1 ANNOUNCER: Previously on MasterChef Australia - Reynold struggled... I hope it's alright. ...in a two-Michelin-star pressure test. Get your head in the game. You've got to make it right. And when he made a crucial error with his fish... We're really sorry. ...we lost the best pastry cook... The world is your oyster. ...this competition has ever seen. Tonight - 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: Arggh! 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... ...where the best food we've ever tasted in this competition... ...how do you choose who goes? # 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. # Burning up # in my heart # like a flame, # like the brightest shooting star. # Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Able 2016 GEORGIA: Today is semifinal day and I'm really excited. To make the final three of MasterChef is unbelievable. It's been an amazing journey, and I really want to see it right through to the end. I really want to make the finale. For the first time ever, we got the weekend to think about what we were going to cook. We each have to serve 20 people a main and dessert. I really want to show the judges how far I've come in the competition in terms of technique and I really want to show them who I am. So, for my main, I've added that element of complexity and I'm putting lots of elements on the dish. I'm being ambitious, I'm pushing myself, but I'm also making some good decisions. I hope that that's what sees me through. BILLIE: I had no idea how far I'd come in this competition. Back at the judges' auditions, seeing the competition there, I was really quite frightened by it all. I can't believe how much I've learnt and how much I've grown, and that really reflects my food dream. Over the weekend, I've been playing around with food that I've loved from my childhood, and I've kind of put a modern take on it. It's definitely a representation of who I am. It's sort of food that shows where I've come from and where I want to go. There's a lot on the line today, but I'm feeling really focused. It's the semifinal of MasterChef. It's the biggest day of my life so far. JESSICA: I am gonna give today absolutely everything I've got. Big, bold flavours is my thing. I'm really excited because I'm really trying to push myself with my dishes. Yeah, I love working with cheese, but I'm not gonna use that today. I am hoping to impress the judges by making a really strong dessert. Desserts aren't really my kind of forte, they're not my strong point, but the finale is tomorrow and I would give my right arm to be there. I've got a lot more to show the judges. I'm just trying to balance all the techniques that I've learnt since I've been here. I am gonna be giving absolutely every last ounce of energy and love for food that I have inside me today. Hi! Hey. You ready? Yep. Sure am. (WILD CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) GEORGIA: Walking into the MasterChef kitchen, I'm so nervous, and when I step in there, there's just a roar. This is about to happen. This is real. Welcome to the MasterChef kitchen and the semifinal of MasterChef 2015. You are almost there! Get through this hurdle today and you are in the finale. So close to grabbing that ultimate prize, the thing you've been fighting for. MATT: You probably don't hear this enough, but we really are exceedingly proud of all three of you. You've given us, between you, some of the best food we've ever seen in the MasterChef kitchen. Today, we want you to continue to exceed our expectations. And that's why we told you last week what today's challenge was gonna be, so you could plan... so you could practise, so you could refine. 'Cause what you're about to face is going to be immense. You're each about to prepare a main and a dessert for 20 guests AND for the three of us that each of you will make all on your own. Today, you hold your destiny in your hands. OK. The rules. You've got an open pantry. Whatever you want. You're gonna have four hours for mise en place preparation. Gary, Matt and I will be judging you on the most important criteria of the MasterChef kitchen - deliciousness. Shannon's been your mentor all year. Today, he's gonna guide you, support you and look after you in the kitchen. Today is about the culmination of all of your individual journeys, putting that story on a plate. You can all do it. You've all got to have belief. Cooking is confidence. For one of you, it all ends here today - the dream over. But for two of you, the chance to go for gold in tomorrow's grand finale. The chance to be Australia's next MasterChef. This is your moment. It's time to cook for your lives. Your four hours starts now. (WILD CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) GEORGIA: Time starts. The first thing I need to do is work out what ingredients I need from the pantry. For my main course, there's 11 elements on the dish. I need to visualise them and make sure I know what I'm doing, then get all the ingredients. JESSICA: I run into the pantry straightaway, because I know what I'm cooking. I am gonna make a roast pork belly for my main with really lovely, crispy crackling. That's gonna be served with a dashi, smoked yoghurt and some roast quince. I grab lots of little Japanese ingredients that I'm gonna incorporate. I absolutely love Japanese cuisine, so I think that incorporating a little bit of that is very me on the plate today. You know what? They are game-day ready. You know what's quite interesting? And obviously, Shannon, you're running the kitchen, but Georgia and Billie ran straight to their passes and started to download their brain onto paper. Which is a good thing to do. Yeah. I like that. Jessica's run straight into the pantry to grab her ingredients. So... different tactics. I know what I'd do. I want to get it all out of here onto a bit of paper. ASHLEIGH: Alright, Billie! AVA: Go, Billie! Whoo! MATTHEW: Come on, Georgia! JESSIE: Come on, Jessica! There's a huge prize at stake tomorrow. A massive start to your career. Like, the most intense way to start your culinary dreams. And so I think every one of them, no matter how confident they are, is gonna have that in the back of their mind. I do think it's anyone's game. This is a powerhouse of women, these three amazing, confident, gutsy cooks. You couldn't get three more different women. GEORGIA: Today, for main, I've decided to make something really fresh. I love seafood. I've grown up around seafood. I'm really comfortable cooking with seafood. But there's a lot of elements on my main today. There's the cured ocean trout, the smoked bone mayonnaise, the dill and tapioca crisp, the crispy skin, the apple, Mexican cucumber and telegraph cucumber pickles, some fresh apple, some fresh cucumber, some dill and some