VOICEOVER: It's the battle for the ultimate culinary prize.
Wooo!
58 of the country's best home cooks...
I need to stop shaking.
..all with their heart set...
Fingers crossed.
Your sesame cracker's burning.
Oh, no.
..on the coveted MasterChef trophy.
That's a cracker of a dish.
Absolutely ace!
I'm so happy.
I just want to dance.
Each week, 12 extraordinary amateur talents...
Come on, come on, come on!
..battle for a place in the quarterfinal.
I think it's exceptionally good.
I can't fault it.
But only the best can earn their passports...
I think we need to kick it up a little bit.
..to the ultimate culinary showdown.
Upstairs, there is bow ties, there's ballgowns,
and there are Michelin stars.
There is no doubt about it,
we are going to find some incredible talent.
Come in here,
prove your worth, and make your dreams come true.
These six passionate home cooks all think they've got what it takes
to become MasterChef champion.
But at the end of today's heat, only three will make it through
to this week's quarterfinal.
The day has finally come, and I've been boring my wife
by cooking the same dish countless times over and over again.
Thus far, it's going OK.
Cooking for me means the world.
Cooking mean love, cooking mean family,
cooking mean everything to me.
I really can't wait to get in there. Bring it on!
If you can't handle the heat, get out the kitchen.
Welcome to the MasterChef kitchen.
Take this opportunity to show us what you've got
in your culinary armoury.
Your first round we call basic to brilliant.
Taking a basic, everyday item you'd find in your shopping basket,
and turning that into something brilliant.
At the end of this round,
Gregg and I will choose our two favourite dishes.
And the people who cook those
will get themselves a MasterChef apron
and go straight through to the next round.
The remaining four will need to cook again for the two remaining aprons.
Ladies and gentlemen, 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Let's cook.
Really excited.
Can't wait to put my food to Gregg and John.
Loving every minute of this.
VOICEOVER: 43-year-old IT manager Steve, from Stoke-on-Trent,
spent his childhood cooking with his mum,
and has big dreams of one day opening
his own fine-dining restaurant.
So, I've got cerebral palsy.
I've had this since birth.
I have limited movements
in my legs and my right arm.
When I'm in the kitchen, I can spend hours without any issues.
It's as if an adrenaline kicks in.
It makes me feel amazing.
Steve, what is your humble ingredient, please?
It is chicken breast.
I like to use it quite a lot, especially around the family.
So what's the dish, please?
It's a chicken tikka masala. Oh!
So, the classic, with a naan bread.
What is in there with the chicken that's bright red?
It's food colouring.
It's to give it that authentic chicken tikka look. Ah!
And, of all the curries,
what is it about this one that you love so much?
It's a family favourite. Especially my missus.
She absolutely loves this one.
Have you got an ambition?
I'd like to have a Michelin star.
I know it sounds big, ambitious,
but, obviously, I've got cerebral palsy.
If they say I can never walk, got to MasterChef,
who says in five years' time I can't have a Michelin star?
Chicken breast can go dry really, really quickly,
and I think that's a bit of a gamble for Steve.
We got rice, and he's going to serve the whole lot with a naan.
The danger with a naan,
if it's not cooked all the way through, it's doughy.
But if he pulls this all off,
that's impressive, in an hour and 20 minutes.
VOICEOVER: 28-year-old Haddy grew up in the Gambia in West Africa,
and learned to cook in her grandmother's fast food restaurant.
I came here five years ago. I used to cook with firewood and coal.
I never cook with ovens, like, food processor.
And I'm like a kid in Disneyland.
Like, everything is like, "Oh, my God! I can have this in my kitchen!
"I can have that in my kitchen!"
So, it's amazing!
Haddy, what's your main ingredient?
Aubergine. Why?
I have lots of funny stories about aubergine -
growing up, crying in the dinner table
just because someone ate the last bit of aubergine.
And when I came here, I started gardening.
So I grew aubergine.
And then I had loads of aubergines.
So, what is your dish?
So, I'm making a moussaka.
My mother-in-law recommended moussaka. So, I tried it.
It tastes delicious.
And since then, I never stopped cooking it.
Haddy, it's been an absolute delight talking to you.
You, too.
We're getting moussaka.
It's a classic dish, which is layered aubergine, lamb mince,
flavoured with cinnamon, bechamel sauce, layers of potatoes,
and then baked.
Nobody wants dry mince.
Nobody wants rubbery aubergines.
And the bechamel sauce has to be lovely and creamy and smooth.
OK. Ladies and gentlemen, you have had 30 minutes.
30 minutes gone already.
VOICEOVER: 39-year-old Chaz from Leicestershire is a photo retoucher
for a popular UK fashion brand,
and grew obsessed with cooking
when having to fend for himself at university.
Having cooking to come home to every day is amazing.
I'm already thinking about
what I'm cooking that night
at around breakfast the day before!
And I'm just desperate to kind of prove myself
and do a really good job of it.
What's your basic ingredient, Chaz?
I've gone with chicken thighs today.
So, my dish is actually a caramel chicken.
It's not a dessert, I promise.
And I'm serving that with jasmine rice and a sort of Asian salad.
So I've always been a massive fan of Asian flavours.
Just that combination is a banger, and hoping to prove it today.
We've got chicken thighs
he's chopped up into small pieces.
Now, he's got to make sure that chicken doesn't dry out.
He's making a fish sauce caramel.
Fish sauce, sugar, saltiness, has soy sauce.
On the side of that, we're getting pickled chillies
and pickled cucumber.
And then a slaw with a gochujang Korean chilli paste.
I just hope there's not TOO many flavours on the plate.
