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It’s episode 14 of MasterChef Australia 2023 and an Immunity Pin is up for grabs if a contestant can beat a world-class chef in a cook-off!

Being the winning team for last night’s Service Challenge, tonight it’s time for Adi, Cath, Robbie, Phil, Declan, Jessica, Grace and Amy to battle it out in the kitchen.

In the first round, the contestants will compete against one another, with the victorious cook facing off against celebrity chef Sergio Perera.

And if they win? They will take home the Immunity pin and be safe from Sunday’s elimination.

The Cook – Round One

Upon arrival to the kitchen, each chef was welcomed by the judges Jock Zonfrillo, Andy Allen and Mel Leong plus a massive gift at their station. Upon unwrapping it, they discover they all have a different appliance that they can use in the challenge. The catch? The gifted appliance is the only one they’re able to use!

Declan had a pressure cooker, Amy had a stand mixer and Phil had an ice cream maker, but it’s Robbie who’s left stumped over his appliance.

When Jock asks him exactly what his machine does, Robbie straight up says that he doesn’t know, and things are beginning to look grim for him in this round.

“Poor Robbie, he’s never seen a cold press juicer in his life,” Jock laughed.

The contestants were told that along with the chance at the Immunity pin, the winner of this round would also take home a $10,000 gift card for Harvey Norman. And, TBH, most of the contestants (and Andy, too) seemed more stoked about the gift card than the chance to skip an elimination.

The contestants got started on their appliance-inspired dishes and Cath was one of the first to hit a speed bump with her Cream and Jam Butter Cake when Mel made it clear that her dish was looking extremely sweet.

Cath narrowly avoided a breakdown and held herself together before coming up with the idea to put some basil in her jam to balance out the flavours.

Meanwhile, Phil was looking nervous about his ice cream-making task, knowing that his last attempt failed miserably. Despite being advised to simplify his last dish, Phil decided to go all out and make a Tea Ice Cream with a Chocolate Hazelnut Biscuit and Chocolate mousse.

The rest of the contestants seemed to cruise through their dishes with minimal problems.

Judging Round One

First up is Cath with her Family Birthday cake, and Mel gave her a figurative pat on the back while saying that the cake was delicious and “the jam and the cream are both really fresh and a little bit sour which really lifts everything up.”

Phil was nervous coming forward with his second ice cream dish for the season and the dramatic music that was swirling seemed to suggest he wasn’t going to be well-received. Turns out, it was just trickery from the sound producers and all the judges enjoyed his dessert, with Jock telling him it was a “redemption dish”.

It seemed that Robbie got the hang of the cold press juicer because all three judges loved his “Robbie’s Duck” dish.

“The flavour in the duck was brilliant, and the cook in the duck was brilliant. I think you’re a flavour smith,” Jock declared.

Amy made Sardine Flatbread, and while the judges didn’t mind it, they didn’t have a whole lot to say. The same went for Grace and her Anchovy and Cheese Croquet with Chilli and Yoghurt Sauce and Adi and her Kataifi Prawns and Mayonnaise.

After skimming through the past few contestants, Declan’s dish reveal of Thai Chicken Broth with Peanut and Lime Sambal got a lot of screen time, and for good reason as the judges were blown away by his creation.

“Declan, I loved it,” Mel said. “This is the exceptional food that we’re looking for”

Andy agreed. “You’ve cooked the best dish in round one, which means, mate, you’ve won this,” he said while flashing the Harvey Norman gift card. Declan was sent through to round two to cook against a world-class chef in order to win immunity.

“I’m bloody over the moon, what a day I’ve got goosebumps,” he exclaimed.

The Cook – Round Two

Declan’s next task was competing against Sergio who has worked at elBulli in Spain which was ranked the best restaurant in the world five times.

More recently, he’s teamed up with Chris Hemsworth to kick start his app Centr as the key chef.

If Declan beats Sergio he will get the immunity pin. If he doesn’t, he still gets to keep the $10,000 Harvey Norman gift card, which feels like a win-win to me.

