Episode 5 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 it's quarter-final time.

Four great cooks who have fought it out through the heats

and they are here today and the battle really starts.

-We have TJ!

-Being in the quarter-finals is incredible.

I'm more scared because I know the opposition

is going to be good, really good.

-Eloise!

-It means a lot.

Because I've worked hard for this.

-Georgie!

-I want to win a lot.

I've practised and practised.

I know I can do it if I try my hardest.

-And Tom!

-It's really important I show the judges

how good I can do and that they're impressed

with my food today, because if I don't impress, it's the end, really.

Our cooks face two challenges.

First, a taste test. They have to identify lots of ingredients

amongst some wonderful dumplings.

And then they're going to cook us their favourite two-course menu.

I cannot wait to see what they have up their sleeves!

It's going to be an incredibly tough decision.

We only have two places in our semi-final.

There's the taste test. We've got three dumplings.

A duck, carrot, ginger and garlic one.

A pork, spring onion and sesame seed and chicken, prawn and chilli.

The duck dumpling is in a broth

flavoured with spring onion and the spice star anise.

We'll ask our four cooks to taste them and identify

as many ingredients as they can.

There's so many flavours here! They'll have to concentrate.

Will the contestants be able to identify the key ingredients

in the Chinese dumplings? - which are pork mince,

chicken, prawns, duck,

chilli, coriander, spring onion,

ginger and star anise, a licorice-flavoured spice from Asia.

Georgie is an incredibly precise cook.

In the heats, her ravioli were perfect.

Almost as good as mine! Actually, maybe even better than mine!

John and Dolan were really pleased with my food and said it tasted good.

Today, it might be harder, so I'm really nervous.

OK, Georgie, this is the taste test.

We would like you to eat what's in front of you, use all your senses,

and write down as many ingredients as you can identify.

Take your time with it and don't be nervous.

Go for it! All yours.

I do like to experiment with things and taste different combinations.

I just don't know what it's going to be like,

cos I've never done anything like this before.

That's hard.

Relax a little bit and use all your senses, OK?

-What can you smell?

-I've never smelt anything like that before.

It's slightly spicy. I think it's probably chilli.

Now you've tasted it, do me a favour and just read out

the ingredients that you've listed, please.

Spring onion, pork, chive,

prawn, crab, chilli, coriander,

duck, carrot and then stuck.

-Where does this food, what country, might it have come from?

-China.

Very good. So now we're going to show you some of the ingredients.

And see if there is anything else that you can identify.

-I didn't put ginger.

-OK.

-Didn't put star anise.

-OK.

-Georgie, thank you.

-Thank you.

I think she was very nervous and once she calmed down,

by the time she got to the duck dumpling, she got it straight off.

The pork, the spring onions - touches that could have been missed.

-She got them.

-All in all, I'm happy.

It was really nerve-racking.

When I first bit into them, it was, "I've no idea what's in these!"

Tom takes the classics and gives them a twist.

His own personality goes on to the plate.

Egg, asparagus and tarragon butter. You can't go wrong.

Well, you could have, but Tom got it bang on!

I always wanted to be a chef, but since Junior MasterChef,

I have to be a chef, I have to.

-Good day, Tom. Nice to see you again.

-Yeah.

-Off you go!

I hope my senses are up to scratch,

because they have to be up to scratch, really.

Have a look at it, as well.

-Anything else?

-Mm?

-No, I think that's it.

-OK, Tom.

Do you have idea where this sort of food might be coming from?

Sort of Asia, around Asia,

-probably Indian, or Chinese maybe.

-Good!

Can you please read out what you've written?

I've put sausage meat, so pork, spring onion.

Prawn, chilli, soy sauce.

I've got carrot, duck and it's quite a hot sauce.

Good. So now I've got some of the ingredients inside all of these.

And I'm going to ask you to try and identify as many as you can.

That's star anise.

-This one?

-Ginger.

-OK.

Smell that.

Very salty. It smells a bit like cat food.

-Tom, thank you. You just made me smile.

