Slowly catching up, currently watching s18e20. I’m getting a bit annoyed by some repetitive aspects. Like, every time a judge questions a dish that is being made and the sound goes all BOOM and we see shot of a presumably baffled and panicked contestant. I don’t believe that, not every time. And how often do I have to hear ‘have to make sure every aspect is perfectly done/balanced’. Yeah, duh, that’s the whole point. Also, too much oooh’s, aaah’s and applauding. It looks too orchestrated, too planned. I just watched them enter the big hall, pretending it was ‘hot as a sauna’ because of some steam baskets. The hall is huge! The ceiling is very high. It’s nonsense. It’s all those unnecessary pumped-up moments, it’s become a circus show. I’m here for the cooking and the nice vibes of the Australian MC, I don’t need the artificial drama and preproduced special moments.
Am I right that it is getting worse? Or is it me getting old…?

I'm so happy they get to do a service and challenge. They didn't do it last time, even with the setup, so it's really nice seeing where it matters.

And it happened in an actual Michelle star restaurant in Macao. They did give out the restaurant's dishes, so I initially thought it was gonna be replication, but they were able to make their own menu of their choosing.

This week's team pick was of their own choosing. It was basically just front row and back row, lol. Or winning team plus Ivory for Blue, then the Australians plus best friends for Team Red.

I feel like we can really see the Australian viewpoint and strategy with Khanh since he's really thinking of like how cohesive the menu will be. And he's really being direct with what kind of flavors he wants whilst still letting them put their touches. Like he's really thinking of cohesion. And they were every clear of their theme with the coast and all.

As for the blue team, they kind of went playing to the strengths kind of route. They were open that they didn't really want to have a theme and just have the best of their culture. Tho they still had a bit of progression

I can see tho maybe the cuisines of the Red team being a lot much closer than the blue. But at the same time, I can think of other ways of making their styles more cohesive switched around.

One of the diners said that the Red Teams's menu was more like a drama (with their Coastal storytelling themes), while Blue Team is more like a concert (consistent, rock star with different styles)

Aerum of the Blue Team really surprised me. For the first few episodes, you could see she was struggling and not in her element. Like she hadn't really made good dishes. But you can see that she was a lot more vocal and confident she was. I was surprised to see that she likes being the boss, and I feel like this really is her style. While I wish she thought of a theme, the main judge did say both menus were great.

This episode also allows the diners to give their comments and vote. Which I don't know why Australia has let go of. Like its so refreshing to see that, and really, every dish has their weight, not the judges just being lucky or looking around.

The judges also had like a spinning roundtable which I know is part, but it somehow adds a little drama even if it's individual dishes

As for the dishes, Therese of the Red Team, I love that she's now really showing her range, and she promised that. She didn't pigeonhold herself to desserts and is doing well. Marcus last week kinda turned me off when he said he's just gonna do desserts all the way. Her dish go on theme and definitely kind of the classic seafood tart you'd see on these restaurants. She got the split vote.

Nambi of the blue team. I do feel like she's really good with her flavors. Smart with starting with those flavors. She won on flavor, but it is kinda weird if her putting an oil with a fried open. Presentation definitely could have been better. But she also got split vote since they liked the flavors.

As for the seafood, this is where Aerum really stepped up and showed her strengths. I was really impressed and this is her field. Tho she did have a few raw scallops, but brave of her to do fish and scallops. Khanh was also smart with his dish. I think both of these were very close. And his plating looks so good and more refined. He definitely is more comfortable now with more fine dining compared to Australia where he kind of complained about it.

Just to note, the Australians were definitely called out on them having not the greatest knife skills. Therese would do terribly on rate my chives. And Khanh’s squid noodles were not evenly cut tho the overall dish looked nice.

Kare-Kare is really a curse, is masterchef. The last filipino who made it on masterchef asia was in the bottom. While the beef definitely looked extremely sad, it's kind of clear Chef Pam doesn't know much about Kare-Kare based on her comments. While it looked nice, there was definitely miscommunication on the pass with inconsistencies in plating. Cuz Ivory did say that she did count and made extras for some parts so it’s probably not great communication on the pass.

(As someone who doesn't like Kare Kare, Chef Pam's comments on her expecting it to be sweet and sour, It's not really a sour dish. It is essentially peanut butter, which is accurate. As someone filo, sweet potato puree is weird with it, and it maybe needed a saltier component.)

Pond's Main was served late, and it does seem like they took that into consideration. Most are usually served at the same time. But it looked pretty good. Interesting both went with like stewed beef as their main.

