Last night proved to be too much for all three contestants on MasterChef.Charlie, Brett and Theresa faced elimination in a mammoth pressure test set by renowned English chef Jason Atherton. An afternoon tea with a twist, this quail dish involved 44 ingredients, a 50-step recipe and three hours of pressure for the three contestants. Charlie took the lead, but had not read the recipe thoroughly and neglected to sieve his parfait. In contrast, Theresa moved slowly and methodically through the recipe.
The pressure built for Brett, who broke down mid-challenge. After encouraging words from Jason, Brett went back to cooking, taking inspiration from his daughters’ photos on his work bench.
Charlie came very close to failure with the peeling of his delicate quail eggs, breaking 11 of his 12 available eggs, getting the final one into the fryer with just minutes to spare.
Theresa fell further behind and had to make the last-minute decision to leave her quail egg off the dish. She also realised too late that she had left her teabag on the bench.
The judges thought her parfait was spectacular, but noted the missing egg and teabag. The judges loved Brett’s dish and he was clearly safe. Charlie’s parfait was grainy, but his quail well cooked and his consommé sensational.
With two missing elements, it was Theresa’s time to depart the MasterChef Australia kitchen.
Since leaving, Theresa has been doing work experience in some of Sydney’s best restaurants, including Nel, Hotel Centennial and at KOI with Reynold Poernomo
