Episode 23 MasterChef

It's the MasterChef finals.

After seven weeks of competition...

..only the best four contestants remain.

Tonight, they will embark on their greatest culinary adventure yet.

Welcome to Mexico and its amazing cuisine.

Final push now. Any slip-ups and you are pretty much out the door.

It hasn't been straightforward to get here.

It's so close now, you can almost smell it.

I have found the confidence to start cooking how I've always wanted to

and I feel like I'm coming into my own.

This is never going to happen again, ever, in my life,

so I'm just going to absolutely go for it.

This is properly exciting. My heart's thumping!

Mexico.

Population - 120 million.

And home to a cuisine

that has remained fundamentally unchanged for thousands of years.

It is an assault on your senses.

The smells. The colours.

The flavours.

It is so diverse. There is much more to it than people actually realise.

It is like nothing our four will have ever faced before.

Jane, Jack, Juanita and Billy's food odyssey begins here...

..in the country's capital, Mexico City...

..renowned for its extraordinary markets,

exotic produce and vibrant street food.

Welcome to Xochimilco and its incredible market.

This is where the people of Mexico City come to lunch

and buy their fresh food.

We are going to ask you to set up a street stall,

a food stall to serve the locals.

You are going to cook recipes using ingredients that you've never

seen before or cooked with, with methods that you have no idea about.

There are literally hundreds of street food stalls in this market.

You're going to have to be very good if you want to compete with them.

A huge job. Three hours till lunch.

I say, "You better get on with it." Off you go.

To help them make sense of this unfamiliar cuisine

is chef Enrique Olvera.

His restaurant, Pujol, is ranked in the world's top 20...

..and he has an international reputation as Mexico's leading chef.

For us in Mexico, food is everything.

It's part of our life, part of our culture.

It's a way that our mothers tell us that they love us, right?

So I always enjoy cooking because it is also a way to share love.

The contestants will be cooking in teams

and Enrique has given them both two popular market dishes to cook.

My dad was a market trader.

When I left there, I swore I'd never

be back on another market stall as long as I live,

but it couldn't be in a better way, could it? It's just fantastic.

A huge amount of pressure today.

I think everyone is going to be expecting quite a lot from us

and they are going to be very hard to impress,

so, yeah, the pressure's on.

Jack and Juanita will be making tostadas, or toasted tortillas,

topped with a cactus salad,

and mulitas, which are deep-fried and filled with mushrooms,

similar to a pasty.

Hey, guys. I am guessing you have a lot of questions, right?

-Yeah, we do.

-Yes. Yes, we do.

We are unsure about what some of these ingredients are.

-We wondered what the...

-What's the nopales?

-Nopales.

-Nopales is a cactus.

-Ah.

-Oh.

-The flavour is so good. It is like green beans.

-OK.

Just use salt and then that way they remain crispy.

Mexican cuisine tends to be very light and fresh,

especially when you are talking about street food.

-It sounds amazing.

-It does sound beautiful.

I haven't got a clue what I'm doing,

but I'm hoping that, with a bit of instruction and an open mind,

and just some real hard work, I think we will get there.

I'm going to enjoy every minute of it.

-I'm going to get the beans on the go.

-OK.

-I'm going to start chopping.

-Yeah, you do it. You do that.

Billy and Jane's two dishes are tacos dorados,

a rolled tortilla filled with crushed potato and deep-fried,

and sopes, a pizza-like tortilla served flat.

Their first job is to buy the masa, or dough,

used to make the tortillas.

The masa is made from ground corn kernels...

..and has been the backbone of Mexican food for over 3,000 years.

The pre-Hispanic cultures thought that men came from corn.

It is such a central element of our culture.

You can do so many things with one product.

-Hola.

-Hola.

-Masa?

-Masa?

1.5 kilos?

How much is it?

More.

Yeah, that's it. Yay!

-Thank you.

-This one?

-Right, where do we go to get out?

-This way.

-That way.

On the other team, Jack and Juanita

need to find some fresh nopales, or cactus leaves.

-That's the stuff. That's the stuff.

-Do you know what a kilo is?

-I have no idea.

-We'll have to get them to weigh it out.

Never, ever cooked with cactus,

so completely alien. I have no idea what you do with it, so...

Yeah, you don't pick this up in your local supermarket!

Just that, please. Thank you.

-Gracias.

-Gracias.

-Gracias.

-Gracias!

Both these teams, they don't have any modern equipment

and it's cuisine they have never seen before.