VOICEOVER: Retired new business manager Penny from Bradford-on-Avon
spent her career travelling the world,
embracing culinary food cultures.
I would say I'm quite an adventurous person.
I've picked up various recipes as I go along.
I really, really want to win a MasterChef apron.
I think I'd show off to everybody and anybody in my family and,
"Oh, am I still wearing my apron? Oh, I am sorry!"
Penny, so what's your basic ingredient?
Mushrooms.
Sausage, egg, mushrooms. What are you making?
Full English.
Are you? Yes.
Well, I've got two sons.
There's nothing they like better than a full English.
So, as I hear them rising at about midday,
I can then serve them their brunch.
Your boys not getting up till midday. How old are they?
In their early 40s.
But, you know, when they come to their mum's, they...
You kind of revert back to childhood, don't you?
What a lovely, loving mum.
Today, in the MasterChef kitchen,
we are getting our first ever breakfast.
Yay!
A mushroom in four different ways.
We've got a whole big field mushroom, lovely and juicy,
so that when you cut into it, it's like a piece of meat...
..mushroom crisps with truffle oil across the top.
She's got to be careful they don't burn, or they could be bitter.
Porcini cream.
And then she's making a hollandaise with mushrooms going through it.
Penny, yes, please!
Guys, you've got 30 minutes to complete your masterpiece.
VOICEOVER: Sri Lankan-born charity investment head Mathu fled
to Canada as a child
during the civil war,
but discovered food as a way of reconnecting with her heritage.
My parents make Sri Lankan food with big spices
and really different fruits and vegetables,
but I'm also Canadian,
and I try and bring those Sri Lankan flavours
into Canadian and North American comfort dishes.
Hello. Welcome to MasterChef.
Thanks for having me.
What is your humble ingredient?
Chicken thighs, which are marinating over there.
So, what are you making with the chicken thighs?
So, it's a fried chicken sandwich.
And on top of the fried chicken is a Sri Lankan coconut sambal
with a curried coleslaw.
Brilliant!
And is Sri Lankan food your passion?
All food is my passion.
I think spicy food is my passion.
Why are you here on MasterChef?
I like travelling and I like food.
And I think I have a really unique perspective on the world,
so I would love to kind of share that.
Fabulous! Yeah.
Mathu's taking the chicken thigh,
she's putting it in buttermilk.
She's then going to crust it with cornmeal,
and then the whole thing is going to be fried.
With that, we're getting a classic sambal from Sri Lanka.
Grated coconut, chillies, lime, dried fish.
It needs to be nice and spicy.
The issue is here, she's not making her own bread.
She's actually using brioche buns bought from the shop.
I wonder right now if she is doing enough.
VOICEOVER: 37-year-old recruitment business manager Aaron was raised
by his mum in Margate,
and spent summers helping out in his auntie's West Indian restaurant.
I've been helping my mum and my auntie
in the kitchen for as long as I can remember.
Cooking is second nature to me,
but whilst I'm in the competition,
it might be a different story.
As long as I get one good comment, I'll be happy.
Are you a bit of a cook, Aaron, would you say?
I would like to say so.
My wife enjoys my food.
My mum enjoys my food.
So, the people that count. Right?
And you, of course.
What's your everyday ingredient?
Lentils. Mm.
They hold great flavour.
Really versatile ingredient.
Can I ask you why you're here with us?
So, I'm here because my wife
actually put in the application for me.
I think she probably got a bit fed up with me
judging from the couch,
and kind of wants me to put my money where my mouth is.
Aaron's making a coconut milk-based curry with the lentils.
Those lentils have to be banging full of spice.
Then he's going to cook a duck breast, crispy skin on the outside.
Hopefully, it's rested.
The carrot and ginger puree -
I want to taste the ginger.
Nice and smooth, please.
The bread - nice and puffy.
Tell you what, he's got lots of skill on show.
It ticks all the boxes.
You've got three minutes!
Get food on plates, right now!
It's going to be tight, to the wire, this is.
I'm never on time, so it's good that I'm on time today.
You've got a minute.
And stop!
Ohhh!
Whoooooo!
Oh, mate! Well done!
Steve, come on, please.
VOICEOVER: First up is IT manager, Steve.
All right, my friend.
His basic ingredient was chicken breast,
and he's made chicken tikka masala with pilau rice and a naan bread.
Steve, that chicken definitely would glow in the dark.
It would. I think you've been really true to chicken tikka masala.
It's usually bright red in your local Indian.
I think that's brilliant.
I'm impressed by how moist that chicken breast is.
And on the outside,
I'm getting a flavour like a lime pickle. It's lovely.
And in your rice, I'm picking up a flavour like curry leaf,
coriander and cardamom.
And I'm really enjoying these flavours.
The sauce is nuclear.
I mean, that is nuclear-powered.
You dialled up the chilli in there, haven't you?
You get it filling all your mouth.
Breads are nicely made.
You got a nice little bit of crunch on the outside.
They're cooked all the way through. That's great. It's tasty.
Thank you.
I'm feeling really good now.
Exhilarated.
If I get out of this apron into a MasterChef apron,
I'll be buzzing.
VOICEOVER: Gambian-born Haddy's ingredient was aubergine.
She's cooked a lamb, tomato, potato and aubergine moussaka
topped with a bechamel sauce.
Served with a Greek salad.
Your mince is nicely seasoned.
There's a sweetness of tomato.
The bechamel - perfectly made,
nice and creamy.
This is more featuring mince than it is featuring aubergine. Mm.
But I am enjoying it.
Your Greek salad, I think is lovely,
but I don't believe you've shown off the aubergine.
