MasterChef Australia Season 9 Episode 11 saw Ben Shewry as the guest judge for the Mystery Box and Invention Test challenge. The top five contestants of the Mystery Box challenge included Jess Butler, Tamara Graffen, Trent Devincenzo, Nicole Stevenson, and Ray Silva. Although Silva won the Mystery Box challenge, he ranked in the bottom three in the Invention Test.
MasterChef Australia Season 9 Mystery Box Challenge
Ben Shewry’s Mystery Box contained Australian ingredients. The Mystery Box included scallops, wax flowers, water seeds, fresh cheese, juice of lemon aspen, sea lettuce, quandong, and kangaroo.
Most of the contestants had never tasted the ingredients before and looked nervous. However, they did get to taste the ingredients before using them in their recipes. The challenge included choosing at least one ingredient from the Mystery Box.
The contestants had 75 minutes to present their dishes. The judges would only taste the top five dishes. The winners would get a chance to go into the second part of the challenge, the Invention Test.
The judges described Trent Devincenzo’s dish as excellent. What surprised them more was that he hadn’t ever tasted any of the ingredients before. The judges also loved the simplicity of Stevenson’s dish.
Ray Silva made an ice cream sandwich. The judges loved it to such an extent that they didn’t leave any traces of the ice cream sandwich on their plates.
The Invention Test Challenge
Ray Silva won the Mystery Box challenge and had the option to chose between three different techniques—pickling, curing, or smoking. Silva chose smoking, and the contestants were told to use the smoked element in a significant way.
The dish also had to include one element from the garden. The contestants had access to an open pantry and 75 minutes to present their dish.
The contestants were told to create innovative dishes. The judges would only taste the best three dishes, and they will get a chance for immunity.
Some rushed to the pantry, and the rest rushed to the garden to pick up the ingredients. Silva tasted his dish but knew there was something missing. He wasn’t able to get the flavors right. He had undercooked the crayfish and undersmoked the broth.
When there was just a minute left to present the dish, Gava realized the heat wasn’t sufficient to smoke the scallops. She also forgot to plate all the elements. Silva along with Gava and Morgan were in the bottom three.
Sarah Tiong had perfectly cooked the pork, and her puree tasted good. She presented her dish with a few crispy horseradish leaves and smoked apple slices.
The judges were very impressed with Butler’s dish called “My Garden.” It was the most innovative and colorful dish of the test.
Praino’s ice cream sandwich was delectable. And, Goodwin dished smoked rice ice cream with nutmeg milk skin. The dish looked simple, but it was well-presented.
Tune into Channel Ten tonight to see the bottom three contestants facing the Pressure Test.
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Sources:
“Masterchef Australia Season 9,” Wikipedia; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MasterChef_Australia (series 9), last accessed May 15, 2017.
