Episode 7 Junior MasterChef

After six days of intense competition in the heats,

it's now the Junior MasterChef semifinals.

Over the next three programmes,

they're going to face some of the hardest...

This is a nightmare!

..most exciting...

Go, go, go, go.

WHISTLE BLOWS

..unusual...

HE SLURPS

..and terrifying cooking challenges.

TIGER GROWLS

Then, at the end of the final show, one of them will be crowned

Junior MasterChef 2014.

I didn't think I had a very, very high chance

of getting to the final six, but here I am.

-Proud that I got through.

-There was a lot of competition,

so to get this far is really good.

I'm feeling confident, determined and definitely really excited.

I'm just going to try as hard as I can, and that's all I can really do.

This competition has been really, really tough.

I'm determined to get further.

I think I can win Junior MasterChef, definitely.

Today, it's the first semifinal challenge,

but our contestants don't know if they're cooking or on the menu.

TIGER GROWLS

They're here at the world's oldest scientific zoo to find out.

With over 16,000 creatures living here, London Zoo has

one of the largest collections of animals in the country.

Welcome to Penguin Beach. How exciting is this?

In this bucket is what the penguins eat.

Today, you are going to be cooking fish,

but you're not going to be cooking it for the penguins -

you're going to be cooking it for penguin keepers,

so we really need some good food on plates today.

They've been split into two teams and been given recipes to follow,

and only have two hours to make their fish extravaganza.

Cooking the fish for the penguin keepers is a little bit weird,

but as long as we do it right, they should enjoy it.

And what's even harder, they're cooking outdoors.

All they have is a barbecue and a burner, nothing else -

but, mate, that's how I learnt to cook - on a barbie!

You can do amazing things.

It's not really barbecue weather today,

because it's all grey and cloudy, but...

..could be worse.

Team Donal - Amelie, Mya and Safiyyah,

only have minutes to work out how to cook the starter,

which is salmon fishcakes with roasted peppers, tomato salsa

and aioli, a garlic mayonnaise.

-I'll try doing the fishcakes.

-Yeah, I'll do the salmon fillets.

-OK.

Whatever it says.

-So shall I do the chopping bits?

-Oh, yeah.

Now, guys, there is pressure on because we only have a small

amount of time for our penguin keepers to go on lunch, OK?

So stay focused.

Team John - Jonah, Barney and Phoebe, are cracking on

with the main course, which is spicy seafood kebabs served on skewers,

with coriander flatbread and Asian coleslaw.

Phoebe, how are you dividing the labour? Who's doing what?

Jonah's doing the slaw, and then Barney's doing the pittas,

and I'm just in charge of the fish, and then we're just going to start

assembling the kebabs as a team when we've all done our individual jobs.

(Are you going to beat those guys?)

Yes, we are.

-They're going down, Phoebe.

-Yeah.

-Going down. Enjoy it.

-OK, guys, how are we looking?

-Really, really well.

OK. We've got the fish on, potatoes are on, so we're getting there.

We're getting there.

Next it's the aioli dressing, which is made by combining egg yolk,

garlic and mustard, and slowly mixing in olive oil

to make garlic mayonnaise.

You need to do this really slowly, so start trickling it.

Amelie needs to add the oil slowly or the dressing will split,

which makes it inedible.

Still quite liquidy.

-Have you split the dressing, Donal?

-No!

I have NOT split the dressing.

Girls, really sorry about him - he's split your dressing.

-I didn't split the dressing!

-You'll have to start all over again.

What are you doing over here anyway? Get back, go on, get out of here.

-I'm sorry he split your dressing.

-He's always trying to cause trouble.

I can't believe you split our dressing.

I'm not taking responsibility. I thought we were a team.

-We WERE a team.

-Until I split your dressing.

Over on Team John, Phoebe's almost finished the spicy marinade

for the seafood kebabs.

Barney is still wrestling the sticky flatbread dough.

You're a mess. Look at you!

Jonah is getting to grips with the Asian-style coleslaw.

-Grating a carrot, hardest thing I've ever done in my life.

-Really?

Wait - try holding it. Here...

Hold it...up like that

-and it'll be easier.

-Yeah.

OK, Jonah, how's the salad going, mate?

Good, yeah. Well, it's more like a coleslaw, but...