I think you could have done aubergine in different ways.
But I do...I do like the dish.
Thank you.
They thought I should have made more things with aubergine,
but my cooking techniques were good.
So, yes, I am really happy with myself.
VOICEOVER: Photo retoucher Chaz's basic ingredient was chicken thighs,
that he's coated in a fish caramel sauce,
served with jasmine rice,
topped with chilli peppers, crispy chicken skin
and a diced cucumber, pak choi and radish salad.
The chicken thigh - you chopped them up and then put them in a pan,
and they sort of sat in the pan.
And what's happening is they're going a little dry.
This fish sauce caramel is unusual
because it's more fish sauce than it is sugar,
and it's just a bit bitty.
There's a bit of chicken here,
there's a bit of salad there, there's a bit of sauce there.
And they don't quite belong together.
I think you need work on presentation,
and I think those chicken thighs is silly mistake
you probably would never make it home.
Feeling a bit of mixed emotions.
There's elements that I think went really well.
A couple of slip-ups, but we roll on.
VOICEOVER: Retired new business manager Penny has made
an English breakfast with her chosen ingredient - mushrooms.
Fried field mushroom,
mushroom crisps in a truffle oil dressing...
..porcini cream
and mushrooms served in a hollandaise,
with bacon, poached eggs, sausage, tomato and fried bread,
These dried mushrooms - your crisps -
I'm finding a little bit bitter,
but as for the rest of it, I think it's really good.
A lovely, moist field mushroom,
almost like a piece of meat.
I like the silkiness of your hollandaise
with the little bits of mushroom through them, a nice bit of acidity.
And I like the rich creaminess coming with
that porcini cream as well.
You've made really clever use of mushroom, but it lacks elegance.
We're going to have to work at the look of the dish.
Overall, I'm really happy with the comment,
said some really nice things,
so I'll, you know, I'll take that.
VOICEOVER: Charity investment head Mathu's basic ingredient was
spicy chicken thigh,
that she's made into a deep-fried chicken burger,
served with a coconut and chilli sambal
and a coleslaw made with a curry leaf mayonnaise.
I've got a really nice, moist chicken.
I've got a crumbed outside, giving it a little bit of crunch texture.
I love your sambal - starts off coconut fresh,
and then you put a lot of chilli in there,
so finishes with quite a bit of heat.
I like it.
The slaw is nice, but it's not amazing.
The curry flavour isn't coming through, unfortunately.
I think with an hour and 20 minutes, as well,
you do have an opportunity to make bread.
If you had have made bread,
I think I probably would have been a little bit more impressed.
OK.
I think I get John's comments.
I don't know if I've done enough for the apron.
I think I'm probably middle-of-the-road right now.
VOICEOVER: Last up is recruitment business manager Aaron
using lentils as his basic ingredient.
He's cooked pan-fried duck breast,
served with a coconut lentil dahl
spiced with turmeric and cumin,
carrot and ginger puree,
coriander chilli oil, and flatbreads.
Your duck is actually cooked quite nicely.
It's seasoned very, very well.
Your puree is lovely and fine.
Your lentils are ace.
There's turmeric, cumin, coriander, coconut,
a nice amount of chilli.
For me, they are the star of the show.
You crisped that duck skin like a professional chef.
Flatbreads - really well done.
You've got lovely little discs.
You've chosen lentils as your basic ingredient,
and your lentils are fantastic.
My basic ingredient seemed to be the superstar.
So overall, I'm happy with my efforts.
Can't complain too much.
Thank you very much for all your enthusiasm
and for some great food.
We did say at the start of this
that two of you will be getting a MasterChef apron,
and the other four of you will have to stay behind and cook again.
Our favourite dish...
..was cooked by Steve.
Congratulations.
Thank you very much. You can't go wrong
with a decent curry, mate, can you? Thank you. Well done, you.
And the other cook, we think, is well-deserving of an apron...
..is Aaron.
Well done!
Congratulations, gentlemen.
Come up. Get your aprons. Come on.
Congratulations!
All right, don't let it go to your head.
Try not to.
Thank you.
I am feeling absolutely buzzing.
A MasterChef apron.
Extremely proud.
Feels amazing.
I don't think the penny is going to drop
until a bit later on, to be honest.
There are still two aprons up for grabs.
So, this round is all about thinking on your feet
and doing things quickly because you will have only 45 minutes.
In front of you, you all have two quail.
A majestic little game bird, which is absolutely delicious.
You can pair those game birds with whatever you like
from the bench of ingredients over there.
But the quail must be the star of the show.
Two plates exactly the same.
At the end of this, of course,
two of you will be leaving the competition.
You can do this. 45 minutes.
Off you go.
I'd be surprised
if any of our contestants have cooked quail before,
and I just hope they're not going to freak out.
I am so much out of my comfort zone right now.
I've never cook with it.
I don't even know what a quail looks like in real life.
Never even eaten quail before,
so this is going to be interesting.
What they've got to do is think about it as a small chicken.
It can be roasted, it can be fried, it can be steamed.
It can be used in any cuisine
around the world.
I don't mind what they do,
but make something truly delicious.
My first honeymoon - because I've been married twice -
the only thing they cooked every day was quail.
So I've got an idea about quail,
but I don't think I've ever cooked it.
I think there are elements of stuff
in there that will work with it.
That's as vague as it's going to get!
Did I hear you say that whilst you were on your first honeymoon,
you ate lots of quail?
Yes, but never cooked much quail.
So, tell me what are you going to do. What's your plan?
I was going to take the bones out of the quail, and stuff it.
I've got bulgur wheat and mushrooms
and bacon,
and roast it very quickly.
