It's knockout week on MasterChef: The Professionals.
Wow. After four weeks of intense competition...
...only the most talented 12 chefs remain.
HE GRUNTS
Tonight, they're back to cook off against each other
for the first time.
And only the best will go through.
Everyone is a real contender now,
so there's no messing about.
Just got to get your head down. Do your best.
If you aim high, you can only fall a little bit short.
I want to fight for the place in the next round
and just really just keep pushing.
I need to be slick, quick, fast, on time.
I need to start blowing the judges away.
They've earned their place.
Now it's time to watch the cream rise to the top.
I want to see them start to set themselves apart.
Who really wants this?
Wow,
I got a little bit of goose bumps watching you all walk back
into this kitchen.
Because right now our winner is standing amongst us.
We have got for you a good old-fashioned
MasterChef invention test.
Through those doors is a market with a plethora
of beautiful, beautiful ingredients.
Once we've tasted all 12 dishes, we will make a decision.
We will send our top seven straight through to the next round.
The five remaining chefs will have to stay here and cook again
to secure their place in the competition.
Two of you will be leaving the competition.
We are going to give you 90 minutes.
The market is open.
Choose your ingredients - choose well.
Good luck. Off you go.
Incredible larder our chefs have got to choose from.
They've got pigeons, they've got ox cheeks.
Squid, prawns, beautiful fish,
the best fruit and vegetables we can find.
They should be loving this.
I'm not sure if I'm confident yet.
Ask me in about half an hour, once I've got a dish together on paper.
The calibre of chefs that are here are pretty good,
so I think I'm going to have to bring my A-game today
more than ever.
Our chefs are without doubt trying to set themselves apart.
We don't want normal. We don't want average.
We want to see chefs pushing boundaries, unusual combinations,
but they do have to work.
Sous-chef Lauren has impressed with exceptional
modern British dishes,
infused with flavours of her Jamaican heritage.
Seeing the final 12 is actually quite scary.
There's no-one else. It's just us.
And now every dish and everything matters.
Lauren, you were the first one into the market
and the first one out of it.
I kind of went in with half a plan,
just based on that it was sunny outside.
So I am cooking a sea trout.
I'm then creating a sauce,
which is kind of a take on a Bloody Mary,
but warm, because I don't like cold food,
and then I'm going to have tomatoes, courgettes,
courgette flowers around it and just create, like, a garden
with the veg. Nice.
She's using sea trout.
She's taking the skin off, cooking that separately,
and then using it as part of her crumb.
Bloody Mary sauce.
I've not had a sauce that's been called that before.
I think the key to a good Bloody Mary is tabasco,
Worcestershire sauce.
The tomato sauce, the tomato juice,
it carries all of the flavours.
We'll see how this works.
The youngest contestant left in the competition, at 22,
is head chef Charlie from Cornwall,
who works in a seafood restaurant.
He made it this far with his passionate and energetic approach
to classic cookery.
Lovely spices here.
Is this the way you cook regularly? It's not something I use a lot of.
Personally, I've played it too safe up until now,
so I want to do something a little bit outside my comfort zone.
Charlie's cooking for us a hake dish.
The hake has just been lightly dusted with the curry powder,
so when he sears it off,
it's got that wonderful curry flavour through it.
We've also got a curried coconut sauce.
A bhaji. Bhajis are delicious,
and it will just give this dish a little point of interest.
I'm at a point where I feel like I could be braver and bolder
with what I've got to give.
I need to bring something that is going to help the judges
remember me when it comes to picking who's going through.
26-year-old Molly, a private chef from Leeds,
earned her place in knockout week with solid dishes
showcasing classic ingredients and techniques.
I think I can't have much more, like, pressure,
but then somehow I end up doing well
and doing...keep getting through to the rounds.
So, yeah, just keep pushing myself.
| know your mum’s a big fan.
Yeah. Is she proud of you getting this far?
Yeah, she is. She cries every time I ring her,
like, she starts crying and says how brave I am.
What's your dish?
Venison loin,
baby beetroots, a sweet potato puree,
and sweet potato fondant,
and bitter chocolate sauce.
MONICA: Venison has no fat on it.
It needs to be seared beautifully on the outside
and I like mine medium rare.
Interesting that she's chosen beef trimmings for the base of her sauce.
If the beef flavour comes through quite strong,
I don't think this is a combination that will work,
because a beef sauce is not something that you would put
with a venison.
Paris-born private chef Philippe has bowled over the judges
with both West African flavours of his heritage
and some daring combinations.
When I'm nervous, I don't perform well.
So I want to be calm, I want to be confident.
I want to push me
to do better.
What are you making, please?
Pork loin with herb and a tartare of apricots,
tomato, vanilla dressing, black-eyed beans and onion sauce.
Wow.
Apricot, vanilla and pork.
Is that almost meat meets dessert?
I would like on the side something fresh,
something sweet and nice.
He's certainly bringing some unusual flavours to that tenderloin.
We've got apricots and tomato.
It's whether or not it works with the apricot and the pork loin.
I am intrigued.
Despite struggling with presentation,
Kentish-born chef patron Rosie has impressed
with some adventurous dishes inspired by her extensive travels.