It couldn't be more different if we put them on the moon.

How on earth does this thing work?

Usually, when you cook a dish, you have an idea in your head

how it's going to look and how it's going to feel afterwards,

but this is like cooking blind, really.

I have never cooked with cactus.

It's always fun to get to work with stuff you've never used before.

It's brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

The nopales, I'm salting it and...

I like them like this. Have you tried them like that?

-No, we haven't.

-Do it. They are beautiful.

-That is lovely.

Wow! That is incredible.

An hour has gone...

Just crack on.

..and Jane and Billy have their hands full with their veg prep.

-Marathon chop.

-This is going to take a while.

-I know.

Jane is working her way through three bucketfuls of tomatillos,

small, sour green tomatoes used in the salad

to accompany their deep-fried tacos.

-How are you two getting on?

-Pretty well, I think.

I think this is actually really inspiring.

The buzz of it and the noise

and everything else makes you want to work harder.

What's it like to be faced with all this stuff

that you have never, ever used before?

TRADITIONAL MEXICAN MUSIC PLAYS

Tricky. Tricky. I think... Obviously we have made salads and stuff...

And have a dance, too!

We have made salads and salsas before,

but I think the thing we're worried about is the tortilla element

because, obviously, we have never used masa before,

-we have never used a tortilla press before.

-Well, I'm excited.

One of the main jobs

is going to be cooking 30 of those sope things and making them.

-Yeah.

-So, I think, if we get on to that next...

-Guys, one hour, 15 minutes, OK?

-Thank you.

Mexico City has an estimated half a million street food vendors

and, at Xochimilco market, they feed thousands of locals every lunchtime.

Street food is for everyone.

It's for rich people and for poor people eating together.

The beautiful thing about street food

is that it's fun to eat, it's casual.

It's also full of flavour and there are many possibilities.

With the market filling up, both teams are hard at work

hand-blending their fiery salsas in a traditional molcajete.

How do you know how much chilli to put in?

Well, I put in enough that's hot for me and Jack

and then I put in a bit more.

-Did you know that?

-No, I didn't know you'd put in a bit more.

It's not what I'm used to. I like all the hi-tech gizmos -

siphon guns, vac packers, ricers, thermal mixers.

I've got a big bowl and a big... I don't know.

A big pestle and mortar, I guess.

-Have you tried it?

-No, I haven't tried it yet.

-I'm hoping it's not absolutely roasting hot.

-No, it's fantastic.

HE COUGHS

The spice is good. No, it's good.

Cracking on. We're pushed for time, we are,

but we are getting there...slowly.

Cooking mushrooms over coals in Mexico, Juanita.

It doesn't get crazier than that, does it?

Juanita's mushrooms will be used as the stuffing for the mulitas,

which Jack is making out of the corn masa.

-Shall I roll out 30?

-Yes.

-Maybe do a bit more.

Jane is also using the masa to make tortillas for her sopes.

I'm going to try. We are going to give this a go, the pair of us.

-How wide?

-Don't go all the way, I don't think.

Do you think that is big, though? Big enough? They need to be bigger.

Where is the chef? We need to ask him.

-Could you tell us, is this the right size?

-Yes.

It needs to be a little bit bigger and thicker.

-OK. Fantastic.

-Could you possibly show us how to do one?

-I can do that.

-Please. Just so...

-Cheeky!

Then don't press too hard and then you get it. Right?

-Yes.

-Once you form it, you can put this into the comal.

-Oh!

-Oh!

-I'm not going to do your work!

-That's mean!

-Billy, we have got a lot to do.

-Yeah, yeah.

I am just trying to work as quickly as I can and get them done

so we can get them cooked.

Keep going, Jane.

I'm going to roll these out.

On the other stall,

Jack and Juanita also have to master the tortilla press...

Let's try that.

..to make their mulitas.

I'm not quite sure what they are supposed to look like,

so hopefully they are looking OK.

-Get this done in the next 15, do you reckon?

-Yeah.

For our four, what they realise is that it's not easy at all.

There's a huge amount of technique, lots of work to be done,

just to deliver a small plate of something tasty.

-20 more to go, Jack.

-20 more to go?

-Yeah.

Just trying to get...

Just trying to get everything cooked on time.

The crowds are gathering, they want their lunch. They look hungry.

They're ready. I hope these guys are ready.

It is taking quite a while to cook.

Jane is struggling to get her sopes cooked on the charcoal comal...

It's taken me well over half an hour.

