Episode 10 MasterChef

MasterChef is back! Hundreds auditioned

and now the best 60 amateur cooks are through.

I'm not that mad. Wait till you hear what's in me dish!

-It's burned.

-No, we call that enthusiastically crisp.

Each week, 12 new contestants battle for just four

places in Friday's quarterfinal.

So raw.

Only the strongest will make it to the final challenges.

I wish they'd liven this soap up. 20 minutes I've been waiting.

-I love it!

-Ha-ha!

They want to survive this competition,

they're going to have to be good.

Cooking doesn't get tougher than this.

These six amateurs all think they've got what it takes

to become MasterChef.

But at the end of today's heat,

only two will go through to Friday's quarterfinal.

Six amateur cooks in the kitchen

and one of you could be our champion.

That's of course, if you can cook. Ha-ha!

Right now, you are going to cook for us one dish.

This is your calling card.

You never get another opportunity, do you,

to make a good first impression?

Ladies and gentlemen, one hour.

Let's cook!

My mother and my grandmother both encouraged me to cook and

we now all live in one big building together in a weird family unit.

Hello, Beany. You're doing Thai cooking.

I am indeed, yes.

Why Thai cooking as your opening statement?

I was very lucky that I used to live in Thailand.

-Did you really?

-I did indeed, yes.

Did you... How did that come about?

-I was a scuba diver.

-Were you?

-Yeah.

Wonderful! Beany, I'm looking forward to this.

And there's an Aussie bloke at the end of the hall

-who's probably looking forward to it even more.

-Hope so.

Beany's cooking for us my favourite cuisine in the whole world, Thai.

Thai fishcakes need to be rubbery.

The som tum needs to be fiery hot.

And that pomelo needs to be broken up and be really refreshing.

Hello.

I'm always in the kitchen. I'm always doing things with food.

You know, embarrassingly, when I got together with my partner,

for example, I was like, "Don't look under the bed.

There's magazines there." And it wasn't what she thought they were.

It was actually full of food magazines.

So, you know, that's my kind of relationship with food.

-Hello, Leng.

-Hello.

-What are you making for us today?

I'm starting the chicken off in a pan and finishing it in the oven.

And that's going to have a Madeira, pancetta and mushroom reduced sauce

with a bit of cream in there and served on a champ potato mash.

How's the first experience of MasterChef?

Erm, it's very interesting to be here, actually,

cos it's quite strange spending years watching this series

and here we are. We have live Gregg in front of me here.

Mushrooms have to have a little crunch on them still.

The chicken's got to be cooked all the way through, but not be dry.

And he's serving champ potatoes. A crunch of green,

but the whites of the spring onions cooked all the way through.

Tell you what, if he can do this, this is going to be brilliant.

You've had 20 minutes.

A master plan?

As far as cooking goes...

..I suppose, you know, it's a bit pie in the sky.

I'd quite like a book, that'd be pretty cool.

The Ginger Chef.

Hello, Drew. Tell me where your passion for cooking came from.

My mum, really.

You know, everyone says their mum's the best cook,

but my mum's the best cook.

You know, you just love your mum's cooking, don't you, really?

Drew is cooking for us chargrilled fennel,

braised fennel,

a sauce made of fennel, with tomato and olive oil,

and olive oil mash with a piece of pan-fried bream.

So, we might have a greasy, fennel fish dish.

However, if Drew gets this right,

we may have a great, classic cook on our hands.

You're over halfway.

There's 25 minutes left.

I love the peacefulness of cooking.

You can sit there, have a glass of wine,

have some music on in the background.

It's my relaxation.

I don't think today will be that relaxing, though.

Anna, what are you making right now?

I'm making loin of venison with crispy bubble and squeak,

cabbage and bacon and a blackberry balsamic jus.

Isn't all bubble and squeak crispy?

Well, no. I deep fry it.

-You deep fry bubble and squeak?

-Deep fry bubble and squeak.

-Well, healthy cook, are you?

-Absolutely.

I enjoy deep-fried food and meat. So, yeah.

It's not the venison and the blackberries.

It's not the venison and the bubble and squeak.

It's the bubble and squeak with the blackberries and balsamic vinegar

that would concern me.

However, it's a refreshing thing to have somebody walk in and say,

"Here's what I love to eat. And that's why I'm cooking it!"

I have never done anything like this before in my life.

I think when I first applied, I was fairly confident,

but that confidence has kind of slowly been replaced by terror.

You have got loads and loads of energy.

-You are bouncing around all over the place.

-Yeah, I've got a lot to do.

We only have an hour so, needs must.

What are you going to make for us?

I'm making vegetable samosas with a tomato, coriander and cucumber salsa

with a mint raita.

Why, why are you here on MasterChef?

I don't know. It's sort of spontaneous.

Everybody's been saying I should go for it.

It's something I never really fancied

and then I thought, why not?

