Black Orchid wrote on Jul 20
th, 2017 at 9:23am:
Ben is my favourite of the remaining four. He has been growing on me more and more as the series has progressed and I would like to see him win.
I can watch it in real time now that the other shows I watched have ended. YAY.
I think he has surprised even himself...
BEN Ungermann has rocketed through to Sunday night’s MasterChef Australia Semi Final after one of the most demanding challenges in the show’s history.
The 32-year-old retail manager, from Queensland, got a free pass after winning a Dinner by Heston service challenge against Diana Chan, Tamara Graffen and Karlie Verkerk.
But Ungermann says he was left “physically and mentally broken” after the marathon cook.
The four contestants were each tasked with recreating a dish from Heston Blumenthal’s restaurant menu for 40 diners.
Verkerk cooked Frumenty — grilled octopus with spelt, sea vegetables, pickled lemons and a smoked mussel broth finished with bonito and white soy.
Graffen had to prepare roast grouper and green sauce, with braised witlof, peas and pickled onions.
Chan plated Beef Royal — a wagyu sirloin cooked over charcoal with mushroom ketchup, pickled and smoked onion, cows tongue and a sauce made from red wine and beef juice.
Ungermann got a doozy — the restaurant’s famed lamington cake which consisted of 105 steps. It was a layered cube consisting of chocolate biscuit, chocolate ganache, coconut sponge, a molten liquid centred raspberry dome and a white chocolate and rum mousse.
Although the lamington didn’t look complex, it was frightening knowing I was about to attempt a recipe with that many steps,” Ungermann said. “It seemed, in all honesty, unachievable.”
The contestants had five hours to prepare and cook before service began. Contestants cooked under the watchful eye of Dinner by Heston chef and director Ashley Palmer-Watts.
“Cooking these dishes on your own from scratch is a huge challenge and then plating yourself adds an extra layer of difficulty,” Palmer-Watts said. “This level of cooking is about consistency and thinking every step of the way.”
Verkerk was overwhelmed when she read her recipe. Palmer-Watts told her that it was the broth that would bring the whole dish together.
The 26-year-old copywriter, from New South Wales, hit a major hurdle with her lovage emulsion — a mix of egg yolks, Dijon mustard and lovage oil. She added the oil too quickly causing the emulsion to go runny.
Graffen had never cooked with grouper and wasted precious time filleting the large fish. Later the 28-year-old engineering officer from Western Australia forgot to flame her pipis.
Chan misread the recipe and made her beef portions too thick and ended up with a range of different sizes.
Ungermann took 30 minutes to read the recipe and hit a major hurdle when he forgot to include vodka in his ganache. He chose to modify the recipe and add the vodka in with a stick blender.
With all the contestants struggling, Palmer-Watts was forced to delay service by 30 minutes.
Verkerk’s dish was the first to be served to diners and judges Matt Preston, George Calombaris, Gary Mehigan and Palmer-Watts.
Verkerk was praised for cooking the octopus perfectly and getting the broth right but a glaring difference was one, instead of three, dollop of lovage emulsion.
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Graffen was next and time forced her to leave the onions off her dish. The judges said the fish was cooked perfectly and the viscosity of the sauce was great but there was something out of balance with the flavour of the dish.
Chan was still a strong contender for dish of the day even though her steaks were different sizes. The dish looked great and the onions were cooked perfectly.
But it was Ben’s lamington that won the day. Each of the layers was there and the ice cream was amazing. Calombaris described it as “bang on”
By the end of the cook I was shattered,” Ungermann said. “It was the hardest thing I’ve had to do in my life. I have never felt so emotionally and physically destroyed. I’m not sure I would have been able to back up in the elimination the following day. It was utter relief to make it through to the Semis without having to cook off against the girls.”
Chan, Graffen and Verkerk will now fight it out for the remaining two spots in the Semi Final in an elimination cook-off tomorrow night.
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