I thought it was going to be a 10/15-minute job,

so it has put me back a bit.

..while Juanita's also behind, frying off her mushroom mulitas.

That one is good. Pull it out.

You see how it is even everywhere?

-OK, that is what we are looking for.

-Yes.

Getting there. Just got to do a few more of these and then we're done.

It has been a tough last push.

-Once these are done, I've got enough.

-Push. Push. Thank you.

-Are you ready to go?

-Yeah. Just get these off.

-There you go, my love, nearly there.

-Yeah.

OK, bring them in.

-Hola.

-Hola. What would you like?

Hola.

Do you want tacos or sopes?

-One.

-One for you, I know.

-There we go.

-Thank you.

Jack and Juanita's spicy mushroom mulitas,

served with a fiery red salsa and cottage cheese,

are an instant hit with the locals.

Two mulitas.

One tostada coming.

Their second dish is crunchy tostadas,

topped with a cactus and black bean salad.

-There we go. Enjoy.

-Thank you very much.

It was really nice. It has, like, the perfect spice,

so it's really good.

Mulitas?

The mulitas was a little spicy...like, perfect.

It's the first time they do this kind of food,

so I think it is an excellent job, yeah.

Oh, that is actually delicious.

That is really fresh and clean, with a big smack of onion.

A little bit of chilli at the end, lots and lots of coriander.

Flavours that I know, but in a combination I have never had before.

On the other stall, Billy is struggling to keep up with demand

for his potato tacos dorados, served with a tomatillos salad.

-Hey! Where is my taco?

-Hang on.

-I want my taco!

I'll try and go as quick as I can.

Hopefully they taste OK.

-Very good.

-It's good?

Jane's sopes, topped with chorizo and potato,

need to be heated to order.

-May I have one, please?

-Yes, of course.

They are served with a salsa verde

and sprinkled with canasta cheese.

Thank you. Bye-bye.

Really nice. Really nice. A really nice job.

There we go.

I got tacos de papa. They taste good. They were real good.

The salad...was perfect for me.

It was good.

Really good.

I love the way they've done this tortilla - it's really nice.

Really filling. It's softer in the middle and crunchier on the outside.

Very skilful.

It looks really innocent, but it's really, really complex

and nothing like I've eaten before.

THEY LAUGH

Wow.

Just thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing,

from buying some ingredients from the market, to being out here,

to speaking to the local people, serving them food.

It's just all been amazing.

I am learning so much. Just to have that experience, it's beautiful.

A very good day. Really, really good day.

I've got a big smile on my face.

-Dear me.

-That was really good.

-That was so much fun.

I don't think life back in London will be quite the same

after you've done a lunchtime service in a Mexican market.

It's brilliant.

It was just like nothing else I have ever done in my life.

There were a lot of thumbs up and thank yous,

so I hope that means they really enjoyed it.

There were lots of smiles - that is usually a good sign.

The locals loved the food. Our four have done really, really well.

This was a good introduction to Mexican food, but from now on

they're going to have to make it a little bit sharper.

It ain't going to get easier.

It's day two in Mexico.

While the street food stalls set up for another busy day...

..the contestants are on their way to a restaurant

renowned as the best in the country.

Pujol.

Over the last 15 years, Enrique Olvera has led a revolution

in Mexican cuisine, inspired by the street food of the city.

We are trying to combine the attention to detail from fine dining

and the flavour and the soul of street food.

This unique approach has turned a tiny neighbourhood eatery

into an international dining destination.

Yesterday we were having fun, but today is about precision.

They need to perform.

Today, the finalists have the honour

of taking over the restaurant's lunch service,

each cooking a dish from a four-course tasting menu.

Billy is responsible for the appetisers -

small, fat tortillas called bocols, deep-fried

and topped with finely diced onion and tomatoes,

and thinly sliced avocado.

And Enrique's signature starter, baby corn with a mayonnaise

made from the ground up bodies of the Chicatana flying ant.

These ants are very special, and we Mexicans love insects

because we think of them as a lot of flavour.

-Very simple.

-Yeah, pretty cool.

But beautiful, and that's why it needs to be perfect.

No room for error!

-No, because if you make an error...

-It's obvious.

..it becomes something that is really stupid.

Billy's first task is to finely dice the onions

to the restaurant's exacting standards.

-A bit too thick?

-Yeah.

-A bit uneven?

-A tiny bit.

Wow. I've never seen an onion chopped like that before.

-This is how fine we need the onions.

-OK. I'll try, Chef!