You know you only live once. Go for it.

Luke, I have a good feeling about this.

The force is strong, yeah?

Luke has made his own pastry for the outside of the samosa.

He's made his own filling, he's stuffing it, he's frying it.

I've got to say, I love a brave cook, basically saying I love good food

and it doesn't have to be complicated. That is exciting!

Ten minutes. Just ten minutes.

Growing up it wasn't, you know, necessarily,

the done thing for a boy to be in the kitchen.

So, I had to really fight tooth and nail

to be allowed to pursue my passion.

What are you making, Ricky?

I'm making coriander duck with flaked rice with some potato

and pomegranate through it and a raita with mustard and banana.

So, let me get this right. We've got coriander duck.

Yeah. Coriander, ginger.

Mmm! Lovely.

But duck and a banana?

Ricky's combinations sound extraordinary.

We have duck served with a raita, not made with mint and cucumber

like the rest of the world. No, no.

He's going to put in a banana and mustard.

I don't know where these flavours come from.

I can't understand them at all.

Hello? No, I think you need to take this ingredient away. Thank you. Bye.

-It will work.

-You think it'll work?

-Yeah.

-OK.

Just three minutes left.

That's it. Time's up.

For her calling card dish, former Thai resident Beany

is serving Thai fishcakes with two Thai salads.

Som tum with green papaya

and yam som o with pomelo grapefruit.

Your som tum green papaya salad is made nicely,

but it needs to be a little bit more fiery hot.

Your fishcake, the flavours are OK,

but a good fishcake should be rubbery.

Your pomelo salad is nice, sour and sweet.

It's just that all these things going together

become a little bit confused.

The one I love the most is that pomelo.

Getting that pomelo sharpness is a lovely sensation,

but my palate is searching around for the heat.

I just want chilli.

Obviously, the flavours weren't quite right for them.

So, I obviously failed a little bit on that aspect,

but hopefully, in the next round, I'll do a bit better.

Charity volunteer Leng has cooked pan-fried chicken breast with

pancetta and mushrooms,

champ mash, wilted spinach

and the Madeira sauce.

The flavour of your champ is lovely.

Your spinach is nice and it's been well seasoned.

But your chicken is overcooked and dry.

Your mashed potatoes are a little bit thin.

Your sauce needs to be a lot thicker and a lot more vibrant.

What you were attempting to do, I said was risky,

-and I don't think you quite pulled it off.

-Yeah.

I think you got a bit of potential.

I think your choice of ingredients here

and some of your flavours are very, very good, indeed.

I think you've been let down in technique.

You know, I didn't wow them in the way that I think a calling card

should wow them. So, you know,

for that I know I've got to work a bit harder.

Sales manager Drew has made pan-fried bream,

olive oil mash, wilted spinach,

braised and chargrilled fennel

and a tomato and fennel sauce served with aioli.

There are things on here I really like, Drew.

I like your mashed potato. I like your aioli.

I like the way you cooked your fish.

However, there's absolutely no place for tomatoes on that dish

whatsoever.

-What we've got on here is all the things that you love to eat...

-Yep.

-..on one plate.

-Yep.

Basically, you either take away the mash or you take away the tomatoes.

-Yeah.

-You know, one of those two go.

-Yep. OK.

Some positive comments, some constructive criticism.

I think for first dish...

..I'm reasonably happy.

Insurance broker Anna's dish is roast loin of venison,

crispy bubble and squeak,

savoy cabbage with bacon

and a blackberry and balsamic jus.

Your venison is cooked really nicely. I love your little bubble and squeak.

Well, it's not a little bubble and squeak.

It's the biggest bubble and squeak I've ever seen in my life!

And it's got great flavours of a roast dinner.

You like fried food and meat.

And I'll tell you what, you make good fried food and meat, Anna.

Thank you.

You know and I know, that sauce for that venison is perfect.

There is nowhere near enough of it because you've only wanted it

as a decoration, which in my mind is a shame.

There wasn't enough sauce,

but, actually, that was really the worst comment.

So, if that's it then, it's not too bad.

Robotics engineer Luke has made vegetable samosas

with a tomato, cucumber and coriander salsa

served with a raita.

Anybody who walks in here and makes a samosa from scratch

and delivers such wonderful flavours has got to be a really good cook.

Luke, that is awesome!

What you have here is delicious.

Absolutely delicious.

Thanks a lot for the comments.

I'm relieved.

I'm kind of glad it's over, but it's really good

to have good feedback on the first thing I've done.

It kind of settles the nerves a little.

And I'm really, really pleased.

PR worker Ricky's dish is marinated coriander duck

with spice flaked rice and potato

served with the mustard and banana raita.

-Should we do this?

-Yeah!

-Because this one is a little bit of a concern.

-Really?

-Duck and banana?

I really like that flaked rice and potatoes and pomegranate combination.

