Episode 10 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 two decide which Cook is good enough

to win the title of Junior MasterChef.

Junior MasterChef and it's quarter-final day.

Four of the best cooks from our heats

and today it's going to be the clash of the titans.

Who of our four cooks are going to show a real passion for cooking?

'I'm in the final eight in the whole country'

so that's just absolutely amazing.

'I can't believe I got this far.'

It doesn't compare to anything. It's just too good.

It's like the best summer holidays I've ever had.

'I really want to get through today'

cos it will really give me the confidence boost that I need

to progress further with my cooking.

So I'm going to give it everything.

'My competitors today, I think,'

are going to be very tough

because I'm the smallest one here.

But sometimes small people can be big people.

Good luck!

Two really tough challenges for our cooks today.

First up, a taste test.

Then they're going to be cooking their best two course menu

to really impress us.

It's going to be an incredibly tough decision.

We only have two places in our semi-final.

This is the taste test.

I'm going to make duck with olives, shallots and polenta chips.

Their palates are going to be seriously under pressure.

First of all, some shallots,

cook with some butter and some thyme.

Alongside that, some little tiny baby turnips.

Now for our duck.

With lots of bits of rosemary on top of it.

Also, with our duck, polenta chips.

Mm-hm.

Inside that polenta - Parmesan cheese, mascarpone,

huge amounts of garlic and then on the outside some little onion seeds.

And now the sauce.

Olives, some parsley, tarragon, chervil and some chicken stock.

Really complex and rich flavours there.

I'm just HOPING that our cooks are able to decipher them.

Josie, the messiest cook...

..with some of the most beautiful plates.

It's a taste test - food! Yes!

I'm hoping that I will be able to do it well.

This is the taste test.

What we'd like you to do

is to identify as many ingredients as you can in this dish.

Take your time with this.

Eat everything on the plate and when you have it write it down.

Best of luck.

Anything you might think.

I'd rather you to write down things than not write down things.

OK.

Sure you don't want to taste anything again?

-Are you done?

-Yeah.

-Thanks, Josie.

Could you read out what you've written on your list, please.

Erm, I got, "Lamb, onion, turnip,

"olives, potato, sage and egg."

That's good.

Now, all the ingredients underneath these cloths are in that dish.

I'm going to see if you can identify them by sight.

What's that?

That's chicken.

No, it's not.

Turkey?

What about on here?

That's Parmesan cheese.

Thank you very much indeed. Off you go.

I'm surprised about the duck.

At first she thought it was pork, then it became lamb

and when she saw the bird she said it might be a turkey.

But she got some key components in there.

She got turnips, olives, she got the Parmesan.

She tasted things and she smelt things.

All in all, not a terrible round.

'I'm feeling disappointed with myself'

and I've just NOW realised that the meat was duck.

I haven't really done much with duck whereas the others have,

so they'll probably get the main meat right.

I like the way that Nia cooked. I like her adventure.

Pears and Gorgonzola cheese,

duck with pomegranates.

Big, strong, gutsy flavours.

And don't forget, Nia is only nine years old.

She produces sophisticated food, almost beyond her years.

Nia, off you go.

For the taste test I am a little bit worried

cos I have got toothpaste in my mouth

but I think I've got quite good taste buds so it'll be good.

Don't be afraid to write it down as you taste it.

Nia, thank you very much.

Could you just tell us what you've got written on it?

"Olives, erm, pork...

"onion, thyme, garlic...and mint."

I'm just going to ask you if you can identify any of them by sight.

Erm, chicken.

Tell me what that is.

Rosemary.

Thank you very much, Nia, off you go.

Nia cooked us duck in her last round

and to not identify it by taste really is disappointing.

And then by sight, a lot of the herbs she picked up.

Rosemary, which I'm really pleased she knew what that was.

I think John was a little bit harsh...

cos he chose very hard ingredients

but it was good because he tested us.

Tom takes classic dishes - chicken goujon -

and puts his own little slant on it.

Adding the salty Parmesan round the outside.

Lovely and crispy, and light.

And the skill of making his mayo, which I was really impressed with.

'I like doing unexpected challenges'

because I'm quite good at that sort of thing.

Off you go.

OK, Tom.

Do me a favour, Tom, just taste the meat again, please.

-OK, Tom, done?

-Yeah.

"Black olives, onion, potato, coriander, pork, turnip,

"parsley and pork fat."