There is no room for error. The dice on the salsa is tiny,

so I think any imprecision of my chopping just won't do.

It has to be perfect.

Jack is in charge of the slow-cooked lamb, cooked in a chilli paste...

..and served on a green taco flavoured with poblano chilli.

You put it into the comal and you see how it starts puffing?

That's a good sign.

They say, if your tortillas puff, you can get married.

Do you want to get married, Jack?

To a tortilla?! Why not?

The chilli lamb is served with an avocado puree,

pea shoots

and squash blossoms.

It's absolutely beautiful.

There's a lot of precision and presentation.

At the same time, it's got to be really refined,

but I've got to do it really quickly, so I can't lose my head.

Jane is making a Mexican speciality - mole verde,

a complex mix of toasted seeds and herbs,

blended with chilli and blanched broccoli.

The texture of the mole is a little bit thicker than a normal sauce.

It looks very simple, no?

It does require you to have a good sense of cooking.

The green mole is served with sauteed chilacayote,

a type of marrow, the herb quintoniles,

Kohlrabi puree

and chayotes, a native squash, dusted with chilli powder.

Because he's so good at what he does, he makes it look so easy.

It's going to be an interesting experience.

Very much a learning curve today.

Juanita's in charge of dessert - Enrique's unique chocolate taco.

Chocolate tortillas, they're super tricky.

If the comal is too hot, they will melt.

If you make them too thick, they will crack.

That will be a tricky station.

It's served with crumbled chocolate cookie,

vanilla cream and a delicately quenelled rich chocolate ganache

topped with chocolate sauce.

Delicious. That looks amazing.

That looks so good.

I think getting the chocolate taco right is going to be difficult

without breaking it. That's worrying me a little bit.

And also the way he quenelled that ganache was just beautiful.

I've never quenelled anything in my life.

Those are probably the two things

that are causing me the most concern.

Today's specially invited lunch guests

are all respected figures of Mexico City's culinary world...

..and include food writers, magazine editors, chefs and restaurateurs.

I think what makes this particularly challenging for any cook,

as good as our guys are, is this is fine dining, and it's clever,

and it's modern and it's with ingredients they just don't know.

I think this is fantastic.

Really fantastic.

Guys, concentrado. We're going to start service.

-ALL:

-Bueno.

-Thank you.

Billy's first up with the appetisers.

-Right now, we need four tables of two people.

-OK, four tables of two.

Both the baby corn and the tortilla bocoles

require careful handling on the plancha grill.

-This is not going out.

-OK. Which ones do I need to get rid of?

-Shall I get rid of that one?

-Yes. And this one. And this one.

-OK.

Not great.

Just a bit flustered. Erm..

They seem to keep going wrong off the plancha.

Once grilled, the bocoles are finished in hot oil.

-It's come off, chef.

-No. Hey!

I don't think they were cooked enough on the plancha first,

which is why the surface has peeled off when it's gone in the hot oil.

-Are those good?

-This is good.

-OK.

With the bocoles finally cooked,

it requires a steady hand to plate the delicate dish.

You put that in the middle, then you put it on the plate.

Yeah, it's just completely foreign ingredients,

foreign methods of cooking.

All in all, difficult.

Hey!

-Jack, two tacos, please.

-Yes.

-Thank you.

Jack's lamb and avocado taco calls for him to make

and cook each green chilli tortilla to order...

..first grilling them on the plancha,

before puffing them up on an open flame.

Come on.

-That one? No? Too dry.

-Other. Other, other.

-Right... You cook too much...

-Uh-huh.

-..for one side.

-Rapido.

-Yes, Chef.

-Jack now has to quickly make another tortilla...

..before he can start to plate the avocado puree.

No. This, no.

Where to?

Yeah.

Jane, when you see the two tacos coming out,

-it means you need to get ready.

-Yeah. Thank you, Chef.

Watch your backs.

It's absolutely the detail that got me.

If there was one ridge on the guacamole, then no good.

No good at all.

Jane's mole verde requires precise sauteing of the herbs

and vegetables for each plate.

I'm OK.

Just the precision of the plating.

Just hope it lives up to Chef's expectations, really.

-No shaking.

-No shaking.

-They're looking nice, Jane.

-Thank you very much.

With Jane's first plates gone,

the pressure is now on Juanita to make the chocolate tacos.

-You have to do it again, change it.

-Yes, Chef.

-Do it again.

-Yes, Chef.

Making tortillas is not an easy endeavour, as you can see.