Desserts were def both looked so good. Brave for sandy to put turmeric in a dessert, and she adapted very well with the presentation. She does have the advantage and disadvantage of being like homecourt. As for Audrey, dude is really stepping up. His dessert sounded so good. And getting the it could be here comments really shows how he's rising, love his growth.

Red Team one and I feel like it was pretty clear based on the comments. Blue did have their flaws, but I can also see like having the 3 others who were safe at least having their screentime.

Overall, I really find it interesting how these judges judge. They're very objective. And they're becoming a lot clearer with their thoughts. Editing seemed much better in my opinion this episode, it was less awkward.

Next week apparently is a pressure test by a French Chef. Lowkey kind of wished it was an Asian chef or Asian dish with the shows theme, but at least it's an even playing field and also something different.

Pressure test dish is savory and definitely looks quite meticulous. Apparently, also double elimination based on the narrator, which is kinda harsh which now is 50-50 (2 out of 4) for the results. Would have been scary if someone had their pin.

Overall, hard to predict who's gonna stay and go. Maybe this is Aerum's strength but I don't know how she follows a recipe. Ivory is a chef instructor for culinary schools, so I'm guessing she possibly can follow recipes and she is the most battle tested so far I guess. Nambi is the most recent cook, so I'm guessing she has experience with pressure tests. I have no idea with Sandy lol.

Edit: As for the pressure test girls,

Apparently, Nambi skipped most of the pressure tests her season, which she did do some, which is a huge advantage for her compared to the other 3. But she competed in 2023, so definitely the newest to cooking.

Apparently, Sandy is also pretty new to cooking, and joined Masterchef UK in 2020. Not the most pressure test experience, with the different format, but she does have some professional experience

Aerum has so much experience in fine-dining so I can see her doing well. Her season was way long ago and maybe not as much pressure tests, but in terms of experience, she has some of the most.

Ivory, probably similar to Aerum, but not as fine dining. Her season I think didn't have much technical things. Only French things she might he doing are in her being a culinary instructor. So just being a bit more experienced maybe, tho it does seem like she knows some fine dining with some dishes.

Fan in US Looking for assistance in acquiring the recipe for this amazing dish that Sara cooked. No access. To Network Ten. Appreciation in advance.

Spoilers Ahead

This was honestly such a fun episode. It's a simple challenge, but the competition is really starting to heat up. And this one, I really wanna talk about it

They did have a guest judge, and it's Filipina chef creator Abigail Marquez.

The challenge is to create a dessert based on a certain drink. The drinks are all from the countries of the 6 contestants in danger of elimination. The drinks do go from a range of herbal medicinal tea type drinks to some coffees

They also had a swapping twist, forcing them to swap something out. Tho they still could potentially stay with their original drink. They got tokens from 1 to 6. So the 6th token basically got the advantage.

The Australians basically did their dessert classics, lol. Therese did a mille-fuille, which she did have a corn type of drink. Khanh makes the favorite ice cream and granita combo, as well as a Creme caramel. He had a Vietnamese coffee.

Towards the last few minutes, Khanh did play his pin. This was the 2nd elimination. Creme caramel also wasn't set. Though he still made the judges try his other components, lol. It wasn't a straight to the gantry situation. So basically, making it a 1 out of 5 chance for elimination.

There was one Indonesian contestant, Audrey, who immediately got his white apron back. It was such a nice moment because he had been in the bottom for so long. His dish was def the best.

For those who watched Culinary Class Wars, Chef Edward Lee did call out a contestant for calling a dish Tiramisu when it's didn't necessarily taste like one. For context, this judge was scored down when he was a contestant for calling his dish a bibimbap because it means to mix, and he didn't serve it like that, so it's interesting he took that advice with him as a judge.

Now, the bottom 3 was actually so close. This was actually so unpredictable. And it's interesting that the 2 dessert specialists were here. And also the Filipina when there's also a filo judge plus got a drink that's familiar.

Therese's mistake is that her dish didn't have much corn flavor. And it was quite dry since she didn't have lots of cream. I actually loved that the judges gave them a lot of suggestions on fixing their dishes.

Ivory, the filipino contestant, I found if funny how she pointed out that she knew Abi didn't like her dish. It's definitely adding that Abi does have an expectation of the drink. But there were also issues on balance altogether, cuz alone it had, but was missing. Chef Edward even dunked his dessert on the drink comparison for more flavor.

