From across the UK...
..32 up-and-coming chefs...
..are putting their reputations on the line
in the battle to become professional MasterChef champion.
Tonight, the first four hopefuls compete
to impress MasterChef judge Gregg Wallace,
renowned chef Monica Galetti
and culinary legend Marcus Wareing.
This is probably the bravest thing that I've done in my career so far.
I'm extremely competitive, but how good am I actually?
It's time to test myself.
I really want to do well in this competition.
It's just about handling the stress, handling the pressure.
I'm going to fight for it.
This is actually happening now. This isn't just a pipe dream.
It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
So I don't want to leave anything at the door.
The competition is on.
Time to uncover a new culinary superstar.
Welcome back. Start of a brand-new competition.
Great to see you both. I've got a little fact for you.
This is my tenth year. No way.
And look at what we've discovered over the years.
Some incredible talent, some great chefs, and I'm really,
really excited about what this year is going to bring.
We have four brand-new chefs eager to show us what they've got.
First, the Skills Test. Two of them are going to do your Skills Test,
Marcus. Monica, you're kicking off.
What are you going to get them to do?
I would like our chefs to make us a carrot schnitzel served with
a white bean hummus and zhoug.
Zhoug is a herby green sauce from the Middle East.
Compare it to a pesto, possibly a chimichurri sort of texture.
Sounds like a plant-based recipe. Very much so.
20 minutes.
Monica, please show us how.
First thing I'm going to start with is the carrot.
I don't want to see it raw
when you're going to batter it. It will never cook in time.
So I'm going to pre-cook it in stock
and some herbs until it's nice and tender.
So a schnitzel, of course, is bashed-out
chicken, veal, and then breadcrumbed and fried in a pan.
But instead of protein, we've got carrot.
This is going to be very interesting to see whether or not they blanch
the carrot, or are they just going to panne it from raw?
Cover it with a bit of greaseproof, just to keep the heat in there.
So for the zhoug, got flat parsley and coriander.
If they haven't heard of zhoug, then they can draw on whatever
ingredients are in front of them.
I'm going to grate just a little bit of the garlic into it, some green
chilli into there as well.
Ground cumin and some ground coriander.
Parsley is quite fibrous, so you're just smashing
that down to break it up. Absolutely.
See, it's a bit like a pesto without any nuts.
Carrots are cooling down, and now I can make the white bean hummus.
So you make it exactly the same way as you would hummus?
Just swap the chickpeas with the butter beans?
Absolutely.
So we have some tahini, some confit garlic.
They can use raw garlic. Some fresh thyme in there as well.
Mm! Lovely.
Lemon juice.
This is great.
And now I'm going to breadcrumb our carrot.
You've got no egg on the table.
I've got the aquafaba there, which is the juice from the beans.
So the aquafaba replacing the egg.
To keep it veggie? Yes.
And I'm just whisking it up so it gives a bit more body.
You've done that twice, so you've double panned.
I've double panned for extra texture.
Just cook the breadcrumbs so it starts to be golden and crispy.
So lots of hummus on the bottom.
Love the vibrant green.
And then just finishing it with some little coriander over the top.
Hey. That's beautiful.
And there we have it.
Carrot schnitzel with a white bean hummus and zhoug.
That is really clever.
And I love those colours.
I love the textures and the flavour.
The crunch of delicate light breadcrumbs,
the soft, sweet carrot.
That hummus has got a slight nuttiness to it.
And then the zing of that zhoug.
I think that is absolutely delicious.
When it comes to creativity and flavour, I think
that could really test the chefs.
It's a great dish and it's a great challenge.
Marcus, you're going to watch proceedings on the monitor
from the back room. Come back for the tasting.
I think this is brilliant.
We have more and more chefs coming in here who are really good
with plant-based cookery.
Let's get the chefs in. Let's see what they make of this.
Let's do it.
Fingers crossed.
NARRATOR: First up is 40-year-old Toby from the historic town
of Bishop Auckland. Sous-chef at a Spanish tapas bar,
he sources his ingredients from the nearby palace garden.
Anything can be picked and foraged. Gives you that freedom
to have fresh as possible.
My food style is small plates, using fresh local produce.
I don't want to overcomplicate a dish.
What I enjoy doing is just taking singular produce and trying to make
that product sing.
When I'm cooking and I'm in the moment, there's
no better feeling.
I've never entered any competitions, and I want to prove to my daughter
that if you set your heart to something and you go for it,
you can actually achieve it.
Toby, welcome to MasterChef.
Hello. This is the Skills Test, of course.
Toby, I would like you to make us a carrot schnitzel served
with a white bean hummus and zhoug. For the carrot schnitzel,
there's no eggs available, but you've got the aquafaba
there from the beans.
OK. Haven't got a clue what a zhoug is.
Zhoug is a bit like a pesto.
Yep. 20 minutes. Good luck to you. OK. Thank you.
New heat, new chefs. Looking forward to this.
I've got a little bit of a plan sorted.
I'm going to slice it thin, blanch it first so it will
actually cook quickly.
That sounds like a good plan. That sounds like what Monica did.
So I'm now going to make the hummus.
Going to blend my beans, my tahini with a little bit of the confit
garlic, and then a splash of lemon at the end.
Mm-hm. Righto.
He's very comfortable. He knows what he's doing, which is really good.
What got you into cooking, Toby?
I accidentally fell into cooking at 27.