Ridge, ridge, ridge, ridge, ridge. No, do it again.

Especially the chocolate tortilla, it's a bit harder because it melts.

-You can do it.

-Thank you, Chef.

There you go, Juanita. Well done.

Juanita's tacos finally make the grade.

Now, she needs to master the presentation.

I can't quenelle.

-WHISPERS:

-Try again.

They make it look so easy.

It's really not.

Oh, God! Makes me want to cry.

I can't do the quenelling, I can't do it.

-I help you out.

-Sorry. I really can't get the hang of that.

Sorry, Coco.

-There you go.

-Thank you, Chef.

-You're welcome.

Excuse me, coming through. Coming through.

Gracias, Juanita.

Billy's also finding the standard expected at another level.

I can't do it.

-Listen, take a deep breath.

-No, it's not...

-Just relax, relax.

-I'm trying.

-Relax.

-OK?

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

-Yeah, I'm trying, Chef.

-Do it again.

So, it's going super slow.

It's been a difficult service.

I'm looking forward to finishing today!

Oh!

With the orders piling up, Jack is struggling to find his feet.

Otra. Rapido, rapido.

Whoa!

Otra, otra, otra, vez.

It's a level of detail I've never had to do before.

Rapido.

-OK, calm down, Jack.

-Hey, with this. This...

-It's better. OK.

-Yes, Chef.

-Jack?

-Rapido.

-Coming, Chef.

Watch your backs.

-So, four and four more and then you're done.

-Four and four more?

-Yes.

-Eight to go. Yes, Chef.

Billy's on his last dishes.

-These need to be your best, OK?

-Yes, Chef.

-Thank you.

He has to keep his nerve if he's to finally impress Enrique.

-Come on, guys, get it together.

-Coming, Chef.

Perfecto.

You can take a break and relax, man.

Oh, dear.

Oh...

I've had this dish before and all the favours,

all the ingredients are present.

It's just right on.

Cooking for the first time with these ingredients

must be very challenging and they managed to get the flavours,

so I'm very impressed.

-That little pillow of corn is as soft as you like.

-Yeah.

And these? Who thought corn and ants

and a bit of smoke could taste so good?

Billy has done an exceptional job here

because that could not have been easy.

Just couldn't plate properly. My hands were shaking way too much

to get all the intricate things off the palette knife and the tweezers.

I'm...I'm reasonably happy with my first go in a Mexican kitchen.

-Come on. Four tacos, man.

-Coming.

-It's your last four.

-Yes, Chef.

-Quick and nice.

Oh!

JACK SIGHS

-Yeah. Good.

-Thank you, Chef.

Last four coming, Chef.

-It's OK. There are eight more then.

-Eight?

-You're getting good at it.

-Come on. Eight more.

-All right. Eight more.

-Thank you.

I'm kidding, man. You can relax.

Fair enough.

Well done, Jack, well done.

That was really tough.

Great. Go for a break!

This is stunning.

Absolutely stunning.

That's a proper big meal in a taco.

Well done, Jack, cos that is delicious.

Absolutely delicious.

Yeah, it's probably one of the hardest things

in a short amount of time I've ever had to do.

It's tough. It's really, really tough.

So far, everything has gone well for Jane.

She has just got the final four of the mole verde dish to plate up.

-Now you're going to have to do the four again.

-Am I?

-Yeah.

-It's going to take you too long.

-Sorry.

There was too much air in the kohlrabi, so when I went to do it,

it exploded and so the plates had to be sent back.

Which is a shame because it was the first one and it's last one, but...

Four plates, Chef.

Good job, Jane. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

Hey!

This is a very refined,

sophisticated version of a green mole.

I just love the dish.

Wow!

That is a lovely medley of veg, John.

This is light and healthy, and good, and green.

This is the first time I've been in a professional kitchen

and felt quite at ease. I felt a lot happier today. I really loved it.

Juanita is finishing off service with her last four chocolate tacos.

I still can't quenelle it, Coco. It's just not happening.

You have to do it.

Yeah, that looks great.

-You can do it.

-I can't.

-That's great.

-Yes? Thank you, Chef.

-How do you feel?

-A little bit shell-shocked.

-That's good.

-That means you worked.

-That was so hard.

The taste is very good.

Just the tortilla is not strong enough,

so you're not able to eat it as a proper taco.

Other than that, it's very good.

What is not to like? That is delicious.

If you like chocolate, you're going to dive straight into it.

It was really hard work.

I couldn't get those tortillas right at all -

they kept splitting - and the quenelling was just so tough.