But maybe I've made a wrong choice by thinking of stuffing it.
You've only got 30 minutes left.
I might just kind of flatten it.
You need to make a decision. Yeah. Go, go, go.
Penny, right now, is talking about maybe stuffing the quail,
taking all the bones out.
I don't think she's got enough time.
But what she does have, I think, is
a really nice set of ingredients to go with the quail.
She's got some buckwheat, some wild mushrooms, some onions, some garlic
with some bacon lardons.
I'll be really interested to see what we end up with.
Organised chaos, let's call it that.
Yeah. An experience,
but one we're soldiering through with.
Where's your cook's brain going with this one?
I had an idea of doing something
in the range of, like, a mole kind of vibe.
So traditionally, it's kind of like a Mexican-style sauce.
I'm going to sort of cook down some chorizo, some vegetables,
pack it with loads of flavour,
pan-fry the breasts, get a bit of colour on it.
Just get it nailed.
Nail the quail!
Nail the quail! It's a good mantra for you, Chaz.
Absolutely! Nail that quail!
This mole from Chaz, we've got a chorizo sausage, right, from Spain.
He's got tahini,
which comes from the Middle East.
Tahini's a bit of an unusual ingredient -
a sesame seed paste in with the chorizo!
He's going to take the breasts off the quail,
and he's going to fry the breast.
But making a sauce and cooking the breasts isn't a complete plan.
It's part of the dish.
Conscious of the rice getting done in time and whatnot.
But other than that, we're kind of in the ballpark, I think.
Mathu, how you going about this task, then?
Whenever I have leftover rice and chicken at home,
I make congee.
It's like a porridge-y rice dish
that they eat in China.
I'm going to poach the quail in some stock, and then shred it.
And then once the rice is cooked,
thread it through to create a congee.
Good luck with it. Thank you.
I love congee,
but 45 minutes, I think, is really pushing it.
It needs to be creamy and delightful,
otherwise we're just going to end up with a bowl of rice
with little tiny bits of quail.
Haddy, have you cooked quail before?
Never.
So, how do you work it out, then?
I'm just going to go with my instinct.
Like I said, it looked like a little chicken,
so I'm going to deep fry it.
What are you serving it with?
Yassa. And yassa sauce is basically onion with herbs
and garlic and ginger, with mustard and vinegar.
You seem very comfortable.
Not really. I'm just... This is my pretend face.
Haddy. She's going to make a sauce famous in the Gambia called a yassa.
It's got chunks of onion in it.
It's got vegetables in it, and it's quite spicy.
She's deep-frying the quail, but she's marinating it first.
Brilliant! OK.
Let's see what that's like.
Guys, five minutes, please.
Quail and accompaniments in five minutes.
I wish I had more time because this sometimes takes an hour at home.
But I think I'm OK.
The finishing touches, please.
You've got 60 seconds
to finish this dish off.
OK. Stop! Your time's up.
Yah!
Yeah!
45 minutes is... Nothing. ..is nothing.
Oh! I changed my mind ten times.
Mathu, please.
Hello.
VOICEOVER: Mathu has served a quail congee rice porridge
flavoured with ginger, chilli and spring onions,
topped with crispy quail skin.
The rice, the flavour's good from that quail stock,
and the little bits of quail in there are still nice and moist.
The issue here is that congee is a thick porridge
where all the starch comes out of the rice
and it's lovely and thick.
It's not cooked enough.
It's still crunchy.
In trying to do congee,
we've fallen into no-man's-land with this rice.
It's still slightly a little bit hard, and it's wet.
A bit defeated.
I think I tried to make something
that I normally make in an hour and a half in 45 minutes.
I just wish I had another hour!
VOICEOVER: Penny's dish is pan-fried quail breast and leg,
on bulgur wheat stuffing
flavoured with a quail stock,
mushrooms, onions and bacon,
served with baked fennel, in a fennel cream,
and a quail sauce.
I think your quail breasts are really good.
They're still pink inside, and they're nicely seasoned.
And this bulgur, with the saltiness of the bacon,
the woodiness of the wild mushroom is lovely.
The sauce is far too thick, but there's good flavour in there.
The fennel I'm not a friend of.
It's just because it's juicy,
and juice and cream don't work together.
But I think you've got some really nice flavours here.
It feels good that they liked my quail.
But neither Gregg nor John seemed to like fennel,
especially when cooked by me, I would say.
VOICEOVER: Chaz has pan-fried his quail breast
and served it with a chorizo, mushroom, paprika
and tahini mole sauce,
along with rice and a lime creme fraiche.
The breasts are cooked nicely, they're nicely seasoned.
The rice is cooked.
That sauce is mostly paprika,
a little bit of chilli from the chorizo,
and I consider that to be too strong for that dainty quail.
I don't mind that lime cheese creme fraiche,
it's slightly sharp, vibrant with the lime.
But the quail doesn't go with anything.
Everything else goes together,
but the quail seems to be the uninvited guest.
Fair.
I feel happy that I've done it.
That's OK.
I'm not sure it's good enough...
..but I'm nothing if I'm not big with my flavours.
VOICEOVER: Last up is Haddy.
She's served deep-fried quail,
quail leg in a West African onion, ginger and chilli yassa marinade,
deep-fried quail skin, fried potato, carrots and jasmine rice.
I think that quail is perfect.
You've got some crispy texture on the skin,
and the flesh is pink and moist,
it's exactly what I would want from a quail.
Thank you.
That yassa I've never had before, but I really like it.
It's like a sort of chilli hot pickled onion,
and it's great.
Your rice is free flowing.
The carrots across the side are well-cooked.
