MasterChef Australia said goodbye to Darrsh Clarke during last night’s episode, leaving him with nothing but a dashed dream and a fear of peas.
The contestant found himself battling against Savindri ‘Sav’ Perera and Harry Butterfield in one of the toughest pressure tests yet – recreating Guillaume Brahimi’s intricate Royale of peas with duo of crab, caviar, fried mussel and tarragon mayonnaise.
Not only did they have to imitate the French chef’s dish, but they also had to provide judges with five identical plates.
The original dish was a work of art, with 90 peas dotted carefully around the edge of the plate. 90! That’s 450 peas for the five plates, also known as ~too many peas!!!~.
Peas, peas and more peas. (Image: 10)
Darrsh, to his credit, noted that the peas were coming for his throat before he’d even started the challenge.
“Those peas around the outside, I know that they’re gonna take a long time,” he said. “Today’s going to be a tough day at the office.”
Oh Darrsh, you have no idea.
As he painstakingly popped hundreds of peas out of their pods, he declared that the peas were “going to be the end of [him]”.
It turns out the peas definitely came back to haunt him, with the contestant having to forgo some of the finesse at the end when he ran out of time.
“I never want to see another pea again. It’s a mental game at that point. I remember my thumbs were sore, my lower back was sore. You’re just focusing on getting these peas done and it’s just quiet,” he told 10Play after his elimination.
“Sav and Harry, I think we were all at the same point of getting these peas on the plate, getting them shucked. Even though your body’s hurting, it’s who wants it more to be in the top five.”
Darrsh’s unfiltered reaction to all those peas. (Image: 10)
The contestant spent so long dealing with his true nemesis (the peas) that he made some big errors elsewhere in the five dishes. He’d left shell pieces in his crab meat, had a murky consommé, and his plating wasn’t up to standard.
After he was sent home, he shared a short highlight reel of his time on MasterChef Australia on Instagram, and wrote a short but sweet message.
“Thank you so much to everyone for your incredible support. This was the best experience of my life and has well and truly changed me for the better.”
There are now just five cooks battling it out for the massive $250,000 prize: Nat Thaipun, Mimi Wong, Josh ‘Pezzy’ Pezza, Sav and Harry.
Let’s hope none of them come up against the humble pea again.
MasterChef Australia airs Sunday through to Wednesday at 7:30 pm AEST on Channel 10.
Feature image: Channel 10
