Welcome to the Able And Game recap of the Masterchef Australia Sunday Night Mystery Box/Invention Test and the start of Nigella Week!

Everyone arrives and Matt gets them excited by telling them that today is going to be a day they tell their Grandchildren about because a bona fide culinary superstar is coming.

Nigella enters the room and the lighting is TOP NOTCH. She is a red angel from heaven. Jess says she is hot in person and Genene says it looks like she is walking on air and Reece is about to faint. There are also more comments about her appearance and Reece is invited to personally touch Nigella.

The judges excitement levels about Nigella are:
Matt: 10/10
George: 5/10
Gary: 2/10

Nigella has selected the ingredients for the Mystery Box:
Passionfruit, Marsala, Chicken Livers, Squid, Condensed Milk, Ginger, Cherry, Anchovy (the bacon of the sea), chili and thyme.

They have 75 minutes to cook and have what's in the mystery box and the staples under their bench. The Judges are tasting the 5 most appealing dishes and the winner will get to go straight to Immunity challenge and win another mystery prize.

They get flown to London to have afternoon tea with Nigella at Fortnum And Mason.

 

 

Reece is GOBSMACKED by this prize. Ben is nonplussed and would rather go to the pub and have a beer.

Nigella starts the challenge and asks to be delighted by their food.

Gary then decides now is the time to criticise Nigella's choice of ingredients in the Mystery Box. He says there are some really gorgeous ingredients BUT the contestants are going to be confused and go "squid and chili?" or "anchovies and condensed milk?" then laughs nervously and offers a slightly patronising smile. Nigella is having none of it and tells him there are also some amazing flavour combinations.

Matt then describes the afternoon tea with Nigella as a "dream prize" and Gary describes it as "not bad".

Gina is cooking pasta called Cavetelli.

Reece is making his first savoury dish and is ready to nail it.

Michelle is making squid pickled in Thyme and Nigella makes a LOL about how she feels pickled in time. This explains why, despite being 10 years older than me Nigella actually looks 10 years younger than me. I need to eat more pickled Thyme.

Kristen is thinking about afternoon tea with Nigella and wonders if that actually happens to anyone. I would assume yes, Nigella's friends and family sometimes have afternoon tea with her. Gary then tells her her dish needs to be beautiful and not like Frankenstein.

Genene is very excited to meet Nigella but has to grab a whisk and Nigella seems slightly put off by this. Genene is flustered and embarrassed. It is super wholesome.

Hoda is cool as a cucumber meeting Nigella.

Jess is making the Peter Gilmore dessert from the Season Two finale. I am going to assume this took hours to make, yet she is attempting to do it in a 75 minute challenge.

5 dishes are tasted:

Reece's chicken liver parfait. Nigella raves about it, then says she'll stop talking now and eat a bit more and Gary says "oh, welcome back". It appears Gary has now warmed to her.

Genene's semifreddo has a dramatic pause where the judges all death stare her. But then Matt breaks the silence with that kind of piggy groan he does and Nigella points a spoon at her and tells her its sensational. Matt questions her emotional levels and tells her how she should be feeling.

Gina makes good pasta, pasta that you would travel to Italy for.

If Jess has pulled off making a season finale pressure test dish then she should be deemed Masterchef. Stop the show, we are done. She has pulled it off! Jess also says her Mum keeps her in a bubble and has never gone overseas.

Kristen has made a squid dish and Gary says this was the type of dish they were looking for. Nigella tells them to try two of the components together and Gary tells everyone she is bossy and he forgot how bossy she was. She's not bossy Gary, she's the boss.

Kristen wins and her face is the correct amount of emotional excitement you expect when someone wins something on a television show.

 

The Invention Test
They are to bring a dish that snap, crackles and pops. Will someone bring a bowl of Rice Bubbles? They ask everyone what they would make and George says he would make a block of chocolate.

Everyone starts cooking and talking about the snaps, crackle and pops. There is a lot of talk of chicken skin going around.

There are 20 people cooking so a few people get totally ignored. The judges don't even speed taste Tim, Sarah, Aldo, Gina, Samira or Genene's food (unless I fast forwarded through that section but I checked and couldn't see).

Ben has made crab and the judges request bibs and LOL and behold Matt's Cravat is also a bib. They love his dish.

Kahn: Pork crackling in lettuce
Jo: Parsnip chips and roast pork
Jess: Squid ink twill and black sesame pannecotta
Jenny: Heavy thud and the chocolate work is not good
Reece: Uplifting music warm chocolate mousse
Adele: Suspense music and fried pasta noodles with chicken and mushrooms
Lisa: Very crunchy double deep fried chicken GARY HAPPY
Sashi: Sour fish and fish skin
Brendan: Squid noodle pad thai
Michelle: I still don't know what Nougatine is
Chloe: Snickers fail

Loki: A bowl of popping candy that is for his son and if he fails he has failed his son. Judges stare at him with very annoyed looks and before you can say BOTTOM THREE FOR SURE THAT'S JUST A BOWL OF POPPING CANDY the redeeming music plays and it turns out it's one of the best ice creams Nigella has ever had. Loki describes the joy of the judges loving his dish as fireworks in his brain. I am assuming he is still eating the popping candy.
Hoda: Cornetto. It completes Matt's day and he can go home and it's one of the best things they've tasted in the Masterchef kitchen and Nigella would fly from London to Melbourne for it, which she did IRL right now but maybe she would do it again?

Top Three:
Hoda
Loki
Ben
(highly commended: Lisa and Reece)

Bottom Three:
Chloe
Adele
Jenny