Episode 1 MasterChef

MasterChef is back,

searching for the country's best amateur cook.

-How long does a pigeon normally take?

-Until it's cooked.

SHE LAUGHS

I need some spoons. Two spoons, please.

Bingo.

Each week, ten new contestants battle

for a place in Friday's quarterfinal.

I think it's magnificent.

Only the strongest will make it through to the final challenges.

JOHN GROWLS

Can I just say, that's not frightening at all.

So clever, so brilliant.

That's what it's all about, great cooks, great food, great endeavour.

I've lost some weight. I'm ready to get fat again.

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

to become MasterChef Champion.

Sometimes people thrive under pressure and some people crumble.

I'm hoping I'm a thriver, not a crumbler.

My strategy is simple,

just cook food I like and hope everybody else likes.

My heart's racing. My heart's absolutely racing right now!

But at the end of today's heat,

only three will make it through to the quarterfinal.

H-hey!

Welcome the MasterChef.

It's nice in here, isn't it?

This round, your calling card.

The dish that you believe reflects you as a cook the best.

At the end of this, Gregg and I will each choose our favourite dish

and those two contestants will go flying through to the next round.

The remaining three will have to cook again

to try and secure their place in the competition.

Impress me and John as much as you impress

your family and friends at home.

Cook us something delicious.

1 hour and 15 minutes.

Good luck. Let's cook.

I cook for the family every day.

When I come home from work, the girls say,

"What are we having for tea, Mum?" I say, "I don't know."

I look in the fridge and I think, "Right, OK, I've got this,

"this, this and this," and I just throw things together.

What do you do for a living, Julie?

I'm a registered nurse and I work in Basingstoke,

-on an elderly care ward.

-Aw.

-Yes.

-What are you making for us?

Right, I am making a pan-fried sea bass with crushed new potatoes

in an olive oil vinaigrette, served with a chilli and tomato sauce.

-Some big flavours.

-Yes.

-Why MasterChef?

My family and friends have been saying for years, oh,

I should go on MasterChef, but I've kept on putting it off,

but now I've got to the stage where, oh, I'm not getting any younger,

take the bullet, and bite it and off I went.

I like these metaphors.

-Take the bullet and bite it.

-Yes!

-Perfect!

-Yes!

-JULIE LAUGHS

That fish is all-important.

It's got to fall apart, I want the tomato sauce to have a bit of a zing

from the chilli and I want those potatoes to be really well-seasoned.

Could be a good dish.

I can think about nothing else other than food.

It's the one thing that I wake up in the morning and I think about

'and it's the last thing I think about when I go to bed.'

And during the day, it's there constantly.

-John, you're making your own stocks and stuff here.

-Yes.

-Yeah, yeah.

-What are you making?

I'm going to make a pan-fried, oven-roasted duck breast.

I'm doing a duck jus with some buttery mashed potato,

I'm going to do a pea puree

and I'm going to do a garnish, which is a bacon gremolata

with some bacon, some lemon rind, some garlic and some breadcrumbs.

Where did you learn all of these classic techniques?

Well, I haven't learned the classic techniques, I'm trying my best,

I eat out in nice restaurants whenever I can,

so I've been exposed to lots of things.

-This is proper grown-up cooking, John.

-We'll see!

JOHN LAUGHS

John is going down the classic route.

In that dish, he's got nowhere to hide.

I just hope for John's sake he's got enough time

to make that sauce rich and flavoursome.

You've had 25 minutes.

25 minutes gone.

Yanique, you seem quite purposeful.

Yeah, I just have to keep my head down.

-If I don't, it's all going to go wrong!

-What are you making for us?

I'm making a fillet of beef with, um, pesto

and a salad with courgettes, beetroot and olives.

Is it challenging, what you're doing?

Erm, it's out of my comfort zone, yeah, definitely.

I'm used to Caribbean food and this is not Caribbean.

Why would you move away from your normal style?

Well, MasterChef is a big thing.

There's no point doing the norm,

I want to do something very different,

demonstrate different skills and that's the whole point.

-This is daring.

-And I hope you love it.

I like the fact that Yanique is actually pushing herself.

She's come on here

and she's admitted this is outside her comfort zone,

cos she wants to do something interesting.

She wants to make her mark right now in this first round.

Good.

Hope it works.

You have to go big or go home, and right now I'm going to go big.

You are halfway!

My dish is pan-fried cod in laverbread butter

over wasabi and soya mashed potato,

with cockle veloute

and flambeed garlic and Pernod prawns.

I'm very confident that this dish will work.

A lot of people don't know, but cockles and laverbread,

or seaweed, is a traditional Welsh breakfast.