Because of his triumph in the last round – and probably also because Sergio is a world-class chef – Declan was given a 15-minute head start in the challenge.

The men were presented with four different flavour pairings; dark chocolate and parmesan, carrots and raspberries, mushrooms and blueberries, and mandarin and tarragon.

Delcan chose Mandarin and Tarrgon to pair with fish. This left Sergio with one of the other three options and he decided on blueberries and mushrooms… to also cook with fish.

Despite the similarities in their dishes, Declan wasn’t too worried.

“Declan is my name and fish is my game,” he chirped with a grin.

While the men got stuck into their dishes, the female contestants (and Robbie) fangirled over Sergio and his good looks from the balcony above.

He wasn’t phased by the attention and happily sauteed his blueberries while grillinf his mushrooms to accompany the fish.

“Everything seems perfect right now,” he said.

With only 20 mins to go, Declan was only just selecting his fish and pointed out that it needs a “good 15 minutes” in the steamer.

As expected, Declan began to stress that his fish wasn’t cooked enough.

Alas, he managed to finish cooking it just in the nick of time and the MasterChef contestant plated up as the last few seconds ticked down.

The Verdict

Sergio’s dish was up first and the judges are impressed.

“Fish is cooked through… morish, I want to keep eating it,” Jock said.

However, Mel said that while there’s some “undeniable skill going on”, she “doesn’t know if she’d say it was the most cohesive”. Andy agreed and said he wishes it was more mushroom-forward, and it looked as though Sergio was in trouble.

Meanwhile, Jock was impressed with Declan’s dish, calling it “beautiful” and said his only criticism is that he thinks the sauce could have done with a finer strainer. However, Andy said that the dish needed a bit more salt but thought it was a “solid” effort.

The Results

Cue the results: Declan got an eight from Andy, an eight from Mel and a nine from Jock which brought him to a total of 25 out of 30.

Sergio got an eight from Jock, a seven from Andy and a seven from Mel, bringing him to a total of 22, meaning that Declan was victorious and he won the immunity pin!

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Grab your aprons, folks! It’s lucky episode 13 time and time for some Surf and Turf on MasterChef Australia 2023.

During the May 24 episode, the contestants packed up their knives and headed out to Grazeland in Melbourne’s Spotswood for the first BIGGEST Service Challenge the series had ever seen!

In case you’re not from Victoria, Grazeland is a food lover’s dream, overflowing with an endless array of global cuisine and culinary masterpieces.

Splitting into two teams, the contestants had five hours of prep time to whip up a mean Surf and Turf. And the goal? Feeding “thousands” of hungry diners!

The winning team, which managed to impress the judges the most, will now be vying for Immunity in Thursday’s episode.

After all the “ooh’s” and “aah’s” were complete, here’s everything that happened!

The Teams

The contestants were randomly put into two teams by choosing aprons from a bag.

In the Turquoise team was Adi, Cath, Robbie, Phil, Declan, Jessica, Grace and Amy and in the Yellow team: Rhiannon, Rue, Theo, Alice, Brent, Antonio and Ralph.

Malissa pulled the white apron from the bag, meaning she wouldn’t be cooking; however, she had to back one team (she chose Yellow) and if they won, she won!

With five hours on the clock, it was time to get their prep on!

Prep Time

Adi took charge of the Turquoise team and they chose to make a Thai theme. They opted to cook Thai Curry with Barramundi and Thai Beef Salad.

The Yellow team chose Pork Belly with Scallion Fried Rice and Chilli Mussels and Focaccia, with the team looking to Brent to take charge.

Back on the Turquoise team, Declan was tasked with preparing 400 portions of Barramundi with Judge Jock saying he was feeling “petrified” for them.

“This is going to be hard,” he said.

The Turquoise team decided to bulk up their curry with veggies, while Theo over on Yellow a.k.a “Bread Boy”, had to calculate how much focaccia to make.

Jock questioned the team about the number of mussels each person would receive, telling them they needed to double the recipe, which meant cleaning, debearding and cooking 2400 pieces.

