Episode 4 MasterChef

MasterChef is back,

searching for the country's best amateur cook.

-How long does a pigeon normally take?

-Until it's cooked.

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.

Argh!

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 believe

they've got what it takes to win MasterChef.

Obviously, I would love to go all the way.

That's my greatest ambition.

Cooking for John and Gregg is going to be very high pressure,

but bring it on.

I'm feeling good. I'm excited to get in there.

I just want to get going now.

A very warm welcome to the MasterChef kitchen.

First round, your own food. We call this the Calling Card round.

Show us what you can do.

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

and those two cooks will go straight through to the next round.

The remaining three will have to cook again

to secure their place in the competition.

Today, I feel we might uncover a star.

One hour, 15 minutes. Let's cook.

I normally cook for my family, my mum, dad and sister.

But on a Sunday,

we'll have up to ten of us, usually.

I'm cooking agnolotti, so it's basically like a ravioli, almost,

and then a slow-cooked truffle egg yolk.

I haven't got a water bath at home,

so I can't cook a sous-vide egg there,

so I might as well try it here.

-You OK, Tom?

-Yes, I'm all right, thank you.

Have you tried this dish on members of the family?

Yeah, they've got a bit sick of it, so they don't eat it any more,

so I cook it just for myself, for my dinner.

If it's good enough for your family, Tom,

-then let's hope it's good enough for me and John.

-Thank you.

Tom's making us agnolotti.

He's serving that with a truffled egg yolk for a sauce.

That egg yolk has to be runny enough but it's got to be cooked,

but the flavour of the truffle with the peas, bacon and asparagus

could be an absolute delightful thing.

20 minutes have gone, so you've got 55 left. Just under an hour left.

I do love a challenge

and I like stretching myself to the point

where I really don't know what's going to happen.

Caron, what is it you're cooking?

I'm cooking sea bass with spicy chorizo sauce

with some Bajan hot sauce in it and a garlic bread hoop.

-This Bajan hot sauce...

-Yeah.

-Has that come from Barbados?

-It has, yeah.

My husband's family are from Barbados,

from a very small village, and they make this particular sauce there

and it's the best sauce on the island.

My husband was a chef when I met him 25 years ago

and when he started going out with me, he stopped cooking.

-That's a good sign.

-Yeah.

-Thank you, Caron.

-Thank you.

We've got ourselves a sauce made with tomatoes, chorizo

and a spicy Caribbean sauce, which, apparently, has got mango in it

and she's serving that with some sea bass

and a ring of garlic bread, which is quite an unusual thing.

I'm not quite sure.

I'd like them to say you have a good palate.

I'd be happy with not getting completely torn apart.

That would be great. That would be a good start, I think.

How are you feeling, Chris?

A bit under pressure, but not too bad at the moment.

You're a sportsman. What do you do for a living?

-I'm a personal trainer, yeah.

-And how important is diet to you?

It is important. It's important five or six days a week.

And on the MasterChef days, you're going to let rip, are you?

Absolutely, yeah.

Not just going to bombard you with chicken and broccoli,

you'll be glad to know. I'll actually try and get some butter

-and sugar in there for you, so...

-Nice talking to you, Chris.

Keep working on those arms, you could get them to look like mine.

That's the dream, that's the dream.

Chris's food sounds absolutely delicious.

We've got chicken with a Madeira sauce, cavolo nero,

celeriac puree and mushrooms. What a fantastic group of ingredients.

They come together, they will be beautiful.

You're halfway. 37 minutes left, halfway.

I've been cooking most of my life.

It really started from my parents

when they first came across from Poland,

just after the Second World War,

and it was a case of the only way you could actually eat that food

is to cook it yourself and it just started off from there.

Rob, I think this is the most ingredients I've ever seen

-for one dish ever.

-I'm amazed, I'm amazed.

What are you making for us?

It's called bigos, which is originally a Polish hunters' stew.

Normally, it takes about two weeks to make,

hence why it's actually being made in a pressure cooker

and all these ingredients.

What is it you like about cooking?

I'm definitely one of those people that lives to eat,

so it's finding something new - a new flavour, a new texture.

If I had the same thing every day, I'd go mad.

I'm really intrigued by all the ingredients,

I'm intrigued by your food heritage.

-Dziekuje.

-Dziekuje za to!

Rob is making for us a Polish hunters' stew.

He's going to serve that with a beetroot and horseradish dip,

caraway seed, sour cherry soda bread and a dill and walnut pesto.

Extraordinary amount of work.

I hope he gets it all done and I'm intrigued.

I cook for people at work, I cook for my housemates

and family and friends, everybody -

anyone and everyone that wants to eat my food. Go for it.