-A cold sore, or a coleslaw?

-A coleslaw.

-You don't want to eat cold sores, do you?

-No!

The penguin enclosure is home to 79 Humboldt penguins

and one rockhopper penguin called Ricky.

We're really excited about getting fed by the Junior MasterChef

contestants. The penguins are excited to see what we're going to get

as well. I can't wait until the food arrives.

There's only an hour left before lunch, and Amelie's attention

turns to the salmon for the fishcakes.

-Do you think it's cooked through?

-Hm...

Maybe just check it in the middle.

-We're going to be flaking it up anyway.

-Yeah.

-Yeah? You're happy?

-Yeah.

-Good to go.

So dump that straight in.

-Lovely.

-I'm a professional dumper.

You're a professional dumper? OK!

I want to check the potatoes. They should be done by now.

Look, they're not cooked.

Mya and Safiyyah decide to call in the big guns to mash the potatoes.

-I'm glad I'm so strong for this potato masher.

-Yeah, yeah!

Argh! Argh!

GIRLS GIGGLE

-What are you messing up now?

-Nothing. Why are you back over here?

Go away!

-Cos my team's under control. Do you know what my team's called?

-What?

-They're called Peanut Butter and Jelly.

-What?

-Yeah.

-Peanut Butter and Jelly?

-Yeah.

-Phoebe, Barney and Jonah - Peanut Butter and Jelly.

-Ah.

-Have you guys got a name yet?

-Yeah, they're called...Pick Up A Penguins.

Although John's Peanut Butter and Jelly team have marinated

the seafood for the kebabs and made the coleslaw, John is worried the

menu is missing something.

If I think about a kebab, it would always have a sauce with it.

-We can make a dressing.

-You can?

-Yes.

-Phoebe, you're on it.

And that fish...

While Phoebe and Jonah come up with a dressing,

Barney is ready to cook his flatbreads.

Remember, barbecues are extremely hot, so if you're cooking on

one at home, make sure you have a responsible adult to help out.

And always wash your hands before handling food.

-So you want it to be brown, don't you?

-Yep.

-OK.

-How many have you got there? Five?

-Five.

-And we need to do four.

-I need two left.

-Right. So then maybe you can taste one.

I've tried a bit, cos one bit broke off and I put it there.

-Was it nice?

-It was nice and crunchy on the outside

and nice and soft on the inside!

Hooray!

The clock is ticking.

OK, guys - we need everything ready to cook in ten minutes.

We haven't even got our fishcakes moulded!

Oh, hang on - don't we have to start the aioli again?

-We do.

-Oh, no.

-"In a large bowl..."

-I completely forgot about that.

John's feeling very confident down there.

-We need to feel confident too.

-Yeah.

You need to shape them now. We really need to shape them.

(We can beat them.)

-I think we need to start assembling the kebabs now.

-Yep.

-Yeah.

-Clean up a bit first, though, guys.

-Yeah.

Guys, find a tray or plate to put them on.

Right now, Phoebe seems to have taken control,

and she is organising.

Guys, start assembling over here, OK?

Bring your skewers over.

Ding-dong, done!

They look lovely.

TIGER GROWLS

We only get an hour for lunch, so it's really important that

we get fed in time,

and then we go and feed our penguins.

-We need to get those fishcakes on. Are you ready?

-Yeah.

Let's do it. Come on.

Shall we get... We need to get these fish on.

With the food almost cooked, suddenly there's a new challenge.

THUNDERCLAP

-It's the rain.

-Oh, no. Now these are going to get soaked.

-Move it under the tent! Move it under the tent!

-Oh, no! Really?

Right, so, Phoebe, your plates could be set up in here.

It's looking really good, so just start getting those last veggies on.

Rain never stopped an Aussie barbecue.

Oh, no!

This is a nightmare.

At the least the penguins will be happy.

Come on, now. Quick, quick, quick!

-You've just got to serve it up.

-Come on!

-You're doing great.

That's the ones. Looks really, really good.

Oh, now the sun's come out!

Come on - the sun's back out! You're plating up, looking good.

MUSIC: I'm Thinking Sunshine by Max and Simon

# I'm thinkin' sunshine

# I'm thinkin'... #

Perfect. Well done, guys.

They're perfectly cooked.