-Thank you.

-Off you go.

I think Tom did really well.

He got the duck absolutely right by taste and sight inside the dumpling.

Chicken, pork and prawns.

I loved his comment about cat food and the fish sauce.

Because, to smell, it is a really kind of pungent flavour.

It was a bit hard but I'm pretty confident.

I've just got to prove how good I am in my two-course menu.

TJ came in here,

showed us his confidence and proved he can cook delicious food.

He went for bold flavours and he really delivered.

The man sets your palate on fire.

Since I entered the competition, I've been cooking non-stop.

Usually on Fridays, we get Chinese or something.

But instead of getting Chinese or pizza, I'd have to cook it myself.

Come and join us, TJ.

There's a knife and fork there. All yours.

I think my senses are good.

Yeah, I think I might do well.

-Done?

-Yep.

-OK.

Erm, I think that there's flour, spring onion,

sausage, coriander, prawns, chilli, chicken, mince meat, duck and carrot.

-Nice!

-TJ, pretty good.

-Is it stars...? Chinese...?

-Star anise.

-Star anise.

-You can't give him the answer!

-What? He was there!

"Chinese stars." "Oh, star anise!"

Coriander, spring onions, ginger.

-Where do you think the dish is from?

-I think it's from China.

-Thank you very much, TJ. You did really well.

-Thank you very much.

Thank you.

-He was good.

-TJ picked up most of those ingredients pretty quickly.

He seems to have a pretty good palate.

I like how he wrote down "sausage". He couldn't identify pork.

But taste of it, he knew it was going to be something like sausage.

I found the taste test pretty fun.

The tastiest thing I tasted there was the prawn thing.

Eloise was a dynamo in the kitchen!

I was worried when I saw those beautiful visuals that

maybe the flavours weren't there but she delivered really delicious food.

My mum and dad, they're most proud of me being in the quarter-final.

I call my dad. "Who is that? Eloise, I can't believe it!"

You look like you mean business, Eloise.

Very good!

This is the taste test. Off you go!

I'm feeling a bit nervous, but a bit confident as well,

because I'm confident that I can do my best.

-I think I'm done.

-OK.

-In there it smells of somewhere. Where does it smell of?

-Wagamama's.

-Eloise, can you tell us what's on your list?

-Pork, green onion,

-chilli, prawn, soya sauce, duck, carrot, sugar and spice.

-OK.

My word!

Ginger.

Star anise, I think. Sesame seed oil.

-Eloise, really well done.

-Thank you.

She did really well there.

And it was interesting to see the way she approached it.

She took her time. She was busy smelling it before she tasted it!

And she was writing things down.

What I'm pleased about, Eloise got sesame oil. She's got the knowledge.

It went better than I thought it would and the food was really nice.

Well, we know that you can use your palates.

Now, it's crunch time. We only have two places in the semi-finals.

Your best two-course menu.

One hour. Wash your hands. Let's cook!

Remember, all the cooks in our MasterChef kitchen today

have us on hand if they need help.

If they were doing this at home,

they really would need to ask a responsible adult.

Eloise, what magical mystery tour are we going on today?

I'm taking you to Belgium, cos I'm making some chocolate mille-feuille.

Also to Australia with...

..roast lamb with a couscous, date and pistachio filling.

-With Mediterranean vegetables.

-Where did the inspiration come from?

They're family favourites, really.

My sisters really like chocolate mille-feuille.

-But my mum and dad really like the lamb.

-Are you feeling any nerves?

Yes, I am, but I just need to work on what I'm doing today.

Eloise has promised us beautiful lamb with couscous.

I'm hoping she delivers a lovely gravy or jus in there.

And for dessert, a chocolate mille-feuille.

Slabs of chocolate, dark and milk, raspberries and cream inbetween.

It is going to be an elegant, precise, little bundle of fun.

TJ, what are you cooking today?

A killer jerk chicken and a macaroni and cheese bake.

-What's the dessert, TJ?

-They did this at William and Kate's wedding.

