‘MasterChef Australia 2017’ update: 'Brain-fade' and plate smash eliminate first Season 9 contestant

“MasterChef Australia” season 9 finally witnessed its first elimination. Rashedul Hasan was sent home after an unfortunate cooking session. For starters, the 35-year-old IT program director dropped one of his dishes on the floor. Then he had a "brain-fade" for 15 minutes in the pantry of the hit Channel TEN cooking reality show.

The double episode kicked off with the Top 24 Mystery Box Challenge. The contestants had to face a Mystery Box containing ingredients chosen by Season 8 winner Elena Duggan. They only had 75 minutes to complete their dishes. Most opted to cook pasta, while some went for inventive dishes. The Top 4 who emerged were Sam, Callan, Pia and Bryan. Due to major flaws in their dishes, Lee, Benjamin, Rashedul and Benita landed on the Bottom 4.

Basically, the contestants had to prepare a meal from “blue swimmer crab, kaiserfleisch, cucumber, grapes, macadamias, goat’s cheese, dark chocolate and lemon myrtle,” writes News.com.au. Hasan chose to prepare burnt butter ice cream with chocolate mousse and macadamia nut crumb with lemon myrtle. However, while removing the mousse from the refrigerator, the door flung back. He hit his arm and smashed the plate on the ground. This happened minutes before the time was up.

Judges George Calombaris, Matt Preston and Gary Mehigan, along with Duggan, were served only the ice cream and the crumb. Hasan was devastated and couldn’t believe this was happening to him. The judges openly expressed their disappointment.

“I’m going to be honest with you mate, you’re definitely going to be in that bottom four. I feel sorry for you that you dropped your plate because potentially that might have kept you out. But what you have given us is an ice cream that is too sweet and eggy. I feel for you mate. But what’s wonderful about MasterChef is that you get a second chance,” Calombaris said after tasting the dish.

“I’m devastated. I’ve worked so hard today and the best bits of my dish are not on the plate. All I’ve got to show to the judges is not so good crumbs and a bit of not-so-much set ice cream. I am embarrassed. I don’t think anything can save me,” Hasan said, clearly in shock.

Hasan went up against Benjamin Bullock, Benita Orwell and Lee Behan in the Hidden Pairs Elimination Challenge. Each one had to choose an ingredient next to a cloche containing another paired ingredient. They also had 75 minutes to finish the task. Lee chose salmon with aniseed, Benita went for peaches and Earl Grey tea, and Benjamin chose walnuts and dates. Hasan, meanwhile, decided on mango paired with green peppercorns. Benjamin and Lee’s dishes received praises overall, but Benita’s attempt on ice cream did not pay off.

Hasan had a "brain-fade" for a few minutes, but in the end, he was able to serve mango, mint and peppercorn sorbet. Unfortunately, the judges could hardly taste the green peppercorn, which meant Hasan did not meet the challenge of highlighting both ingredients. He was the first contestant to be eliminated from “MasterChef Australia 2017.”

“Being the first contestant to be eliminated is really disappointing. I put myself out there and I learnt a lot about myself and now I’m going back to my family and my son,” Hasan said after he was sent packing.