MasterChef Australia’s grand final is almost here – but sadly, Harry Butterfield won’t be competing. Our very own Fish King was eliminated on Tuesday night in a pressure test set by Josh Niland, a seafood superstar.
It’s safe to say that Harry was a bit “starstruck” by the chef, who recently won Chef of the Year 2024 at the Good Food Guide Awards, and this snowballed into making a few crucial mistakes. At this stage of the competition, you can’t afford to get anything wrong.
The chef asked Harry, Nat Thaipun and Josh ‘Pezza’ Perry to recreate his Flounder Kadinsky, with five different sauces on the base. The star ingredient was a rack of grilled yellow belly flounder, with a scallop mousseline inside, perfectly seasoned with preserved lemon, chives and a zucchini.
Chef Josh Niland’s MasterChef Australia pressure test was TOUGH. (Image: 10)
So, for someone who prides themselves on working with fish? Going out on this challenge would surely be devastating.
“It’s definitely not how I would have chosen to go out, but at the end of the day, that’s the beauty of MasterChef Australia,” Harry tells PEDESTRIAN.TV.
“It comes down to on the day who does the best job and who makes mistakes, and unfortunately, last night, that was me.”
Harry struggled to follow the recipe to the letter, and was horrified after he placed his flounder in the steamer without putting cling film on top. The fish puffed right up, and while he tried to re-wrap it with cling film, it was a little too late.
Pezza’s dish was applauded by the judges, and it was clear he came out on top. Nat had a few issues – with her mousse looking like scrambled eggs and her flounder being undercooked – but she impressed the judges with her tasty sauces.
Harry, however, completely butchered his fish… and not in a good way. His fish was dry, the skin was rubbery, and his sauces didn’t hit the mark.
Harry’s final MasterChef Australia dish. (Image: 10)
The fact that a chef he idolises so much was in the kitchen played a big part, because he felt he needed to “impress” him.
“It was like, ‘This needs to be perfect’ [and] ‘I need to impress Josh’,” he admits. “I think when I was thinking like that, it was just easier for the little things to rattle me.”
There was one silver lining though: if he’d gone out any earlier, he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to meet Niland or cook for him, which would’ve been “100 times worse”.
“Sure, if I could go back and do things differently I would, but look. I can’t be upset with the experience that I had. It was incredible [and] I’m super grateful.”
MasterChef Australia airs Sunday through to Wednesday at 7:30 pm AEST on Channel 10.
Feature image: Network 10
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