I can definitely work on carrying on plucking inspiration
from everywhere, but getting my own style
when bringing them all together.
Rosie, you've got some fabulous spices on your bench.
What direction are you going in?
So, I'm going to do an Indian-inspired dish today.
I spent three weeks in India in January this year.
I absolutely love Indian food.
Rosie's going to make a hake fillet dish,
coconut and mango curry, Bombay-spiced cauliflower,
tempura cauliflower leaf, as well as a coriander oil.
Hake fillet is very fragile and can just flake away,
so the cooking of this, she needs to be very careful.
It will work great with a curry sauce.
Have you considered presentation in this?
You have? I'm working on my presentation as we speak, Gregg.
Chefs, you're halfway.
The winner's amongst this 12.
Hopefully it's me, but we'll have to wait and see.
You've got to perform on the day and just keep nailing it.
With both parents trained chefs,
24-year-old sous chef Tom has cooking in his blood.
He blew the judges and critics away with his ambitious classics
and his attention to detail.
What are you making?
Wood pigeon, water-bathing it, and then just going to sear it off
and then I'm going to top it with some crispy onions,
celeriac remoulade, celeriac puree,
and then just a pigeon sauce finish with a little bit of chocolate.
Whoa. Have you got the time for all of this? Yeah, I hope so.
Wood pigeon, very delicate.
Needs a little bit of TLC
and he needs to be careful that he doesn't scorch the meat.
And he's got a pigeon sauce.
He's made a reduction of port and red wine.
And then mooter it with chocolate.
It will also need just a little hint of vinegar as well to cut
through the bitterness of that chocolate.
Australian-born Kasae is head chef in a Japanese restaurant in Bath.
The judges have been wowed by her inventive
and unique flavour combinations.
I have to give today's invention test my everything.
I'm going to try and be as creative as possible.
What are you going to make for us? Today, we are going to Japan.
I'm going to make a prawn chawanmushi.
So, chawanmushi is like a set egg custard
with some bonito flakes and some soy sauce.
I do you have some duck fat burnt prawns,
a carrot curd.
Got a bit of a truffle, wasabi and potato foam on the side.
Wow.
Chawanmushi is like an egg custard,
but it's a savoury one
because she's putting bonito and miso through it,
so it's going to have a saltiness.
I love the sound of this.
What is it you love about it?
Because if you said to the public,
"Look, I'm going to make a prawn custard..."
The texture of the chawanmushi is so soft,
and then you get the bite of the prawns.
Because I've burnt them with duck fat,
they have, like, a real gamey, crispy kind of texture.
Private chef Tristan made a strong start to the competition
by using bold, unusual flavour pairings and no dairy.
I can't really play it safe.
To go out there and do something you know already,
it's just a silly idea.
So I'm going to go out there and make a really,
really cool dish, hopefully.
What are you making for us, chef?
Venison fillet,
artichokes with a little orange and pine nut dressing,
creamy horseradish glaze and then purple potatoes.
We're going to get venison and orange
combined on the same page? We are.
My natural cooking style is just to experiment with everything.
Never make a dish twice.
You've got to stick to your guns and that's what I'm trying to do.
Pine nuts, orange, purple potatoes
and definitely not horseradish
are the ingredients that you would associate with venison.
Tristan has very unique ideas when it comes to his cooking
and he always tries to push the boundaries.
They have worked at times, but he's got to make sure
he keeps that balance.
30-year-old Welsh-born private chef Cecily has impressed with stylish,
delicate and well-executed dishes.
I have got this far, so I don't want to get too big for my boots,
but I don't think there's any chance of that happening.
But, yeah, I do feel a little bit more confident.
I am doing a prawn-filled tortellini,
prawn bisque sauce to go on top, con fit fennel,
and I've got a fennel and dill salad.
Why did you decide to do filled pasta?
I guess it's kind of summer food.
It's food that I would want to be eating on holiday.
Cecily's tortellini have got to be absolutely spot on.
The pasta the right thickness, the filling cooked nicely,
not overcooked or dry on the inside.
At the same time, we don't want the filling to pour out.
We want a good bisque, full of flavour.
Get those heads sweated down.
Make sure we've got a lovely little bit of fish stock
going in there, too.
You really want this bisque to sing the flavour of prawns.
Despite being plagued by nerves in the early rounds,
Newcastle-born sous-chef Kyle secured his place with some risky dishes
that showcased his passion for getting the most
out of his ingredients.
Good to see you, Kyle. How are you?
Because you look a lot more relaxed.
It's just a mindset.
I can flip a switch quite easy.
Nothing else matters.
Just this.
And no, I don't care about anything else.
I just want to be the best in the room, you know,
own the space,
and hopefully stand out to the judges
to get through to the final ten.
MONICA: Kyle is making a celeriac, plant-based dish.
It's going to be glazed with miso.
He's making a celeriac puree to go with it.
There's girolles and hazelnuts for texture,
and he's also roasting the skin of the celeriac to make a jus.
I love the sound of this.
The miso-glazed celeriac, lovely, sweet flavour running through.
It's salty. He's got a little bit of soy in there, too.
