Guys. It’s official. It’s time to put your aprons and spatulas down ‘cos MasterChef Australia 2024 has ended. But, if you’re still catching up, or you’re trying to speed run this season, here’s every MasterChef Australia contestant who was eliminated and why.
Because this is a MasterChef Australia elimination piece, there will be spoilers. You’ve been warned.
Yep, that’s right. MasterChef Australia is finally donezo. Although we can immediately tell you who won the darn thing, we have to appreciate all the beautiful contestants who decided to chuck their chef hats in the ring for a chance at MasterChef glory.
Wondering who, what, when, where, how and why these contestants were eliminated? Well, we’ve got the answers for ya.
Because practically nobody can watch every episode of a show four nights a week (in this economy?), this means you’re bound to occasionally miss an elimination challenge, and suddenly your favourite chef might have left without you knowing.
So rather than force you to try and piece together who might have been booted out of the show’s 16th season, here’s a list of everyone eliminated from MasterChef Australia 2024.
Who is the MasterChef Australia winner?
Well…. the winner is… NAT THAIPUN!
Look, I’ve been saying this for a cheeky while now, but I’ve had an inkling that Nat could be the winner of this year’s season. The adrenaline-loving cook has won a plethora of immunity challenges, including the single immunity-pin challenge of this season.
In second place, we have beloved Tassie butcher, Josh ‘Pezza’ Perry. Despite coming in second place, Pezza was praised for his beautifully executed take on Clare Smyth‘s dessert, despite not having all the elements of the dish.
These two fan-favourites were deserving of their spots in the grand finale. I wanted them both to win, so baddd.
Savindri – Episode 49
Dish: A kalu pol pork belly with a blackened coconut spice mix and kithul pani glaze, a turmeric potato purée with pickled onion and parsley salsa for starters.
A ghee-poached lobster, hodi, and salsa alongside a chili dahl purée for the main.
For dessert, a salted Greek yogurt and lemongrass sorbet amuse-bouche paired with a tropical dessert of coconut water jelly veil, mango, pineapple and coconut.
Date: Monday, July 15.
It was a difficult, difficult elimination challenge. Everyone did so well, but unfortunately, it was this year’s phoenix Savindri (AKA Sav) who was sent packing.
ICYMI: Earlier this season, Sav was sent home but was brought back into the comp with her Sri Lankan-style feast in the Redemption Challenge.
Despite this, Sav was able to make her way into the top three.
On Monday night’s semi-final, our top three — Sav, Nat and Josh (or Pezza as everyone calls the Tassie butcher) — were challenged to make a three-course meal for our judges and 66 diners.
Honestly, watching the show, it seemed that the judges only had nice things to say about everyone’s meal. It was definitely hard to predict who was going to be sent home. Ultimately, the judges opted to put Pezza and Nat through to the finale.
Following her time on MasterChef Australia, Sav revealed to 10Play that she would like to continue honouring her love of cooking through teaching.
“Teaching people how to cook Sri Lankan food and spice work, the things I’m good at. That’s what I want to focus on,” she said.
“If there is the opportunity to do stuff in Sri Lanka, there will be so many people that will jump on board and want to do projects with me, which very much is what I want to do as well. So, if you’re planning a holiday in Sri Lanka in the next year… I might be there!”
Harry – Episode 47
Dish: Flounder Kradinsky.
Date: Tuesday, July 9.
In a surprise turn of events, this season’s fish fiend Harry lost a spot in the top three after a three-hour pressure test conducted by Australia’s fish king Josh Niland. Wild times y’all.
On Tuesday night’s episode, MasterChef Australia‘s top four were tasked with recreating Josh’s Flounder Kradinsky — an intricate dish that features five different sauces.
To give you a peek at how hard this bloody dish is, it featured a macadamia tahini purée, preserved lemon yogurt, zucchini and basil purée, squash purée, harissa, a grilled yellow belly flounder with the belly folded with a scallop mousseline and a zucchini.
Although Harry was excited to take on the challenge — especially because Josh is one of his food heroes — the 29-year-old struggled to keep up.
“I was the self-proclaimed fish guy, and I brought that pressure upon myself. I wanted to prove to myself, and to Josh, that I am skilled with seafood,” Harry told 10Play.
“I guess the pressure of cooking for your food hero, and the pressure of it being a fish dish when I’m ‘the seafood guy’, the pressure was intense.”
