After being questioned by judge Darren Robertson for using MSG in their Japanese-style mayonnaise, Melbourne university students and pals Caitie and Demi forged ahead and served their entrée as is.
"We always knew that putting MSG in the mayonnaise was always going to be a controversial thing to do," Demi tells WHO, "but at the end of the day, when we had made this recipe, it didn't work before and nobody was going to die by eating it, so we were just like, stuff it, this is what it is, this is how we've always done it."
Although Cyn registered a look of shock when the reveal was made at the table, she says now, "They followed a recipe that they followed and didn't understand what that quite meant. It's such an outdated product and they didn't need that in their food. It was just naiveté and I certainly think they would not be using that product again. They absolutely handled themselves well."
Demi agrees. "I think in the end we ended up learning a huge lesson from it," she says. " It was a flavour enhancer and we already had so much flavour in there."
The pair rebounded with an original matchamisu dessert. "At the time, we kind of thought we had stuffed that up as well," Caitie concedes. "We were actually nervous getting that and when we found out that was good, we were like, oh, thank goodness!"
Even so, the team doesn't regret getting the message about MSG. "I definitely wouldn't have changed putting it in," Demi says, "because we learnt so much from that experience."
My Kitchen Rules airs tonight at 7.30 PM on Channel 7.