-Yes, it is. Beautiful.

-Are you Welsh?

-Yes, from Swansea.

-Hey! I like Swansea.

Is there anything else about you I need to know, Cae?

I'm also a professor of medical devices.

-A professor of medical devices?

-Yeah.

-Does that actually exist?

-Can you actually be one of those?

-Yeah.

How far can you go on MasterChef? You seem very confident.

-I'm aiming for the semifinals.

-Are you?

Cae is fascinating.

Cockles and laverbread, Welsh classic, a liqueur from France,

mustard from Japan.

It's an extraordinary combination,

and if he gets it right, I'll be really impressed.

You've only got 20 minutes left, OK?

It's going to fly. Focus, please.

Chris, you seem relaxed, unless I'm wrong.

Yeah, I'm pretty relaxed.

I'm just treating it as cooking for my loved ones.

What do you do for a job, Chris?

I run an altitude training company.

-Really?

-I do, yeah.

So we pre-acclimatise people to go to Kilimanjaro,

Aconcagua, Everest and suchlike.

Is your food going to be breathless?

Yeah, it's a bit different. I'm making Indian sushi.

-Indian sushi?

-I was eating sushi and I'd had a curry for lunch

and I was like, "You know, the combination of flavours..." You have a curry, you have it with rice,

so the taste should be there.

MasterChef always throws up firsts for me.

Even my three-year-old likes it.

Weird. Really weird. Quite out there, quite interesting,

but there's a load of work to be done.

Indian flavours work. Sushi works.

I don't see why the two can't work together.

Five minutes! You've got five minutes left, please.

The first time these guys have been in the MasterChef kitchen

and they all come in here and really want to impress.

Interesting things, really interesting.

Fascinating things, things I have never tried before.

And a couple of things that properly scare me.

Three minutes. Just three minutes.

The duck was a little bit under, so I put it back in for a minute.

I kept on tasting and tasting and tasting,

so all the flavours are mingling up now.

You have got 60 seconds to finish up.

Get it on a plate, please!

That's it! You've got to stop. Stop, please!

-It's stressful at the end.

-THEY LAUGH

I've gone greyer.

Fingers crossed.

Mine's too big, I think.

Cae, bring your plate of food up, please, sir.

University professor Cae has cooked pan-fried cod

in a laverbread butter, with wasabi mash, garlic and Pernod prawns,

cockles, and a cockle veloute.

I love your prawns with the flavour of aniseed.

I like your veloute. Lots of power.

Your potato mash has got lumps in it.

I can't taste any wasabi in it whatsoever,

but in that I'm thankful.

What I'm impressed about is the way in which you've cooked

that piece of cod. It falls apart at the seams perfectly.

It's really well-seasoned.

I'm, like Gregg, very, very pleased there's no wasabi in the mash.

Because the mash doesn't need wasabi.

You've got brilliance on this plate. Don't detract from it.

Thank you very much.

-Tasty.

-It is very good.

-Yeah, really good.

I think it's fantastic having good feedback on your first dish.

I could have done a bit better.

Me being a perfectionist maybe.

Ward sister Julie's calling card is fillets of sea bass

on a bed of crushed new potatoes and black olives,

served with green beans and a tomato and chilli sauce.

-That's huge.

-Yeah.

Not often am I presented with a dish that I need a fork,

-spoon and stepladder to eat.

-SHE LAUGHS

I think it's a pretty unattractive plate of food,

but, by gosh, it's really tasty. Really tasty.

Lovely salty olives with those crushed potatoes

and lots and lots of parsley.

Your fish is cooked nicely and well-seasoned.

The tomato takes the whole lot up and it gives us

a lovely, fresh Mediterranean flavour.

-It's just too much on a plate, Julie.

-Yeah.

-You know, it's sort of... shovelled on.

-Yeah.

You've cooked that fish very well. Apart from crisping up the skin.

-Right.

-You've got a good palate.

-You've got to learn a little bit of refinement.

-Yeah.

When I was waiting to present my food, I said,

"It's too big, it's too big."

I took on board what they actually said. Less is more.

Business consultant John has served duck breast

with buttery mashed potato, a pea puree,

bacon gremolata and a duck jus.

Oh-ho!

You've got saltiness of bacon, you've got so much butter

in that mashed potato. It's rich and it's opulent.

You've done your best to squeeze as much flavour

out of that sauce as you can.

-I hope this is a sign of things to come.

-Thank you.

Your gremolata with the bacon across the top of it is lovely.

But your duck is tough. When you prepare duck,

-what you've got to do is score all the way through the skin...

-OK.

