It's the Celebrity MasterChef semifinals.
And only the eight best cooks remain.
Every now and then, the thought of winning creeps in,
and then I'm like, "Humble yourself, Meesh.
"Relax your skin, girl."
I'm giving it everything. I'm at full tilt.
Tonight...There's so much to do.
..the temperature rises.
This is a shambles. These are all burnt.
SHE LAUGHS
No! Oh, my God.
This is touch and go as to
whether we get any food out of that tent or not. I'm going to cry.
I'm going to cry very shortly.
And one more celebrity is sent home.
I've spent more time in the kitchen than
I have in the bathroom or the bedroom since I started MasterChef.
My creative side is just in overdrive now.
When I'm at home, I think, "It would be sick to win it, wouldn't it?"
Ah, it would be so cool.
Time to turn up the heat, time to put them under serious pressure.
What more have they got to show us? What else can they do?
Who's going to be our champion?
It's early morning...
..and the semifinalists have been transported to County Durham...
HORN HONKS
..at the start of the 20th century.
Welcome to a Celebrity MasterChef semifinal. Woo! Yay!
And welcome to Beamish in County Durham.
This open-air museum brings the history of the north-east to
life, and this is a replica of an early 20th-century pit village.
Today, we want you to make a feast for the workers
and inhabitants of this village.
Between you, you are going to feed over 100 people.
Marcus... Yes, sir?
..Jamelia, Shazia, Luca, you are the Blue team.
Yes!
Mica, Max, Amy, Wynne,
you're the Red team. Yay!
As you can see, there are two tents set up,
and we've provided for you the ingredients to make the feast.
It's got to be delicious, it's got to be hearty,
and it's got to reflect the food of the north-east.
First thing you'll need to do is decide who's going to
be your team leader.
OK. Two and a half hours. Off you go.
Let's get in, get in, get in, see what we've got.
I've never cooked in bulk.
I've only cooked for like six to ten people, so this is insane.
I'm worried about timings. Timings is not my strong suit.
Yeah, I just hope we can pull it off.
Who's going to be team leader? You don't want to do it? No.
I kind of feel like Marcus is a natural leader. Just be the leader.
Just because I'm posh.
Fine. Amy, be in charge. Really?
Yeah, you're going to be fantastic.
You're diplomatic, you're wonderful. Fine. But it's a team.
Yeah, totally.
With leaders chosen, each team now has two and a half hours
to prepare a meat, fish and veg main
and dessert from ingredients that include some pit village staples.
This has got to be quality, for big numbers, in a tent,
in a short space of time.
It's a massive challenge, and so it should be.
This is a MasterChef semifinal.
The Red team's selection includes beef, local ale...
Do you want me to make a pie? Yeah.
And I'll do a Newkie Brown gravy with it.
..mackerel...I'll do anything. I'll do the fish.
Can you fillet the fish? I ain't filleted fish, but I'll crack on.
..root veg...
What about for the veggie, a cauliflower cheese type vibe?
But is that a bit boring? No, not at all. That sounds fit.
..dried fruit and nuts.
Do you want me to make a sponge? Yeah.
But flavour it with almond. Yeah, and a custard. Cool, right.
Let's go, team. Yay!
I'm team leader, which means that if we fail, it'll be my fault,
won't it? What an idiot. Why did I say yes to that?
The Blue team's options include chicken...
I can do a chicken curry because they've got turmeric,
curry powder, ground coriander.
..plaice...Luca Bish is on the fish.
So you're going to do, like, fish and chips?
I think so, yeah.
With mushy peas. Wicked.
..butternut squash...
We need a vegetarian dish.
..and apples.Can I do dessert?
I do this thing called an apple crumb cake, and I kind of feel
like that would be really nice.
It's kind of like a mixture between a cake and an apple crumble.
What do you want to do?
Well, I'm the team leader, so I'm just going to watch.
THEY LAUGH
Obviously, having Marcus as team leader, it's good.
He's...posh, old and witty,
so he's on the ball.
We needed someone like him.
Despite no plan for a veg option, and no rice in the larder to go
with their curry,
the Blue team have begun to prep their menu.
I do feel like we're kind of winging it as we go along here, but I guess
I'll clarify as we go.
More decisive plans are in place in the Red tent, as opera singer
Wynne is under way, butchering three whole strip loins
of beef for 30 portions of the team's meat main course.
I'm making a beef and ale pie, basically.
My gran will be proud because I'm using suet.
And she used to say that was the secret to good pastry,
but I've never used suet. So, I mean, how hard can it be, right?
Wynne's taking charge of a meat pie.
We've got celeriac and horseradish mash to go with it.
There's a winter warmer.
TV personality Mica has the painstaking task of prepping
30 portions of mackerel for the team's fish course,
which will also be served with a celeriac mash
and braised fennel.
I've never filleted a fish before, and I'm on fish - filleting fishes.
I've just got loads to do, and I feel like the time
is just going to run out.
What have you learned about mackerel so far, Meesh?
Don't opt for the fish. That's what I've learnt. Why?
Because this is hard-going.
I feel like I've stitched myself up.
I was like, "Yeah, it's all right. I'll do the fish."
As well as peeling and chopping 15 celeriacs for the mash...
There's so much to do.
..Emmerdale star and team leader Amy is overseeing the veg main.
What's veggie option? Cauliflower and leek gratin...
..cheesy, cheesy cheesiness, with pease pudding
crumble on top. Whose is the pease pudding crumble idea?