Do you know what that is?

-A duck.

-A duck.

What about this? Do you know what this is?

Polenta.

Thank you, Tom. Off you go.

Again, I think I'm slightly on the disappointed side.

By taste, Tom didn't get the duck but by sight he absolutely did

and, actually, funnily enough,

by taste, he believed the chips were made of potato

but yet he did identify polenta correctly.

'I thought the challenge was really hard'

because there was a lot of ingredients

which seemed to be obvious but they actually weren't.

I don't think I impressed them, unfortunately.

Nobody has identified the meat by taste yet.

We have one last chance.

Jamie decided to take one of my recipes and cook it for us

to secure his place in the quarter-final.

Wonderful dumplings coated with a sweet, sticky syrup.

He is a brave man to come into the kitchen and take on the Torode

but he produced a wonderfully flavourful dessert.

Jamie, off you go.

'I think I'm quite good at tasting flavours'

because, like, when you make something and taste it,

you've got to check the seasoning, and stuff.

I just hope that I can pick up all the flavours.

-I finished.

-OK, fine. Great.

"Thyme, black olive, shallot, duck, crispy potato,

"parsley, and salt and pepper."

-What's that?

-Rosemary.

-See if there's anything else you can identify.

-Parsley.

Is that tarragon?

Is that polenta?

Parmesan...

garlic and black onion seed.

Thank you, Jamie, off you go.

Thank you.

Black onion seeds - brilliant.

But we've got somebody who knows it's duck!

That's the most impressive thing.

We have someone who has tasted what it is

and identified it correctly as duck.

He really is a boy who has been cooking quite a bit.

I am happy that I've shown the judges that my palate is very good -

not like my mum and dad's! Sorry, Dad and Mum!

'I just don't want this day to end.'

It's really good.

Now it really is crunch time.

You have to impress us with your best two course menu.

One hour!

Good luck. Let's Cook!

Today, our cooks have us to call upon if they need some help.

If they were to do this at home,

they would have to have a responsible adult with them at all times.

Nia, a very exciting day for us cos we get to see you cook again.

We have high expectations.

Yes, it's very nerve-racking

cos I've got some very tough competitors.

Well, Nia, what are your two dishes today?

I'm cooking rustic mushroom soup with warm soda bread

and for main, I'm doing chilli lemon splashed haddock

with a vegetable couscous.

That's different from the last time you cooked?

Last time, it was more of a posh and this is more comfort food.

So, I'm showing you that I can cook different types of styles.

-Nia, we look forward to it.

-Thank you.

That starter of a comforting mushroom soup

has to be seasoned to perfection if she's going to impress today.

I love soda bread

so I'm going to be looking for wonderfully light and airy bread.

I just hope she can deliver it in the time.

Then we've got lemon and chilli splashed haddock

on a vegetable couscous.

I'll be just interested to see

if she can make all those taste clean and crisp.

If she does, fantastic!

Jamie, what is your two course menu?

I'm making goat's cheese, sweet potato and pumpkin seed ravioli

with a spicy tomato sauce

and for main, I'm making rib-eye steak with a pea puree,

grilled tomato and chantenay carrots.

Mmm!

What would a place in the semi-final mean to you?

It would be absolutely fantastic.

I'm thinking about it now

but I just really need to get my head down and get this done.

You have a lot of work to do in a short period of time. Good luck.

Jamie is going all out today.

He's making home-made pasta.

With the sweet potato ravioli, he's pushing his boundaries

and I'm REALLY looking forward to tasting that starter.

We then have a steak, and some peas, and some carrots.

It sounds brilliant.

For Jamie, he has to make sure it's all done in time.

We are halfway through the cooking time.

Stay focused and produce beautiful food!

Tom, what is your two course menu you've chosen to make for us?

I'm doing sticky Oriental pork ribs,

with Oriental noodles and spring vegetables

and for a pudding, I'm doing a chocolate tower.

Basically, you've got chocolate mousse

and you layer it with white chocolate and dark chocolate

and hopefully it will set, so it should taste nice.

Can you do me a favour, Tom? Can you please not use the word hopefully?

DONAL LAUGHS

-Is it going to set?

-Yes.

-Hopefully.

-Hopefully.

Tom has promised us beautiful ribs, but he has to get them right.

