Season 9 of MasterChef Australia has already played out Down Under but for us at t2, it’s all about the thrill of watching a team of amateur home cooks wielding the kitchen knife like a pro and racing to the finale. Here’s who we are rooting for…

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS 

The best audition dish: 19-year-old Michelle Lukman, according to the judges, came up with the best “audition dish” in  many seasons. Her Golden Ball filled with chocolate made Matt Preston call her “a bit of a freak”!   

Liquid nitrogen: Even before Heston Blumenthal, the man who’s made cooking into a science, came calling, this season has been a lot about using liquid nitrogen in almost every kind of dish — from Ben’s ice cream dishes  to Eliza’s Peach ‘embers’.

Charring: Charring is the go-to technique this season, with the judges quite warming to it. It’s providing the crunch and the smoky feel, and also prettying up a dish or two.

Heston’s road trip: Heston Blumenthal makes every MasterChef trip pretty exciting — we loved the pop-up restaurant cookout in the air pods of the Melbourne Star in Season 8, but this time it’s a little different. A road trip through Australia saw the contestants setting up shop almost anywhere and everywhere and whipping up a dish. We especially loved the cookout by the Murray river using the river as a theme.

Sweet as savoury: ‘Turn it on its head’ has been the mantra this season with the contestants attempting to give a savoury twist to what is traditionally sweet. Remember Tamara’s savoury ice cream cone or the time Callan put wasabi in his dessert?

Our top moments so far...

• Chef Peter Gilmore was back with some of his simple-but-hiding-a-surprise challenges, capped by the one where the contestants had to whip up a complex dish with coconut shavings.

• Israeli-British star chef Yotam Ottolenghi made his MasterChef debut this season and spent a whole week pushing the contestants to experiment with veggies, and boy did the dishes look stunning!

• Heston Blumenthal in the house means some guaranteed magic moments, like him teaching the basics of cooking eggs — poach, scramble or fry.

Karlie Verkerk

Age: 26

When not cooking: Is a copywriter.


Strong point: By Karlie’s own admission, “Big, bold and brassy Oriental flavours”. 

On MasterChef: Established herself as a front runner early on and is sticking to her guns. 

Best dish so far: Her Chinese street food-inspired pork belly dish. Even George, who doesn’t have a great relationship with spice, was forced to compliment her with, “It’s delicious. I’ll sweat every day of the week for that!”

On social media: Follow her @karlie_verkerk on InstaG. Big in putting together diverse ingredients on MasterChef, Karlie’s Insta feed is a reflection of that… it has beautiful pictures of ingredients like garlic, kumquats, plums.

Diana Chan

Age: 29

When not cooking: Works as an accountant. 

Strong point: Malaysian cuisine. Believes in whipping up “balanced, wholesome and delicious” meals.

On MasterChef: Known for her ability to keep calm and carry on under pressure. Always has her thinking cap on. 

Best dish so far: Slow Braised Beef, Mushrooms and Greens. The judges praised it for its “subtlety and for packing flavours that were pure and true”. 

On social media: Follow her @diana.chan.au on InstaG. Besides food pictures, there’s a whole lot of posts with close pal and MC co-contestant, Eliza, and the show’s judges — Matt, Gary and George.

Eliza Wilson

Age: 30

When not cooking: Is a theatre nurse.

Strong point: All things baking. We could almost smell her golden puff pastries through the TV screen!

On MasterChef: Has not faced an elimination so far. Pretty unflappable even when things go out of control. 

Best dish so far: Peach ‘embers’, with Goat Cheese Mousse and Charcoal Meringue, that made all four judges including Heston Blumenthal go ‘wow!’ It’s still the “best dessert this season”. 

On social media: Follow her @elizawilsonau
on InstaG for some pretty food pictures... and all the dope on her catering venture, The Grazing Table.

Ben Ungermann

Age: 32

When not cooking: Is a retail manager.

Strong point: Dutch cuisine, and any dish that involves ice cream. He’s made eight ice cream dishes in a row!

On MasterChef: Has emerged as a strong contender; the charmer is the dark horse of the show. 

Best dish so far: Lemon Myrtle Ice Cream With Macadamia Shortbread, Grapes and Kaiserfleisch.

On social media: Follow him @ben_ungermann on InstaG. Okay, this man looks as good working out as he does cooking! 

Callan Smith 

Age: 19

When not cooking: Is a higher-secondary student.

Strong point: Loves to combine theatre and food. And he’s also quite a wiz in molecular gastronomy. 

On MasterChef: Is known to push the envelope a little too far at times, resulting mostly in gains and a few losses as well. Called “Mini Heston” after chef Blumenthal. 

Best dish so far: The Wasabi Caviar he whipped up in the auditions — remember how he used a syringe to fuse in the ingredients?! And yes, who can forget that Caramelised Kaiserfleisch with Pickled Grape Sorbet?

On social media: Follow him @callansmithau on InstaG for some unbelievable food pictures... we just love the one that has a colourful stack of macarons

Arum Nixon

Age: 34

When not cooking: Is an advertising strategist. 

Strong point: Maintains a low key and lets his cooking do the talking. A man who can make his meat dishes sing.

On MasterChef: He’s got that lost-boy look on his face, often even when he’s plating up some amazing food. 

Best dish so far: Beef with Celeriac, Black Pudding, Macadamia and Pernod.

On social media: Follow him @arumnixon on Instagram for a delicious stack of food pictures. 

Tamara Graffen

Age: 28

When not cooking: Is an engineering officer.

Strong point: Asian cuisine and her ability to bounce back (she was eliminated, but came back in the wild card round).

On MasterChef: Can hardly contain her excitement. And we love her statement earrings.  

Best dish so far: Baklava Toffee Apple with Pistachio, Walnut and Pickled Apple.

On social media: Follow her @tamaragraffen on InstaG… lots of food, lots of earrings!

Eloise Praino 

Age: 32

When not cooking: Works in a law firm.

Strong point: Thinks on her feet and can pull a trick out of her coloured mop anytime. 

On MasterChef: Has made a name for being the contestant who can pull off the almost impossible. Judge George
Calombaris calls her the season’s “wonder kid”.

Best dish so far: The ‘Liver Pate’ (made of chocolate!)  that she served up recently. We also loved her Sunrise Lime Parfait with Fondant Potatoes, Potato Chips and Cep Caramel.

On social media: Follow her @eloise_praino on InstaG 
to fall in love with food. Also, she clicks some pretty cool kitchen selfies

Priyanka Roy
Who are you rooting for on MasterChef Australia 9? Tell t2@abp.in