Unfortunately, the challenges Harry faced showed through his final fish, where the judges noticed a bunch of flaws. Some of the notes included dry fish with rubbery skin and sauces, such as the squash purée, were not up to scratch.
As a result, Harry was sent packing. Incredibly brutal for the fish guy to be sent home by the fish challenge. My heart goes out to this bloke!
Mimi – Episode 45
Dish: Soft-shell crab donburi bowl, paired with a bitter gourd and apple kimchi and a side of yuzu mayo.
Date: Sunday, July 7.
Although she was tipped to be one of the finalists by MasterChef Australia Redditors, it was Mimi who missed out on copping a spot in the final four.
In the final elimination challenge, four of the remaining five contestants were tasked with cooking with “ingredient beasts” — AKA ingredients that ranged from the spiciest, the most bitter, the most pungent and everything in between.
Mimi ended up picking the bitter gourd — which is surprisingly my mum’s favourite thing to cook with. Initially, the 25-year-old wanted to incorporate the ingredient into a soft-shell crab slider that featured a brioche bun and a bitter gourd and apple kimchi slaw.
Unfortunately, a spanner was thrown into the works when the brioche bun — the key element that would tame the bitter gourd — was overcooked, therefore it had to be nixed from the final dish.
Mimi changed her meal three times throughout the challenge due to the difficulties she faced.
The high school teacher finished the challenge with a soft-shell crab don bowl with bitter gourd apple kimchi and yuzu mayo.
Unfortunately, the judges weren’t too keen on the new dish, noting the don and the bitter gourd didn’t come together as “harmoniously” as the slider would. As a result, Mimi was sent home.
Reflecting on her MasterChef Australia journey, Mimi mentioned that the show pushed her culinary skills to places she never thought were possible.
“There is no way that I could have, in my own kitchen, let my brain go to the places that it did,” she told 10Play.
“The recipes I pulled out of the bag, it’s been pretty miraculous and spectacular.”
According to 10Play, Mimi has returned to full-time teaching following her stint on the beloved cooking comp.
Darrsh – Episode 43
Dish: Royale of peas with duo of crab, caviar, fried mussel and tarragon mayonnaise.
Date: Tuesday, July 2.
My heart. My soul. Sweet ol’ Darrsh was unfortunately sent home after he failed to impress the judges with his recreation of Chef Guillaume Brahimi‘s Royale of peas with duo of crab dish.
In one of the hardest Pressure Tests in this year’s MasterChef Australia, Harry, Sav and Darrsh had to recreate Guilliame’s seafood creation which included 90 peas dotted around the edge of the plate.
But what added to the pressure of it all, the three contestants had to make five identical plates!!!
Darrsh was understandably under the pump and unfortunately plated up five inconsistent meals. The consommé was not clear and unfortunately, there were shell pieces within his crab meat.
Following his elimination, Darrsh said he “never wants to see a pea again.”
Bloody fair, IMHO.
Lachlan – Episode 41
Dish: Lamb kofta with roasted carrot, sweet potato chips and beetroot purée.
Date: Sunday, June 30.
The infamous Time Auction Challenge has sent a MasterChef Australia contestant home. Unfortunately, it was Lachlan AKA Lochy who was eliminated for his lamb kofta dish.
For folks who aren’t familiar with the Time Auction Challenge, the contestants must bid for ingredients with their cooking time. This year, the cooks were given 120 minutes to bid across proteins, fresh produce and pantry items.
Lochy ended up with lamb mince, a combination of root veggies and fresh herbs. Although the dish was delectable, the judging panel claimed that it lacked cohesion, which resulted in his elimination.
“Everything is executed really well,” MasterChef judge Andy Allen began.
“But it feels like two different dishes.
“It’s a good dish but the real fault is that they don’t go together.”
Although his MasterChef Australia journey had ended, Lochy has continued on chasing his food dream, revealing that he’d been working on his own hot sauces.
“I love to travel and I really want to be able to showcase food, and where we get our food from, that’s one thing I love about food,” Lochy said, sharing that he’d like to host pop-ups across Australia to showcase his culinary talents.
Sumeet – Episode 36
Dish: Bacon, egg and blue cheese stuffed naan.
Date: Wednesday, 19 June.
In a surprise elimination challenge, the remaining MasterChef Australia contestants were tasked with reinventing the classic bacon and eggs dish. Unfortunately, it was Sumeet‘s naan that landed her on the competition chopping block.