It's like this sort of cream and after you get berries as well.

It also has like a man shortbread.

I'm just going to put the shortbread men beside it,

just sort of hanging around and all that!

-Just chilling out on the side of the plate.

-Yeah!

Jerk chicken, a highly spiced chicken from Jamaica.

-Will he get it done in time?

-That's going to be hot!

We're halfway through the cooking time, guys!

Remember, you're cooking for a place in that semi-final.

-Tom, what deliciousness are you making?

-A fancy steak and chips.

And then chocolate fondant.

-Pardon?

-Chocolate fondant.

-Why such a risk, Tom?

Once I cooked one, I knew I wanted to do it for MasterChef.

The more I push myself and the better it is,

-then the more chance I've got of going through.

-Brilliant!

-Thank you.

Today, he's put his stamp firmly on the classics.

My fingers are crossed for Tom that chocolate comes out, it bursts open,

it runs with beautiful chocolate.

Georgie, what are you going to cook for us?

For my starter, I'm doing smoked salmon parcels with crab and shallot.

For my main, I'm doing roasted lamb

on a bed of crushed Nicoise potatoes with roasted vegetables.

-How are you cooking the lamb?

-Pink in the middle, but brown outside.

-That's the way I like my lamb.

-Semi-final place up for grabs.

I've got this far. I just want to carry on till the end.

It smells good! But you've got ten minutes to deliver!

You've got five minutes left! Five minutes to finish off your dishes!

Guys, your time is now up. Please, step away from your plates.

Well done.

Eloise has made a main course of roast lamb stuffed with couscous,

dates and pistachios, served with Mediterranean vegetables.

The lamb is well cooked, so you should be happy with that.

Really nice sweetness from those roast veggies.

The one thing that's missing is a nice bit of gravy.

-I tried making a jus, but it didn't work out.

-A jus, sorry!

That's me and my Irish ways, saying gravy!

"Jus" is much more elegant and it would have benefited from it.

The richness and sweetness of your peppers, courgettes and red onion

underneath the lamb brings it together into a lovely marriage.

-I can see you're missing the sauce on your lamb.

-Yeah.

-Don't put yourself under so much pressure, OK?

-Yeah.

-Enjoy yourself as well.

-Yeah.

Her dessert is chocolate mille-feuille -

layers of chocolate with cream and raspberries and a raspberry coulis.

Eloise, I was impressed watching you make the chocolate layers

and you were doing a bit of the feathering. Really interesting.

Very creative as well. As a dish, the ingredients work well together.

Thank you.

The raspberry around the outside is becoming more like sherbet.

It's fizzy and that is bringing everything together

and heightening every single aspect of your dish.

It looks great. It tastes great. Well done.

Really happy.

The judges really liked it. I hope I've done enough to get through.

TJ has made a main course of killer jerk chicken

with macaroni cheese bake and plantain -

a Caribbean savoury banana.

The fragrance coming off your chicken is filling my nostrils

-and making me salivate.

-Thank you.

TJ, you promised us "killer" jerk chicken and you've delivered!

It is SO spicy and paired up with macaroni cheese, it's really nice.

You've stamped your personality all over this dish. Well done.

Thank you.

Your chicken rocks!

That thick caramel crust of spice on the outside...

It's just great! It makes my lips tingle, brings my palate alive.

Nutty and sweet plantain. I have no faults to find.

TJ's dessert is shortbread men with orange-flavoured cream,

fresh berries and a berry compote.

-What happened with our shortbread?

-I should have given them time to cool

and then lifted them up.

TJ, they're really good shortbreads. It's nice and buttery.

There's that wonderful tartness of the berries there, but also sweet.

And against that cream, it's absolutely fantastic!

Cream, shortbread, berries. It's great! It's really, really good.

Those comments made me feel like I could go through to the semi-finals!

Georgie has made a starter of smoked salmon, crab and avocado parcel,

with a caper and shallot dressing.

Georgie, that smoked salmon is fantastic!

It's really deep and smoky and flavourful.

