Although MasterChef Australia is arguably one of the most wholesome reality TV shows out there, fans have brutally dragged runner-up Josh ‘Pezza’ Perry over his round-one grand finale dish. The Tassie butcher has since fired back at the haters who claim he’s a one-trick cook.
ICYMI: Tuesday marked the night of nights for cooking fans across the nation. It was the MasterChef Australia finale, with Pezza and Nat Thaipun going head-to-head for the $250,000 prize.
Although my gut always rumbles at the sight of the dishes served on MasterChef, some fans weren’t too impressed with Pezza’s creation — or lack of creativity.
To give you a quick recap, in round one of the MasterChef Australia finale, Nat and Pezza were tasked with a 75-minute challenge where they had to cook a dish surrounding the hero ingredient: black peppercorns.
Nat opted to serve up a scotch egg with sai oua (Northern Thai sausage) with a side of nam prig noom, which is best identified as a Thai roasted green chilli dip.
Pezza on the other hand served up a rib eye with fondant potatoes and a brussels sprout purée with a peppercorn sauce.
Although a rib eye steak would have my salivary glands working overtime, folks on X (formerly Twitter) slammed Pezza’s dish, claiming it wasn’t grand finale-worthy.
No wonder it’s one of the best dishes Pezza’s cooked.
— Sue K (@SueKennedy1410) July 8, 2024
He’s been practicing his meat & veg every fucking cook!!!#MasterChefAU pic.twitter.com/hOMuN27zgL
Now, before the Pezzanators come for my neck, I want to say that in the defence of the man, I totally understand why he chose a steak and veg meal.
For starters, Pezza prides himself on his meat as he is a butcher. After all, his username on Instagram is literally “Pezza_The_Tassie_Butcher”, so it would make sense that he’d pick a legendary cut of meat.
Lastly, why not stick to what you know in a grand finale?
Anyways, here are some of the brutal reactions to Pezza’s round one grand finale dish.
MasterChef Australia fans react to Josh ‘Pezza’ Perry’s grand finale dish
Rib eye, potato fondant, Brussels sprouts, black peppercorn sauce. At the #MasterChefAU grand finale. Once again… pic.twitter.com/lpQ527mMz6
— anonymissjane (@anonymissjane) July 16, 2024
Before he outlined his dish, I just fucking knew Pezza was doing a steak and peppercorn sauce #masterchefau pic.twitter.com/k8IHYKHg1k
— Maya (she/her) (@tweetmayatweet) July 16, 2024
pezza saying he’s not just the meat and 3 veg guy and then immediately doing meat and 3 veg… #MasterChefAU
— apple (@totalkarmas) July 16, 2024
Pezza’s final dish
— Ian Brown (@1anBrown) July 16, 2024
Poh being realistic
Andy being delusional
#MasterChefAU
How is steak and veg grand finale food?#MasterchefAU
— Bronwyn Cook (@broncook76) July 16, 2024
Oh wow. Pezza cooked steak & veg.
— Sue K (@SueKennedy1410) July 16, 2024
Never seen that before….#MasterChefAU pic.twitter.com/A5wscj2vrU
For fucks sake, steak and veg AGAIN.
— I’m42 (@TheCraigles60) July 16, 2024
Oh, don’t forget the peppercorn sauce.
Where are we, Dapto RSL?#MasterChefAU
If old mate meat and three veg wins after moaning about coming second in kids footy finals and leaving an entire main element off the dish…. no one will ever be able to take this show seriously again #MasterChefAU
— luc (@enchantedmaybe) July 16, 2024
‘What you’ve done time and time again Pezza’ is cook fucking steak and veg… boring #masterchefau
— Mac Attack (@th3macdaddy) July 16, 2024
Don’t lie, Colonel.
— Ooh Lah Lah (@oohlahlah09) July 16, 2024
A perfect steak isn’t finale worthy and no way does it compete with Nat’s dish. #MasterChefAU
Pezza proclaiming he’s more than a meat & 3 veg cook as he organises the elements for his meat & 3 veg dish. 😳#MasterChefAU pic.twitter.com/Q0mqulaYXh
— Sue K (@SueKennedy1410) July 16, 2024
MasterChef Australia’s Josh ‘Pezza’ Perry responds to the grand finale hate
Speaking to PEDESTRIAN.TV, the beloved Tassie butcher shared that there will always be haters, but he said this “keeps [him] on [his] toes”.
“You’re always going to get haters and look, it could have been the undoing of me. But I think if you go into something like that, you cook what you know, don’t you?” Pezza shared.
“Sav cooked Sri Lankan, Sumeet cooked Indian, Harry cooked fish. I’m sure if they had that same cook in the grand finale, you would have seen their dishes come out, which they knew.
“I knew steak, and I just needed to jazz up a bit. So yeah, there’s always going to be haters and that.”
Although Pezza missed out on the MasterChef Australia title, he did cop a nice $40,000 prize for coming second.
Hopefully he builds a ‘yuge steakhouse because I am craving that sweet, sweet iron.
Image source: 10Play
