The final day of Nostalgia Week saw contestants walk into a 70s style lounge room, participate in a cheesy challenge and end with a classic dinner party.
A blind taste test had contestants trying to identify a series of cheeses. The first five contestants who incorrectly guessed a cheese were sent into elimination, with the remaining joining Brent safely on the gantry. Unfortunately, Malissa, Robbie, Rue, Rhiannon and Ralph didn’t pass the challenge.
In round two, contestants were tasked with putting their own spin on a nostalgic dish, choosing between prawn cocktail, spaghetti Bolognese, matzo ball soup, moussaka, bread and butter pudding, apricot chicken, congee, curried sausages, pavlova and trifle. With only 75 minutes, the cook with the least impressive dish would be sent home.
Ralph and Rue were both drawn to the trifle. Rue impressed the judges with a trifle-inspired Swiss roll cake that was described as luxurious. Ralph’s trifle swapped the sponge for a sticky date cake, with banana custard and candied oranges that left the judges pleased with his execution and flavour combinations. Rhiannon took on the moussaka and while she appeared chaotic, her multi-tasking paid off in the tasting. The judges were impressed with her interpretation of the dish, calling it ‘mum cooking’ and exactly what they were looking for.
Unfortunately, not everyone’s cook went to plan. Robbie first decided to cook curried sausages, feeling confident after delivering a number of successful curries in the MasterChef kitchen to date. However, after a chat with the judges, he decided he needed to show more of his repertoire and chose to swap to a prawn cocktail instead. Pushing himself outside his comfort zone, he infused his curry into the mayonnaise for the cocktail sauce and was pleased with his fusion of old and new dishes.
Malissa chose to recreate the classic spaghetti Bolognese envisioning ravioli stuffed with Bolognese flavoured mince to be served with a pesto on the side. Unfortunately, her mince didn’t cool down enough before she had to start filling the ravioli, causing the fresh pasta sheets to stick to the bench from the heat, ruining her vision and ultimately her dish. With just one pasta sheet left, her only option was to cut the pasta into fettuccine and stir it into the remaining Bolognese sauce. On tasting Malissa’s fettucine Bolognese, the judges agreed that her sauce was well-balanced but her pasta lacked structured.
Unfortunately, when it came down to flavour, the judges agreed that Robbie’s dish was ultimately the least impressive. In his hurry to swap dishes, his prawns overcooked and his lettuce was left soggy from his cocktail sauce.
Robbie left incredibly proud of his efforts and promised to treat his fellow contestants to a cooking experience at his Darwin property.