..and cut right through into the sinew,

-and your duck won't shrivel up and go tough on you.

-OK.

Get that duck cooked properly and you've got an almost perfect dish.

Fantastic.

At this stage, a little bit away from perfect is good.

So I'm pleased with that, yeah.

Altitude trainer Chris has made a selection of Indian sushi,

which includes tandoori chicken rolls, tempura prawns,

stuffed curried calamari,

tuna cumin rolls and two dipping sauces.

A tamarind and date chutney and an Indian pepper water.

I like the way you've cooked the squid,

and it's got a flavour of almost cinnamon in there as well.

I love the two dips you've made.

I like everything on there apart from the tuna.

I find your ideas interesting.

I can't quite get on with curry-flavoured tuna.

-HE LAUGHS

-Fair enough.

Your rice is not seasoned at all.

As for the rest of it...

-I think it's ace.

-Thank you.

Chris, I reckon there's probably someone out there watching

the telly right now saying, "I'm going to be opening an Indian sushi

-"restaurant very, very soon."

-It might be me.

-Great comments.

-Thank you.

It was a bit of a risk but no risk, no gain, as they say.

Last up is logistics administrator Yanique,

who's topped her marinated fillet of beef with an Italian pesto

and served it on a beetroot, chard, olive and courgette salad,

with a mustard vinaigrette.

Your beef is cooked brilliantly well and I love your pesto.

That is big and flavoursome. There is sweet notes in there.

There are slightly sharp notes.

There is a big tang of garlic and Parmesan cheese saltiness.

Beef, olives and pesto, I think, are a lovely, lovely thing.

Beef, beetroot and Swiss chard, I think are a lovely, lovely thing.

But when they all come together,

they're just becoming a little bit too confusing for me.

Your cooking is sound.

I think your flavour combinations are probably a little bit ambitious.

Mm-hm.

I feel like I could cry right now.

I'm just praying, fingers crossed, I don't have to cook again.

That is a good start.

That's a very, very good start.

John and I are now going to choose our favourite dish.

Two of you will go straight through.

The other three, you'll stay here and cook again.

My favourite dish...

..was cooked by John.

Well done, mate.

My favourite dish... for many, many reasons...

..was cooked by Cae.

Congratulations. There you go.

Cae, John, you guys are safe.

-Well done, mate.

-Well done. Brilliant.

-Fantastic.

-That's a relief.

-Fantastic.

-A massive relief.

Oh, man, I really did not want to cook again.

So this is a sweet or savoury invention test, your choice.

Under that cloth are two trays.

On one tray, ingredients for a sweet dish.

On the other tray, ingredients for a savoury dish.

One plate of food in one hour.

Reveal your ingredients.

The contestants have the choice of making

a savoury dish using pigeon,

or a sweet dish using lemons as the central ingredient.

Make your decision, commit to it.

At the end of this, one of you is going home. Let's cook.

When you have nothing preplanned,

it just puts you in that zone that you don't want to be in.

Everybody is really, really good.

It's just turning up the gears slightly now, isn't it?

I've just got to focus on what I'm doing,

make something tasty and hope it's enough to get through.

What are you making?

I'm making you a lemon tart

with limoncello cream on the side.

Are you an experienced pastry cook?

I've been making pastry since I was about five or six years old.

For 20 years now?

Oh, you lovely man!

I wish it was 20 years, no a bit longer than that.

Good for you, good for you. What do you feel you have to do now?

More is less.

-More is less?

-Or, less is more.

-I think that...

THEY LAUGH

It's nice to see Julie making her own pastry,

making a lemon curd for the filling of the tart.

Fantastic!

As long as that pastry is thin and crisp,

the filling is not too sharp

and that the cream with the booze in it doesn't split.

20 minutes have gone.

-How are you feeling now, Chris?

-Yeah, I'm feeling all right.

I'm feeling all right. I've never cooked with quail.

I'm glad you've never cooked with quail

because we've given you a pigeon!

What's your dish with the pigeon?

Roasted pigeon breast with a red wine and pigeon reduction.

Some mashed potato...

I was going to do a chestnut and mushroom concoction

of some variety, I'm not exactly sure, with some...

..cabbagey, kale stuff. Fingers crossed.

Chris doing Indian sushi as a calling card,

I think, is something a brave man does

and if he's brave enough now, he's going to grab hold of that pigeon

and do something extremely good.

Halfway - 30 minutes left.

What are you going to make for us?

Erm... I am going to make a parsnip puree with pigeons.

I've literally just roasted it off a little bit

and fried it off in a pan, just to give it a bit of colour

and I've put it in the oven to just cook off

and continuously keep basting it with some butter.