-Are we done?

-Done!

-Yeah.

-Yey!

Happy days, guys!

There's your trolley.

Ooh.

Get it on the trolley, cos we've got to serve it up. Let's go.

After a quick clean-up,

the hungry penguin keepers settle down for their lunch.

Safiyyah, Amelie and Mya's starter is a salmon fishcake with

roasted peppers, tomato salsa and aioli, a garlic mayonnaise.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

I mean, the penguins, they really do prefer a raw fish,

but I'm sure if they saw the vibrant, colourful dishes,

they would love to tuck into it too.

I'm really pleased with our fishcakes,

so fingers crossed the penguin keepers will like them.

The fishcakes are really tasty. They've got a lot of flavour.

-It's very nice.

-And the salsa's really gorgeous as well.

Never had this before. It's really, really nice.

-Is that salsa?

-Yeah.

-It is salsa. It's so, so good.

They've done an amazing job here, so, you know, barbecue food

-but it's like a restaurant barbecue food.

-Very nice.

Today's challenge was really fun.

I've never used a barbecue before and it was really exciting.

It went really well today,

and I don't think we could have done better in our group.

-Hi, guys.

-Hi!

Now it's time for the main course...

I hope you enjoy it.

..spicy scallop and prawn kebabs with a mint yoghurt dressing,

coriander flatbread and Asian coleslaw.

The presentation looks amazing.

-It's definitely something I'd order in a restaurant.

-Yeah.

I found it really enjoyable working in a team.

I think we worked really well, so I was quite happy with it.

-This is delicious.

-It's amazing.

It's got a lot of taste to it. It's really, really nice.

-I really like this Asian slaw. It's really different.

-It's very nice.

My scallops are cooked to perfection.

I have never eaten better scallops.

The flatbread's really, really nice as well. A lot of flavour to it.

They've done really, really well.

And it's all under pressure as well, isn't it? It's really, really good.

What went very well today was the lovely flatbreads. I thought

they would just turn out as a mess, but they turned out as a success.

Oh, that rhymes!

I think the penguin keepers were definitely impressed with our food,

yeah. Better than the other group's. Yeah, definitely.

That one's so cute.

I wish I was a penguin.

Our six cooks had a really tough day today, but I am so proud of them.

They came and they brought it. They had all the skills. They brought

some really great food to the plate. I was impressed.

-Who wants to stroke Ricky first?

-Me!

-OK.

Oh, that's so cute!

Four seasons in one day. We've had rain, we've had sunshine,

we've had wind, we've had clouds. An extraordinary challenge.

The competition is seriously heating up,

but in the next test, we're going to see six go to four.

Now they're back for the all-important knockout test.

Welcome back, guys.

Today, we want you to cook up a dish that celebrates you as a cook,

a dish that shows off your personality,

a dish which is going to keep you in the competition.

At the end of this, two of you will be going home.

Ladies and gentlemen, one hour. Let's cook.

-Mya, a big day in the MasterChef kitchen today.

-Yeah.

You're looking a little bit nervous.

I might be able to get into the final four, so, yeah - I'm using my

nerves and turning them into energy, and turning the energy into...good.

What are you going to cook for us, Mya?

-I'm making a blackberry cheesecake.

-Mm!

Every celebration, big or small, we always go to the restaurant

near our house, and we always get a cheesecake.

Great. It's lovely to hear a story behind the food, like that.

One of my favourite things to make is a cheesecake.

If that cheesecake is not in the fridge quick enough, it's not going

to be set, and we're going to have ourselves biscuits and cream cheese.

So you're doing venison,

but you've also got stinging nettles on your bench.

Because venison is a wild animal, I was thinking of doing wild things

with it, like wild mushroom fricassee

with wild stinging nettles with it.

How do you cook them?

Chop them up and then put it with the fricassee,

so then afterwards, they'll cook and it'll get rid of its sting.

Tell us about this food and why you love to eat it.

My grandfather used to love the dish,

and he died a long time ago, but I did meet him,

and he, instead of calling it venison, he called it "venzon".

That beautiful venison, spiced with juniper berries,

on a bed of nettles, in a little filo pastry cup.

He's showing off some true skill in the kitchen.

If you pick or cook stinging nettles,

make sure you wear thick gloves.