Little potatoes which have been fried.
I really think that's absolutely delicious.
It went very well.
Like, I am so, so happy.
Thank you. First time cooking a quail, and it came out well!
So I'm so happy with myself.
It was a nervy round,
but there is definitely cookery talent in here, John.
For me, there was one cook today who completely stood out,
and that's Haddy.
It was well spiced. It was interesting. It was exciting.
I thought it was a great example of what you could do with a quail.
Let's put her through, John.
Who else gets themselves an apron?
Penny - that was great cookery with that quail
and that bulgur wheat was lovely.
However, the fennel and cream didn't belong on the plate at all,
but I really liked the flavour of the sauce.
It just needed to be thinner.
Chaz has got big, bold flavours.
Sadly, they didn't work with the quail.
It just wasn't a coherent plate of food.
And, actually, when you cast your mind back to the first round,
it wasn't dissimilar.
Mathu attempted to make a congee in 45 minutes,
and I thought the quail stock flavour was good,
but the rice was not cooked enough.
We just had watery grains of rice there.
That was the issue.
If I went home now, I would feel very gutted.
I think I'm a super unique cook,
and I don't think I've had really the opportunity
to demonstrate that in the kitchen yet.
I'm not 100% sure if I've done enough for an apron.
I hope it's enough.
We shall see.
Oh, I want to stay. Please! Please! I want to stay.
I want to say thank you very much for all your hard work.
At the start of this, we did say
that there were only two aprons left,
and that does mean that two of you will be leaving the competition.
Our first contestant getting an apron...
..Haddy.
The last remaining apron goes to...
..Penny. Congratulations, Penny. Well done.
Well done. Unexpected!
Mathu, Chaz, good to have met you.
Thank you so, so much.
We really hope you enjoyed your experience here.
Thank you so much. Thank you.
Bye-bye. Thank you.
I definitely feel a bit gutted.
I would have loved to have spent more time here,
but I think what I'll take away is just how resilient I am,
and how much I love cooking.
To be going home now,
obviously, it's way earlier than I wanted it to be happening,
but I can't take anything but positive from it
because I think it's just been amazing.
I loved every second of it.
Congratulations!
Waaayyyy! Thank you.
Come on. Come up and get your aprons.
I am over the moon.
It means the world for me to wear this. I feel like I'm so proud.
My great-great-grandkids are going to hear about this story!
Oh, I'm feeling elated!
Now I know I'm just going to go home and practise,
practise more and more sophisticated things.
Lovely!
Thank you!
You are now competing for a quarterfinal place.
You are going to have to impress not just us,
but three guests in the dining room - runner-up Tony Rodd,
and MasterChef champions Shelina Permalloo and Simon Wood.
Two courses in an hour and 15 minutes.
Three quarterfinal places up for grabs.
That does mean, at the end of this, one of you will be going home.
Let's cook.
This menu makes me stand out from the competition
because it is different.
The flavours just explode in your mouth.
Steve, what are your two courses?
A chocolate and coffee rubbed ribeye,
and chunky chips.
And then, by the looks of it, you've got dessert there going on?
So it's going to be a white chocolate and cardamom cheesecake.
Why?
Because I'm the type of chef who likes to mix and match
to try and mess with your mind a little bit, really.
Steve, I think's being really bold.
He's doing a ribeye steak.
On top of that, he's got a rub of instant coffee and cocoa powder.
But coffee burns and goes bitter,
and if that goes too bitter,
then that's going to make that steak really bitter, as well.
He's doing thick cut chips.
Nobody likes a soggy chip,
so I want this to be crispy and nice when they bite into it.
We've got some asparagus on the side,
and then we've got a bourbon sauce, strong American whisky.
And inside, there is also Worcestershire sauce.
I mean, that'll make your eyes water, that will.
Dessert - white chocolate and cardamom cheesecake.
Sweet white chocolate,
cardamom, being quite a strong spice, used in quite a few desserts.
We need a nice little base on the bottom of it.
We need a nice firmness that comes from that cheesecake itself.
With the time that I've got, it may not set.
And that is my big concern with this dessert.
I'm really determined today.
I can't take my foot off the gas
with a quarterfinal just around the corner.
I've been practising.
I know what I can do.
Just got to get it all done within the time.
Tell us what you're going to cook for us.
Salmon with sticky Thai caramelised fish sauce,
sesame seed jasmine rice with a mango salsa.
And for dessert?
Chocolate lava cake with a yuzu Chantilly cream.
Aaron, what's the inspiration? I love Asian flavours.
Also, I went to Japan with my wife,
and that's where I proposed to her.
Ahhh! Yeah. So...
Are you hoping to woo us, the same as you wooed Mrs Aaron?
Yeah, definitely!
Aaron's main course, we've got salmon, which he's going to serve
with a fish sauce caramel.
That's an Asian fish fermented sauce,
brown sugar, chillies and lime.
Sweet, sour, salty and hot.
But that caramel needs to come down and be nice and sticky.
Salmon - I don't want it jelly-like in the middle of it
and I don't want it dry like cotton wool.
My wife's a pescatarian,
so I cook fish quite a lot,
so I'm hoping I should be able to get this one down.
With that, we are also getting
mango and chilli salsa
and rice with sesame seeds running through it.
There's lots going on in this plate.
A lava cake.
It's a sponge cooked in a mould with a liquid centre,
so when you cut into it, it should ooze out chocolate.
The biggest issue with my dessert would be if I leave it in too long,
then the lava just won't flow.
And then Yuzu Creme Chantilly.
Yuzu is a citrus fruit,
and too much citrus fruit and cream, and it could curdle.