I'd, er, recently become a father, so I needed a full-time job
to essentially pay the way.
What were you doing before that? I was, er...
..a part-time fireman and I was a landscape gardener.
But I've been cooking professionally now for about 13 years.
He's found his craft, which is nice.
You're almost halfway, Chef.
OK? Thank you. Where are you right now?
Now I'm making my zhoug.
There is a lot of garlic going in that zhoug.
A lot.
I'll add some ground coriander, chilli, ginger, parsley and get
that going to make a nice little paste.
Needs to work that garlic, break it down.
Just looks a little bit thick.
It just looks like chopped herbs.
You've still got to crumb this carrot.
Yeah. I'll get that done next.
He needs to get a move on.
You've got four minutes left, Chef.
Thank you.
He's chopped the ends off.
So he's thinking about his presentation, which is always good.
All right. So, flour, aquafaba.
Breadcrumbs.
You're better off using a tray.
Otherwise, if he's not careful, he's going to snap that carrot.
Toby, we've got bigger bowls.
He should have done that flour and aquafaba a couple of times.
I hope the breadcrumbs stay on, for his sake.
Otherwise, that's just going to be a deep-fried carrot.
How's it looking? It's looking like a schnitzel.
That's always good.
Not too bad. Not as breaded as Monica's.
Just the plating now.
You've got 60 seconds left.
No, that's not a good sauce. That's not wet enough.
It's not broken down enough.
Are you done, Toby? I'm done. Thank you.
All right, let's go and say hello to Toby.
Hey, Toby. Hey. How you doing?
I'm very well, thank you.
Carrot, beautifully cooked. I love the way you poached them.
I think the breading could have been maybe one more time through.
Your sauce, it needs less garlic.
It needs pounding down. You need to break the fibres of the parsley.
But you've shown good skills and your confidence is there.
That's great. The hummus,
I love that you used the confit garlic,
seasoned it with some lemon juice.
Overall, that's a good start.
Listen, a carrot schnitzel?
Who's ever done one of those?
Well done. Thank you.
Looking forward to seeing you in the next round.
Thank you.
I like him.
He hit this with a certain amount of professionalism.
It's just the finer points of detail that he just needs
to just brush up on.
And I'm sure we'll see that in the next round.
It's definitely one of the most nerve-racking things I've done.
May not be perfect, but I got it up, and that's something
to take away.
Next up is 26-year-old Chloe, a classically trained junior
sous-chef of a cafe restaurant in London.
I always wanted to be a chef.
Growing up, we had chicken nuggets and chips and spag bol from a jar,
so I just took an interest in food, learning the process of starting
something from the beginning to end. That you've put so much effort
into it and so much passion, and then for someone else to eat it
and enjoy it is really nice.
Lots of love goes into everything that I do, but I don't want
to waste a lot. So if I can use an animal from nose to tail, I will.
I cannot wait to start the competition
and be given a Skills Test.
I've got quite a competitive streak.
How are you, Chloe? Yeah, I'm well, thank you.
How are you? I'm really good.
I would like you, Chloe, to make for us a carrot schnitzel,
white bean hummus and zhoug.
OK. Yeah? Yeah, it sounds familiar.
Yeah, I've definitely made a hummus before.
And a zhoug,
it's like a green dressing of sorts.
I think she knows exactly what the dish is.
You've got 20 minutes. Good luck.
I want to get my carrot cooking first because it's hard.
Panne and deep-fry it.
Definitely knows what a schnitzel is.
I'm shaking.
What she needs to do now is calm the nerves and get under way.
I think I want a bit more flavour in there.
Some garlic and some thyme.
She's got a bay leaf in the stock, which is always a good thing.
Put a cartouche over to help it steam and make it cook faster.
Yeah. That's good.
You're a chef, Chloe. Yeah.
CHLOE LAUGHS
So I'm just going to do some garlic oil from the confit garlic
for my hummus. Lemon juice as well.
What sort of style of food do you like, Chloe?
Um, you know, I like the classics.
Then I'm really into, like, Asian food, Indian food, sort of
anything, really, that's like up-and-coming and what's trending.
She's just thinking about flavour.
Look at that. A bit of cumin in there as well.
Cumin and coriander? Yeah.
OK. Brilliant.
You've had seven minutes, Chloe.
She wants to get the beans in as well, I hope.
I love the way she's standing on her toes.
All I want to see her do now is taste.
Bang on cue.
Check my carrot.
You're halfway. Really? You've got ten minutes.
And I'm going to make my zhoug.
So there's some coriander, some parsley.
I'll put some garlic.
There's green chilli, so I'll use that.
I don't think I've seen a chef pay so much attention to flavour
and using all the ingredients on the table. It's brilliant.
Is there any chef that inspires you?
Obviously, er, Monica and Marcus.
You guys clearly know what you're on about.
We try.
It's nice and fine.
Good knife skills.
She doesn't have to put it in a pestle and mortar if she doesn't want to.
As long as everything's chopped up really fine.
You now have five minutes left.
You've got to cook these carrots.
Get a move on.
I love your focus.
I need to be.
Breadcrumbs, flour.
Really good attention to detail.
Where I work now, we do a few lunch specials.
We had a chicken schnitzel on.
So you're right at home, then? Yeah.
CHLOE LAUGHS
Two minutes, Chef.
I'm really looking forward to try this hummus.
Carrots look crispy.
Beautiful.
Let's find a nice bit of micro coriander.