trout roe, with a little bit of samphire, which is a sea vegetable. Today, I really wanted to show how far I've come in the competition and show a really big piece of myself. I'm a Queensland girl. The main's kind of inspired by eating fish with tartare sauce. Having 11 elements on the dish, it's a huge risk, because there's so much to do. But it's the semifinals. I really have to push myself today and I have to take risks if I'm going to get through to the grand finale. I'm excited about my menu, but I'm definitely pushing myself today. BILLIE: I'm feeling really excited, going into this semifinal. I've really practised and studied a lot for it. But I've never cooked 20 mains and 20 desserts on my own. It's gonna be really tough. So, it's shanks you're putting in? Yeah. Yeah, great. Today, for my main, I'm doing a fancy lamb roast. I'm doing braised shank, plus I'm doing lamb backstrap in the sous-vide machine, I'm doing a pea and mint puree, a confit garlic cream and a jus. One of my favourite meals as a kid was a lamb roast. I love the slow-cooked lamb with mint sauce and peas. That was my all-time favourite dinner. I'm going to serve the lamb shanks and roll it up into cylinders, so I really want the lamb to be just falling off the bone when it comes out of the pressure cooker. The first thing I'm doing is getting my pork belly in, ready to go. I really want to spend time on getting the crackling right, getting it all, uh... crispy-skinned. So, um, I want it to go in quite early, 'cause then I don't have to think about it for the rest of the time. Can you believe it? Half an hour down already! Three and a half hours to go! Come on, guys! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) Well done, Jess. How long, Jess? JESSICA: Probably needs at least half an hour, but I'm gonna do 20 minutes to start with and rotate them, because I've got four trays in that tall oven. I'm really happy with how I'm tracking so far. I'm just making a poaching liquid for the quince that I'm gonna cook for my main. I've definitely struggled through a few of the service challenges. I tend to get a little bit overwhelmed. So more than anything else, I really want to keep calm and have a really good service. How's this gonna look on the plate? Smoked yoghurt on the bottom, a round of smoked yoghurt, a little cube of pork belly, two wedges of the quince, and then I've got some witlof, some radish and some baby shiso to kind of freshen it up over the top. Alright. My strategy for my main dish is to keep things really, really simple and refined. My dessert today is more innovative and more complex, so I'm leaving myself plenty of time. I so want to be in the final! (CHUCKLES) Come on, Jessica. You're doing so well, babe. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) Good job, gorgeous. Whoo-hoo! Yum! BILLIE: 40 minutes in and I have my shanks in the pressure cooker and I need to get onto the ice-cream for my dessert, because it needs a couple of hours to properly churn. For dessert, I'm doing a spider - so, it's a take on ice-cream and fizzy drink. So, I'm making a dill ice-cream with a rhubarb and champagne fizz, macadamia praline, apple granita and rhubarb. Rhubarb's definitely a childhood memory. Mum used to grow it in the garden at home. And I loved having spiders as a kid. The excitement of pouring the fizzy drink over the ice-cream and it all foams up over the outside of the glass, that's one of my favourite food memories. So I really want to... interpret that into a really inspirational new dish. SHANNON: Georgia? Billie? Jessica? One hour has passed. Yep. There is three hours left. Yes. Yep. Let's go. Come on. (ALL SHOUT ENCOURAGEMENT) FIONA: Go, girl! AVA: Come on, Georgia! I'm only an hour into prep and I'm freaking out already. I've got so much to do and this fish is taking forever. (SIGHS) That's just something I can't really, like, stop doing. You've got to keep feeding it. I'm trying to fillet through the fish, but my hands are shaking so much from the amount of nerves. Ooh! I'm really scared I'm gonna make a mess of this fish. The fillet's not very good. I'm worried about Georgia, actually, I've got to be honest. (FRUSTRATED) Arggh! Why aren't you coming out? Arggh! I feel like I've ruined it. Are you OK with the... with your, um... your filleting? They're not the best-looking fillets I've ever seen. I'm really second-guessing myself. I'm wondering if I'd made a really big mistake choosing ocean trout. Um... I've still got so much to do. It's really about time. I'm freaking out now. This is the most important thing that goes on the plate. OK. I really need to pull myself together because I can feel that grand finale just slipping away. (SIGHS) 1 (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) Come on, girls! Come on, Jess! Yes, Billie! GEORGIA: For today's semifinal, we have four hours to prep a main and dessert for 20 people, plus the judges. Are you OK with the filleting? The least impressive dishes from today will send that person home, and I'm really worried that it could be me going home today. They're not the best-looking fillets I've ever seen. How many, um, portions are you... have you worked out per side? So, I want, um, 80 grams per person. 80 grams. For a main course? For a main. Is that enough? That'd be three pieces on the plate. Three pieces, all totalling 80 grams. Yeah. OK. My gut feeling is 120 grams would be more appropriate. 80 grams is leaning on the entree side. OK. Shannon's told me to increase my serving size from 80 grams to 120 grams for the ocean trout. OK. Right now, that means that I'm going to have to keep filleting and keep portioning more fish. I need to move it. Yeah. Let's put it up another gear. I really don't want to go home now, so close to the grand finale. I really, really need to make sure that this is a perfect dish today, but I'm quite stressed right now with time. Come on, come on, come on. Yeah, keep pushing, Georgia! I'm a little bit worried about Georgia. I think comparing the amount of work that the three girls have done, Georgia hasn't done as much as the others. She seems like she's really struggling to get... catch up to time and get things done now. Aaagh! SARA: Go, Jess. Keep up the pace. JESSICA: I've got my pork and my quince in my main. There're in the oven, and they can stay there for a couple of hours, so now I'm going to move on to my dessert. I am going to make grapefruit and popcorn domes. I'm just lining my domes for the, uh, dessert now, with white chocolate. And I'm really hoping to show the judges something different with my dessert. Interesting flavours and textures. It will be a little white chocolate dome with a grapefruit centre and a sponge made out of popcorn. I've never seen a popcorn sponge thing done