Although the thought of a brekky naan makes my salivary glands work overtime, the 46-year-old’s take on the classic bacon and eggs didn’t hit the spot with our judging panel.
You see, to avoid overcooking her eggs, Sumeet froze them. But her inexperience working with frozen eggs resulted in an inconsistent naan.
Following her elimination, Sumeet said she was extremely grateful for her MasterChef Australia journey.
“When they revealed that it was my time to go, the most pronounced emotion that I felt was gratefulness. That’s the honest truth,” Sumeet shared.
“This is truly a dream come true journey for me, so how could I feel anything but grateful? I was up against some really good talent, and I’ve watched enough MasterChef to know it’s just the cook on the day that can trip you up, and it can be our time that comes to an end.”
On the plus side, Sumeet saw a ‘yuge win earlier in the season when she won the sauce challenge with her Indian-Italian fusion simmer sauce which was sold in Coles. How sick!
Alex – Episode 35
Dish: A Banksia pod made out of macadamia and wattleseed mousse, an espresso gel with a chocolate and macadamia base, chocolate caramel stem and tuile leaves.
Date: Tuesday, 18 June.
Hugh Allen‘s pressure test challenge garnered a lot of buzz over the week after the dish resembled a deuce. But unfortunately, things were really shitty for Alex who was sent home for her take on the recipe.
Right off the bat, the panel of MasterChef judges noticed that the coffee gel was a bit small. Following a nibble, the panel noticed that there were a bunch of inconsistencies throughout Alex’s dishes.
One of the big issues in her dish was that the gel and the tuille leaves were undercooked. On the plus side, her chocolate was tempered perfectly, but it wasn’t enough to save her from elimination.
Although the dookie-looking but delish dish was what sent her home, the 27-year-old was proud of what she served up. After all, it’s a dish with more than 100 steps so kudos to her!
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I could do anything like that, and certainly not in four hours without any experience. It was a cool, proud moment,” she shared.
Following her time on MasterChef Australia, the sales rep has chosen to pursue her culinary passions and is now working as a pastry chef.
Gillian – Episode 33
Dish: Vietnamese coffee créme caramel with coconut cream and a sesame tulie.
Date: Sunday, 16 June.
After a ‘yuge week of sweet treats (duh, it was Sweet Week) it was Gillian who faced the chopping block at Sunday night’s MasterChef Australia elimination challenge.
In the elimination challenge, the contestants had to make a coffee-inspired dessert. When dishing up her sweet treat, Gill admitted that she didn’t drink coffee at all.
“It was like being slapped in the face from the start of Sweet Week to then, here you go! Here’s an ingredient that you don’t drink and never loved eating, trying, consuming,” she shared.
Unfortunately, when our MasterChef Australia judging panel took a bite of Gill’s créme caramel, they noticed it was overcooked and “grainy.”
Following her stint on MasterChef Australia, Gill continued to chase her passion for the culinary arts, revealing that she’s working at two separate venues.
“Since leaving MasterChef, I’m now working in two kitchens — a restaurant in Wollongong and a bar in Surry Hills,” Gill said.
“Even though there are so many different opportunities out there for me, and so many ideas I have in my head, I know this is just the beginning.
“To be able to intertwine art and food is the ultimate goal. I’m really excited for what’s to come.”
I know she’s out of the comp, but she kinda won in my heart!!!
Josh C – Episode 29
Dish: Plant-based steak and jus.
Date: Sunday, 9 June.
In this year’s plant-based elimination challenge, Josh C was unfortunately the 2024 MasterChef Australia contestant who saw the chopping block for his carrot steak and jus.
In this week’s challenge, the MasterChef Australia contestants had to “celebrate meat” without using any animal-based product. This included the exclusion of milk, eggs, butter and protein — big staples in the culinary world.
The 27-year-old Queenslander admitted that the plant-based fiesta was his “least favourite challenge” out of all the ones he’s faced.
Although he wasn’t too keen on the challenge, the coffee roaster turned MasterChef contestant managed to cook up a steak out of thinly sliced carrots which were rolled into a roulade. Josh shared that he loved the way it looked, but he “wasn’t very confident” in what he dished up.
“There was a niggling feeling in me from the very beginning, before the time on the clock started, that I wasn’t very confident about this dish,” Josh shared.
As soon as the dish touched the taste buds of the MasterChef Australia judges, they weren’t too pleased with the taste and the textures.