Yeah...

Yanique's roasting a pigeon in the same way as she would roast

a chicken. That's a good idea.

All you've got to do is think the bird is a bit smaller

which means it'll take a little bit less time.

How long does a pigeon normally take?

-Until it's cooked!

-SHE LAUGHS

You've got just 15 minutes left.

Well, I can't taste the tart, can I, so I won't know when it's cooked.

The ingredients when I was mixing them together tasted OK.

My concern right now, is around the edges of the tart

it's all a bit rough and I want to see a bit of finesse from Julie.

Guys, please, you've got five minutes left.

Come on, guys, get them on the plates, please.

I like that, that's nice.

You've got 90 seconds to finish up, please.

That's it!

Stop.

It was tough, that, wasn't it?

Chris chose to make a savoury dish

of roasted pigeon breast

on top of cavolo nero and walnuts,

served with mashed potato,

mushroom and sage stuffing

and a red wine reduction.

I really like the way you cooked the pigeon breast,

it's got a little bit of natural sweetness to it

and that sort of iron-rich, livery flavour is lovely.

I like your stuffing.

It's got sweet notes to it, as well.

-Your cabbage is undercooked.

-OK.

Your mashed potato is really well made,

your sauce could be a bit thicker.

But, as an invention test goes,

yeah, not bad. Not bad.

That's a far departure from Indian sushi.

It could be better, it could be worse.

So...it all really hinges on everybody else.

So, we'll see.

Yanique also opted to make a savoury dish

and has served her pigeon breast on a parsnip and potato puree

with wilted spinach and a port gravy.

You've got a parsnip-puree-cum-mashed-potato

and that's made very, very well, indeed.

That's smooth, without lumps.

It's creamy, it's rich. That's very good.

However, I find that far too sweet.

Oh, right.

Because you cooked that pigeon so slowly in a low heat,

it's falling apart and that's a really, really good thing.

Your parsnip puree, it's so very, very sweet.

It does taste almost like you've got pigeon and dessert

on the same plate. I like your cooking.

I like your technique.

It's the flavour combination thing again, isn't it?

I knew that was going to be a little bit too sweet.

I really did.

I just knew it.

Julie chose the sweet ingredients

and has made a lemon tart

with shortcrust pastry,

accompanied by a limoncello mascarpone cream

and a shot of limoncello on the side.

Very, very good, indeed.

You've got a light pastry that's crumbling.

You've got a lemon curd that's set but still soft.

You've put lots of booze into your mascarpone,

giving it real heat and a grown-up flavour.

-I'd like to see the tart full of filling.

-Right.

I'd like to see the pastry around the outside finished off

because I think you've got enough time to do it. Just focus a bit.

It was a real challenge

and I was glad that I can come up with something.

At least it showed that I can actually make pastry.

The first round of MasterChef is always the most difficult.

But...we have to make a decision.

One of you will be leaving the competition.

-Thanks very much, indeed.

-Thank you.

An invention test is never easy.

I think they did very well, these three.

I think Julie has shown real skill and an understanding of food there,

because making your own pastry, making your own lemon curd,

they are obviously the actions of a decent cook.

I'm with you, Julie stays, because I think her food tastes good,

she's just got to make it look good.

Now we've got the battle of the pigeons between

Chris and Yanique.

Yanique's calling card didn't come together

as a coherent plate of food.

The invention test, I think's the same.

Parsnip and port together with the pigeon was really sweet.

Her flavours are good, it's just about them coming together.

If I did go home today I will be gutted.

Absolutely gutted. As you can see I've got tears in my eyes.

I'm really, really enjoying it.

Erm...

And I've got so much more to show. So much more.

Chris really surprised us

with his creativity in his calling card round.

However... He had some mistakes.

That cavolo nero, that was undercooked.

In his calling card it was all about adventure

and about being daring.

Then, in the invention test, he goes classic

but doesn't quite get it right.

My sort of freestyle is quite diverse.

There's more in the locker yet. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to showcase it.

There has been a very decent standard of cookery.

However...

one has got to go.

That invention test was impressive.

Well done.

The person leaving us...

..is Yanique.

Oh!

-Thank you very much.

-Oh, you're welcome.

Oh, give me a hug.

Cheers. Bye!

I'm not disappointed in myself.

I'm gutted that I'm not here to demonstrate more.

But, overall...

I'm 23, I don't think I did that bad.

Can I apply again next year?

What are you having at the bar?

Whisky, no chaser.

HE GIGGLES

Oh, dear. Oh, God.

You couldn't have called it.

That's... That's a tough one to go out on.

You are going to cook and present your food, not just to John and me

but to the final three from last year's MasterChef.