Happy?
Yeah. Yeah.
What an excellent Skills Test.
Hey, Chloe. Hi, Chef.
That was an absolute pleasure watching that back there.
Thank you. Real professional at work.
Well done.
Your carrot, nicely cooked.
It's great to see you add extra flavouring into the poaching liquid
that you had there. Garlic, thyme. The zhoug dressing,
you've chopped yours up, but you've done it so finely.
And you can taste the coriander and the parsley and the lemon juice
in that, and even the garlic because you've grated it in.
Impressive.
The passion and love you have for food is right there on that plate.
Beautiful hummus, beautifully cooked carrots, nice and crunchy
on the outside. It's an exceptional piece of cookery.
In fact, that's probably one of the best Skills Tests I've seen
in ten years.
Wow.
Chloe, from each of us, very, very well done.
Can't WAIT to see you in the next round.
Off you go. Congratulations.
Thank you.
I do feel pretty great.
Pretty emotional.
Sorry. I didn't think I'd feel like this.
To get that feedback is just incredible.
This is where I'm meant to be. This is what I'm meant to be doing.
Two more chefs to see.
Marcus, this is your Skills Test.
What are you going to get them to do, please?
Something sweet, right? It is.
I would like them to make a choux pastry beignet,
and serve that with lavender sugar and a whipped orange cream.
Mm! Beignet.
Like a lighter, fluffier doughnut.
But you're making yours with choux pastry.
That's right. Choux pastry...
Generally we bake it and made for profiteroles, eclairs.
But by deep-frying it, it just makes it a little bit quicker.
20 minutes.
Please, show us how it's done, Marcus. OK.
So I'm starting off with the choux pastry.
Wet ingredients into our pan.
Water and our milk. Caster sugar.
We can then add in our butter. Choux pastry...
I think this is something that any chef should be able to do.
The ingredients for the pastry are weighed out.
It's the process that I think is really important.
The key is to get the butter softened.
Then we can add in our flour. Cook it out, three to four minutes.
It's like a roux.
That is very different to any other pastry.
You're giving that some vigorous stir, Marcus.
Tell me what it is you're looking for, please.
You have to bring out the gluten in the flour.
It's the strength that holds the eggs.
If the flour is not cooked out at this particular stage,
it's just too runny.
And I'm going to put it on the machine to cool it down.
And then I'll start to incorporate the eggs.
The key is now is just cracking these in one by one.
Like a mayonnaise, like a hollandaise.
You just can't throw all five eggs in there because it will
just split away.
It should look like a really thick batter.
So that when you pipe it out, it doesn't flop.
It's not too wet.
I'm just going to get on now with my orange cream.
I love the smell of the orange zest there.
You've got quite a bit going on.
Yeah, I've just peeled the orange down.
Squeeze that into my pan.
And I've got that lovely orange liqueur.
Going to bring that down to a syrup for the orange cream.
I just think by making the syrup, just really elevate the orange
flavour, which is really important for me.
It'd be nice to see them have a bit of fun and creativity
with the orange cream.
I'm now going to make my lavender sugar.
Is that, to you, the smell of Provence?
It is, isn't it? Absolutely. So is. It's so versatile.
You can use it in marinades. It's great in desserts as well.
So when the choux is cooked, you can go straight into there.
That's ready to go.
Look at that mix. Beautiful.
I'm just going to pipe batter into the fryer.
If that choux pastry isn't ripe, either just disintegrate once
it hits that fryer or turn into a solid ball.
You want the choux to just gently puff up, colour, but also to cook
in the centre as well.
What's those Spanish things? Choo-rows?
Churros? Churros.
It's like that? Yeah.
I can start to just whip up a little bit of cream,
and I can then add my orange syrup.
I'm just going to fold that through.
Look at that! They are puffing up quite a lot. Look at that!
Absolutely lovely, look.
Just roll them in your sugar.
Oh, mate, I want to get in there.
You will in a minute.
So there we have it. Choux beignets, lavender sugar and an orange cream.
Fantastic!
Mm!
Mm! Light, fluffy beignets with a crunchy coating of sugar,
scented heavily with lavender.
And the cream - citrus running through it.
It makes it feel fresh.
They are dangerously lovely.
Pure class.
Key skills are making of the choux pastry and, of course,
the orange cream.
Monica, you're going to watch proceedings in the back room
on the monitor. We'll see you back here for the tastings.
Amazing. Thank you. See ya. Oh, no!
Let's get him in. Let's hope for the best.
NARRATOR: First to attempt Marcus's Skills Test is 29-year-old private
chef Gaston, who moved from France to the UK nine years ago.
So I grew up between Paris and Burgundy.
As a child, school was very difficult for me.
The kitchen was my comfort zone, where I felt safe,
where I could express myself.
So I trained in France, in a culinary school, when I was 14.
My food is very creative.
I just love to source my ingredients wherever I go to make unique
experience for the customer.
In the competition, I would love to showcase traditional influences
from France and the very theatrical and opulent French cuisine.
Always focused on quality ingredient and flavour.
I would like you to make for us a choux pastry beignet...
Yes. ..served with a lavender sugar...
Yes. ..and an orange whipped cream.
The ingredients on the chopping board are for your choux pastry.
That's all weighed out for you.
20 minutes. Off you go.
Thank you.
So I'm making the choux pastry like I've learned at school.
Melting the butter, the milk and the water.
