MasterChef NZ recap: Paua pie and huhu larvae for dessert – we’re in Amisfield

It’s the Vaughan Mabee Show!

I mean, not really, but also, in many ways, very much.

We’re in the final eight, and they’re at Amisfield, the vineyard restaurant where Vaughan is the chef.

For those of us who haven’t been to Amisfield (most of us; the dinner menu is in the neighborhood of $250 a head without drinks), it serves one of those tasting menus where each course is two bites in size and designed to, depending from where you fall, wildly creative and inventive or boastful stunt cooking.

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The participants are placed in pairs, each making two courses, accompanied by the chef, whose name is, of course, Mathieu Legarde.

In addition to the three judges, they also serve 10 dinners.

“Personally, I’d be terrified,” Michael tells the final eight.

Oh, they are.

For most of them, this is their first experience cooking in a restaurant kitchen, and it’s either Rudi’s dream or his nightmare, because there’s only one person they really need to impress, and that’s Vaughan.

Jason and Sam have the first course. They make kōura, or freshwater crayfish, baby paua and smoked eel on a version of Vogel’s toast. Three dishes, for 13 people; they have 15 minutes to get these 39 plates out.

“There’s a lot of pressure to get it right because it’s for Vaughan and it’s his menu,” Sam says. He thinks he and Jason have had a rough start, but they don’t seem to have too many problems.

There is a general murmur of satisfaction in the dining room. But what will the judges think? Or really, what will Vaughan think? Honestly, it seems like Nadia and Michael are usually here to get a free Amisfield meal. I salute them.

“I’m very proud of what you gave us today,” Vaughan tells them.

Hana and Alice are next. They make tuna tacos, which have a number of different components — unique burritos, tuna, various sauces, edible cornflowers — and they’re starting to fall behind.

In the kitchen, their competitors, who can’t do much else until Hana and Alice’s course is out, cheer them on. “Come on girls, you’re almost there!” they howl. That Alice and Hana refrain from turning around and hitting them is a true testament to their focus on the task ahead.

The cornflowers should be in the same order on every taco, which means a repeat on some. Finally they are in the jury room.

“I’ve spent way too much time in Mexico,” is Vaughan’s humble excuse for the frequency of tacos on his menu. Can our Kiwi girls live up to its well-traveled taste buds?

“To be honest, that dish is perfect,” he says. Hana and Alice clap and hug, and then it’s back to the kitchen.

Next up is Naomi and Elliot, who make piper, also known as garfish or ihe. Fillets are served with deep fried piper frames – that’s right, the bones.

Naomi begins to nod. Tony, Amisfield’s formidable food and drink manager, pulls her up for not properly distributing her sauce drops.

“You can’t miss a beat,” she says. “I’m missing a beat now.”

They go to the jury and Vaughan is already not satisfied. Making guests wait for food is a mortal sin.

But overall the dish is well executed. Naomi is visibly relieved.

Alice and Hana are back, with Vaughan’s famous pea pie.

“A few years ago it won New Zealand’s best dish.” Vaughan is really playing this for all it’s worth.

Alice and Hana’s version may not win awards anytime soon — the brisee pastry is a little overcooked, Vaughan says, and it’s missing some acid. It’s a “near”, which may not be close enough at this stage of the competition.

Here’s our first look at Rudi and Amberley. They cook one of those deceptively simple dishes with no room to hide behind: grilled mushrooms and a beetroot sauce.

‘We’re going to push it to the wire with this mushroom dish today,’ says Rudi, deadpan as always.

Once Amberley has drawn her quenelles in a straight line, they are gone.

“I can’t call you for anything today,” says Vaughan. Rudi’s smile is so wide that it really chokes me.

Jason and Sam again! “How privileged are we to serve venison Wellington on a deer antler?” asks Jason; a question I cannot answer.

Nadia thinks it’s “a blast,” but The Judge Who Counts says more butter and sour was needed in the gravy.

Naomi and Elliot have the first dessert course. It’s – I’m not kidding – huhu grub fudge, molded into very realistic huhu grub shapes and served in a block of wood. You have to use tweezers to get them out. For real.

Naomi knows her huhus. “Larvae live in dead wood for two years and they feed on it!” she tells us. uh, delicious?

In the jury room, Michael is visibly odd.

Vaughan has him eat the first one – head first, of course. “What the hell happened to me?” asks Michael. Vaughan says Elliot and Naomi did a great job.

It’s the last course and we’re back at Amberley and Rudi, where we make an edible pounamu – a sort of ice block of kawakawa and pinot gris with a kumara cord strung around it.

They agreed in advance that Amberley would do the plating, Rudi says. “My trembling hands when I get nervous won’t do pounamus justice.” Can he impress his hero again?

Quite. The taste is good, the texture not so much; they should have had more time in the freezer. Rudi’s smile is slightly smaller.

Everyone gathers in the jury room again and my pick is that Sam is on his way to his second immunity in a row.

But no! Alice and Hana win the round; apparently “almost” was good enough.

With those two top chefs out of the running, Sam knows who to beat.

“Everyone needs to be careful,” he says, with as much threat as a pathologically sweet man like Sam can muster. “Especially elegant Elliot.”

I’m looking forward to tomorrow.