-Whoa! Have you just thrown that in the bin?

-I have.

I didn't put any flour in.

I've made this probably about 20 million times

-but just a little mistake.

-What are you making for us, hopefully?

Hopefully, I call it a binge brownie because it's got coffee,

salted caramel, chocolate, coffee cream, hazelnut praline

and a salted caramel sauce for you.

-That tick any boxes?

-Oh, mate! That's heaven.

-Yeah?

But I'm really scared for you now.

I'm a bit scared, I'm not going to lie.

But say a prayer and, hopefully,

something beautiful will come out of the oven.

I want it to be gooey and unctuous in the middle.

Got to move, got to move. Just got to get on with it.

She wants her brownie to be unctuous. That's a great word.

Crispy on the outside, gooey on the inside.

Could be truly delicious.

You have only ten minutes left. Only ten minutes left.

30 seconds. If it's not on the plate in 30 seconds, it ain't going on.

30 seconds.

-Stop. Stop.

-Just two little drops.

-That's it. You're out of time.

Same time as everybody else.

-Oh, nice.

-That's beautiful.

-That looks amazing.

-That's gorgeous.

-Did you get it done?

-Yeah, I did.

Rob, could you join us with your hunters' stew, please?

Civil servant Rob's calling card is his take on Polish bigos,

a traditional hunters' pork stew...

..served with horseradish and beetroot,

dill, Parmesan and walnut pesto

and caraway seed and sour cherry soda bread.

You've done a huge amount of work in an hour and 15 minutes, Rob.

Thank you.

Your pork is beautiful.

It's sweet and sour and also smoky from the pork.

Your bread with caraway seeds and the sour cherries is luscious

and your sweet beetroot with the warmth of the horseradish

is a great thing. Great home cooking, Rob.

-Thank you.

-Rob, if you want to leave that there, me and John will eat it.

You've got the sensation of crispy pork fat,

a little bit of sweetness, a little bit of vinegar acidity,

that cheese tang which you get with Parmesan.

How do we say "well done" in Polish?

-Bardzo dobrze.

-Bardzo dobrze?

-Bardzo dobrze to you, mate. There you go.

-Thank you.

Good job.

I was not expecting that at all.

Doesn't mean I'm through, though. Doesn't guarantee I'm through.

Well done.

Well done, mate. That's good comments.

Caron, your turn, please.

Management consultant Caron has served pan-fried sea bass,

a garlic bread ring,

crispy pancetta and pea shoots,

with a sauce made from sweet potato, chorizo

and a chilli pepper sauce from Barbados.

Get you! Look at that! That is a very lovely looking dish.

That's restaurant standard.

Lovely presentation, decent cooking. Your fish is cooked OK.

I love your crispy garlic hoop.

I find the sauce slightly disappointing

cos it tastes mostly sweet to me and when you mentioned Barbados

-and the Caribbean, I was expecting a little bit more heat.

-Yeah.

The textures of the dish are great. Like Gregg, I think

the promise of that spicy sauce hasn't been realised.

I think it could do with a bit more of a...a bit more oomph.

I'm a bit disappointed in myself, really.

I could kick myself for not putting a bit more chilli in.

I think that's the thing, really. But, hey, not bad.

24-year-old Tom has made agnolotti

filled with bacon, mushroom and asparagus,

with asparagus, sage and pea,

a butter sauce and a cooked truffle egg yolk.

I think that's pretty. It's elegant. Not bad at all, Tom.

I like that, Tom!

I like that!

Your pasta is very well-cooked.

I got a lovely, almost medicinal, flavour of sage

cos of the butter that you've coated the pasta in.

I would like, if you're going to advertise a truffled egg,

for it to taste of truffle.

I'll forgive you because I think that's well-made

and I think it tastes delightful.

A couple of drops of truffle oil

and a scratch or two of Parmesan cheese

and you'd have something properly superb.

In the meantime, Tom, it's very, very good.

-Star dish, buddy.

-Thank you.

-Really very good indeed.

Surprising, yeah. Good though, yeah.

A bit of truffle oil and a bit of Parmesan to make it fantastic

is something I can live with, to be honest.

Personal trainer Chris has served a pan-roasted chicken breast...

..with mushroom tortellini, cavolo nero,

celeriac puree and a Madeira sauce.

Your chicken has got seasoning on the outside of it, which is lovely.

The depth of that sauce is very, very good indeed.

It's like a cross between gravy granules, chocolate and rum.

I find that sauce absolutely delicious.

The cavolo nero, in my opinion, needs a lot more cooking.

It's so rubbery, you've just got to cook it forever and ever and ever.

Um, you have some good touches.