Wynne's. Wynne, tell me about pease pudding crumble.
Just split peas, onion, stock.
Cook it off, crumble it over the top, whack it in the oven.
Is it not a wet consistency?
It might be, but it'll dry out by then.
Does that sound good?
It's going to be great! It's local.
And how is it going in bakery corner?
My feet are like blocks of ice.
At the back of the tent,
boyband singer Max is working on the cake mix for 60 portions
of an almond sponge and glace cherry dessert.
This sponge of yours with glace cherries. You may have hit
on something. It's a Newcastle pudding.
That's what I was picturing.
So it's like an upside down, like a turn-out.
So you put your cherries in the bottom, then the sponge.
Then when you cook it, tip it out, and then we'll pour custard on top.
Great. A sponge pudding,
fruit and custard is much-loved across all of these beautiful,
windswept islands. That is going to go down a storm.
It's for so many people, though. 60.
So it's a lot of cake.
The enormity of the task is also a concern for the Blue team.
So team leader Marcus has joined forces with fellow comedian Shazia
to help with the prep for her chicken curry.
Marcus, I'll chop the onions and all the spices and I'll start
making the sauce. OK.
Marcus, how many portions of chicken are you doing?
I should have really done some maths.
I would say people are going to want at least two each.
So how many pieces have you done so far?
I have no idea. That many.
Five, maybe, I think.
Not really the right way to be doing mass catering,
to work out on that many.
No. We've got a chicken curry under way, but they don't really know
what they're going to serve with it. Curry and rice, you want.
And if you haven't got the rice, maybe you shouldn't have made
the curry. Fish main course? We're going to do fish and chips
with mushy peas and tartare sauce. Nice.
Luca, do you think battered or crumbed?
I half only know how to fillet it, let alone cook it.
OK.
Vegetarian - anybody considered yet?
Vegetarian option? Nothing.
Nada. Zero.
There is not a vegetarian option.
At the moment, the proposal for the vegetarian needs some thought,
and not just an apology note.
How many fish are there, Luca?
I'm just doing them and just hoping there's enough.
In charge of the fish and chips main,
reality TV star and former fishmonger Luca will need to remove
the fillets from 30 whole plaice.
I am actually remembering what you kind of do
with a fish now.
When the Love Island fame runs out and I need some money again,
I'll get back on the block and go do some nice fillets like that.
On dessert,
the first job for pop singer Jamelia is to prep five kilos of apples
for her crumble cake creation, which she plans
to serve with custard.
I've baked cakes loads of times before, but definitely not on this
scale, so I'm just going to fake it till I make it.
There are good ideas in this Blue team, but the devil is in the detail
and no-one's working on detail.
I definitely don't feel like we've kind of really solidly
clarified exactly what we're doing yet.
We don't know how the fish is going to be cooked.
We don't actually know what's going to go with the curry.
Nobody knows where the vegetarian dish is going to come from.
Right, guys, you've had 45 minutes already.
Already?! That's it. Yep.
So that means you've only got an hour and 45 minutes left.
AMY GASPS Go, go, go, go, go.
Red team leader Amy is ploughing on with the mass of veg prep,
which includes chopping cauliflower for the veggie main and the fennel
to accompany Mica's fish.
You can't go any faster than you can go. It's weird.
So I've got fingers in a lot of pies at the moment.
Did you stitch me up, Amy, putting me on fish?
Babes, you know I would have done that for you.
MICA CHUCKLES
I'm the biggest Gogglebox fan going.
MICA LAUGHS
Mica's managed to remove the fillets from all 30 mackerel.
That's it.
Done. But her fish prep is far from over.
Well, no, I'm not done. I still got to take the bones out.
MICA LAUGHS
God!
On dessert, Max also has a mammoth task ahead, making enough sponge
to fill eight individual pans, each layered with cherries.
Messy over here, isn't it?
Not cooking yet, but it's nearly there.
I've got two more pans to fill.
Cooking is already under way for the steak and ale pie.
And with his beef and mushroom filling tenderising, Wynne can add
the all-important local ale...
Oh, my God. That is off the scale. I love that.
..and move on to the next challenge,
his first attempt at a suet pastry lid.
HUMMING:Dee, dee, dee, dee, dee, dee, dee, dee...
# Food, glorious food
# What is it about it?
# Three banquets a day
# Our favourite diet
# Just picture a great big steak
# Fried, roasted or stewed
# Food Glorious
# Food Wonderful
# Food
# Glorious food! #
Hey, hey!
This is helping.
In the Blue tent, there's far less to sing about.
Marcus has started to seal the first batch of chicken for the curry
in Shazia's spice mix.
But with no rice available, the team still haven't worked out
what they plan to serve it with.
I'm worried about curry with no rice.
Do you know what, Marcus? I'm going to do chapatis.
Chapatis! Nice.
I'll have to get the dough made right now.
What are we doing our goujons, battered or breaded?
Look. They're breadcrumbs.
That's it. There you go.
Breaded goujons of fish. Delicious.
Luca has been cleaning the fish, and he's doing very, very well.
But the chips haven't even had a thought just yet.
Unless they start to get chips done very, very soon,
they're going to be in big trouble.
On dessert, Jamelia's peeled, cored and sliced all her apples,
but has only just started making the sponge for 60 portions
of her crumble cake.
The volume is horrific.
I don't know how many eggs to start with.