Phil was in charge of chopping the beef while Ralph and Rue had to cut 40kg of Pork!

Alice was in charge of cooking the Pork Belly and with two and a half hours to go, Andy was concerned that Declan was only halfway through the fish.

“It does feel like it’s falling apart a bit,” our loveable Declan said.

Jock then told Brent that “they were in trouble” due to time, with some of the girls joining in to help him with the Mussels.

Back with the Judges, all three were concerned that there was “no urgency” so both Jock and Andy came in to assist.

Prep continues — 90 minutes until service

With 90 minutes until service, it was time to “get out of the weeds”.

Robbie was in charge of the Curry, trying to balance it with sugar, soy sauce, chilli and vinegar while Brent frothed over Alice’s Pork which he deemed “perfect” and we could smell the deliciousness from here!

Finally, the Mussels were ready to be cooked but Phil was feeling the pressure to get the Beef right. Amy was in charge of making the dressing for the Salad, creating a take on Nam Jim Dressing.

And then huzzah! Finally, with thirty minutes to go, Declan’s fish duties were over… until he realised he still had to cook them.

Meanwhile, Rhiannon was making the Chilli Sauce for the Mussels and Jock asked her to count the Mussels in each bowl to ensure they had enough.

Then disaster struck! With 30 minutes to go, the Yellow team discovered they only had enough Mussels for sixty serves, not 400!

With ten minutes to go, the crowd went wild…and so did Cath!

“Wow!” she said. LOVE HER.

The Turquoise team decided to create tasters of their curry while in a win for the Yellow Team, Brent and Jock gave their meals a taste and were thrilled by what they were eating.

Service and Judging

Service started and “people were swarming up” with the Turquoise team forming an assembly line while the Yellow team continued to struggle, three people short due to the Mussels.

Jock and Andy left their teams to it while Grace felt the pressure to not “disappoint” Andy in particular, who had saved the day.

We then got a glimpse of the patrons, but it was this one in particular that we needed more of:

The Judges then began… well, judging.

“Looks simple but so much work in there,” Andy said of the Thai Beef Salad. “It’s got a lot of texture and a lot of punch.”

Jock said it was “missing sweetness” and “could have been 50% better”, while Mel said it was “lively”.

As for the Curry, they called it “fancy” and were impressed by the way there were individual portions of Barramundi.

Declan and Phil then got out on the floor to drum up customers and Brent said it was a “great feeling” to be serving their hard work but was worried about the consistency of the cook.

Rhiannon and Brent then served the judges, who started with the Seafood — the Chilli Mussels and Foccaccia.

Andy called the Mussels “perfectly cooked” while Mel said the sauce was “vibrant”. They all agreed the texture of the focaccia was “good”.

As for the Sticky Pork Belly, it was cooked “perfectly” with Andy calling it “belting”. Unfortunately, the garlic had burned and melted into the rice, overpowering it.

The Verdict

“I hope you’re aware of just how big a triumph it [the cook] was,” Mel said, adding that their food raised thousands of dollars for charity.

The team who made it into the Immunity Challenge was: The Turquoise Team!

And there were squeals all around!

MasterChef Australia continues on Thursday at 7.30pm on 10 and 10Play.

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It’s episode 12 of MasterChef Australia and after last night’s Mystery Box, Theo, Declan and Larissa are heading into the biggest Pressure Test the kitchen has ever seen!

Tonight, the three cooks have been tasked with recreating Eddie Stewart’s Tokyo Lamington Tower and it was not only the tallest bake ever, but there were FIVE hours on the clock! The most time the MC kitchen has ever seen!

Being an elimination, the maker of the dish which least resembles Eddie’s creation would be eliminated from the competition.

The Lamington Tower consisted of the following flavours: Tres Leche, Snickers, Strawberry Matcha, Yuzu Meringue and Charcoal Pumpkin — and the competitors had to create ALL of them, four times over!

“You’ve seen the tower, you’ve tasted the tower and now you have to make the tower!” Judge Andy told them.

The Cook

There were 26 elements to get through and eleven pages in the recipe; and with five hours on the clock, it was time to motor!