“I don’t think this is the right dish for this challenge,” MasterChef Australia star and judge Andy Allen shared.
“I wish he executed this perfectly to give himself a chance, but unfortunately he hasn’t.
“He’s missed the brief by so much.”
Although the carrot steak was what sent Josh home, he said he would do the whole MasterChef experience again.
“I wanted to learn as much as I could and show a diversity of skills, showcase that I was learning and trying to apply it,” he shared.
Following his departure from the show, Josh said he was happy to step out of his comfort zone to follow his passion for cooking.
“Even though $250,000 would have been nice, the fact that I found that gold in myself by pursuing this, that to me is more worthwhile,” he said.
Sue – Episode 27
Dish: Spice rubbed pork with smoked beetroot and hasselback potatoes.
Date: Wednesday, 5 June.
In a brutal cook-along challenge with culinary icon Curtis Stone, the 58-year-old mother was sent home for her take on the chef’s spice rubbed pork with smoked beetroot and hasselback potatoes.
When jumping into the cook-along challenge — along with fellow MasterChef contestants Darrish, Alex, Gill and Lachlan — the 58-year-old was excited. However, shit went downhill from the start, with Sue admitting she “got off on the wrong foot” when she didn’t realise how difficult the challenge was.
During the challenge, it was evident that Sue was struggling to multitask and keep up with Curtis.
When it was time for Sue to dish up her plate, the panel of judges had a lot of feedback on each element of the dish. According to the MasterChef Australia judges, Sue’s hasselback spuds were “undercooked” and “not crisp”, the cabbage was “burnt” whilst “having a bite” and the pork was not succulent, with MasterChef icon-turned-judge Poh Ling Yeow mentioning it was overdone.
Unfortunately, the dish could not save her this time and she was dismissed from the MasterChef kitchen.
Following her elimination, Sue described the challenge as “traumatising” and that it “wasn’t the cook I thought it would be”.
“I got off on the wrong foot to begin with… it was not an enjoyable cook for me whatsoever. It was great to cook along with Curtis Stone as an experience, but it wasn’t the pleasurable experience I would have dreamt of,” she said.
Post-reality TV, Sue has continued her passion for cooking by hosting bespoke dining experiences called “Sue Chef”. How cute and punny!
David – Episode 25
Dish: Tuna with a raspberry and apple purée plus a hot smoked salmon dish with couscous and fennel salads on the side.
Date: Sunday, 2 June.
In round one of Rick Stein‘s elimination challenge, David attempted to wow the judges with a tuna feast paired with raspberries and an apple purée. Unfortunately, our panel said that the “balance of flavours was off” — noting that the raspberries overtook the flavours of the fish.
In round two — where he cooked up a storm against Mimi, Nat and Sue — the mad scientist of the kitchen dished up a hot smoked salmon dish with couscous and fennel salads.
Unfortunately, the judges weren’t too fond of the glaze on the hot smoked salmon, as well as the flavours of the side salads.
But on a positive note, the judges agreed that the fish was beautifully cooked.
“I am really worried for David,” MasterChef Australia judge Poh Ling Yeow said after giving David’s fishy a cheeky chomp.
Unfortunately, the fish’s “perfect” cook could not save this experimental chef from the chopping block.
Following his elimination, David said he had “no regrets” in cooking up a dish that he was familiar with.
I went with what I used to cook for myself at home. Is it a fancy dish? No. Is it a dish I make at home? Yes. Is it my best work compared to other stuff? No, but it was the best I could do on the day with the level I was at,” the mad scientist fave said.
Following his time in the MasterChef kitchen, David revealed that he continued to marinade in his passion for cooking, securing a full-time job at a French bistro.
“I did a trial and got a full-time job, that’s been awesome. I’m also looking for clinical trial work at the same time so the plan is to just work really, really hard and find a work/life balance,” he explained.
I need someone to drop the details ASAP because I must try those pistachio scrambled eggs.
Savindri – Episode 23 (returns in Episode 24)
Dish: “Cherry Blossom” — lemon cheesecake mousse and chocolate with cherry blossom liquid centre.
Date: Tuesday, May 28.
A four-hour pressure test served to contestants by the dessert demon Darren Purchese saw banking consultant Savindri as the 10th person who was eliminated from MasterChef Australia this year.