The meat has to be falling off the bone

and there had to be that zing of wonderful Asian aromatic flavours.

And then he's serving up white and dark chocolate mousse.

If he can get these two right, we're in for a treat.

Josie, what is your two course menu today?

Seabass with a Mediterranean crust,

a Dolcelatte dip and a Mediterranean salad,

followed by blackcurrant, raspberry and elderflower crowdie.

-And would you say you're under control?

-I'm more tidy today, John.

-So, note that.

-I have taken note of that already.

I'm impressed we have non mess, we have a bit of order.

-Yes.

-Josie, good luck with it.

-Thank you.

For her main course, she's chosen a Mediterranean crusted seabass.

And she's doing it with a Dolcelatte dip. Blue cheese and fish?

Really strong flavours. Does that really work?

For dessert, Josie's got a blackcurrant and elderflower crowdie,

a sort of cream mixed with pinhead oatmeal and honey,

all layered up, looking really, really beautiful.

You've got five minutes left, everyone. Five minutes left.

Your time is now up.

Please step away from your benches and stop cooking.

Nia has made a starter of rustic mushroom soup,

served with Irish soda bread, made with baking soda instead of yeast.

I like your soup. It's really from the mushrooms. It's sweet,

good bread, with a very rich, woody soup.

This is like a big bowl of comfort

I love that you served it with soda bread, one of my favourite breads.

And you've done a really nice job on it.

It's got that wonderful home-baked taste to it

and goes well with the soup.

Nia's main is chilli lemon splashed haddock,

served on a bed of vegetable couscous.

Your fish is cooked beautifully.

You've got a nice, crispy skin. You've got that wonderful couscous

with great little pops of sweetness from the peppers in there.

I think, if anything, you could go a bit further with the spice.

OK.

I think it's a good dish.

I think it would come alive and really explode in your mouth

with more chilli, that will just make it something quite special.

I feel a little bit sad that I didn't put enough spice on

and, you know, give it as much bang as I could, but it was still good.

Jamie has made a starter of sweet potato

and goat's cheese ravioli, with a tomato and ginger sauce.

Three perfectly formed, perfectly filled, little parcels of loveliness.

Sweet potato, salty goat's cheese, with that sweet tomato sauce.

It's a very, very good dish, Jamie.

You've got these wonderful ravioli which you've made by yourself

in the small amount of time we gave you and they're perfectly formed.

Really nicely done.

Jamie's main is rib-eye steak, served with chantenay carrots,

mint pea puree and grilled tomatoes.

I think your steak is cooked really well.

The other thing I really liked, you've chosen a rib-eye.

Not a piece of fillet with no flavour, but a proper steak.

A bloke's thing that tastes like meat and that's good.

You've got that minty freshness from that pea puree,

the sweetness from that tomato is wonderful with the rest of it

and you've shown us that you can take

a big chunk of meat like that and really treat it with respect.

Really good dish here, Jamie.

The judges' comments made me feel really warm inside,

especially the second dish.

I just really want to get through to the semi-final.

Tom has made a main course of sticky barbecue ribs,

served on a bed of rice noodles, with oriental vegetables.

The chilli kind of sneaks up on you and whacks you round the head.

Really nice alongside the lovely noodles

which you've kept nice and moist and sweet.

Your noodles, I really like.

Really wonderful, rich onion type flavour running all the way through,

but I think those ribs could be cooked a little bit longer

and they should fall off the bone.

Tom's dessert is white and dark chocolate layered mousse,

served with chocolate coated strawberries.

There's a lovely layer of bitterness from the chocolate

and then that creamy sweetness from the white chocolate

and it's beautifully set, it's wonderfully light.

The only thing is I would love a little bit of texture on the top,

maybe honeycomb, just for more crunch,

but really nice dessert, Tom.

Tom, is this a dessert for two?

Is there any way really one person could devour the whole lot?

-Definitely.

-Really?!

-(Yes.)

I like the sweet milkiness coming from the milk chocolate

and the strawberries dipped in chocolate.

Sweet, but sharp. It's a really good thing

and you know, a biscuit wouldn't go astray.

Incredibly proud of myself,

even if they don't think it's enough.

To get those comments

and to be able to complete this challenge, I'm overwhelmed.

Josie's main is seabass

with a Mediterranean crust of breadcrumbs, pine nuts and olives,

served with a dip of creme fraiche and Dolcelatte,

an Italian blue cheese,

and a tomato and mozzarella salad.