I see! Hang on. Hang on a minute. Hang on. Help me.
So when you made the sponge before... Yes.
..how many portions was that? For four people, it was four eggs.
All right, so you need an egg per person. OK. OK.
I love you.
Smells nice, whatever you're burning.
This is a shambles. These are all burnt completely.
That's all right. Don't worry. Are they?
I lost control of two pans.
Mercifully, they only had spices in at that stage and not chicken.
So the chicken wasn't ruined.
Very, very stressful.
It's just an awful lot of balls to keep in the air at the same time.
Don't forget about your vegetarian!
While both teams battle on, the local village is a hive of activity.
Beamish is one of the finest open-air museums in the world.
Opened in 1970,
the museum's goal was to create a time capsule to illustrate the way
of life in a region that was rapidly losing its industrial heritage.
It's a rich area, full of the mining history.
There are other pockets of history - the shipbuilding, the steel
industry, salt as well.
But coal mines are really the bedrock.
They're the grounding for the north-east.
A lot of the villages that you pass through when you come up to Beamish
are the villages where miners have led their lives.
Run by hundreds of staff and volunteers,
the museum is also a celebration of community and includes a fully
operational town centre with its own bakery, sweet shop,
bank, pub,
and fish and chip shop.
We've got this wonderful feast that's going to take place
in the pit village, which is the perfect setting.
These folks were either down the pit or they're out in the field.
So when they come in to eat, they're hungry and they want
something that's going to fill them up.
Really excited to see what the contestants
are going to be cooking.
But also, I'm wondering whether some of their ideas have come
from the history of the food of the north-east,
which will be interesting to see.
There's just over an hour to go.
JOHN:Amy, your milk's boiling over!
Oh! Thanks. Sugar!
And in the Red tent, Amy is simmering all her root veg in milk
to add extra richness to the celeriac mash
and cauliflower cheese.
I didn't realise we had a limited amount of milk and I've used every
single bottle on the mash.
And she's left Max with a problem. With his eight trays of almond
sponge in to bake, his next challenge is the custard.
60 portions of custard with no milk.
So I'm still trying to work that one out.
The Red team have got to make custard for 60 people.
I think presently they're going to be looking for a field
and a couple of cows to be able to milk them.
Keen to help, Wynne has a plan.
What are you cooking? Looks great. Get out, Wynne!
No, I'm just missing Jim-Jam. Oh, are you missing me?
Yeah. Loads. Oh, you're such a liar!
He's stealing! No, just one milk. Just one milk, that's all.
I love you. Bye.
Wynne may have helped kick-start the first batch of custard,
but he still needs to race to get his beef and ale pies
in the oven.
Nice suet crust.
Yeah. Will that still cook if that gets wet?
Do you know? I don't know.
It should do. It should do. OK.
The beef pies have made it to the ovens, but on the fish
section...Are we still doing fish, Meesh? Yeah.
Can you believe this?
..Mica's still deboning the mackerel, which also needs to be
baked with fennel before service.
I just hope there ain't no bones.
If anyone out there says they found a bone,
they'd better keep it to themselves, you know?
There's now just 40 minutes until service, and the Blue team's
menu is still incomplete.
We're very behind.
Very, very behind.
And we need to think hard about the vegetarian course
and, like, what exactly we're doing with that.
The Blue tent and their vegetarian dish.
Marcus is cutting up butternut squash, but has no idea how that's
going to become a dish.
Honestly, that Blue team needed to make a plan.
I need to get this roasting.
And then after I've done that, I'll wing it.
I don't know.
I actually really don't know what's going to happen.
And it's not just the veggie option that's been overlooked.
Is anyone dealing with chips? Because we can't serve this fish
without them.
I'm kind of doing all this stuff,
like bread-crumbing it.
With his team busy on other tasks, Marcus has no choice but to abandon
the vegetarian dish and start on the chips himself.
There will not be enough time for me to peel all of these spuds
on my own, but everyone's hands are full.
Shazia's curry is simmering away, but she's also under the cosh.
I'm making 30 chapatis by hand.
I have never made 30 chapatis in any one go in my life.
It's just a lot. It's just a lot.
Full stop. And Jamelia is also swamped.
She's still making the sponge mix for her cake and is yet
to start her crumble topping.
I have no idea how long it's going to take to bake
and I really would have thought I'd have it in by now.
And, um...
..yeah, I'm a bit panicky.
Oh, gosh, I'm going to cry. I'm going to cry very shortly.
Come back in ten minutes, I'll be crying.
Oh, my word. The Blue team is in a state of virtual collapse.
And I mean that.
I mean, this is touch-and-go as to whether we get any food
out of that tent or not.
Look up the hill. There they are. Here they come. Look.
Oh, my gosh!
Which means you have half an hour to lunch, everybody.
Just 30 minutes to lunch.
Oh, my gosh!
I hope these people want mackerel, you know?
We're cooking on gas. We've got the desserts in the oven.
We've got the fish almost filleted and deboned.
We've got the pie in the oven, the pastry's done.
This is our cauliflower and leek gratin.
Nice, hearty, warming comfort food.
It doesn't look that nice right now, but it will.
In the Blue tent, Marcus has finally settled on a vegetarian option,
using readymade puff pastry.
I think onion and roasted butternut squash tart with a cheese top
will be lovely - if we can do it in time.
It may be that they just get roasted butternut squash.
The heat is also on for Shazia, who is having to cook each of the 30
chapatis individually.
