S14.W07 (E30-E34) - Mega Week

[Snazzy Daisy]

MasterChef Australia: Fans & Faves

Week 7 (May 29 - Jun 02, 2022)

E30:  Green Wall Elimination

E31:  The Cloud Mystery Box

E32:  Gelato Messina Pressure Test 

E33:  The Lume Team Challenge

E34:  Marco Pierre White’s Immunity Pressure Test + MasterClass (Jock Zonfrillo, Andy Allen, Thi Le, Nick Riewoldt and Mindy Woods)

 

❌ Eliminated ❌

1. Chris Tran (Fans)
2. Dulan Hapuarachchi (Fans)
3. Max Krapivsky (Fans)
4. John Carasig (Faves)
5. Christina Batista (Faves)
6. Sashi Cheliah (Faves)
7. Minoli De Silva (Faves)
8. Jenn Lee (Fans)
9. Melanie Persson (Fans)
10. Ali Stoner (Fans)
11. Matt Landmark (Fans)

 

 

Edited June 2, 2022 by SnazzyDaisy

[Snazzy Daisy]

Sneak Peek 👀 of Green Wall Elimination

[katisha]

Poor Alli.  The "old age pensioner" contestants (i.e. anyone my age) never seem to last very long in Masterchef.  To this day, the oldest person to win was Sashi (39), followed by Julie (38 when she won, so early 50s now).  I like that she was trying to really push the boat out with her dishes, but I think the main mistake was adding haggis to, well, anything. 🤮 Maybe she figured at least Jock would appreciate it?

I'm starting to wonder if the "Blokey McBloke" edit was more of a thing in the Gary/Matt/George days.  It was actually kind of insulting, like, "Oh, my GOD - this big, boofy bloke who does skilled manual labour just boiled a pot of water without burning it!  He's a cooking savant!!!!"  I don't mind that they praised Daniel for his kale dish because it's appropriate to give a contestant credit for actual growth, learning new things and applying what they've learned.  Matt's dish actually looked more appealing to me.  I will have to take the word of the judges that curry leaf parfait tastes good because I can't really imagine it.

Tonight's recap.

Quote

Ali feels like her mojo levels are running a little bit low, which is sad for her but great for us because hearing her say it in her accent is adorable. She's a little bit confused, and proves it by deciding to serve gnocchi, fennel and haggis. Ominously, we are subjected to shots of Ali walking on the beach with her kids, which either means she's about to rise triumphant or crumble heartbreakingly.

He's not wrong.  I was quite concerned for her when she got the "beach shots with kids" edit.

[Snazzy Daisy]

What a boring episode! They spent 24 mins on the guessing game itself. 🥱😴😵

To make thing worst, Channel 10 has tweeted the result before it was announced. Clumsy! 🤦🏻‍♀️

Did the producers purposely create this green wall of veggies for Harry? 🤔

Sarah has miscalculated twice. She KIV the “rare” herb that she knows for Steph to guess it correctly later. And she should’ve kept her pin, she cooked a familiar dish and she’s happy with the flavor. Sarah’s pink top has weird sleeves, I thought her bra straps were hanging down.

Bye Ali! Will miss her accent and her funkiness. Kind of disappointing that Ali could not outlast the 2 pets - Harry and Daniel. Ugh.

So, we will be seeing Matt again in the next elimination!

Edited May 29, 2022 by SnazzyDaisy

[katisha]

4 hours ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

Sarah’s pink top has weird sleeves, I thought her bra straps were hanging down.

😁I thought it was just me who figured the same thing!

[Snazzy Daisy]

 

Edited May 30, 2022 by SnazzyDaisy

[ppl]

20 hours ago, katisha said:

I will have to take the word of the judges that curry leaf parfait tastes good because I can't really imagine it.