Josie, I think you have a bit of a retro streak in you,

because I love the way you've presented it.

You definitely like the '80s style thing

and that's why I think John likes it as much as he does.

It's that cool, kind of retro throwback.

That's why I like it, because it's cool.

You're a little bit retro and quirky yourself, John.

Cool.

Cool. OK, we'll go with cool.

Good food reminds you of things

and this reminds me of the Mediterranean sunshine.

Salty olives, that crunchiness of the pine nuts.

I really like the fish, because the fish is cooked really well.

But I think the blue cheese and the fish,

they're fighting against each other.

But what I'm really pleased about, it's your food, your ideas

and I think that's brilliant. Good on you.

I love this salad. It totally has your own twist.

It's that classic of mozzarella, tomatoes and basil leaves

and those flavours are heightened

with the addition of pine nuts and olives.

You've gone all out and it's great.

Josie's dessert is summer fruits and cream crowdie -

a Scottish porridge, made with oatmeal, honey and cream.

I like dessert to be surprising and individual and not too sweet

and this is just how I like it.

It's rich and almost porridge-like from those oats underneath

and then you get the really good, sharp hit

coming from those blackcurrants.

You still have wonderful richness

coming from the elderflower in the background.

I think it's a really lovely thing.

Because there's wonderful tanginess and sourness

from the berries in there,

this really works and I love it. It's just different.

I'm pretty chuffed with all of that and...

..hoping and praying, hoping and praying.

Four really good cooks and we've only got two semi-final places.

If our decision today was put solely down to that taste test,

Jamie would be through with flying colours.

Not only that, but he produced wonderful dishes.

Jamie's ravioli, with the tomato sauce, spiced with ginger,

a great combination.

And then that really chunky bit of meat, which he cooked to perfection.

I was seriously impressed.

The guy's a little star.

He deserves a semi-final place.

That leaves us with Nia, Josie and Tom.

Tom, liked the noodle salad.

Rich with chilli, thought it was really delicious,

but the ribs weren't quite cooked enough.

Tom had that wonderfully silky mousse,

but the only thing I was missing was texture,

maybe some honeycomb, or some sort of crunch in there.

Just being here is... it's been an experience

and I've enjoyed it all the way.

And even if I don't get through,

it's been fun and I'll remember it forever.

Josie's seabass, cooked very well, all seasoned very well.

The blue cheese dip by itself was tasty.

Maybe not with the fish, but altogether,

a really well-cooked dish.

Josie's dessert was delicious. It was sharp,

it tasted like the best porridge in the world.

It was a really good, hearty dessert that smacked you round the mouth.

The best thing about Josie in the kitchen

is that you can see the potential.

It would just be absolutely amazing if I got a place in the semi-final.

It would just feel like, sort of one...

..bingo!

Kind of like a "yee-ha!" type of feel.

Nia's dishes today were quite pared back

from what we've had from her before.

Really nice simple flavours in that woody, earthy mushroom soup

and that soda bread, nice, crusty and crunchy outside

and a wonderful, clean home-baked taste.

For our main course, we had couscous,

the couscous bejewelled with sprinkles of red pepper.

It went beautifully with fish.

But I wanted a bit more chilli, just to bring the whole thing alive.

If I go home today, I'll feel a bit sad,

but I'll be really happy that I got this far

and all the other competitors who go through, you know, they deserve it.

SHE EXHALES DEEPLY

'We have to make the right decision today,'

because one of these cooks could be our Junior Masterchef Champion.

Who's it going to be?

Incredible day today, guys. Wow,

we were really impressed with the work you've put in.

But we only have two places in our semi-final.

Our first semi-finalist is...

..Jamie.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

Our second semi-finalist is...

..Josie.

Thank you.

Well done.

I've learnt quite a lot, you know, that I really can cook.

I didn't get through, but I'm still proud of myself.

I'm feeling a bit shocked, because it's the end of the road.

But I've learned that if I do try harder,

then good things will come.

'I'm so happy.'

It's unreal,

this is way better than any Christmas present or anything.

I'm actually in the semi-final!

'Yeah! I'm feeling amazing.'

I'm so excited for the challenges that we're going to get.

I'm going to give absolutely everything that I've got.

I'm through!

Yay!

Jamie and Josie will be back for the semi-finals.

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