And I thought I was really going to dislike it. Good job!

The raita, the slipperiness of the banana inside that yogurt

makes me feel like I'm having breakfast.

I don't think much of it, Ricky, I'm afraid to say.

It leaves me feeling a little flat, this dish.

I'm disappointed, but I need to shake that off now.

There's no time to sit and mope about it.

I need to show them what I can do

because it really does mean a lot to me.

That was great!

We've now got a decent idea of the sort of cooks you are.

We will see you again very soon. Go on. Off you go.

This is the sweet or savoury invention test.

Your choice is yours.

-So, I'm going to do the savoury dish.

-Right.

Oh, oh!

John will now have an hour to create a dish from tofu,

pak choi, asparagus,

coconut milk, anchovy fillets,

bamboo shoots, sesame seeds,

mint, coriander,

and aubergines.

Those contestants are going to find this one tough.

One hour, one dish. Good luck.

Thank you!

I'm going to do a red curry with aubergines and tofu.

I'm sold.

I'll make a paste first.

Then I'll deep fry the tofu, so it's crunchy on the outside.

So, it doesn't fall apart.

-Are you sure?

-Yeah. What's going to happen is the shell will crack

and the egg will taste of curry.

Well, I've never seen that.

Ah!

-Not bad.

-Not bad at all.

From the savoury box, John has made a red Thai curry

using pan-fried tofu, aubergine,

and curried egg

served with basmati rice and toasted sesame seeds.

I honestly can't believe the flavour that you've managed

-to get inside that curry.

-Good.

You produced a good dish here.

I think this is a tough round for our amateurs.

We're going to give you ten minutes to decide

whether you want to cook a sweet or a savoury dish.

The green savoury boxes contain the same ingredients

that John cooked with.

Only Ricky has chosen the sweet box,

which contains ricotta,

black cherries, bananas...

..kirsch, cocoa powder,

cashew nuts, nutmeg

and sponge fingers.

It's nice not to have the competition here with a sweet dish,

but a little bit disheartened cos had I picked the savoury dish,

I'm sure I would have known what to do instantly.

Ladies and gentlemen, we want you to invent just one dish.

One hour to cook it.

At the end of this, two of you are going home.

Let's cook.

The lack of meat made me feel a little bit nervous.

But in hindsight, I wish I'd chosen the sweet box.

Ready to show you that I do have the skills and ability to produce

something that will give you and myself hope that I can carry on.

Halfway.

You got 30 minutes to go.

Beany, how are you finding MasterChef?

A lot more stressful than I thought I was going to.

And I thought my last dish was quite good

and that neither of you were that happy with it.

So, I was a bit like, "Oh, that was my best idea."

So, hopefully, I can maybe pull it out of the bag

when I'm being a bit inventive on the cuff.

-Do you usually cook with tofu?

-I do sometimes.

I have quite a lot of friends that are vegan.

Also, I eat a lot of Asian food, anyway, in my diet.

You got 17 minutes left. That's it.

Ow!

Schoolboy error.

I'll tell you what, I think Drew is in big trouble.

What's your backup plan, then?

Erm, I'm putting some rice on.

I'm doing some sort of stir-fry cos I haven't got a lot of time.

OK.

You got off to a really good start. What do you want to show us now?

Well, hopefully, that I can follow it through.

Yeah, you know, that's what it's all about.

Two minutes.

That's it! Finished. Stop. Step away.

From the savoury box,

Anna has stuffed the aubergines with shallot, chilli and garlic

serving them with lemon and coriander rice and a coconut sauce.

An interesting concoction. An invention, definitely, Anna.

The flavours in the aubergines are not here nor there.

I like your sauce, but the sauce doesn't go with the rice

and the sauce doesn't go with the aubergines.

OK.

I don't agree with him at all. I think this is really quite clever.

For an invention test,

I'm actually quite impressed.

Thank you.

I am a bit disappointed that John didn't like it.

But then was really pleased with Gregg's comments.

I'm quite relieved it's over, to be honest.

After planning to serve a tortilla,

Drew has now made egg fried rice with stir-fried vegetables.

This couldn't have gone any worse.

This hit you about as bad as it could, Drew,

but well done with persevering.

With 15 minutes to go, Drew, it's really a very pleasant bowl of rice.

It could probably do with a lot more egg in it.

I don't know what to say to you though, Drew.

I mean, you know, bad luck with the dropping of the tortilla.

I'm not happy, really.

It was just a disaster.

Leng has prepared a vegetable curry,

deep-fried tofu with sesame seeds,

stir-fried pak choi and rice.

You have cooked everything nicely.

I do like the flavour in your vegetable curry.

It's creamy and there's heat in there as well.

I think this is a pretty decent invention test, Leng.

I like the flavours of your curry, as Gregg does.

I just believe that everything should be in with the curry.

