Episode 1 Junior MasterChef

The competition to find the best young cook in the country is back.

From over 1,000 applications, only 32 cooks have made it to the heats.

Now top chef John Torode

and food blogger and TV cook Donal Skehan

have to decide which cook is good enough

to win the title of Junior MasterChef.

Junior MasterChef, and we've got four passionate cooks

who are really excited about food.

I'm incredibly excited to see these guys cook.

It's going to be amazing.

Today, they're going to face two very serious challenges.

The first one is a masterclass from me -

how to make proper fishfingers.

Look at the colour, because that's what you have to recreate.

Nice. And then, afterwards, the pressure will be on,

because they're going to get a chance to cook for us their food.

Competing today are TJ, Maya, Emily and Joe.

Cooking - I love cooking. It's exciting, it's really good.

I think I am pretty good. That's what my mum thinks, anyway.

My dream is to be a really famous cook.

I'm going to try and impress the judges.

I am definitely going to give it my best shot.

Well, today is going to be tough.

We can only take one cook through to the quarterfinal.

G'day, guys. Welcome to Junior MasterChef.

So, today's masterclass - proper fishfingers

with proper chips and tartar sauce.

First, we're going to cut the fish, ready for the fish fingers.

One, two, three.

The next thing to do is to coat the fish. Beat the egg...

We dip them first in flour...

Into the egg...

..and then breadcrumbs.

So is everyone OK so far? You've followed all the stages?

ALL: Yes.

Next, we're going to make the chips.

You can make any shape, but I like little cubes with this.

So there's our chips.

We going to make the tartar sauce.

Now, mayonnaise...

chopped gherkins, chopped capers,

then some chopped herbs - flat-leaf parsley, some chervil

and some chives - and mix them all together.

So that's the tartar sauce made.

And now to cook our chips and our fishfingers.

Cooking with the oil - we're here to help, but make sure

if you're at home that you have a responsible adult to help you out.

Pour the potatoes in

and then lower the basket gently.

You'll hear it start to fry. Now, our fishfingers.

How are we going to tell if that oil is hot enough?

You get a piece of breadcrumb and put it in,

-and if it starts bubbling, it's ready.

-Very good. I use parsley,

but that's a really good idea.

That means it's ready to go. Gently lower these in.

Really gently.

Gently turn them over. Nice golden-brown colour.

Look at the colour, because that's what you have to recreate.

My fishfingers, I think, are ready. So now to put the dish together.

A blob of tartar sauce, a little stack of fishfingers,

some potatoes...

Maybe put a little bit of rosemary inside there.

And there you have it - fishfingers, tartar sauce and chips.

-Amazing. It's perfectly presented.

-It looks delicious and really tasty.

We'll give you 40 minutes to do this dish.

We're looking forward to tasting what you can do.

Wash your hands, and let's cook.

11-year-old Joe is from Essex.

He cooks for his family every Saturday,

and recently won a baking competition at school.

It's going to be scary when they taste the food,

and I'm scared something goes wrong when I'm cooking.

-Show us your fingers, Joe.

-It's a bit...

-Hold them up, mate.

-THEY LAUGH

-That's brilliant.

Joe, what age were you when you started cooking?

-I was five years old.

-Same as me.

The first thing I cooked was pancakes and cakes with my mum.

Joe, how are you feeling about being here on MasterChef?

Happy. Amazingly happy.

-Joe, good luck.

-Thank you.

11-year-old TJ is from Enfield. He regularly cooks for his family,

and once made a dinner for 14 people.

When I cook, I feel like I can do anything.

I feel like I could do a cartwheel, swim 200 metres,

I could do anything, to be honest.

TJ, do you remember the first thing you ever cooked?

It was a Christmas party, a roast dinner.

-Do you help your mum in the kitchen?

-No, I kicked her out!

I like your style.

-You want it all for yourself?

-Yeah.

-OK.

-Are you feeling confident?

-Yeah, very confident.

-Are you a competitive person?

-Yeah, very.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-So you think the competition will heat up today?

-Definitely.

-The best of luck.

-Thank you.

You're 20 minutes in, halfway point.

You're doing incredibly well, so stay focused right until the end.

Nine-year-old Emily is from Suffolk.

She started cooking when she was seven,

and her signature dish is Japanese sushi rolls.