before, so I'm hoping that the judges see a little bit of inventiveness going on there. And I sort of approached this one like I have when I used to create cocktails for, um, you know, competitions. Grapefruit and popcorn are like buttery flavours. Probably not something the judges will have seen before, but I know are going to go really, really well together. It's an interesting combo, isn't it? Yeah, that doesn't sound right to me. SHANNON: Jessica, what's the plan for dessert? Chocolate grapefruit curd mousse. Making a sponge using ground popcorn. Sponge with ground popcorn. Well, it's not... It's a cake. Can I just play devil's advocate here for a minute? Yes. We've got a sponge, then we have got a grapefruit curd with chocolate. OK. Use my less-is-more philosophy. Be practical. I'm definitely worried about it being a flavour combination that is pretty left of field, but there's no back-up plan. I'm too far down the road of doing it. If the dessert doesn't turn out, then I will be bitterly disappointed because it means I'll be going home today. There's one thing I'm noticing is how intense everybody is. Everybody's head down, bum up and really... Like, everything rides on this, doesn't it? SHANNON: Things obviously change very quickly in the MasterChef kitchen, as you know, but I think, uh, Billie is looking incredibly determined. Personal opinion, Billie's best representing what the competition is about. It tastes good. It's nice and minty, which is what I wanted. Jessica is going along swimmingly well. Dessert's a popcorn sponge with a chocolate dome. But then has got a grapefruit mousse inside, and popcorn seems to be the predominant flavour. Right. OK. You know, I love popcorn. Yeah. But I don't normally like it in my sponge. OK. What about Georgia? Well, Georgia's struggling. GEORGIA: Uh... She has taken on some techniques that she's not strong at at all, particularly with ocean trout. Large 2.5kg fish. Really struggled on filleting. Oh, right. There's a bit of butchering gone on. That's taken its toll on her. She's feeling the pressure. Aaagh! My biggest fear is that she's got a lot to do. GEORGE: Guys! Two hours down, two hours to go. You know what's on the line. Come on! (CHEERING) Filleting the fish was a complete nightmare. I feel so far behind. I don't know how I'm going to catch up. If I want to be in the grand finale, I really need to pull myself together. I just really need to move it for the dessert, so... I can't open it. Come on, Georgia! Oh, my God. Yay! Yay! Well done, George! What did she do? She had a little jar trouble. She couldn't get the lid off. Billie's ice-cream has been freezing for ages and it's still going and Georgia still hasn't even got hers in yet. For my dessert today, I'm cooking a yoghurt parfait bar with mango sorbet, chilli macadamia praline and chilli salt. I'm totally pushing it, doing a frozen dessert today. If the sorbet or the yoghurt parfait doesn't set, then I don't have a dessert. The whole dish would be a disaster. That's good. Reaching the semifinals in MasterChef, I thought that I would know everything that this competition could throw at me, but this is so hard. It's so intense. So, parfait's in. Sorbet's in. Right now, I'm really struggling. I love the food I'm cooking, I just really want to be able to do it and that's when I start to get panicked. Don't panic. Run for it. Yep. OK? Yep, yep. BILLIE: I've got my ice-cream churning and I'm really happy with the way that it's looking. And I've done the rhubarb batons for my dessert. I'm going to roast them in the oven. So I really need to concentrate on my main course, which is a take on the lamb roast. I'm using lamb a couple of ways today. I am doing lamb backstrap in the sous-vide machine and then I'm doing a braised shank. They look good. They look great. They look really good. You're going to be picking... picking them off the bone, are you, and then...? And then rolling it so it's a little cylinder. And then rolling that? OK. And then they take only a couple of minutes to sort of finish at the end on a hot pan. Mmm. They look delicious. They look really smart. Yeah. I have a really clear idea of how I want my dish to look. When I practised it at home, it looks really pretty on the plate. Come on, Billie! A nice, little, round cylinder of shank meat. So I grab some plastic wrap and start rolling the lamb into cylinders. It's just not working. It's not rolling well because I haven't picked the meat enough. Come on. But pick the meat any further, then it loses its texture, so I really don't know what to do with this shank meat. I really wanted to get the shank meat into nice little cylinders. It just hasn't worked and I need to change my idea for the braised shank. I just can't think of any. It's just the pressure. It just gets to you and I just... I'm really doubting myself. I just don't know what else to do. I'm actually... I'm going to change my mind, I think. Um... I'm really feeling the pressure now. I am worried. I'm worried that I'm not sort of going to have enough time to make it. I really want to. You got this, Billie! You got this! Come on! Oh, my roast rhubarb. I forgot to take it out. Shivers! Ohhh. OK? No. No? Nup. It's burnt. OK. OK, give me a look. Yeah. Totally forgot to take that out. It's wrecked. They're just ruined. It's just disintegrated. Yeah, it's overcooked. It's overcooked. I have to put roast rhubarb on the plate. It's an integral part of my dessert and it's printed on the menu. I can't leave it off. Have you got any more rhubarb? Um, I don't know if there's any more. The rhubarb flavour is drawn from my childhood. I'm determined to get it on the plate. Put that under a bench somewhere, because we have to put roast rhubarb in here somewhere. Yes. OK. Time is just getting away and I'm making silly mistakes. If I don't get this dish right, then I'll go home. Grapefruit, popcorn and white chocolate is a little bit left of field. So I am definitely disheartened by the fact that Shannon isn't wowed by the dessert. You can do this, Jess. Keep pushing, hey? Think clear. Think what needs to be done. Smash it out. You've got it. Come on. (AMERICAN ACCENT) Go, girl. I am making a nice little crumb that's going to sit underneath the domes. So I've got some skim milk powder that I'm going to cook down in some butter and that just gives it a lovely kind of crunchy, dark, buttery flavour. I really need to get to assembling my little desserts 'cause they need to go into the freezer. I can't help but feel nervous about my dessert. If the judges don't get this flavour combination, then I could be in trouble today. So that's definitely playing on my mind. SARA: You want to have a look at the butter? Thanks. Shit. Oh, my God. The last thing I need right now is the bottom to be burned. Jessica, you OK? Um... It's a really important element and I am running out of time. I'm really starting to doubt myself at this stage. Shannon has definitely made me kind of second-guess my ideas. This is absolutely the most important challenge. Standards are going to be really high. Nup. Which means that the smallest mistakes are gonna send you home today. 