Then I will add the flour and then make sure the temperature
goes down a bit before adding my egg.
Gaston knows what he's doing.
Brilliant. I think he should be OK.
Adding my flour and then try to dehydrate my dough a little bit.
How many times have you made a choux pastry?
Quite a lot of time.
Choux pastry is a very versatile dough.
We use it for pommes dauphine.
We use it for dessert. We use it for gougeres, as an appetiser.
So...
He needs to cook that flour on the heat.
What was food like when you were growing up?
I grew up with my grandparents, so food was very much involved
with like picking our own vegetables from the farm, going to the markets.
Why the UK?
I love the open-mindedness. I love the people.
I love the diversity.
Home is London. That's it.
The temperature is a bit more down.
I'll be able to add my egg.
But I'm going to add them one by one.
Oh, I like that.
That's exactly how you're meant to bring the temperature
of the pastry down.
Eight minutes gone, Chef.
So I'm putting a bit of sugar and lavender.
Try to heat it. So you're making a caramel?
No, no, no. I just want to develop the flavour of the lavender
in the sugar.
The mix is a bit wet.
The recipe takes all of the eggs.
OK. They need one more, for sure. Two, I don't know.
Flour wasn't cooked enough so it's not taking in the eggs
as well as it should.
You're on to the whipped cream.
So, double cream. I want to put my orange zest inside.
Anything else?
No, I don't want to add too much sugar.
I don't... I'm not a big fan of, like, very sweet desserts.
It's just there's a lot more on the table he could go for.
I'm just going to use a little bit of juice.
That's it.
It's a shame Gaston has not reached for the orange liqueur.
Could do with a bit more orange, to be fair.
You've got six minutes left.
Sure, Chef.
That's a clever way to do it with the paper, so that it just slides
into the fryer.
And it also can keep it in a straight line.
Are you happy with the consistency of the mix?
I am, to be fair, because I don't want it to be too liquid, too runny.
I don't want them to explode.
I don't want them to be too ugly,
but I want them to be cooked, obviously.
This one is slightly break, but it's fine.
If you just leave them be.
Can I have the time, please? Gaston, you've got four minutes.
Sure, Chef. Thank you.
They're not ready. Leave them in there.
They could do with another 30 seconds.
That pastry's not cooked enough.
We need to be getting a move on. We've got 90 seconds, Gaston.
Are you going to get any more in, or are you happy with those?
I'm fine.
What's happened here is that flour wasn't cooked out enough
from the beginning, so it hasn't been able to then absorb all the egg.
Just sort of collapsed in on themselves.
You done? Yes, I think so.
Thank you.
Shame.
Hello, Gaston. Hello, Monica.
What a shame. Yes.
Floppy-floppy.
Quite clear to see that you knew how to make choux pastry.
But when we lay out the recipe in front of you, that is the recipe
that we need you to cook. You've left an egg on your bench.
The reason why you couldn't add that egg, and your consistency
of choux was so loose, is because you didn't cook out
the flour, and the flour is there as the binding, thickening agent.
Your mix was runny, and it's not cooked enough because it's raw.
I really like the idea of opening up the lavender and releasing
that into the sugar. The orange cream,
I like that you used some of the juice into it and of course
the zest. But, you know, there's so much more that you could
have used on the table here.
You seemed really confident.
But that's the thing with pastry.
It's either 100% right or it's wrong.
Don't be too disheartened, OK?
I think this was a tough challenge.
Look forward to seeing you in the next round, my friend.
Thank you very much indeed. Thank you so much for your feedback.
He's disappointed, but I've still got decent expectations
for this chef.
I did choux pastry before, I had the technique, but obviously
the stress and then handling the time limit.
I hope they don't make their opinion only based on the results,
because I'm not a floppy chef.
NARRATOR: Last in is 25-year-old Zimbabwe-born Nkosi.
With experience in Michelin-starred restaurants, he's now a sous-chef in
a three-rosette kitchen of a five-star London hotel.
Being a chef, I always play it down like it's not hard,
even though in reality it is hard.
You're working 16-hour days. But it's the love for what you do
that gets you through it.
I do love it when the pressure is on, because that literally
separates the men from the boys.
I'm like the Superman in the kitchen.
I'm flying. I'm everywhere.
Like, I'm just putting out fires.
The best thing about my job is the creativity.
I just love the fact that I can make art on a plate.
You see a lot of theatrics with my food.
I do like contrasting flavours.
And I'm chasing the Michelin star like that's the endgame
for my career.
I'm extremely excited for MasterChef.
I think it's a great test for me.
Am I just good for where I am here, or am I nationally good?
That's like a big question I do want to hear the answers to.
This is a Skills Test.
This Skills Test was set by Marcus.
20 minutes. Over to you.
Good. Cool.
How's your choux pastry cookery?
Uh, been a while.
Hopefully it will slowly come back to mind.
It's so difficult with pastry,
because either you've done it or you haven't.
You're starting off with your butter and your flour like a roux?
Yeah. OK.
I think if he cooks that flour out, it will make some kind of pastry.
It took a while, but you got there, Chef. Yeah.
Oof!
How long have you been a chef? Uh, seven years professionally.
I moved down to London at 18,
started in a Michelin-starred kitchen. Learnt a lot.
How's that base looking? Are you all right? Yeah.
Just going to finish it off.
I've never seen choux pastry sort of made this way before.
Has he used the water? He hasn't used the water.