Celeriac puree, nice and smooth.
Hazelnuts, he's also slightly burnt them just to get a little bit
of bitterness running through the dish,
which I think is very clever.
Why a veg dish? Veg is important, as well.
I've cooked this almost like a steak,
so hopefully it'll come through.
But I'm comfortable with it.
Like, I'm so comfortable with this dish, like.
Classically trained James runs a hash-brown street-food business
and has stood out in the competition
showcasing his love of Asian flavours.
At this stage, you have to be top-drawer.
Everyone is a real contender now,
so there's no messing about.
Do everything you can do,
because I'm sure there'll be some very strong dishes.
Do the family know how well you've done?
My mum knows. My dad knows.
My mum taught me a lot about cooking.
She went to my last pop-up, which was nice.
Seated 60. Six courses.
I think that was when she thought, “I've taught him quite well."
James has chosen turbot.
We've got gochujang hollandaise.
We've got a red pepper puree.
We've got some con fit leeks with ginger and garlic.
We've got tahini-glazed aubergine.
And a sea herb chimichurri.
So not a chimichurri as we know as such,
with parsley and other herbs.
He's just putting a twist on things that we know, making it his own.
I like that.
James has had great ideas.
They've not always worked, but they've been...
His individual elements have been executed beautifully well.
Head chef Tommy has consistently delivered
ambitious, sophisticated plates
that often feature his love of Thai ingredients.
I've got a lot of big plans and ideas
that I want to do, really,
and going out today would be a disaster.
Tommy, anything you like to do outside of cooking?
I love to go go-karting. Fabulous.
Why go-karting?
It's just the adrenalin buzz, you know?
It's competition and it's good fun, isn't it?
Any similarities between a kitchen service and racing?
Somewhat. The pressure, the adrenaline, you know,
everyone do their best sort of thing, so that's quite similar. Hm.
Tommy has got pan-fried turbot, he's got mussels,
he's making a fish mousse
from the turbot trim.
He's got Jersey Royal potatoes that he's going to con fit.
He's got beurre blanc - or butter sauce -
samphire and sea herbs.
Pan-fried turbot is all about timing,
good colourisation, good butter.
Beurre blanc is always easy to split.
You don't want to boil it.
The level of liquid to butter, the ratio has to be just right
for the beurre blanc to work.
Chefs, you have five minutes.
Five minutes, please.
Bhajis, anyone?
Charlie.
Thank you, chef.
No, I'm just freaking out.
So, it's looking good.
Let's see if the judges are going to like it.
SHE SIGHS
Have you tasted that? I have.
I think it's really nice.
Well, it's not what you think.
Yeah, it doesn't matter what I think, does it? I'm joking!
Finishing touches. A matter of moments, please.
That's it. Stop. Time's up.
Time's up.
First up is Lauren, who's roasted a trout fillet
and topped it with crispy fish skin,
caper and parsley gremolata,
served with sugar and vinegar macerated tomatoes,
pickled courgettes, zucchini flowers,
and finished with an alcohol-free Bloody Mary sauce
made from tomatoes, cucumber,
tabasco and Worcestershire sauce.
The fish is fantastic.
Melt in the mouth.
I love the topping.
Crunchy skin, salty.
And it's got a bit of heat in there.
Yeah. Brilliant.
I love this little sauce in here.
Maybe add the vodka into it -
it might just take it to another level - but it is good.
I'm very much enjoying eating it.
It's tomato, it's sharp pickling.
It's a lot of garlic.
I really like the crunch of the vegetables.
Very nice.
The twist of your Bloody Mary,
the tomato flavours in there work so well with everything,
the courgette, the courgette flowers, samphire.
A delightful plate of food in an invention test.
I'm good.
But I'm actually really hungry.
I know! I know!
I don't know if it's the nerves, like, suddenly standing up there,
but I'm happy.
Charlie is serving pan-fried turmeric and cumin-spiced hake
with a saffron carrot puree, chilli and carrot-top pesto,
con fit purple potato,
carrot and onion bhaji,
roasted baby carrots,
and a curried coconut sauce split with chive oil.
Charlie, your hake is beautifully cooked.
I like how you've seasoned it with curry powder,
a bit of salt.
The bhaji is delightful.
It's got texture, still got the sweetness of the carrot.
Coconut sauce is light in curry.
You can taste the coconut.
You've got one smooth puree and the little green quenelles,
carrot-top and chilli.
Salty, chilli heat.
It's very good.
It's not the most inventive, creative dish I've eaten.
What we're looking for is maybe a surprise, another element.
But it does taste good.
I'm pretty happy, to be honest.
I'm fairly confident I'm not going to be in that bottom five.
Molly is serving sous vide venison loin
with a pistachio and crispy shallot crust,
sweet potato fondant,
sweet potato puree,
baby beetroots and carrots,
finished with a sauce made from beef trimmings
and dark chocolate.
I personally would prefer my venison to be cooked more.
It's slightly under.
The base of the sauce needs to have a much stronger, meatier flavour.
Your beetroot is bland. Your carrots, they are bland.
I expected a little bit more from you, Molly.
I'd want my venison cooked a little bit more.
