It's the professional MasterChef quarterfinal.
These five skilful chefs triumphed in their heats.
And tonight, they'll be judged on two tough challenges,
designed to test them even further.
I'm so pleased to be here but, obviously, the more you're here,
the more you want to keep coming back.
The pressure will keep on increasing, for sure.
Adrenaline's starting to pump a little bit
and I really can't wait to start cooking.
Yeah, I'm definitely bringing my A-game today.
You only get one chance to prove yourself
and, if you mess it up, you're going home.
First, they will need to devise and cook a stand-out dish
using a mystery ingredient.
You absolutely have smashed this brief to pieces.
Those that succeed will go on to cook
for three of the country's most discerning food critics.
It's a dish full of great things cooked really, really nicely.
Only the very best will earn a place in knockout week.
They're going to have to take some risks.
I want to see the wow factor.
Good cooking? We left that alone in the last round.
We need to start touching on brilliant.
Chefs, welcome back.
Welcome to your quarterfinal.
This is an invention test.
You're going to have to think on your feet.
Show us how good you really are.
On your bench, there is a box.
Underneath that box is an ingredient.
Would you please now reveal the ingredient?
We literally want you to go nuts.
Sweet or savoury -
- you choose whatever you want, but your dish must feature nuts.
Have a look at the beautiful larder we have here.
We are going to give you ten minutes
to come up and choose your ingredients.
At the end of this,
one of you will be leaving the competition.
Come on, let's go nuts.
To create their dish,
the chefs have a selection of hazelnuts, pistachios, peanuts,
cashews and walnuts, as well as flaked almonds and nut butters.
They also have a variety of meat, fish, vegetables, fruits,
herbs and spices.
There's a whole array of ingredients
for our chefs to choose from,
but nuts has to be the core of the dish.
I'm going down the sweet option today...
...and using as many nuts as I can.
I want them to use different combinations.
They can use them in a paste or as a sauce.
They can use it as a crumble or crush.
They could use it in a vinaigrette.
There is so much the chefs can do,
but they're going to have to get creative.
They're going to have to get imaginative.
Quite overwhelming, but just trying to pull things together.
There are so many different varieties of nuts available.
They all come with their unique flavour.
There's probably nuts on 90% of my menu from work.
I'm feeling nervous, but I'm feeling better now
than I was when I walked in.
So I've just got to focus and hopefully nail the dishes.
Right, chefs, your ten minutes are now up.
70 minutes to showcase nuts.
Off you go.
25-year-old head chef Cameron from the Scottish Highlands got
off to a strong start, with ambitious classics, demonstrating
lots of technique, impressing all the judges.
You can't really practise for this round, you know.
I'd like to think I'm very good at thinking on the spot.
It's what we do at work all the time. But we'll find out today.
Cameron, what nuts have you chosen and what's your dish?
So I've chosen hazelnuts, almonds and the dry-roasted peanuts.
I'm doing a chocolate cremeux, a hazelnut brittle,
caramel and dry-roasted peanut ice cream
and some toasted almonds,
just to finish the cremeux off, for a bit of texture.
Oh! Ooh! You love a pudding.
Yeah, and that actually sounds fantastic.
As soon as I saw the nuts, I thought of chocolate,
so I'm just going with my instinct.
Cameron is making a chocolate cremeux,
which is a little bit like a chocolate mousse.
It needs to be beautiful and smooth, perfectly set.
He's got dry-roasted nuts in a caramel ice cream.
They've got their own unique flavour
and that running through a caramel ice cream, that might be that little
twist that takes this dessert to a whole new level.
He's also going to give us a brittle as well.
I love the way that Cameron is choosing to showcase those nuts.
Three different types, three different textures,
three different flavours.
Self-taught chef patron Rosie runs her own cafe-restaurant
in East Sussex.
Although she got off to a shaky start in her Skills Test,
she secured her quarterfinal place with some adventurous combinations,
inspired by her travels.
I don't have a game plan for the invention test
other than stick to what I know, make sure it tastes delicious
and don't overcomplicate it.
Rosie, are you used to cooking like this,
whatever ingredients turn up?
I did some cooking for a kind of fishing lodge in Russia,
like, up near the Arctic Circle.
You didn't know what ingredients were going to come.
You had to think on your feet and make something really delicious.
But it was a totally different thing in a very relaxed environment
with people whose expectations weren't as high as yours.
So there's a difference between drunk fishermen and Marcus Wareing.
There is a difference, yeah, 100%.
Rosie has decided to showcase the pistachio.
Pistachio is a great flavour. It's oily.
It's got quite a unique flavour so it will stand out.
We've got a frangipane tart. She's made the frangipane mix,
put some pistachios through that.
Come on, babies.
She's making a pistachio and cardamom ice cream.
That's going to be big and full of flavour.
The most important thing is the infusion of the pistachio
coming through in the milk before she makes the ice cream.
We've also got a pistachio caramel tuille.
An ice cream, a tuille and a tart.
Now, timing is going to be massive here, absolutely massive.
There is a lot to do.
Chefs, 25 minutes gone!
Oh, come on.
24-year-old sous-chef Dara saw his nerves get the better of him
in the Skills Test, but impressed with his balance of flavours
and creativity in the signature round.
I want to go in with a level head and open mind.