-As a plate, it's wonderfully fresh.

-Thank you.

I've got sweet saltiness coming from the salmon.

I've got sea saltiness from the crab.

Then I've got this wonderful sharp sweetness from capers and avocado.

It's refreshing. It's cooling. It's light.

It's really elegant!

Georgie's main is roast rack of lamb,

crushed potatoes with olives and capers,

chargrilled peppers, tomatoes, courgettes and green beans.

Woah-ho! Look at that!

That lamb is smoky and sweet and rich.

The potatoes, woody with the olives, and sharp saltiness of the capers.

-It's just great.

-Thank you.

With the lamb, you've got it beautifully cooked.

-You've really got a hold of all those flavours.

-Thank you.

I'm probably most happy with the colour of the lamb inside.

Because I found the perfect time and it worked.

Tom has served his fillet steak on chips,

with carrot puree, broccoli and home-made horseradish cream.

This beef dish looks brilliant.

Woah!

I don't think steak and chips, as a name, does THIS justice,

because it is so much more! I'm loving that pureed carrot.

The horseradish - very nice against that rich meatiness of the steak.

-You have beautifully cooked chips. Very, very nice.

-Thank you.

It's a really sophisticated main course.

It dances around your mouth and it's like magic.

His dessert is chocolate fondant with creme fraiche and raspberries.

Tom, incredible flavours. That wonderful, rich darkness.

That lovely, molten interior. This is good chocolate fondant.

-And I really like it.

-Yeah.

The texture is silky. It's like I'm eating hot chocolate ice cream.

It's refreshing and cleansing at the same time as being rich and dark.

-Good on yer, Tom!

-Well done.

You think, "I've cooked this for you. I just hope you like it."

And when they do like it, it's just really amazing.

Four great cooks, two semi-final places.

This is going to be an incredibly tough decision.

Shall we start with TJ?

Those wonderful killer jerk chicken drumsticks.

Really tasty and really full of flavour.

With that mac and cheese, a really interesting touch.

Dessert - that crumbly shortbread. Sour, sweet berries and rich cream.

I've got to say, I can't find much fault with TJ's food today.

I think we've made the decision for the judges really difficult.

Because we've all done really, really well.

Georgie's vibrant parcel of salmon.

Really fantastic, fresh flavours from her starter.

And then that rack of lamb, sitting on top of those potatoes,

with the capers through it, roast veggies - it tasted great!

I'm feeling happy, nervous, confident, excited.

I just can't tell who's going to get through.

I admired Tom's bravery today.

He made sure he showed us every single skill and talent he had.

Steak, chips, sweet carrot puree, spiciness from horseradish.

Everything cooked really, really well. It was great!

And that fondant tasted fantastic!

If I got through to the semi-finals, it would just feel amazing.

It would just be the best thing ever.

The dishes today were what I expected from Eloise.

The lamb was beautifully cooked.

I just wish she had a sauce around it. It just missed that.

Then we hit the dessert. Little bits of chocolate and tiny bits of cream,

piles of raspberries, a little sherbety raspberry coulis.

It was bing-bang-bosh!

It was proper, good dessert, they way I like it.

I really want to stay in the competition,

because it's just such a great experience.

Whoever goes through becomes a semi-finalist.

You become a semi-finalist, you've got a chance to win the competition.

This is so tough. I really like all the different dishes we tried today.

Two places - who's it going to be?

Wow! What an incredible day.

Really, really well done.

Two of you are going to be going through

and two of you are going to go home.

Our two semi-finalists...

TJ...

and Tom.

Well done, guys. Really good.

I'm a bit sad to be going, but I have to think of the positives.

Of how far I got and how well I did.

I've had loads of fun being here.

I've enjoyed showing the judges my own two-course menus

and how I like to cook.

I was so happy when I got to the quarter-finals.

And now it's just... It's unreal! It's amazing.

I'm feeling really happy. I'm feeling really pleased with myself.

I'm excited about the semi-finals, but it's going to be tough.

Tom and TJ will be back for the semi-finals.

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