How are they coming along? I've got ten.
Great. Well done. Brilliant.
Has anyone got a spare hand to help with chips?
I'm taking that silence as a no.
With no volunteers, John steps in to help.
But the long list of fish and chip jobs also includes the mushy peas
and the tartare sauce.
Luca, do you know how to make tartare sauce?
No.
What is it?
Do we have mayonnaise?
We had planned on doing tartare sauce, but we hadn't had time
to check that there was mayonnaise. But it's OK. We adapt.
I can do a salsa verde.
Parsley, mustard, lemon juice and capers.
Has anyone seen a plug socket?
Jamelia's sponge is already made.
This is the face of regrets.
I should have just said I was making a cake.
But the cake can't go into the oven until she's made
the crumble topping.
Not only am I worried about my own, I'm, like, looking at everything.
I'm like, "Oh, this ain't going to work.
"It ain't going to work.
"We're not going to do it."
Guys, you have just 15 minutes. 15 minutes.
Right, we need to get those fish on, Meesh.
Well done, babes. Well done, you.
Outside the school hall,
hungry villagers have started to gather for lunch.
Good selection. Yes.
Sounds quite good, the beef. Possibly a good choice so far.
That looks insane. It does. It looks crispy!
That would have been an absolute special, something like that.
Any meat would have been a special treat.
Veggie choices are more interesting than just a baked potato or something.
I've never seen anybody make a crumble out of peas pudding.
Yeah, well, today... Mate. ..is it.
We've got salsa verde, we've got mushy peas, we've got chicken curry,
we've got most of our chapatis.
Luca's frying fish.
It does look good, doesn't it?
We do need, urgently, to get the chips on.
With minutes to go, Jamelia's apple crumble cake is only just ready
for the oven.
Apple...apple...
..apple crumble!
They've got apple crumble!
And she's still not started her custard.
Blue team, you are going from here in five minutes.
OK? Everything needs to be ready to go.
And Jamelia is staying behind, is she?
Yeah, I'm going to stay behind.
That looks so good. That looks wicked.
Well done. Pie's in, your fish garnished, your vegetables.
Where's your fennel?
See you, guys. Ta-ra.
Go on, Luca.
The tarts are done, guys.
Marcus! Yes, sir? Chips.
Well done, guys. See you in a bit.
How far is this dining room away?!
With everything set, the pit villagers head in for lunch.
They're on their way.
The dining room is now open!
# Pies, pies for sale. #
And the crowds make a beeline for the Red team...
You having the beef? Oh, well, you're a lucky lady.
..and Wynne's hearty steak and local ale pie...
Some pie? Yes, please. Here we go, my darling.
..served with celeriac mash and beef gravy.
Oh, lush.
Are you going for the beef pie? OK.
Everyone's loving his beef pie.
Tasty. Yes. Lovely big chunks of meat as well.
So, yes, very nice.
The beef was lovely. It was really tender.
And I like the celeriac mash.
The pastry was a bit soggy, with all the gravy in it.
But apart from that, it was really tasty.
Wynne put a lot of work into this.
Prepared all the meat, made a suet crust.
Crispy pastry, big whole mushroom, gravy's nice. It's a good pie.
Would you like to try some mackerel today?
Lovely.
The Red team's fish option of Mica's labour-intensive mackerel,
served with braised fennel, celeriac mash and white wine sauce,
is also trading well.
Yeah, you're going to like that.
The mackerel is just right.
Perfect.
It was very nice, and it was lovely having fennel.
It's not a vegetable that you see very often.
I think Mica should be happy if she never sees another mackerel
as long as she lives. No, I think you're absolutely right.
And you've got bones in yours. Look at that.
That's a whopper. The mackerel's cooked OK.
I love that celeriac mash.
Nicely presented dish.
The concept of fennel and mackerel together is a really good one.
Hello. What can I get you?
You're going to have some curry. All right.
On the Blue section, Shazia's hearty chicken curry,
served with home-made chapatis, is proving popular.
Thank you very much. Thank you.
What can I get you? Chicken curry. Chicken curry.
Oh, my God, Marcus. It's going down a storm!
It's absolutely lovely.
I would say that the chicken's very tender, just falling
off the bone. The chapati is slightly underdone,
but other than that, it's been a lovely meal.
It wasn't too hot. It was just nice. Loads of flavour.
Yeah, I quite like the fact it was on the bone as well.
It brings out the flavour in it, you know? I'd definitely
have it again if I ever got the chance.
I think it's difficult to serve a curry without any rice.
But actually, it's nicely flavoured.
You can taste coriander and you can also taste
turmeric in there. I do...I do like it.
If anybody would like fish and chips, please come to this side.
Thank you very much.
Luca is hoping his plaice and chips with mushy peas and salsa verde
is good enough to compete with the local chippy.
No problem. You've got enough chips? We have. There's loads more.
Another tray? Another tray. Great.
I've never had plaice before. I'm usually a haddock or cod man.
But it was very nice.
It had a nice colour, it was nice and crispy.
The chips were nice. They're not as good as Beamish chips, mind,
but they were still nice.
I work in the fish and chip shop. Lovely flavour.
The salsa verde was really nice. I've never tried it before.
It was really good.
Look at that. I mean, he's breaded that fish really nicely.
It's good. Salsa verde is sharp, like vinegar.
And we all love mushy peas.
The chips are well done. So they should be - you did 'em.
Would you like some vegetable gratin, sir?
