Heston Blumenthal Elimination on Masterchef 1

Tonight is a Heston Blumenthal Elimination on Masterchef. The contestants up for elimination are Ben, Tracy, Amy and Brent. Who will be eliminated tonight? Who will make it into finals week? Tonight is a very tough challenge to trick the eye and the mind. The contestants had 30 minutes to plan with Heston and 90 minutes to cook. They had to cook four plates of food each, one for each judge. Heston wanted some “magic” and some “wonderance” in this cook.

Immediately the contestants ran to the kitchen.

Amy planned to make a blue cheese cheesecake which was wrapped in jelly to make it look like a cherry.

Tracy wanted to make a savoury look like a sweet.

Brent had a dish in mind that was a “long time coming” called “life at the end of the tunnel” which was a tribute to his dad. It was going to be a black reduction of shellfish with a light citrus flavour at the end. Heston thought this didn’t meet the brief of making something appear as something else. Brent decided to push on with his idea anyway.

Ben wanted to make a “bonfire”. He was going to cook beef rolled in charred leek leaf ash to make it look charcoal.

The contestants chose their ingredients from the pantry and ran off to start cooking. Brent had problems though, he was last to leave the pantry and wasn’t sure about his idea. George pulled him aside and had a chat, he scrapped his idea and started with something else. He decided to make a dish called “digging in the dirt”. It will be a pile of dirt which will be made of chocolate with sichuan pepper and popping candy with a mousse and fresh raspberries under the soil.

The judges weren’t sure about Tracy’s dish, she didn’t have a clear goal. She was making some apple crumble but didn’t know how she will meet the brief. She decided on a lamb crumble and despite the judges opinions she knew she could make it work.

Amy had to change her “cherry” idea with “plums” because her cheesecakes were so big. She dipped them in liquid nitrogen then in the jelly coating, but the coating wasn’t setting immediately.

Tracy was struggling with her dish, she was running out of time and using both hands to do different tasks.

It was a frantic rush to the end. With 2 minutes to go, Brent was doing good but Amy’s plums didn’t set and come off the skewers nicely, Tracy still had elements to finish and Ben had to finish his lamb.

At the end of the time, all the contestants got their dishes up. Tracy’s didn’t work out as she imagined and Amy wasn’t sure hers was “magical” enough.

Judging

First up to be judged was Ben. His “campfire” was sous vide beef with ash and charcoal potatoes. His presentation to the judges was to set the dish on fire with a blowtorch under a dome before serving. The dish was “absolutely smashing” according to Matt Preston. He couldn’t remember ever seeing something this good in the kitchen. Gary thought it was very clever and was lost for words, Heston thought it was brilliant.

Next up was Brent. His “pile of soil” was a chocolate soil covering a mousse with raspberries and orange segments. George said it all works together. Heston loved the little nuggets of candied zest. Matt Preston commented that it looked very much like soil.

Amy’s Magic Fruit Salad was next. Matt thought the plum was a “bit uncomfortable” in the bowl. Heston thought she was a bit unlucky following the previous two dishes. Gary said it doesn’t work, in terms of “magic”. Matt thought the detail was missing.

Tracy was last to be judged. Her dish was “crumble with custard”. In the end it did look like a raspberry crumble dessert. Gary loved the flavours but wasn’t sure if it was deceptive enough. Heston agreed, the illusion wasn’t quite there.

It was a close elimination between Tracy and Amy, but Amy was eliminated tonight on Masterchef