But great experience.

I think it was quite a challenge for them, no?

They are not in their natural environment

and they were obviously nervous.

But, in general, I think they learned.

A wonderful experience. Extraordinary food.

Tasty, exciting, interesting.

What it's doing is filling their culinary heart and soul with

new ideas, and that's going to make this competition truly exciting.

We've not finished with them yet. We've got one more task to come.

It's the contestants' final chance to impress in Mexico.

They're on their way to one of the city's most exclusive addresses...

..the residence of the British Ambassador.

We entertain about 5,000 people a year here.

Nobody's going to do business with you in Mexico

until they've broken bread with you, looked you in the eye

and think, "Yes, I can trust you."

Tonight, the British Embassy is hosting a rather lovely dinner

for some of the leading lights of Mexico's cultural

and food community.

You have the honour of catering for these guests.

Your job tonight is to impress,

not with just the skills you've learned throughout this competition,

but the influences you've gained whilst you've been here in Mexico.

Ladies and gentlemen, three hours. I suggest you get a move on.

Thank you.

Each contestant has devised a dish for tonight's four-course dinner.

Now, it's about them cooking their own food

inspired by their journey, here in Mexico.

What would really impress me is if they've managed to embrace the

flavours and the textures of Mexico, but deliver it in their own style.

I think this is a huge, huge challenge.

Juanita will lead with a vegetarian starter.

So, what is your dish?

So, it's a tomato salad.

It's sits on, like, a garlic sauce.

Got roasted fresh tomatillos

and then some of the oaxaca cheese shredded,

-and then I'm going to do a chipotle oil to tie that together.

-Right.

And I'm doing a tomato mole and some little gorditas.

What are gorditas?

They're little cornflour cakes, really.

They're little bit thicker than a tortilla.

'A bit worried about time because I've never cooked it before,

'so I don't know how long it's going to take.'

It's a kitchen we've never cooked in before

and we're kind of on our own so, yeah, great(!)

'Three hours? Yeah, it's going to be tight'

but just crack on and work as quickly and as effectively as possible.

Jack's in charge of the fish course.

Scallops en papillote...

..tempura squash blossoms stuffed with scallop mousse...

..roasted corn salsa...

..scallop roe chipotle sauce...

..and corn-husk chilli oil.

'Huge amount of pressure today.'

It's got to be the best food we've ever cooked, hasn't it?

Jane has devised a main of barbecued lamb, which will be marinated

in a herb mole verde, inspired by her time at Pujol.

It will be served with a tomatillo salsa verde,

corn, elotes style,

Mexican herb salad, and roast tomatoes.

It's mole verde, the green sauce to marinade my lamb in.

Got a couple of chillies in there.

I'm going to see how much, maybe

I need to add some more. But, you know, we're going to see.

Billy's dessert is based around two Mexican favourites -

cacao and chilli.

He's making chocolate mousse,

chocolate tortilla crumb,

orange granita,

dulce de leche with candied cocoa nibs

and a chilli beignet.

I've made the beignets before, but usually I do them with vanilla sugar rather than a chilli sugar

but I thought chilli goes well with oranges, chilli goes well with chocolate -

why not give it a go?

There's just over half the cooking time gone.

I'm just feeling really shaky and quite faint. I don't know...

I'm trying to get through it, but I don't know if I can.

I don't know what to do, really.

Do you feel all right?

-Feeling a bit dodgy, so...

-Are you?

-Yeah.

-How dodgy?

-Not great.

-Do you want to stop?

-Erm...

-You can.

-I don't really want to.

I know you don't want to, but if you're not well, you're not well.

-Do you want to sit it out?

-I don't want to let anyone down.

You're not letting anybody down.

-Sometimes, you've got to stop.

-OK.

-Do you want to sit down?

-Sorry. I'm sorry, John.

Oh, you're hot. Come on, you've got a proper fever, you have.

-Time for you to go home, mate.

-Sorry.

-Just take you this way.

Don't be sorry. It's fine. Here you go.

I'm just really gutted I'm not cooking today.

It is really disappointing

and I feel like I'm letting the rest of the guys down so... Sorry.

It's just frustrating, really.

SHE SNIFFS

SHE SOBS

-What do we do?

-We can do it.

-We can help her. We'll do it.

-You'll do it?

Might have to be careful about timings, that's all.

-Knock on a little bit of time.

-OK.

Let's push ourselves a gear up, and then we've got four courses.

-Yes, Chef.

-Fine.

With Juanita's dish being the first course,

the remaining three need to quickly work out what has to be done.

Puree. So, we need to blend that. We should do that next.

Hopefully, I've written enough detail in my instructions

for them to follow.

Erm... God.

Jane has taken over the making of Juanita's tomato mole.

We're just going to go hell for leather and try

and make sure we get four courses out.

-That is tomato mole on the plate. That's enough.

-That's fine.

Jack is working on Juanita's chilli oil.

At the end of the day, it's a competition, but in a kitchen

you're a team and we've got to pull together right now to get it out.

And Billy has to make the corn masa batter for the fried gorditas.

I'm following Juanita's recipe and it's just

really wet, not even dough-like.

So, I'm just, sort of, trying to follow my initiative

of what it might be like.

I think our three are really brave.

They put their hands up to do this fourth course.

They didn't have to do that.

I'm really proud of what they're up to.

Tonight's invited dinner guests include

the director of the National Museum Of Art, Augustine Atiyota,

international hotelier Bernard de Villele,

controller of Mexico's largest TV network, Jorge Nikaido,

and the finalists' mentor, Enrique Olvera.

-Hola.

-Mucho gusto.

-Muchas gracias.

THEY SPEAK SPANISH

Hola.

Food in Mexico is an incredibly important part of their culture,

so having British chefs come out here to Mexico

and to then produce food which will have a Mexican flavour in it,

I think is a fantastic way to celebrate

the relationship between the UK and Mexico.

Two minutes to plate up Juanita's dish.

We're aiming for ten past seven!

Billy is finishing the gordita batter,

but he still has to deep-fry them for service.

If it works, it works. If it doesn't, we can't serve it

cos we don't know what it's supposed to be like.

We've followed the recipe. There's not a lot else we can do.

Maybe that'll be quite nice.

Maybe they'll be something new they've never had before.

Outside, Jane has to get her lamb barbecued if she's to serve on time.

I want to try and get the edges nice and crispy and get...

-SHE COUGHS

-..thicker bits that I can cut into

a sort of thicker, juicier piece of meat to put on the plate.

It's now all hands on deck to plate Juanita's starter.

The gorditas are something challenging to see.

A little gordita is fine. It's not gordotas, it's gorditas.

I love mole so I'm looking forward to try the tomato mole.

I would like to know what about that.

I'm really eager to taste that.

Service!

We're good. We're good. Gracias!

Juanita's starter is green tomatillo salad with tomato mole,

gorditas and chipotle chilli oil.

Well, I think it looks beautiful. It's simple, elegant.

Looks very nice.

-The gordita was good. The bite is amazing.

-It's crispy.

I like the garlic and I like the spiciness.

I won't have a salad that spicy. I mean, not for me.

The mole don't taste like Mexican mole,

even though it's very interesting and it's nice.

Let's hope it's what Juanita had in mind.

It's certainly got lots of colour.

You can taste that lovely smokiness of the mole.

If's very strong, very powerful.

Those little balls she's made are crunchy and they're very salty.

Lovely, lovely flavours she's got in there.

With Juanita's dish behind them, Jack's scallop course is next.

-What do you need me to do? Tell me.

-Right.

Can you puree the sauce that's in the saucepan

that's got my scallop roe in it?

-This one?

-Yes.

Jack is serving courgette flowers stuffed with scallop mousse,

which will be deep-fried in a tempura batter that Billy is making.

-I've just added more water cos it was particularly heavy.

-Yeah.

Bit more water.

The tempura, I love my tempura but for me

the batter of the tempura will be very light.

For me, the scallops is very important

that he has to be properly cooked.

Are they all right? Well, they're maybe springy.

I think it's interesting combination.

I also like the roasted corn salsa.

I think that's very Mexican.

That's lovely, Jack. That's really lovely.

Service!

Well done.

That was intense at the end but I've done my best in this situation

and, as always, that's all I can ever ask myself. I'm happy.

I just hope the guys like it.

Jack's made scallops cooked en papillote with

tempura squash blossom stuffed with scallop mousse, roasted corn salsa,

scallop roe and chipotle sauce, and corn-husk chilli oil.

-The corn salsa, it's good.

-Yeah.

-The spice is controlled this time.

I do love the squash flowers,

which I don't know what they're stuffed with.

It seems like a mousse made with the scallops too.

I like the flavour of scallops and squash blossoms, work nicely

and just the scallops were overcooked, but with no browning.