Maybe it's just me but I can imagine that the flavour combination of curry leaf, passionfruit and white chocolate would work very well. You have the sweetness of the white chocolate, the tanginess and tartness of the passionfruit along with the fragrance and the spice of the curry leaf all coming together in 1 dessert. It really shows the lack of depth that the new judges have where they don't have the imagination of wondering if a certain ingredient can go together in a dish. The old judges, while not perfect, did sometimes could see where the contestant would be coming from and aiming for with the flavour profiles of their dish.

Could the judges be any less complimentary of Billie's dish? I hate that they keep muting their praise of Billie's dishes. Coming out of her shell, Mel? There hasn't been a dish that hasn't poked its head out, Jock? WTF was her immunity pin winning dish then? Or her confit duck that you said was perfect? Or that turmeric papaya semifreddo?

Look at the difference in what was said inside the tasting room and what they told Billie.

Inside the tasting room: 10/10, restaurant quality dish. Balance is perfect.
Feedback to Billie: Delicious, masterfully executed.

Meanwhile, they was a lot of word salad thrown around to Daniel's and Matt's dishes that would have sent either of them home if only the three of them minus Ali cooked.

Spoiler

I know who goes home next. In the next team challenge, I accounted for everyone except for Matt so he goes home doing the honey pressure test.

[katisha]

Awww, Aldo talking about his grandmother was so sweet and touching that I'm choosing not to be cynical and accuse him of playing the famous "nonna card" which, as we all know, can elevate dishes to the top of the pile and save its users from elimination.

Other than that, it'll be interesting to see how Montana deals with a pressure test.  Matt keeps ending up in them so I'm not sure he will be around much longer.  Daniel is too much of a favourite to go and Michael is a really good (not to mention professional) cook so he should be fine.

[Snazzy Daisy]

The rainy day foods reveal was such a downer because that levitating cloud was so overhyped. It’s basically a “cook whatever you want” theme, so lame‼️

Michael looked so defeated, I can’t watch him like that! 😫 Hope he will be okay in the pressure test.

Am glad Tommy won the dish of the day, NOT Aldo.

————————————————————————————

Aldo: “So heavy fish sauce, shrimp paste!”

Tommy: “I haven't put any fish sauce in there!”

Aldo: “OMG! It's so bluekkk!”

Aldo is such an asshole! He hasn’t done much in that 75 mins. He cooked a simple dish and used a sob story as a deflection so judges won’t be too harsh on him! Enough with the nonna and homesick stories already. Just cook and stop being touchy-feely with the girls!!! 😡

[katisha]

5 hours ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

Aldo: “So heavy fish sauce, shrimp paste!”

Tommy: “I haven't put any fish sauce in there!”

Aldo: “OMG! It's so bluekkk!”

You're right - that was just rude. I wouldn't have enjoyed Tommy's dish either because I don't like any seafood but there are ways to be tactful about it!

[katisha]

Hmm, I suppose the actual chef who designed the dish had a major problem with the gelato part of Matt's dish and that wouldn't have helped his chances, but I still can't help feeling Matt was a bit unlucky that he was in the bottom two with a judge favourite.  I liked Matt and hope he goes on to do well.

Meanwhile, here's the recap.

Quote

Andy asks him what's up. He tells Andy he just needs to re-read the recipe. "You've got no time to re-read," says Andy, advising Dan that he should just make something up instead. Inspired, Dan fills his financier with tuna.

Quote

Dan begs for approval from the balcony as he makes his tuile. He knows he's a little bit behind – his Chrisco Christmas hamper just arrived – but he keeps plugging on. He reminds himself that in his job as a fireman he faces much more stressful situations, and goes dangerously close to gaining a sense of perspective.

🤣

Quote

Finally Montana produces one sort-of-OK beehive and everyone claps quite patronisingly. Montana takes infinite care with putting the finishing touches on her dish…and breaks the last beehive. She is now certain that she'll be eliminated, but there is still hope: remember how Billie thought Matt had screwed up his cake? That's what we call FORESHADOWING.

So true!