The sauce is absolutely the star of that show.

Your mushroom filling in your tortellini -

there's a massive smokiness of mushrooms and pepper and Parmesan.

-I think you've done a really good job.

-Thank you.

-Good job.

-Thanks.

Quite relieved to get it out of the way.

Just frustrating, not cooking the cavolo nero enough.

But otherwise, really good comments, so quite happy.

Last up is recruitment manager Fran,

who has made an espresso and salted caramel brownie

with coffee cream, hazelnut praline

and salted caramel sauce.

I'm really impressed that you got it out.

I've never seen anyone so calm

in the face of such a catastrophe. Well done.

Chocolate, nuts, caramel, cream.

It couldn't get better, if you're a Gregg.

-However, I think that brownie needs to firm up a little bit.

-Mmm.

It's a little too gooey.

I don't mind gooey, but that's gooey banging on the door of undercooked.

Right, OK.

For me, brownie has to be crispy on the outside, and inside

it should be soft and gooey, and I think that's what you've done.

Gregg thinks it's a bit underdone.

You're allowed your own opinion.

You don't know very much about desserts

but we'll get you on your way. We'll teach you a few things.

So, it didn't go exactly to plan, but this is all an experience,

so no point going to pieces over it.

We are, obviously, in a room with five good cooks.

My favourite dish of the day...

..was cooked by Tom.

Really very good, Tom. Thank you very much.

Wow.

What was interesting, here, is we both agreed on our favourite

and that was you, Tom.

-Both our second favourite was Rob.

-Wow.

-So, Tom and Rob, well done.

-Thank you.

You go straight through to the next round. Go on.

-Go and put your feet up, put the kettle on.

-Well done, guys.

-Surprised? Pleased? Both?

-Both.

-Yeah.

-Both. Over the moon. I can't believe it.

-Yeah.

You three are cooking for your MasterChef lives.

This is a sweet or savoury invention test.

Under that cloth are two trays -

one to make a savoury dish, the other one a sweet dish.

You need to make a decision. Reveal your ingredients.

The sweet ingredients are almonds,

almond extract,

amaretto and marzipan

and the savoury ingredient is calves' liver.

There you go. You've made your decision.

One hour, one plate of food.

At the end of this, one of you is leaving the competition. Let's cook.

I'm going to make sure I create something

that's really a little bit different but, you know, flavoursome.

I'm confident that I've got the cooking skills

to be able to produce something good, hopefully.

The standard is so high and I have to cook to my best ability,

and even more, to stay in the competition,

and that's what I'm here for, really, so bring it on.

I love the invention test cos it's where the good cooks shine.

The people who cook all the time, who are scrabbling

round their cupboards and their fridges

and using the leftovers and cooking every day,

they're the cooks that survive this round.

How are you feeling, Chris? Are you inspired or a bit deflated?

Bit of both. I didn't want to see offal on the plate.

It's not something I cook often,

so I'm not as confident as I could be, perhaps.

So, why not go for the sweet?

Cos I wasn't too confident with that either.

Just listen out for the time calls and I'm sure you'll be fine.

Will do. Thanks.

Chris is going classic. He's got liver.

He's going to serve that with an ale and onion gravy,

cabbage and bacon and a fondant potato. Fantastic.

Liver's a difficult thing to cook. Crispy on the outside,

cooked with a tiny river of red running through the middle.

Any further than that, it goes dry.

Any less than that, and it's all rubbery and horrible.

20 minutes gone. 20 minutes gone.

Fran, were you disappointed not to have gone straight through?

Yeah, I was disappointed but it's all part of the process, isn't it?

-Come back fighting.

-What are you making?

I'm going to make you a liver and bacon puff pastry tart, I suppose,

and then potato dauphinoise and some tarragon mushrooms.

-I've never had a liver and bacon tart.

-No?

Well, there's a first time for everything.

Hopefully, it will be something you want to eat again.

Fran seems to be coming backwards and forwards,

trying to get more ingredients

and not really understand what she's doing.

I think we're getting a bit confused here.

What are you going to make?

A cheesecake, but it's basically got some blue cheese in it

and I'm doing it with figs and some caramelised almonds.

It's about the flavours, getting those balances right

and just proving that I've got a creative side to me

that you'll be able to see.

A dessert, in my opinion, should be a sweet, lovely thing.

Why Caron wants to put blue cheese in, I have no idea,

cos I think that blue cheese could ruin a really delicious dessert.

-Just ten minutes. Chris, how long?

-Ten minutes, Gregg.

Good lad. Ten minutes.

You have just three minutes to finish off your plates.

Three minutes.

Right, time's up. You're all on time. Well done.