If I don't, my nerves will take over again
and I'll start getting jolty, which is something I don't need today.
I need to hit the ground running and create something that's not
just going to benefit me, it's going to wow the judges.
How good are you at thinking on your feet, creating a dish?
I'm imaginative.
I like using ingredients I don't normally get my hands on
so, when I have the chance to use something,
I go for it or and give it my all, something from nothing, make it amazing.
What nuts have you chosen and what is your dish?
So I have chosen almonds,
flaked almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts and pistachios.
So I'm going to do Paris-Brest... Oh!
Oh! ..with an orange and vanilla cream, er, strawberry.
And I'm going to cover the Paris-Brest in nuts as well.
So as it rises, the nuts will cook into it.
Dara is making possibly one of my favourite desserts ever,
and that's a Paris-Brest.
It's a beautiful thing. Light, but of course, a little bit
of a crust on the choux pastry.
Dara has got a few little crushed hazelnuts and some sliced almond,
and he's putting those on top before they go in the oven.
But his choice of filling I find unusual.
Traditionally, it would be a coffee cream with almonds on the top.
We've got orange cream with strawberries and nuts on the top.
Now, I ask you - nuts and strawberry? Nuts and orange?
I question whether he's got enough nuts running through this dish.
After an impressive first round...
I would go as far as to say
this may be the best Skills Test I've ever seen.
...head chef Charlie went on to wow the judges with his own twist
on classic dishes.
Charlie, seriously, how do you feel about an invention test?
I've worked in some pretty fast-paced environment kitchens,
so I've been looking forward to the invention tests, believe it or not.
We're all in the same boat. We've all got the same ingredients.
And we've all got the same amount of time to think of a dish.
It's literally go in and do what you can do.
I'm using almond nuts in a frangipane tart.
And then I've also got toasted pistachios going through the Chantilly.
And then I've also got an almond liqueur going throughout the whole
dish as well, to really make sure it's focused on nuts.
I'm using a lot of apricots,
so it's really important that I don't overkill the nuts
with apricots.
Oh, Charlie's doing frangipane.
Lovely. Got to keep it moist.
Not wet, but moist. Can't dry out.
And we've got a Chantilly cream that he's flavouring with almond
liqueur, so he's keeping the nut theme going.
He's also taking apricots.
That almond liqueur is often made with apricot stones.
So there is a really good link in there.
That's classic combinations.
Love the sound of the dessert.
But I think he could have done a little bit
more with the pistachios.
Where's thinking out of the box?
Right, Chefs, you have got 15 minutes left.
15 minutes.
Somerset-based head chef Tommy won the judges over, with his precise
cookery and elegant, flavourful plates
seeing him sail through the heats.
Being chucked with random ingredients.
That's not my forte. I like to be organised.
I like to have my written lists.
I like to know what I'm doing. Job, next job, you know?
So today's just a completely different ball game.
You're the only chef in the room not doing a dessert. Really?
I just, straight away, went to nuts, something savoury. What's your dish?
So, it's essentially duck breast.
I've got some crispy duck.
Where are the nuts sitting in the dish?
So the duck is just plain on its own?
Essentially, yeah. I've got some candied hazelnuts ready, so it'll
be quite sweet and crunchy, obviously.
Going to do a chestnut puree.
Duck is a strong meat.
It can take over flavours.
Duck and nut, I've never had.
So...a bit of a question mark, but let's give it a go.
He's also braising the leg and the thigh to put
through this dish as well.
But the most important thing is, if you're going to be serving
a crispy duck, this duck has to be crispy.
Chestnut puree - it tends to be a little bit sweet.
If it is sweet, it's fine, because that'll work well with duck.
We want that smooth and very, very creamy.
You don't want chunks in there.
It's going be a bit of salad, some nice dressing, toasted pine nuts.
I'm going to finish the sauce and maybe like a peanut butter, maybe
some chopped herbs through that as well.
You look a little bit like you're out of your comfort zone.
I'm feeling confident that I can do this, but I'm definitely
out of my comfort zone.
Tommy's a bit concerned, but he's a chef that's really trying
very hard to impress.
And that's what an invention test is all about.
That is exactly what we asked them to do.
Chefs, you have five minutes left.
Concentrate. Piping bag.
Bringing everything together now.
I just want to get it as good as I possibly can.
Cremeux. Where's the cremeux?
In the blast chiller. Yeah. Ice cream OK? Yeah.
It's in the freezer.
How long have we got left, please? 60 seconds.
60 seconds.
Very, very last touches. Just seconds left.
Time's up! Well done.
Fighting for a chance to face the critics,
head chef Tommy has served pan-seared duck breast,
braised and fried crispy duck leg, along with a salad of bitter leaves
and toasted pine nuts, a chestnut puree, candied hazelnuts
and some pickled onion,
with a duck and peanut butter sauce.
Your duck cookery is just perfect.
I've got beautiful, lovely, pink duck flesh with crispy skin.
I've got a chestnut puree over here with candied, sweet nuts.
So that's bordering sweet.
But you've got little slivers of pickled onion that give
a bit of sharpness as a contrast.
You absolutely have smashed this brief to pieces.
That is a cracking, cracking plate of food.
The braised thigh and the leg,
you've got it all crunchy and crispy.