Quote

The judges enjoy the taste of her dessert, and after much discussion, decide that although she literally failed to complete her dish, there is definitely a way they can rationalise ignoring that fact, and kick out someone they like less instead. So it's bye-bye Matt! We'll miss your infectious Kiwi energy and your loveable awful moustache.

See, Ben agrees with me about Montana!

[babs1226]

It was sad to see Matt go, and I would have much preferred that it be Montana, but I thought she did a great job of improvising at the end.  If Matt hadn't stuffed up the cake portion, it might have been a different outcome, but we'll never know.  I liked when the guest judge told Montana not to worry about what the other contestants were doing.  I wish the judges would say that to all pressure test contestants, as I think some of them get more stressed out about keeping up with everyone else than about their own dish.  I remember Therese's last pressure test where she was so concerned about doing everything quickly that she took no care to make sure she did everything right.  Fortunately, the others in that cook didn't try to keep up with her.

So far in this competition I haven't really seen any remarkable ability from the fans, especially compared to last year.  It's hard at this point to imagine any of them in the final.  We shall see.

[Snazzy Daisy]

Am glad Michael is safe.

I guess we will be seeing doofus Daniel in this season finale! 😣

Melanie’s thick pastry ❌

Harry’s horrible gravy ☑️

Matt’s too much cake ❌

Montana’s deconstructed beehive ☑️

So now the judges are back to “taste trumps appearance” mantra!

Hmm……… 🤔

I cannot keep up anymore!

ETA:

This is a good episode for those who cannot differentiate between Michael, Matt and Daniel. 😄

Edited May 31, 2022 by SnazzyDaisy

[Snazzy Daisy]

My imaginative mind went buzzing as soon as I saw Donato’s weird shirt…

Hey, I can’t help it! 😂😂😂

[ppl]

Don't know why people are so up in arms about Matt being eliminated. It was a gelato challenge set by a gelato making chef. It should have been obvious to everyone that gelato is the most important part of the dessert. Not enough gelato = instant elimination.

Good on Montana for not giving up and reconstructing the beehive dessert upside down.

Who is editing this season because the editing in this episode was so shitty that Michael was practically montaged even in a pressure test. 

Have to give Daniel props for blowing sugar perfectly twice. Maybe he can teach this to future contestants so they can add that to their Masterchef audition checklist.

[katisha]

I actually enjoyed tonight's service challenge episode more than I usually do.  That amazing location certainly didn't hurt, but it was more the fact that the location inspired some real creativity in the contestants.  Mindy's entree (OK, Harry's too, I guess!) was very impressive and that dessert that Billie single-handedly put together showed exactly how she must have won her season (even though it's one of the few I didn't see).  

On a totally shallow note, I LOVED Melissa's outfit tonight, especially the colour.

Tonight's recap.

Quote

Jock asks Aldo how many tortellini he'll be serving per dish. Aldo says three. "Three?" repeats Jock, as if Aldo had just told him he was going to fill the pasta with human hair. Aldo needs to make 100 tortellini in 90 minutes, a feat never before achieved by human hands. Julie tells him to pull his finger out. And put ricotta in.

Quote

Back on the green team, everything is going well for Montana with her mushroom ice-cream, apart from the fact that she's making mushroom ice-cream. It's always a gamble to deliberately make a revolting dessert, but Montana has faith that nauseating the diners will pay off yet again for her.

Couldn't agree more - I thought this sounded 🤮

Quote

On the yellow team, Sarah, who thinks bushfires are beautiful, is working side by side with Dan, who is a fireman and has a slightly different perspective. Dan is putting in a massive effort to talk himself into believing that a bushfire-themed main is a good idea. Sarah helps by bossing him around and looking sour.

Quote

Diners begin to arrive, looking forward to weird food in a weird environment. Aldo is overjoyed with his tortellini. "Suck it, Jock!" he screams. Well, he doesn't, but you can see it in his eyes that he wants to.