Darren’s dessert was inspired by his love of Japanese food, and in the humble opinion of this MasterChef viewer, was completely diabolical. Here’s a look at what he made them cook:
The “ethereal” dish was called ‘Cherry Blossom’ by Darren, and the key components were a soft lemon cheesecake, filled with a delicious and complex cherry blossom liquid centre. Additionally, surrounding the dish were chocolatey elements, including two cherries made of chocolate that were also filled with the signature liquid centre.
After a chaotic time in the kitchen, Savindri admitted she was “not feeling confident at all” when plating up for the judges. Her arrangement of the elements and completion of the dish were both applauded, but when it came down to tasting the judges said the dish was a “mixed bag” due to a few incorrect flavours.
Ultimately, due to her brownie being dry and the lack of balance in her cheesecake mousse, Savindri was sent home — causing Sofia Levin to choke up as she delivered the sad news. The heartbreaking elimination left contestants in tears too.
However, in Episode 24 (which aired Wednesday, 29 May), the fan-favourite clawed her way back into the comp by cooking up a Sri Lankan feast that featured a black pork curry (yum), coconut milk prawn (yum), chive and coconut sambal (oh my god yum), deep fried cashed and curry leaves (yesss), eggplant and mustard pickle (YERM), creamy potato curry and rice.
She came, she served and I wish I ate.
Stepehen – Episode 21
Dish: Twice-cooked tempura eggs, miso sauce and asparagus.
Date: Sunday, May 26.
As Stephen stated at the start of the elimination episode: “There is absolutely no margin for error on elimination day.” Unfortunately, the errors with his tempura-battered soft boiled egg dish were beyond that slim margin, and he was sent home.
For this elimination challenge, all contestants were tasked with cooking eggs in a “clever and creative” way in 75 minutes, inspired by TikTok viral chef Mikiko Terasaki.
The unusual way that Mikiko appeared in the MasterChef Australia kitchen must also be noted. Rather than turning up in person, she appeared as a projection through a human-sized phone screen. Wild.
Stephen went in to the kitchen confident, electing to plate up some twice cooked tempura eggs.
Now the important part of a soft boiled egg dish is that the eggs come out runny. And as the time for plating up came closer and closer, Stephen unfortunately wasn’t able to test if his eggs were the perfectly runny texture that the judges would want.
And of his three soft boiled eggs… only one was runny.
The judges said this “ruined the whole dish”, and Stephen was sent home.
Snezana – Episode 19
Dish: “Sunny Side Up” dessert — brown sugar sponge, caramelised bacon, passionfruit curd, sourdough mousse, coconut panna cotta, and papana ‘yolk’.
Date: Tuesday, May 21.
Victorian financial service advisor Snezana was the eighth contestant to leave the MasterChef kitchen after Anna Polyviou‘s pressure test proved too much to handle.
Polyviou, “the punk dessert” icon, gave the four contestants in the elimination challenge three hours to recreate an original dessert that she designed just for the challenge, which she called “Sunny Side Up”.
At first glance this looked like a mere fried egg (sunny side up OFC) on toast. No big deal, right?
Wrong. It was a big deal. A very, very big deal. No single element of this dish was simply what it looked like. The egg yolk consisted of tropical fruits, and the egg white was actually a coconut panna cotta.
The sandwich bread consisted of elements such as mousse, sponge cake, and caramelised bacon. It was a truly bonkers dish — that the contestants had only hours to recreate.
Snezana struggled throughout her challenge, scrambling some of her elements and needing to start again from scratch. Though she managed to catch up and plate her final dish to a degree that looked identical to Anna’s, the similarities ended there.
“It’s not balancing well for me, it feels like things are a bit off,” judged Anna.
Snezana’s mousse was too heavy, and the dish didn’t “leave a good taste” in the judges’ mouths. Which was a huge shame for Snezana, as it resulted in her being sent home.
Juan – Episode 17
Dish: Orange and soybean chicken empanadas.
Date: Sunday, May 19.
Episode 17 of MasterChef Australia Season 16 saw the return of two fan favourites: celebrity chef Luke Nguyen, and the Ingredient Gamble elimination challenge! Unfortunately for 39-year-old board game designer Juan, the episode also saw the end of his MasterChef run.
The Ingredient Gamble challenge saw contestants forced to “gamble” on which ingredient they used in a dish — one they were randomly assigned and could see before the cooking time, or one underneath a cloche they could reveal once the 75 minutes began.
The five contestants whose dishes were least impressive would then go to the second elimination round forced to cook with the previously unused ingredient.