Chris chose to cook a savoury dish.

He's pan-seared the liver

and served it on a bed of cabbage and bacon

with fondant potato and an ale and onion gravy.

Got a seriously edible plate of food there, son.

Yeah, a very tasty plate of food.

That's a chap's dish, isn't it? That's a chap's dish.

Your fondant potato's worked, soaked up loads of butter,

it's soft as well.

And lovely having the salty bacon going through the cabbage.

-Nice, yeah.

-Thank you.

-Boom.

-Yeah.

-Your liver's cooked perfectly.

Your sauce, sweet with onions and ale, is a great idea.

-Good job, Chris.

-Thank you.

I can't believe those comments. That was fantastic.

I, literally, can't wipe the smile off my face.

Fran also opted for the liver.

She's serving it in a deconstructed puff pastry tart

with bacon, tarragon mushrooms and brandy sauce,

alongside dauphinoise potatoes.

-That's messy.

-It is a bit messy, yeah.

And it kind of looks like you were making it up as you go along.

Yeah, we have got almost a vol-au-vent.

-I wish you had started with a clear plan.

-Mmm.

Cos you can cook liver and you can cook dauphinoise

and, again, your flavour combinations are decent.

However, I don't really know what the pastry is doing there.

It doesn't kind of belong there.

Pastry doesn't quite work with liver.

However, with the mushrooms and the bacon, it's good.

And I think a good lump of mustard in that sauce

would have brought the whole thing together.

They were OK comments, but I was making it up as I went along,

so not great at thinking on my feet, apparently.

Caron chose the sweet ingredients.

She's made a cheesecake with mascarpone, blue cheese

and caramelised figs,

garnished with candied and flaked almonds

and served with an amaretto cream sauce.

Works for me. Works for me. I like the bit of blue cheese in there.

It gives a kind of salt,

very much like you get salted caramel these days, very modern.

I think your sauce is magnificent. That's a lovely flavour.

Cool.

I feel like I've got my starter and my dessert on the same plate.

With the amaretto sauce, which I think is a really tasty thing,

the blue cheese I find just weird.

For me, if that had no blue cheese in it,

I would probably eat the whole thing.

I took a bit of a risk by using blue cheese in the cheesecake

and I think I kind of divided John and Gregg a bit on that.

I don't really know.

I'm hoping that it's enough to get me through, but let's see.

Thank you so much for effort. We've got to make a decision.

One of you has got to leave the competition.

All I can say, is well done for today. Thank you. Off you go.

They are good cooks. I think one of them absolutely shone today.

This invention test for Chris was good, really good.

It was a well-flavoured dish.

Chris goes straight through to the next round, as far as I'm concerned.

-Absolutely. He sails through to the next round.

-Yeah, great.

Caron, a well-made cheesecake.

But, in my opinion, it was a little bit on the odd side.

I didn't mind the blue cheese and mascarpone.

However, it's the second round where you have questioned her flavours.

In this round, the invention test, Fran struggled quite a lot.

She didn't have a plan at all.

I didn't know if I was having a pie or what I was having.

It was a sort of strange thing.

I'm not sure about Fran's organisation

but she does do decent flavour.

Who stays, who goes? One person leaves us.

I know. I think I know who deserves to stay.

If I go home today then, obviously, it will be gutting

that I'm not in the competition but I still had a good day.

I'd love to come and cook again.

I've only just covered a fraction of what I can do, so I really hope so.

I've got everything crossed. Let's see.

This decision, I have to say, hasn't been easy.

The simple fact is, one of you is leaving the competition.

The contestant leaving us...

..is Fran.

-Thank you very much.

-Good to have met you.

-Well done.

-Good luck.

-Good luck.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Yeah, I'm so disappointed to be leaving, but never mind.

It was a great experience and those two that are in there,

they absolutely deserve to be in there because the plates of food

they put up today as well have been fantastic.

Caron, Chris, you go and join Tom and Rob in the next round.

Well done.

It's the most amazing feeling I've had since I got married, actually.

I'm absolutely elated. It's amazing.

I'm absolutely over the moon to go through. That's great, really good.

Today, you are cooking for a place in the quarterfinal

but you're actually going to be serving your food

to some very special invited guests...

..three people that understand the competition very, very well,

because they were the finalists of 2013 -

Saira,

Larkin

and, of course, the winner, Natalie.

At the end of this, one of you is going home.

Two courses, one hour and 15 minutes.

Ladies and gentlemen, let's cook.

Today, for me, is about nailing it, absolutely,

because if I can't do it today, with the recipes that I've planned

and that I know how to cook, then I can't do it.

Caron, how are you feeling about being here today?

I was over the moon when I got through.