It's almost like it's been deep-fried. A fabulous nut sauce.
It's not overpowering.
You've just got duck flavour, meaty flavour, and then you've got
a little finish of the peanut butter.
Brilliant.
You've pushed yourself, Tommy. There's no two ways about that.
And that shows on the plate.
And that's what I love about this dish.
Thank you.
It was a challenge, definitely. Caught me by surprise, actually.
I was not expecting the feedback I got. I feel really lucky.
That was amazing to hear Marcus and Gregg say such good comments.
It means a lot.
For his nut dish,
head chef Charlie has served a traditional almond frangipane tart,
roulade poached apricots, with apricot puree, and a toasted
pistachio and almond liqueur Chantilly cream.
The frangipane is nice and gooey.
I love the fact you've got a little bit of cooked apricot
on the bottom. The almonds on top are delicious.
The apricot puree - equally delicious.
The pastry is beautiful and light and soft.
But I'm not getting a substantial flavour of nuts.
And I think you could have done so much more with this cream to
bring the nut flavour into this dish.
It's a beautifully made dish, and I find it absolutely delicious.
The question is, does it feature nuts enough?
You would argue there that may be an apricot dish and not a nut
dish, but it's delicious.
Thank you.
I feel like maybe I didn't go nuts as Gregg would have liked.
All in all, slightly disheartened, but hopefully because all
the components on the dish were right,
that's enough to get me through.
Scottish head chef Cameron has served a chocolate cremeux,
hazelnut brittle with a chocolate and almond crumb and toasted
almonds, along with a caramel and dry-roasted peanut ice cream.
Nice, clean presentation, Cameron.
You've got the nut flavour of the almonds on the plate.
You've got the hazelnuts.
But the overpowering flavour, of course, is always
going to be the cremeux. It's beautifully made.
And I think if there's one area that you could have really injected
the nut element of this challenge is into the cremeux itself.
You've got dry-roasted nuts and caramel ice cream,
which I've never had before, which is lovely.
Salty, nutty and sweet.
Really lovely chocolate dessert.
I think we could have featured nuts more heavily in it,
but it's really delicious. Thank you very much indeed.
Thank you.
I maybe could have pushed it a bit further, but I decided to go
with my first instinct.
And, yeah, hopefully it's enough.
Sous-chef Dara has made a Paris-Brest - choux pastry
coated in hazelnuts and almonds, with an orange and vanilla cream
and strawberries, accompanied by caramelised dry-roasted
peanuts and pistachios.
The Paris-Brest is an elegant little circle.
This is a bit lumpy.
It's big, and it's not quite round.
Orange-flavoured cream...| like.
With plenty of vanilla. There's a sharp sweetness to it.
I like that you've put a little bit of the orange zest in there as well.
Strawberries may be a little bit too wet for a choux pastry.
Nuts really only feature in the whole nuts
that you've added on there.
I'm not getting them at all from the top of your choux pastry.
And it needs to be more refined than this, I think.
This is a test that's all about nuts.
You've got a load of dry caramelised nuts, and you've just put them
all on top, on the inside.
It's not enough.
And it's a shame.
I'm devastated because, like, what I had in my head,
I should have done more.
I could have incorporated so much more into my dish, but instead
I went for four nuts, and I just didn't execute it properly,
which... I really let myself down.
For her nut dish
chef patron Rosie has served an orange and pistachio frangipane
tart with creme patissiere, and a pistachio and caramel twirl...
...alongside a pistachio ice cream.
The main tart itself is beautifully made.
You've taken out the almonds and you've put pistachios into it.
It's nice and moist.
There's a strong flavour of orange coming through, but there is a nutty
background flavour of the pistachio.
I love the creme patissiere on the plate.
And I love the fact that you've also incorporated the skill of making
a caramel, adding nuts into that.
It's absolutely singing the flavours that you want it to do.
Good job.
That ice cream is superb.
Absolutely superb.
Sweet pistachio.
Nutty, really delicious.
As soon as I saw it was nuts,
I just knew immediately what I was going to do.
I was pleased with what I put up,
and the feedback was really great, actually.
I really did luck out today.
I have to say, it's not an easy challenge taking nuts and bringing
it to the forefront of any dish.
Lots of good cookery, but not everybody managed
to really feature the nuts.
There is one chef in here today that I thought absolutely nailed
the brief, and that was Tommy.
Tommy's duck dish was absolutely delicious.
Really good duck cookery.
The peanuts in his duck sauce were just fabulous.
The bitter pine nuts in his bitter salad, the chestnut puree,
the caramelised nut... Mate, that was clever.
Tommy is definitely going through to cook for our critics.
Tell you what, Rosie's cookery today, I thought, was fabulous.
She decided to just feature the pistachio.
The tart was singing pistachio, with a finish element of orange
running through it.
But the pistachio ice cream was full of colour, full of flavour,
and was absolutely delicious.
Now, Charlie, Dara and Cameron... Good cooks.
But did they actually properly feature those nuts?
Not in a way that would have featured them as the star
of the dish.
Cameron gave us the lovely chocolate cremeux.
The cremeux was beautifully made, but he could have used nuts
in a much more varied way. And he didn't do that.
He didn't push this dessert as far as he could have done.
Dara showed a lot of courage and made a classic Paris-Brest.