1 SARA: Let's go, guys! (CHEERING) JESSICA: We have got less than 90 minutes till service for 20 guests and the judges. I'm really not happy that I burnt the crumb. The only thing I can do is keep pushing and fix it, but I've got so many other things to do. Jessica, you OK? Um... Are you going to redo the crumb? Yep! Once my cake's cooked well, I take it out. I taste a little bit from the edge. It tastes right. I'm very happy with it. So I've decided that I'm going to use my leftover sponge in a food processor and blitz it up. Add some extra salt to it so it's nice and got that little salty popcorny goodness to it, and I'm going to mix some popping candy in with it so that every time you have a little bite of the dessert, you get a little kind of tinkle popping around in your mouth. Although I have my concerns about the actual flavour combination itself, it's coming together really nicely. I just hope the judges appreciate what I'm doing. Go, Jess! Come on, Jessica! Now it's time to start assembling. So, I've got my little frozen chocolate moulds and I'm piping some mousse into it. Then I get one of my little frozen grapefruit centres. SARA: You are smashing it. Keep up this pace and you'll be in a good position. And then the sponge gets pushed down on top of that and all cleaned up. Go, Jess! Looking good, Jessica! Keep pushing! I want to be in the grand final more than anything. I'm not ready to go home yet. Everything's at stake. You do not want to be the contestant going home. No, Shannon! BILLIE: 75 minutes till service and I'm really thinking about how I need to plate this dish. Are you going to change your plan, are you? Well... yeah. I'm worried that I won't get... Because I don't want to break that down any further. OK. Well, presentation's going to be crucial, so try and think of a back-up plan there - how you present it. Yeah. So, just be aware of that. Thank you. And I suddenly had a brilliant idea. I'm just compressing this meat so that I can cut it into squares for service. It'll just be a little bit different. They won't be in circles, so it's not that much different. So I can live with that. I've had to redo my rhubarb batons because my first lot disintegrated into nothing. SARA: Nice one, Billie! Good recovery. I'm happy with the rhubarb, but there's still a lot of things left to do for my main dish. For the pea salsa, I am putting fresh peas, pickled red onion and anchovies all together and mixing that up as a nice little crunchy salad to go with the dish. Good work, Billie! Great work, Billie. There is no room for error! One hour to go! (CHEERING) Go, Billie! Go, Jessica! Come on, Billie! Keep pushing, Georgia! Come on, Georgia! GEORGIA: I've got 11 elements on my main and I've still got to do the dill and tapioca crisp, the crispy skin, the apple Mexican cucumber and telegraph cucumber pickles, fresh cucumber, some dill and the smoked bone mayonnaise. Come on, come on, come on. I'm smoking the trout bones to give them a beautiful smoky flavour and I'm going to use them in a mayonnaise. Creativity is definitely my strength, so I'm really pushing myself. I really want to get into that grand finale. This dish is so delicate. It's so technical and the elements and the ingredients and the flavours that are going into the dish are basically me. Come on, Georgia! Beautiful. Smoky. I really just have to move as quick as I can to get my other elements done. MATTHEW: Come on, Georgia! She's got a lot to do, huh, to catch up. I know, I know. I'm really worried. Yeah. The nerves are really getting to me and I'm freaking out. Aaagh! I've got so much to do and I really need to get a move on. There's 20 guests coming really soon. Where are we here? I'm coming. I'm just getting a few things prepped. Well, so's Christmas. Come on. Let's go. Come on, come on. 25 minutes to go! (CHEERING) JESSICA: I pull my pork out of the oven and it's looking really gorgeous. The colour on it's nice. Sick! Oh, my God. That looks so frickin' good. I'm going to move on to the smoked yoghurt for my main. The tanginess of the yoghurt with the creamy texture and then smoke on the background - it's such a phenomenal flavour combo that I'm kind of turning it into a really interesting sauce today. SARA: Jess, how many more elements in your main after this? Uh, just the garnish, really. Like vegetables and things. She loves the smoked yoghurt, does Jessica. Go, Jessica! Georgia, Billy, Jessica... look behind me. Oh, the guests. 15 minutes to go! Come on! Come on! Whoo! Come on, Billie! I'm almost ready for service, but it's so scary. I just need to get the shank meat fried off and then I'll be ready. Come on, guys. Come on, Georgia. Come on, Billie. Go, Jess! JESSICA: I know that today is going to come down to absolutely minute details and I do not want to give the judges anything to let them send me home, so the portion control and the way this dish looks is, you know, one of those minute details. MATT: Welcome to the MasterChef kitchen. There is not a better table in Australia than right here today because we have the three best amateur cooks in Australia cooking for you. This is the semifinal of MasterChef 2015. Two of these cooks behind me will make it to the grand finale. One will be Australia's next MasterChef. The food is ambitious, the cooking is sharp. The question is will it be as good as the three of us and Shannon Bennett hope it will be? Thank you for coming. (CHEERING) You should be plating up right now. I know I should be. I'm really not ready to start plating up yet. I'm still frying off the dill and tapioca crisps, frying off fish skin. This is taking forever. Come on. Georgia? Georgia? Georgia? And on top of that, I still have to slice the ocean trout. That needs to be now! Now! Come on! I've got to be ready in a matter of minutes, but I am not ready. Go, Jessica! Go, Jess! First docket in. Four pork. Come on. Where's your board set up? Come on. Come on, Georgia! Billie, four lamb. Now. Come on. Yes, Shannon. Go, Billie! Four lamb! Let's go, Billie! Come on, Georgia! Four trout! GEORGIA: Still not ready. Away. Come on. Away. Let's go. Looking at my ingredients as a whole, I've got so many different elements. I'm really thinking I over-complicated my main. Come on! Let's go! (CHEERING) OK. I've got another order. Four more pork. Billie, four more lamb. Careful with the sauce. Gentle. Billie, are you happy? Ready? I've just got