Masterchef Australia – Sharnee’s Gone One Down, Two To Go
“One of the three of you could be Australia’s next Masterchef” said Matt Preston to Callum, Matthew, and Sharnee. I doubt it, none of these guys have shown they are one of the top 24 ‘amata’ cooks in Australia.
I keep on wishing the three of them would be teleported into Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen to be really told the truth about their culinary skills.
I love the way that Sharnee deadpans to camera “Food is something I can put my personality into.” Huh? However that was not her most outrageous quote of the night. This award goes to her saying “If I had used my instincts it would have turned out much better” after Sharnee had completely cocked up the challenge. Anyway more on that later.
The pressure test was to cook a stroganoff and fresh pasta without a recipe. They were not told what type of meat was in the dish, but seriously is there any other type but beef? But a quick google did show there was other stroganoff recipes for lamb, pork and veal.
Matthew whose mum had made stroganoff when he was in his teens had a slight advantage in this challenge. By the way I don’t know why his dad is so anxious about him going into the food industry, if it is a disaster he can always go back to accounting.
The three of them started showing their inexperience when they tasted the dish.
Sharnne thought there was a lot of mushrooms and salt in it.
“I definitely can pick up beef in there” said Matthew. Hallelujah! They had 60 minutes to produce the dish.
Lucky for them tonight they were able to go back in the pantry during the challenge otherwise it would have been a total disaster.
Callum grabbed chuck steak first, and unfortunately was helped out by the peanut gallery. How he thought that would cook in the allotted time was beyond me. This is basic knowledge. Anyway he ended up with filet steak.
Interestingly enough the peanut gallery did not point out to Sharnee that she had chuck steak, but that may have been after she overheard that she had picked up pork rather than veal, and they had just given up on her.
Without a recipe there should have been no input from the other contestants, isn’t the point of the challenge for them to rely on their own palates?
Sharnee was having a shocker, she said all her basic pasta recipes had flown out of her head, and she was desperately trying to make her pasta the right consistency. Also she threw the chuck steak uncut onto the frypan, to cook before cutting up.
George in his assessment of the top 10 (see previous blog post here) had said Sharnee knew her flavours. Well tonight she didn’t. She couldn’t pick paprika, and picked nutmeg instead. Probably her fatal error.
The judging tonight was hammed up by both George Calombaris and Matt Preston. They really needed a third person on the panel, it is tedious with the two of them. If Gary Mehigan is off at physio why don’t they get someone else in. I thought Matt Moran was replacing him and we have barely seen him.
Matt Preston thought it was a good looking stroganoff from Sharnee. Personally I thought it looked like a red oil slick.
George said “her biggest mistake is the steak…. it is tough”.
“Not a stroganoff if it was a creamy beef stew we would be happy” said Matt clearly thinking the tough chuck steak was not an issue, this would indicate that he would be more then happy with Jenny Craig food.
Matthew’s dish was thought to be too red according to George. His other criticism was the way he had cut up the beef, however he thought the flavour was good.
Callum’s lacked sauce according to George. However Matt liked the flavour of the stroganoff but thought the pasta was overcooked.
George also criticised Callum for inconsistently cutting up the meat.
Unsurprisingly Sharnee was eliminated, and hopefully she won’t get a wild card to get back in. Now can Matthew or Callum be eliminated this Thursday?
Sharnee also revealed she wanted to be a food writer which she has started doing.
“I’m working full time at a catering company and I’ve also got a contract with a personal fitness company, writing up healthy recipes for them,” explains Sharnee, who will finish her law degree later this year. “I’m doing work experience at a few Brisbane publications in the field of food writing and restaurant reviewing sections, and I’ve also done work experience with some restaurants.
“Overall, MasterChef has had a hugely positive affect on my life and I’ve walked away feeling more confident, more positive and with a lot more direction.”
Tomorrow night Jonathan is up against Gordon Ramsay protege Josh Emmett. I wonder if he met him when he was doing work experience at Petrus?
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52 comments
Sharnee sealed her fate when she said her aspirations were’nt huge ( or was that her ass wasn’t huge, well not from where I was sitting )…. no huge aspirations – just that she just wanted to be a food writer like MP! Good one ! Although ironically, he is a huge ass.
All conspiracy theory haters should brace themselves. Watching the episode tonight I came up with the mother of all conspiracy theories (in four parts, bear with me).