But the gamey venison, with your sweet notes of carrot,
sweet potato and beetroot and chocolate, I think is great.
My venison, I like how mine has been cooked.
You've got a pistachio crust around the outside of it.
I wish there was more of it.
The sweet potato puree is beautiful.
I really like that.
But disappointed with the sauce quality.
It doesn't have any depth in it.
Obviously I'm gutted, but I've done what I've done and...
...hopefully I'll be able to rectify it and keep going.
Philippe is serving parsley and garlic-stuffed pork loin
wrapped in cured pork
with vanilla-dressed apricot,
elderflower and tomato salad,
black-eyed beans and an onion sauce.
The pork is impressive,
that it's managed to stay pink in the middle.
I like the flavours of the herbs running through.
And I like the flavours of the cured, salty pork
around the pork loin like this.
You've got a lovely salad of apricot, tomato, vanilla,
and I find it delightful.
Vanilla and pork? Apricot?
It's just... It reads so strange, but it tastes so great.
The sauce is what makes it just absolutely delicious.
Your beans, I think that's a lovely little touch.
It's got great texture and they are tasty.
You're working with some beautiful, delicate flavours,
and you're making every single one of them sing.
I'm really happy.
I didn't expect good feedback like this, so I'm confident.
Inspired by her time in India, Rosie's dish,
which is topped with a tempura Bombay-spiced cauliflower leaf,
is pan-fried hake fillet
with onion salad,
pan-roasted cauliflower with mustard seeds and coriander,
and wilted greens,
served with a coconut, chilli and mango curry sauce.
This isn't the prettiest of dishes, but it tastes great. Thanks.
I like the cauliflower with the mustard seeds across it
and the flavour of coriander.
I like the flavour on your cauliflower leaf,
even if it is the size of an umbrella.
And I love the flavours in your sauce.
The cauliflower leaf,
it shouldn't really be there because it's not very nice.
But I love the cauliflower underneath.
That's got great texture.
I love the little slices of the chilli that you've got running
through the dish, as well.
The hake, that is just flaking away.
You've got the flavours of the cauliflower,
there's spices, there's spinach in here.
But when everything is put on top of each other,
it's very hard to discern or separate
what it is I'm having on this plate.
I'm feeling happy that they like the flavour.
I keep getting the feedback that it's not refined,
but, yeah, it is what it is.
Tom has made roasted wood pigeon,
covered with celeriac puree and roasted onions,
red endive with celeriac and mustard remoulade,
parsley emulsion,
crispy cabbage,
and finished with a pigeon dark-chocolate jus.
This dish is delicious.
The pigeon's excellent. Really good.
The chocolate sauce is great.
It's got a lovely little flavour of the pigeon going through it.
Another cracking dish.
Thank you.
I really love the freshness of the bitter endive salad
with the remoulade.
Great cooking there, Tom. Thank you.
Just got lots of different elements of yumminess, richness and depth.
That's great.
Thank you.
I'm glad the competition is going so well for me at the moment.
I don't want to jinx myself and slip up,
but I think so far I'm really doing myself proud.
Kasae has cooked prawn chawanmushi -
egg custard flavoured with bonito and miso -
served with duck fat charred prawns,
carrot curd, pickled radish,
crispy kale,
and a truffle, wasabi and potato foam.
Kasae, the texture of the chawanmushi egg custard
is just a little bit too set,
but I'm enjoying the flavours of the bonito and the miso.
But I think you could have gone a little bit more on that.
I find it very subtle.
Could have gone bigger on the pickling, sharper.
I think we could have gone bigger on your custard.
The foam, again, it's subtle.
Eating it isn't fantastic, I'm afraid.
The prawn, very much well cooked,
but I'm not getting the fat in there.
The custard here is the carrier of this dish.
You need to pack that with huge flavour.
And, unfortunately, you haven't done that.
Oh, no! I'm leaking.
SHE SIGHS
I wanted to prove myself in that calibre of chefs
and to come out feeling a bit deflated and disappointed,
it's not really what I was going for.
Tristan has made pan-roasted venison fillet
with a horseradish and soy glaze,
roasted Jerusalem artichoke and shallot puree,
king oyster mushrooms,
con fit and deep-fried purple potato,
and pine nut and orange-dressed baby artichokes.
The venison is not cooked.
But what's really killing the dish for me is orange, pine nuts,
and horseradish.
Horseradish on this dish shouldn't be anywhere near it.
The cooking of your artichoke is beautiful.
But if anything, this dish is crying out for a sauce.
Purple potato,
there's nothing special about the way it's been prepared.
The pine nut and orange dressing...
Well, you know, you've always got to try something new.
Sometimes they work.
Sometimes you've got to go back to the drawing board.
Your mushroom is beautifully cooked.
The puree's a little watery.
I know how inventive and creative you are and you want to be.
Not all inventions work.
I'm feeling fine.
It was...
They clearly didn't like the combinations.
Which I understand. I tried something and it didn't work.
So, onto the next one.
Cecily's dish is prawn and fennel-top-filled tortellini
served with con fit fennel,
dill and fennel salad,
and dill oil, finished with a prawn bisque.
Your pasta-making is lovely.