to get the mint on there. Service. Waiters. BILLIE: I send my first four plates out in pretty good time, I think, and I just need to keep this pace up. Hopefully it'll be a stress-free service. Georgia, come on! Come on, Jessica. Where are they, Jessica? Come on! You have got eight pork on order. Come on! I've got four pork ready, Shannon. Let's go, Jessica. Pump it out. Let's go. Come on. Uh, I'm really happy with my main. Um, it's turned out just like I wanted it to. I know it's not the most complex dish that I could have done, but the flavours are going to be really good, so I'm really hoping it's enough to keep me safe. Come on, Georgia. Coming. Come on, you're not portioned yet. Come on. I need this up. Now. Need it up now. GEORGIA: Shannon is screaming at me for plates. I'm lagging so far behind Jessica and Billie. Taking forever. There's so many different elements, it's costing me so much time and I'm really worried about this service. Georgia! Four more trout! Come on! Yes, Shannon. Come on! Come on, Georgia! Come on! I'm trying so hard to plate my dishes up as fast as possible, but out of the corner of my eye, I can see Billie and Jessica just flying dishes off the pass. Georgia! Come on! I'm really frustrated with myself. I could have made that main so much more simple. Alright. Four more ready. I don't know how I'm going to catch up. Georgia, come on! I'm coming! Come on! Come on! You're well behind now! I need 12 trout. I just feel like I've lost it. 1 SHANNON: Georgia! Come on, Georgia! Plating up my main is taking way too long. Come on. You've got 12 trout on order. I wanted to showcase everything I've learned along the way on this journey, but I'm starting to second-guess myself. It's all about the diners. Diners are waiting. I'm sorry. I'm so far behind Billie and Jessica. You've done 16 pork. Yeah. Yeah? Yep. So, eight more. And I'm still on the first four. I might have cost myself my spot in the grand finale. BILLIE: I feel like this service is going pretty well. I feel like I'm keeping up with the demand of orders. I have four lamb ready to go. I feel proud of what I've done. I'm happy with everything I've got on there. I think the flavours are pretty good. Um, this is the moment of truth. Wow. So this is Billie's braised lamb and backstrap with peas and pear and mint puree. It looks... spectacular. MATT: Yeah. It looks fresh, it looks incredibly rich. It looks super meaty. With the eyes shut, it smells like country cooking. You open your eyes and suddenly you're in a great restaurant. This is beautiful and it's... You know what it is? It is that straightforward country girl on a plate. Yeah, I'll tell you what. But how far has she come? Phew! Amazing. Wow. I've got to remember, I've got three main courses to eat. But it's hard to stop. This is absolutely delicious. And I'm trying to find negatives. I'm trying to go, you know, "Would I do this differently? "Would I do this any better?" And the only thing I would have done right at the beginning is not serve two lamb. But now that she's done it, and she's nailed it, I'm thinking, "What a clever girl." GEORGE: And what she's done is nail both. And for me, the highlight on this braised lamb shank is the crustiness. That burnish tan of lamb that's been sitting on the grill, getting a lovely crust. And then, you know, we talk about, "Oh, look at those fancy chefs and their water baths." Well, THAT'S the reason why. Yeah. Perfectly cooked. Well rested. That is top-shelf cooking. But more than that, it's all those other little touches in there. That texture of the peas with that wonderful super, super creamy puree, and the little pops of pickled onion and white anchovy in there takes this from, you know, Mum's lamb roast, you know, into a whole other dimension. It's really sophisticated. Absolutely gorgeous. I love it. Away, four more trout. Yes, Shannon. Come on! Come on! I've finally got the first four plates out, but I'm miles behind Jessica and Billie. Shannon, I have my last four. Service. I've still got so many plates to go. Come on, Georgia! Come on! I'm rattled with nerves. I can't believe how far behind I am. A place in the finale is at stake here. Pump it for me, please. Come on. Yeah, I'm coming. You've got to think of a quicker way to plate this, huh? I know. I'm trying as I'm... flabber...flustered. Try and speed that up by limiting the amount of pieces you're even putting on the plate. Is there something you can do to just speed this up, OK? I can't... I don't want to... I don't want to leave off any elements 'cause they're all delicious, so... Yeah, limit the amount of steps you've got. You've gotta hurry up. All eyes are on me right now and it's a horrible feeling. I just wanted to rewind. I've just come so far. Like, it's just been the biggest journey and, um, I don't want it to be over. I so want to go into the finale tomorrow. JOHN: Focus, Georgia. You can do it. Looking down at my dish, I'm really proud of it and it's something that I've invented on my own. My whole experience has been a rollercoaster and I've definitely fought to get to where I am now. I'm not giving up. I'm just going to have to make time. Come on, Georgia. Come on, Georgia. I might be coming last, I might be on the verge of tears and my hands are shaking like crazy, but I'm going to give those diners the dish that they deserve... Come on, Georgia! ...and the dish that I wanted to serve them. I want to fight for it and I just need to power on. JESSICA: Ready. SHANNON: OK. I definitely tried to balance today's cook out by, you know, going for big-bang flavour, but kind of more simple technique on my main, so that I could kind of stretch myself with dessert a little bit more. But the flipside of that is if I haven't shown enough technique in the main, then that could bite me as well, so I'm really hoping that doesn't happen. GARY: We've got roast pork belly with smoked dashi yoghurt, shiso, poached quince. Seasonal, clever. Oh, I feel almost teary. I feel almost TEARY! Jessica has, from a visual point of view, nailed it. Oh, that... Look at that pork! Hang on. Hang on. Hang on. We've got to do this, haven't we? (CRUNCH!) Contain yourself, Gary! Oh! I'm just... You know, you can do what you want. I'm eating the whole lot. You know what it is? I feel like a little boy again. I'm mesmerised by its elegance, its restraint, its cleverness, and its full flavour. Yeah. Pork belly, crackling. It's a... It's a sure-fire winner. But... But the temptation is to smash it with sweetness. But she's made those quinces into something savoury. She's brought, um, saltiness and you know, that kind of umami savouriness with the dashi and the smoked flavour in the yoghurt. It's a pork belly dish that you can eat without it being balanced with sweetness, which