MasterChef Australia is known for all its incredibly impressive, yet totally complicated recipes. Watching home cooks be pushed to their limits and create out-of-the-box flavour combinations is inspiring, and for grand finale week, the bar was set so high. Yet somehow, it still completely de-railed my brain and made me think: how on Earth is that even possible!?
Being an average home cook, I needed to speak to an expert in the field. So, I swivelled around in my chair and called out to our food editor, Sarah Murphy. And her reaction didn’t let me down.
Let’s look at 3 of the most impressive dishes that I’d probably break down crying, and set my kitchen alight, if I ever dared to try to make myself.
01
The Botanical Garden
by Chef Miko Aspiras
“What in the Willy Wonka is going on here?! This looks simply insane, not to mention it’s taken me about 3 business days to read the whole recipe,” Sarah said. And TBH, same!
“The detail on this is absolutely mind-blowing, and I can’t even begin to imagine how you start creating, let alone recreating something like this.”
World-renowned pastry chef, Miko Aspiras brought this jaw-dropping challenge for the second round of the grand finale. Callum and Laura had their work cut out for them, needing to re-create the beautiful pot-plant dessert. What’s it involve? Well, not one of those elements isn’t edible. Which means… yes, they need to make everything you see – even the pebbles!
Are you ready for the break down? The dish consisted of lollipop flowers made of raspberry and strawberry gum truffles. Profiterole pebbles filled with Earl Grey tea mousse, dipped in dark chocolate coating with mandarine dark chocolate ganache. Then they’re sprinkled with lemon myrtle crumble.
Not too hard, right? Oh, I forgot to mention the wattle seed tuille leaves on delicate chocolate twigs with tempered chocolate, and aloe vera spikes filled with calamansi and aloe vera gel. YUM, but also terrifying!
02
Potato and Samphire
by Laura Sharrad
“Has Laura finally broken the risotto curse?” Sarah asked. “Perhaps, although I guess technically there was no rice involved, but what a risk to take on a risotto-style dish in the grand final!”
While Laura called it a risotto in the episode, it’s the grand finale, so there was a twist. She used finely cubed potatoes instead of rice, with rosemary and samphire in a smoked pipi broth and rosemary oil. A restaurant in Paris inspired her creation, and the risk paid off. The judges loved it, the texture was perfect and the flavours were true to her style.
“The rosemary oil she made is actually quite an accessible recipe on its own, and I think it would be delicious to drizzle over a hearty pumpkin soup, or serve alongside roast lamb for something a little extra special,” Sarah added.
03
Potato and rosemary oysters
by Callum Hann
“These are definitely not your typical Tuesday night potatoes,” Sarah said with a laugh. “How do you even begin to think this up?! The humble potato never saw this coming. What an incredibly creative spin on this brief. I’d love to know what all of those flavours taste like together!”
Callum’s one-bite potato and rosemary oysters had our brains reeling. There isn’t a single real oyster shell on that plate. They’re all potato skins! Callum used potato flour to create the shape and appearance of an oyster shell with the flavour of a potato chip. Inside, it’s brushed with bacon fat and rosemary oil. Each ‘shell’ is filled with potato noodles and an actual oyster, rosemary, oyster mayonnaise and lemon and mandarin gel for freshness.
From the judges’ reaction (they were blown away), we can confirm it must have been delicious.