The filling, you've got the prawns inside.
It hasn't dried out.
It hasn't seeped out.
So they're very well made.
You've got con fit fennel, which is cooked beautifully.
It's a nice, tasty plate of food.
The bisque is sharper than I expected, and that's OK -
I can live with that.
It's the amount of aniseed flavour that I'd like a little bit less of.
We've got fennel two ways, so there is a lot of aniseed.
All six of the tortellinis that you've made are identical.
Delicious.
And when we poured the bisque into the plate, it all came to life.
I like it. I'd eat all of this.
I don't know why, I just go through all the things
that I think are wrong and I'm just critiquing it.
And then I go up and they don't pick any of the things
that I thought were wrong up! But I'm relieved.
Kyle has made miso-glazed celeriac,
topped with pickled celeriac,
black truffle and thyme,
served with caramelised celeriac puree,
girolles,
and burnt hazelnuts.
Finished with a celeriac skin jus, split with dill oil.
The celeriac, beautifully cooked. Soft like a fondant.
This celeriac puree with the miso is just...
Oh, smooth, beautiful,
you know, brings the dish together.
Amazing. Cheers.
That is glorious.
Great flavours of truffle, nuts, dill,
really quite sharp, and aniseed,
all centred around a lovely, almost nutty,
really soft, meaty celeriac.
Fantastic dish.
I think the little bit of genius in this is the lovely hazelnut.
It's just really clever,
because the hazelnut is a similar flavour to the celery, actually.
You've really got a beautiful balance here.
I'm just feeling overwhelmed, like...
I'm really enjoying the journey
and I just want to continue that.
James's dish is butter-roasted turbot
topped with gochujang hollandaise,
served with red pepper puree,
con fit leek,
tahini and honey-glazed roasted aubergine,
crispy ginger, crispy shallots,
and a sea herb chimichurri.
I think the cooking of the turbot is beautiful.
Loving it with the leek and the flavours of the herbs
of your chimichurri.
Those three things work together.
The pepper puree is delightful.
I love that with the aubergine.
The whole plate together is a bit much.
You've got a gochujang hollandaise.
The gochujang is salty and then finishes smoky and peppery.
That's delicious.
This is a dish of disparate parts, but every single part is fantastic.
This sweet pepper puree,
that's delicious.
Your beautiful piece of cooked aubergine with shallots on top
is great with the tahini. Love that.
But it's not working as a complete dish.
I cooked everything really well, so it's frustrating.
So now it's a waiting game.
I would've liked to be able to sit back and say,
"Yeah, I've gone straight through,”
but I just don't know if it's enough.
Finally, Tommy has served pan-fried turbot with mussels,
fish mousse made with turbot trim,
con fit potatoes,
braised fennel,
garnished with samphire, spring onions,
and crispy capers,
finished with a beurre blanc sauce.
This is sublime.
Fish perfectly cooked.
Your fennel is delicious.
Your cut potatoes, all cut and cooked to perfection.
And of course, who doesn't love a butter sauce?
Great dish.
The fish mousse,
it's smooth, it's beautifully seasoned,
and it's just divine.
It's such a delicious dish. I keep going back.
I'm so full, but it's so tasty.
Tommy, I have no negative critique at all.
I'm getting onion bite, I'm getting saltiness,
I'm getting sharpness,
I'm getting butteriness.
And that's making for a very happy customer.
I feel like that's the strongest feedback I've had yet.
Everyone seemed to be happy with the dish.
So, yeah, I'm over the moon.
Definitely.
12 chefs.
There were some amazing dishes.
Seven of our favourites are going straight through.
The other five are stopping here to cook again.
There is someone's dish I thoroughly enjoyed.
It was Lauren's dish.
Her trout with that beautiful Bloody Mary tomato sauce dressing
was fantastic.
It was fresh. It's a dish I'd eat again.
Kyle made us a dish centred on celeriac
and I thought it was absolutely stunning.
This was an outstanding dish from Kyle.
I enjoyed Tommy's dish.
The turbot, beautifully cooked
with the little mousse on the side.
It was so small but just packed such flavour.
Philippe was in my top two chefs today.
Love the sauce, love that pork cookery,
the vanilla, apricots, tomatoes, add heat in it, add flavour.
It was inventive. It's creative.
Tom's pigeon was delightful. Cooked perfectly.
I thought it was an absolutely stunning dish.
So, going straight through, we have Tommy, Kyle, Tom,
Lauren and Philippe.
I think two chefs both had issues on venison today
and that was Molly and Tristan.
Two venison dishes. Both would have gone back to the kitchen.
Molly and Tristan, in my opinion, should definitely be cooking again.
That means we have to decide between Cecily, James, Rosie,
Kasae and Charlie.
Three are cooking again.
Two are going to go straight through.
Kasae's dish, chawanmushi,
I wanted more of that miso and bonito flavours to really sing
through the cooked custard.
Prawns were cooked nicely, but I just...
I just think the dish just lacked a bit of energy and a bit of oomph.
I loved Rosie's hake in that coconut curry sauce -
I thought it was fabulous. But it looked terrible.
It was all piled into the one bowl.