[Snazzy Daisy]

Phenomenal venue and great concept for a team challenge. Reynold’s fairytale dessert “Down the Rabbit Hole” straight away came to mind.

Judges: “We want your dishes to take us into the heart of the forest.”

Steph: “We should do a life cycle. The forest is not always green. It’s part of our life where we have bushfires.”

Let’s celebrate the smell of burning forest, homes, trees and koalas. Yay! Then she vanished. Julie, Aldo and Sarah have taken over the role of team captain. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Alvin: “Eau de forest. Coming to a store near you. A scent for the real men.”

Rrright Alvin! All women want their men to smell like rainforest and 🍋🍋🍋.

Hey Mindy, where exactly can we find the lemony rainforest???

Julie: “It is a dark, moody kitchen isn’t it? Channeling its inner Van Goth!” 🤣

It’s nice to see some fave/fan dynamics in the kitchen today - Michael/Keyma, Mindy/Harry and Sarah/Daniel. Saw a lot of comments online on how condescending Mindy and Sarah were towards Harry and Daniel. I didn’t see it that way when I finally watched the episode. 

Sarah and Daniel seem to cooperate better today as compared to the Werribee Mansion challenge. We heard Daniel talking about balancing flavors, acidity in the dish etc. He’s learning, improving and absorbing knowledge like a sponge. He survived several pressure tests and he seems more confident now. We know Sarah is quite full of herself. Having permanent RBF isn’t helping either. On top of these, I think she’s getting a villain edit.

Mindy OTOH is getting more annoying than ever with her “hey girls, hey girlfriends” and calling the gay guys “sister”. What does she call Sashi/Michael/Tommy, “hey brother“?

Clearly Montana is not the brain in the Fans’ dessert trio. She jinxed herself when talking about their winning streak. On her own, all she can come up with were only ice cream and sliced berries. Then she spent her time helping the main team. She should’ve made a dark chocolate and matcha cake or component to complete her forest dessert. She didn’t even think about her plating. When Mindy asked “is this all, not even a sauce?”, I laughed. Hey, what do you expect? There’s a reason why people don’t like influencers, their mentality and arrogance.

Congrats Michael on your main (A Bull in the New Forest) and Billie on your dessert (Regrowth).

Jock: “Did Billie make the choux pastry? That was a cracking dish! She’s got a really nice touch when it comes to tempering strong flavors.”

Andy: “30 plates? Billie did 30 plates! Like, start to finish. Man, she’s good!”

Duhhh! That’s why she won her season and got hired on the spot. And that’s why we call her queen Billie. 🙄

Edited June 2, 2022 by SnazzyDaisy
Grammar, ugh!

[babs1226]

@katisha In Billie's season, she was pretty much invisible until later in the season, if I recall correctly.  She just quietly cooked her way to the top.  It was such a pleasure to see her win.  Heston Blumenthal was a guest judge and offered her a job at the Fat Duck right after the finale.  

I enjoyed the service challenge as well, but the judges continue to annoy me with vague feedback.  They really kind of suck at it.  It's too easy to tell when they are being sincere and when they are making sh*t up.  

Montana annoyed me when she mentioned that she beat Billie in two service challenges.  It's a good thing that she mentioned that this was the first time one on one.  Based on her dessert this time, I think it's fairly clear that she wasn't the driving force behind the fans' winning dessert team.  Seriously, she knew she was going up against Billie, and the best she could come up with was a lump of (disgusting sounding) ice cream and some sliced berries?  It was a perfect opportunity for a crumb!  Maybe she doesn't know how to make a crumb?  I guess we will see.  

[babs1226]

@SnazzyDaisy You posted while I was typing.  Your post is very entertaining!  I agree with everything you said.  LOL'd at Andy's comment about Billie.  I must have missed it.  Really, Andy?

[Snazzy Daisy]

14 minutes ago, babs1226 said:

@SnazzyDaisy You posted while I was typing.  Your post is very entertaining!  I agree with everything you said.  LOL'd at Andy's comment about Billie.  I must have missed it.  Really, Andy?