I think that fried crispy tofu should be amongst the sauce

as should the pak choi.

-It doesn't come together as a plate of food for me.

-Yeah.

You know, I tried and that's all I can do, really.

Luke has invented tofu tacos

with an asparagus salsa

and a sweet chilli sauce.

You've got a serious eye for presentation.

It looks really good. I've got no idea

-what that's going to taste like.

-Neither have I.

Those little tacos, they work.

The tofu is perfectly cooked.

The sesame on the outside has got a nice crunch.

I thought, "It's all terribly bland,"

until I put your almost fermented kind of chilli sauce on.

Amazing inventive food mind, Luke.

Everything you've touched so far is really impressing me.

-Luke...

-Yep.

I think it is an amazing dish.

You have shown skill. You're showing style,

individuality, guts.

But what I find more incredible, Luke, is that you looked at those

ingredients and you went to a place

that not even my mind would go to.

A taco?

Cool! Bananas!

Good on ya!

I'm feeling really good.

I was really worried. I've never cooked tofu before.

I thought, "What have I made here?"

I'm really, really happy.

I just feel like it couldn't have gone better in the end.

Beany's savoury dish is an Asian-inspired coconut

and tofu soup with basmati rice.

What's really nice is I've got this, sort of,

sense of chilli warming my palate.

All the vegetables are nicely cooked.

The flavours are a saltiness that you wanted, coconut that you have.

It's without issue without being spectacular.

There aren't any problems here,

but I wouldn't write home about the dish.

It was nice, which is, I suppose, better than awful,

but kind of, like, damning praise, really.

Yeah, a bit disappointed.

Ricky was the only contestant to choose the sweet box.

And he's made a black forest cheesecake

with kirsch-soaked cherries,

a cherry jelly and caramel cashews.

The flavours are perfect.

And the textures are perfect.

But the booze on the cherry is the 'piece de resistance'.

Very nice.

-I love it.

-Ha-ha!

I love it.

I think it's great. And it's fun.

You've shown us you can make a jelly. How to make a mousse.

You can do caramel. You're demonstrating skill.

Ricky, I'm really pleased.

I'm so relieved.

I think I've redeemed myself

after the mishaps in the calling card dish.

And I hope that's enough to take me to the next round.

Look, let's not mess around here.

Luke appears to be a serious, serious talent.

He shows skill.

He delivers flavour. It's really clever cooking.

Let's agree, he's staying in the competition, isn't he?

He's absolutely brilliant!

I think Drew's invention test was a little scary.

You and I know what comes up next and with the panic that went on

with Drew today I think it's time to say goodbye.

Can I put my hand up for one cook?

And that's Ricky. You know, we really gave him a hard time

about duck and banana, but he came back with that cherry cheesecake

and he made a nice dessert. It was tasty.

Let's put him through.

I like Anna. I like the way she cooks.

And I thought you were a little harsh on her, actually.

I think she's a great cook, Gregg.

It just for me was a bit mismatched.

-But I agree with you, I think Anna stays.

-Great!

And now we've got to try to work out who stays and who goes

between Beany and Leng.

I'm disappointed with Beany.

Erm, she lived in Thailand.

She's now cook for me two Thai-style dishes, just not enough heat.

There's nothing that shouts out about her food.

It was wishy-washy, Gregg.

I think maybe I thought I was better than I actually am

which is a bit of a rude awakening.

So, I'll say a little disappointed.

Leng, I quite like him.

-You're not sure about Leng?

-Well, I'll tell you why.

My issue is Leng's given me so much promise

and it tasted to me like chicken at 35,000 feet.

It wasn't good. And I felt exactly the same way with the invention test.

But actually the sauce that he made for the vegetables was very nice.

I think I've split them all day, to be honest.

And I think it will be interesting to see what the decision is.

You know, maybe they just have to go out the back

and toss a coin or something and decide on me. But...

Some really interesting, very, very innovative, quite exciting food.

And a great day.

The first contestant leaving us...

..is Drew.

Thank you.

Gutted but not surprised really.

Everyone was really good.

And I screwed up. So...

Back to work.

The second contestant leaving us...

..is Beany.

I'm really still really glad that I did it.

I'm very sad to be going home, but there are not many people

that get to say they've been on MasterChef.

So, that was pretty cool.

Congratulations!

It is a tough test today. That's for sure.

Today you present your food to winners and finalists of MasterChef.

Matt Follas, Tom Reynolds, and Daksha Mistry.

Four main courses in one hour.

Four desserts 15 minutes later.

Today there are only two quarterfinal places up for grabs.

That means two of you will leave the competition.

Go for it! One hour.

Let's cook!

I'm feeling excited. I'm feeling nervous.

I really have to cook well today and be prepared.

What are you going to cook for us?

Loin of cod wrapped in prosciutto

with a poached egg, crushed new potatoes

with a bit of spinach running through and a chive butter sauce.

