After failing to impress Yotam Ottolenghi in the team challenge at Little Bertie’s butcher, Arum, Diana, Samuel, Tamara, Sam, Sarah and Karlie faced an eye-opening elimination challenge.
In round one, contestants had to identify thinly-sliced cross sections of different ingredients, which were placed on a light box. The first three contestants who guessed an ingredient incorrectly would head into round two.
Arum incorrectly guessed the pink fish as trout, Samuel was off the mark when he incorrectly identified sweet potato instead of purple congo potatoes, and Tamara also wrongly named jicama as celeriac.
In round two, Tamara, Samuel and Arum had 75 minutes to cook a dish using the ingredients they correctly named in round one.
Samuel decided to create a puff pastry tart with caramelised onion and tomatoes. Samuel’s mother is vegetarian and he was excited to celebrate vegetables. He knew that with such a simple recipe, he would have to nail his puff pastry.
Arum wanted to make a dish focused on apples. He decided to make a caramelised apple ice cream, apple skins and other apple elements, creating an English autumnal feel on the plate.
Tamara wanted to focus on nectarines, making a tart with a lime caramel and lime ice cream. She pickled apple and made apple wafers.
Samuel’s tart was the first to be tasted and was well cooked with a delicious, country feel. His proportions were off, however, with too much pastry and not enough filling. Tamara’s dessert was deemed sophisticated and Arum’s apples were fantastic.
In the end, it came down to the balance of components. With a tart which required more filling, it was time for Samuel to head home and he became the 11th contestant eliminated from the MasterChef Australia kitchen.
Samuel plans to expand his Gut Feeling vegetable fermentation business and continues to follow his love for seasonal, local produce.