We've got this bookshelf full of recipes.

I just open the books on a random page and say,

"That looks nice. I'll just cook it."

Emily, what do you think you have to do today? What's your plan?

To show my best skills that I have got

and to try and get myself to the highest standard than I can do.

-How important is presentation on the plate to you?

-Very important.

-If it's messy, it's a no-no.

-OK.

-So you like to have control on your plate, in presentation?

-Yeah.

-Right.

-Brilliant. Emily, good luck.

-Thank you.

10-year-old Maya is from Macclesfield.

She was taught to cook by her dad,

and makes her own dinner four times a week.

At the end, when we have to get all the food out,

at, like, the last minute, I'm going to really, really panic.

Maya, how do you feel so far?

A little bit nervous, but I'm OK.

What else do you do, besides cooking?

Horse riding.

But I love cooking and it's my favourite thing to do.

My dad used to be a chef, so he knows a few ideas.

-Good luck with it.

-Thank you.

Last few minutes, guys.

Make them look great.

The last 60 seconds to finish off your dish, please.

Well done, guys, but your time is up. Stop cooking.

It's now judgment time.

Are the fishfingers golden brown?

Will the chips have a crispy outside and a fluffy inside?

And is the tartar sauce packed with flavour from the herbs?

Let's try yours first, Joe.

I think your fish is cooked beautifully.

The flavour of your tartar sauce is great, lots of herbs.

Your potatoes, because they're cut so small, are going soggy,

because they haven't had time to go crispy and puff up in the middle.

But I like it a lot, Joe. Really like it.

The potatoes, as John said, they could be more crispy,

but that's the only thing. The rest is fantastic. Well done.

Overall, I think my fish and chips were good...

apart from the soggy bits inside the chips.

TJ, let's have a look at yours.

TJ, the flavours are all there. It's nice and crispy.

The fishfingers are a little bigger than what we had suggested,

-but, overall, the dish is working for you. Well done.

-Thank you.

TJ, you've got to be proud of that.

Lovely pile of chips, all perfectly cooked,

going really well with that tartar sauce with lots of herbs.

Your fish - wonderful and crispy on the outside

and cooked really well through the middle. They're great.

Thank you.

I'm really pleased, to be honest. I felt really proud of myself.

Maya, let's have a look at yours.

Do you know, your presentation makes me smile. Do you know why?

Because every way I turn the plate, there's a smile on it.

Look, that way is a smile on it,

that way there's a smile on it. Brilliant.

Maya, you've got the tartar sauce really nice.

Really great use of the herb. It's really flavourful.

The fishfingers are lovely.

The outsides are just a little overdone,

but they're cooked through, so it's not the end of the world.

-What do you think you've learned today, Maya?

-How to cook chips.

An important lesson in life, I think.

-If anybody should know something, it should be how to cook chips

-Yeah.

Each side that you looked, there was a smiley face.

He really liked that.

Emily, presentation here is key,

and you have done a fantastic job.

-It's pure perfection.

-Thank you.

You fish is cooked absolutely beautifully.

Your sauce is wonderful and rich and creamy.

Potatoes - wonderfully cooked. A very good dish indeed.

-It looked good and it tasted really fantastic.

-Thank you.

They liked the dish.

They said good comments about it, and so I'm really proud of myself.

Congratulations. Off you go.

Thank you.

With the fish, I made it into a square.

-Did you two get any bad comments?

-TJ: No.

-No?

You didn't get any bad comments? Not about the chips? Nothing?

-I think they all did really well.

-They did really, really well.

There is not a disaster in the room.

We've seen what they can do following direction.

What I'm looking forward to seeing is the personalities coming through,

and I think we'll see that when they cook their own food.

You got one hour.

You'll cook for us two dishes that you love.

Remember, it is a competition,

and we can only take one forward to the quarterfinal.

Let's cook.

These cooks have us to help them in the MasterChef kitchen,

but if they were doing it at home,

they really would need a responsible adult with them.

Emily, what are the two dishes you're going to cook for us?

I'm doing Tuscan bean soup

and then puy lentils with haddock and salsa verde.

Tell me why these dishes are special to you and why you're cooking them.

These are the ones I cook for my family,

and the first time I cooked it, they really liked it.

Have you decided what you want to do when you grow up?

Well, chef or a dance teacher.

-Brilliant.