Why is Beef Strog the dish on the night all three of the “young ‘uns” are up for elimination…and so much made of this being a 1970s dish” – are the elimination tests designed based on the trio up for elimination?
Where is Gary, he has been back for a week and when he wasn’t back immediately after his accident they had Matt Moran sit in?
If Sharnee left the comp so late in the piece, how has she been able to rack up so many work experiences and odd jobs?
What is with Matt’s hair…in some recent episodes he has a lot of grey and in others, not so much? Hmmm. I have to go back and watch some video from the last two weeks to get more data re Matt’s hair to be sure…
But I’m thinking based on all of the above observations that this episode of the youngsters’ cookoff and the elimination of Sharnee was filmed out of sequence?
Why would they do this? Could be a number of reasons..Gary’s accident? availability of celebrity chefs for other episodes? the UK trip schedule?
Did anyone else notice these or other inconsitencies? Has anyone noticed Matt’s hair over the course of the last two weeks?
Hmmmm.
Matt P would have gone grey after the plate tanty, but he is piling on the weight so he needs to be thinner too to prove the Blow-out theory
Gary might be preparing a love nest for u-know-who?
CG – if you are right I am nominating you for a Queens Birthday honour.
I agree with one part of your conspiracy, I think they may twig the pressure test depending who is in it. If Claire, Jono and Marion had been doing this challenge it would have been dull as it would have been a no brainer for them.
Not sure about them filming it out of sequence as how would they know to be in it.
Pollywaffle – yes there are some similarities between Sharnee and Matt and it is not personality.
Pollywaffle – LMAO at the Gary comment.
Shouldn’t there be some steam coming off those stroganoffs? They looked colder than last night’s leftovers.
When Sharnee was running around the kitchen her saddlebags and ass were bouncing around so much I thought I was watching “Masterchaff “
CG , Or, were you implying there may be a rug sequence that make-up that C10 stuffed up
Sharnee could be singlehandedly responsible for the drop in unemployment figures
Raver
6 out of 7 recipe books cant be wrong! They all said topside or rump is used in stroganoff and not a single one of them called for paprika! I think MC got the dish mixed up with Hungarian goulash, certainly looked that way with the reddish tinge. All strogs I’ve ever seen or cooked were creamy light brown in colour.
Glad i missed all but the last ten minutes of it. The magicians tricks were far more interesting and the exploding stoves on mythbusters were far more amusing.
Matt’s hair over last seven days:
June 6 – meatlovers test – grey hair
June 7 – oyster terrine – Matt did not appear
June 8 – celebrity chef in the round – Matt did not appear
June 9 – molecular gastronomy – NO grey hair
June 10 – spice elimin challenge skye lost – Matt did not appear
June 11 – Masterclass – Matt did not appear
June 12 – Sat night – no show
June 13 – Sun night chiko roll – grey hair
June 14 – Sharnee’s elimination – grey hair
So Matt had lots of grey hair on 6 June. No grey hair on June 9. Then lots of grey hair June 13 and June 14 (tonight’s episode). Now unless Matt is using some spray on/wash out colour, this doesn’t make sense.
I have been colouring my hair since I was 22 thanks to my father’s grey hair genes. So this is something I notice.
I think if I go back further there will be a few more iconsistencies in Matt’s appearance. What could the explanation be other than episodes have been filmed out of sequence???
RR: easy to film out of sequence – all in the editing. Perhaps this is why with only 10 contestants left we still aren’t seeing all the cooked dishes??
2 questions CG
…did you check out his pants? ( ie for obvious green screen colour friendliness)
… Were him and Julie shot in the same scene?
Well, I don’t think it comes as a surprise that the shows are filmed out of sequence. Remember when Courtney was eliminated on a Thursday episode, and in the following evening’s MasterClass episode she was shown to be walking with all the other contestants to their seats? The editing is completely atrocious, out of sequence and far too predictable. It almost seems like nobody bothers to “proof-edit” these episodes to fix the abundance of flaws and inconsistencies.
I’m happy to see Sharnee gone but I wouldn’t have cared who went really. I thought she would last a little longer and coast through to the top 6 like Sam did, but maybe that spot will be reserved for Matthew or Callum now.
I have to agree with you Sourkraut. I certainly don’t put paprika in my stroganoff, and have never heard of anyone else doing so either. So much for it being an “essential alamant.”
And why the fluck would Sharnee attempt to make a dish like stroganoff using chuck steak? Does she not know that it’s a stewing meat, and should only be simmered slowly for hours? Obviously not, which is why she needed to be gone.