I didn't realise how important it was to me, actually, until then.

-But, yeah, I'm going in there today.

-What's your menu?

Creole chicken and plantain and some sweet potato straws

and dessert, I'm doing a deconstructed cheesecake.

I'm going to get the spicing right.

I've got a lot of Caribbean stuff going on here.

I'm not going to blow your head off, but I'm going to get it right.

-Good luck, Caron.

-Thank you.

I love the sound of Caron's creole chicken,

as long as she actually is generous with that spicing.

She's got to be bold.

The cheesecake - passion fruit, pineapple

and white chocolate.

That sounds very, very sweet and, possibly, too rich.

After yesterday, I was expecting to feel a little bit calmer,

but I think the pressure is on.

I'm definitely up for the challenge but I'm as nervous as anything.

Rob, once again, an interesting array of ingredients

upon your bench. What are you going to cook?

Smoked breast of duck with pan-fried duck livers,

a black pudding and buckwheat base

and pickled red cabbage with blueberries.

Dessert is going to be poached plums with a gingerbread ice cream.

Is this Polish?

It's Polish flavours but it's taking it to that next level.

-Rob, looking forward to it. Sounds interesting.

-OK.

You're full of surprises, that's for sure.

Rob's dish is very, very meaty.

Duck breast, duck liver and a blood sausage?

It's almost like a mixed grill.

He's got a beetroot and blueberry mixture with some buckwheat.

I've never had anything like that before ever.

Dessert - stewed plums with a gingerbread ice cream.

I think that sounds lovely, as long as there's a bit of texture there.

To get through from yesterday,

and to be a favourite star dish, was incredible.

To me, that's added to the pressure. I've got something to prove.

I want to get through to the next stage

and I want to see how far I can get.

-You, Tom, have set your benchmark.

-Yeah.

And your benchmark is quite high.

Two courses today. What are you going to be cooking?

Leek and mushroom stuffed chicken breast, wrapped in prosciutto,

-roast sprouts, roast potatoes and a cauliflower puree.

-Mmm-hmm.

It's like a chicken dinner.

And then a lemon tart, raspberry sauce,

raspberries and whipped cream.

-You're making your own pastry for the lemon tart?

-Yes.

The tarts take nearly the whole time to bake and the dessert

so, obviously, if I'm at all behind,

it's going to be really down to the wire.

I'm not as excited by Tom's two dishes.

However, if he executes them well, I'll be very, very happy indeed.

A good lemon tart is not an easy thing to make.

As long as the pastry is perfect,

as long as the lemon inside is not too sharp, not too sweet

and it's firm and not runny.

I think I've shown that I can deliver big flavours,

I just think I need to maybe show a bit more inventiveness.

What's it like this round? Less pressure or more pressure?

Slightly more pressure. It's tough timing, an hour and 15 minutes.

-Really tough going.

-What are you going to make for us?

We've got bream with fondant potato and some samphire

-and a sauce made with mussels, apple and fennel.

-Why apple and fish?

Just to lift it up a little bit, just cuts through all the richness.

-Dessert, Chris?

-Banana souffle with peanut butter ice cream.

-You're going for this, mate, aren't you?

-100%.

I like Chris's menu. I think it sounds great.

I'm not sure about apple in with that fish. Not sure at all.

I think this is really challenging

cos I think the banana souffle four times,

and under this pressure, I think is very difficult.

Today, these four are cooking not just for you and I,

but for three finalists of 2013.

This is a big round, with lots of pressure,

but my expectation is high. I think we've got four very good cooks.

I'm very much looking forward to it.

All three 2013 finalists are now working in the food industry

and this is where it all began.

I'm really, really looking forward to today.

For me, sitting on the other side today, is an incredible privilege.

I remember when I did this challenge, it was very difficult.

My main's a Welsh delicacy - curry rice and chips,

half and half, job done.

What's not to like, really?

My dessert was not so good.

-He just needs to notch up the execution a bit, doesn't he?

-Yeah.

So, I will sympathise with them.

I remember, when I cooked for the previous contestants,

I went a bit over time and got myself in a bit of flap.

-You've got two minutes, Natalie.

-I'm going to go over. Sorry, Gregg.

I broke down crying for ten minutes. Afterwards, I had to be calmed down.

It's a tough round of the competition

because you've got to get multiple plates of food out.

They've all got to look the same.

I don't want people to get so carried away with presentation

they forget about the taste of the dish.

I remember it being a tough thing to do,

but I also remember enjoying the chance to do my own food.

You've got that mix of all of those wonderful flavours. It's good.

-It's a cracking curry.

-They loved it, so I was delighted.

-Cheers.

-Cheers.