Having travelled quite a lot, has been an inspiration
for me when cooking.
In this next round, I am doing something
that is a little bit more exotic.
Penny, what are your two courses?
I'm doing mussels a l'escargot,
that means butter, garlic, parsley sauce.
But I'm making a scone to go with them to get up the juices.
And then I'm doing roast lamb tagine.
My mother-in-law was a teacher in Tunis for ten years,
so she taught me how to do the tagine and the couscous.
Quarterfinal place, Penny. Do you fancy that?
I want it more and more!
Mussels with garlic butter and parsley.
I think that's a really nice idea.
And then a scone.
The texture of a scone is quite short and a bit floury,
and mussels quite chewy and chunky.
It's an unusual thing.
Main course is we've got a rack of lamb covered in harissa.
Those racks of lamb have got a big layer of fat across the top,
and they haven't been rendered at all.
We've got an aubergine stew.
The aubergines can be undercooked or overcooked.
And then we've got a spicy lamb sausage - very, very strong indeed.
Then she's trying to make an imam bayildi,
which is cooked aubergine with spice.
And the timing on all of this stuff is troubling me.
There's lots going on.
I think I've set the bar quite high.
Do I think I can get it all done?
We'll see!
I am representing Gambia full-time today.
I want to prove that where I am from, we have delicious dishes
which the world need to know about.
For starters, we're having akara -
you have something like fritters.
And it's those black-eyed beans, I'm soaking there.
And domoda for the main. What's a domoda?
It's a peanut butter stew,
served with sticky white rice and crispy chicken.
Have you got a family here? Yes.
So, I've got my husband and my two daughters.
Do the children like your spicy food?
The little one likes the spicy more.
The other one, she's very British.
She doesn't like the heat that much.
I'm really looking forward to this. I love learning new cuisines.
It's going to be amazing.
Haddy's about to introduce me to akara -
a little fritter made from black-eyed peas.
I have to peel these black-eyed beans.
There shouldn't be a single skin in any of those beans.
They need to be crispy on the outside,
and nice and fluffy on the inside.
And then she's promising us a hot sauce of garlic, chilli and tomato.
I think that sounds fabulous.
Main course, we've got something called domoda,
a peanut butter stew from the Gambia.
I remember growing up helping my grandma making domoda,
so I hope I make her proud today.
Loads of garlic, onions and chillies.
And then there's tinned tomatoes in there giving it sweetness, as well.
My chicken,
I need to bring it out crispy and not overcooked.
So, I have lots of challenge to go with this today.
Steve, you've got 15 minutes till your first course goes out. Yeah?
Pushing it to the limit.
But I think we're going to get there. We'll soon find out.
The key to success today is don't try and be too clever.
I definitely was too ambitious.
I dyed John Torode's mouth green.
That's amazing!
It was certainly a day to remember for everyone else but me!
This round I remember making
a lamb rump which was undercooked.
Your lamb is not cooked.
Nowhere near it.
It didn't go down very well.
So, they need to be really, really careful.
It is quite tough putting up two dishes in the time you've got.
I don't necessarily want to see
anything mad with presentation.
I just want to get flavours
that work together.
Cheers! Cheers! Nice to see you! Nice to see you all!
Steve, you need to get your chips sorted,
and then you get everything on your plate whilst the asparagus cooks
because we need to go.
So, Steve's main, we have a chocolate and coffee ribeye steak
with a coffee bourbon sauce, chunky chips and grilled asparagus.
There is the steak. He's got to cook that perfectly.
For me, that's medium rare.
But the big elephant in the room here is the chocolate and coffee,
but might be really nice.
What's got to go on here?
So, all that's got going there now is the chips,
the asparagus.
Nice.
Just the sauce to go. Yeah? Yep. Just the sauce to go.
Oh-ho-hawww!
Smell that from here.
It's good sauce.
Well done. That looks good. Thank you very much.
Steak and chips, You can't go wrong, chef.
Hello! Hi, there!
How you doing? Sorry.
Thank you very much. There you go.
OK, so in front of you,
you have a coffee and chocolate rubbed ribeye
with chunky chips, grilled asparagus,
and a bourbon coffee sauce.
Enjoy. Thank you so much. Cheers, Steve.
The inside of the steak's OK.
I actually think that maybe it could have done with another 30 seconds.
Chocolate, coffee and chilli.
It's been placed straight onto the steak, and then fried in a pan.
It's been burnt, which is really unfortunate.
I enjoy my chips, and my asparagus is outstanding,
and the sauce is sweet and shiny.
But unfortunately, the bitterness that you get through the steak
overtakes the palate.
I like the bitterness that's coming off that rub. That sauce -
there's a sweet smokiness to it.
He's got some good ideas.
It's just that beef.
It's just a little bit rare.
Steve, 15 minutes till your cheesecake.
OK.
Steve's dessert -
a no-bake white chocolate and green cardamom cheesecake
served with Chantilly cream.
Chocolate and cardamom -
a real classic combination.
Nice looking cheesecake, Steve.
White chocolate is quite a sweet thing.
I want maybe some orange to complement the cardamom
that's going to go with that
and give us some acidity to cut through any richness.
I love the cardamom. I think it's like a lime lemony smell to it.
Fantastic! Well done! On time.
Let's go, Steve. Thank you very much.
Hello again.
Thank you very much.
You've got a white chocolate and cardamom cheesecake
with a Chantilly cream.
Thank you so much. Enjoy!
Cheers! Thank you.
I feel drained.
It was busy in there, to say the least.
I'm not sure if I've done what I wanted to do,
but see what they say.
I think the biscuit base is a bit too thick.