is so rare. He's weak at the knees. He's gone glazy. He's gone all glazy. He's weak at the knees. (CHUCKLES) It's so good. That crackling... I don't think we've ever had a better crackling in the MasterChef kitchen. No. That is... amazing. JOHN: Come on, Georgia! You can do this, Georgia! JESSIE: Come on, George! You've got it! You're so close! GEORGIA: So many things going through my mind. There's definitely a lot of self-doubt, but I'm not going to compromise on presentation. I'm not going to just throw everything on there. I'm still going to have some kind of dignity, and I want to give the diners something that I'm proud of and a reflection of me, so even if I don't make it through, I gave it everything I had. You're fine. You're fine. OK. Get me four more. (ONLOOKERS SHOUT ENCOURAGEMENT) Whoo! Come on! I've still got, like, 12 plates to go, but I'm moving as fast as I possibly can. I really need to power through this and try, in some way, to catch up to Jessica and Billie. But then... I look up and realise that Billie and Jessica have finished serving their mains and they're actually on to dessert. I might go and start my dessert. Oh, my God. There is such a long way to go. 1 (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) GEORGIA: The odds aren't great right now. I'm miles behind Jessica and Billie. But I'm not ready to give up just yet. I'm fighting for this. OK, get me four more. Come on, Georgia. Come on! Come on! Whoo! Come on! SARA: Come on, Georgie. You can do it, babe. My heart is beating through my chest. I just hope they like it. What's the... Have you got the menu description there, Matt? MATT: Cured ocean trout, crispy skin, smoked mayonnaise with dill tapioca crisp, cucumber and apple. I count 11 different elements on this plate. How much to get up, in that four hours of prep, plus your dessert. Yeah, absolutely. GEORGE: Shall we? Yeah. We talk about Jessica being the flavour queen. But that is just... Yeah. Yeah. Like, it's... Oh! Yeah. It is a technicolour explosion of sour and sweet and creamy and rich and smoky and crunchy and fresh and herbaceous. You know what I'm most pleased about? It's the balance. So, when you find something pickly, you go, "Oh, it's a pickle." And then you go, "Oooh. It's a pickle." Like, and it's delicious. And one is sweeter and more concentrated than another one that you find seconds later. I love it, because I'm falling in love with the cheffiness of it. And I've also fallen in love with the flavour. And, in fact, I look over to that kitchen, and I'm expecting to see a team of four guys there. You know, four good chefs. And there's Georgia, by herself. Yeah. That is amazing. Last year, we... Matt and I sat here and ate probably the best food that we've ever eaten in the MasterChef kitchen. Honestly. I mean, we were absolutely gobsmacked. But this takes it to another level of gobsmacking-ness, because it is just amazing. It's so much more complex. OK, how long on the desserts? (CORK POPS) (ALL CHEER) OK, don't pop the champagne quite yet, there, Billie. This dessert is sort of exactly what I hoped for. I wanted it to be a fizzy drink poured over the ice-cream. You know how when you pour a... Are you pouring it over the top? When you pour a spider... (ALL CHEER) These guys need to get out more. I know, I know. It's really worked out well. JESSICA: Really worried that if I break my moulds, that I'm not going to have any back-up. Very, very carefully start unmoulding them. Shannon, we're good on the domes. (ALL CHEER) They look perfect. Can you guys start to send the first table? Yeah, I'm ready when you are. OK. Alright. I want them plated up. Let's go. Georgia, in realistic terms, how much have you got to go? I've finally finished with that first part of service, with the mains. That's the last four? Yes, Shannon. OK, clean down. Come on. Let's go. Come on. Come on. Hey? Hey? Well done. Yes. Thank you. I thought it was never going to end, but now I can get a crack-on with dessert. This is so intense. This is definitely the hardest thing we've ever done. Then I realise how many elements I have left to do on that dessert. I'm literally back to square one. I just want to get ready now. Get it together. Yep. I really need to fire up and just smash this next round. I'm not going home. OK, first dessert order in. Four grapefruit popcorn away. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) Four spiders away. Get it on the plate, Jess! BILLIE: I decide to put the praline on the bottom, so that it can hold the ice-cream and the rhubarb stalks, and then put the granita over the top, and serve the jug of fizzy on the side of the plate. KHA: Go, Billie! Whoo! I'm really loving sending this dessert out. I love the theatre of it. It is a proud moment. I love the idea of a spider as a dessert. Ohhh, wow. So, this is Billie's dessert. And look at this little touch of theatre at the table. Dill and rhubarb spider. Dill ice-cream. Rhubarb... Raspberry puree, roasted rhubarb. MATT: That looks amazing. It's absolutely a spider. I'm really excited. You talk, I'm eating. Oh, dear. GEORGE: Oh, my gosh. Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness. That's so good. Absolutely sensational. Wow. And refreshing. Mm. Flavoursome. Yeah. Textures. Theatre. It's taken us to that little childhood moment where we've all experienced the spider. But it's brought it bang up to date, in terms of what a modern dessert's all about. It's sour and bitter and zingy, but all the textures are there. That is spectacular. It is a childhood memory. But it's turned it into an R-rated, adult-only dessert, with the addition of that champagne. And interestingly, that little crumb - that little nut praline - actually finishes it and makes it. You find these little chewy kind of nuggets, and you go, "God, that's good." Honestly, if we... We eat out a lot. If you got that in a restaurant... Oh, you'd want to meet the chef. Blown away. I'd want to walk past the kitchen and just say thank you. Because that's the... there's a lot of heart and soul gone into this, and a lot of thoughtfulness. She's an amazing cook. SHANNON: Well done, Billie. Thanks. Happy? Yeah. Ecstatic. GEORGIA: Get out. It's so hard in this moment to just kind of keep cracking on. There's a voice inside my head telling me that if I pull it together, I could potentially do OK with this dessert. I'm just going, "You can do it. You can do it. You can do it." Come on, Jessica. Come on. Yep. Pump it out. Doing a tremendous job. I plate up the dessert, and it looks exactly like it's supposed to. I'm really, really happy with it. The little, like, tumble of crumble looks beautiful. The domes look lovely. So, yeah, I'm really excited now. Four more away straight after that, please, Jessica. Four more. Just basically pump it through. Just keep going. OK, pick up, please. OK, four grapefruit. (ALL CHEER) If you had shown me a photo of this dessert three months ago, and told me that that was mine, that I created that dish, I probably would have laughed at you. I am a little bit worried, though, because grapefruit and popcorn is a weird combo. I just hope that the judges are going to like it. GARY: It just says grapefruit and popcorn. 