Last night’s episode of MasterChef Australia featured the toughest cook yet. At Black Cat Truffles — a restaurant near Victoria’s Ballarat — Lourdes, Nat, Gill, and Alex were dropped into a Pressure Test. They each had to make smoked egg yolk raviolo with truffle and asparagus, a dish that’s topped with chive oil, chicken jus, and crispy chicken skin. The person who invented the technical dish is none other than Liam Downes, the director and hatted chef at Black Cat Truffles. At the end of the challenge, the worst-performing chef was sent home.
According to MasterChef Australia’s Lourdes, she felt a variety of emotions when learning she had to recreate Liam’s raviolo. In an interview with The Latch, she explained why she felt both excited and scared.
“At first it was daunting,” Lourdes said. “When I saw that smoke come from underneath the presenting tray, I didn’t have a clue what was going on. I thought, ‘Oh my God, is this some sort of barbecue challenge?’ But when the plate lifted, and I knew it was that beautiful raviolo I couldn’t wait to begin. I’ve worked a lot with pasta, I knew how to cook the vegetables and whatnot.”
“The one thing that did scare me was its crispy chicken skin, as it should have. I was also scared of placing the delicate egg yolks into the pasta. I sometimes have shaky hands, so both those tasks were daunting, but I was also a little bit excited.”
During the cook-off, Lourdes started off strong. Her pasta work was brilliant, and her asparagus purée was superb. But unfortunately, that’s where the good news ends. Lourdes cut some fat off her chicken skin, making it so it couldn’t crisp up. She also overcooked the raviolo, making the yolk too hard and rubbery.
“Towards the end, my bench got messy, which meant my mind got a little bit messy,” Lourdes said. “I started to lose control, and I overcooked my egg yolk.”
But despite these mistakes taking place, Lourdes didn’t give up.
“I think that it’s my natural temperament to just keep going and give it a red hot go,” Lourdes said. “If I had given up at that point, it would have been embarrassing. And I really didn’t want to embarrass myself further on national TV.”
During the taste test, the judges picked up on the errors Lourdes made. They then determined her raviolo was the weakest of the night, so she was eliminated.
What Is Next for MasterChef Australia’s Lourdes?
After being eliminated from MasterChef Australia, Lourdes hasn’t given up on her culinary dreams. In fact, she’s taken some practical steps towards working full-time in the food industry.
“I now work one night a week at the Society Restaurant in Melbourne,” Lourdes said. “I’m working in the pastry section doing desserts, which is really fun.”
“Down the track, I’d love to start my own home bakery business. Similar to what part of the MasterChef star Emelia Jackson did. People would commission cakes from me for birthdays and other events. I’d make them and then deliver them in beautiful packaging.”
MasterChef Australia 2024 airs Mondays though Thursday at 7.30pm, only on 10 and 10 Play on Demand. Miss an episode? Catch up on 10 Play.
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