And she wants to be a friggin’ food writer?!? Shouldn’t she be going to learning-how-to-write school rather than a cooking reality show? I guess she wants to get her name out there, and that’s where a reality show can come in handy. But I somehow doubt she is going to be much competition for Matt Who Obviously Colours His Hair.
Skt,
the strog has been a centuries old battle between the russians and hungarians hence the current day confusion for the amata chef , re the paprika, but the great aussie strog calls for a more classic rendention – campbells mushroom soup plus a can of carnation milk
SKT – Nutmeg? LOL. Quickly grabbed the larousse and it has paprika in that recipe.
CG – Interesting research. If what you are saying is true, they must have the same editors who cut out The Biggest Loser paedophile working on it to ensure some contestants are not being seen.
Muru – They probably squeeze in the Masterclasses when they can.
Thanks, RR, for a great recap. This muggins has been completely thrown by the long weekend and the early start for the wonderful, tense WC match so didn’t even remember to tape it!
CG – love the hair theory!
Oh, and the person who was eliminated is not the one I’ve seen with a Twitter account, so I’m wondering who will be out next!
Sour,
In the actual 70′s, Margaret Fulton used fillet steak, tomato paste, no paprika, sour cream and button mushrooms. (For a crowd, she had a cheap version using chuck steak.)
What is it, anyway, with this 70′s dishes? It’s not as if they actually cook them using 70′s techniques or trying to re-create a 70′s mood.
but yah! Sharnee’s gone. A thousand viewers reach their hands to the sky and rejoice as one!
Pollyw
My fave version calls for a cup of dry sherry and Worcestershire sauce. Even Meg Fultons big book does not call for paprika. I always thought ( and read) it was a Russian dish, and STILL a very nice one when done properly
Raver
Where did the nutmeg sneak in? not from my recipe books
Rusty
The Meg F big book which you correctly quote was the number 7 one which did not call for rump or topside. Yes indeedy she used fillet.
Pollyw
Does your quoted aussie version make it an Icon?
The judging was painful. They do need Gary to bring them back to Earth.
Matt waffling on and on finding more and more superlatives for the ‘positives’ of the dishes, when it was pretty clear none of them were much better than what you’d get at an all you can eat buffet.
It was a bit unclear how it all works too = I thought Sharnee was hanging back on selecting the meat and the spices in order to copy the boys, but then she got it wrong anyway. And was Joanne the only one helping her becuase noone wanted to stnad with Joanne, or becuase all the rest get on really well with the boys?
and lastly – were Alvin and Adam trying to emulate Matt P with the pink outifts??
@Injera – i don’t do twitter but i wonder if it is the same person who has been spotted by my family out and about…
@seepi: I think its more that everyone likes the boys more. Aaron has shown he’s tight with Matthew and Jono and Marion mentioned that Callum helps her out with desserts and Clare likes working with Callum best. I think that’s also why everyone seemed so happy when the two boys came back.
I’m really hoping Callum gets near the top cause the more I watch him the more I like him
He’s so adorkable!!! 
And OMG I can’t wait for tomorrow! Jono’s celebrity challenge looks REALLY good! His arrogance makes him so much more threatening and exciting!
YAY SHARNEE LEAVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m glad she went into food writing (she was doing a lawyer degree so its not that surprising) because she’s really a VERY average cook at best. I mean the only compliments she keeps getting is that she gets her flavours right but SHE COULDN’T EVEN FIGURE OUT THE SPICE? WHAT??? I was actually surprised she got the pasta right considering what happened with her last time. If she had gotten through I would have punched someone in the face. Okay maybe not but yea, SO GLAD
All the conspiracy theories tossed around here, and no-one’s mentioned that Jono, who got some apprentice time at a Ramsay kitchen, is facing a Ramsay trained chef tomorrow? For shame!
And for these taste tests type of contests, I don’t mind if they throw in ingredients that normally don’t go there – ie the paprika in a strog, as opposed to a goulash. If it’s a real competition then it’s a good way of catching out cooks who are working to recipes they’ve cooked before, rather than working to what they tasted. If it’s a real competition, that is.
What an boring episode-highlighted why it should have been a triple elimination as they were all as useless as one another. Really think the peanut gallery should be silent though as not quite an even playing field, sweaty, tongue hanging out, touch his face every five minutes puts me off my food…at least Matt looks half decent, and did a half decent job with the ‘strog’. I agree … paprika in strog, since when? RR…how about a spoiler thread so those above teasing us can blurt it out?
