Let’s Revisit John Carasig’s Infamous White Chocolate Veloute Incident on MasterChef Australia

I have a confession to make: I’ve been watching MasterChef Australia since its inception. Not only does that mean I’ve sat through 13 seasons of people plating up one intricate dish after another, but I’ve also witnessed moments that later proved to be a cultural reset.

There was the time former judge Matt Preston smashed Aaron Harvie’s plate of pasta on the ground, saying it was “disgusting” only to then clarify that it was “disgustingly good”. Or when Cecilia served possibly the cringiest plate of food in history to the one and only Marco Pierre White (seriously, her plate had “For Nathan xox” written in chocolate).

But nothing, and I mean NOTHING, has come even remotely close to John Carasig’s white chocolate velouté incident. This year, the former MasterChef contestant has returned to the kitchen for Fans & Favourites, and tonight, he’s taking part in the same relay challenge he tremendously screwed up in 2015. TBH, I’ve been waiting seven years to share my thoughts on this moment, and now is my chance. 

So, What Actually Happened?

Picture this: It’s week three of MasterChef Australia season seven and then-judges Matt Preston, George Calombaris and Gary Mehigan introduced the relay challenge. The contestants were divided into four teams, with each team required to make one dish.

Sounds simple, right? Wrong. Each team member was given 15 minutes to cook in isolation, after which they would have a measly 45 seconds to converse with the next contestant, who would then continue to make the dish. 

In the blue team, Jarrod Trigg was the first person to cook, and he decided to make mussels in a coconut and tomato broth. After his 15 minutes were up, he passed on the dish to Fiona Grindlay, who continued to follow the brief. Everything was going well until John arrived and royally screwed things up. 

Despite being told the plan, John decided to whip up a white chocolate veloute to pair with… mussels.

“Do you think white chocolate works with shellfish?” Marco Pierre White asked John. “It does,” he replied. No, John, it does not.

Despite his ambitions, John didn’t actually end up finishing the velouté, so by the time teammate Amy Luttrell arrived, she had no idea what she was supposed to be making.

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“John hands me a block of white chocolate and tells me ‘this is for the velouté’,” Amy recalled. Georgia Barnes was then tasked with putting the puzzle pieces together after Amy, and was left flustered. “There’s all these weird elements and nothing seems to flow,” Georgia said, clearly panicked.

The entire ordeal sent the blue team into elimination and John admitted to having “stuffed up” by pairing white chocolate and seafood together. Viewers at home were furious at John, which only intensified when the next day, Jarrod was sent home instead of the white chocolate king himself.

Since then, John’s name has come up every single year during the MasterChef relay challenge without fail with past winner Adam Liaw labelling John as “the best contestant”.

Now, with John taking part in the relay challenge tonight on MasterChef Australia: Fans & Favourites, the question on everyone’s lips is: Will history repeat itself?

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