Hey girlfriend… (channeling Mindy 🤣)

Watch this!

[katisha]

1 hour ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

Mindy OTOH is getting more annoying than ever with her “hey girls, hey girlfriends” and calling the gay guys “sister”. What does she call Sashi/Michael/Tommy, “hey brother“?

I mean, Mindy is gay herself so you'd think she would be all over what is and is not acceptable when addressing gay guys, but I have to say that "hey girlfriend" and "sister" almost sound insulting!  Yes, they're gay men, but they're MEN, not girlfriends or sisters!

Edited June 2, 2022 by katisha

[babs1226]

1 hour ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

Watch this!

Thanks, gf! :)  I must have zoned out because I remember Jock's feedback, and some of Mel's, but not all of Mel's and not Andy's.  How odd!  Oh, maybe that was when I got a text from my sister!  That would make sense.

[Snazzy Daisy]

Sneak peek 👀

Marco’s asking the big questions to the contestants

A person who works with their hands, is a Labourer.

A person who work with their hands and their brain, is a Craftsman.

A person who work with their hands, their brain and their heart, is an Artist.

So ask yourself, who are you?

And ask yourself, what would I like to be?

Edited June 2, 2022 by SnazzyDaisy

[babs1226]

It looks like the winner of Celebrity MCAU will be in the Master Class tonight.  I don't remember his name, but I liked him, and I was happy that he won.

[ppl]

Michael is a force of nature in team challenges. He has won every portion of his team's service challenges. I would kill for a Michael-Billie pairing team up in the future.

Billie's dessert far and away looked the best in concept and look. I am loving that she is revisiting past dishes and updating them in new and inventive ways. I'm happy that she had Dish of the Day. I really wish that the rules were broken this once and she got to cook off for immunity tomorrow. I would love to see her keeping up with Marco again or at least do one of his pressure test dishes.

Aldo is not that great in team challenges and also really bossy.

Sarah has had clashing flavours in a few of her team challenge dishes so far.

Steph disappeared into the forest after deciding on the Yellow Team's menu only to reappear for Billie's dessert. I hope she charges the editors for that.

Finally some real acknowledgement from the judges on Billie. It only took her making the dessert by herself to get it.

[Snazzy Daisy]

Err, no thank you Marco. Hard pass! ✌😖

Edited June 2, 2022 by SnazzyDaisy

[Mellowyellow]

5 minutes ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

Err, no thank you Marco. Hard pass! ✌😖

What the heck is that? Why so ugly???

[Snazzy Daisy]

6 minutes ago, Mellowyellow said:

What the heck is that? Why so ugly???

Squid ink or engine oil? 🤔

[Snazzy Daisy]

How embarrassing is that? If I were Michael, I will go and bury my head in the sand! 😂

Are we sure this show is not scripted? 🤨

[katisha]

Michael may have felt embarrassed, but Jock definitely should have! I thought I felt a bit of a weird vibe between Jock and MPW and it's not surprising given that MPW said that most of the stuff Jock wrote about him in his recently published book was straight up not true!

Very happy for Keyma to win as "favourites" like Mindy now have me actively wanting them to lose! Keyma is flying under the radar a bit but it was really impressive how well she prepped that dish.  Montana, on the other hand, was getting the "TikTok wunderkind" edit at first and now looks like a kid wayyyyy out of her depth.  

[babs1226]

I thought this pressure test was kind of boring.  I think I like Marco best when he is pushing the cooks.  I thought it was funny that Mel referred to Montana as a dark horse and then she didn't make the grade.  If there was a dark horse in the challenge, it was Keyma.  Someone on another forum was complaining yesterday that Keyma and Steph don't get enough attention.  Sometimes you have to give it time.  I think Keyma is the most versatile cook of the remaining "fans."  I don't think we have seen Daniel make a dessert yet.  I agree about Montana seeming to be out of her depth.  Harry can just leave any time as far as I'm concerned.  I find her presence annoying, and I don't think she's an impressive cook.