Juan’s visible ingredient were soybeans, which he hadn’t cooked with before, so he took a cheeky gamble. Fortunately for Juan, his cloched ingredient were limes, so he decided to cook Vietnamese tacos.
Nailing the presentation of the dish, Juan’s luck ran out when it was revealed that his tacos were too dry and thick, with the lime’s flavours not being prevalent enough. My boy limed too close to the sun, RIP.
He then moved to the second elimination round, this time forced to work with the very soybeans he avoided earlier. He chose to cook chicken empanadas to keep himself in the MasterChef kitchen,
Juan admitted to the judges that he had never worked with sated soybeans before, and so he attempted to reduce the flavour so it wasn’t overpowering in the dish.
Though he was given “full points for presentation” again, unfortunately in his efforts to undercut the soybean’s flavour he miscalculated and the actual empanadas were criticised as “surprisingly sweet” and “one-dimensional” by the judges.
Juan’s positivity and radiant smile will be missed by his fellow contestants, with many others tearing up at his elimination.
“This show was a dream, and when a dream is something beautiful you don’t wanna wake up,” Juan said in his final statement on the show — a master chef with words and flavours!
Lourdes – Episode 15
Dish: Smoked egg yolk raviolo, truffle and asparagus purée.
Date: Tuesday, May 14.
The elimination challenge that saw 22-year old Lourdes sent home was a brutal pressure test that gave contestants four hours to recreate a smoked egg yolk raviolo while outside in a truffle orchard – because cooking in a kitchen would have just been easy, apparently?
Throughout the early part of the multi-hour cook-off, Lourdes looked confident and on track. However as it progressed her bench became messy as the pressure and heat began to get to her.
Despite this, she still managed to plate every element of the dish — a feat not managed by every contestant of the challenge!
When it came to the taste test Lourdes shared to the judges that she felt “worried” about her raviolo being overcooked. A concern she was right in having, as when it was cut into, the egg yolk did not ooze or have the “smokey flavours”. Bloody devo.
Though her pasta and asparagus purée were both brilliant, there were too many flaws on the plate for the judges to deem it satisfactory. The fact her sauce had been overdone, along with the egg yolk being overcooked and rubbery chicken skin, resulted in Lourdes’ elimination.
Lily – Episode 13
Dish: chicken maryland, mushroom sauce and charred leak.
Date: Sunday, May 12.
Former nurse, Lily, was sent home on the Sunday episode after MasterChef Australia brought back one of its most classic elimination challenges: the One-Inch Cube Taste Test.
For the uninitiated, the One-Inch Cube challenge sees contestants faced with a table of different ingredients that are all cut into one-inch sized cubes. They then take turns tasting and smelling individual ingredients, and have to identify what they just ate. The first six people to incorrectly guess their cube then went to the next elimination round.
After Lily incorrectly guessed eggplant — which famously has NO TASTE??? — she and five other contestants were given 75 minutes to cook a dish using only the ingredients from the previous challenge that were correctly identified.
Using the elements of mushroom, leak, and chicken, Lily chose to cook a chicken Maryland in her effort to impress the judges. However, even going in to present her dish Lily stated she felt “sick”, due to her lack of elements and uncertainty of how cooked her chicken was.
Unfortunately for Lily, both her chicken and her leak were undercooked, which resulted in her being the fifth contestant eliminated from this season of MasterChef Australia.
“Lily, today was not your best cooking,” began Jean-Christophe Novelli, before continuing: “Because actually, you are a good cook. And you need to believe it.”
In her final remarks on the show, Lily told the judges and fellow contestants what her plans are once she leaves the MasterChef kitchen.
“I feel really grateful. I’ve spent my life looking after everyone else. I’m gonna do me for a bit,” Lily shared.
YOU DO YOU LILY!!! SLAY!!!
Khristian – Episode 11
Dish: Jean-Christophe Novelli 1992 ‘Jack in the Box’ dessert.
Date: Tuesday, May 7.
The fourth contestant to be eliminated from the MasterChef kitchen in 2024 was 26-year-old insurance services provider, Khristian, after the show’s first Pressure Test cookoff in which the bottom four chefs had to recreate the intricate dish Jean-Christophe Novelli credits as awarding him his very first Michelin star, the ‘Jack in the Box’.
Unfortunately for Khristian, nothing really went his way with this complicated dessert.
His sugar squares were far darker than they had to be, his sugar wall fell over after he assembled the dish, the vanilla and roasted hazelnuts were missing and the chocolate mousse was “overmixed”.
