“My Kitchen Rules” Competitive Canberrans Gina and Anna Petridis ate humble pie after their elimination on Tuesday night. The mother-and-daughter duo have been building themselves up since the first Instant Restaurant opened its doors for them, but unfortunately, they were not able to deliver as they have gloated from the start.

As the last team for group 1, Gina and Anna have seen and criticised the previous teams’ efforts, all the while gloating about their culinary skills. As Anna told her mum, she didn’t even know the meaning of the word “failure.”

All the other teams had high expectations of the two. Even judges Pete Evans and Manu Feildel thought they would ace the competition only because they were so set on it.

“Somebody is going home after tonight, and it’s not going to be us,” Anna declared. She was wrong, though. They were aiming to beat dad-and-daughter team Robert and Lynzey’s score of 90, but they in the end, they were not even able to beat young couple Annie and Lloyd’s 45.

Their turquoise-themed Instant Restaurant they named “Aquazure” looked perfectly beautiful, though, further fuelling their guests’ high expectations of the evening. But unlike Annie and Lloyd who at least got their dessert right after botching their first two dishes, Gina and Anna didn’t have a dish that could have been their saving grace.

“We’re going to smash everyone,” Anna kept saying, while Gina smugly affirmed, “They should be afraid of us.”

Entrée: Salt and Pepper Flathead Fillets with Lime Aioli

Their first dish looked amazing. The pair were all smiles as they served the entrée to their waiting guests. However, those smiles quickly faltered when Pete and Manu delivered their verdict.

Pete told them the fish was not only overcooked, but also didn’t have the salt and pepper flavour that they promised it would. Manu thought the most disappointing part of the dish was the “sloggy and slimy” salad.

Deflated, Gina and Anna hugged it out in the kitchen. They once again announced that the next dishes would not fail them anymore.

Main: Rotolo of Gnocchi and Duck Ragu with Crispy Sage

Knowing what was wrong from the start, Anna told her mum that she couldn’t do anything about the dry potatoes anymore. The potatoes had been sitting in the oven for too long, and she just ran out of options on how to rescue them. So she threw away the potatoes and, by Gina’s suggestion, she made pasta instead.

That wasn’t their only problem. Thinking only to incorporate more flavour to the duck ragu, Gina added tomato paste in the mixture, but that turned out to be a bad decision. She had to add more chicken stock in just to balance the flavour. By the time that was done, the guests had been waiting for more than two hours since the entrée was served. According to the guests, that was the longest waiting time ever, perhaps even longer than Kat and Andre’s serving time at their Instant Restaurant.

By the time they served the main, the guests have noticed the change in their demeanour. The Canberrans looked stressed and bothered, explaining that they had to swap the gnocchi with pasta at the last minute. Nevertheless, they were confident that their ragu could salvage the dish.

Only it didn’t. Manu commended the ragu, saying it was great, but the pasta was overcooked. Pete also thought the pasta ruined the dish, and the ragu hadn’t been able to save it. As Pete was giving them critique, the mother and daughter team kept on interrupting him, trying to justify what they have done. This made the rest of the guests uncomfortable.

Dessert: Crème Pâtissière Tarts with Prunes in Port Syrup

Their dessert looked amazing. Annie and Lloyd’s disastrous night was saved only by their dessert. And by the looks of how Gina and Anna’s night was going, it was thought that their tart would also be able to save the night. But again, it didn’t.

The tart shell was too hard to crack, the pâtissière was undercooked, and the prune too rich, according to Pete. As Shaz, who is in the competition with her cousin Jac, commented on the tart shell, it felt like they were mining a rock.

Scores and Elimination

Even after serving poor dishes, Gina and Anna still insisted they were better cooks than Annie and Lloyd. Their total score wasn’t revealed until all the guests were transported to another location for the elimination stage.

SA high school sweethearts Annie and Lloyd scored 45 during their turn on Monday night. They had perhaps prepared themselves for the unfavourable outcome as they all thought the Canberrans would win the round. After the night, though, the couple were given hope that they could still survive.

The teams gave Gina and Anna a combined score of 18. Pete gave their entrée, main and dessert a 4, 3 and 2 respectively. Manu scored them a little higher with 4, 5 and 4. The Petridis’ total score was 40, which meant they were the lowest-scoring team and therefore eliminated.

Here’s how the other teams scored Gina and Anna:

Ash & Camilla: 4
Kat & Andre: 4
Robert & Lynzey: 3
Annie & Lloyd: 4
Jac & Shaz: 3

Update: Video added

RELATED STORIES