But where were the nuts in this dessert?
The only nuts that we could taste were the ones that he just piled
into the centre of the dish.
And that just wasn't creative enough for my liking.
Charlie's dessert was a frangipane tart. Beautifully lined.
The frangipane was perfectly cooked, the cream was beautifully made,
nice and light, had nuts running through it.
But that could have been an apricot dish, as well as it could
have been a nut dish.
However, good pastry work, lovely looking tart.
It was well made.
Three good chefs. This is not easy.
Which of them actually nailed the brief?
And who was actually missing the point?
I would love to get through to the critics.
Cooking for people of that calibre is extraordinarily scary,
but it's a huge opportunity.
You don't get to cook for these guys very often.
Hopefully, if I do go through, I'll be able to show that I'm capable
of so much more.
There is some high competition in there.
I'm not sat here confident that I am definitely going through.
All five of you showcased your skill and your knowledge.
Well done.
We only have places for four of you in the next round to face
the critics, I'm afraid.
The chef leaving us is...
...Dara.
Dara, great to have met you.
I really hope you've enjoyed the competition.
Thank you so, so much.
I didn't showcase what I'm all about, which I'm disappointed
in myself.
There was four other great chefs inside the kitchen today, and I knew
what I was going up against - some really good people.
But at the end of the day, it's good experience for me to have.
And I'm proud.
Congratulations. You four are now cooking for our critics.
Make sure you bring your A-game.
This is where the competition does get a little bit hot.
Today, you're going to be cooking for three of the leading food
critics in the country - Leyla Kazim,
Tracey MaclLeod
and Jay Rayner.
Wow those critics like you've wowed us.
1 hour and 15 minutes to deliver
the most important two courses of your career.
At the end of today, one of you, sadly, will be leaving.
Off you go.
Right, concentrate.
Cameron, cooking for food critics. Something you do on a regular basis?
We don't get critics of this level come anywhere near where I'm from.
Where are you from?
A small village called Mallaig, which is west coast of Scotland,
up in the Highlands.
What are you going to be cooking for our critics?
So for the starter, I'm doing some pan-fried mackerel with some crispy
smoked mackerel roll.
Some pickled candied beetroot,
some horseradish cream and some nice sea herbs. OK.
What's your main course?
Roasted monkfish tail, which I'm roasting on the bone.
I'm doing some asparagus, some pickled broad beans,
some tempura mussels.
And I'm going to make a sauce from the mussel stock. OK.
Mm!
We're so lucky back home to use the freshest fish.
And I want to showcase that here today.
But eight plates of food in an hour and 15 minutes...
It's a very big ask.
So I really have to hit the ground running, and I've put my running
shoes on today, so I better get moving.
You're head chef, aren't you? Yes, Chef.
Do you have someone running the ship when you're not there?
Yes, my mum is running the kitchen whilst I'm down here.
Your mum? Yes.
Are you not worried she might let down your standards?
No, not at all.
Well said, Cameron. Well said. Well said. Well said.
Smoked and chopped mackerel inside like a tube of fried bread.
Deeeelicious.
What a wonderful idea that is.
Pickled beetroot for acidity, horseradish cream for a little bit
of heat and warmth.
But I'm not too sure if there's any hidden surprises in this menu.
His main course, he's roasting monkfish tail on the bone.
From a flavour point of view, cooking fish on the bone
is always a winner.
Cameron is pickling his broad beans.
Really important, when you're pickling any vegetable, that you
remove all of the shell, all of the skins.
In that way, that pickle wraps around those beautiful,
flavoured beans.
Charlie's first course is a tuna ceviche.
Ceviche is about cutting the tuna
all the same. You don't want any part of the tuna thick or thinner
than any other.
Charlie's going to have big Asian flavours for his tuna.
He's got a ponzu dressing.
It's like a Japanese citrus dressing.
You've got mango and yuzu. He's putting that into a liquidator
and he's going to be adding some oil into that to make
it into an emulsion.
These flavours will be very familiar to our critics.
He has got to get it absolutely right.
I definitely feel that up until now, I haven't been as ambitious
as I could be. I don't want to be middle of the class.
I want to be bringing some of the best dishes
that they've tasted.
Charlie's got a whole roasted brill.
Beautiful flatfish.
You just cut it down the centre, and almost cut it in portions
while it's still on the bone.
Roasting that in the oven. Once it's almost cooked,
he's just basting it with nut-brown butter.
He's then peeling back the skin, and then he's putting a little bit
of lardo on top of each portion and putting it back in the oven.
He's got a verjus sauce. Through that is mustard and capers.
So a little bit of heat and a little bit of sharpness.
That's a lovely sounding sauce.
You seem to be a little bit under pressure today.
Yeah.
I just feel like I've got a lot to prove for myself.
I don't want to walk out of this kitchen feeling
like I could have done more.
Fighting talk. Yeah. Fighting talk.
Have you cooked for critics before, Tommy?
I have in places I've worked before, but I've not cooked my own dishes
to any critic. What are your two dishes?
So I'm doing a starter of sea bass, which will be cured in a ponzu
dressing, watermelon salad with some pickled jalapenos, spiralized radish
and lots of different herbs to finish on top.