Mix all of that together and you have just cause for an elimination. This year’s MasterChef challenges did not come to play.
Jonathan – Episode 9
Dish: Maree Allen‘s Fruit Salad Slice.
Date: Sunday, May 5.
The third contestant to be eliminated from the MasterChef kitchen in 2024 was 29-year-old carpenter, Jonathan, after an intense challenge in which the chef’s had to reinvent the favourite dishes of a very special guest — Andy Allen‘s own mother Maree.
Contestants had three dishes to choose from, which were highlighted as being instrumental to Andy Allen’s childhood. Way to add the pressure, guys!
The options were The Pine Burger, Maree’s Lamb Chops, and Maree’s Fruit Salad Slice, and Jonathan, despite not being too confident with desserts, opted to reinvent the Fruit Salad Slice.
One cheesecake which stuck to the tin later and bam, Jonathan was kicked from the competition.
“I probably wasn’t in the best headspace for that [challenge]… I was really, really homesick,” he told 10Play after his elimination.
“I wanted to be home and I think it came across in my food.
“I was unsure of myself and I wasn’t feeling good going into that cook,” he continued. “I wasn’t as switched on or as motivated as I normally would be.”
Steph — Episode 7
Dish: Stuffed chicken breast, baked in puff pastry. Side of mash, steamed vegetables, and mustard-cream sauce.
Date: Tuesday, April 30.
The second contestant to be eliminated from the MasterChef kitchen in 2024 was 28-year-old events manager, Steph, after an intense elimination challenge against four other chefs, and guest celebrity chef/your mum’s hall pass, Jamie Oliver.
In the “Keeping Up With Jamie” elimination challenge, Steph and her competitors were tasked with maintaining the pace of the world famous British chef as he prepared a dish from his dad’s pub’s menu: Trevor’s Chicken.
The “chicken wellington” was a mushroom duxelles-stuffed piece of chicken breast, wrapped in puff pastry, with a side of steamed veggies, mash potatoes, and a mustard-cream sauce.
During her second elimination challenge, Steph had difficulty keeping up with Jamie, and at one point removed her chicken breast earlier than instructed. But in the end she still served up “Trevor’s Chicken” with everyone else.
“That was a ride,” Steph told the judges after serving them her dish. “My heart’s still beating.”
After digging in, Jamie noted that Steph’s attempt at the meal had “a different look” to other contestants, with other judges agreeing that her chicken breast was overcooked, and the stuffing was “all over the place”.
“I noticed at the beginning she was not listening to you,” Novelli on how Steph followed Jamie’s instructions during the challenge.
After Steph was told she was eliminated, fellow contestant Lily gave her a big hug.
“This has been really hard, but I think it’s shown how driven that I am, and I’m ready for the next thing,” Steph reflected through tears, before being applauded out of the kitchen by the cast and judges.
Jamie — Episode 5
Dish: Squid stuffed with feta, green peppers, and parsley. Side of wattle-seed pita bread and tahini.
Date: Sunday, April 28.
Somebody has to be the first person to get eliminated from a season, and unfortunately for 38-year-old primary school teacher James, his MasterChef Australia career ended after the first elimination challenge.
The challenge itself gave all competing chefs 75 minutes to prepare a dish inspired by their personal “food dreams”.
For James, this meant delivering something that paid tribute to his dream of serving food from around the world. He chose to cook a stuffed squid, served with tahini and pita.
James was feeling “really happy” and “really confident” about his dish before being the last of the 22 contestants to serve his dish to judges.
However, upon making the first cut into James’ meal, Andy Allen noticed a big problem… *cue cymbal clash and cut to an ad break*
“The top’s raw,” Andy said, to James’ shock.
“That’s devastating,” the young chef responded.
The judges agreed that though the presentation was good, the dish had a variety of issues — such as the fact that other flavours from the side overpowered the squid, the repetition of textures, and the mix of dairy and protein.
“It’s been a wonderful experience. It’s been a privilege to be with these guys, and to be cooking in front of your watchful eyes,” James thanked the judges.
Andy then welcomed him in for a hug, because this show is actually nice and treats people with dignity in the face of defeat, unlike some other cooking shows.
MasterChef Australia 2024 airs on Channel 10 from 7:30pm on Monday to Thursday night. All episodes can also be streamed online at 10Play.
[Image: MasterChef Australia/10 Play]
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