Tonight, the five lowest scoring teams from Monday night’s buffet challenge went head-to-head in a banquet challenge which saw the two lowest scoring teams delivered straight to a sudden death cook-off.
In tonight’s episode, judges Pete Evans and Manu Feildel were joined by special guest judge and international chef, Curtis Stone.
Victorian sisters Tasia & Gracia won the challenge with their banquet dish of crispy pork cakes with apple and pear slaw and sweet chilli sauce, impressing Curtis who praised the texture of the dish.
Meanwhile, judges Pete and Manu declared Nev & Kell’s pepper steak with roasted mushrooms and feta salad the weakest banquet dish of the night, sending the WA couple to a sudden death cook-off against Carmine & Lauren, who received the lowest score from the guest teams for their crispy polenta with mushroom ragu.
Determined to stay in the competition, Carmine & Lauren chose to plate up fettuccine with a beef ragu. While Pete said the pasta was cooked well, and the sauce had a “well-developed flavour given the short amount of time,” he would have liked to have seen more sauce on the plate. He also questioned the team’s presentation of the dish saying “It looked a bit lacklustre, stressed and rushed.”
Fighting for their place in the competition, Nev & Kell opted for a crispy skin barramundi with puttanesca sauce as their salvation dish for the 90 minute cook-off. Manu said it was “good, but not your best,” reminding the team they were at a critical point in the competition.
Pete agreed noting Nev & Kell had failed to taste the elements of the dish as they went, with the team serving up undercooked eggplant.
While both judges admitted it was the smallest of margins between the teams, Nev & Kell were eliminated from the competition.
“I don’t want to cry, I promised him I wouldn’t do this,’ said Kell wiping away tears as she looked at Nev. “I just want to wish everyone the best and thank you guys for letting us come on this journey and thanks for coming to our place for dinner.”
Speaking of his time in the competition, Nev said: “When we first came into this competition, I just thought, ‘Are we over our heads just a little bit?’ But when we had our dinner with Pete and Manu, they give you confidence.”
“And we have a whole new extended family, we have our MKR family and we are going to keep them forever,” continued Kell. “It’s been one of the highlights of my life. I will never forget it. MKR rocks!”
Tomorrow night (March 16) on MKR; contestants head to the Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre where they will cook for more than 100 hungry Olympic hopefuls. Teams will have 90minutes to create the perfect lunch for an Olympian in training and will be judged not only on their dishes taste but also whether their dish is suitable for a professional athlete.