You couldn't discern what was what.
James's dish, I think there was some individual brilliance,
but the dish wasn't working together as a whole.
I loved the cooking of the turbot,
the beautiful gochujang sauce that went over the top.
But, all together, it was not a harmonious plate.
Charlie's hake dish,
the bhaji was delicious.
The hake was beautifully seasoned with the curry powder, too.
It just didn't have, for me,
the bells and whistles that I was hoping for.
It was very simple. Very nice.
Cecily's tortellini,
the filling was lovely with the prawns.
Beautiful little parcels.
For me, just too much aniseed flavour.
Who's got the wherewithal to challenge the front-runners?
And who needs to stay here and prove a point?
Chefs, what a day.
We have made a decision.
Seven of you will be going straight through to the next round.
Five of you will be staying here in the kitchen to cook again.
The first two chefs staying to cook again...
Molly.
Tristan.
The third chef cooking again...
Kasae.
The fourth chef cooking again...
It's Rosie.
And the final and fifth chef staying here in the kitchen
and cooking again...
...is James.
The seven of you going through,
congratulations.
Very, very well done indeed. Off you go.
We will see you soon.
Well done.
Nailed it. Yeah!
What a relief. What a relief, yeah.
Chefs, you probably feel like you're on the canvas right now,
but there are three places still left to fight for.
Pick yourself up and show us what you're made of.
The last round, you all made a savoury dish.
So we've decided that now we want you to make a dessert.
You've still got the larder behind you,
but all the ingredients that you would need to make
one fantastic dessert.
We still have three places in the next round.
That does mean, of course,
that two of you will be leaving the competition.
90 minutes, chefs. You know what you have to do.
I can't wait.
Off you go.
I was pretty sure I was going to try and lean towards pastry anyway,
so I'm pretty happy that the challenge is going to be pastry.
I'm ready to go.
I'm over the disappointment.
I'm going to take everything on board
and make something refined and beautiful and elegant.
I've only done one pudding in the whole competition,
so I'm really looking forward to it.
It's going to be fun and we'll see what happens.
What is the dish, please, Tristan?
The dish is going to be basically a dairy-free dessert.
So I'm going to have a little choux bun
stuffed with some creme patissiere made with pistachios and Cointreau,
and then a dairy-free sponge,
which is slightly crisped up to go around the outside
to add a little bit of crunch,
soaked in elderflower syrup.
Some stewed strawberries on the bottom
and then praline's just going to top it off
with the crispiness of it.
You don't touch dairy, do you?
No, so everything's going to be dairy free,
but doing it differently is kind of my way.
And, as you've experienced, it's good and bad.
I still want to be true to myself and risk on each round.
You can still create fabulous puddings without dairy,
so I'm looking forward to this.
Tristan's using oat milk and dairy-free butter
for his choux buns.
The key to a good choux is about incorporating the eggs into the mix,
into the pastry itself.
It's got to be incorporated perfectly well for it to rise.
Plus dairy-free crispy sponge,
so it's a sponge with oil added into that,
and then he's going to soak that into the elderflower syrup.
Well, if he's going to do that,
he needs to make sure they're really crispy.
Otherwise, his crisp sponge will go into a soft sponge.
Tell us, James, what are you doing?
I'm going to do a caramelised toffee banana,
a beef fat chocolate ganache on the bottom,
some caramelised banana on top.
I've got a Swiss meringue on the side with some toasted-off nuts
and then some crispy artichokes, as well.
Why the use of beef fat?
I think it's delicious with chocolate.
I think it's a really nice kind of substitute for butter.
Do you know how this is going to come together?
Yeah, I'm pretty sure it'll be...
it'll be more cohesive than my last dish.
It's got sweet and savoury on top of each other,
so they'll hopefully balance each other out really nicely.
James's dessert is caramel, banana, toffee. They all work together.
Beef fat chocolate ganache, that works well.
Beef fat is rich.
It's got a little savoury flavour behind it,
and of course, it's a fat.
That'll make it nice and soft, but also incredibly delicious.
We've got textures coming through in the forms of nuts,
as well as a savoury part of the artichokes.
I like the sound of this dessert.
I just hope James has thought about how it all comes together.
30 minutes gone already. You've got an hour left.
Time is flying.
Molly loves the classics
and now she's going to make a lemon tart for her dessert.
I love a lemon tart.
The lemon tart filling goes in and baked gently.
Molly's got to makes sure this is one of the first things
she gets done and cooked in the oven,
because it then needs to set.
Molly, what makes a great lemon tart?
To me, it's the tartness of it.
If it's too sweet, it's not a proper French tart.
Should it be sharp enough to make you go...?
Yeah, hopefully.
Try and impress you today and get back on the track.
We've got raspberries three different ways.
We've got fresh raspberries. We've also got a raspberry gel
and a raspberry sorbet.
The sorbet's got to taste of raspberry,
sweetened to perfection and quenelled.
I don't just want a blob of raspberry sorbet in a bowl.
This now is all about detail.
What are you doing, Kasae?
Madeira poached pears spiked with a little bit of port, as well.
A fudgy chocolate ganache underneath.
Madeira and tamarind gel.