“Jeezus, what am I doing?” Declan asked himself.

The contestants began baking the sponge, the “biggest” element of the cook. Straight off the bat, Theo makes a mistake, forgetting to sift the flour.

Meanwhile, Larissa and Declan had put their sponges in the oven, and it was time for Declan to create the “Tres Lecky” filling.

35 minutes down and Theo’s sponge was finally in the oven.

While Declan’s “nan” told him to never touch sugar while caramelising, Larissa stirred hers, causing it to crystalise and had to start again. But, disaster struck once more when her sugar crystalised and she had to start over.

Theo was also struggling to make up time but managed to complete his custard while Declan was surging forward. The third time lucky, Larissa finally perfected her sugar; however, it started clumping once she poured it into the cream.

Eddie then told her that she had to pour the cream into sugar and so, for the fourth time, she had to start again.

“Do I want to toast my nuts a bit more?” Declan asked while moving onto his Snicker’s mousse and then subsequently onto his Strawberry mousse.

Theo — who had picked up the pace — had now “somehow” caught up to Declan, while Larissa finally perfected her caramel! But because she was so far behind, Larissa had to do multiple things at once as Declan turned over a delectable sponge.

Larissa then cut her cake before Declan made a “detrimental” mistake, cutting his sponge the wrong way.

Eddie and Judge Jock told him to put it together like a jigsaw puzzle while Theo began to feel “weirdly energised” and was ready to fill his Lamingtons.

With four hours down, Declan was ready to make his “Tres Lecky” and add the “Dul-che de Loo-chy” (Gosh, we just love him!) and Larissa couldn’t remember how many nuts to use on top of her Snickers component.

While her meringue was praised by Judge Mel, once again, Larissa became flustered, forgetting to torch the bottom, so rushed to complete the step.

“Feeling super spent and super emotional,” Larissa said through tears when it was finally all over.

The Judging

Theo was up first, and said he thought he “went pretty well.”

“Colours look good, size is pretty consistent,” Eddie said while the Judges concurred his sponges and layers were “great”.

“I couldn’t fault much, to be honest,” Eddie remarked and Mel said that he’d “done a superlative job”.

Declan was up next but was still concerned about the measurements of his Lamingtons.

The Judges commented on the size, with Andy saying the sponge “was very good but not as good as Theo’s.”

“All in all, I think he’s done a great job,” he added, before nitpicking the double coating of the Snickers.

Eddie said you can tell he was “meticulous” and had a perfect Italian Meringue and Jock said it “wasn’t far away” from Eddie’s.

Finally, Larissa was up. She knew she had the “biggest advantage in the MasterChef kitchen” and was concerned she had blown her second chance.

Jock called her Tower “a bit rough and ready”, while Mel said she had trouble with the coating and Eddie called them “big lamingtons”.

“Big challenge, big pressure test, big problems,” Jock said. “Structure? They feel pretty clumsy. It’s a shame.”

“There’s big problems on this,” Andy added.

The Verdict

Andy praised Theo’s sponge, telling him he had beat the pressure test. Declan was told that his Lamingtons were perfect and flavour-wise? Fantastic.

Once again, Larissa was sent home and this time, for real.

MasterChef Australia continues at 7.30 pm on Wednesday, May 24 on 10 and 10Play.

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It’s episode 11 of MasterChef Australia and Big Week lives up to its name as the contents of the biggest-ever Mystery Box are revealed!

Contestants must think outside the box and up the flavour to avoid tomorrow’s Pressure Test.

Inside the large wooden crate was their pantry for the day and everything was supersized including Yellow Fin Tuna, barrels of wine, a planter box full of mint, cassia (similar but stronger than cinnamon), some huge pumpkins, a “regular Jock size” Toblerone, parmesan, a leg of prosciutto and bags of peanuts.

With 75 minutes on the clock, it was time to cook one delicious plate of food!

The Cook

As the cook began, we checked in with what the contestants were making.