I'm not sure if that flour is cooked enough.
Right, orange cream. Yes, Chef. What's the plan with that?
So, sugar, cream - whip them both together.
I'm going to add some orange liqueur.
Some fresh orange into that.
Orange liqueur. Orange zest. That's good to see.
What is it that made you become a chef?
I used to cook with my sisters. I've got three other sisters.
So, like, used to be like a fun little activity thing we used
to do together.
So then, you know, the concept of making dishes
just really excites me, in fairness.
Consistency is perfect.
Oh! Good?
Damn. That's actually really good.
Slow down on the eggs. Slow down on the eggs.
How long time do I have, actually? You are halfway.
You've got ten minutes left.
Slow down on the eggs!
Oh, my...
MONICA SIGHS
It's not looking good.
It's not looking good at all.
Hmm.
I really want this to kind of thicken up a bit more.
He's put it on ice to try and set his mix down
because it's very runny.
I think I should ideally get this a little bit thicker.
Right, now you're on to your lavender sugar, yeah? Yeah.
This lavender sugar has kind of thrown me.
He should worry more about the choux pastry.
Can't just be as basic as mix lavender and sugar together.
Believe it or not, yes, it is.
NKOSI LAUGHS
Right. You've got seven minutes. Seven minutes?
It's too liquid to put it in a piping bag.
Just spoon it in.
I feel like I'm doing this part extremely wrong.
I'm nervous for him.
He's making me nervous.
They're puffing up. Thank goodness.
Just a touch more caramelisation.
Just making sure it cooks evenly throughout.
I mean, he's made a batter.
It's puffing up, but that's not choux pastry.
You've got two minutes left. Are you happy? Are they cooked?
Ten more seconds.
There we go.
How was that? Hard.
Yeah.
NKOSI LAUGHS
You know what? Good on him for not giving up, because clearly,
he doesn't know how to make choux pastry.
Nkosi, I think that's possibly one of the most stressful
watches of a choux pastry being put together.
I actually am quite amazed you've got this up there.
Actually, it's more like a deep-fried batter than a choux pastry.
But it's so eggy.
You put all your eggs in one go.
Yeah. It was incredibly runny.
Your cream - it's got a little bit of booze in there.
You've got some zest, which is nice.
And your lavender sugar,
you've put the addition of orange into that.
That's fine.
What I admire is the fact you didn't give up.
Your basics are important, so revisit them.
They become a part of your armoury in this kitchen from the get-go.
Nkosi, you could have had many Skills Tests in here.
You've got one that you didn't know.
That's unfortunate for you.
I'm very much looking forward to seeing your style, your own food.
Thank you very much. See you in the next round, Chef.
I'm going to have to increase the levels.
I'm going to have to be more focused and just more confident.
I think that's the main thing that kind of killed me off in this round.
The choux pastry challenge proved exactly that - a real challenge.
However, the schnitzel challenge, we actually did quite well.
We may have uncovered a superstar.
I think you've got four chefs with various degrees of skill
and talent on show today.
And, of course, the signature round brings out a completely
different type of cook. I'm excited for the next round.
And as we know, everything can change.
Welcome back.
You are now cooking your signature two-course menu to showcase
what you're all about, and even more importantly, to fight to stay
in this competition.
Enjoy your cooking, because when you enjoy it is when you cook
at your best.
You have an hour and a half to present to us a knockout
main course and dessert.
At the end of this, two of you will be going through
to a MasterChef quarterfinal.
Two of you will be leaving the competition.
Show us your talent.
Off you go.
I got a lot of preparation to do, but it's an hour and a half,
so I'll just smash it.
I don't have the choice.
I have something to prove, so I just need to make sure
that I make everything to perfection for this test.
That's my only goal.
Gaston, how are you feeling now you're cooking your own food?
I feel better. This is my chance to showcase you what I'm capable of.
So looking forward to... for you to try.
To try what? What are you doing?
So I'm making, as a main course,
a crepe cake with chicken liver parfait and stuffing
and a port wine jus.
Crab cake? Crepe.
Crepe cake is something very old school in France with layers
of crepe, chicken liver parfait, stuffing.
And then carry on. What sort of stuffing?
Stuffing like my grandfather used to do for Christmas.
So it's mostly sausage, chestnuts, mushroom and caramelised onion.
Then it's going to be under the salamander with a bit of Comte
to bring some, like, deepness with the cheesiness of it.
Wonderful!
This is a dish that really intrigues me.
He's got a lot of processes.
We've got the crepes, which he's making.
And he's making about four or five layers.
Parfait is a soft, smooth pate.
That's the thing that is going to make this dish glue together.
Have to make sure it sets.
Otherwise, I won't be able to serve it.
This will be a travesty.
You cut a slice out of it.
You want to see the perfect layers.
That's what I'm going to be looking for.
The dessert is jellified grapefruit with a white chocolate
ice cream and caviar.
Where did that idea come from?
I like to use caviar as we will use sea salt on top of chocolate.
I think it counterbalance the sweetness and the bitterness
of the grapefruit.
Gaston's dessert makes your eyes go, "Oh, this is interesting!"
And this particular caviar is supposed to work because it's not
too fishy in taste.
If you were in a restaurant, you'd be very excited
about this dessert.
It's a type of dessert that you choose
just out of curiosity.
Chefs, you've had 15 minutes. OK?
I'm not really entirely happy with my Skills Test.