Emma...

Tony...

And, of course, current champion,

Simon.

THEY CHUCKLE

2 courses in 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Four plates of each course.

Ladies and gentlemen...

let's cook.

When I'm at home, yeah, I'm a mum.

I just put the food on a plate.

I don't think about the presentation, as such.

So it's something I'm going to have to work on.

I'm hoping that I can show them I'm heading in the right direction today.

How do you feel about cooking for our guests?

I'm glad I'm cooking for three people who've actually been

through the same experiences we've been through,

so they'll have some empathy, I hope.

Menu today, Julie, is?

Rib-eye steak with a medley of roasted vegetables

-with a rich Stilton sauce.

-Uh-huh.

Then for dessert, I'm doing a vanilla panna cotta

with a rhubarb and ginger compote,

rhubarb consomme and a gingerbread biscuit.

Can you make it look smart, that's the question?

I will try, try my utmost.

Cooking four steaks, all at the same time...dangerous.

And if you're going to make a panna cotta,

you've got to make sure it's a perfectly light, perfect wobble.

The invention test was difficult.

I think it's nice to be back cooking your own food.

It's food you're passionate about, it's food you know a lot better.

Slightly less pressure, although I've given myself

a lot to do and so it might be panic stations

with five minutes to go.

So we are going classic for the main.

I'm doing a walnut gnocchi with a wild mushroom sauce

and a sage cracker.

Then, for dessert, I'm making a chocolate soil

with banana ice cream.

I want it to be a bit theatrical

so I'm putting a tempered chocolate disc on the top

and then pour the caramel sauce on top so it melts through.

What are the danger points of your menu, Chris?

-Tempering the chocolate.

-You're not concerned about gnocchi.

Because I spent a lot of time in Italy and I got taught to make

gnocchi by my nonna, so I'm quite confident in the gnocchi.

I've never had a nut gnocci before.

This boy doesn't do things by halves, does he?

Today is about being focused

and planned and being a little bit courageous.

And Chris may do that.

I'm very driven. I'm very competitive.

The more I cook in this competition,

the more I want to succeed and go further.

You look a little tense, mate.

I've just got to concentrate on producing four spectacular dishes.

What's your menu?

OK, I'm cooking sous vide salmon

and a cooked cucumber and dill sauce.

And my pudding is an Earl Grey and whisky rice pudding

with teabag biscuits

and chocolate ganache sugar cubes.

This is a very ambitious menu, Cae.

I normally cook this at home in the dishwasher,

so I sous vide the whole salmon and, when it comes

out of the dishwasher, pull it straight off the bone and serve.

-Does that work?

-It works really well.

-Genius!

His main course, salmon cooked in a water bath could be a lovely thing

as long as that salmon has got a bit of texture.

Whisky and Earl Grey tea rice pudding, that's the delight.

I think he may be wanting to add to the list

of Greg's favourite ever puddings.

It was a dream start for me.

When Gregg picked my dish,

he kind of referenced the fact,

"Is this going to be the standard that you're going to produce

"going forward?" So a bit of pressure, I think, there.

-So, John, what are you cooking for us?

-Er, liver.

It's going to be served with a bean mash,

shallot rings, deep-fried,

-with bacon and a whisky cream sauce.

-Mmm.

Dessert?

Er, a poached pear filled with raspberry puree

and mascarpone infused with lime,

with some pineapple foam on the side

and a little bit of raspberry puree.

I take it that you've eaten pear, raspberry,

lime and chocolate before, have you?

-Yes.

-And pineapple?

-And pineapple, yes, of course.

-Yes, yes.

John's decided to go classic with his main course

and quite adventurous with his dessert.

A poached pear with chocolate, that's a wonderful thing.

However, that pear has also got lime,

raspberry and pineapple.

My fear is, it's one, two,

probably three fruits too many.

We've got four really interesting cooks today.

Really interesting cooks.

They're not here just to impress you and I,

but to impress three people who fought their way to the

end of the competition, who understand the pressure.

Today, for me, was my toughest day throughout the entire competition,

so I know what these guys are going to be going through.

Calm down, son, you're panicking.

They actually didn't like what I made at all.

The creme de menthe shouldn't be there, in my opinion.

I think it's just ruined the whole of my dish here.

You're going to feel, at some point, that you're out of control

and you can't cope with it but that's when...

you find out if you've got it in you to do it.

That's when you'll find out if you've got what it takes

to be the champion.

Looking back it's probably one of my fondest memories

actually of the competition, was the first time I fed the critics.

I could polish off this dish quite happily.

If I get it in the restaurant, I'd be a very, very happy girl.