I've got some mascarpone that's been mixed with a pistachio
and pumpkin seed praline.
And then it's going to have a little bit of chocolate and porcini soil
around the side.
Ooh, nice.
How determined are you now to grab yourself a place?
More determined than I've ever been.
Up until now, it's been hopefully I get through,
hopefully I get through. But now it's got to get through.
Kasae's dessert, lovely ideas.
You've got a pear that's been poached in the sweet flavours
of port and Madeira.
A chocolate and vanilla ganache.
Got to be beautiful and smooth.
She's also making a pistachio and pumpkin seed praline,
which then she's blending up
and then folding it through whipped mascarpone.
Genius.
Loving the sound of this dessert.
I hope Kasae's really packed this dessert full of the flavours
we weren't getting in the last round.
30 minutes left.
Half an hour.
Oh, this pastry is not going to do it.
Come on. Don't do this to me.
Rosie is cooking a chocolate pastry tart.
She's got very deep pastry rings.
If she gets these tart rings lined properly,
that'll be an incredible achievement,
because she's basically chosen
pretty much the hardest tart rings that you can line.
She's making a fondant mix.
This one has no flour,
and I'm guessing she's going to then fill the tart,
bake it so it's still soft in the middle.
In the middle of this, there will be a caramel centre
flavoured with tamarind.
We have a smooth peanut butter ice cream -
that sounds wonderful -
and a peanut brittle.
Lovely flavours here.
Lots going on, a lot to do.
And it needs to look good, too.
How do you feel about pastry work generally?
I don't think I'm confident enough with pastry
to probably do anything too wacky and out there.
So I'm hoping that I can just do kind of solid flavours
that I know work well together and make it look beautiful.
Hats off to Rosie for pushing herself,
but she's certainly running out of time.
Rosie is looking incredibly panicked.
Oh, BLEEP a brick.
Oh, God. Why didn't I...? I'llL have to...
How long have we got left?
Right, chefs. You've got ten minutes left.
Oh, dear.
Are you happy? Yeah, I'm happy, yeah.
Good. That's a spare.
Go, go.
Chefs, you have five minutes left.
I hope your desserts are coming together.
Do you know how pretty this looked in my head?
Oh, my God. I can't save them.
Oh, I'm so sad.
Your time is up.
Well done.
Very good.
To stay in the competition,
Molly has made a classic lemon tart,
fresh raspberries filled with raspberry rum gel,
and a raspberry sorbet.
Molly, the lemon tart
is so tart, so sharp.
It's how I personally love it.
It's delicious.
Your raspberries, I like the little gel on the inside.
The sorbet, lovely.
It's smooth.
Solid cooking.
Well done, you.
Thank you.
The set lemon tart is beautiful.
It's sharp, it's clean.
Beautifully lined pastry.
Real good attention to detail.
It is delicious. Thank you.
It is so sharp.
It's almost making one eye squint.
It's lovely. Buttery pastry.
Really, really enjoying it.
I'm happy and I feel like I've got back on track.
You know? I did what I set out to do.
I've dusted myself off and went again,
which a few months ago I'd have struggled with, to be honest.
Kasae's dish is a port and Madeira poached pear
with chocolate and vanilla ganache,
topped with hazelnut, pistachio and pumpkin seed praline mascarpone,
served with Madeira and tamarind gel
and a chocolate and porcini mushroom soil.
That pear is fantastic.
You've poached it so well.
I'm almost getting the bitterness in the strength of a glass of port
before that becomes honeyed juice of a lovely, slippery pear.
Loving it.
I really like the tamarind gel.
It's got a little bit of sharpness
where it cuts through the richness of this dessert.
It very much needs the soil that you have on here
because of the textures.
I love the ideas on this plate.
Your ganache is like silk.
It's delicious.
Mascarpone on top just cuts through.
Just brings a little bit of acidity.
You've executed it beautifully well
and you've also incorporated some fabulous twists.
And that is what makes it delicious.
I'm feeling really elated,
more so than I have at all so far in the competition, I think.
I don't know if it's my best round food-wise,
but I'm really happy with how I cooked.
Rosie has made a baked chocolate mousse tart
filled with tamarind caramel,
topped with crushed peanut praline
and served with peanut butter ice cream.
It just looks like the most unrefined thing I've ever made,
so I'm a bit heartbroken, to be honest.
It doesn't look fabulous,
but it certainly packs a punch in flavour.
The pastry is melt in the mouth.
The chocolate mousse inside is incredibly rich and oozy.
Your caramel hasn't worked.
It's a toffee, it's a little bit too soft,
but it does have a lovely caramel flavour.
The peanut butter ice cream,
it's delicious.
You have good flavours here.
Your flavours are great.
The textures of your pastry are fantastic.
Your filling is fantastic.
It's not the presentation you wanted.
We know that.
It's just very frustrating,
because I just keep doing the same thing.
Oh.
So...I'm really sad.
Knowing that I kind of didn't do myself justice.
For a place in the next round,
James is serving a milk chocolate and beef fat ganache
with caramelised bananas, peanut brittle,
artichoke crisps,
and a Swiss meringue.
The ganache, it's beautiful and smooth.
