Cereal Mystery Box Challenge — The contestants were given 75 minutes to cook a dish using at least one of the cereals in the mystery box (Coco Pops, Weet-Bix, Corn flakes, Fruit Loops and Rice Bubbles) with an open pantry and the garden; the bottom three would face elimination. Antonio’s coco pops éclairs and Ralph’s corn flake pork chop with mashed potato and mint sauce received the highest praise from the judges and were the top two dishes. Most of the contestants had problems with their dishes but Grace’s fruit loop pop tart cereal had technical issues, despite being creative and thinking outside of the box. Declan’s three breakfast cereal muffins were dry and Alice’s fruit loop parfait was split. With those major errors, the last three ended up in elimination.
MasterChef Australia has a different format from that of the original British MasterChef and MasterChef Goes Large formats. Initial rounds consist of a large number of hopeful contestants from across Australia individually “auditioning” by presenting a food dish before the three judges in order to gain one of 50 semi-final places. Entrants must be over 18 years old and their main source of income cannot come from preparing and cooking fresh food in a professional environment.
The semi-finalists then compete in several challenges that test their food knowledge and preparation skills. In Season 1, the top 50 competed until 20 were left, with the final 20 progressing to the main stage of the show. From Season 2 onwards, 24 contestants progress. The contestants will then be whittled down through a number of individual and team-based cooking challenges and weekly elimination rounds until a winning MasterChef is crowned. The winner plays for a prize that includes chef training from leading professional chefs, the chance to have their own cookbook published, and A$250,000 in cash.