When John said, "Let's cook."

You know, nothing else in the world mattered at that point,

it was just, literally, head down and focus.

You have to be very focused.

I remember cooking for Shelina

and I think she thought it was a bit basic.

It's meat and veg, isn't it?

Everybody understands that

MasterChef is THE cooking competition

and that it's certainly not a thing you can take lightly.

At the same time, as soon as you get here,

you realise that it's on another level.

Erm, and you really can never prepare enough.

I'm hungry.

I skipped breakfast just for this.

-Julie, you've only got five minutes.

-Yeah, I know.

It smells good, Julie.

-Hopefully the taste is as good as the smell.

-Smells good.

Julie's serving rib-eye steak with wilted spinach

and herb roasted vegetables in a Stilton sauce.

Four steaks cooked to order in a MasterChef competition,

you've got to be brave for that.

Are the steaks cooked?

It depends how you like them cooked.

-WELSH ACCENT:

-Oh, that's tidy.

-SHE CHUCKLES

-Diolch yn fawr.

Yes, most certainly.

What does that mean?

-"Thank you very much."

-Oh.

I like your presentation.

-It's definitely prettier.

-Good.

-Yay!

-Well done.

-Like it!

-Well done.

-Good job.

I need Super Glue to stick the things to the plate.

-I'm sorry it was positioned...

-Thank you very much.

-OK.

I am serving pan-fried rib steak

on a bed of wilted spinach

with a medley of herbed roast vegetables

and a Stilton cream sauce.

-Enjoy.

-Thank you.

I love the look of the sauce.

It's got a nice, little shine on it.

My steak's got a nice bit of caramelisation on it. Yours hasn't.

Rare enough for my liking.

It's just a shame about the caramelisation on the outside.

I think the sauce is actually really nice.

I think she could have gone a bit stronger on the blue cheese.

I have to say, I only get a hint of it.

But this little pot of vegetables is absolutely delicious.

The vegetables and the sauce are the absolute stars.

Too many steaks in one pan, not enough heat.

It needs a bit more oil and a bit more "glurgh".

I like the sauce, I like the steak, I like the veg.

Love it that she's having a go at presentation.

Moment of truth... Come on, girl!

Oh!

She's got to get that panna cotta set

and not overset, as well.

A consomme, that's a challenge.

If she can pull that off, I think that's a winner.

Two minutes left. Are your biscuits going to cook in two minutes?

Yes, should do. I've turned the heating up a bit.

-Well done, Julie.

-Thank you.

-EMMA:

-Thank you very much.

Now what I'm actually serving you, is a vanilla panna cotta

with a rhubarb and ginger compote,

rhubarb consomme

and a gingerbread biscuit.

-Thank you, enjoy.

-ALL: Thank you.

It's got a good wobble on it, the panna cotta.

My panna cotta was absolutely bang on.

I don't think the consomme tastes of much

and I don't think that we need both of these,

the compote and the consomme together. Just one of those things

and that would have been a perfect dessert for me.

The biscuit tastes great, but it's undercooked.

But I think in terms of the flavours she's put together,

I think she's done really well.

Creamy, vanilla panna cotta, sweet, sharp rhubarb, really lovely.

There's a couple of things that aren't quite right,

but I'm impressed with Julie today, really impressed.

Oh, God, that was stressful.

That was really, really stressful.

It's the quickest 1 hour and 15 minutes I've ever had in my life.

It went in a flash.

Do you know how I'm doing for time, Gregg, by any chance?

You've got 20 minutes, Chris.

Our main course is a walnut gnocchi,

wild mushroom sauce and sage cracker.

This really excites me.

But that gnocchi, it can't be too rubbery.

It's got to have the right texture for me.

Oh, I'm not overly happy with this gnocchi, I have to say.

Ah...

I'm just going to have to serve it, aren't I, now?

Three minutes, please, Chris.

OK?

Just disappointed with how it looks but...

..it should taste all right.

Thank you very much.

So we have walnut gnocchi

with a wild mushroom and cream sauce

and a sage cracker

with roasted walnuts on the top.

I hope you enjoy. Thank you.

-Thanks very much.

-Thank you.

I'm confused by the gnocchi colour

because it's quite brown, isn't it?

I'm not quite sure how he made this gnocchi but it's not good.

I agree, I think the gnocchi, texture-wise, it's not good.

Erm, and I've got a lot of grit in my mushrooms, as well,

which is slightly off-putting.

It's the technical side of things that have let him down.

The cracker, doesn't crack.

I think he's given himself too much work, which is a shame

because, flavour-wise, this one could have been a real winner.

They are wet. They are soggy.