-Cheers, ladies.

-Caron, 20 minutes on your first course.

-Cool.

Caron's main course is poussin in creole sauce with plantain,

sweet potato straws and a cucumber, spring onion and lime pickle.

Sounds really lovely.

Just hope it's not too spicy cos I don't like it too hot.

Five minutes on your first course, please.

Good?

Yeah, that's got a kick to it.

-They're getting half a chicken each?

-Yeah.

-Ooh, lovely.

Very nice, very nice.

-Ready.

-Well done, Caron, you're on time.

-Yay! Go, Caron! Go, Caron!

-Come on!

-Come on. Sorry, don't distract me now!

-Hello.

-Hello.

Today, I've made for you creole chicken

with a spicy creole sauce, plantain and sweet potato straws,

with a onion and cucumber lime pickle.

-I hope you enjoy it.

-ALL: Thank you.

-It smells amazing.

-You get this huge waft of spice. It's great.

I'm really glad she's left the poussin on the bone

and that's meant the bird is still really moist.

The sauce is really good.

There's obviously some chilli but it's not too hot.

It doesn't come and smack you round the face.

It sort of creeps up on you from behind, which I quite like.

I like the sweet potato chips,

I really like the cucumber and shallot pickle.

The vegetable curry sauce is just a little bit insipid.

Some lovely sweet flavours on there,

but I would like heat. I still want heat.

-So, dessert, Caron. Dessert, yeah?

-Yeah.

-You've got quite a bit to do, haven't you?

-I have.

15 minutes, please.

Caron's dessert.

"Deconstructed coconut, white chocolate, mango,

"passion fruit cheesecake, with a raw ginger spice base,

"mango coulis and a pineapple, ginger and lime...

-HE DRAWS BREATH

-"..salsa."

-LAUGHTER

-Nice.

I really like a cheesecake,

so I hope it's not so deconstructed that I can't tell what it is.

I'm deconstructing.

The shakes are kicking in.

-Lovely. Beautiful things you've got there.

-Thank you.

Do you know what?

I'm going to go and put on a pair of shorts and some flip-flops.

-Can we go?

-I'm ready.

-Let's go.

Thank you.

For dessert, I've made you a coconut and white chocolate cheesecake,

deconstructed, with a raw, gluten-free base,

and a pineapple salsa with white rum and lime,

mango coulis and a chrysalis.

-Or even a physalis.

-Physalis.

-Thank you. I hope you enjoy it.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

For me, I think it looks a bit messy.

I know it's deconstructed,

but I guess I'm just not really a fan of it. I like the classics.

I like her presentation. I think she's very modern.

-I love this base.

-Mmm.

The raw cocoa in there and the nuts make it really, really good to eat.

I was expecting some really big flavours.

Maybe a bit more sweetness, a bit more punchiness would be nice.

I disagree, Larkin.

I think Caron's got a very good understanding of flavours.

I've got to give it to her. That is super yummy.

She's taken the Caribbean nature's bounty

and just put them together on one plate,

but she's done it in a very good way.

The issue, for me, is one of presentation.

It's not a cheesecake, it's a blob of cream cheese

on top of some nuts with some cocoa and dates,

covered with tropical fruit.

I'm glad it's over. I was shaking at the end. I was dithering.

But I'm really glad I managed to keep it together, yeah.

Or did I? Yeah.

All coming to plan.

So, Rob's main course is a smoked duck breast

and pan-fried duck liver, served with black pudding buckwheat,

drizzled with marjoram essence, wild mushrooms and sour cream

and a pickled red cabbage and blueberry slaw.

It seems like there's quite a lot of flavours.

Duck liver's quite a strong flavour,

as well as marjoram, which is quite potent.

Blueberry slaw - that sounds really interesting.

Never tried something like that before. Looking forward to that.

-OK, you're supposed to be up in three minutes, Rob.

-OK.

-Actually plated?

-Yes.

-Yeah.

-OK.

You've given yourself too much to do here, haven't you?

I think I have, yeah.

-Is that how you wanted it?

-Perhaps wanted it a bit more well-done.

-Can you put it in a pan for a minute or something?

-I think I shall.

-Yep.

I think John meant for you to take the livers out first.

-Yeah, I know, but it will be served together anyway.

-Right, OK.

-Let's go. Let's go with it.

-OK.

-Wow.

-Look at that.

It's a smoked breast of duck, served with duck livers,

blood pudding with buckwheat, pickled red cabbage,

wild mushrooms in sour cream and slaw with blueberries.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

You can see Rob's had a bit of difficulty getting this plated up.

He's running over and it looks a bit rushed.

It's not the most appealing looking plate of food I've ever seen.