Amelie, what are you going to cook for us?

Today I'm cooking scrumptious satay

with a peanut dip and a sweet and sour salad.

Is this the sort of dish you think is going to guarantee you

a place in that final four?

When we have birthdays or we go on holiday to Malaysia

we have this dish because it's really yummy.

I am pretty sure that if it goes right,

it should guarantee me a place.

It's 99.9%.

Amelie has a bench full of ingredients

I get really excited about, because they're the sort of ingredients

that just whack you around the face with flavour.

We've got satays, chicken and beef, marinated with lemon grass

and turmeric and garlic and lime.

As long as she makes sure that beef is not dry

and the chicken has been marinated really well,

Amelie's in for a winner.

Guys, you've reached the halfway point - 30 minutes are now gone.

Safiyyah, what are you going to cook for us?

I'm making Kung Pao prawns served with vegetable chow mein.

So basically, the prawns are steamed in a sauce and then,

when they're cooked, you put it in the vegetable chow mein,

which is basically noodles, slightly flavoured with vegetables.

I love Chinese food, so I thought you would like it, too.

How much would you like to stay in this competition?

Well, like, infinity out of ten.

Like, just, that would just be absolutely amazing.

Kung Pao prawn with some wonderful vegetable chow mein.

Those prawns have to be cooked all the way through

and she has to make sure not to overcook the noodles.

G'day, Jonah. Tell us about what you're going to cook for us?

Spicy pork, home-made chips,

and in the fridge I've got home-made coleslaw with home-made mayonnaise.

Where did you get the inspiration for it?

Being out with the family, going out for dinner,

it's kind of the stuff I would order.

Is this good enough to get you through?

If I get it right, then, yeah.

Jonah's food is clever.

We've got a pork chop with chilli, paprika and cayenne.

That's spicy hot and smoky,

as long as that pork chop is just lovely and moist.

And I want crispy chips. Nothing worse than soggy chips.

Phoebe, what are you going to cook for us?

Today I'm making for you a seafood paella.

I like that.

I just think it's a really good thing that you can

put in the middle of the table and people can help themselves to

and have a fun time over.

Phoebe, what do you think you've got to do to stay in the competition?

Just try my hardest and make really nice dishes

and carry on how I'm doing.

If you get it right, it should be delicious.

Thank you.

Paella is one of those great dishes which looks really easy,

but, actually, is quite difficult.

She needs to make sure that the rice is cooked through,

the fish isn't overcooked.

She has to have a dish that is presented well.

Guys, you've got three minutes left,

you need to start thinking about plating up the food, please.

90 seconds.

That's it, guys - stop cooking.

First up is Safiyyah, who's made a Chinese dish

of spicy Kung Pao prawns, served with vegetable chow mein.

I like the little bits running through your chow mein,

through your noodles, from mange tout to sugar snap peas

and peppers. That's really lovely.

Although I've never had Kung Pao prawns before,

I feel as though they're a little bit overcooked.

They've gone a bit dry and a bit chewy.

Cook those prawns just a little bit less.

For me, I just need those noodles to be cooked not as much,

because what's happening is, they're clumping together a little bit,

and you want them to kind of loosely move on the plate.

But you've got lovely sweetness and lovely heat in there.

Thank you.

I actually realised the cooker was still on

when I thought I had turned it off, so the prawns overcooked.

Yeah, that was the mistake.

Amelie has made Malaysian chicken and beef marinated skewers,

served with a satay sauce made from peanuts, and a sweet and sour salad.

Not only do you have this wonderfully cooked meat,

but you also have this wonderful marinade. When you take that

and you dip it in that sauce, it is this eruption of flavour

in your mouth. This wonderful, sweet, nutty peanut sauce.

This is a brilliant dish for the semifinal.

It tastes good. It looks good. It smells good. I do not have faults

at all, Amelie. I think it's a really delicious, lovely, lovely thing.

I'm really pleased with what the judges said.

I think I might have a fighting chance now to get to the next round.

Jonah has cooked a spicy pork chop with paprika chips and

coleslaw made with home-made mayonnaise.

Jonah, you could have warned us!

That's like volcano pork.

That is probably one of the hottest things I've eaten

in a very, very long time, Jonah.

