynold, don't forget those breadcrumbs. Yeah, I've got it with me here. You've got them? Good, good. I didn't draw a picture at the start. As I'm plating up, I'm just trying to remember, trying to envision what the plating was like. You still remember what it looked like? Uh...yes. A bit of hesitation there. (LAUGHS) I hope it's all right. You've got to use a bit of your instinct now. Yeah. I mean, you saw the dish, yeah? Yeah. Get your head in the game. You've got to make it right, yeah? Yep. Come on, mate. I'm starting to regret the fact that I didn't draw that dish up at the start. But I'm pretty happy how it's all coming together. I reckon it looks pretty good on the plate. GEORGIA: Check off everything. Make sure you've got all the elements. Two minutes! Two minutes to go! BILLIE: Two minutes to go and I grab my second lot of shallots out and they're looking better now. Good work, Billie. I'm a lot happier with the shallots. I didn't want to put burnt ones on the plate because that's one of those fine details. Everything's sort of coming together and I have all the elements done. Now I just need to get the dish plated up. MATT: This is it! Last little finishes. Remember every element. One minute to go! Bonito fillet. Shiso dressing. Pickled cucumber. Tartare roll. I feel a bit strange, really. The cook's gone really well. I've got everything finished, but I know that the last five minutes of that cooking of the fish is going to be absolutely the crux of this challenge. GEORGE: 30 seconds! Come on! I'm done. GEORGIA: Where's your cucumber, Reynold? Oh, yeah. Thanks, Georgia. I owe you. I've just remembered the pickled cucumber, but I can't remember how many pieces are actually meant to be on the plate. This is it! A spot in the semifinal! 10 seconds! Is it one piece or is it two pieces? I just don't know. Five! Four! This could make or break it. Two! One! That's it! Congratulations. Well done. Well done, guys. Congratulations. Great work. Well done, guys. BILLIE: I managed to get everything finished. I used every piece of energy and belief in myself to get through that cook. How did you go, Rey? I didn't know how much pickle to put on. It was supposed to be one, wasn't it? Oh, God. 1 DRAMATIC MUSIC MATT: Well, Brett, they've come through the woods, or most of the way through the woods, um, with that dish. But they've now got that last tricky stage - the cooking of the fish. The bonito needs very careful cooking. This is where it could all go wrong for them. It all comes down to the cooking of this fish. Brett said we need to get this just right. If you cook it a little bit too much or too little, it's an unforgiving fish. So, I need to get this just right. I'm watching my fish cook and I'm just doing it by sight, from what I remember of Brett's dish. The fish is cooked well enough in the pan, so I take it out, put it onto an oiled wire rack over the open flame and let the skin char a little bit. I just sit it on there and lift it straight up to see if it's charred. And it's already charred, so it's done. I take the fish off the wire rack and put it into the pan with the shiso dressing and just baste the fish so it's coated. The recipe says to add some more dressing on the plate at the end, but I can't remember how much. I've basted the fish in quite a lot of the dressing already, so I just add a little bit to the plate. I struggled today and I was behind the eight ball. But I got everything up and I'm proud of the dish I'm presenting to Brett. How'd you go today, Billie? Yeah. It was good. How much do you want to be in the finale and how much do you want to win? Having come this far... ..has really, like, lit that fire, that I really want it. Now I have that sense of accomplishment and that I can sort of do that. And the food that I'm putting up now, I have sort of worked out that that's the food that I really want to cook, and I can cook that well. So, if I can do that, if I can cook food that I love and get to the top, I'll just, like... ..it would be a dream come true. All right. Time for us to taste. OK. Off you go. Thank you. Thanks, Brett. Thanks. What do you think, Brett? Nice colour on the shallots. Not much dressing. Yeah. I would have thought, you know, you'd need a bit more to sort of lubricate the fish, and a bit on the cucumber and a bit over the top of the roll. That is a bit a dry. Should be a bit more dressing in the middle of the plate. Your dish was quite juicy, you know? MATT: Mm. There was lots on the plate. Shall we taste? Yes. How well cooked is that fish? Beautiful. Spot-on. She's cooked it exactly right - on one side, into the dressing. Mmm. Mmm! OPTIMISTIC MUSIC The cooking of the fish... As soon as you overcook that fish, it becomes really fishy. Yeah. This is cooked beautifully. So, it's not sort of fishy and bottom-of-the-boat flavour. It's subtle and gorgeous... Yeah. ..and what the bonito needs to be. I love it. It's yum. The fish is actually outstanding, the way she's cooked it. Really good. She cooked it on one side. Flavours are there. The real key thing she's done so well is...is cook that fish spot-on. For me, the two things about this dish that are important - one is the sauce to put it together and two is the cooking of the fish. And the cooking of the fish is, you know, excellent, perfect, spot-on, bang-on. And I just don't hope - with all those other elements done so well - that that lack of sauce on the plate is the thing that sends her home. Yeah. Shall we get the next dish in? Yes. REYNOLD: Good luck. JESSICA: Thank you. It's crazy how close this feels today. The cooking of the fish is so important to this dish. Doing this right is just the absolute be-all and end-all. The fish needs