I've got a piece of duck here, that's still quacking,

-quite frankly. Look at that.

-Whoo...

-That's quite raw.

You couldn't serve that, really.

That would get sent back, wouldn't it?

I've just tried a bit of liver and my liver's over

and overcooked duck's liver is not one of the nicest things to eat.

I've tried the blueberry slaw. It's all right, it's not what I expected.

I feel for Rob a bit.

I think the pressure of the day has just thrown him off.

I think, in fairness to him, he attempted too much,

he completely ran out of time, he got himself in a bit of panic

and in the end, everything just got thrown on the plate.

I don't think he ever expected it to look like that.

-Rob, 15 minutes, all right, and then plums and ice cream.

-OK.

-Thank you.

So, Rob's is a spiced plums with a gingerbread ice cream. Yum.

I really like plums and I think they take a spice really well,

but they need to be cooked properly.

There's nothing worse than a tough plum on your plate.

-Nice ice cream.

-Lovely. Look at that.

-Get them out quick. Great.

-Nicer looking plate, isn't it?

-Certainly is.

-And on time.

-Well done, Rob.

-I'm a lot happier with this.

-Right, let's go.

Thank you.

So, it's a poached plum with gingerbread

-and a gingerbread ice cream.

-ALL: Thank you.

I think this is much more on the mark already.

Hope the boy pulls it back.

I've not had a poached plum before.

I thought the colour of it was beautiful. It's really soft.

-It's been well-cooked.

-The ice cream tastes all right.

It's quite a strong flavour of cloves and a light spicing in there.

The ice cream was pleasant,

but there's far too many cloves in his plums.

I just think he struggles to find balance with flavours.

-GREGG:

-That's a much better attempt, much better dish.

Soft, beautiful plums and that ice cream is superb.

I'd like a bit of texture. It's a bit mushy.

HE SIGHS

A bit disappointed, I have to say.

The main dish didn't go quite to plan, but happy with the dessert.

Definitely happy with the dessert.

It was probably the toughest thing I've ever done.

-Puree done, carrots done, chicken done...

-Yeah.

Get the plates out, come on.

So, Tom.

Chicken breast, stuffing, cauliflower puree,

roast potatoes, carrots, sprouts and Madeira sauce.

It's like a Sunday roast. I'm quite happy with that.

Is there enough technique on there to show off his skills?

-Come on, young Tom.

-That's a lovely thing.

-Quick wipe.

-Yeah.

-Yeah!

Ready to go? Off you go.

-Hi.

-Hiya.

I've cooked a leek and mushroom and sage stuffed chicken breast,

wrapped in prosciutto, with a cauliflower puree,

roast sprouts, roast potatoes and orange juice carrots,

with a Madeira and chicken stock sauce.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

I think it looks nice and pretty and it smells amazing.

I think the big thing about this dish was always going to be

that Madeira sauce, like how rich it was going to be

to bring everything together.

I don't know about you guys, but I don't have any sauce on mine.

I probably disagree with you a little bit.

The chicken is cooked really well

and I think the saltiness from the ham works really well

and he's made his own stuffing. I know what you're saying though.

It should have been, perhaps, a bit more exciting.

He's got a decent touch. He knows how to cook.

It's a good, home chicken dinner, a tasty home chicken dinner.

-15 minutes. We need lemon tarts, yeah?

-Yeah.

-Let's go.

Tom's dessert is a lemon tart with raspberry sauce,

cream and fresh raspberries, which I think sounds absolutely fabulous.

It has to be really sour and then really sweet at the same time

and that's what's going to make it amazing.

It's that sort of crowd-pleaser, that is, the piping bag.

That gets everybody going. Very, very neat.

Just the front one that's not set.

Hey! Go, big Tom!

-Come on, son.

-Well done.

-Hey.

-Hiya.

So, I've cooked a lemon tart with a brulee top,

with some whipped cream, raspberries and a raspberry sauce.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Mmm.

Oh, yeah.

That's really good. It's really sour and really sweet at the same time.

-Pastry's nice and crispy.

-I could eat that again and again.

I wonder if he's married.

The balance of sweetness and sharpness, in my opinion,

is bang on. The pastry is also very, very good.

-That's accomplished cooking.

-Good job.

I like it.

I'm relieved it's over.

The main thing is I'm pleased with what I've done.

I'm not panicking.

I think I'll be more happy later, if I get through, especially.

15 minutes on your first course, Chris. 15 minutes.

Yeah, good. Hopefully, I'll be there.

So, Chris's main is bream with fondant potato and samphire

with mussels, fennel and apple sauce.

Fish, obviously, you have to be very delicate with,

so you want crispy skin.

