MasterChef Australia (series 2)

The first challenge of Finals Week was then revealed - an invention test with the contestants split into two teams and asked to invent three dishes with the core ingredient of crustaceans, with ten minutes to plan and 75 minutes to catch and cook their crustaceans. Sakai was invited to "do the honors" of beginning the challenge, and he borrowed Takeshi Kaga's famous exhortation of "Allez cuisine!" that had customarily begun each Iron Chef battle.

Sakai mainly spoke through an interpreter, though Adam (visibly and admittedly starstruck, having been born in Japan and having watched Iron Chef) was able to converse using his "rusty" Japanese. As someone who had become world famous for producing high-quality original dishes under pressure in Kitchen Stadium, Sakai appreciated how swift and sure the remaining chefs were even though they were amateurs, and he remarked at tasting that it was odd being a judge instead of the chef being judged and knew how nervous it was to be in their shoes.

The Blue Team was praised for Adam's brilliant Scotch Egg invention but underwhelmed with the rest of their menu. The Red Team's dishes were, on the whole, more impressive (Courtney's Chilli Mud Crab had Iron Chef Sakai literally wanting more) but were criticised for not being as inventive. In the end, the Red Team's knockout dishes pushed them over the line, and Alvin, Courtney and Jimmy won an advantage going into the Pressure Test Elimination: to view the dish all six would be cooking (an Adriano Zumbo creation), taste it and study the recipe overnight.

Sakai's appearance also compelled Adam to later tell News.com.au through the Telegraph, "(Iron Chef)'s the first (show) that entertained rather than educated. You wouldn't have MasterChef without Iron Chef."^[7]

The judges decided that Alvin, Callum and Courtney were the worst performers. Callum was spared because, despite his mix up with the layering, he got all the elements on the plate and presented the cake beautifully. Courtney was deemed safe and Alvin became the first finalist eliminated. Although he had the best attempt at the tempered chocolate, the poor presentation, and the fact that he missed two of the layers sealed his elimination. Jimmy was then declared the winner of the challenge as he produced a cake with all 8 layers and a great taste. As winner, he won the advantage to pick the contents of the Mystery Box for the next days challenge.

Jimmy’s choice of ingredients created many issues for the other contestants, and even for Jimmy himself. Jimmy's Tarka and Garlic Butter Dhals were criticised for being under-flavoured, and his Onion Rings were deemed not up to competition standard. His Muscat Ice cream, although tasting good, was criticised for its poor presentation. Callum’s lentil curry was praised for its flavour but his Flatbread did not impress. His dessert, a Lemon and Ginger Brulee Tart was a standout dish for each judge; Shannon praising both presentation and taste. Courtney’s Dhal was deemed the best of the day, but the accompaniment, a savoury Pakora, was undercooked and claggy. Courtney struggled with ideas for her dessert, only deciding partway through the challenge. She subsequently ran out of time in her plating up, failing to complete all the elements of her dessert. The judges were underwhelmed by her Crepes with Lemon and Ginger Curd, saying it needed another element to make it work. Adam’s complex dishes: Oeufs Mollè with Soubise, Gorgonzola Gratin and Tuile, and Candied Tomatoes in Muscat Sauce with Ginger and Salt Granita, proved to be too complicated, and while the judges admired his ambition, he overdid it ending up with unbalanced flavours. Claire struggled with creating two dishes from what she described as a “Mystery Box from Hell”, and ended up making two similar dishes. She was criticised for not providing any crunch in her main course, for poor presentation of her Gorgonzola Mousse, and for an unbalanced Muscat Sauce. However, the judges were impressed with her Layered Lemon Curd Parfait, both in presentation and taste. In the end, Shannon Bennett was pleased with each contestant’s performance; all had elements that were impressive. Callum was the first to be deemed safe, with Shannon praising his work ethic. Adam was next declared safe, and praised for his technical skills, creativity and instinct. Jimmy was the next through but was chastised for failing to take full use of his advantage. Claire and Courtney were declared the Bottom 2. The judges urged Claire to be more confident about her food, and while there was a lack of balance in her main, the techniques she displayed in making the solid dessert and brilliant Mousse were enough to save her from elimination, leaving Courtney the second finalist to be eliminated. A great Dhal was not enough to make up for the unimpressive elements of her dishes. More importantly, Courtney failed to demonstrate the level of skills expected at this stage of the competition when compared with Claire according to the judges. Adam, Callum, Claire and Jimmy moved on to the next challenge.