I do think it's quite a controversial dish in the sense of,
you know, you've got ponzu, Japanese ingredient, you've got Thai
ingredients in the watermelon salad.
Have you done that on purpose to be different?
Yeah, I have. There's nowhere to hide with a dish like this, Tommy.
Yes, Chef. Timing has to be absolutely perfect. Oui.
The time frame is definitely something that I'm most worried
about.
But today, I know exactly what I need to do, step by step.
So it's very well organised and structured, but in that kitchen,
anything could happen.
He's not going to cook his sea bass. He's just going to cure it
with ponzu dressing. It's lovely flavours of citrus and soy.
I'm just a little troubled by sea bass and watermelon.
It's almost a texture thing as well as a flavour thing.
We've got ginger, we've got chillies, we've got the ponzu dressing.
But what flavour is going to be at the forefront?
Main course? Roast lamb cannon.
To be served with a pea puree, a little pea salad with some
spring onions and asparagus, some morel mushrooms, and finish
with a nice lamb sauce.
Why not continue the theme of your first course
into your main course? I want to showcase sort of different food
I enjoy to eat and what I like to cook.
If Tommy's starter is unusual, then he's main is completely classic.
Cannon of lamb. Got to be careful.
Not a lot of fat running through it as well.
So he's got to make sure it stays pink, he gets colour
on it, but it doesn't dry out. And he's serving that with a lovely
lamb sauce.
We've got pea and wild garlic puree, a little bit of a pea salad
going on there as well.
We've had this combination many, many, many times in the MasterChef
kitchen, but when it's done well, it's always a knockout dish.
I wonder if he's got a couple of little tricks, something
a little bit unusual in this dish that he's not telling us.
Smoking my lamb in some spruce and hay.
So the spruce gives, like, a nice floral, woodland
tastes to it.
Rosie, what are you cooking for us?
So I'm taking everyone to Mexico today.
I love spice, and I also really like the combination of kind
of meats with salads and fruits, which they do a lot there.
The most important thing for me is that the flavours are punchy
and it still takes people there. Trying to refine
it without losing its soul.
I've always loved Mexican food, and when I was in Mexico, the food
just blew me away.
Just really great ingredients.
Nothing too complicated, but just a bit of heat.
Yeah, love it.
We've got a seared scallop starter.
And in front of those critics, you cannot afford to get the cooking
of those scallops wrong.
Corn and achiote puree, which is a chilli paste.
I hope it's not too hot, because I don't want it to take over
the flavour of the scallop. Got lime-pickled cucumber,
got some toasted corn.
And we've also got a scallop ceviche on a tostada.
She's making her own tostadas.
Dry-frying them first, and then fry them
in oil afterwards.
There is a lot of work going in there.
Main course is a braised pork cheek,
which is in a mix of loads of spices
and herbs and some pineapple juice.
So it's kind of a bit like a sort of Mexican barbecue sauce,
if you will.
And coming with that is a fennel, mint and orange salad, and some
whipped feta and some toasted buckwheat.
If Rosie was doing this in her restaurant or at home,
that pork cheek would be cooking for hours and hours and hours.
The most important thing about anything that's braised,
it's got to be melt-in-the-mouth and nice and juicy.
She's serving it with a salad. Salad of the fennel. Crunch to that.
And that's also aniseed flavour. With orange - juicy and sweet.
Of all the dishes in the room, this one's different,
I know, but it's actually got me salivating.
Chefs, you've got ten minutes till your first course is served.
Cameron, that means you. Yes, Chef.
Over the years, the standard on MasterChef: The Professionals
has risen and risen.
And now I come in here expecting very good things, and almost
always get them.
Here, it's just about the food, and that is incredibly exposing.
We want to see people rise to the occasion and not collapse
like a disappointing souffle.
I think this is the time for them to go big and bold.
Because the braver you are, the luckier you get.
And if luck's with them today, they will wow us with some beautiful
plates and make it through to the next round.
You've got about four minutes left.
Yes, Chef. How you doing? Just plating, Chef.
Oh, so you're all good for time. Yes.
First thing on the plate is what? Samphire.
Cameron is giving us, as his starter, pan-fried mackerel,
crispy smoked mackerel roll,
pickled beetroot and horseradish cream.
It's a very kind of tried-and-tested
combination of ingredients.
Right, how's that mackerel looking? Mackerel's ready, Chef.
It's not lighting my fire on initial reading.
If Cameron, however, makes it a bit different
to what I think I'm going to get,
I will be happy.
Something on this dish which catches my attention
is the horseradish cream.
It needs to be sharp. It needs to have a bit of acidity.
It needs to have a bit of salt in there.
You have two minutes left, Chef.
Thank you.
What's left to go on, Cameron?
Just one more sea herb, Chef, and then we can go.
Well done. Right, off you go. Time's up.
Hello.
Thank you.
Today, I've made for you some pan-fried mackerel with some crispy
smoked mackerel rolls, some sea herbs, horseradish cream,
and some pickled beetroot.
Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Cheers.
The little fillet of mackerel is just about OK.
I think he could have afforded to give it a little bit longer
in the pan.
The fillet of fish, for me, is actually slightly under seasoned.
And I think Cameron was relying on the saltiness
from the sea vegetables.
My favourite thing on this plate are the crispy rolls.