Why do these guys get help from the guys on the balcony? Doesn’t this defeat the purpose?
The competition is now clearly two-tiered, with those who are decent (Marion, Jonathan etc) and those who are really average (Joanne, Aaron, Callum etc). I think they need some way of describing them other than ‘the ten best amata cooks in Australia’ because this is obviously not true (how the judges say this with a straight face I don’t know). Even SYTYCD normally avoids ‘best’ and uses ‘favourite’.
Oh well, it’s goodbye to Shrek’s Missus.
Is Aaron channelling this person? I have a friend who is a great Doris Day fan and occasionally I have to watch one (or several) of her DVDs, in which this actor appeared. So what do you think?
http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/j/Billy%20De%20Wolfe.jpg
dmc,
Maybe they should rejig it to say they are the 10 best amateur cooks who applied for Masterchef.
At the end of the day – who cares what they call them anyway. Doesn’t bother me and it doesn’t seem to bother the 2 million + that watch it.
All 3 contestants from last night look a bit out of their depth compared to the rest and I didn’t really care who went.
Oh Sharneeeee! When someone shouted ‘paprika!’ out to one of the boys near the last fireball before judging I thought she’d rush off and throw some in…
It was decent of Joanne to stay and give her the support and kind of foul to see Callum with the bulk of it. How horrible to not only be fighting to stay in but to have it rubbed in your nose the others would rather you go.
Sharnee has a beautiful complexion! And seems like a very nice girl. I was hoping she’d get the trip to London as she’d have appreciated it. But I guess it’s not Masterniceperson…
Rusty and SKT – there are different versions of the dish, and it should have been a spice they could easily identify.
Apparently Sharnee was vegetarian before she went on the show, and does not eat beef. So I am amazed she survived so long.
I am starting to crave a stroganoff, but still NOT craving a chiko roll.
KC – I think Callum will be in for awhile as he appears to be a fave of George’s.
Rosie – I think people think reality TV is a quick way to get noticed and in some cases it is. But if you don’t have the talent to use the opportunities presented then you fade into obscurity.
I doubt her food knowledge would be such to be a great food writer yet. Maybe she should start her own food blog and hone her skills there.
Anonymouse – maybe my mention of Petrus was too obscure, I did allude that Jono is going head to head with another Gordon Ramsay protege.
I wish Gordon would make an appearance that would be great, I wonder if Jono would be game to give a bit of lip then.
Also Gordon is hosting the US version of the show which has taken ‘alaments’ of ours so I hope one of the TV stations picks it up.
Airwalk – great idea I will put a spoiler thread up.
DMC – Agree it is a non-recipe test should have told the gallery to shut the fuck up. SYTYCD has the viewers voting, here professional’s are meant to be judging so the best cooks should be going through.
Culinary Boner – Oh God you are right
AnnyB – that is scary, amazing spot by you.
Paul – a double elimination would have been great.
Sooty – I wonder why she could not hear what they were saying but she was probably concentrating
Did anyone notice that Adam stole Matt P’s pants to wear in last nights episode – shocker!
I don’t understand why Sharnee didn’t just pick up the tips being yelled down from the peanut gallery on the spice and cut of meat…or at least walked slowly past the other two’s workstations to see what they had going on there…it’s not cheating, just walking slowly!
Sharnee aka Anna Bligh gone. I was actually waiting for them to keep her in and throw one of the others out for something like little bits of meat, starchy pasta, etc. But hey, they actually managed to prolong the inevitable for 15 minutes. That takes talent.
So while the others are yelling from the top various ingredients the other contestants cant hear a thing ?
I also love watching Joanne with her expertise in nothing yelling things like she has any idea of how to do anything ??
The bell tolls for thee
RR:thanks again for the blog, you’re a star.
And Paul…omfg I agree with the first and last paragraph of your post above, who ould have thought it.(not the middle paragraph though)
Was sharnee at the front of the 3 cooking desks? EG – closest to the food area?
Does this mean she did’nt get to run past the boys’ stations to see what they were using? (re – paprika mostly, and also the fillet steak).
I have to admit, I might struggle to pick the meat types, especially under pressure, and with them all sitting together unlabelled. I don’t cook a lot of meat, and when I do it is lamb chops (unmistakeable), chicken, or stir fry or casserol pieces (usually pre-cut.)