With a pease pudding topping. Thank you very much.
Of the two veggie options, Red team leader Amy's cauliflower and leek
gratin with a pease pudding crumble is a clear village favourite.
Our vegetable gratin is going pretty well, and I'm shocked.
Because it's not my proudest dish.
Cauliflower...very nice. The sauce on it is beautiful.
You've got a pease pudding topping on it as well.
It's really nice.
The cheese sauce was nice and hot. Very filling.
Just what we need on a cold day.
The cheese and pease pudding's good, isn't it? Yeah.
What you've got there is, like, creamy, nutty cauliflower,
a cheesy, tangy top.
And, of course, the sweetness and smoothness of that pease pudding.
It looks shocking, but it tastes great.
Not a single taker for the vegetarian tart yet.
Literally no-one.
Marcus's last-minute butternut squash tart
has yet to entice a diner.
Oh, a vegetarian at last!
They exist.
Sir, would you care for some chips and mushy peas with it?
There you go, sir. Enjoy. Thank you.
It was delicious. Yes, I must admit.
Quite crispy, which I enjoyed.
What's lovely about this, there's lovely sweet onions underneath
that butternut squash. The butternut squash is slightly charred,
which is going slightly bitter.
No-one wants it, but actually it tastes pretty good.
With mains over...
Gang, I think we're done here, but we should definitely go
and help Jamelia.
..both teams need to race to get their desserts out.
What the hell?!
But back in the tent...
No!
Oh, my God!
Jamelia's crumble cake is in crisis.
The Blue team had a bit of a disaster with their dessert because
whilst Luca was frying the fish, he inadvertently turned the tap off
for the gas to the ovens and the stoves.
Now, that means the oven wasn't on any more.
And she's in panicking mode.
Oh, and it's still moving. Oh, my goodness!
This is the worst day of my life.
Blue and Red team,
we are going with desserts in three minutes.
On the Red team, having borrowed extra milk for his custard,
Max's Newcastle sponge pudding is on track.
I'm not going to lie... Have you smashed it? It's so good.
It is so good.
All right, let's get it up there. Come on, guys.
See, it's still wobbly here. Yeah. There's not wobbling.
So the edge is OK, you think? Yeah.
The edges are cooked. See, that's cooked in there.
So what I would do if I was you, I would take the three trays.
I would do the sides as much you can and serve, and whatever's
in the middle you can't serve. OK. That looks really firm.
That one. That one's the best one. Go, go, go, Jamelia. Go, go, go.
Use the sides. Serve what you can.
# Pudding is served! #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Queues quickly form for Max's Newcastle pudding...
There you are, sir.
..an upside down almond sponge with glace cherries and custard.
There you are, my love. Enjoy.
Come on. You're going to love this.
It was really nice. Very tasty.
The sponge was quite light.
You could taste the almonds. It was very nice.
There was plenty of cherries in it. It was a nice consistency.
It was very tasty. Did enjoy it.
The sponge is a little dense, I've got to be fair.
But the almonds and the cherries in there, he's going in
the direction of a cherry Bakewell. It's really good.
His custard is good. It doesn't have any lumps in it.
It's actually a really tasty dessert.
Hiya. Are you OK?
Oh, look at that.
In spite of the earlier saga, the villagers are also lapping
up Jamelia's salvaged apple crumble cake...
Is that enough? ..also served with custard.
These look so good.
They look so good.
I'm a big apple crumble fan.
The apples were a little bit hard. A smidge.
But other than that - perfect.
I think the dish speaks volumes,
because I've cleared it. Really nice, lovely custard.
You could tell it was all home-made and fresh.
Mm!
Cinnamon, apple, sugar.
Kind of in between a crunch of a crumble top and a bit of a sponge.
It's big, it's hearty. You've got lots of spice.
I mean, there's nowt to complain about with that.
Well done. Oh, my God. Well done, sweetie pie.
You did really good! You did really good. Oh, bless you.
We did so well.
Ladies and gentlemen, I just want to say, on behalf of all of us,
thank you so, so much. And I hope you enjoyed your meals.
Thank you.
A fantastic start to the semifinals.
They all worked really, really hard, and I think
for a mass challenge, I think the food's really good.
I feel great that we were able to feed 100 people,
and the people wanted more.
And, you know, obviously that feels really great.
Look, I'm not going to lie.
I'm heartbroken by the wholesale rejection of my vegetarian tart.
One slice.
Shocking.
Today was manic.
Like, we've cooked for so many people.
I'm very proud of myself because I hadn't filleted fish
before like that.
Do you know what I mean? The closest I've come to a fillet of fish
is McDonald's. Do you know what I mean?
I really loved it. I loved my team.
But do you know what? It's a big competition now.
You see the skills and the knowledge that people have and you're like,
"OK, this is a small fish, big pond at the moment."
I need to be the big fish.
Not a mackerel.
Hi, guys.
Hello.
Great to see you back here.
Now we have a brilliant challenge for you.
A chance for you to showcase your skill,
show us how you're developing.
Today, you have a brief to cook for us your ultimate sandwich.
You could use any influence from all around the world.
From a bao in China, all the way through to a burger in America.
Even a ham and cheese toastie.
The ultimate sandwich, please.
And at the end of this, one of you is going home.
One hour, 30 minutes.
Let's cook.
I love a good sandwich, you know? Especially after a night out.
Do you know what I mean?
It's got to be the most versatile meal, hasn't it?