to stay on the open flame just till the skin starts to char, but I've never cooked fish like this before, so I'm just going by instinct and I hope it's right. I'm trying to be really gentle with the fish to try and get it off this rack, but it has stuck. I'm absolutely terrified of it falling apart, but it has to get off and onto the plate. I've torn the skin. Everything was going so well, but every detail counts, and this could really cost me. But I just need to keep moving now. So, I gently place the fish on the plate and give it an extra spoonful of that yummy dressing, 'cause I remember Brett's having a big pool in the middle. Hopefully, it tastes good. (SIGHS) Another day, another pressure test. Mm. (CHUCKLES) How did this one feel, Jessica? I enjoyed myself today. Lovely dish. Probably my favourite dish that we've cooked. (LAUGHS NERVOUSLY) What I really loved about the way you cooked today was you cooked with real heart, and I can tell you understand the flavour of food because when I put my spoon in your dressing, I knew you had tasted it and thought about it, and that's a really important thing to remember when you're cooking, and that's something that you've got that not a lot of people have. Thank you. It's up to the plate of food now to speak for itself. Yeah. It's up to us to taste. Fingers crossed. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. BRETT: Well done. (SIGHS) Ah... Wow. I know we could sit here and harp on about the issues with the skin, but I'm looking at that pool of dressing in there and I'm salivating. It looks...looks glistening and tasty. MATT: But it does look a bit shambolic, but it kind of...it's like all Jessica's food. It looks a little bit messy, a little bit chaotic, but you know the flavour's gonna be there. It's almost her calling card. CURIOUS MUSIC GEORGE: That's beautiful. (MATT CHUCKLES) Shall we taste? BRETT: Yeah. SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC Ohh! That sauce... is just...spectacular. It's kind of smoky and rich and sweet and got that just about right acidity to balance it and... That's an absolute smash. Look, negatives are obviously the skin is not good. You know, she's teared a lot of it. But...the cuisson, the cooking, of the fish is...is exceptional. That lovely cannelloni's been seasoned well, the avocado tastes great. But that dressing, Matt, you're right - I mean, it is beautiful. Yeah, you know, the number one thing when you eat a dish is "Are you gonna stop eating it?" You know, "Are you gonna put your knife and fork down?" And that's the sort of dish you don't want to put your knife and fork down, when it's got that much flavour. You know, that's what cooking's about, isn't it? Another great tasting. This is gonna go right down to the wire, I think. 1 JESSICA: Good luck, sweetie. (SIGHS) All right. Let's do this. I feel like I did well in the cook so far. But if I want a place in the semifinal, I'm gonna have to cook this fish perfectly. There's a fine line between undercooking it and overcooking it. It's not gonna be easy. (SIZZLING) I'm cooking the bonito and the recipe says to do it skin side down only. But I feel like I need to flip it 'cause I don't want to overcook the bottom. I flip the fish just for a couple of seconds, and I flip it back. I've cooked my fish in the pan and transfer that onto an oiled rack over the open flame. I'm trying really hard to get this fish off properly and making sure I don't break the skin too much. But... ..a bit of the skin is quite ripped. I've done my absolute best today but I've made a small mistake, and that could really cost me. I've got all the elements there, but I'm really worried with the fish. As I'm walking the dish in, I'm just hoping that the fish is going to be all right. If I haven't got it right, that's gonna send me home. You've done amazing things. How important is it for you to stay rather than to go now? At this point in the competition, I just want pretty much... ..I want to strive for perfection now, just, like, do well. I want to be the best that I can be, as well, and I want to put up food that is spectacular and, you know, put smiles on people's faces. My food dream is to have a dessert bar. I want it to be one of the best dessert bars there is. Do you... Do you feel obliged... I guess... ..to be the best? Yes, yeah. I'm hard on myself for a reason, 'cause I really want to keep improving. I want to get better and better every time. I just want to keep going, I just want to keep going 'cause I love it. Reynold, this is it, man. It comes down to what you've put on that plate and how well you've replicated Brett's dish, yeah? Thank you, Reynold. Thanks, guys. Thanks, Brett. Thanks, mate. Well done. Brett, what do you think? Yeah, I think it's a pretty good effort. I mean, he's...he's had trouble with the skin there. Yeah. All the skin's come off. And he's put two pieces of cucumber, because he realised it was too small. But, as I was tasting all the elements of the dish in the kitchen, they all taste good. It all looks good. Well, let's find out how it goes together. Thank heavens for tweezers. In terms of the cooking of the fish, Brett, how do you think... how do you think he's gone? Yeah, I think he's done one side really nicely, but what you've got to be very careful of when you cook a fish like bonito, it can become so dry so quickly, so you definitely don't want to flip it over. Do you think that's what happened to it? Yeah, I think he's slightly unevenly cooked it. He's put too much heat on the side that hasn't got the skin on it. The skin's the bit that protects it from drying out. It would have been better if he hadn't have given any heat to the side that didn't have the