And then the cheesecake topping itself is quite bland.
I can't really taste the white chocolate,
and I also can't really taste the cardamom.
Whilst visually it looks really beautiful,
in terms of taste,
it doesn't really have the flavour profile I was expecting.
We've been promised a white chocolate and cardamom cheesecake,
and we haven't got that.
I think we could have put
a little bit more cardamom with the cheesecake.
There's just a kind of tickle of cardamom.
I think it needs more white chocolate, but not a bad effort.
Aaron, nine minutes on your first course.
Thank you.
Thai fish sauce caramel salmon.
We've got umami, salty, sweetness.
It should sing.
It should really stand out.
However, that salmon's got to be cooked perfectly.
Mango and chilli salsa.
Here's my favourite thing.
Balance the chilli really well...
..and then making sure that that rice is perfectly cooked.
Ooh, I like that!
Aaron, we've got to go. Take it.
Thank you. Go on, mate.
Go on. Go. Well done.
Hi! How are you? Yeah, good. How are you?
I'm a little bit stressed, but I'm doing OK.
So this is my main - Thai inspired fish caramel
with a sesame flavoured jasmine rice, and mango and chilli salsa.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
The rice - it's very, very tasty.
The fish is cooked really, really well.
And we've got caramel, we've got chilli, we've got fish sauce.
It's beautiful.
The salsa on the side is great.
As soon as we've finished having this chat, I am finishing this food.
The caramel and the fish sauce works perfectly.
My tongue is like dancing at the moment,
and it's a dance that I like.
So, yeah, really, really delicious.
When you eat everything together, it's very well-balanced.
The salmon was cooked nicely.
It falls apart.
The rice cooked very, very well indeed.
And I like the flavour of the sesame oil
and the crunch of the sesame seeds in there.
And the sauce is giving saltiness,
a little bit of chilli and a bit of sweetness. I actually like it.
You have really got to fly now.
Yes. OK.
Chocolate lava cake with a yuzu Chantilly cream.
This could be the dessert that sets them apart from the rest.
But there's some precision to be had here.
You can't test that cake before you serve it.
And if it's overcooked,
you've essentially failed at making a lava cake.
So, this is a risk.
How long are they going to be, Aaron?
How long have I got?
90 seconds.
There, there.
Right. Let's go.
Straight onto the plate. Straight on the plate.
There we go. One. A bit more gentle with the next one.
Look at that!
Aaron!
Come on, my friend!
What's that? Dried what?
Yuzu.
Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!
I'm back.
Hello again.
Thank you. Thank you.
So, this is my dessert.
It's a chocolate lava cake
with a yuzu Chantilly cream,
with candied yuzu garnish.
Thank you. Did you test one? Have you opened one?
Oh! I've got confidence in them!
We hadn't noticed!
I'll been hiding behind the door just waiting.
Peeking!
I'm feeling a lot of stress.
I just want to know what the judges think now.
Technically, Aaron's done a really great job.
All of the lava cakes have lava-ed.
For me, the balance of flavour isn't quite there.
The richness of the cocoa, it's almost too bitter,
and I'm almost waiting for something a bit sweet and a bit sharp
and I'm not getting that.
For me, this Chantilly, if this had a little bit more sugar
and a bit more yuzu in it, it would balance against that lava cake.
Technically, very good.
He's clearly got confidence.
If he can marry flavours together, then it's fair to say
he's going to go a long way.
I think the lava cake is really well done.
The sponge on the outside is perfectly set,
and it's got liquid middle
that is just so rich with chocolate and sweet,
and it shows a lot of skill.
It's a good dessert.
Two minutes, Penny.
OK. Thank you very much.
Penny's starter - mussels, garlic, parsley butter and herb scones.
Now, this all sounds classic.
Herb scone with some garlic and parsley butter on,
I think that could go quite well.
I'm looking forward to it.
Let's do this. Come on, Penny.
Let's go. Well done, you.
Thank you.
Hello! Hello there!
Lovely to meet you. Nice to meet you.
I've cooked mussels in a butter, garlic and parsley sauce.
I made scones as well.
I hope you enjoy it.
Thanks, Penny. Thank you.
The mussels, they're not cleaned properly.
They're still stuck to the shells.
If you're going to go to this level of preparation,
you'd take them out, and place them back.
The garlic butter is too garlicky,
and the parsley's not been treated particularly well,
And the scone is just short and crumbly,
and it's just not right.
I assumed it was going to be more
in a creamy parsley, butter, garlic sauce,
which would make sense with the scones.
But I've got no sauce.
Really plump mussels.
I love all the garlic butter in there as well.
But I find the texture of the mussels with the scone unusual
because a mussel is bouncy, scones are very soft as well.
They just don't go together.
Right, Penny, you got 15 minutes on your lamb.
OK. Thank you very much.
The lamb chops. That fat's got to be rendered down.
I like a nice pink lamb chop.
Happy with your lamb.
Yeah.
Tagine in an hour!
Has she got a pressure cooker?
For me, classically Moroccan food is about long, slow flavours
developing over time.
So, I am worried for Penny.
Aubergines.
And then your sausage. Yeah? Yeah.
Is that it after that?
That's it after that.
Look at all that work!
You are a dynamo!
Well done!
Thank you.
It's a roast lamb tagine
with merguez sausage,
baked aubergine with tomato,
with some za'atar sauce.
Thank you.
I'm feeling exhausted, hot,
but actually really pleased
because I got everything out in time.
I hope I get to do another challenge.
My meat's overcooked.
My tagine is cooked too quickly.
There's no depth in there.
The aubergine is very undercooked.