Really great texture. That pickled beetroot cuts through all
the fattiness of the mackerel.
But the horseradish sauce is just not strong enough.
It just doesn't have any punch.
I love his chopped-up smoked mackerel in that fried bread,
giving a little bit of crispiness to it. I really, really enjoy that.
My only complaint is there's not enough horseradish flavour.
There's a lot to like about this dish, but there's no surprises.
How was that?
That was an experience.
You've got 15 minutes left. How's that monkfish looking?
I just have to rest the monkfish.
Don't lose track of time, Cameron. Yes, Chef.
Monkfish is one of my favourite fish, so I'm excited about this.
The monkfish is actually quite hard to cook.
There's nothing worse than undercooked monkfish, nor
is there nothing worse than overcooked monkfish.
What's that? Asparagus and pea? Yeah.
These are the pickled broad beans.
So, still keep the membrane on them deliberately?
That's not deliberately. What are you going to do here?
They can still taste it. I'm just... You're going to have to go. Yeah.
We don't get mussels served to us very often here.
There's probably a reason for that.
It's all about pin-precise timing, and I think that will be the real
challenge for this.
So we've got mussel and tempura mussel? Yes.
You've got about a minute left.
You need to get that fish cut up and on that plate.
Let's go.
Hi, guys. Sorry I'm a bit late.
So for the main course, I've made you monkfish roasted on the bone
with some pickled broad beans, some roasted baby leek, some asparagus,
some tempura mussels, pea and asparagus puree.
And I've made a sauce from the mussel stock with a little bit
of chicken stock. I hope you enjoy.
Thank you. Thanks, Cameron.
It looks very pretty.
But what I'm focusing on is that there's almost as much green
and vegetable as there is...fish!
The cooking of the monkfish is very, very good indeed,
because it isn't easy. This mussel cream...
...is lovely.
But I think he could have podded the broad beans.
The tempura mussels...
I got a nice little bit of crunch in that.
There was asparagus in the puree.
There was also pea in the puree, but I felt it got a little bit lost
against that strong asparagus flavour.
I feel a bit frustrated by what Cameron's given us,
because there's so much solid technique here, and yet there's
something held back about it.
I think the fish is nicely cooked.
A bit of seasoning here and there could have helped, but there's no
bells and whistles with this dish.
The broad beans in the membrane still. That's chewy.
We should be eating the little beans underneath.
All in all, it's a decent-cooked dish.
But it's...it's not remarkable.
That's a huge relief.
I'm just so glad it's over.
I made a couple of silly mistakes, but hopefully that will just be put
down to nerves.
Charlie, 15 minutes till your first course.
You're doing OK? I think so.
I'm a bit on the back foot, but pulling it together now.
OK.
Tuna ceviche, a mango and yuzu emulsion, puffed wild black rice
and coriander oil.
I'm quite excited by this flavour combination.
Each one of those is a big-flavoured thing.
Are they going to meet and make friends, or are they going to stand
around at one of those parties where all the guests
have been invited and don't like each other?
You've got about a minute, Charlie. All right? Lovely.
I'm really looking forward to that ring coming up.
What is that dressing, please?
Ponzu in there is the main element.
And then in there as well, I've got diced ginger, black onion seeds,
yuzu. Going to finish with the green oil now.
Take the rings off, and then ready to go.
The suspense is killing me.
There we are.
Come on, my friend!
Good afternoon. Hi. Charlie.
For today, I've cooked for you, or not cooked for you with my raw
dish, tuna ceviche.
I've got puffed rice in there.
Mango emulsion, avocado
and a ponzu marinade in there as well.
So is this broth, the ponzu marinade?
Yes. Thank you. You're more than welcome.
This is a really good version of a dish that I find very familiar.
And key to it is the bravery of leaving the tuna
in quite large pieces.
They're there. They've got texture.
I like this.
I'm only stopping cleaning the bowl out of trying to look demure.
I will continue clearing this plate because I love it.
So we've got sweetness from mango.
We've got acidity from the broth.
We've got the crunch of the popped
rice, and it just works brilliantly.
It's such a joy to eat.
It's a dish where it's hard to critique any of the individual
components, because they all come together.
Each mouthful has got multiple kind of flavour bombs to it.
I like the flavours, and the most important thing is the tuna
is not over-marinated.
I'm enjoying the freshness of it, and I like the sharpness
of the ponzu. I do.
Right, main course. How's that looking? Yeah, looking good.
Roasted brill, wild garlic gnocchi, pickled golden raisins, compressed
cucumber and a verjus sauce.
It does sound very nice. It's kind of one of those eye-wideners.
That fish looks fantastic.
Thank you. Gnocchi? Yeah, just coloured it off
so it's got that nice, crispy texture on the outside.
There's a lot of acidity on this plate. So I've got my little
citrus compressed cucumber.
Will it overwhelm the brill?
Got about a minute left, Charlie.
Just now, garnishing with the micro herbs.
And then good to serve.
Go on, Charlie.
I've cooked for you roasted brill - whole, on the bone -
wild garlic gnocchi,
lemon compressed cucumber, pickled golden raisins, pickled mustard
seeds and a verjus caper and wholegrain mustard sauce.
Thanks, Charlie. Thank you.
The fish was really well cooked.
