It’s MasterChef Australia 2023 episode 10 and MC royalty Julie Goodwin has returned.
Survival is on the menu and everyone except Theo is in a black apron, cooking for their place in the kitchen.
Once the shock had worn off that Julie was standing in front of them, the first-ever winner of the series presented a seafood stew. And the round one challenge? One by one, the contestants had to use their sense of taste to tell the judges what ingredients were in the stew.
Round One – The taste test
Choosing their order out of a bag, Rue got the first position while Grace picked the unlucky number 15.
After tasting the stew, one by one, the home cooks chose ingredients they could taste. Alice had to tell the difference between what kind of tomatoes were in the dish before Declan was the first contestant put into the Elimination Round with his guess of barramundi.
As black pepper, garlic and carrots were all mentioned, Antonio took a guess of Pancetta. He was the second person put into the cook.
Rue then guessed tomato paste, Robbie Tabasco Sauce and Jessica Tarragon which were all not ingredients in the stew and they were put into the final round.
Round Two — Elimination cook
Those who picked the wrong ingredient were now tasked with cooking to avoid elimination by using only the items in Julie’s recipe.
Judge Mel Leong then revealed the “biggest twist” yet. Larissa was back with her second-chance grey apron, ready to fight for a place back in the competition!
With 75 minutes on the clock, Declan began prepping a Seafood Soup. Jessica decided to stick to her strengths, cooking pasta that was “in my comfort zone”. She decided on Spaghetti al Pomodoro, the Calabrian way, with no eggs.
Robbie chose to make a bush-inspired Seafood Stew while Antonio began to prep his Fish Empanadas. Larissa set herself Russian Chicken Dumplings in a Broth and finally, Rue told Mel and Julie she was cooking Mussels.
Jessica’s spaghetti was thinner than she makes at home, accidentally using normal bread flour to create her dish. Judges Jock Zonfrillo and Andy Allen were concerned for her, with Jock calling it “risky”.
Round Two – Elimination
With the cook complete, it was time for the judges to taste.
Robbie was first up with his Seafood with Tomato Soup.
“Looks good, smells good,” Jock said while Julie said it had a “deep flavour”. Mel said Robbie had “respected the produce”.
Next up was Antonio with his Snapper Empanadas. He became emotional when talking about his food, saying that he had promised his Grandma, who taught him to cook and who passed away, that he would go on the show.
Mel said that they really needed to be “sealed” like a proper Empanada before Andy said it was “a decent effort without setting the world on fire”.
Rue then delivered her Mussels in White Wine and Tomato Sauce.
Julie thought the sauce was “absolutely beautiful” and Mel called the Mussels “succulent” while Andy said they were “perfect”.
Declan, who was proud to not spill anything, presented a Prawn and Snapper Soup with Flatbread.
Even though his “crisp bread” left something to be desired, Andy said he did a “good job of getting that amount of flavour” in the soup.
Jessica then shared her Spaghetti al Pomodoro.
Jock called the Pomodoro sauce “next level tasty”; however, the texture of the pasta was “a little bit off”.
Larissa was the final cook to share her dish. She served up her Russian Dumplings — Pelmeni and Broth.
Julie called them “yummy”, Andy said they were a “really tasty homestyle dish” and Mel said it was “exactly what she promised us”.
Dish of the Day and Elimination
While Robbie won Dish of the Day and Larissa was welcomed back into the kitchen, Jessica’s bread flour spaghetti sent her home…for real, this time.
“This has been the best experience of my life,” she said.
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