I like the brittle. The brittle's great.
It's nice and delicate and soft.
I like the ideas, but the sweet banana,
sweet meringue, sweet chocolate ganache,
I'm just struggling to get through the sugar element
of the dish.
I like the chocolate with the beef fat.
It makes it firmer.
It makes it very rich.
Bringing an artichoke into a dessert is very, very clever
because, of course, an artichoke's got a nuttiness about it.
Those crisps are lovely.
What I have to admire here is the skill.
This meringue is beautifully made.
The ganache itself using beef fat -
it's brave, but it works.
But you need to get that balance of the sweetness right.
It didn't go as well as I'd hoped, unfortunately.
Technically, though, all good stuff.
Very frustrating.
Finally, it's Tristan, who has made a dairy-free dessert
of profiteroles stuffed with creme patissiere
made with oat milk -
one flavoured with orange liqueur,
the other with pistachio -
sat on a bed of lemon-stewed strawberries,
with crispy sponge soaked in elderflower syrup
and elderflower petals.
I think we've got a design issue here,
because if you put profiteroles in compote,
they're going to go soggy.
The filling with the orange liqueur is a little bit too wet,
as well, for your pastry.
I'm just ending up with a bowl that's really, really soggy.
I really like the flavours of the strawberries underneath
and how it's been cooked.
The crispy cake doused in elderflower,
there's a hint of elderflower, but it's gone a tad soggy.
Your choux pastry is not right.
It needs drying out a lot more
for it to hold and to take the filling.
Pistachio creme patissiere
doesn't taste of pistachio.
You get no flavour.
These are all the little things that we look for.
These are what these ingredients are all about.
To hear that feedback is obviously not very nice, but at the same time,
you take those comments on board...
Oh, well.
...and you move forward from there
and you just make yourself a better chef.
I do enjoy a dessert challenge.
Definitely the toughest day
in the MasterChef kitchen so far for our chefs.
I had one absolutely stand-out dish.
For me, full of technique, wonderful flavours,
and that was Kasae.
The ganache with the port and Madeira poached pears
and, of course, the tamarind gel.
I thought she did a knockout dessert.
So Kasae goes through? Definitely.
And she"ll be incredibly relieved, I think.
Molly, with her lemon tart,
it was faultless.
The raspberry sorbet was delicious.
Classic cookery done well.
Put Molly through.
I agree.
Tristan is a chef that has great ideas.
But the choux pastry buns weren't brilliantly made
and they were sitting in a compote making them all soggy.
Both creme patissieres weren't cooked properly.
They weren't firm enough.
They neither carried the big flavour of the orange liqueur
or the pistachio.
It just wasn't quite his day today, unfortunately.
Tristan's leaving the competition. Yeah.
This means we have one more place
and it's between Rosie and James.
James made the beef fat ganache.
I really liked that.
The skill to make the beautiful Swiss meringue,
I have to admire that, as well.
It just was just edging too sweet for my liking.
Rosie, I think, has got a great palate.
But the top of the tart that was supposed
to be brittle wasn't - it was chewy. I loved the baked mousse.
I thought that was really rich and delicious.
Loved the peanut ice cream.
But the dessert just looked clunky and messy.
It just wasn't coming together.
Obviously it'd be great to go through.
I've had the best time ever being here
and I really want that to carry on.
SHE SIGHS
I'll be frustrated if I left,
especially because I've done two dishes
where I didn't mess up any of the cooking.
It would be annoying.
I've got plenty more to give.
Chefs,
what a day.
It's not easy having to cook again
and you guys have given it absolutely everything.
We have made a decision.
Two of you, sadly, are leaving the competition.
The first chef going through to the next round is...
...Kasae.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
Our second chef going through...
...Molly.
Well done.
Our third and final chef going through is...
It's James.
HE EXHALES
Thank you.
I knew it was coming.
Rosie, Tristan, thank you so much.
You should be incredibly proud of yourselves.
Well done. Thank you very much indeed.
Well done, guys. Thank you so much. Take care, Rosie.
ROSIE GROANS, TRISTAN CHUCKLES
I was so upset earlier, but actually now I feel really good.
Like, I've had the best time ever.
And I've done better than I thought I would,
and I wouldn't change it for the world.
I had a bad day, but overall it's just been really rewarding,
exciting and just great fun.
So, yeah, I'd recommend it to any chef.
I thank my lucky stars.
Someone's looking out for me.
Lesson learned. Never a mistake, only a lesson.
Always up for more.
Just keep giving it to me, I'll keep trying my best.
I want to be top.
I want to get that faultless feedback from the judges.
I'm itching for it.
Plenty more in the tank for me.
I feel like I'm ready for a pint. SHE LAUGHS
Maybe two.
Every round that I get through, I'm super stoked.
But, yeah, I'm very, very proud.
Come on. Come on, bring it in. Yeah.
Next time, knockout week continues
and the contestants are being split into two groups.
The first five will compete outside the MasterChef kitchen
for the first time...
I'm running round like a headless chicken.
Yes, yes, yes.
Oh! Pray for Molly.
...before returning to fight for their place in the semifinals.
That is a delightful dish.