It was a bittersweet ending last night for Cassie Delves, when her bitter and burnt chocolate mousse saw her run in MasterChef: The Professionals come to an end.
The losing team from Sunday night’s epic High Country Challenge, along with Coop, who had lost the previous night’s challenge, were split into two teams of three.
Each team had to cook a three-course dinner for 120 guests, and while Marco Pierre White would be running the pass like previous service challenges, the stakes were even higher. Tonight’s challenge was all about perfection. Marco laid it out before the six competing contestants: no more would he close an eye to the occasional imperfection. Each dish was to be delivered to “perfection”.
Michael was pulled up for rushing his prep, his vegetables not exactly the same size. “I’m worrying about the time.” he said to Marco. “I’d worry about perfection,” came the response. Nick was up against the clock and struggled with pin-boning his trout, Rhett was pulled up for not correctly julienning his vegetables and Coop’s 63-degree poached egg was set a little too much.
Cassie could only hope for such small imperfections. Burning her first batch of caramel was only the beginning. “It’s not a setback, it’s a disaster,” she muttered as her chocolate mousse boiled over. Overwhelmed and struggling, Marco offered her some support: “Don’t ever let them see you sweat.”
But it wasn’t just the dessert section that was causing her trouble. Assisting Michael with his main course, Cassie was in charge of cooking the duck to perfection. However, on tasting, Matt Preston declared the duck was rushed, not crispy, tough and required more seasoning. Paired with her failed chocolate mousse, it was enough to see her leave the MasterChef: The Professionals kitchen
Marco and Matt declared that very rarely do you see someone so young with so much technical ability and so much talent. Cassie is proud to have made it to the Top 10 and been inspired by the incredible chefs she worked alongside. The experience has opened her eyes to all the possibilities before her. “I just want to go out and do it all at once,” she said.
MasterChef: The Professionals is a Shine Australia production and continues Sunday, Monday and Tuesday on TEN at 7.30pm.
SOURCE ten
