Foodie cast out for lobster dish
LOBSTER has proved to be Harry Foster’s undoing for the second time on Masterchef Australia.
The Townsville-raised foodie was eliminated from the reality cooking show last night after serving up an overly complicated seafood feast.
In a first for the show, now in its 12th season, the contestants were tasked with creating their own pressure test recipe to “wow” the judges rather than recreating a dish by a professional chef.
Designed to look like a rock pool, Harry’s dish featured poached southern rock lobster tail with coral cream, langoustine, pipis, uni (sea urchin), pickled calamari, pickled sea herbs, pickled and fresh wakame, dried nori, dashi glaze, apple and fresh herbs.
“I went out of the competition in season eight on lobster and of course I decided to do it again,” he said.
“I had a million ideas and I went in with the expectation that I was going to have to make something really showy and really extravagant. I didn’t have enough time to bring together a concise idea so I focused more on how beautiful it was going to be without thinking how it would taste.”
He is the fourth cook to leave the kitchen in Masterchef’s new Back to Win format.
While the return of popular contestants from past seasons has been a ratings hit for Channel 10, some viewers have questioned if some contestants – Reynold Poernomo and Poh Ling Yeow in particular – are too experienced.
Harry defended the new format as a level playing field.
“Everyone’s had the same opportunities after the show to go out and do whatever they want,” he said.
“Where do you draw the line between qualified and too qualified?
“Is someone underqualified if they haven’t opened a restaurant?
“Having these big qualifications doesn’t mean anything on the day. It comes down to what you cook and if the judges like it.”
While his second stint on Masterchef may have been much shorter e than his first, the reality show has once again inspired the 26year-old to forge his own path in the food industry.
After years of living interstate and a short stint on Richard Branson’s Makepeace Island before the coronavirus outbreak, Harry and his partner Josh Wallace will make Brisbane their home.
The former bartender will swap a traditional hospitality role for producing his own online content focusing on sustainable fishing and seafood.
“I want to show people how to catch and cook your own seafood and forage for your own food,” he said. “Going back on the show was a bit of an escape from hospitality and a door has opened for me to get into more creative things … A restaurant or a cafe isn’t the only thing you have to do.”
Masterchef: Back to Win continues today at 7.30pm on TEN/WIN.