Kind of let myself down a bit, which is quite heartbreaking.
But the next round, they're going to see
a true indication of why I'm here.
You'll be like, "Oh, damn, is this the same chef from before?"
Like, it's going to be like two different people.
Nkosi has got a mountain of beautiful ingredients
for his main course.
Seared cod loin. He's curing it on the bench,
which is a good thing to do with cod.
And what's really interesting - tomato consomme,
clam and lemon verbena foam.
There's a combination, if there ever was one.
I want to taste the clams,
the tomato there for freshness.
You've also got cauliflower blitzed down with some almonds as well.
So that's going to bring a lovely, nutty, toasty flavour to that part
of the dish.
There's a lot of work going on in that plate.
Dessert, I'm doing a dark muscovado sponge, a tonka bean
Chantilly with a cinnamon lace twirl and crusted hazelnuts.
You are most certainly pushing yourself.
This is impressive. Have you timed this?
No, I haven't timed it.
Ironically enough. I've obviously practised, so obviously I'm familiar
with how long stuff does take individually.
So if I can execute everything perfectly,
you should be in for a treat.
Great flavours, lovely ideas.
Love tonka bean.
It's the essence of vanilla.
Sponge cookery has got to be just right.
Too dry, overcooked - doesn't work.
Got my mouth watering at the sound of this, but...
..these two dishes have not been tested together.
When chefs take that risk in this kitchen, under this stress,
that it can go completely wayside.
That's not what we want.
I think I'll be on time.
You've got an hour left.
I think the judges have got, like, a good sense of my personality,
that I am just really passionate about being a chef.
I've got my running shoes on.
I'm going to be push, push, push right until the time goes.
I had a really good Skills Test, and it'd be a shame just to, like,
make it seems like a bit of a fluke.
I know I'm good.
You seem incredibly focused.
Thank you. And you seem a real bundle of energy.
Is that how you normally are? Yeah, definitely. Always.
Like, all systems go.
What's the menu?
A lamb cannon with a pea puree, tomato fondue with lamb-fat-roasted
potatoes, asparagus and lamb jus.
Sounds delicious.
The lamb cannon is lean.
There's no fat on this piece of meat at all.
So the cooking is going to be very, very quick.
And of course, it needs to be resting.
Tomato fondue is almost a sweet and sour flavour.
There is a point of freshness that can cut through the richness
of the potatoes and the lamb.
And, of course, I want the lamb sauce to taste of lamb.
Maybe a little bit of mint or some rosemary in there, too.
We've got the usual familiar ingredients, but when they're done
well, they're always a winner.
And for pudding?
We've got a cardamom panna cotta, pistachio crumb with roasted white
chocolate sticks and raspberries.
Is this food you cook where you work, or where
have they come from?
So I've created these two dishes for the competition.
Just because where I'm at the moment, it's like
a brunch-style cafe stuff.
So I don't know how it would go down if I served
you a full...full English.
It'd probably go down very well. Yeah. If I'm really honest with you.
Chloe's dessert's a panna cotta, which, of course,
we've had many of. We all know about the wobble it should have.
But not just that - cardamom is a spice that too much
of it and it can become like perfume.
But I think it's in good hands with Chloe.
I'm expecting a bit of magic.
She's put white chocolate in the oven, and then she's going
to pipe it into ice water.
As soon as it sets, she's going to lift it out, and you're going
to have these little curly shapes of chocolate that's going to sit
on top of this beautiful panna cotta.
I've never seen chocolate piped into water before.
It's looking good. It's nicely coloured.
It's not gone grainy, which is what I wanted.
Now I need to make sure I pipe...pipe it nicely.
Listen up, chefs.
35 minutes, please.
Toby, how are you feeling?
Yeah, better now I'm cooking,
getting back into a comfort zone where I'm happy.
Good. What are you cooking?
So I'm doing pan-fried chicken, roasted carrot, pickled carrots,
fennel, chicken butter sauce and wild garlic emulsion with some
wild garlic oil. What do you want to show us here?
It shows home cooking.
I like going picking wild garlic.
It's a nice little walk in the countryside.
And my missus loves a carrot.
Are you a family man, Toby? Yes.
I've got a partner, stepson and my daughter.
They're my world.
Toby's not cooking the chicken breasts on the crown.
He's taking the breasts off. He's left the skin on.
So we're going to have a lovely, crispy skin to finish.
But when you're not cooking on the bone, it can tend
to be a little bit dry.
We've got beautiful big purple carrots.
And I saw him just sprinkling some honey over the top.
So he's really bringing out the natural flavour of the carrots.
And, of course, pickled carrots work well.
There's not a lot on the plate. I hope it's good.
For dessert, I'm doing a classic from the Lakes,
where I'm from originally. Sticky toffee pudding.
Oh! Toffee sauce and evaporated milk ice cream.
Nice.
Who doesn't love a sticky toffee pudding? Sounds classical.
How do you take home cooking and make it wow?
Showing that simple ingredients can be elevated
to restaurant standard.
Sounds fantastic. Best of luck, Toby.
The sponge pudding, you want to be molasses-like,
soaking in that beautiful caramel sauce.
Warm and sticky on the outside.
That's what it's all about.
Evaporated milk ice cream - got to be perfectly churned.
You don't want that to be split.
You want it to be lovely and silky smooth.
I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel,
but I'm at a stage where I'm...
..I'm confident and I'm happy with who I am as a chef.
I want to give it my all.