-Not the two combined, though?

-No.

-No.

She's got a big piece of fish, a lot of work to do with the soup,

she's got lentils to cook. It's the timing

and the amount of work she's given herself that worries me.

Maya, what are the two dishes you're cooking for us today?

Pan-fried prawns with a raspberry-and-lime drizzle.

Dessert, I'm doing white-chocolate-and-lime mousse.

What's the inspiration for these two dishes?

Me and my dad made the first dish up

especially for Junior MasterChef. It's completely unique.

I'm very daring,

so I try different stuff and see what it turns out like.

Do you think your two dishes are going to impress us?

Hopefully, fingers crossed.

Maya has got some daring ideas.

Prawns and raspberries might be a little bit risky.

I'm just not sure those flavours are the best combined, but we'll see.

OK, we're halfway, guys.

So keep focused. You're doing great.

What are your two dishes today?

Today, I'm making barbecued chicken wings with a blue-cheese dip.

For the main, I'm making pan-fried scallops with flavoured rice.

-Yum! Are these two dishes going to make you a quarterfinalist?

-Yes.

-I like your confidence.

-Thank you.

TJ is cooking what I call crowd-pleasers.

I think TJ's got a winning menu.

It's just whether he's got the skill to pull it off.

I'm really looking forward to trying his food.

You've got 12 minutes left, everyone. Just 12 minutes.

Joe, what dishes are you cooking for us today to impress us?

I'm cooking colcannon and lamb cutlets,

and pancakes with raspberries, chocolate Nutella,

icing sugar on the top with a strawberry. I just love pancakes.

Joe, what would it mean for you to get a place in the quarterfinal?

It'd be amazing. But there's only one opportunity, though.

-Joe, good luck with it.

-Thank you.

Pancakes with hazelnut and chocolate spread's a lovely idea,

but with raspberries as well?

Guys, one more minute,

and you've got to get the food on the plates. I'm going to call time.

That's it, guys. Time is up. Stop what you're doing, please.

Joe's main course is lamb cutlets served with colcannon -

an Irish mashed potato with cabbage and spring onion -

and oven-baked carrots, and a beef jelly.

I really enjoyed the flavours.

The mixture of the lamb with that cabbage, the spring onions

and the potato is really wonderful, also with those sweet carrots.

The sauce is wonderful and rich and flavoured with rosemary.

If I have one tiny criticism,

I think your lamb's cooked just a little further than it needs to be.

It's starting to dry out.

Joe, you've done a fantastic job here.

I mean, the presentation is even better than

something I would produce.

-I think you've done a really good job, so well done.

-Thank you.

Joe's dessert is pancakes filled with chocolate and hazelnut spread

and raspberries.

You can tell that you've made pancakes a lot of times -

the batter is the right thickness,

your pancakes are lovely and light and very, very thin.

The nutty hazelnut and chocolate spread I really, really like.

For me, you either need the raspberries in there

or just the hazelnut and chocolate spread.

I love the chocolate and raspberries. I really like it.

It's a bit of a controversial one, but I think it works, so well done.

The lamb, just a little bit overdone,

but fingers crossed that I win.

Emily's starter is a Tuscan bean soup

with potatoes, tomatoes, bacon and coriander.

There are so many flavours in there, and they are quite sophisticated.

You've got nice creaminess from the beans and potatoes,

-so I think, overall, it's worked quite well.

-Thank you.

I would have loved to have tasted the bacon or the ham

that's running through it just a little bit more.

Emily's main course is haddock,

served on a bed of puy lentils with roasted tomatoes

and a salsa verde - a green sauce with capers and anchovies.

The lentils are just a little bit undercooked,

but the fish and the salsa verde - very, very well done indeed.

Thank you.

I love the combination of the tomato, the fish and the salsa verde.

It's really worked for you.

And the fish, I think it's cooked really well, so congratulations.

Thank you.

I didn't mind the criticism because it told me

what I have to do for the next time I maybe cook them for family.

TJ's starter is barbecued chicken wings

with a blue-cheese dip

and rocket-and-tomato salad.

TJ, you're a bold man with your flavours.

Those chicken wings are lovely and spicy,

and sweet and sour with the tomato sauce.

I love the saltiness and the creaminess of your dip.

-I think it's a really, really good thing.

-Thank you.