[Snazzy Daisy]

I don’t hate Marco but am not excited about him either. Not really impressed with the dish that they have to cook. Many contestants were more worried about not being able to impress Marco than enjoying the cookout.

Marco didn’t look happy and said nothing when Jock shamelessly telling his BS about their first encounter. Then he followed Marco like a lost puppy, talking to the contestants, giving no chance to Andy and Mel. The judges should alternate instead.

It’s disappointing to see Billie (who won the best dish) relaxing on the gantry while some other mediocre cooks and freeloaders got to cook for immunity, and they seemed so proud of themselves. Ugh.

Am glad Keyma won the immunity. Hope it will boost her confidence and allow her more screen time.

It wasn’t fun watching frantic Tommy. Dude, just chill and cook quietly. Montana and Harry got so much screen time in this episode. Lucky them! 🙄

Marco to Alvin: “When I say this, I mean it… I can count on one hand the amount of artists I cook with.”

Me: “Definitely not Jock. Ouch!” 🤣🤣🤣

Mindy did it again with her ‘girl thing’ in the masterclass. While frying the saltbush, she said to Andy - “We are dancing, girl. This is what we do.”

Sarah was bored to the max when she has to sit and watch Jock cooking the butter chicken. When Nick Riewoldt entered the kitchen, Sarah was no longer sleepy!!! 😂

Sarah’s RBF, priceless! 🔥🤣

 

ETA: This is my favourite photo of young Marco. He’s more good looking than his 2 sons! 

Edited June 3, 2022 by SnazzyDaisy

[katisha]

36 minutes ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

Sarah was bored to the max when she has to sit and watch Jock cooking the butter chicken. When Nick Riewoldt entered the kitchen, Sarah was no longer sleepy!!! 😂

Sarah’s RBF, priceless! 🔥🤣

To be fair to Sarah, she is a former model and I think RBF is one of the first things they're taught at modelling school 🤣

[ppl]

I'm glad to see Marco back in the Masterchef kitchen again but that dish looked awful. At least put some micro herbs and flowers to make it more appealing to look at.

Nice to see Keyma step up and win immunity. Maybe this will be the start of her plating up more fine dining dishes.

I'm glad they kept screentime on Harry and Mindy to a minimum and we got to see some other cooks for a change. 

Marco's back on Sunday so we get to see the reunion between Billie and Marco. I'm waiting for her to knock his socks off after his comment about these Masterchef contestants being the strongest cooks that ever fed him. 

[Snazzy Daisy]

RECAP:

This week, we have to say goodbye to 2 Fans - Ali and Matt.

For Sunday's elimination, producers came out with a Green Wall of Veggies and Herbs because they love Harry so much!

Sarah chickened out at the last minute and played her immunity pin. Damn.

Marketing tactic went wrong. Overhyped levitating cloud has disappointed many fans and they bombarded MCAU socmeds with F words. Rainy day foods huh, really???

Daniel has revealed himself as a sugar-blowing whisperer, while Billie is still having PTSD because of it.

In the team challenge at The Lume, Steph has became the "now you see, now you don't" team captain for Yellow team. It's magical. Cannot believe she is a team leader at her workplace too!

Montana was looking forward to beat Billie again with her mushroom ice cream, self-inflating much?

Marco Pierre White finally returned to MC kitchen since Matt Preston is now gone. Producers have marketed him as some kind of superhero, with red cape and all (SOURCE). Silly isn't it? 

Keyma won her first immunity from Sunday's elimination. Congrats! Off you go to the gantry heaven.

Overly animated Mindy has started to rub some of us in a wrong way. Girl, what's your game?

Aldo too has been playing a subtle game. With sob stories on family love, just to trigger judges' sympathy, he will try to make it to top 5. No impressive cooking is needed.

And some just think they are so cute and adorable for TV! Ugh.