MasterChef Australia 2018 Winner Announced

Sashi Cheliah

Sashi Cheliah has officially won MasterChef Australia 2018.

The South Australian prison officer and father of two scored 93 out of 100 and has beaten Queensland builder Ben Borsht, who finished with 77 out of 100.

In Round One, Borsht and Cheliah were given 90 minutes to plate up a starter and a main course meal around a hero ingredient.

Borsht choose to use seafood, using blue swimmer crabs with finger limes, coriander and avocado cream for a starter. For his main course, he choose deep fried whiting with peas, parsley and garlic emulsion, which copped a lot of criticism on Twitter.

Masterchef 2018

Borsht’s starter was scored 20 out of 30 and his main got 21 out of 30. First round total was 41 out of 60.

Cheliah’s main hero ingredient was Chilli for his starter, which was sambal prawns while his main was fish curry with cumin rice.

Cheliah’s starter scored a perfect 30 out of 30 while his main received 27 out of 30 with a total score of 57 out of 60.

In the second round, the pair were asked to recreate Heston Blumenthal’s ‘Counting Sheep’ dessert with included 19 elements and 84 ingredients.

In the third round, Borsht was determined to get back to the top but was left uneasy due to Blumenthal’s dessert, which took around five and half hours to make.

‘Counting Sheep’ features coconut ice cream with steamed sponge panna cotta, lychee, caramel and coriander mousse, yoghurt powder, purees of pistachio, orange flower water and coriander.

Masterchef 2018

Both Borsht and Cheliah were scored 36 out of 40 for their dessert which was a total of 9 from each judge.

Borsht received $40,000 in prize money while Cheliah won $250,000.

The 39-year-old has said that the $250,000 winner’s prize will help him start his own Indian and South East Asian fusion restaurant.

“MasterChef has been an amazing ride for me — I never thought I would come this far in the competition and to win is icing on the cake,” Cheliah said.

“The overwhelming support from my fans and family has made me realise my potential, and it has motivated me to achieve great heights.”

Gary Mehigan has said that Cheliah is going to be a wonderful ambassador for the show.

“You have proven yourself to be a brilliant cook, a creative thinker, team player, a determined, kind soul with a dream to change your life and forge a new future in food,” he said.

“More than this, however, you are someone we have fallen in love with.

“Someone we admire and respect who has carried themselves wonderfully throughout this competition. You have left your mark on everyone you have met, and we couldn’t be more thrilled and proud.”

What are your thoughts? Let us know by commenting below.

– Written by Samia Sahid

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