They're a bit fried.

And they're nasty.

That's a disaster.

It's a disaster.

Dessert - banana ice cream, chocolate soil,

tempered chocolate caramel sauce. It does all sound really sweet

but I like the sound of it. There's some ambition there, actually.

Aye-aye!

OK, I'll stick it on a plate and we're good to go.

Very nice.

There you are.

So we've got a chocolate soil, banana ice cream,

tempered chocolate and a caramel sauce.

And the idea is to pour the caramel sauce on the chocolate

so it melts through into the dish.

-Lovely, thank you.

-I hope you enjoy. Thank you.

Come on chocolate, give.

-I think it's going.

-Yay!

-It's quite cool.

-Yeah.

-Oh, yeah.

-Yeah, that's how it should be done.

Mmm.

I really like it.

I have got a really, really sweet tooth

but the banana and the crunch of the chocolate soil,

with the caramel,

I'm loving it. I'm probably, I'm probably going to eat the lot.

I really like the theatre behind it, but, for me,

it's far too sweet.

I'll have yours as well, then.

Gregg will be having a field day.

That'll do.

I'm really impressed with that.

He's done everything he said he would do.

He's got chocolate soil, he's got the banana ice cream.

He's got a hot, caramel sauce that's melted the chocolate wafer.

He's done it, he's done it.

Is it enough to rescue him from the really ugly plate of gnocchi?

I was disappointed with the gnocchi, it wasn't how I wanted.

Certainly, I mean, it looked like a dog's dinner, let's be honest.

It should taste nice and I'm happy with the second dish.

HE EXHALES

I'm a little bit nervous of Cae's main course.

Sous-vide salmon, I just don't like salmon in the sous-vide,

I think it... Texturally, it's a bit...flobby.

They are classic flavours - watercress, cucumber and dill -

and they are flavours I love.

You are one minute over.

-60 seconds.

-No, over.

I know, I'll be 60 seconds more.

What has got to go on there?

Himalayan salt, then I'm done, and sauce, then I'm finished.

That looks stunning, off you go.

He makes me tense!

-Madam.

-Thank you very much.

Hi, you've got sous-vide salmon, cucumber and dill sauce,

on crushed potatoes with Himalayan salt.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

I'm not crazy about this salmon at all.

I don't think there's a whole lot of flavour on it.

You get the odd little bit where it has been blowtorched,

by the look of it, where you get a smoky flavour, which is nice,

but I would have liked some more of that.

I think where the salmon isn't full of flavour,

that dill and cucumber sauce packs quite a punch

and then you've got the saltiness and the butteriness in the potatoes.

Mmm! Mmm! Mmm!

I don't like the sliminess of that fish.

It's all slippery and slimy in my mouth.

-That's odd because I really like it.

-Do you?

I really like the cleanliness

and the flavours of the cucumber and dill.

I like the buttery potatoes.

Well-presented dish, I really like it.

Whisky and tea flavoured rice pudding

isn't something that I've ever tried.

I'm intrigued by that one,

that's got my imagination going a little bit.

Two minutes.

Very nice.

-Is that it? Let's go!

-Thanks, Cae.

-Let's go!

Thank you.

This is an Earl Grey and Welsh whisky rice pudding

with a vanilla shortbread biscuit

and chocolate ganache sugar cubes.

-Hope you enjoy, thank you very much.

-Thank you.

I can smell the shortbread - lovely, buttery shortbread.

I actually quite like it, I thought the texture

of the rice pudding was good, really like the flavour of it -

the tea, you can taste a little bit of whisky.

These little chocolate ganache sugar cubes are really good.

Perfect squares, every one looks the same.

He's done well.

Cor, that's lovely! That's lovely!

Sweet, not too sweet, the rice is cooked perfectly

and it's got the undercurrent of strong whisky

and actually, as you start to concentrate, you've got

a little bit of Earl Grey in there as well. That's very lovely!

For a boy out of his own kitchen - inventive, interesting, exciting.

It went well. I banged the dessert, that's fantastic.

So I'm happy. I'm happy.

Five minutes, John.

How is your liver?

Yeah, it still got another little minute there.

John has gone quite classic - liver, onion, bacon. Great combo.

With liver, you've got to get that just right.

I'm looking for it to be a little bit pink in the middle.

You can easily overcook it.

Bacon and onions to go.

Bacon, yeah.

Very good, very good.

Go, Big John! Good dish, mate.

-Ladies first, obviously.

-Oh, thank you very much.

I've made you liver with bacon and onion,

a bean mash and a whisky sauce. Please enjoy.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

It looked good, it smelled good, but...

flawed there by just overcooking that liver

and not even just a little bit on mine.