Whatever you can imagine, you can serve it in a sandwich.
But a great sandwich has texture and flavour.
It assaults your senses.
You want to be able to taste every single layer,
at the same time, be harmonious.
Oh, my God, sandwiches are my favourite thing in the world.
Like, when this brief came in, I was like, "This is made for me."
What sandwich are you making, please, Amy?
So, today, I'm making a Boxing Day brioche sandwich.
It's come from the meal that my family cook for Boxing Day.
And it means quite a lot to me because I went into labour
on Boxing Day and I nearly missed out on this meal. And my wonderful
family packed up a Tupperware for me and brought it to the hospital.
So now I literally can't even think about this food without thinking
about that amazing day.
Amy's Boxing Day sandwich is really a ham, cheese and coleslaw
sandwich, but with many different twists and turns.
A piece of ham which is cooked with spices and cola, so it goes
sweet and sticky.
On top of that, the cheese bit of it is a macaroni cheese with some
breadcrumbs around the outside,
turned to a little patty and fried so it's crispy on the outside.
The coleslaw bit of it is celeriac remoulade.
You'd think I'd had enough of this after the bloomin' Beamish.
Bits of celeriac shaved very, very thinly, mixed with a dressing
of mustard and cream.
The whole lot sandwiched between a brioche bun.
It's an incredible sort of celebration of great food.
I mean, it could be fun.
Look at... You've got a dough over there. Yeah.
What's that for?
Italian flatbread that I'm trying to make.
But you've also got a French stick there.
What I wanted to do is half a sandwich in a baguette,
which I prefer. But I also show that I can make some bread.
What's your sandwich, please?
So my sandwich is a steak sandwich.
I've got a bit of English and a bit of Italian.
So we got the steak from England, obviously. That's for Dad.
Red onion chutney. English.
And then the gorgonzola was my Italian nonna's favourite cheese.
And then you've got radicchio in there as well.
It's the first dish that I've actually had a bite
out of properly and enjoyed it.
Luca's making us a celebration of both Britain and Italy.
I think it's lovely, actually.
I think there's quite a bit of emotion in this from Luca,
and I think that will make a difference.
This dish, I've put the most thought into, I'd say.
I want it to look unbelievable as well as taste unbelievable.
It's hard to do with a sandwich, but I've got to get this right.
I'm putting absolutely everything into this competition
right about now. Everything.
I'm starting to feel like, you know, walk
around with your back straight, Meesh. You know?
You deserve to be here, girl.
Meesh. Hello, babes.
Today I'm going to be serving you...
..Meesh's Jamaican pepper steak and three-cheese stromboli.
What's a stromboli?
It's an Italian-American sandwich.
So I'm going to combine that with Jamaican cuisine.
So basically, you're getting pepper steak wrapped in pizza dough.
Right. Fabulous. And why this?
Because don't it just sound nice? It does.
That's why.
I'm getting hungry looking at this.
Mica's timing is paramount.
Stromboli needs to be baked for a good 20, 25 minutes,
and then it needs to come out and rest so it can settle, so that
cheese can actually bring the whole thing together, because otherwise,
when she cuts it open, all the cheese and all the filling
is going to fall out everywhere.
35 minutes have gone.
You've got 55 minutes left.
I'm really worried about this because they've given us an hour
and a half to make a sandwich.
Wow. That's a long time for a sandwich.
Which makes me think they want quite an elaborate sandwich.
Shazia is promising us a chicken shawarma,
served with home-made tahini sauce.
A great chicken shawarma is a wonderful thing.
It has a flatbread, first and foremost, which needs
to be really lovely and thin.
Nine inches. Not big enough.
Inside it, it needs bits of chicken which are really moist, covered
in a marinade with yoghurt and lots of spices.
She's even smoking it so it tastes like it's been done over coals.
It's really clever.
Shazia, why this sandwich, please?
When I first became a comedian, I toured the Middle East,
and every street that I went down would smell of chicken shawarma.
And that smell evokes memories.
It reminds me of when I first started comedy.
I'm talking more about food,
like I know everything about it, which I don't.
I think I'm like a full-blown chef now.
At home, Maisie will be cooking or something and I'll be like,
"No, no, no. Don't do that."
Max, what are you doing? They look great big burgers there.
What are you making? It's a Scotch egg. Why a Scotch egg?
Literally, my brother said, "Mate, I was in a pub the other day,"
he said, "I had a Scotch egg sandwich."
Said it was absolutely amazing.
So I said, "Right, I'll give that a go."
It goes in between a brioche bun. Right, right, right.
Does it fit in a brioche? Just about.
Are you sure? Yeah.
On the side of Max's Scotch egg roll, we've got a hash brown
and a mustard mayonnaise.
Brilliant.
Making mayo's hard work.
It's well hard.
It's the mustard mayonnaise for me which is key,
because that sausage meat
and black pudding will demand lots and lots of sauce
with it to make it slippery. And that egg yolk has to be runny.
So I'm going to tell you a secret.
Just us.
Yesterday, I made my sandwich for my daughters and I was like,
"I think I could win this competition."
And it's the first time I'd even thought about myself as a winner.
So I'm making a Jamaican-style breakfast in a sandwich.
Brilliant. Take me through it.
So I'm doing like a fish finger, beans, egg and plantain
on hardo bread.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Have you had fish and fried egg before?
Yeah. OK.
Celebrities, you have just 35 minutes left.
What?!