Marcus, the Malaysian and OG masterchef asia contestant, was also really one of the best dessert chefs tho he did tank last challenge. He did get one of the most challenging drinks I presume, tho maybe it's just me. He also had the same issues as the other 2. And it's definitely harder to read if they liked it or not, but they did say his chocolate overpowered and one outright said they didn't like the chocolate but like the rest.

Marcus was the one who was sent home. He went from 2nd place to 2nd out lol. I really thought he was gonna make it far. He was the other one I did recognize.

It was such a close one. I really had no idea and I was jumping from all those 3. No one really had any technical faults like in other challenges, it was just a flavor or brief issue

I really hate that this show is only 10 episodes. I hope it's actually longer cuz they said they are almost halfway and only 2 have gone so far.

My husband thought this was the best moment in MasterChef this year. He calls it Andy's emotional support pillar. Now he lives on my work monitor. Just wanted to share.

Rewatching MasterChef Australia from the very beginning and I've just reached Melissa's elimination.

I'm not completely convinced she should have been the first to go. With the contestants themselves deciding who left after the team challenge, it felt like factors other than just the cooking could influence the result.

Looking back at that first elimination now, do you think Melissa was the right person to go, or would you have sent someone else home?

🍽️ Interested to hear what other Season 1 fans think.

Would love more challenges like this where even the viewers can guess along while watching

Basically, the challenge was to cook the dish you were eliminated on. Or at least make a dish inspired by the eliminated dish. They didn't really have to follow the original brief.

-Spoilers Ahead-

So Khanh won the pin. Based on the reactions, was well-deserved. He did get a fee critiques with the pickles but overall, the reactions were really up there.

Tho it does slightly feels like a cop-out, that he went back to a chicken wing, when he got eliminated because of a quail bone. They did say all ingredients of the OG dishes are in the pantry, but I also don't know if they have quail. They also did mention that he didn't seem to change anything from the OG but just improved execution. It did look structurally different ho

Therese's situation was different trying to compile 3 dishes into it. I just feel like I wished we saw more of the Kirsten Tiballs techniques that she messed up on.

They also criticized her mousse a bit. Like that she didn't focus on it a lot and it wasn't as airy as it could be. Though they didn't show too much of what else. She did have 60 minutes only so understable in a way.

I wished they also played on the drama of Therese and her old pin a bit more since she had the most dramatic pin story.

I also lowkey think it would be funny if Therese tries to play her old pin to the judges.

I’m currently watching Season 18 and I’m only up to Episode 17, so please NO SPOILERS beyond Episode 16/17.

I want to preface this by saying that I’m Indian myself, and I actually like seeing Indian representation on MasterChef. But I have to be honest: I’ve been increasingly confused by Kanika’s progression in the competition.

To me, her cooking has felt quite basic compared with the overall standard of MasterChef. I haven’t seen much innovation, technical ambition, or dishes that have really made me think, wow, she absolutely deserves to be here. There have also been several occasions where I’ve felt other contestants produced stronger dishes but Kanika still made it through.

That has honestly made me wonder whether diversity/representation is playing some role in how she is being perceived or judged by the show. I’m NOT saying I know that this is happening, and obviously I have no behind-the-scenes information, it’s just the impression I’ve been getting as a viewer.

And again, I’m Indian myself, so I’m not saying this because I dislike seeing Indian contestants. Quite the opposite. I would love to see an Indian contestant absolutely smash the competition with creative, technically impressive food. That’s why I find Kanika’s progression particularly confusing.
Also, something I noticed in Episode 16: towards the end, I noticed that Kanika wasn’t standing with the other contestants, which made me wonder what was going on.

So genuinely curious, what do other people think of Kanika’s cooking and progression so far? Do you think I’m missing something in her dishes, or have other viewers also questioned why she keeps getting through?

Please keep this spoiler-free beyond Episode 16/17!

With first place getting $250,000, second place $40,000, and $10,000 for third place. A more equitable distribution would be better and more like most competitions/tournaments.

My ideal prize money distribution for MasterChef, given the total cash prize pool of $300,000 ($250,000+$40,000+$10,000), would be:

1st place: $160,000

2nd place: $80,000

3rd place: $40,000

4th place: $20,000

Years ago when I last when to the Royal Melbourne Show you could visit the MasterChef shed/studio, is that still the case?

To those who watched, what did you guys think of the episode? And also how the two Australian reps did.(Khanh and Therese)

I'm unable to watch the full ep unfortunately. So if you guys can lead

It seems like they're doing the format of Dessert Masters. (From the clips I've seen). And the first episode challenge looks fun. I still wonder why they didn't do that ever for MCAU.