And then for dessert, sort of a millefeuille

but with short bread instead of puff pastry with a lemon

and basil cream, some raspberries and a raspberry coulis.

Ooh!

Who have you been experimenting on?

-Mainly, my family.

-And because they love you,

they're going to love everything you cook, aren't they?

Oh, no. They're quite mean sometimes. Yeah.

Mean or honest?

No, mean!

Roast cod wrapped in ham, lovely flavours.

Why the egg? The egg can disappear and the dish will be better for it.

Anna's flavours, I'm not convinced by.

Raspberries, lemon and basil - that's slightly odd.

I'm going to give it my all today.

I really want a place in the quarterfinals.

I'd like to show the judges that I do know what I'm doing with spices.

I hope I can really deliver.

Tell us what you're going to cook for us.

I'm making a keralan fish curry with rice and crispy okra

and for dessert I'm serving pear tarts

with a spiced caramel and pistachio gelato.

Ooh!

In that room is a woman who knows the food of India very, very well.

-In fact, she cooks mainly from the region of Gujarat.

-Yes!

How does that make you feel, then?

As a fellow Gujarati, it's difficult.

It would be amazing to get fantastic feedback from her.

I think if it goes to plan, they will say,

"This man knows how to use spices."

What I'm excited about for Ricky are the flavours.

There's no duck and banana today, which I'm really pleased about.

And we've got good fish curry.

And we've got pears with pistachio nuts and honey. Fantastic!

I'm a bit of a perfectionist and I'm my own biggest critic.

And I would be very disappointed if I didn't make it through.

But, deep down I really, really want to get through.

You got gadgets all over the place.

But I can't work out what you're cooking.

It's basically quite simple. It's fish and chips,

but done hopefully, a little bit fancier.

So, I'm doing pan-fried sea bass, crispy roast potatoes,

then a pea shoot salad, as a representation of mushy peas,

and then of course the tartar sauce.

And dessert?

Dessert is a white chocolate fondant with a raspberry ripple,

and then that's served with raspberries filled

with white chocolate, that's what this was about. Yeah?

Luke, you've had an amazing start to this competition.

Please, tell me you're not going to mess it up now.

I really hope I don't.

Luke's a clever cook. And I do love the sound of his fish and chips.

What is causing me the most concern is his dessert.

A white chocolate fondant I've never seen.

Inside is going to be a white chocolate liquid centre.

John, that is so sweet. I'm not sure I actually want to taste it.

No matter how far you get in this competition,

you have to cook as if you're cooking for survival every time.

What are you going to cook for us, Leng?

I'm making a marinated steak that's going to be served with some

sauteed potatoes and with that is going to be my interpretation

of chimichurri sauce that I've made that will go over it.

-Dessert?

-Erm, dulce de leche apple crumble,

which I'm going to make a custard for as well.

We've basically got a marinated steak with a salad

and some sauteed potatoes.

It's going to look like we've attended Leng's barbecue.

I'm a bit disappointed.

You have just ten minutes on those main courses. Ten minutes.

Judging the food today is Daksha Mistry,

a 2006 finalist.

You know, when you go on MasterChef there's no prize.

The prize is what you're going to learn.

It's which you're going to take forward

and that's what's going to take your passion further.

After the competition, she left her job as an office administrator

and has spent the last eight years

building a successful catering business.

This is what I want. Yeah?

I thought that my life was going to end being an office clerk,

but now I've got a passion of my own that I can take it further

and I can say, "This is me. You know, I've done it."

Like Daksha, Tom Reynolds was also a finalist.

Obviously, I was disappointed not to win, but I think as a finalist

as opposed to a winner you may be do have a little bit more freedom.

A little less expectancy.

In the two years since then, he's given up his job as a plasterer

and now works as an executive chef for an events company.

I just find the whole process of coming up with a menu from scratch

as well as the process of actually getting it onto a plate...

that's the enjoyment for me.

I'm in a better job. I'm happier in myself.

So, I think overall, I mean, it's a win-win situation.

The final guest judge today is 2009 champion Mat Follas.

After winning, he opened the Wild Garlic in Dorset.

It was exciting having my own place.

It's the satisfaction of handcrafting something,

and then sending it out and seeing the delight on somebody's face.

Over five years, the business was booming.

So much so that he relocated to a bigger venue,

but overexpansion forced him to shut up shop months later.

It wasn't viable. I made a mistake in the move that I made.

But now he's back in business

after launching a new fine dining restaurant in Dorset.

I love cooking. And I love the buzz of being in the kitchen.

You know, talk to any chef who's stayed in the trade for more than

a few years. They do it because they love the job.

Right. You've got just on five minutes left. Will you be on time?

-Yeah.

-Good.

Anna's main, cod wrapped in prosciutto with a poached egg,

chive butter sauce.