35 minutes.
Oh, it's smelling good.
Wynne, there are so many ingredients here.
What are you doing?
Well, for me, being a single dad, sometimes you don't get
to see your children on Christmas Day, and that's quite sad.
And so I want to make Boxing Day really special for them.
So, today, I am making the ultimate Boxing Day sandwich.
So, essentially, you will be served what looks like a Christmas cake,
but it's actually a cake sandwich.
This is going to be something we've never seen
on MasterChef before.
What we've got in there is turkey, Brussels sprouts, sage, potatoes
and cranberry sauce.
Then the whole thing covered up and draped in cream cheese
and creme fraiche. He says it's going to look like a Christmas cake.
Fantastic. I just hope it works.
I'm totally pushing myself for this dish. Every time I've
practised it, I've gone about ten minutes over,
so I hope today will be the day
that I absolutely nail it.
I so want to stay in this competition.
I don't want to go out on any round, but I don't want to have to tell
people, "Yeah, I sort of fell over on a sandwich, to be honest."
What are you making, my friend?
I'm making a kind of tandoori chicken naan wrap
with onion pakora and okra fries.
So we eat Indian food loads of the time.
And I haven't done anything Indian yet in a competition and I thought,
"This is a perfect thing."
That bread on the outside, it needs to be slightly chewy.
The chicken itself needs to be well spiced, but also soft.
We're also getting a sweet mango relish, coriander chutney,
and then we've got a yoghurt and mint dip as well.
There's a huge amount of work.
The worry is time, always time.
You have just ten minutes to complete your sarnie masterpiece.
Ten minutes, please.
I am literally just pulling the ham.
I was a bit worried that it might not cook through in that time,
but I'm really happy.
Yeah, it's all right.
OK, calm down, dear.
I just got to get this covered now.
Oh, yes.
Oh, I'm happy with that.
I am.
We have just three minutes, please, people.
Ah, here we go.
It's better than the ones I did at home.
I'd eat it.
It's looking OK...ish.
Final few seconds, please. Final few seconds.
Right, done! Stop. Everybody stop.
Boom!
My goodness.
QUIETLY:Come on!
Wow! You want to eat that, don't you? That's mega!
JOHN:Amy, come on.
First up is Amy with her Boxing Day-inspired sandwich -
a brioche bun filled with cola-glazed ham,
a mac and cheese patty, celeriac remoulade and lettuce,
served with roast potatoes, garlic mayo and barbecue sauce.
Your ham, which, of course, is salty, you've cooked in cola,
so that's giving it a sweet finish.
Your mac and cheese, even though it's a patty, is not dry.
It's still quite soft.
And I think the whole thing is delicious.
I think you've really captured the flavour of Boxing Day.
I've got crispy roast potatoes on the side of my ham,
and the celeriac giving a nuttiness to the whole dish.
There's some really lovely stuff here. Thank you.
It really is a nod to my gorgeous family at Christmas,
and obviously my beautiful little girl.
It means a lot to me. Thanks, Amy.
QUIETLY:I'm relieved.
Come on, Luca, please.
As a nod to his heritage,
Luca's serving home-made Italian flatbread along with a baguette,
both filled with sirloin steak, mushrooms,
gorgonzola, radicchio and red onion chutney,
with cheddar-filled potato skins, mustard steak sauce
and truffle mayo.
This Italian flatbread sandwich of yours -
I've got bread, which is slightly doughy, but I like it.
It's got lashings of mustard from that steak sauce,
the steak itself, which is soft and still pink,
a crunch of that radicchio and the sweetness but sharpness
from the onions at the same time, and I think it's great.
I find that a really nice-tasting steak sandwich,
but I think this is a sandwich that deserves to look a lot better.
The presentation for me is usually such an important thing,
so hopefully, next time, I can get that right.
Thanks, Luca. No, thank you.
Next up is Shazia's chicken shawarma wrap
filled with smoked chicken cooked in yoghurt, turmeric and garlic
with peppers, onions and lettuce,
served with tahini sauce and pickled cucumbers.
You cooked breast, which can dry out very, very quickly,
but you kept a close eye on it. It's not dried out.
There's a creaminess to that. There is a little bit of garlic.
There is good seasoning.
Your tahini is far too salty.
Apart from that, I'm very much enjoying this.
What's really nice about this dish - everything belongs on the plate.
The pickles - lovely bit of sharpness
going with all the sweetness and all the spice that's in there.
The bread itself is slightly chewy, which is nice.
I'm really impressed.
I put a lot of effort into that and wanted it to go well,
and I was really pleased that they liked it
and that I've got a chance of still being here.
Mica's stromboli pizza dough sandwich
is filled with chilli peppered steak,
onions, peppers and Cheddar, Red Leicester and mozzarella cheese,
served with plantain chips, spring onions
and sweet jerk barbecue sauce.
Hang on, Meesh.
What's going on? It's the pastry, look.
What's happened? It's not cooked. You're joking. No.
You've got the steak, which is cooked very nicely.
Lots of seasoning around the outside, including a bit of jerk.
But unfortunately, that's raw dough.
So I've taken all the centre out of my stromboli
and I'm just left with boli, rather than strom.
LAUGHING:And that's sort of... That's all that's left over.
Love your crisps and your barbecue sauce,
but you've got an issue with that pastry.
What about my garnish?
What, your spring onion? Yeah, I was so proud of that.
It looks lovely.