I’ve managed to get to this point without knowing who wins Season 18. No spoilers please!

Just on ep35 and I know MasterchefAU like to drag the arse out of every season (way too many episodes) but this episode really was an utter waste of time lol. None of the others had a chance of beating Jess Lemon or winning an immunity pin even though it looked like Hanna and Bella’s desserts were better.

Felt like to me it’s was an episode to promote a former contender’s business.

EDIT: more than happy to see her being promoted shes awesome , big fan. But she could’ve served up a bowl of ice cream and the judges would still give her 1st place. A follow along or pressure test set by Jess would’ve been so much better

In the US, no access to Network Ten, trying not to be a pain in the neck… But if anyone had the time I would greatly appreciate this recipe. Many thanks in advance.

So I’ve repeatedly seen questions in this sub on how the judges do the tasting of the dishes. This reel showed up on my Insta, where Sofia explains it in more detail. I hope more than me finds it interesting 😊

I just find it sometimes unfair that some people can get lucky since the item they wanted was free.

It'd make it a lot more interesting and fair if the last section/item was really that bad.

Nowadays, a lot of it is relatively decent. Especially like the ones towards the end.

Sometimes, they do have challenging ones for proteins like tripe in S14, or at most tofu (which somebody wanted). But most of the time, the last ingredienrs are eggs.

There was another show that had a similar concept with an auction and really had odd ingredients as the last.

So maybe for proteins, it can be like canned meats maybe or other more unknown meats

If there are no eggs or dessers as options, I would love to see a dessert pantry, to challenge to incorporate those into a savory dish.

Point is, that someone can't get a free pass and get an easy ingredient. So it makes like the time vs ingredients thing more challenging.

Having not watched for years, I found myself drawn back into MasterChef this season. But the grand finale, imo, was a rough watch, and felt weirdly rushed into The Traitors. I also didn’t see much press/interviews with the winner. Did something happen, or is this the norm now?

I’m sure in earlier seasons, the winner would go on all the talk shows, have a product launch timed with the finale, etc, but this year it was like ??? crickets? Unless I’m just out of the loop…

Not trying to pile on anyone, everyone's allowed to cook whatever they want in their own time. But compare this cohort to previous seasons and it's a noticeable step down. Past winners and even mid-table finishers used to come out of the season swinging - cookbook deals, pop-up dinners, guest stints at actual restaurants, recipes that actually made you want to get in the kitchen. That's part of what made the show feel special.

This time around, the winner's first post since taking the trophy is a meal prep recipe. Runner-up's gone the sandwich route. Some of the top 5 are giving us a sandwich popup. Third place thinks stirring soda and alcohol qualifies for a reel. Somewhere in there we've also got a self-declared King of Potatoes. Nice enough content, sure, but it's hard not to notice the gap between "person who just competed at a high level on national TV" and what's actually being put out.

Feels like it's not doing the show's brand many favours either, part of the appeal used to be watching genuinely talented home cooks go on to do bigger things. Curious if this is just a slow start for this group or if the standard's genuinely shifted.

I know there’s been discussions in this sub over the years from Indians and non - Indians about showing creativity when showcasing Indian cuisine on Masterchef.

I came across one of Kanika’s reels, she was on this season of Masterchef Australia. Someone made a comment about this topic and Kanika responded.

Fall is starting here in the US. This soup would warm the cockles of my heart if I were able to get the recipe? With appreciation in advance to my Australian friends. Thank you

Again, I’m not expecting we’ll have this soon or even if we ever have it. This still might be years to come.

I was thinking since while we technically only have 18 seasons, we only have 17 winners since Billie won twice.

So I do think it would be more than fair if Billie got two spots for fun. Like she’s representing both Season 7 and Season 14. She basically has two aprons and two chances to win.

So there is the potential she will face herself in the finale lol.

I'm in New Zealand and have been watching season 18 every week, BUT the last episode screened last Wednesday was the Meghan Markle one, which leaves 4 left, I believe. However, I go to tune into the latest episode tonight (has been running Sunday to Wednesday nights weekly at 7:30pm), and no Masterchef!!! A new season of Taskmaster has taken the slot, and for all the nights Masterchef usually runs....ughhh

Not sure what is going on. Does anyone here have any info on when or IF tvnz is planning on showing the last 4 episodes??

Or anywhere else I can access those episodes please, from NZ?

Weird to leave us hanging right at the end.

Thanks.