MasterChef brings out the gourmet | Fraser Coast News | Local News in Fraser Coast

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COOKING is a piece of cake for the Fraser Coast's amateur chefs who have embraced the Masterchef Australia series.

More than 2 million people tuned in on Thursday night to watch contestants Julie Goodwin and Poh Ling Yeow outcook favourite Chris Badenoch to reach tomorrow's finale.

Cucina Casa Kitchen House Hervey Bay manager Debbie Robinson said she could hardly keep up with requests from fans inspired to go gourmet.

“Both men and women from all walks of life have seen the episodes and come in the next day to ask for utensils and accessories they have seen on the show,” Ms Robinson said.

“The only problem is the producers don't tell us what things will be coming up so we can't get all the things in soon enough.”

Masterchef pitted 20 top contestants, whittled down from 7500 over three months, against each through a series of culinary challenges in a game show setting.

“I don't know why the show is so popular but I think it is because they can see the people on the show doing things and think to themselves they can do it too.”

The infamous croquembouche dessert challenge, in which contestants built a cone tower of cream-filled pastries covered with toffee, inspired one customer to give the recipe a go.

“We only had one croquembouche mould that was in store for a while and someone came in and bought that,” she said.

“People have asked for pasta machines and certain brands of chef knives as well.”

Hervey Bay's budding Masterchefs have also looked to The Deli for gourmet touches.

The Deli manager Dan Walker was stumped when one customer requested century eggs - a Chinese delicacy of duck eggs preserved in lime and charcoal.

“We defiantly don't stock century eggs but people have also been asking about our herb and spice mixes, porcini mushrooms and verjuice, which is similar to lemon juice,” Mr Walker said.

“Masterchef has just become the general coffee conversation every morning; people are always coming in here and spotting ingredients they have seen on the show.”

Both Ms Robinson and Mr Walker said Julie was their pick to win.

The Masterchef Australia grand final airs tomorrow night at 7:30pm on Network Ten.