I can't believe I come on big, big MasterChef
and gave John and Gregg raw food. Like, who does that?
Wynne has made a Christmas cake sandwich.
I'm going to cut it in half, if that's all right? Please do.
Oh, my word. Look at that.
Layers of sliced bread with turkey breast and sage pesto,
Brussels sprout coleslaw with maple syrup pecans,
and crushed roast potatoes with cranberry sauce,
coated in a cream cheese and creme fraiche frosting.
Your imagination is quite incredible.
Inside there are some really big, strong flavours -
sweetness coming from the maple syrup
and also nuttiness coming from pecan nuts.
Really like the potatoes with the cranberries across the top.
I think it tastes great. Good job.
I couldn't be more impressed if it sung me a hymn.
We've got the leftovers of Christmas dinner.
We've got turkey with some sage.
The bread's still holding up, it's not going soggy.
That's really, really clever.
I get so nervous.
It's like going to the headmaster. I can't keep still.
But, you know, they're nice headmasters sometimes.
Jamelia's breakfast sandwich is Jamaican hardo bread
filled with fish fingers, fried egg, plantain chips
and jerk spiced barbecue beans,
with plantain crisps and extra beans.
The fish - nice coating on the outside, nicely seasoned.
Your beans are very well made.
You've got a slight sweetness there, and a lot of acidity.
But fish finger and egg isn't working for me.
The issue here is the egg yolk.
Because it is slippery and tastes tinny, doesn't work with the fish.
But I love your crispy plantain and I love your beans.
Thank you.
I think just disappointed.
I thought I was on to a winner.
But there weren't any issues with the cooking,
and I think that's a huge positive.
Inspired by his brother's visit to a pub,
Max has served a sausage meat and black pudding Scotch egg
in a brioche bun with a hash brown, pickled cucumber,
rocket, and mustard mayo.
The flavour of the black pudding and the sausage
around the outside of that egg is good,
and your egg is cooked beautifully with that runny yolk.
Your hash brown's made really nicely.
It's got lovely soft potato, it's crispy on the outside -
that's great.
I think you can make them look a lot smarter.
Your mayonnaise mustard is really strong.
It tastes just like a slightly lighter Dijon, it's very good.
And well done for cooking a Scotch egg that big
and making the egg yolk runny. That's skilful.
I was really happy with the Scotch egg,
and that was the thing I was most worried about.
Pretty happy, yeah.
Last up is Marcus's tandoori chicken sandwich -
onion seed naan bread,
filled with chicken cooked in yoghurt and garam masala
and onion pakora,
served with okra fries, mango and coriander chutneys,
and minted yoghurt.
Really lovely breads with some onion seeds running through it.
Your pieces of chicken thigh with yoghurt around them,
bits of the corners are going crispy, which is absolutely lovely.
The pakora on the outside is very, very herby,
but you've broken bits up through your sandwich, giving it a crunch.
I'm loving it.
Coriander dip - nice and ferocious and hot.
The mango - the mango itself is sweet.
The yoghurt - cooling and refreshing.
I like the flavours a lot, I like your boldness,
and I like the amount of work you've done.
Thank you very much. Thank you.
I'm absolutely over the moon.
You know, I am trying to fill every second that you've got
to try and impress them, and they really clocked that.
I love these eight. I think they're brilliant.
We really are putting them through their paces.
Good luck, gang.
ALL: Good luck. Yes, good luck.
You've got this.
We got three that really impressed us, going straight through.
Three that had a couple of issues,
but we think have done enough. More than enough.
And two where we actually did have some serious issues.
And one of those is leaving us.
At this stage in the game, you don't...
you don't want to put a foot wrong, and I've put a foot wrong.
So it's kind of like, "Yeah, OK. I'm on the... I'm on the list."
I want to phone home and say, "Yeah, I got through today."
I want to keep being able to say that. So, yeah...
..I've got to stay today.
It's been a fantastic round, an incredibly tasty round.
But in a round like this, we have to make serious decisions.
One of you is leaving us.
The contestant leaving us is...
..Meesh.
Meesh... It's all right.
Meesh, honestly, you have been a bundle of fun
and it was great to have met you. Thank you so much.
It's all right. Thank you, guys.
Mica, thank you so much for everything. Good luck.
I am gutted!
I came out on raw dough - imagine that!
But it's been a blast. It's been wicked.
Now you are our celebrity Magnificent Seven.
Well done.
It feels amazing to still be here.
So, yeah, onwards and upwards for sure.
The journey goes on for me, so that's fantastic. I'm thrilled.
I'm so enjoying the experience, I can't tell you.
Can't believe it, really.
I'm just in shock, to be honest, that I've got this far.
Yeah, I'm buzzing. Can't wait to ring my mum.
Oh, my gosh. I'm ecstatic to be in the final seven.
I feel like I'm doing really well, you know?
I feel like I'm...I'm swinging, I'm in there.
I wouldn't say I'm confident exactly, but I'm always hopeful.
As you go through each round, you think,
"Oh, I can't be that bad, otherwise I wouldn't have got this far."
It's quite exciting, actually, thinking about how great I could be.
Next time...
Whoo!
..the pressure intensifies...
POP Ah!
..as the celebrities take on the recipes....
What is that?!
..of rising culinary star Big Zuu...
No pressure.
Oh, God.
I don't know what half these things are.
..before battling for a place...
CORK POPS Whoo!
..in the final six.
That is a beautiful-looking bisque.
It tastes great.