skin on it. Well, I'm...I'm pretty proud of him. There's so much to love about Reynold's efforts, 'cause for me, it is jam-packed full of yummy flavour and that jelly is so fine and his pastry skills have come to the fore because that... it's wafer-thin, and that's what it needs to be. It shouldn't be this sort of... You shouldn't be tasting jelly, it should just be there just holding everything together and then, bang, you get all that creamy sort of tartare-y stuff in the middle. It's... It's a delicious dish. It is the...the great pleasure of doing this job, but also the great pain of doing this job, that, when you get three dishes, they've all done elements so well, you then have to pick which one goes home. As much as I don't want to do this, we need to go and tell them the result. Shall we? 1 It takes very special people to create very special days. Today's been a special day, because the three of you have once again done us proud. It's amazing for me to think that you guys are amateur cooks, not professionals. I thought this dish would make it easy for us as judges. I've had people through my kitchen who have failed with that dish, who have struggled with it, and you guys did a fantastic job, and all of you demonstrated to me why you're at the sharp end of this competition. Fantastic cooking, so well done. Overall, we were all so impressed by what you did today, and we said that it would come down to little details. Jessica, your dish was slightly chaotic on the plate and it lacked the elegance of Brett's... ..but that sauce was note for note with Brett's. Billie, your fish... ..was perfectly cooked... ..but there just wasn't enough of that shiso dressing. Reynold, you brought us a delicate, pretty version of Brett's dish, highlighted by the fineness of that cannelloni skin... ..but there was one detail that we couldn't overlook. Your fish was overcooked on the underside. It was dry, and from all of us, we're really sorry, but you're going home today. POIGNANT MUSIC It's all right. Reynold... ..sorry, mate. It... It... Your life begins when you walk out those doors. You can be the biggest and best pastry chef of this country. Yeah, you've got this rare talent. At your tender age, there's not many other pastry chefs out there doing what you're doing, so where you might struggle with a bit of fish cooking, trust me, a lot of us struggle on the side that you master brilliantly. How many desserts do you think you've created and plated up while you've been here in MasterChef? Probably more than 15, probably. A lot more than 15, mate. Yeah. (LAUGHS) Exactly 27. Wow. Really? (CHUCKLES) What's your name? Uh, Reynold. That is the best dessert in a judges' audition. Blood orange granita, salted caramelised popcorn, toasted coconut shavings with a chamomile ice-cream. (JUDGES GASP) Yeah, baby! That is the best quenelle I've ever seen on MasterChef! What?! I call it the forbidden fruit. (GASPING) MAN: Oh, yeah! Oh, jeez. The beginning of week two, and you're putting up food like this. Yeah! Oh, yeah! Doesn't it look good? It's a chocolate log and raspberry liquid centre. This is unbelievable. Balsamic and citrus. I love the balsamic. The balsamic just kind of gives a little tap to the curd. This guy is an amazing pastry chef and we're gonna watch him. Apple and caramel. I reckon that is one of the best-looking desserts we've ever had on the show. I'm talking about from professionals as well. This dessert makes me feel we're sitting in a really expensive restaurant. You're kind of the favourite. Coconut with passionfruit and pineapple. It's cold, it's hot, it's sweet, it's creamy, it's everything. Things in coconuts, we love 'em. 10 out of 10. 10 out of 10. 10 out of 10. 30 out of 30, the perfect score. You're the king of desserts in this kitchen. Chocolate ganache with orange jelly, tempered chocolate, honeycomb and rosemary ice-cream. The amount of work that you have done in 90 minutes is extraordinary. I'd employ you. You've left a legacy here that we will not forget. You are the best amateur pastry cook that we've ever had in MasterChef. You are marked for greatness, mate. You don't walk out of here disappointed whatsoever, you walk out of here with your head held high. The world right now is your oyster. Thanks, George. This whole experience has been the best experience of my life so far. It's like my second home, feels like it. Reynold, you can be the best. Go out those doors and start. But now it's time to say goodbye. JESSICA: Come here. UPLIFTING MUSIC Come here, give me a cuddle. Well done, buddy. I'm proud of you. Thank you. Well done, mate. Thanks very much. Thanks, mate. Go get 'em, man. All the best. (ALL CLAP) POIGNANT MUSIC I've loved every moment of it. I'm hoping that I've made my mum proud. I'm proud of myself getting this far and being able to get out there and start my life in the food industry. UPLIFTING MUSIC I know it's gonna be tough and it's gonna take a long time for me to be where I want to be but I'm definitely gonna get there. Next time ` (ALL CHEER, WHISTLE) ...we're down to three. You are almost there! But to make it to the grand finale, they need to cook like never before. They will each create... I am worried. You know what's on the line. Come on! ...two spectacular courses. GEORGIA: So intense. This is definitely the hardest thing we've ever done. ..under restaurant conditions. You've got to hurry up. Uh, this is the moment of truth. Our contestants will prove just how good they are. That is top-shelf cooking. Oh, my goodness! Spectacular! But when the standard is this high... ..with the best food we've ever tasted in this competition... ..how do you choose who goes? Supertext Captions by Ericsson