Rhiannon decided on pumpkin, prosciutto and parmesan to create a mouth-watering Gozleme while Rue chose peanuts and Toblerone, to make a Snickers-inspired Tart with peanut butter ice cream.

Brent also went the sweet route, creating a Salted Caramel Ice Cream with peanuts and Cath, a caramelised Cassia Ice cream Sandwich.

Declan was originally going to do sweet out of the “behemoth of a mystery box”, but the Yellow Fin Tuna was calling his name and he decided on Peanut-crusted Seared Tuna Loin with Pumpkin Puree.

Antonio also chose to create an Ice Cream Sandwich — however, we later learned, it had a delish molten core!

“There’s something about today, I think it’s going to be a good day,” he said.

Ralph picked cassia and orange to make a South African Dessert Milk Tart, while Theo grabbed cassia, rhubarb and oranges to make a Puff Pastry with Rhubarb and Cream a.k.a Milfoil.

“Should get three folds…to create super nice buttery layers,” he said.

Larissa, who won a second chance to come back to the kitchen during last night’s elimination, decided to make her “first pasta dish in the kitchen” — Doppio Ravioli with Roasted Pumpkin and Burnt Butter sauce.

“I’ve never made it before”, she said. Great time to start!

“Focus on the sauce, make it blow our minds,” Judge Andy told her, and Larissa stressed about what she could do instead.

Phil also went sweet, making Ice cream with an Orange Tuile and a Chocolate Biscuit base, inspired by Terry’s Chocolate Orange from his childhood.

Then disaster struck.

Theo had overworked his pastry but with half an hour to go, just had to “go with it” before Declan was told by Judge Mel that she was worried about the textures of his dish.

“I just have to back myself and keep going,” he said.

Rhiannon said her Gozleme was “me on a plate” and decided to bulk them up with lots of filling.

Theo took his pastry out of the oven and said they looked “sub-par”, disappointed by his effort, while Larissa still hadn’t decided on her sauce. Instead, she decided to do the Doppio pasted against her “better judgement”. She then decided to make a Burnt Butter Whey Parmigiano sauce to accompany it.

Even though his tarts were “epic” (according to Andy), Ralph’s tarts cracked during plating, so he had to pivot to create a deconstructed version.

The judging

It was judging time and time to impress the judges. The bottom three would be heading to tomorrow’s Pressure Test!

Phil presented his Toblerone Ice Cream Sandwich with Orange Sugar Tuile.

“Nicely done,” Mel said while also saying it was the “best thing” he’d cooked, yet!

“Great texture and good flavour,” Jock said. “Triumph!”

Cath, Rue and Brent all served their dishes with high praise, while Rhiannon’s Gozleme had a “good amount of filling”.

Then it was time for Larissa’s dish and unlike Rhiannon, her dish was lacking in filling.

“Good work on the pasta,” Jock said before calling the Doppio “poor” with Andy saying the sauce “didn’t quite get there”.

Declan was next up with his Peanut Crusted Tuna.

“Declan, it eats exactly how it sounds,” Jock said, “But all you can taste is peanuts. It’s an odd combo.” Mel then said it wasn’t “cohesive”.

Antonio presented his Toblerone and Ice Cream sandwich.

“Great,” Jock said. “Nutty, delicious” before Andy called the biscuit “perfect”.

Amy, Melissa and Adi all presented their dishes with the judges calling Adi’s a “good weeknight meal”, before it was Theo’s turn.

“You can tell you’re not overly stoked,” Andy said before Theo said he “overworked it”.

“Unlucky today, mate,” Jock said of his Milfoil with Rhubarb and Chantilly Cream.

Ralph then delivered his “deconstructed” South African Milk Tart.

While it didn’t present well, Jock clapped him and said “It was so good. When it’s that good…your custard is epic!”

“There’s nothing about that I don’t like,” he said before Mel called it “sublime”.

The Verdict

Antonio, Phil and Ralph had the best dishes of the day while Theo, Declan and Larissa were going into the “biggest pressure test we’ve ever set in this competition”.

MasterChef continues on Tuesday, May 23 at 7.30 pm.

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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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