My worry...there's got to be an awful lot of flavour in that

chive butter sauce to really bring it out, otherwise it's just

going to be a bowl of mush.

I'm not excited by it, but in the same breath,

if she executes it perfectly, then I'm sure we'll all be very happy.

Think about that food getting on your plates now.

Love the look of that fish. Love it!

Oh, balls!

-What happened?

-I broke a yolk.

You're on time, Anna.

You've got about ten seconds left to be exactly on time. Well done, you!

-Finished?

-Finished.

-Off you go.

Thank you.

Hi. How are you?

Good.

You've got loin of cod wrapped in prosciutto

on crushed new potatoes, spinach, a poached egg

and a chive butter sauce.

Thank you.

The way it looks, it's a little bit disappointing.

I've got water running either from the poached egg or from the spinach,

which is messing at what looks like quite a good butter sauce.

For me, I think the fish is just undercooked.

The spinach is a bit undercooked.

So, the dish is a little bit squeaky

cos everything's a little bit undercooked.

But I think she's done a pretty good job.

The butter sauce is light, but I can't taste the butter

I think it's watered down with the spinach.

And my fish, I feel as though it's a little over.

I think my piece of fish must have been in between the middle

of yours two cos it's perfectly cooked.

I like the whole dish.

I just think the execution, being harsh, is a little bit sloppy.

Nice cod. Lovely ham. Good beurre blanc. I'm happy with the egg on it.

Those potatoes are awful. Watery and vinegary.

The egg for me is a bit nasty.

Done!

-Right. Well done.

-Thank you.

In 15 minutes we want dessert.

Yep. I'm on it.

-Like a car bonnet?

-Absolutely.

Dessert seems to be like shortbread with a coulis.

It's very simple.

But if the shortbread is made correctly, I think

it'd be quite nice.

-Very nice!

-Thank you.

You've got a lot of plating up to do, having you?

-I'll start now.

-Come on, Anna.

It's sort of like a raspberry balancing act.

It is. It usually balances, but...

-Is there another layer of cream and raspberry on top of that?

-Yeah.

Why did I do this?

-Anything else?

-No.

-Go.

-Oh!

-You're shaking, that's your problem.

I'm shaking too much.

OK, deep breath.

ANNA GASPS

I'm so sorry. It's just fallen over.

-So sorry.

-Thank you.

Oh, it does look lovely.

You got a short bread millefeuille with lemon basil cream,

raspberries and a raspberry coulis.

Hope you enjoy it. Thank you.

You got the one that stayed up. Simple engineering mistake.

Should have spread the raspberries around and she hasn't.

Nice crunch on the shortbread

and the flavour of the basil cream with the coulis is fantastic!

Really, really nice.

If it was all about the shortbread, ten out of ten.

That's really good shortbread.

It's sweet. It's fresh

and it's obviously very light as a whole dish.

I could quite happily eat all three plates.

I think it's a really nice dessert.

Quite how it's still standing up I've got no idea.

Oh, yeah!

I thought it was going to be a little bit weirder than that,

but in actual fact, I quite like it.

That is absolutely lovely!

I'm so relieved that's over.

That was ten times worse than the last round.

I really need a glass of wine.

-Are you ready?

-Erm, I'm going to have to be.

Have you got all the fish on?

-No. No, I haven't.

-Quick, quick, quick.

-You've got to move your bottom now.

-Yep.

If there's ever going to be a difficult judge to please

with some food of India, it's Daksha.

If he's gone overboard with the spices

and put too much chillies in it,

then I'm afraid he's not made the genuine keralan fish curry.

But, hey, let's see! I'll be the judge of that one.

Two minutes and half your fish is not cooked yet.

Come on. Quick, quick.

You should be going now, Ricky.

-Good. Done?

-Done.

-Let's go.

Hi there. Hello. I'm sorry for the delay.

I've prepared for you a keralan fish curry

and that's sea bass with rice and crispy okra.

Thank you very much. Please enjoy.

A curry to present is difficult.

And he's done a pretty good effort on this.

The keralan curry that I know of, the flavours are individual flavours.

Here I can taste the heat at the back of my throat,

but I can't taste anything else. Fish has been cooked very well indeed.

Excellent! Just a little disappointed in the flavours.

I was quite excited about this dish.

I don't like it, is the honest answer.

I can't taste the flavours in it.

The rice, for me, is a little bit overcooked and is lacking seasoning.

For me, it's a miss as a dish.

The okra, never had it before.

Can't say I'd want to have it again.

It's a big let down for me in the sense

that I can't taste the depth of the flavour.

Crispy skin on my fish which is wonderful.

The sauce, for me, is spiced lovely.

Ricky's fish curry is absolutely delightful.

You've got about 12 minutes now to get your dessert out.

So, Ricky's dessert, individual pear tarts, spiced caramel,

pistachio gelato.

Now, pistachio I'd recognise in Indian cooking.