Ten minutes, please, everybody.
Ten minutes.
Carrots done. Chicken's just resting.
I'm getting more nervous as it comes closer to the finish.
I need to calm down a bit.
It's holding. It look nice. How I want.
Two minutes, everybody. Oui.
They are looking good.
Finishing touches now. OK?
Oh, yeah. Now we're talking.
That's it. Your time is up.
Stop.
NARRATOR: First up is private chef Gaston.
His signature main course is a crepe cake - crepe pancakes layered
with chicken liver parfait and a sausage, mushroom, chestnut
and hazelnut stuffing, topped with Comte cheese and a herb salad,
and served with a red wine port jus.
It's divine.
It's French cookery at its very best.
I think the flavour of the parfait is great.
I love the little hazelnut toasted on the inside as well.
And then to finish it off with the Comte cheese on top.
It's brave. It's bold.
If I was given that in a restaurant, I'd be asking for another portion.
Oh, my God. It's that good.
The stuffing of chestnuts running through it.
The sausage meat layered in between
thin crepes. Delicious.
And I love the way that you've interpreted it
in your own method, honouring your grandfather.
It's a real delight.
Means a lot. Thank you so much.
That is absolutely banging.
GASTON EXHALES
Rich and buttery with those chicken livers.
An absolutely lovely sweet sticky sauce.
That is a delicious piece of work.
NARRATOR: Gaston's dessert is a pink grapefruit jelly topped with white
chocolate ice cream and caviar.
The jelly in the bottom is really delicious.
It's fresh, and the sweetness of the ice cream works beautifully
with the grapefruit and the jelly.
It's really clever.
It's exactly how I was expecting it to be.
Really good.
The caviar really, really works.
They are little bouncy balls of saltiness.
And creamy white chocolate ice cream.
I think it's delicious. Thank you so much.
I'm going to pass out.
The freshness of the grapefruit is just delightful, especially
after such a rich main course.
Genius. It's fun and delicious.
So thank you, Gaston.
Thank you.
I am so, so, so happy.
The judges understood my universe,
and their feedback is priceless.
Sous-chef Toby is serving pan-fried chicken breast with a honey-roasted
purple carrot, topped with pickled yellow carrots and roasted fennel
seeds, with a wild garlic emulsion and a chicken
and thyme butter sauce.
The garlic puree is good, but the carrots, I saw you put
in a little bit of honey over the top.
I'm not really getting that sweetness.
And I think the chicken breast, if you're going to serve a breast,
is cook it on the crown.
You get a lot more moisture.
The chicken, if you're going to serve it with the skin on, then put
the skin side up so that it doesn't go soggy and soft underneath.
We want it crispy.
Your chicken sauce is buttery and it's got an almost yeasty,
bitter finish. Light pickling on the yellow carrot.
I'm really enjoying it.
Thank you.
For his dessert, Toby has made a sticky toffee pudding topped with
a toffee sauce, garnished with walnuts,
served with an evaporated milk ice cream
and a walnut tuile.
Sticky toffee pudding is about the sponge and the sticky
toffee coming together.
The sticky toffee sauce is absorbed into the sponge, and that's one
of the most delicious things about it.
Your sponge is not light, it's not fluffy.
It's never going to absorb the sauce.
It's not hitting the mark for me.
Thank you. Your evaporated milk ice cream,
the texture is not right. Sort of gummy-like.
You see, like, it shouldn't stretch like it does.
In saying that, I really like the flavour of it with a bit
of salt going through it.
You've got your sticky toffee sauce here, which is also tasty,
but I just don't think the execution of everything here has worked out.
Sponge is a little dry.
However, I would be more than happy with that if I just had some vanilla
ice cream on the side.
You win some, you lose some, unfortunately.
The ice cream wasn't right.
I had issues with that today. I know that.
Junior sous-chef Chloe's main course is roasted cannon of lamb
on a tomato fondue,
served with lamb fat, garlic and rosemary potatoes,
pea puree, pan-roasted asparagus,
pickled asparagus and a lamb jus.
GREGG: Perfect lamb. Soft, pink in the middle, coloured
on the outside.
Haunting flavours of rosemary.
I like the two types of asparagus. One buttery, the other
one lightly pickled.
It's like you've got a hold of every ingredient and just squeezed every
little ounce of flavour out of it.
The pea puree, it's vibrant, it's green, it's smooth.
Tastes of peas.
And then the lovely lamb sauce.
It's got a shine to it. The texture is fabulous.
It just brings the dish together.
You are a very competent young chef.
Keep it going.
Thank you, Chef.
Really love the tomato fondue sitting underneath the lamb.
It's rustic in a sense, because you've left the tomato skins
in there, but you've cooked it well enough for us to enjoy the skin.
That's where the flavour is. And, of course, your little roast potatoes.
They're not tourne, they're not perfect.
They're rough, they're rustic.
They're covered in lamb fat, which is great.
Brilliant skills and great flavours.
Chloe's dessert is a cardamom panna cotta with fresh raspberries,
a raspberry puree, a pistachio crumb and roasted white chocolate sticks.
GREGG: That's a good-looking dessert.
Cardamom in your panna cotta, very subtle.
It's not too subtle. It's there.
You haven't overpowered it. Well done, you.
Thank you.
The panna cotta is not overly sweet, which I like, but I love
the texture of pistachio.
And then you get a bit of sharpness from the raspberry here.
Fantastic.
