Second out Masterchef admits mess

BY CLIO FRANCIS

Masterchef New Zealand's latest casualty has named Auckland restaurateur Simon Gault as the "scariest" judge in the television series.

Gault was a formidable judge who would "stare blankly" at contestants while they cooked and pepper them with questions, eliminated contestant Andrew Spear told Stuff.co.nz. 

Last night, competitors on TV One's Masterchef show were tasked with cooking two signature dishes of high profile Auckland chef Tony Astle.

The assignment included creating a complex Thai red curry with tripe and a meringue roulade.

Auckland sports journalist Spear, 24, was sent home from the competition after he served up the judges a lack-lustre roulade.

Judge Simon Gault refused to taste Mr Spear's dessert, labeling it an "embarrassment".

"There is very few times I won't try a dessert and this is one of them," Gault said.

Spears admitted his desert was "a mess". 

He said he had been relived when Gault turned down a taste.

"He was only going to eat it and spit it out on the plate."

"I haven't gone near anything to do with whipped egg whites since the show."

Gault had been the most "formidable" judge, Spears said.

"Simon, for me, was the scariest.

"He was the one that stood out on a ledge and really gave it to you if it went wrong.

"He's looking at your techniques and whether you'd actually stand up to working in a professional kitchen.

"The way he would come and ask you questions when you were working and stare at you blankly, I was pretty nervous whenever he was close by."

Having the judges watch you closely while you cooking under pressure was not always easy, he said.

"You just want to tell them to piss off honestly, you really do."

Ross Burden was the "funny" judge and a "bit of a character", Spear said.

"He was always coming out with these one liners."

Chef and food writer Ray McVinnie was the "the man".

"He's a journalist as well and I've read his stuff for years.

"He's kind of epitome of what everyone else in that kitchen wants to be, he's the home cook whose made it and now he's the master.

"You know there's a lot going through his brain, you see those bushy eyebrows of his raise and you wonder what's going on in there."

Mr Spear said he originally entered the competition to "have a punt".

"I was pleased to get that far...I felt that I was way over my head for a lot of it but it was really encouraging." 

The Masterchef experience hadn't dented his love of cooking.

"It definitely hasn't affected that at all, I love it just as much I did before I the program."

Living in the Masterchef house had been a fun experience, although due to the daily pressures of competition there were few raging parties, he said.

"There was fair few pinot noirs that went down though."

* Did Andrew deserve to be eliminated? Post your comments below.

- © Fairfax NZ News