They felt weird. They looked raw but they were cooked,

so it's really a very strange combination.

I think the scallops need a bit more colour.

Yeah, I think the scallops could do with a bit of colour.

Little bits of it are done very, very well.

Crispy batter on the outside of that courgette flower, nice, fine mousse.

The corn has got a crunch to it. What I'd like is more power.

I'd like some more chilli and I'd like a bit more sauce,

I'd like a bit more richness to it.

-Jane's up next with her lamb dish.

-It's cooked how I wanted it to be.

Nice and pink. It's the flavour of it that counts.

Being married to a Brit, I love my lamb.

I'm really interested to know

if the mole verde is not going to overkill the lamb.

I want to feel my lamb, I want to feel my mole.

This looks like explosion of flavour,

so I think it could be a very great surprise.

I'm looking forward.

Good colours. Lovely colours.

Service, please.

LAUGHS NERVOUSLY

-Well done.

-Thank you. OK.

-Well done, well done.

-Got there in the end, didn't we?

-Well done.

-Thank you.

Phew!

I'm really exhausted.

That's the toughest one, without a doubt, that we've done.

Hopefully, fingers crossed, they like...they enjoy it.

Jane has served barbecued lamb marinated in mole verde,

served with a tomatillo salsa verde, charred corn in mayonnaise,

a Mexican herb salad and roast tomatoes.

The lamb is well cooked. I really like it. It's tasty.

The pesto is flavourful and nice and bright.

The cooking on the lamb, I thought it was proper.

I think it was very cosmopolitan, like Mexican and fusion,

and I love that.

It was good.

Lamb's cooked lovely.

Love the herby flavours, like the power of the salsa,

love the freshness of the tomato.

She can afford to go a little bit more spicy, in my opinion,

but it's good. Good dish.

Last up is Billy.

His final challenge is to deep-fry his chilli beignets.

First lot of beignets are on.

Little bit odd-shapen, but they'll taste all right.

One-handed quenelling. Not that good. Piping bag, I think John.

-All right. I'll get it. I'll get it.

-Get it, mate.

Desserts are something that I just adore,

so I'm looking forward for it.

Let's see.

Go, go, go, go, go.

I'm pretty pleased.

Just hope it works, really, given that it's a recipe I came up with,

having never tried it myself so, yeah, only time will tell, I guess.

Billy's dessert is chocolate mousse with candied cocoa nibs,

a chocolate tortilla crumb, orange granita and a chilli beignet.

This is a great surprise.

I think that's, for me, the best presentation so far.

-It's...it's really good.

-The beignet is just incredible.

The flavour of the orange with the flavour of the chilli with

the chocolate is just amazing.

It's a very nice flavour combination.

The strength of the chocolate mousse is very nice.

I thought it was pretty cool.

I think this dish amazed me for the first bite.

It's like a discover of different flavours. I love it.

-Ooh!

-I like it.

You're eating a doughnut which reminds me of churros

and there's a hint of chilli in the background.

-I think that's really good.

-I'm impressed with Billy's dessert.

To come in Mexico in 48 hours and to pull what you guys did,

you understood the country.

Congratulations, because it was a lovely moment. So well done.

You should feel proud of yourselves because you've allowed yourself to

immerse into a different culture and that will make you not only

a better person but also a better cook.

-Thank you.

-Thank you so much.

-Thanks.

SHE LAUGHS

Wow, guys! Do you believe we did that?!

I think the trip to Mexico has been absolutely fantastic.

This is a land of colour and adventure, John, you can

feel its pulse. And I think that's reflected in our finalists' food.

I'm very, very proud of them.

And they should be very proud of themselves.

Mexico experience? Mad, wild.

'Talk about putting me outside my comfort zone!'

I think it will take a while to sink in that we've actually done this.

It has just been completely and utterly off the scale.

I'm pretty speechless, really, about what's just

happened in the last three days.

'It's just been one of the most incredible experiences ever.'

I love the place. Love the people. Love everything.

To have the opportunity to cook for the locals and work with Enrique,

I feel hugely privileged and I've got a massive grin on my face.

I'm loving this competition.

Our four have been truly inspired.

They've got to keep that energy going.

John, we are going to have a winner very soon.

Tomorrow night it's the chefs' table,

under the guidance of one of the world's greatest culinary talents.

Hits you in the mouth like a punch from Mike Tyson would be like.

And the four finalists battle for a place in the last three.

Oh, no! The yolk's burst!

It's absolutely stunningly delicious.

The person leaving us...