Tonight, tge talented contestants entered the kitchen to find the one and only mystery box made entirely out of ice. Usually a mystery box offers freedom to experiment, but today’s challenge resulted in the competition’s second elimination.
Frozen inside the boxes were four ingredients, beetroot, red chili, rosella and berry liqueur. Each contestant had two hours to create a dessert that featured their chosen ingredient as a frozen element of the dish. Anna, Reynold and Andy were safe from elimination after winning immunity in the relay challenge, leaving Kirsten, Kay-Lene, Jess, Gareth, Adriano and Morgan to battle the cold.
Kay-Lene gave tonight’s cook everything she had. Taking a huge risk, she decided to use three of the ingredients from the mystery box, including chilli as suggested by Amaury. The final dish sparked pleasing curiosity from Mel, and admiration from Amaury who noted it was fresh, clean and very well-balanced.
Adriano’s flavour profile for the evening was beetroot, raspberry and… popcorn, which prompted him to home in on the movie concept of his dish. While Adriano appeared in control during his cook, Amaury had concerns that his vision wasn’t as clear in his head. While his dish looked great, and the judges agreed it was an ambitious concept, it fell apart in the tasting and the flavours were not up to the judges’ standards.
Gareth chose beetroot as his ingredient and made a bold and earthy ice cream. With many elements on the go, there was concern he wouldn’t plate up a finished dish, but his speed and determination resulted in a dessert that the judges adored. Amaury complimented the colour and appearance of the dish while Mel noted its sheer sophistication. The earthy ice cream paired with the other elements tied the flavours together to highlight the beetroot in an elegant way and the judges both agreed that Gareth had truly found his feet in the competition.
Morgan was feeling the nerves tonight but wasn’t ready to go home. He decided to do a take on a Peach Melba with a berry liqueur sorbet, but the judges questioned whether the concept would hit the brief with only one frozen element. Backing himself, Morgan was confident his sorbet had a strong enough flavour to allow the berry liquor to shine, but ran into trouble when it didn’t set. Upon tasting, the sorbet didn’t hold as well as he had hoped, and the berry liquor was too strong to complement the peach flavour. Morgan farewelled his peers, wishing them luck for the unpredictable cooks ahead.