The decision to make that absolutely the centrepiece of this dish,
and everything else to just be more of an accent, pays off.
The gnocchi are a bit doughy, but that sauce is terrific.
And I love those little pops of mustard seed you get
in your teeth.
And I also love the accents of the sultanas and the cucumber,
which both look like bits of fruit.
It's properly balanced and very, very satisfying.
He's shown us that he can really cook.
Mm.
That young man has cooked that fish beautifully.
The lardo over the top of it gives it a little bit
of meatiness as well.
I absolutely love that. The gnocchi is well made. Smooth as you like.
And I can pick up the wild garlic through there. The verjus sauce...
It's got a lovely sweetness to it, but it's light.
A really good dish from Charlie, that.
Probably one of the most nerve-racking things I've ever done.
I've done some nerve-racking things recently, but that's
definitely up there.
Tommy, ten minutes till your first course. All right, Chef?
Sea bass cured in ponzu, Thai watermelon salad, pickled jalapenos,
radish and coriander.
I'll tell you what.
When I read this, I can feel my mouth already salivating.
Quite a globally influenced dish.
And we hope that Tommy's got that kind of instinctive, good taste
that will bring those ingredients together in a way
that really makes them sing.
I'm going to finish the bowl with the ponzu, just so I don't
over-cure it.
And sort of getting a spoonful of that sort of
fishy punch. Well done, Tommy.
Thank you. Off you go.
Today, I've given you ponzu-cured sea bass with a Thai watermelon
salad, and there's some spiralized radish there,
finished with some herbs.
Hope you enjoy. Thank you.
It's a very fresh, vibrant plateful,
but I think this is a better idea than it is a dish.
Part of the problem is sea bass.
When it's sliced very thinly it becomes a bit stringy.
That said, I did love the broth with this.
That broth is absolutely banging.
I could probably enjoy a whole bowlful of that on its own.
There's really nice heat to this dish.
There's tiny little bits of red chilli, but there's also
some pickled jalapenos.
I'm guessing the watermelon was meant to bring some sweetness
to the dish, but actually it's not really doing that.
I like the idea of the watermelon infused with Thai flavours
but it all was just a little bit mild and underpowered
as far as I was concerned.
I like the citrus, I like the crunch of the white radish.
I just cannot get on with watermelon and fish.
The watermelon works for me.
It's just the carrier of the ingredients
and the marinade that he's put over it.
It's a lovely dish, a dish full of flavour.
Tommy's main. Roast lamb loin, pea and wild garlic puree,
pea salad, morels and asparagus served with a lamb sauce.
It's a nice traditional combination of ingredients, but we're hoping
that Tommy's going to do something a bit more interesting with it,
perhaps, than it reads.
I've just noticed you've got a smoker there. What's in there?
Yeah, so I've got my lamb in there.
Just smoked it in some spruce and hay.
Well, you didn't tell us that, did you? You kept that a secret.
This is the pea puree now, so I'm just going to have a bed of this
and then my salad will sit on top.
Mmm.
MMmmm.
How's your lamb?
Yeah, I'm happy with that.
Come on!
I like this.
Once the small herbs are on, your sauce in the little pot here,
that's it, yeah? We're good to go.
Off you go. Thank you. Off you go.
That is beautiful.
Today I've cooked for you
a roast saddle of lamb.
It's dress with some asparagus,
morels, pea puree with a fresh pea and wild garlic salad.
It's finished with a lamb sauce,
crispy lamb fat and wild garlic capers.
Thank you. Enjoy. Lovely. Thanks, Tommy.
Time was my enemy today.
There was a lot to do in that short amount of time,
so it involved a lot of running.
It's hard work, but it's done now.
I'm hoping they're eating it and each mouthful they're just going,
"Wow!" You know, that'd be great. So, fingers crossed.
The lamb is beautifully cooked.
The lamb sauce is lovely.
It's a dish full of great things cooked really, really nicely.
That pea puree is part of the salad and almost serves like a kind of
pesto or something to kind of hold the fresh peas.
It's a very clever idea.
That sauce is really deep with flavour,
brings everything together.
I love the inclusion of the morels and it has fed me well and left me
feeling very satisfied and happy,
and that is essentially all I want in a plate of food.
The cooking of the lamb is absolutely perfect.
The fat beautifully rendered down
and it's even got a little crispy finish.
The bitter smokiness across the lamb is a surprise
and a very, very welcome addition.
That's the sort of food I expect
when I go out to fine dining.
Rosie's starter. Seared scallop with corn and achiote puree,
lime pickled cucumber and torched corn
with scallop ceviche tostada.
Wowzah.
The key element here is going to be the tostada
and whether that is made well.
So at the bottom there, that's your chilli paste sauce?
Yeah. So that's the corn and chilli paste sauce, yeah.
It's pickled cucumber.
It shouts Mexico from every pore, but it's all the good stuff
that I really like.
It looks great.
Well done, Rosie. Well done. It looks great.
Hello. Hello.
How are you doing? Good.
So, I've made a pan-seared scallop
with a lime butter,
a sweetcorn and achiote paste puree,
some lime dressed cucumber,
a tostada and a scallop ceviche.
I really hope you enjoy it. Fab, thanks. Thank you.
The scallop was cooked beautifully.
Had a natural sweetness to it.