1 SHANNON: Four more away straight after that, please, Jessica. Four more. Just basically pump it through. There we go. Ready to rock. It's pretty crazy, looking down at this tray of desserts. OK, pick up, please. Four grapefruit. I'm really, really proud of myself at this point that I've kind of pushed myself today, and done something really different. It would be amazing to be in the finale. But I'm a little bit worried about it. Grapefruit and popcorn is a weird combo. I'm really, really worried about how that's going to be received. I just hope that the judges are going to like it. GARY: It just says grapefruit and popcorn. MATT: That looks amazing. Yeah, it does. Amazing. It's very pretty. I like that blush over the top of that chocolate. And I love the little crumble, and the addition of popcorn just... just lifts it all up. She has come a long way in terms of her presentation. So, is it parfait inside or is it mousse? It's parfait, isn't it? Ohhh. Oh, there's a surprise! Ohhh. How good's that? There is a surprise. I love that little squirt. Look at that! That's the bit that makes it special, isn't it? You expect it to be one thing, and it turns into something different. You know, I wasn't gonna eat it all. But now I'm gonna eat it all. I love it. I really love it. Wow, look at that. Look at that casing around a beautiful dessert. It's thin. It's crisp. You know, it's got lovely colour. That little popping candy is Heston-like and yummy. The negative I have is that little gel in the middle, 'cause I can taste gelatine. I really like it. I think it's an excellent dessert. Um, two things I question. One is the density of the sponge. I think the sponge is a bit heavy for me. The other thing I question is whether white chocolate, popcorn, and grapefruit... all belong together. Georgia, come on. 12 to go, Georgia. Yep. 12 to go. You've gotta push it. Yes, Shannon. We're nearly there. After a shaky start, somehow, I'm back on track. I'm just moving as quickly as I can, and trying to stay as focused as I can right now. You've got another 12 after that, OK? 12. Yes. I have definitely got the finale in sight. Let's go, Georgia! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) I'm right here, right at the end. And if I'm going to survive, I've just gotta absorb the pressure, keep working, keep pushing, until the end. OK, four mango. Alright, Georgia. Good work, Georgia! Despite the fact that I've caught up, I'm really nervous that this is potentially the last dish that I've cooked in the MasterChef kitchen and that I'm ever going to present to the judges. But the biggest thing for me is to stay positive... because you don't know what can happen just yet. This is Georgia's dish. And we've got mango sorbet, vanilla yoghurt parfait, macadamia and chilli praline, with chilli salt and coriander. It smells amazing. It looks beautiful. But the hardest thing about eating this dish has been watching Georgia. You can see the pressure on the plate. Yeah. All of these little rochers or quenelles should look shiny, amazing and perfect. And this doesn't sing that. The people of New Zealand have a unique opportunity to decide the future of our flag. In the final referendum, your vote counts. Help decide which flag we stand for and how we're represented to the world. It's time to decide, New Zealand. 1 It smells amazing. It looks beautiful. But the hardest thing about eating this dish has been watching Georgia. You can see the pressure on the plate. Yeah. All of these little rochers or quenelles should look shiny, amazing and perfect. And this doesn't sing that. Shall we taste? I'll... I'll get it off my chest. You know what? This is my favourite dessert. I love it 'cause I've got creamy, I've got icy and I've got crunchy. That's got salt in it. A slight bit of chilli. That is beautiful. Loads of salt. There's loads of sugar in the crumb. Um, but relieved by the sourness of the yoghurt in the parfait. Coriander just adds that little kind of Asian funkiness. That's so good. And that creamy parfait and then that refreshing sorbet is just, like, all together, a very familiar combination and very, very, very more-ish. Like, very, very more-ish. It's like that tub of ice-cream you can't put down. Well done, Georgia. Well done. It's alright, George. GEORGIA: I really did put everything I had into what I did today, including the tears and the struggles. I... That was me in two dishes. What's the tears for?! I don't know! Cuddle me. I feel really, really proud. The three of us are all really good friends and no matter what happens, I had an amazing service today and had a great time. I mean, 46 dishes each. You know, there's... 60 customers is exceptional! Hour and 15 minutes. That's restaurant standard. High-restaurant-calibre standard. Well done! You know what the best thing is, of all? That we go into that grand finale tomorrow and we have the two best cooks we've ever had in this competition going head-to-head for the title of MasterChef 2015. Thanks, Shannon. You were great. Thanks so much for your help. Thank you. Pleasure. Pleasure. Right now, it's absolutely impossible for me to make a decision. I need to think about it, let my lunch go down and have a little time just to... tot up all the scores. We stand in awe of the three of you. We are... more than pleased. So proud. It was an exceptionally difficult challenge and you did an exceptional job. Individually, we can safely say that those six dishes were the best food we've ever tasted in this competition. Ever. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) Well done, ladies! What we know is that you've come so far. It was well conceived and it was creative, beautiful cooking. It was also absolutely delicious. All three of you would be fabulous finalists. Unfortunately, only two of you can make it. Right, Billie. Let's start with you. MasterChef is not just about coming in and meeting new friends and cooking great food. It's about the person that you come in and it's how you carry yourself. It's the legacies that you leave and... the entire country, I'm sure, looking on and going, "Wow. What an amazing woman." The four of us believe in you and we know that the food that you've been putting up in this competition so far, in the manner and the respectfulness that you've done it in, is a true indication of what an amazing woman you actually are. Thanks, George. We've loved watching you grow as a cook. And today... your lamb was my favourite savoury course. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) All the memories of a Sunday country roast. But all the technique of a modern-day cook. Your dessert combined the memories of childhood... but with a thorough modern interpretation. The way we'd see it in any great restaurant right now. But even more, a little bit of theatre. And you know we love theatre. Both your dishes... were free of negatives. Oh, my God. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) And that is why you are in tomorrow's grand finale! Well done! Three months, Billie. It's all come down to this, yeah? It's all come down to the grand final. The grand finale. What does it mean to you? I can't believe it. I really can't believe it. It's just insane. Um... I think they were two of my favourite dishes I've cooked so far in the competition. Um, I think 'cause they mean a lot to me and I've really discovered that that's what I love cooking, is dishes that, um, stem from something. That remind me of sort of where I came from, so... And to, you know, to do that with Shannon Bennett and then feed you guys and all those guys, that was just amazing. While you guys were watching. (LAUGHTER) Yeah, it's been such a huge journey, but, yeah, I think... today, for me, was... it just felt so real. It felt so real in the kitchen. Unreal, really. Like, it was... it was amazing, so... That's... Yeah, I just... Goes to show how far you've developed in this competition. Yeah. You know, it's truly remarkable. Thanks. Georgia. Jessica... The awful truth is only one of you can join Billie... in the grand finale. JESSICA: Going home is not an option today. I want it so bad. GEORGIA: I've visualised getting to the grand finale since the very start. This whole experience has come down to this very moment. Really hoping that I've done enough. 1 Georgia. Jessica. The awful truth is... only one of you can join Billie... in the grand finale. It comes down to the... food you cooked today. Those two very important dishes. Jessica... George might have loved Billie's main course, but for Gary and me, our favourite main course was that wonderful pork. Thank you. (APPLAUSE) But... on a day when there were so few negatives... we questioned both the elastic texture of the gel and also the weight of the sponge in your dessert. Georgia, there was so much going on, on that main course. But everything was in balance. Sweet, salty, sour, creamy, crunchy. Excellent. But... the presentation of your dessert looked rushed. Couldn't help but look over and see that you were still plating up... and Jessica and Billie had both finished service. That leaves us with... the toughest decision we've had to make this season. Georgia... we said at the beginning... that deliciousness in this competition... always wins out. And that dessert... was so, so delicious. And that's why you're in tomorrow's grand finale tomorrow, Georgia. Congratulations. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) I'm so sorry! It's alright. I'm proud of you. I'm sorry, Jess. Don't be sorry. Stop saying sorry! I did enough. I'm in the grand finale. I don't know where to look. I don't know what to say. I feel like I'm going to throw up. This is amazing. Georgia, what does it mean to you, after all this time? Oh, I'm actually speechless and I'm shaking. Um... Just amazing. Every challenge, I've put every single part of myself into it, and, um, to just get every step of the way and sometimes to just... just scrape through is... it's all worth it. It's just been the most amazing experience, and I said from the start that it's like a movie. You just don't want to walk out of the cinema early and not find out what happens. And to be here at the end, um, and with such an amazing girl, with Billie, is just... out of this world. I actually feel like I'm in a dream right now. Jessica, we're so sorry. We... weren't convinced. We didn't love the combination of white chocolate, grapefruit and popcorn. It was good, but on a day when all three of you cooked so amazingly well... it just wasn't enough. All we can say is although your time in the MasterChef kitchen is over, we can also say that your dream is still alive. And we know that you're going to be amazingly successful. We love the food that you've become so well known for. So many beautiful dishes, but it's not the dishes, but it's the sticky, the crunchy, the slightly dirty, the pickly, the creamy, the more crunchy, the salty. GEORGE: Oh, you forgot the cheesy. And the cheesy. The gooey. Oh, the buttery. The buttery. And the buttery. And the extra buttery. And, Jessica, the fact that you can jam, you can ram flavour into the simplest of things... You're a brilliant cook. Thank you. You know what? Jessica, we had to make the decision, but now it's time to join the others and then cheer these two on in the grand finale. Can I get a hug first? Yeah! You can... You can have as many hugs as you want. You did so well. You really did. I'm really, really devastated not to be going through to the final tomorrow. It's... it's a real big disappointment to come this far and not, you know, get to that last little hurdle. Um... yeah. It's... It's heartbreaking. This one! But... I also know that there's no point in, you know... in it hurting that bad because there are still going to be amazing things to come. Billie, Georgia, well done. You are our MasterChef finalists for 2015. Well done. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) The most important day of your life awaits you. This is the last time you're ever going to hear me say this. Go home. Get some rest. 'Cause tomorrow is going to be epic. Off you go. I do believe I have the capacity to win this competition. I believe Georgia does too. (GEORGIA SCREAMS AND LAUGHS) We're both going to have to be on the top of our game. We're going to have to forget that we're friends and just compete like competitors. But I think that will be a lot of fun. What did we just do?! (LAUGHS) ANNOUNCER: Next time... You... ...it's Georgia versus Billie... ...are about to take on... ...in an epic battle ... ...the hardest pressure test in the history of MasterChef... anywhere... in the world. My heart is just pounding so fast. They're fighting for their future,... Oh, my gosh. I'm actually going to faint. ...for their families,... MATTHEW: She's amazing. I know! ...and their fate will come down to the final five hours... Are you ready? ...and the mad genius of... Heston. The most important cook of your life. What is that? This dish is going to change one of your lives forever. Oh, my God! I'm gonna do this. Who will be Australia's next MasterChef? Supertext Captions by Ericsson