I'm not so sure about spiced caramel and I've never had pear.

So, there's a bit of a cross over of cuisines there.

Flavour-wise I think it will be really nice, but I am concerned.

There's a lot of techniques in there.

I'd be anxious about doing it. So, I think Ricky should be.

You happy with it?

I think the tarts were just in two minutes too much

on a too high temperature.

You've got a minute. I need you to be on time, Ricky. OK?

Yes.

There's a pattern emerging here, mate. Can we get this out?

-Is that it?

-That's it.

-Good boy. I'm proud of you, Ricky. Let's go.

You have a pear tart with spiced caramel and pistachio gelato.

I hope you enjoy it.

For me, this is totally the opposite of his first dish.

This is messy presentation. The ice cream's a bit lumpy.

The sauce is too thick, but actually it tastes good.

The flavours are nice. The pear's well-cooked.

I like the flavour in the caramel.

The pastry's gone a little bit hard.

It's actually sticking to my teeth

because I think the caramel's gone a bit over there.

But to be honest, in a good homely dessert like this,

I kind of like it.

In my mouth, I've got like an old-fashioned toffee

that my grandad used to have in his cardigan pockets.

It's got the same effect on my teeth as it had back then

when I was six years old.

I'm really disappointed.

I think John and Gregg are looking for somebody who can do

everything in time and I haven't shown that today.

So, I'm very worried that I'm going to be going home today.

In essence, you can say that Luke's main course was posh fish and chips.

How posh, we'll see when it arrives.

For the sea bass, it's got to be cooked well.

Got to get the crispy skin.

It'll be interesting to see how it comes out.

And the pea shoot salad,

hopefully that's going to be something a bit special.

-How long have we got?

-You've got about one minute and 45 seconds.

-OK.

Are you going to go in there with the rings on the potatoes?

No, they're coming off.

-Smells great, Luke.

-Good, good.

Couple minutes over. Nice dish, though.

-Hello, guys. Sorry I'm a little over.

-That's all right.

It's pan-fried sea bass with a pea shoot salad,

potatoes and then there's a tartar sauce.

I hope it's OK for you. Cheers.

Well, I think he's pretty much nailed it.

Every single element in the dish.

I'm very happy with the tartar sauce.

The fish is beautifully cooked. I love the potatoes.

I think it's fantastic!

This is a real treat! Those peas are outstanding.

You know, everybody loves their mushy peas.

This is more of a fine dining mushy peas. Lovely!

And the tartar sauce...

You know, the key at this stage is can he do a sauce?

Yes, he can. Really, really good.

I think this certainly shows the potential of somebody

who could go a long way in the competition.

Do you know what I think is really clever is the pea shoots wrapped

around all that vinegar dressing which is really, really strong.

It's as if I've got the vinegar on my fish and chips.

It's a lovely, lovely plate. Very, very clever.

Boy! That boy can cook!

-Right, you have got 13 minutes.

-Yeah.

-So, you need to get your...

Fondants in the oven pretty sharpish.

The dessert, white chocolate raspberry ripple fondant

with raspberry sauce.

I've done this many times, but not with the white chocolate.

White chocolate is very, very fiddly

and it can go wrong quite drastically.

So, I'm a bit...bit concerned about it.

Definitely need more time.

OK, how long do they need?

Probably another four minutes at least.

-Fine. In four minutes we have to get them out though, aren't we?

-We are.

White chocolate fondant, I've had them before. They're really sickly.

It'll be interesting to see how that comes out.

Fingers crossed.

Yes!

-OK.

-Good.

-Oh, my word!

Sorry for the delay, guys.

What you've got there is a white chocolate raspberry ripple fondant,

white chocolate filled raspberries and then a raspberry coulis.

To, erm, just take the edge off, hopefully.

-Cheers.

-Looks good. There's only one thing for it, isn't there?

Absolutely.

Oh, yeah. It's definitely a fondant.

I don't really like the fondant on its own.

It's a little bit too sweet, which is why he's added the sauce.

And he's got those additional sharp flavours.

So, for me, altogether it really works. Very good.

Very well executed. And the fondant's perfect.

I like the way he actually injected the sauce in the middle

to give you the more tartness of the raspberry coming.

To execute a white chocolate fondant at this stage of the competition

and to be smart enough to balance those flavours...

Well done!

Cleverest cook in the room. But it's not too sweet, I was wrong.

The raspberry sauce is lovely and sharp. Clever boy.

Impressive, clever, technically gifted.

All the bells and all the whistles.

I don't think I've ever been under so much pressure in my life.

I knew the fondant was going to be a big risk,

but, you know, that's what it's all about.

I'm not here to play it safe.

I like it that way. It's much more interesting.

Don't forget Daksha's no steak. So, three with steak and one without.

-Just over five minutes left. Yeah?

-Yeah.