The panna cotta is beautifully set, but I think what the magical
little moment for me is when you pick up what you think
is a tuile. And it's not.
It's cooked white chocolate. I love the bite of it.
I love the sweetness it brings to the dish, and it's really quite
nice to see something new, something different.
Two fabulous dishes from you, Chloe.
Great cookery and great flavour.
Thank you, Chef. Well done.
I got some pretty cool feedback.
Doesn't feel real.
The whole day has completely surpassed my expectations.
It's just incredible.
Sous-chef Nkosi has served a main course of seared cod loin
on cauliflower and smoked almond couscous with poached clams,
cauliflower florets, purple sprouting broccoli,
compressed cucumber in dill oil and sea vegetables
finished with a clam, tomato and lemon verbena foam sauce.
Tastes absolutely delicious.
Fish beautifully cooked.
The sauce is rich. It's got body with the clam stock.
I'm really enjoying the little couscous underneath.
It's fantastic with the almonds running through there.
Cauliflower, browned butter.
There's a lot of work in this dish.
It's a very, very good start. Well done.
Thank you.
Love the cookery of your cod.
It's coming away in nice big flakes.
I love those little discs of cucumber as well.
It's really refreshing. Well done.
Thank you.
Clams are lovely.
If anything, give me more clams.
Your sauce, you made a tomato water to add to the clam stock.
It's so flavoursome.
And of course, the little sea vegetables around it.
This, Nkosi, is a great, great main course.
Well done.
Woo!
NARRATOR: Nkosi's signature dessert is a dark muscovado sugar sponge
with roasted hazelnuts, tonka bean and creme fraiche
Chantilly cream, and a cinnamon lace twirl.
The muscovado sponge is fantastic.
It's moist, it's delicious.
It's really, really flavoursome.
And having seen you do a pastry this morning, that's a very,
very good comeback, I would say.
I am loving that tonka with the muscovado sponge.
Tonka to me is like vanilla that's been in the gym.
It's just big and strong and powerful.
I am really into this.
I love the crunch, the crispiness on the outside from the hazelnut.
And even your little tuiles on there really just set it off.
I'm really impressed with you, and I'm so glad you've come back
and really showed off your worth here.
I can't believe after all that work, all that running around that I got
such great positive feedback.
What an amazing start to the competition!
If this is the standard this year, we are in for a treat.
We've found some good talent.
We've got a lot to discuss.
There's only one of these chefs, actually, that had an issue.
That was Toby.
I personally really liked his chicken and his chicken sauce.
I thought it was great.
However, the mistakes on his sticky toffee
were impossible not to notice.
The pudding itself was dry.
It didn't have the moisture you expect when you've got
the sauce going with it.
And the ice cream, the texture was very wrong.
In a room of serious talent, problems like that,
I think, are costly.
Toby is at the end of his competition.
All right. We have a dilemma.
How do you pick just two from those three quality chefs here?
Gaston really showcased what a quality cook he is.
The main course with the layers, the parfait, the crepes,
the port sauce.
And of course, the dessert of grapefruit jelly and ice cream
with caviar on top. It worked beautifully.
Chloe is a bit of a cookery force to be reckoned with.
Her cooking is so confident, you can see how much passion
and drive she has.
She achieved a fabulous Skills Test.
Quite rare you find a cook tick the boxes
of all three dishes perfectly well.
I love it when the chefs are given a second chance.
They come in and they absolutely blow it apart.
And that's exactly what Nkosi had to do.
That cod, beautifully cooked, the sauce with the mix of the tomato
and the clam juices. It was wonderful.
And then of course, we had the dessert, the cake.
It was so moist in the middle.
A lot of work. Well done, him.
I can't lie, I would be extremely grateful and excited to go through.
I've still got a lot more to show.
There is nothing I wouldn't do for the competition.
It's such a gift.
Today I gave 100% without a doubt.
Who, out of three very talented chefs, leaves us?
Chefs, thank you for today.
Your cooking showed so much passion and dedication
and that's what we want to see.
We did say that two of you would be leaving us.
The first chef leaving the competition...
..is Toby.
Thank you so much. We hope you enjoyed it.
Thank you.
Tough day, but I can go away with my head held high,
saying, "I did my best."
My family will be proud.
That's the most important thing for me.
Chloe, Nkosi, Gaston, you've got real quality,
real flair, creativity.
To send one of you home now is nothing short of heartbreaking.
We have made a decision.
All three of you are going through to the next round.
You are far too good to lose any one of you at this stage.
Congratulations.
You all deserve to fight for another day.
You're very talented and you brought a lot into this kitchen.
Well deserved. Well done. Thank you. Well done.
NKOSI: I'm excited to still be here to continue the journey.
This is kind of like adding more fuel to the fire.
Like, I just want to keep going, keep pushing,
keep kind of testing myself.
CHLOE: Today has given me so much confidence in myself,
I feel unstoppable.
This is a strong competition for sure, and it's just the beginning.
Now it's the quarterfinals, so we have to push it to the maximum.
Next time, four new hopefuls...
They'll be a bit greasy still, Chef, before you try them.
..fight for their place...
Gonna get it done? Yes. Yes, Chef.
..in the quarterfinal.
Quick, quick, quick, quick, quick, quick, quick.
60 seconds, that's all you've got.
They've got to be cooked. Yes, Chef.
You are taking this to the absolute wire.
Well done. You've caught my attention.