I’m pretty sure I would have got the paprika though. I actually think nutmeg is not a bad guess, as being kinda in the smoky sweet spice family.
I definitley think it was time for Sharnee to go though.
Ha, Matt Preston came out on Twitter today (he is known as MattCravatt) to let us all know that each week of MC is filmed in 10-day blocks. So does that give them permission to film out of sequence, design elimination challenges based on who is in the bottom 3, and other manipulation that makes this less-and-less about cooking everyday? Funny time to come out and make this statement? Then gain MC is more and more about Matt Preston auditioning for the talk show he is apparently shopping around with Andrew Denton (Denton’s company will be producing it but unclear if it will be taken up by ch10 or another network). Sigh.
Is there no end to the stream of embarrassing howlers from Matt and George? Eliminating someone cause they failed to add the “trademark ingredient” of paprika in Beef Stroganoff… Do me a flavour already!! Goulash has paprika, but Strog has sour cream and tomato paste, maybe a splash of brandy or sherry .
This cringe-making ep ranks right up there with eliminating Courtney for correctly identifying spearmint!
These two are risible. Matt P looking for all the world like a self-important Toad from Toad Hall and George his Ratty sidekick. Neither of them show evidence of genuine training and knowledge in cuisines of the world and their ignorance is jaw-dropping at times …
And DONT GET ME STARTED on George’s appalling abuse of every language including English – I mean, “enrichen” ?? Yikes!
Where was Gary when we needed him? If not for him, the show would have zero credibility. Come to think of it, it’s already a joke. Why must everything we do in this country be dumbed down?
CG – LOL I saw Matt P’s tweet, and nearly responded asking him whether this had anything to do with the grey hair conspiracy theory on this blog!
I love food – there would have been pans sizzling and chopping and people walking around I think it would be difficult to hear.
Tigerbelle – Gary not being there highlights what he actually brings to the show. Toad from Toad Hall – gold
Seepi – I would have struggled to identify it as fillet, but would have been able to identify chuck or that it was a stewing beef probably because I use so much of it.
Wallah – it was obvious who was going, if not for the nutmeg but the grilling a chuck steak a technique I doubt either of the judges had seen before.
Melba Toast – no I didn’t notice Aaron’s pants I was too busy looking at the long hair and beanie.
Another conspiracy for Paul to throb over, theres now Matt, Daryl and Andrew….. OMG the jews are taking over TV!!!!
Sorry spend a,
I have no idea what you are talking about……Confused.
Who’s Daryl ?
the king of light entertainment, where’ve ya been paul
Sharnee ‘I’m just a journeyman’ is thankfully gone. Callum ‘nervous tic’ should be next, and Joanne’s ‘ Bewitched’ number is up.
Top 3 could be Adam, Jonathon and Marion. The latter is beginning to annoy me with her smugness.
They needed to have Kathy Lette on as a guest judge as she helped make the Chikko Roll famous with her line ‘sit on my towel, mind my Chikko roll and don’t eat any’ a highlight of Aussie blokey jocularisms in the movie Puberty Blues. Why stop there? maybe get her husband in to sort out all the flaky lawyers.
Paul doesn’t get it-again
Paprika scandal: http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/masterchef-stroganoff-triggers-heated-spice-debate-20100615-ycmc.html?autostart=1
Airwalk,
Get what ?
3 names mentioned and some sort of obscure Jewish reference.
Not to mention that I think most conspiracy theories are a load of cobblers.
I really have no idea what spend a penny is trying to get at. Can you explain it for me ?
With this whole to paprika or not to paprika debate, I am standing by the larousse gastronmique instead of Margaret Fulton and going with paprika.
RR,
Its largely irrelevant anyway. Even if the recipe doesn’t call for paprika, its pretty much a given that the original dish had it in there and the contestants job was to recognise it.
Unbelievable how people get their knickers in a knot about the most trivial aspects of this show.
Paul – If one of the core ingredients of an elimination dish is trivial, what are the non-trivial aspects of this competition? You insist this is a cooking show where ther winner will be chosen based on cooking talent and in full accordance with the rules as presented to the viewing audience. Given this your position that a key ingredient in in a taste-and-replicate test is trivial is non-sensical!
CG,
Its not rocket science.
The contestants have to replicate the dish that is PRESENTED to them. Paprika was a core ingredient in the PRESENTED dish.
End of story.
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