Yeah, Leng's main, for me, it's a bit simple.

His MasterChef future depends on it.

And we're getting a version of steak and chips.

To me, this reads... It's dull. Mixed salad?

What the hell is mixed salad?

It needs to be something really special.

Ready for plating in a moment.

-You all right, Leng?

-Yeah. I've just got the shakes.

I can do this.

-You're a minute over.

-Right.

-Sauce.

-And that's it?

-Yeah.

-You're done?

-Yeah.

Hi there.

-Hi.

-Hi.

There you go.

What I've made for you is a marinated steak

that's got my own sort of version of the chimichurri sauce.

There's some sauteed potato and a mixed salad.

-And I hope you enjoy it. Thank you very much.

-Thank you very much.

I'm...disappointed, I'm afraid.

I'm really not looking forward to eating this.

I'm trying to find some positives.

The beef's been put into a cold pan and heated,

so, it's grey on the outside.

It's not only rare, but it's stone-cold,

which makes it a little bit chewy.

The potatoes are cold. The potatoes are limp and oily.

And I think he's probably dressed the salad a while ago

and it's kind of limp.

I'm sorry. It's... It's shocking.

You've got to be able to cook a very good steak and salad

to get yourself into the quarterfinal.

Unfortunately for Leng, this is not a very good steak and salad.

15 minutes now until dessert, please.

Absolutely.

So, for Leng's dessert it's crumble custard.

Yeah? I'd be happy if my mum did that on a Sunday.

One thing I can't stand is a lumpy custard.

How's your custard?

I think it's worked.

Crumble!

-Ready to rumble?

-With crumble.

-Let's go!

Hello. Sorry.

Here we have apple and dulce de leche crumble

and a vanilla custard to go with it.

-All right.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you. Bye-bye.

The smells are fantastic. Can't wait to dig in.

The custard's a lovely consistency and the fruit tastes delicious.

My one gripe is my crumble isn't quite cooked.

It's a little bit floury.

This is nice. I'd eat it.

I'd be happy with this after my Sunday roast.

It's an OK apple crumble that isn't quite cooked right.

Yeah, but after the first dish, when you get this,

you feel a little bit happy.

Don't get me wrong. It was an improvement on the first dish,

but...you know...

-the first dish wasn't much to improve on.

-No.

It's a good effort, erm, for a crumble.

That's not a bad crumble.

I think the crumble top is really lovely.

I quite like the custard.

The bit underneath I could take it or leave it.

I find the apple and caramel far too sweet for me.

I just feel completely exhausted by that whole experience.

I'm pleased I did it and I don't think I've poisoned anyone.

So, I think that's always a good sign.

So, our job today is simply choose the two best cooks

and put them through. Well, I say simply.

A bit of it is simple. And that is the wonder of young Luke.

He is right up there, isn't he?

He is taking food, which everybody knows,

and making it very, very special.

Brilliance! Love him!

Luke sails through to the next round.

Leng disappointed me today. What was going on with his main course?

I mean, a raw slice of cow!

What's he thinking of?

For dessert, we had an apple crumble which you really liked.

Custard which was good, but it was crumble and custard.

Anna came into the competition and we really liked her food.

Cod in bacon. I like that. I didn't mind the egg at all.

I'm sorry to say I can't do egg on top of normal fish. I can't.

But her dessert, faultless.

I really hope I've done enough to stay in the competition.

Even just to say that you are a MasterChef

quarterfinalist would be incredible.

So, we'll see.

Ricky entered this competition

with a dangerous dish - duck and banana.

And sorted it out and ended up with that wonderful cheesecake

in the invention test.

He did get himself in a tizz, though, didn't he?

His times were all awry.

Even though you and I liked the curry, none of our guests did.

Daksha didn't like it, said it wasn't keralan enough.

Well, I've got to take her knowledge.

This really does mean so much to me.

And I hope that they can see that I do have some skills.

You watch them like a chef. You tell me who is the cleverest cook?

Sadly, two of you have to leave us

because we've only got two quarterfinal places.

Our first quarterfinalist...

..is Luke.

The second quarterfinalist...

..is Anna.

Thank you very much indeed.

Yeah, I feel sad that I've gone, but I've enjoyed myself here.

I think that ultimately it's about finding

where I'm going to go to next. So, that'd be it.

I'm leaving today not only with my head held high,

but with really fond memories to take with me.

It's an amazing experience that I won't be forgetting in a hurry.

Congratulations, you two. Quarterfinalists!

That feels absolutely tremendous. I can't believe I got through.

Oh, I just feel amazing!

I had a great day today. It was car crash cookery, but it was great fun!

And I can't wait to do it all again.

We've got to do that again!

Yeah, but it's good fun, isn't it?

Tomorrow night,

six new hopefuls will battle for a place in Friday's quarterfinals.

I think it's absolutely a beautiful-looking plate.