The tostada was nice and crisp, and I liked how it had puffed up
in the process of cooking.
I loved the arrangement of the ceviche on top.
There's lots of really intriguing, complex flavours.
I really like that corn and achiote puree
and the torched corn is great.
I loved this. We're seven dishes in, and I've almost cleaned my plate.
I'm really, really loving the tostada with the ceviche
across the top. Naturally sweet scallop with saltiness,
coriander, splash of lime as well. That's lovely.
I even like the little sauce with the sweetcorn and the chilli paste
in there too. I think it's delicious. Delicious.
How's that pork cheek, Rosie?
Pork cheek is nice and soft,
which is good.
I'm just going to pop them out and then I'm going
to reduce the sauce.
Right. 15 minutes. OK?
Pork cheek with fennel, orange and mint salad, whipped feta
and toasted buckwheat.
The first four lines of that, I'm in Mexico, but then Rosie's
thrown in whipped feta and toasted buckwheat.
But I did want them to go bold.
So it sounds like Rosie is trying to do that.
To make this work, to braise her pork cheek,
she will have to have used a pressure cooker.
But I would have to say that even with one, this is challenging.
Wow. Now that's a good-looking dish, Rosie.
They look amazing. Well done, you.
Hello again. Hello.
So I've made a pork cheek, which was done in the pressure cooker
with cumin, oregano, garlic, paprika, some pineapple and
a fennel, mint, orange and whipped feta salad
with some toasted buckwheat.
Aah.
Aah. This won't get marked THEY CHUCKLE
It was a question whether the pork cheek would be braised.
It's perfect.
To achieve that depth of flavour and that tenderness
and richness in the amount of time she had,
extraordinary.
That sauce with the waft of cumin is fantastic.
The pineapple that she's used in there plays beautifully
against the citrus in the salad.
It's rich, it's deep, it's clever.
I wasn't sure about the whipped feta at first, but actually it brings
a lovely mouth feel to the whole dish.
Brilliant. Love it.
This was the dish of the day for me.
The pork cheek is cooked. It is just falling apart.
And that sauce around the outside flavoured with pineapple,
really quite lovely.
I think she's just taken her cookery to a whole new level.
That's very good.
I'm so pleased I've done it.
It actually feels like a complete blur.
But all in all, I'm pretty happy.
I gave my best shot.
They've fed the critics. We've had the critics' feedback.
Now you and I have the ultimate decision.
Sending one of these chefs home is not going to be easy.
All four chefs cooked some fabulous food today.
Charlie, for me, was the cook of the day.
Two fabulous dishes from him.
A ceviche is normally a very simple dish, but Charlie's
was quite complex.
Layer upon layer of flavour and surprise,
but executed to perfection.
Charlie's main course, I think, was beautiful.
Took a whole brill, cooked it really well.
I loved it. You loved it.
Marcus, the critics in the other room loved it.
The dining room loved Rosie's Mexican flavours today.
Her little tostada with a ceviche of scallop
across the top I thought was delicious.
She cooked at a level today that I didn't think
she was going to get to under this pressure.
And she did it and did it beautifully well.
Me, you, dining room, loved Rosie's pork cheek.
What a cracking dish.
Rosie, for me, today did a sensational job.
Well, now it's between Cameron and Tommy.
Tommy's menu intrigues me because it was something completely
different on both courses.
Like you, Gregg, the critics weren't too sure about his sea
bass and watermelon.
But you liked it. I loved that starter.
The flavours came through.
The ceviche was beautifully marinated.
That lamb from Tommy, beautifully pink and moist.
The crispy skin on the top.
His lamb sauce, almost a sweetness to it.
He had a puree of beans and asparagus.
That was perfect.
Cameron, I think, was playing it safe.
We've had the mackerel with horseradish and beetroot many times
in the MasterChef kitchen. Nicely executed.
Cameron's main course was a piece of monkfish.
I thought it was a decent dish, but unremarkable.
He did some really nice flavours.
The question is, are the dishes better than anyone else's
in the kitchen?
I'm so proud of myself. I've gotten this far.
It would be amazing to get to stay.
But, you know, we'll just wait and see what happens.
It's all I'm thinking about at the moment
is MasterChef: The Professionals.
I'd be devastated if I went home today. Big time.
What a fabulous job you all did.
Very, very difficult round cooking for critics.
So well done to all four of you.
It's actually with regret
we now say goodbye to one of you, but we have to.
We only have places for three of you in the next round.
The chef leaving us is...
It's Cameron.
Thank you so much. Good luck, guys.
That's the hardest kitchen to cook in.
But what an experience.
Having the stage to kind of put myself out there was fantastic.
And, yeah, I'm very proud of myself.
You three are now part of the final 12.
I am so happy.
I feel so overwhelmed.
I'm going to really focus now and kind of believe in myself
a bit more, I think.
I'm over the moon. Yeah, I'm so happy.
It's been a tough day today, so I'm happy that it's gone well.
Being in the final 12 is a pretty surreal thing.
There's still more and further for me to go, I feel,
but that's definitely one more step towards it.
Next time,
four new hopefuls fight for their place in the quarterfinal.
This is the moment. There's no going back.
Should we be concerned? I think, yes.
There's a lot of stress over there.
Delicious.
I am so into that. I think that is fantastic.