It will see our contestants, who love nothing more than to whinge about their first-world problems, tackle a third-world problem – budgetary restrictions inside a state-of-the-art kitchen that is worth more than Cyprus right now.

Instead of eating like kings, we'll be eating like paupers on a Contiki tour, as every team has just $10 to whip up a meal for four.

"Bahh-gette" says Manu (which is Manu for "budget") "is something that most Australians do every week, and tonight you will have to do the same."

Dan and Steph rejoice as this is their forte, but the Cupcake Queens scoff that just one of their regular ingredients costs $10, because they shop at Wankers Mart back home in Adelaide.

Everyone is split into two teams – the white aprons verses the black aprons. Ashlee and Sophia, Jake and Ella, Joanna and Jenna, and Josh and Andi are black – which is interesting as that is the colour of this team's soul. The bickering starts early as they are told the pantry only contains staple ingredients – the rest must be shared as the $40 group budget will only stretch so far.

Over on "we're all friends" mountain, Kerrie and Craig, Sam and Chris, Luke and Scott, and Dan and Steph decide chicken will be the hero of their four stingy suppers.

Meanwhile, over in the hornet's nest, Sophia is channelling her inner Wayne Swan and banging on about saving money. "If you want bang for your buck, you go Asian," she surmises, and so with that they all cave, even the Cupcake Queens, who hate cooking anything that doesn't involve 151 kilograms of sugar and pink icing.

With a roll of Ashlee's eye, we're off to the supermarket. It's an excursion that makes shopping with five children under five while herding cats look like more fun.

Josh puts his foot down when Sophia demands a specific type of rice.

"He's a control freak, which is the worst type of freak," she says, pouting, as we discover they are cooking with noodles rather than rice.

While the black team bitch and moan all the way to the check-out, the white team are busy fondling the vegetables and counting out 33 cents worth of garlic, chilli and lettuce. The health nuts Luke and Scott consider selling their bleach-tipped souls for a packet of organic white quinoa. They decide to forgo flavour in favour of digestive health and convince the team to fork out for the "massive luxury item".

Back at Kitchen HQ, the clock starts with one hour 'til the blind tastings begin, where two teams will be voted People's Choice and Manu and Pete will choose the weakest dishes.

Manu hears a rustling over at Kerrie and Craig's station and rushes over to investigate. He discovers they are making a Thai green curry with a packet paste.

They are the eldest contestants but are cooking like students, but this funny fact is lost on the fancy Frenchman, who can't wipe the frown from his face.

Speaking of student cuisine, it was only a matter of time before the words "nasi" and "goreng" were muttered. Devout budget-lovers Dan and Steph have thrown down the gauntlet and are preparing the culinary equivalent of a Bachelor of Arts student's wet dream. Instead of paying 15 cents for a couple of packets of MSG-laden freeze-dried noodles, Dan is prepping tasty chicken drumsticks to accompany Steph's fried rice and eggs.

Down the bench, Luke and Scott discuss what to put in their quinoa salad, which at the moment is looking like it will consist of nothing but a mountain of the ancient super grain and a few slices of tomato and lettuce.

Sam and Chris are heading to Mexico and are whipping up chicken tacos with avocado mousse. According to them, everyone loves Mexican, so they are a shoo-in to win.

Down in Devil Gate Drive the black teams are whipping themselves into a South-East Asian frenzy. Ashlee and Sophia are making crispy chicken with noodles. "We want to send a message with this dish. You think you can bring us down, but you can't," says Ashlee, who has been muted until now.

"Yeah, we're not going down with an Asian dish," Sophia adds.

The Cupcake Queens have got their knickers in a twist over this challenge – literally. As Jenna is busy pulling out her wedgie, Joanna gets worked up over the fact they are cooking an Asian dish. They get started on making a ginger chicken dish, then Jenna tempts salmonella poisoning by sampling their raw chicken fillets "to ensure the flavours are right".

"If you want to stuff with us, we'll stuff you right back, twice as hard," Joanna says while the camera follows her as she steals a bunch of bok choy from Sophia. (Unfortunately, a smackdown over Asian greens doesn't eventuate, but Channel Seven execs are no doubt busy developing a new promo for that sexy bit of television.)

Jake and Elle are getting busy in the kitchen by being "plain Janes" and whipping up a simple pork stir fry with noodles. "Seriously, I cannot believe all we had was $10 – that's like $2.50 per dish," Elle says, impressing the Mensa members who tune in every night.

Josh and Andi are working on balls. Josh promises he'll locate his once their five-spiced pork balls are cooked to Andi's liking. The pair have never used Chinese five spice herbs, and decide saturation is better than a sprinkle when it comes to their meat and rice dish.

The final minute of the challenge is more brutal than a Django Unchained and Mean Girls double feature – the insults, barbs and outbursts spit and fly like a hot pan sprays cheap vegetable oil.

The final seconds tick away and end with Elle screaming at Jake to get out of "La la land" and focus on coriander.

Time is up and each team prepares to blind-taste the other side's dishes, as do Manu and Pete.

Manu seems to vomit in his own mouth when he has to admit he enjoyed Kerrie and Craig's curry made with packet paste, while Pete does the same when he samples one of Josh and Andi's burned meatballs.

Jake and Elle's pork stir fry with noodles and Kerrie and Craig's controversial Thai green curry are tonight's winners – much to the disgust of everyone but Kerrie and Craig.

Josh and Andi receive the news they've been expecting since Andi dumped 12 kilograms of a spice she's never heard of into their meatball mixture – they will compete in Sudden Death later this week. Needless to say, Ashlee and Sophia were not happy with their performance tonight, but are looking forward to more biff later this week.