What's interesting is that when you eat the sweetness of those

lovely potatoes and then you combine it with

the creaminess of the coleslaw, all of a sudden it starts to work.

For me, though, take down the heat just a tiny bit,

just a little notch? That would be great!

I do like the way you've cooked the pork chop, though,

because in the centre, it's still lovely and moist.

But what I am more impressed about,

you've taken the time to make mayonnaise.

It shows a really good grounding.

But I think it's way too hot.

They called the pork "volcano pork"

because it's really, really spicy, but everybody enjoyed it.

Mya has made a blackberry cheesecake,

topped with blackcurrant curd

and served with a blackberry coulis, cream and fresh blackberries.

I really like this, and I like that you went straight through,

you presented it up on the plate and it looks really, really good.

The biscuit underneath is wonderful.

The topping on top, rich and sharp with blackberries - very, very good.

Pretty good effort, Mya. Pretty good.

My cheesecake went really well, today.

I'm really excited about seeing who's going to go through,

but I'm very nervous as well.

Barney has cooked venison with a spiced orange sauce,

poached carrots with cumin and roasted green beans.

He's also served mushrooms and nettles in a filo pastry basket.

Barney, it has to be said that your venison is undercooked, but...

that dish is delicious on many, many levels.

It's meaty from the mushrooms and the venison.

It's lovely from the nettles. It is really very, very delicious.

I don't know if I can fault it apart from the meat being a little

bit undercooked, but this is a very impressive dish, Barney. Well done.

They absolutely adored it.

Everything went swell.

Last up, it's Phoebe, who's made a traditional Spanish paella,

rice cooked with monkfish, mussels, prawns,

squid and chorizo. She's served it with a fruit punch.

Phoebe, this is brilliant presentation.

It's just a big plate of food that you want to dig into.

I like that you've added chorizo in there,

because you get this wonderful smoky, meaty taste throughout it,

and it really adds another kind of dimension of flavour, another layer.

Your fish is cooked really nicely.

That monkfish is really nice and tender.

I like what you've done here.

I think it's all cooked very, very well.

Your fruit punch is great alongside.

I think it's a really, really good celebration dish.

Your food, and it brings a smile to my face.

The judges had quite good feedback about it,

and they seemed to really like it.

So I feel quite confident with it.

It's now judgment time.

Which four cooks will go through to the next stage

of Junior MasterChef 2014?

Spice!

Brilliant day.

We had some wonderful dishes plated up, today,

that showed off their personalities, showed us who they are as cooks.

I used to think Barney was taking risks with the big flavours

he brought into this kitchen, but, actually, he knows his ingredients,

and what he produced today was something really spectacular.

Jonah knows his basics,

and I think a great cook has to understand the basics.

His dish today was a bit of a risk.

It was about as subtle as a hurricane.

You needed a bucket of water.

Mya was the only person in the room to make a dessert.

Cheesecake in an hour? Good on her.

Amelie might laugh it up, but it is no joke,

the food she puts up on the plate. Amelie surprised me today.

Safiyyah has worked extraordinarily hard through this competition,

but for me, today, Safiyyah's food didn't shine quite as brightly

as I expected.

In that paella, Phoebe had it nailed.

She always takes it one step further. She wants to do more.

Who stays? Who goes home?

Tough decision.

Six cooks and we only have four places,

it means that two of you are leaving us.

The first person who's going to be leaving us is...

..Safiyyah.

Sorry, Safiyyah.

I never thought that I'd be in the final six

and I'm really proud of myself.

I've had so much fun in Junior MasterChef.

The second person to be leaving us today is...

..Jonah.

Well done, Jonah.

I'm really proud to get this far.

Just quite sad that I didn't get a little bit further.

Congratulations! You are our final four.

-Yay!

-Yay!

I'm jumping up and down!

This doesn't compare with anything I've ever done in my life.

Just the best thing ever.

This is the first best day of my life, and the second one would

probably be when I went to see One Direction in concert.

I think this was a big stepping stone to get me

closer to the final three.

Now I've made it to the next round of Junior MasterChef,

it's just unbelievable. I think I'm dreaming.

-You're the only boy now.

-Group hug!

Next time, the final four will compete

in the Junior MasterChef Sports Day.

Come on, Amelie!

-BLOWS WHISTLE

-Go, go, go, go!

Wow!