MasterChef Australia is in its final stages, with the Top 10 contestants now battling it out for the $250,000 prize.
However, fans are still complaining about the lack of variety in challenges on display. Rumours of budget cuts ran rampant after Masters Week brought back some bona fide culinary legends, but disappointed viewers with the style of challenges tasked to the contestants – most notably the lack of international trips or service challenges on or off-site.
Thankfully, fans’ prayers were finally answered on Tuesday night’s episode as judges Andy Allen and Jean-Christophe Novelli led the charge in a service challenge that divided the contestants into two teams, competing to avoid Wednesday night’s knockout.
The challenge required the teams to deliver a two-course fine-dining menu for 16 Coles farmers.
Andy’s team cooked a roast pork chop with pineapple sambal, charred radicchio, and jus, while Jean-Christophe’s team cooked a toasted coconut ice cream with charred pineapple, fish sauce caramel, pineapple and chilli salsa, and a hazelnut and coconut crumb.
MasterChef fans rejoice: ‘Finally, a service challenge’
“So looking forward to this one!” one excited viewer wrote on Instagram ahead of the challenge, while another added on Facebook, “I loved and enjoyed watching MasterChef tonight… Both teams did such an amazing job creating and making beautiful food and desserts.”
“Twins challenge and a service challenge this week, wow, we’re being fed finally,” a third quipped
“I’m loving this,” someone else wrote. “The contestants up in the gantry would be learning so much just from watching and the contestants doing the cooking would be getting a Masterclass.”
Many others agreed that it was about time, “Finally, a service challenge”.
However, the feedback wasn’t all perfect, with some viewers left disappointed by the episode. “I remember when service challenges were for 50-100 people not 20. Sigh,” one person wrote.
Sheesh! You truly can’t please everyone, can you?
Former contestant reveals the reality of service challenges
Speaking to WHO, Jamie Fleming from seasons six and 17 explained that service challenges are important for those who want to be professional chefs.
“Ultimately, service challenges give a little taste for those contestants who actually want to be in the industry. They also showcase some contestants that just aren’t built for it,” he explained.
“The hardest part of service challenges is communication and working with people who haven’t done service before. It’s not really a transferable skill – cooking to service. Obviously they’re associated, but the way the MasterChef kitchen works is very different.”
Fleming says he always tried to push himself in these scenarios, “Last season, I tried to always place myself in roles that would benefit from professional experience. Either behind the scenes big prep jobs or leading where I could.”
He continued, “I completely spaced on some, though, like the first challenge with Gordon Ramsay where I opted to prep the Kingfish. Whilst filleting, the producers asked how I was going to cook the fish, and I hadn’t even processed that that would be my job. I was very much in professional mode where I was prepping, and then someone would come in and cook after that. Silly me, really.”
He adds that “service challenges offer a brief taste of professional life” and that he “always loved” them while on the show.
“But that’s because I love service and love hospitality in that form. It’s certainly not for everyone.”
‘The feeling was different’
Speaking about having the opportunity to cook with the judges last year, Fleming explained that the second time felt very different to the second time in his Back to Win season.
“Cooking with or against the judges is a bit of fun,” he began. “I remember the first time around, cooking against George and Gary, and I loved it because I idolised them and what they had done in food.
“Last year, it was great getting to cook with the judges, but the feeling was different. We were peers, and I felt there was a respect there from both sides that was different.”
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