The beans are way too garlicky.

-Yeah, he can't have tasted those.

-No.

I can't taste the whisky in the sauce, all I can taste is garlic.

I think, unfortunately, he has missed an opportunity with that.

The liver is overcooked.

As much as I love the saltiness of the bacon and crunch of the onions,

I don't actually like the whisky sauce, it's a little too sharp.

-HE EXHALES

-Right.

Pear, chocolate, pineapple, raspberry.

Quite interesting to see how those flavours all marry

as one complete dish.

I hope it's not too much style over substance.

-What have we got? Pineapple foam?

-Just a little bit at the side, yeah.

-Anything else to go?

-Little bit of raspberry.

That came out a bit quicker than I expected.

-Are you ready to go?

-Yes.

-Come on, let's go!

I'm serving you today poached pear

on a chocolate hazelnut soil

with some pineapple foam, and some raspberry coulis

and the pear is stuffed with mascarpone, walnut and lime.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

I think the pear is poached well.

I really like it on the chocolate soil, actually,

the pear and the chocolate together is really nice.

I quite like the pineapple foam, I think it adds another element to it

and then, of course, you've got all the little extra flavours in there

from the spicing in the poaching liquor

and the flavouring in the mascarpone.

He's made a lot of ingredients and processes work really well together,

he's done really well.

Hmm.

The cinnamon-scented pear with that sauce is great,

but the rest of it? Don't need it.

He has poached that pear well

and that soil is also very clever.

HE EXHALES

It's indescribable how difficult that is.

Hopefully the liver is cooked right.

I couldn't test it, so I don't know.

This round is notoriously tough. I don't want perfection at this stage,

I just want to see a glimmer of hope.

I think Julie, by and large, had a decent round.

The steaks could have been browned a bit more,

but I really liked her sauce

and I really liked the roasted vegetables.

Loved the panna cotta,

could see very little wrong with the panna cotta.

She had cleaned the plates up,

they weren't as messy as her previous two rounds.

If Julie goes further in the competition,

we need to see it become a little bit more ambitious.

If I go away today, I have learned new skills,

I've learned new techniques,

but I really, really am up for going on now!

Chris's idea of nut-flavoured gnocchi

with a wild-mushroom creamy sauce was a brilliant idea.

However, that was scruffy. The gnocchi weren't made very well.

The dessert, however... Bit of theatre.

He is showing he can do lots of things.

If I go home today, obviously I'll be disappointed.

Hopefully I have done enough, but honestly, I have absolutely no idea.

Cae's salmon...

You didn't like it, our guests didn't like it, I did.

My issue with the salmon was not one of flavour,

the dill through the cucumber sauce was great,

it was the salmon that, for me, was a bit jelly-like and sloppy.

However, the concept of his rice pudding was good.

I absolutely loved it!

I mean, maybe the best thing I tasted.

I'm pleased with the dishes I put out.

I can't do any more.

I think that John played a bit safe.

For me, there wasn't the style and the ambition

that I saw in that calling card round.

Well, I wanted a really nice piece of pink liver from John

and what he actually gave me was an inner sole for a slipper.

Interesting, the dessert,

because there were bits of it I liked, you liked.

Poached pear is a beautiful thing.

The chocolate soil was lovely.

However, everything else was an unnecessary addition.

To get into the quarterfinal... it would just be brilliant.

I mean, I've seen folk doing it

and I've thought, "That's a great achievement."

Having now stood on this side of the camera,

it's an even greater achievement than I thought!

We've actually got a decision to be made

because one of them is going to leave the competition.

We've got to go, or I've got to go, with a gut feeling.

Who appears, to me, to not quite be ready?

You guys have equipped yourself very, very well - good standard.

As you know, we only have three quarterfinal places.

Our first quarterfinalist...

..is Julie. Congratulations.

Our second quarterfinalist...

..is Cae.

One quarterfinal place left.

Our third quarterfinalist...

..is Chris. Congratulations.

Well done. Congratulations.

Thanks, John.

Nothing prepares you for the pressure that goes on in there,

but, no, I'm proud of what I achieved.

I feel like I've dodged a bit of a bullet with my dodgy gnocchi!

But I'm through and looking forward to the next round,

get back in the kitchen again.

I did it, I got through!

And I'm so happy!

Being here right now as a quarterfinalist is surreal.

Is this really happening? Wonderful!

Tomorrow, five more cooks battle it out for a place in the quarterfinal.

Come on, come on, come on, come on!

It's got quarterfinal written all over it, Gregg.

-Honestly, it reminds me of a pizza.

-THEY LAUGH