“My Kitchen Rules” saw Chris Hemsworth’s lookalike cousin Rob and his mate Matt struggling to convince judges Pete Evans and Manu Feildel that they could cook. The VIC oyster farmers failed to smash the competition with their dishes.

Rob and Matt’s first big mistake was to wash the oysters, which they bought from the store since their farm couldn’t produce yet as they were off-season. Manu, who had been declaring his love for oysters all evening, couldn’t express fully how disappointed he was with the boys’ oyster dish. He claimed they stripped off the natural sea flavour of the oysters when they washed them.

The brawny pair defended their decision to wash the oysters in an interview with news.com.au. “Maybe in the restaurant game that’s a rule (not to wash oysters), but certainly not in the wholesale game which is our business,” Rob told the paper, adding that every person they supply oysters to know that they wash the shells when they shuck them. However, he was willing to concede that if the opposite is the practice in the restaurant industry, then they will learn from it.

“We did what we thought was best from our experience in the oyster industry. We’re by no means oyster chefs, we’re oyster farmers and that’s what we do. We specialise in providing chefs with a good product to work with and we realise we’ve got a lot to learn when it comes to cooking oysters,” Matt added.

Rob reckoned his family, which includes “Thor” star Chris and his fellow actor brothers Liam and Luke, will be laughing at his MKR experience at his expense, but he was all right with that. “The whole family, across the board, we all joke around and have a laugh and I’m sure there’ll be a few laughs at my expense but I’ve had quite a few with them, so it’s all good.”

Entrée: Oysters Three Way

Everyone was expecting top calibre oysters from the oyster farmers. If their Instant Restaurant’s brilliantly set up theme and the oyster Bloody Mary shots were any indication, Rob and Matt would be finishing the night at the top of the leader board. That didn’t happen, though. And their first mistake was the aforementioned washing of the oysters with tap water.

“I have to say, this,” Pete pointed to the Bloody Mary shot, “was the best one you did tonight. But unfortunately, it’s not on the plate.” Manu told them that if they wanted to wash the oysters, they should have done so with salt water as to preserve the natural flavour of the sea creatures.

The boys, though visibly disheartened, graciously accepted the judges’ critique, saying that as they hoped to be oyster chefs, they would learn from the criticisms. Pete commended them on their attitude, telling them they had two more dishes to impress them with.

Main: Prosciutto-Wrapped Quail with Kale, Orange and Walnut Salad

The attractive business partners admitted that they have never cooked quail before, and that admission in itself was a forewarning of what the critique of their main dish would be. And without a spare quail to taste and test, the boys were left with no choice but to serve the dish without knowing if the quails were cooked right.

The quails weren’t cooked right. Manu thought the bird was dry, and was unimpressed with Rob and Matt’s decision to serve a difficult dish that they haven’t cooked before. Pete thought the boys have fallen so deep that he couldn’t save them anymore.

With two negative reviews in a row, the oyster farmers returned to the kitchen feeling dejected. The next dish, though, was not only very basic, but also something they were more familiar with.

Dessert: Homemade Brownie with Strawberries and Cream

The dessert fared a lot better than the first two dishes. However, it still wasn’t enough to fully impress the judges and the guests or even save them from falling deeper into the bottom place.

Manu said it was the best dish of the night, but the texture of the brownie was off. He also remarked on it being too basic, telling them that adding nuts or cashews into the mixture could have helped a bit.

“It’s nice, I’m just not completely satisfied with it,” Manu told the boys. Pete reckoned that there was something wrong with their oven because some of the slices of brownies looked under-baked, while his own was dry.

Scores

The evening didn’t go as planned or as well as expected. The guest teams gave them a combined score of 26 out of 50, and this has pleased the pair. However, by the time the professional chefs rated them, it was apparent that they would get even average scores.

Pete scored their entrée, main and dessert very low scores of 3, 2 and 4. Manu rated them just one point higher with 3, 2 and 5 respectively. The overall score of the boys was 45, one point lower than Eva and Debra’s already depressing score of 45. This meant that they are at risk of elimination.

Here’s how the other teams scored them:

Rose & Josh: 6
Vicky & Celine: 6
Sheri & Emilie: 5
Carol & Adam: 5
Eva & Debra: 4

Carol and Adam

On Sunday, the newly married couple shot their way up to the top with 77 points. The competitive duo impressed their guests with their “40 Love” Instant Restaurant, but not without setbacks. Carol forgot to add raspberries in their Baked Raspberry Ripple Cheesecake, so Adam had to drive back to the store to get more ingredients. That proved to be a good decision, as their dessert was the most highly rated of the night.

In the end, they scored 77 points, putting them in the first place.

Also read:

MKR: Eva & Debra
MKR: Sheri & Emilie

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