‘MasterChef Australia’ 2016 recap and spoilers: Hard-headed Harry fails to win immunity with his Christmas on a plate

Network Ten’s “MasterChef Australia” Season 8 aired one of its closest immunity challenges, pitting a home cook against a seasoned Aussie chef. On episode 18 aired on May 24, judges Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris and Matt Preston, as well as guest chef Nigella Lawson chose whether one home cook deserved to get the highly coveted immunity pin. Despite his contender’s rookie mistake, Harry Foster’s dish was not deemed worthy of the massive advantage.

The 21-year-old cocktail bartender gets an opportunity to redeem himself on the next team challenge. He’s chosen as one of the team captains, seeking for victory over two other groups to earn a spot on the next round.

Spoiler Alert! This article contains "MasterChef Australia" Season 8 spoilers. Read only if you want to know more about it.

Network Ten posted a sneak peek of Wednesday night’s episode that focuses on a team challenge. The amateur chefs will be divided into three teams, namely yellow, blue and red. Harry is seen wearing a red apron with “captain” on it, and it looks like Heather Day and Mimi Baines will be heading the yellow and blue teams, respectively.

In the trailer, the judges announce that the contestants will be cooking for thousands of people. Such a daunting challenge will push the “MasterChef Australia” hopefuls to the extreme, and they will be forced to work harder than ever.

“MasterChef Australia” Season 8 recap

In the beginning of Tuesday’s episode, Matt and Nigella were seen sneaking up to the “MasterChef Australia” house. Matt woke up Harry and he instructed him to bring Mimi and Karmen Lu to the kitchen. Still on their pajamas, the three trudged down to the kitchen and were told that they’ll be doing the first round of the immunity challenge right there and then. Harry, Mimi and Karmen were asked to prepare a midnight feast in just 30 minutes, inspired by Nigella’s famous midnight kitchen raids. Mimi came up with a brioche French toast with maple bacon and bananas, while Karmen served a hearty fried chicken and waffle with chili maple syrup. It was Harry, however, who delivered the best dish for round one, despite almost giving Nigella a nervous breakdown. He managed to whip up dark chocolate brookies – brownie and cookie in one – with Frangelico cream that won Nigella’s heart, hands down.

At the “MasterChef Australia” kitchen, Harry found out that he was going against Hentley Farm head chef Lachlan Colwill. For being the amateur chef, Harry was given the advantage of cooking 15 minutes more than Chef Lachlan. The young home cook also chose the type of Christmas dish for the immunity challenge – savory or sweet. When he announced that he’s decided on a dessert plate, the other contestants looked like they disagreed with his choice. Mentor Shannon Bennett also looked like he wasn’t too thrilled about Harry’s concept for his dish and offered his recommendations. However, Harry went to follow his instinct.

Chef Lachlan was not happy with Harry’s choice, especially since he expressed earlier that he works best with savory dishes. The award-winning chef also made a rookie mistake when he spread out melted chocolate on a hot surface. He only realised his blunder when the contestants pointed it out. Despite this setback, he managed to come up with a yummy Australian summer Christmas pudding. It was a close fight with Harry’s Christmas pavlova, which Nigella seemed to prefer. In the end, however, Chef Lachlan won with a one-point difference. “I’m pretty inspired meeting these guys that are potentially entering the industry, and they’ve already got such good understanding and good skill base,” he said.

Harry, on the other hand, failed to get the immunity pin but still showed his appreciation towards Chef Shannon. Harry also seemed to learn his lesson of listening to a mentor’s advice and putting an expert’s recommendations on the plate.

Find out what happens next week to “MasterChef Australia,” and stay tuned for episode spoilers. “MasterChef Australia” Season 8 airs every Sunday to Thursday at 7.30pm on Ten.