Having failed to impress in Marco Pierre White’s lamb and three veg invention test, Cecilia, Con and Nathaniel found themselves facing the season’s first pressure test.
The challenge was to keep up with Marco as he cooked his legendary John Dory dish. The challenge would end for the contestants 10 seconds after Marco finished his dish.
Cecilia was focused, determined and methodical from the start. She followed Marco with precision and faltered only by over-salting her dish.
Nervous from the beginning, Con struggled to skin his fish, badly cutting his thumb in the process. He worried that his fish lacked colour in the pan, but he had to get it into the oven to finish.
Nathaniel was keen to impress Marco, but like Con, he struggled to keep up during the skinning of the fish. He cut too much of the flesh away and ended up with a fillet which was smaller than Marco’s fillet. He also failed to correctly prepare and cook his fennel.
During the tasting, the judges were impressed by Cecilia’s dish, with its perfectly cooked fish. While Con’s fish was also perfectly cooked, the judges noted that it lacked the golden colour of Marco’s dish.
Having followed Marco to the second with the cooking of his fish, Nathaniel’s fillet was a wonderful golden colour, but it was overcooked. This, coupled with his fennel misstep, was ultimately why Nathaniel became the second contestant eliminated from the competition.
Nathaniel marvelled that he got to cook for Marco, something he will remember for the rest of his life. Since leaving the MasterChef Australia kitchen, Nathaniel has returned to his paramedic studies. He hopes to pursue work experience in the food industry.
