Starter

”We want you to delight us!”

Last night was Mystery Box night and there were 15 contestants left – just over half of them female. Shannon had been sent home in the previous episode after she, Mary and Tumi were put though the Pressure Test of replicating MasterChef judge Andrew Atkinson’s intricately plated dish of pancetta-wrapped warthog loin, crowned with a smoked egg yolk, alongside herbed aioli and baby vegetables. This had been their last chance of continuing with MasterChef SA this season.

A whole new challenge last night was to produce a 45-minute impressive meal of greatest taste and visual appeal, using all seven ingredients lurking under the brown lid of each mystery box.

Mains

“Let’s see you do our ingredients justice.”

Next to Andrew loomed the other judges, Benny Masekwameng in silky navy and Pete Goffe-Wood, flamboyantly scarved. A chicken, asparagus, marrow bones, ricotta, capers, verjuice and breadcrumbs were the seven mysteries, giving to a mixture of dismay and glee around the kitchen. The full phalanx of Robertsons spices and other ‘usual’ kitchen ingredients could be employed.

While Andrew was impressed by the imaginativeness of the food being produced, Benny and Pete looked guarded. Pete was called by the bell, the access to judges granted Kamini during episode 5. It was a matter of bone marrow in Bordelaise sauce. Pete detailed the pitfalls and the pros of the ingredient, after which Kamini ditched her original recipe idea and set about creating a mousse of her ingredients, to be served with toasted breadcrumb rubble.

The marrow and its ephemeral tendencies daunted many on the floor, as well as the lack of time to cook a chicken through. There were poached pieces, toasty pieces, stuffed legs, clever quenelles, baked custard, a ballantine, crispy balls, a soup. Neil mentioned his inspiration of London’s Fergus Henderson, a nose-to-tail hero, for his enviable fried chicken dumplings, served with a roasted bone marrow and parsley salad. Leandri, one of the crack-cook sisters, claimed she’d not ever cooked with cheese before. Despite that, she was utilising it in a mean and toothsome baked side dish for her chicken.

Dessert

“Stop everything!”

Leandri’s capers, still on her counter, looked up at her helplessly. Almost everyone looked flustered, but Neil and Herman. Eventually Pete pronounced Leandri’s herb-crusted chicken with baked ricotta, “the nicest dish I have eaten all day”, but those forgotten capers, pink chicken, boring plates and a separated custard were some of the faults that slid Leandri's sister Seline, Mary, Tumi, Amanda and Sanet into tonight’s Elimination Round, which only five will survive.

Herman’s herbed, crusted chicken stuffed with bone marrow won him ecstatic eyerolls, lipsmacks, a deserved place behind the VW wheel and a Masterclass in presentation with Restaurant Mosaic’s Chantal Dartnell.

Tonight will see elimination waged with “the weapon, the senses!”

By Maris-Lais Emond

Tune in on Thursday morning for a run-down of Wednesday’s episode, and check out our MasterChef SA page, sponsored by Nederburg, for weekly updates.