The couscous is very wet and cloying.
The fat on the lamb isn't rendered.
There's too much going on.
But I'm confident that Penny can cook better than this at home.
The lamb, the flavours running through there,
a bitterness,
smokiness, a little bit of sweetness...
The aubergine -
aubergine's a bit tough,
and the tomato across the top is over-reduced.
Haddy. You've got five minutes on your first course.
Can I have five more minutes?
No. No. OK.
So Haddy's akara, which is Gambian black-eyed bean fritters,
for me, this screams party food.
Have you got some that are cooked?
I think so. Two, four, six, seven.
All right, That'll do. Come on.
That fritter is the key thing.
If it's crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside,
we're in for a winner.
With garlic, tomato and chilli sauce,
it's classic flavour combinations.
Could be something that's really tasty if it's done right.
Haddy, well done. Go, go, go, go!
Hi! Hello!
I've been very excited about this.
Thank you.
So, today, I've made you akara for your starters.
It's pureed black-eyed beans,
deep-fried, and served with an onion and chilli satay sauce.
Thank you.
I think Haddy did a really good job of these fritters.
They're light, they're fluffy.
The outside has got a nice finish to them, which is good.
I did enjoy the onions, the chilli,
a little tiny bit of tomato running through it.
Overall, I think Haddy did a great job.
Those fritters are crispy on the outside, soft on the inside.
I like that onion mixture - slightly sweet, a little sharp,
with lots and lots of chillies in there.
I actually like it.
Haddy's main - crispy chicken thighs,
peanut butter stew,
glazed carrots and sticky white rice.
This screams comfort food.
Oh, look at that!
And you know your domoda's cooked when all the oil from the peanut
is tumbling on the top.
Peanut butter stew - that entices me.
I'm looking forward to it.
Let's go!
Thank you. You're welcome.
Today I've made you domoda,
which is my country's national dish.
It's a peanut butter stew.
Honey-glazed carrot, crispy chicken
and sticky white rice.
I hope you enjoy it. Thank you.
Thank you. It smells delicious. Thank you.
So relieved that I am done with this challenge!
It was very tough,
but I am happy with my flavours that I brought.
And, for me, flavours is number one.
The chicken is perfectly crispy,
seasoned really well,
still nice and juicy, not dry at all.
That stew is delicious.
It's got enough heat in there.
That peanut's just adding that wonderful consistency.
The rice is good, the carrots are nice and glazed.
And the best thing on this plate is that potato that's been cooked
in that sauce because it's taken on all that richness.
It's really well done.
I can eat the whole thing.
I've really, really enjoyed it.
I've got lovely, soft, almost buttery chicken with a crispy skin
and that sauce - salty peanut,
slight sweetness to it,
and then lots and lots of chilli.
That sauce with the potatoes is fantastic.
I've got to say that it was a really good round,
a really interesting round.
I've seen food I've never seen before, people really pushing it.
But we've only got three quarterfinal places to give.
I really liked Haddy's dishes, and so did the dining room.
I think the flavours were really, really good.
Haddy gets herself a quarterfinal place.
I think Aaron's got a bit of style,
a nicely cooked piece of salmon,
and a sauce that was sweet, and a little bit of chilli.
His dessert was great.
That lava cake had a nice crispy cocoa outside,
and it was runny through the centre.
Aaron's got himself a place in the quarterfinal.
Penny - a scone and her mussels is an unusual combination.
But I liked the mussels - garlic, the parsley.
But the dining room were not fans.
The actual lamb main course,
I thought the lamb was cooked really well,
but there were big bits of fat
and the dining room didn't find that very appetising at all.
That aubergine wasn't cooked all the way through.
It was hard.
I kind of wish that Penny would do a lot less.
I like Steve's style.
That steak with a rub of cocoa and coffee worked.
But I would like my steak cooked more.
But really good chips.
The asparagus cooked nicely.
His dessert - cheesecake.
I didn't get the white chocolate.
I didn't get the cardamom.
But it looked good. It was a nice-looking cheesecake.
If I went home now, I would be devastated.
I want a place in the quarterfinal more than anything.
I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
It is addictive.
You want to go on and on being in the kitchen.
I definitely want to go to the next stage.
Thanks very much for all your hard work.
There's some great feedback from the dining room
and some really interesting food today.
We did say at the start of this
that we only have three quarterfinal places.
Our first quarterfinalist is...
..Haddy.
No!
Oh, sorry!
No.
We loved it, Haddy.
They loved it, Haddy.
Everybody loved it, Haddy!
Our second MasterChef quarterfinalist is...
..Aaron.
Our third and final quarterfinalist is
Steve.
Congratulations.
Well done. Well done. Well done.
Penny, sorry to see you go. Thank you, Penny.
Thank you very much. Thanks so much. Lovely to meet you, Penny.
I'm really disappointed
to be going home, I have to say.
But I'll look back on my MasterChef experience with great joy.
It was such a challenge and I feel I've achieved so much already.
So, I'm happy but sad.
Unbelievable!
MasterChef quarterfinalist!
I did not think I was going to do that.
I'm absolutely elated.
I don't think there's a feeling I'm NOT feeling at the moment.
I think I'm going to be going home,
putting my feet up, celebrating, all at once.
Every stage of this competition is a step closer to the trophy.
So, we're going for it!
Next time it's the quarterfinal,
and Aaron, Haddy and Steve...
I like to keep myself under pressure.
..will be joining Lee, Shreya and Pete
cooking for one of the country's top restaurant critics.
I'm just a bit stressed.
There are pie shops in south-east London who would be very proud
to serve that.
That's brilliant.
That is a triumph!