Apple sauce. Apple and fish?

Well, I'm not sure about that but I'm willing to give it a go.

-Yeah, come on, come on, come on, come on. Lovely!

-Good.

Absolutely lovely!

Sauce. Come on, come on. Sauce, sauce, sauce.

-GREGG CLAPS HIS HANDS

-Let's go. Well done.

Hello, everybody. I'll go ladies first, I'm afraid.

-There you are.

-Thank you.

So, I've made, for you, a bream with fondant potato, samphire

and a sauce made from mussels with apple and fennel.

-Enjoy.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-Mmm-mmm.

-Good plate of food, a good plate of food.

-I'm very happy.

That fondant's perfect.

-It's just full of butter.

-Mmm, lovely.

-It's brilliant.

The fish is really nicely cooked, with the crispy skin.

There's just little notes of apple and crispy fennel through that sauce

-and it tastes good.

-Mmm.

I think he's demonstrated quite a lot of techniques

-so, all in all, good job.

-Mmm.

The flavours, the textures on there, that's first-class. First-class.

-Very, very good indeed. I like it a lot.

-Yeah, me too.

-Chris, 15 minutes. Souffle, ice cream.

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

So, Chris's dessert - banana souffle, peanut butter ice cream.

He's given himself a lot to do.

He will be under pressure to get this dessert out.

-How long have they got to go?

-Another two, three.

-Are you happy?

-Yeah.

Yeah! They look good!

Quick, quick, quick, before they all start to sink.

Get them out, get them on, get them out!

Very good. Right, go. Go.

(Yes!)

(Wow.)

So, we've got banana souffles

with caramel banana surprise in the bottom

and peanut butter ice cream and I hope you enjoy it.

-ALL: Thank you.

-Thank you.

-Cheers.

I think this dish looks amazing.

The ice cream looks really well-set, the souffle is really well-risen.

-Ooh, have you seen the bananas at the bottom?

-Mmm.

Flavour-wise, I think he's nailed it.

The bananas are great, sweet, the souffle's light, melt-in-the-mouth,

and the peanut butter ice cream is really peanut buttery.

I think he's been the strongest performer today.

Oh, very good!

Very, very, very good.

Absolutely exhausted after that.

That was the toughest hour and 15 minutes.

When you're doing it, you think, "Why am I doing this?"

As soon as you finish, you can't wait to do it again,

so I really hope I get that place.

A mixed bag.

Some very, very good indeed, some decent and some... little bit odd.

Chris, for me, was the cook of the day.

The fish was, as you said, very delicious. I liked that a lot.

I was delighted with the quality of the souffle.

I thought it was very, very good indeed.

Tom's an interesting one

because our guests weren't that impressed with his chicken.

I thought it was homely, comforting

and I thought it was really well-cooked.

I liked the lemon tart by Tom. You know, classic cooking again.

I would like to see Tom be a little more adventurous,

but he's covering the basics very well.

He let himself down, Rob, with the main course,

let himself down quite badly. The duck was undercooked.

But he gave himself far, far too much to do.

Dessert, on the other hand, from Rob -

ginger ice cream, poached plums, good.

I'd really love to stay,

but you have to be realistic about these things.

We'll see, we'll see.

I liked Caron's main course.

I love the bravery of cooking that little chicken.

That was delicious. The sauce could have done with a bit more power.

Dessert, I think, split the crowd, because there were good flavours.

However, a deconstructed cheesecake

resulted in a bit of a messy dessert.

I'm just visualising getting through to that next stage.

I really, really hope so, but I don't know.

We are looking for three cooks to make it into a quarterfinal

and I think, in a way, the writing's on the wall for one of them.

There's somebody here today that didn't quite cope

with the pressure we put them under.

Three of you are going through to become quarterfinalists.

One of you, unfortunately, is leaving us.

The person leaving us...

..is Rob.

Well done.

Sorry, Rob. Thank you, Rob.

A strange combination. Disappointed but actually happy at the same time.

It's been a great opportunity. Really enjoyed myself.

A good time, good time.

Well done, you three.

MasterChef quarterfinalist - that's got a nice ring to it, hasn't it?

'I'm so excited about being a quarterfinalist.'

I've dreamt about being a quarterfinalist

and, like, it's just...

It's amazing, absolutely amazing, yeah.

'I still don't think it's sunk in.

'I don't think it will until I'm home,'

laying in bed, thinking, "Did that really happen or have I dreamt it?"

'I'm absolutely delighted with that.'

I can't hide the smile on my face, I'm absolutely over the moon.

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

That is restaurant standard cooking.

It's got all the Friday fun bits on the plate.

Yeah! All right!

That smells so good.