Claire was the first to present her dishes and the concept of her book which she named 'From the Hearth,' full of gutsy, honest and timeless food. Maggie Beer loved the concept of her book, but thought her Scallops with Crispy Pork Belly and Apple would be better without the pork belly, commenting, "this is a city dish." While the judges loved the Roast Beef from Claire's main course, they were disappointed with the Red Wine Sauce, calling it "vegemite-y." George noted that he would be pretty disappointed if he got that recipe from her book. However, her dessert, an Orange Blossom Pannacotta, completely won the judges over. Callum named his cookbook 'A Cook's Roadmap,' focussing on cooking techniques rather than ingredients or course. His three dishes, Coconut Mussels, Roast Pork Belly with Scallops, and Chocolate Fondant with Orange and Date Ice Cream each attempted to address the techniques of curry paste, roasting and custard. While Matt thought the curry was unbalanced with too much fish sauce, his two other dishes were met with raptures. Jimmy named his cookbook 'Flavours from My Home', citing he wanted to share what he learnt from home and to use the book to encourage readers to not be afraid to use all kinds of spices. While his dishes looked good, he was criticised for overcooking his Crispy Skin Duck with Tamarind Glaze. His Prawn Curry sauce tasted soapy. But he impressed the judges with his Chai Latte Brulee in terms of flavour even though it was not set properly. Last to present, Adam named his cook book 'Two Asian Kitchens,' which would include traditional and modern dishes inspired by Asian cuisines. His Haianese Lobster Rice was praised for being "rich and sophisticated and hasn't lost the soul of the dish." His Smoked Kingfish Chirashi Zushi was praised for its inventiveness, technique and flavour. However, the judges didn't like his dessert, Chinese Churros with Salted Duck Egg Custard, citing that it did not appeal to the Western palate. Ultimately, Adam and Callum were the first told that they had made the Final 3, leaving Claire and Jimmy in the Bottom 2. Taking into consideration the faults in both Claire's and Jimmy's dishes, Jimmy was eliminated.

Claire had first pick and selected the main: a Roast Rack of Lamb with Mushrooms, Broad Beans and Polenta. Adam chose the entree: a Tartlet of two Trout, Roast Tomato and Watercress, leaving Callum with the dessert: Chocolate Fondant with Blood Orange Jelly, Tuile and Honey Anglais. Adam faced problems with smoking his trout, and preparing the amount of pastry needed for 35 people. And although careful in his preparation, a bone was found in one of the tarts, although the mistake was caught before serving time. The judges were impressed with the consistent presentation of each of the tarts, the fact he served them on time and his overall performance in the kitchen. However, his pastry was criticised for being slightly too thick. Claire struggled from the word go, realising quickly the dish she had chosen had a huge amount of prep work; indeed preparing the Lamb Cutlets took up most of her time. She was forced to enlist a few extra hands along the way to help with her preparation. In spite of this, her main was not ready on time, delivered 15 minutes late. The judges were overall impressed with the dish, but noted that little things detracted from it as a whole: mismatched chops, crusty polenta, a lack of stickiness to the shallots. She was criticised for her performance in the kitchen, not getting her dishes complete on time. Despite a slow start, Callum handled the pressure well, methodically working through the technical elements of his dessert. The crucial moment proved to be getting all 35 fondants to just the right consistency: set on the outside and oozing from the middle. The judges were impressed with the level of skill shown by Callum in the kitchen to produce all the elements on the plate, however they found that not all the fondants had the "goo factor." Adam was the first declared safe and through to the Grand Finale after a solid performance. In the end, although each had their criticisms, Claire's performance in the kitchen proved not as impressive as Callum's and she became the fourth finalist eliminated.

Round 1 was a Basic Skills Test where contestants had to name ingredients and complete cooking challenges represented by six cloches. Under the first cloche were three different spices that had to be named: turmeric, fennel seeds and szechuan pepper, which Adam and Callum identified correctly. The next cloche contained three different fruits: a kumquat, a starfruit and a guava. Adam correctly identified the first two while Callum could only identify the starfruit. The third cloche contained three different cheeses: bocconcini, Parmesan and gruyere. Adam identified all three correctly, but Callum incorrectly identified bocconcini as mozarella. Under the fourth cloche were three different fish: tuna, kingfish and eel, all of which were correctly identified by both contestants. Three different sauces were under the next cloche: tartare, hollandaise and romesco. Although Adam correctly identified all three, Callum only named the tartare sauce correctly. Under the following cloche were carrots, which contestants had to julienne, brunoise and turn to the judge's standards. Callum was awarded points for his julienne and brunoise, but Adam was only awarded for his julienne. Under the final cloche were eggs, which contestants needed to use to produce a satisfactory omelette. Adam was awarded a maximum of two points for his omelette but Callum was only awarded one, which meant at the end of Round 1, the scores were Adam 17 and Callum 13.

Round 2 of the final was an Invention Test, the theme of which was "3-ways", this meant contestants had to create an Assiette of a protein of their choosing, in which they could demonstrate three different techniques for cooking the protein. Adam chose pork belly, while Callum chose chicken. Accompanying Gary, George and Matt on the judging panel for this round was Matt Moran. Following the tasting, all the judges gave both Adam and Callum's dishes 9 out of 10 which meant at the end of Round 2, Adam was still in the lead with 53 points while Callum had 49.

The Final Round was a Pressure Test where the Final 2 had to recreate Peter Gilmore's signature "Snow Egg". Although at the beginning of the Pressure Test, Callum was multiple steps ahead of Adam, he found problems with his batch of meringue which meant he had to redo them. As his granita had been in the freezer for too long, it was too hard and while he was trying to scrape it, parts of the granita fell to the ground, which resulted in his dishes not having as much granita as he had intended them to have. Adam also found difficulties with the dish, in particular whilst trying to mould the maltose disc on top of the meringue using a kitchen torch, he cracked a few. Ultimately, although Matt Moran awarded 9 out of 10 to Callum for his dish, the other judges awarded him only 8. In contrast, all judges awarded Adam 9 out of 10.

1st Elimination

1st Elimination

1st Elimination

Re-Elimination

Re-Elimination

Re-Elimination

Callum
82 points
to win

Adam
89 points
to win