There's a lot of spice in there, and I like my spice.

The chicken wings are really nicely marinated.

I think there needs to be a little bit more blue cheese in the dip.

Thank you.

His main is sticky pan-fried scallops

flavoured with Chinese five spice

and served with sweet chilli rice.

Your rice is cooked beautifully and flavoured really, really well.

Your scallops are cooked really well.

It's good cooking. I like it a lot.

-I really do like it a lot.

-Thank you.

You have a really good handle of flavours and spices.

The scallops are beautiful,

-and the combination with the sticky rice, it's really tasty.

-Thank you.

Yeah, I'm really pleased with myself.

Hopefully, I'm through to the next round.

Maya has made a starter of pan-fried prawns

with garlic and ginger,

served on a wholemeal crostini, with fresh asparagus

and a raspberry and lime jelly.

I really like the combination of the prawns, asparagus and bread.

Raspberries and prawns are not something I've eaten before,

and I don't know if I'll be rushing back for them,

but, without the raspberries, I think it's a really nice thing.

Maya, personally, for me,

the raspberry doesn't work as well with the prawns

as maybe something else might,

but the prawns are cooked really well and they're lovely.

Maya's dessert is a white-chocolate-and-lime mousse

with home-made ginger biscuits.

That mousse is really sweet.

It's a lovely texture, wonderful and light,

and I like sponginess of the biscuits as well.

-I think your dessert's a really lovely thing.

-Thank you.

This is my sort of dessert.

There is a really good balance of flavours,

-and you've done well to get this dish perfectly presented.

-Thank you.

I was very pleased with what the judges said, only one bad comment.

All we've got to do is sit and wait.

If today is anything to go by, we are in for a super competition.

-It is truly impressive.

-ALL: Yay!

But now we've got to make the decision.

One quarterfinal place, we've got ourselves four cooks,

where do you want to start?

Maya's dish, her starter -

the raspberry, asparagus and prawn combination

-was just a bit too out there for me.

-I agree.

Maya's white-chocolate-and-lime mousse

with the ginger biscuits was really well executed.

It's where she shone.

It's like when you're waiting for your exam results.

You're like, "Have I done good? Have I done bad?"

TJ - the chicken wings - great.

What a great thing to do.

The chicken wings had a lovely marinade.

The blue-cheese dip - there just wasn't enough blue cheese in there.

But, for me, the real winner was the scallops

and that lovely sticky rice, and it really tasted good.

He understands what makes a dish taste brilliant.

It's hard not knowing

if you're going to go through to the next round,

because no-one knows, and, like, how long to go.

Joe - the lamb a little bit overcooked, a little bit dry.

He had the beautiful cutlets arranged around the colcannon mash

-and it just looked impressive.

-His pancakes - beautiful.

For me, they would have been beyond perfect

if they had had just one filling -

either the raspberry or the chocolate and hazelnut spread.

To stay in this competition would be everything for me.

-Everything. Literally.

-Emily - that fish was beautifully cooked.

The combination of that, the sweetness of the roasted tomatoes,

it was really tasty.

The lentils were just that little bit undercooked.

The Tuscan bean soup - yes, it was good, a nice bowl of soup,

well executed, but it wasn't a wow thing.

I'm very, very tense. I don't know what's going to happen.

So there we are, our four cooks.

We've got one quarterfinal place.

I'm sorry, it's incredibly tough for me. The dishes were really strong.

Serious decision. We've got to think about this really carefully.

What an impressive day, what an amazing day.

You should all be really proud of yourselves.

But, unfortunately, this is a competition,

and we can only take one of you through to the next round.

The quarterfinalist is...

-..TJ.

-Yes!

-Well done.

-Thank you.

-Well done.

Thank you.

Congratulations.

Today, I've had so much fun.

I'm really pleased I got this far, anyway.

It's just this amazing experience.

The contestants are, like, really good friends now.

The things I am going to remember most about today

are meeting the judges and seeing TJ win.

I'm feeling amazing. I feel really proud of myself,

because they were really good competitors.

I didn't think it'd be me going through to the quarterfinal.

I feel really good. I've never felt this way before.

TG will be back for the quarterfinal,

when he'll compete with three other heat winners

for the title of Junior MasterChef.

If you'd like to make John's masterclass dish,

visit CBBC's Junior MasterChef page for the recipe.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd