Episode 7 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 think they've got what it takes

to become this year's MasterChef.

It feels very surreal to be on MasterChef.

It feels a bit like I'm in a dream. Very scared, very excited.

Cooking takes over my whole life. Cooking, cooking, cooking.

It's just a constant reel of recipes going round in my head.

I am quite competitive with myself.

Once I've got my teeth into something,

I want to take it to its absolute maximum.

Welcome to the MasterChef kitchen.

If you've got talent, me and him will find it.

This is a really important day,

because this, your first round, is your calling card -

a dish that you're going to cook for Gregg and I that tells us

something about you as a cook. You all have one hour and 15 minutes.

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

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

One hour 15 minutes. Let's cook.

My sister actually sent me through the application form.

She was just like, "Just fill it in, just do it."

And I guess I kind of thought, "Why not?"

I'm really looking forward to it

and I hope they love what I cook for them.

-Jack, how much do you like cooking?

-I love it.

I cook a lot for my girlfriend, my friends.

What does your girlfriend think of your cooking?

I think if I wasn't a dab hand, then we might not be together.

OK. What are you cooking right now?

I'm doing maple-glazed gammon, twice-cooked chips

and a tarragon and pea puree,

and then I'm deep-frying a poached egg, as well, on top.

So a little bit sexier than your average gammon, egg and chips.

Yeah, but hopefully the root of the dish is there.

I do like the sound of it.

It's built on honesty with a couple of little frills, I would say.

Jack's being clever, but he's going to put together a dish that we

all know and love and he's going to have it with a bit of style.

Ham, egg and chips - I like that.

The thing that terrifies me is the look that John gives you

if it's not right.

It's that look of disappointment. I really don't want to see that.

-Sarah, how are you feeling?

-Nervous. Very nervous.

-Why?

-Because you're looking at me!

-Right. Right. Sarah, how are you feeling?

-How are you feeling, Sarah?

-I'm feeling fine, yeah.

-Good. Good.

Can you tell me what your dish is, please?

I'm doing a ballotine of rabbits with a prune

and brandy puree, with chips and a cream and mustard sauce.

It actually does work, don't it? Wow!

How good a cook are you? Because this is quite a complex dish.

Well, I thought I was good until I got here

and I've lost all confidence, so we'll find out, I suppose.

-Try and relax and enjoy it.

-I will.

-I'm going now.

-Thank you.

Sarah has got a piece of rabbit

and she's taken all the loin off the bone and she's wrapped

it in ham and it's going to only need about ten or 15 minutes.

It shouldn't be dry at all, but the other thing is,

it's got to be cooked all the way through.

You've had half an hour. You've got 45 minutes left, OK?

Nobody actually ever taught me to cook,

but I just started experimenting. It is cooking, isn't it?

If I can kind of get myself in the bubble and just pretend it's

my kitchen at home, I shouldn't see why it'll be a problem.

Andy's cooking us chicken breast with a potato gratin,

a tomato ragout with red wine and balsamic vinegar, and asparagus.

That means we've got chicken and cheese.

That could be a good thing, or at the same time,

it could be a bad thing.

What do you do now, Andy, apart from a Gregg Wallace lookalike?

Do you know, it's weird that you say that, because I was in a restaurant

once and my little boy said, "Daddy, you're on the wall." I turn around,

-it was a picture of you.

-Is that right?

-That is God's honest truth,

no lying that. God's honest truth.

So, what do you do?

I'm a warehouse manager for a big parcel company in the UK.

-Andy, good luck with your chicken.

-Thank you.

20 minutes left, ladies and gentlemen. 20 minutes left.

My mum got me in the kitchen very young.

Cooking was a core thing in the family.

Every bit of laughter started around the cooker.

-Gabin, you look pretty relaxed.

-I am. This is where I want to be.

-This is great.

-What are you cooking now, Gabin?

I'm cooking a lamb curry, which is something that I cook a lot at home.

I was going to do it with rice, but my wife's not a rice fan.

I'm doing it with a fried dumpling.

-What is the essence to a good Jamaican curry?

-Heat.

Nice bit of flavour

and a little bit of a contrast with the sweet of the plantain.

-Gabin, good to meet you, mate.

-Thank you.

Making a lamb curry and making that lamb lovely and tender and

fully spiced in the amount of time he's got, I think it's a big ask.

He's serving the whole thing with plantain crisps and a plantain puree

and he's doing it because his wife doesn't like rice.

I like rice.

Since about the age of four or five, I've been in the kitchen

cooking up a storm.

My passion's just grown since then, so I thought I'd give it a go.

What are you making, because you've got some lovely ingredients on here?

Today, what I'm going to cook is roast partridge,

wrapped in pancetta, a spelt risotto,

some roasted vegetables and a red wine jus with star anise.

-Why this dish?

-So, this dish, I'm lucky I live in Wiltshire,

in the middle of the countryside, and my next door neighbour's

a gamekeeper called Tony, he's lovely. So this time of year,

he just leaves dead things on our doorstep pretty much every day -

pheasants, partridge, pigeon, deer.

It's not unusual to come down in the morning, open your front door and

there's a dead thing hanging in front of your face.

I've got to tell you now, the smells that are coming off

Juanita's bench are getting me very excited indeed

and I'd be very, very happy going to her house,

sitting round the Aga and having a nice glass of wine while she cooks.

Every single cook in the room has decided on doing a dish which

actually reflects their own personality and it's great.

You've got just five minutes. Don't run out of time.

Curry, it's a little bit off.

I put a little bit too much liquid in to start with,

so it's had to cook down, try and evaporate some of that liquid.

I've just got to deep-fry the egg, that's the scary bit,

plate up and then we're good to go.

Final 60 seconds.

If it doesn't get on the plate now, it won't be getting on.

Right. That's it. Your time's up.

That was hard work.

That was the fastest hour and 15 minutes I've ever known

in my life, ever.

Sarah, up you come, please.

First up is florist Sarah,

whose calling card is a ballotine of rabbit, stuffed with

a rabbit leg and parsley mousse, and wrapped in Parma ham.

Served with asparagus, salt and pepper potato cubes,

prune and brandy puree, and a mustard cream sauce.

Mm.

You come in here, you've taken a whole rabbit, you've pulled it

apart, you've stuffed it, you've wrapped it, you've cooked it

really, really nicely.

You've got crispy chips on the side which are addictive as anything,

but your mustard sauce is probably a little bit...a bit flat.

It could probably do with some more mustard,

but as to the rest of it, I like it a lot.

-I admire the work, I admire your palate.

-Thank you.

Showing a lot of skill.

I feel really surprised after that.

I can't believe that they said such nice things.

I would love to get through and avoid cooking again.

I'm not sure I could survive doing it again. It was quite traumatic.

Project manager Jack has made his take on the classic

ham, egg and chips, with maple-glazed gammon,

chips and a crispy fried egg, served with a tarragon pea puree,

a mustard sauce and beer-pickled onions.

-Hey!

-There you go.

So much on this plate to enjoy.

There is a sweet smokiness on your gammon.

That egg is beautiful.

The sweet acidity of the onions is also good.

Love that pea with the tarragon.

What I really like are your crispy chips, your egg,

which has been crusty on the outside with a runny yolk,

and I like your gammon in the centre. Ham, egg and chips.

Brave man. Good job.

It's pretty knackering in there.

The adrenaline's pumping and the pressure's on,

so happy they enjoyed it.

Dad-of-two Gabin has cooked a Jamaican-style lamb curry with fried

dumplings, plantain chips, a plantain puree and an onion

and tomato salsa.

Love your flavours, Gabin. Absolutely love your flavours.

There's a creeping warmth

and heat that's coming from that curry I love.

The lamb's going a little bit tough because you were boiling away,

trying to reduce the liquid with the lamb in there.

Your sweet plantain puree is a very interesting thing,

almost like banana, sweet and salty banana on the side of your curry.

-You said your wife doesn't like rice.

-Mm-hm. Yep.

-He likes rice.

-Yes.

-I like rice.

-I like rice.

-And you like rice.

-Yes.

-I just think in a big bowl with rice, Gabin.

-OK.

Relieved it's over.

I'm hoping I'm not going to cook again,

but based on what everyone else has cooked

and the standard out there, I wouldn't be surprised if I do.

Warehouse manager Andy's calling card is pan-seared chicken breast,

cheese and potato gratin, asparagus and a tomato

and chorizo ragout.

That chicken is really moist and cooked very well.

You've taken the skin off and you've crisped that up separately,

which is great. You've got a fair bit of cooking knowledge.

I think your palate is sound.

-I think your presentation's all over the place.

-Yeah.

The sauce is delicious.

It's like a sort of tomato marmalade with spicy paprika and courgettes.

I think the cheese and chicken thing doesn't quite work.

Cheese and chicken is a bit strange.

A little bit disappointed with the presentation,

but to say that John and Gregg have tasted my food

and they're happy with the flavours and things like that,

you know, I'm really, really happy.

Website producer Juanita has cooked marmalade-glazed roast

partridge with spelt risotto, roasted root vegetables

and a red wine and star anise jus.

That's a beautiful dish.

That's an incredible dish for someone to be

doing in their own kitchen.

Oh, my word! Where have you come from?

That's fantastic.

That is absolutely fantastic.

That bird is cooked perfectly. Lovely and pink.

The quality of your sauce is deep and rich,

it's almost got a chocolate feel to it.

-This is a really good work, Juanita. Really good work.

-Thank you.

I have to say I am so impressed with this dish.

Bitter orange marmalade and the star anise come together with

the salty bacon and the sweet meat of partridge.

It's a really fabulous, fabulous thing.

Amazed and so excited. Yeah, absolutely amazing.

I was not expecting those comments. Just... Yeah, surreal.

This, today, was brilliant.

John and I are going to pick our favourite cook of this round.

My favourite dish...

..was cooked by Jack.

Mate, anybody who walks in here and does ham, egg and chips,

I'll tell you what, you're right in my good books straight away.

My favourite dish...

..was cooked by Juanita. That was beautiful.

-Well done. You're my favourite.

-Thank you.

Good job. Right.

Juanita and Jack, thank you very much.

-Oh, my goodness! That was hard!

-Oh, dear.

Thank God we don't have to cook again.

-I don't think I could've done it!

-That was intense.

What we've got for you now is an invention test.

Under that cloth are two trays.

On one tray, the ingredients for a sweet dish.

On the other tray, ingredients for a savoury dish.

Whichever you choose, you have one hour to invent a dish

using that and anything else you like from the larder behind us.

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

Ladies and gentlemen, reveal your ingredients.

The contestants must now choose

whether to make a sweet dish showcasing cherries,

or a savoury dish from a selection of mushrooms and truffle.

Make a decision right now.

Ladies and gentlemen, one hour. Let's cook.

I know I can cook. It's just refining and getting things right.

I ain't ready to go home yet.

My brain's racing, what I'm going to do, and it's whether or not

you stick with good home cooking, or you try and jazz it up a bit.

I'm just going to keep my head down, focus and not let it worry me

and just carry on.

-Gabin, why the mushrooms and not the cherries?

-I love mushrooms.

I love mushrooms and then I uncovered and I saw truffle there

and I thought, "I guess it's never going to happen to me again."

-What are you going to make for us, Gab?

-Mushroom tortellinis.

-Are you? You're going to make your own pasta?

-Yes.

-Get you!

-Have you made tortellini before?

-Yeah. Well, once or twice.

You're talking your way into the next round,

you've just got to cook your way in now.

This mushroom, white wine mixture

he's made up to fill his tortellini -

the issue is he's going to have to make sure that filling is cold

before he puts it in the pasta, or the pasta will fall apart.

20 minutes gone.

Sarah, why did you pick the cherries and not the mushrooms?

I'm comfortable with sweet things. I do like a pud.

I thought, you know, you've seen the savoury side,

-let's go for the sweet side.

-What are you going to make?

I'm going to do a chocolate and cherry cheesecake, with pistachio.

-How good can a cheesecake be?

-Cheesecakes are the best!

There is no competition. Come on now.

Cherry and chocolate cheesecake I like the sound of.

How is she going to make it look really smart?

Guys, you're halfway.

You've got 30 minutes left.

-So, what have you got in mind here, Andy?

-It's kind of a...

I suppose a medley of mushrooms,

but it's going to be a kind of stuffed mushroom with more

mushrooms, onion, garlic, a bit of fennel, a little bit of cumin,

and I've got a bay leaf in there as well to give it a bit more flavour.

-Are you making this up as you go along?

-Totally.

Absolute classic case of invention test panic.

We've got ourselves a medley of mushrooms,

which nobody knows what that means, including Andy.

Cheesecake, medley mushrooms, tortellini.

Three minutes to put this together. Three.

That's it, guys. Stop.

Andy chose the savoury option

and has made stuffed portobello mushroom

with coriander and fennel, topped with Parmesan cheese

served with a potato, cannellini bean, and mushroom mash

and a mushroom cream sauce.

I like the mushrooms and the cheese on the flat mushroom.

I don't like the fennel.

It's not great and I think you can cook all right,

but this is what happens if you start cooking without a plan.

-I know.

-I think everything tastes really good, I do,

and I have to tell you, I was a little bit frightened at first,

because I saw a bowl of mash, I saw a mushroom,

I saw bits and pieces of it, but your flavours are good.

I just wish you'd have started with an idea of exactly what it was

you were going to do.

It's the hardest thing I've ever done in my life and I've done a lot

of hard things in my life, but that is the hardest thing I've ever done.

Sarah picked the sweet ingredients and used them

to create a chocolate cheesecake with a pistachio

and biscuit base, drizzled with a cherry Kirsch sauce.

I've got to tell you off a little bit, because you're supposed to be

making a cherry dessert and you've unashamedly made a chocolate one.

Sorry.

When you get a little bit of cherry, it's divine, because it's

the flavour of a really nice dessert wine against all the sweetness.

It's soft, it's sweet, it's a lovely dessert.

But I'd like to see more cherry.

It's been a very, very stressful, emotional day, so it would be a

shame to have gone through all that not to get through.

Gabin chose the mushrooms

and has made mushroom-filled tortellini, topped with leeks

and shaved truffle,

with a white wine, mushroom, cream and chilli sauce.

What you've got in front of me is a good-looking plate of food.

-Thank you.

-Hope it tastes good.

-Me too!

I quite like the tortellini,

I quite like the leeks and then you are hit with this sauce, which is

sharp and sour from lemon

and on your tongue is the burning of chilli.

-Just a little bit too much for me.

-OK.

I'm impressed you made your own pasta,

I am, and I do like the filling.

However, pasta normally comes with a creamy, soft sauce.

It's almost vinegar sharp.

There's a white wine in there and also it's got a real kick of chilli.

It's like a paint stripper on your palate.

Gutted really.

I have so much chilli that what's mild to me

blows other people's heads off, so I need to kind of, if I do get

through, which is very unlikely,

I need to kind of rein that in a little bit.

One of you is going to leave the competition.

John and I have got to have a chat. Off you go. Thank you.

Not a great invention test, but we do know they're going to be nervous,

especially the early rounds. I mean, invention test is never easy.

Listen, I think the only one that goes straight through here is

Sarah and her cheesecake.

It tasted nice, it was really nice.

Sarah's cheesecake was good. The best part - the cherry jam on top.

I agree, Sarah goes through.

Andy made us a medley of mushrooms, but with the mashed potatoes

and the white beans and the cream sauce,

it was all a bit sloppy on the plate.

I don't know what the judges are going to say about the other two

guys, but the way I feel at the moment with everything,

I just feel like I'm homeward bound.

I didn't mind Gabin's dish quite as much as you.

How he made that sauce, I'm not quite sure,

but the tortellini - great idea. The filling - really nice.

That sauce actually masked the decent work that he did

by making his own pasta.

One of these guys has shown more cookery skill than the other.

You know what's coming up next.

Which of these can cope with it?

Well done, you three. An invention test is tough, isn't it?

Two of you will join Juanita and Jack.

The person leaving us...

..is Andy. Thanks, Andy.

I tried my best,

but I was up against some tough competition there.

I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

It's something I'll never regret and I'll never forget.

THEY LAUGH

Well done, Sarah. Well done, Gabin.

That feels amazing and completely unexpected.

Very pleased. Relieved. Very, very relieved.

I'm over the moon, I'm so happy. So happy.

I don't look it but I am!

Today, you are cooking for a quarterfinal place.

You're cooking not just for Gregg and I, but for finalists

and champions of MasterChef.

Three people who made their way through the competition,

all the way to the end.

Daksha Mistry, Dean Edwards and Mat Follas.

You have two courses to deliver. Your main course in one hour.

Your dessert 15 minutes later. Ladies and gentlemen, let's cook.

I'm pretty confident that these dishes,

if I execute them correctly, will get me through.

I'm not going home without a fight.

Sarah, you actually don't seem as nervous as you were

in the last couple of rounds.

No, I've sort of decided to get over that and just get on with it.

-Put my game face on and just forget about it.

-What are you making?

I'm making cod with tarragon gnocchi, samphire,

-mussels and a lemon butter sauce.

-OK.

I really, really love fish, I live near the sea,

so it's really accessible to me,

samphire is really accessible to me, so it's something...

It's not exactly from home, because gnocchi is from Italy,

but it's essence of home.

Dessert?

I'm doing shortbread millefeuille,

which in the middle will have lemon cream and raspberries.

That's not easy because shortbread is quite heavy,

cream in itself is not particularly sturdy.

-Have you practised this?

-Yes.

-I had a few leaning towers.

-I bet you did.

-Good luck, Sarah.

Thank you very much.

Sarah, she's got many things to balance.

Balance cod and mussels and gnocchi

and a sauce that will match all three.

If she manages that, I'm going to be mightily, mightily impressed.

Cooking for ex-MasterChef winners

and finalists is incredibly nerve-racking.

Their expectations will be amazingly high.

Jack, what are you cooking for us?

OK. So I'm going to do a mushroom stuffed chicken ballotine

with polenta and a chicken sauce,

and a grilled radicchio with some crispy chicken skin on the top.

Dessert is?

A white chocolate custard infused with truffle oil,

grilled peaches and a lemon thyme praline.

-Well, truffle and white chocolate custard!

-Is this not a massive risk?

White chocolate and truffle oil?

I think if people don't like truffle,

then they might not be receptive to it and it's not the sweetest dish,

-it's quite savoury, it's quite rich.

-Best of luck.

I think Jack's menu sounds delicious and very, very daring.

What is really exciting me

and scaring me in equal measure is a white chocolate custard,

which could be really quite too sweet, with truffle!

I don't know how anybody else,

and I mean anybody else, is going to feel about it.

It is double, double daring in the extreme.

I have a good poker face,

so even though I might look calm, on the inside I'm panicking massively.

They're amazing cooks out there

and I just don't think there's going to be any room for mistakes.

It's fair to say that you made a great impression

-with your calling card, Juanita.

-Yeah. Thank you very much.

Very chuffed. Wonderful as it was to get such amazing comments yesterday,

I'm worried I've set the bar too high and now you're going to be

-disappointed with what I cook next, so...

-Your menu is?

So for main I'm going to cook Iberico pork

and that's going to be served with some coco de paimpol beans.

I'm going to make a parsley and sourdough crumb to go on the top

and then for dessert, I'm doing an orange curd tart

with a mascarpone cream, with rose and cardamom.

What are the danger points of these two dishes?

It's mainly concerns with my dessert really,

because, I think, the pork dish I'm pretty comfortable with.

-I'm very excited about your menu.

-Thank you very much.

Iberico pork, fed on acorns out of Spain, and it's really,

really rich and woody and beautiful,

served with something spicy and that's exactly what she's doing.

The way that Juanita has to cook that piece of pork is completely

different from any other style of pork in the whole world.

It's like cooking a piece of steak.

Just...done.

I'm very pleased to still be here.

It's hard enough cooking for John and Gregg, so these guys,

I just hope they're not as intimidating.

Gabin, you've got a big smile on your face now.

You seem to have relaxed into it.

I've got to. If I don't smile, I'll be in tears, I'll be in bits.

What's your menu?

I got sea bass on a cauliflower and mushroom puree.

Dessert is a Bakewell tart with Earl Grey ice cream.

-Why these dishes?

-All my favourite things. Absolutely love sea bass.

I've cooked it umpteen times and I'm a Bakewell tart man.

-I'm a Bakewell tart man.

-I LOVE a Bakewell tart.

Gabin says he love sea bass. Great.

That means he's cooked it a lot, which means we're going to get

a lovely piece of sea bass with crispy skin. Well, that's the hope.

What worries me about this Bakewell tart is that Gabin is making

one great big one. I'd rather he made little ones. You know why?

-They're quicker to cook.

-15 minutes on the first course.

15 minutes to go, please.

MasterChef as an experience was one I will never ever forget.

When I did this round,

I actually cooked for real food critics

and it was terrifying.

I think the steak's been nicely cooked.

This steak is absolutely exactly as I ordered it.

What I want to see today is people keeping it simple,

but I want them to execute it well.

I came in not knowing much.

I was a home cook.

It threw me in the deep end.

You know, it was like,

"Whoa! What's going on here?"

SHE SIGHS

My advice to the contestants is stick to what you know,

do what your heart tells you.

When I did this round, it was really tough.

I struggled with things being undercooked and overcooked.

The appearance of an oyster thrown on top of a...

steak is like a really giant bogey.

I was lucky to get through.

I think if somebody's got that spark

and they're showing something nice, then I'm nice.

If they're just copying or doing something from a recipe book,

do you know what? I get pretty grumpy.

-It's nice to be back and see a few familiar faces.

-Yes.

-Yeah.

-Right. Big fella, you've got four minutes.

-Come on, Gabin!

Sea bass with mushroom and cauliflower puree.

I mean, there's a lot of vegetable elements on this dish.

The sea bass is lovely if it's cooked well.

It has to be crispy skin.

I'm quite looking forward to it.

-GREGG:

-Pressure this, mate, isn't it, eh?

Yeah, not like cooking for two kids and a wife.

-Is that your puree?

-Yeah.

Come on. Come on. Come on.

Fish on, then go and I think you'll be on time.

That looks nice, mate.

-Well done!

-Good job.

I've made a pan-fried sea bass

with a mushroom and cauliflower puree,

buttered spinach,

fried leek

and some samphire.

I hope you enjoy it.

Thank you.

My fish is totally uncooked.

I mean, I can't eat this fish.

The flavours are not nice at all.

-MAT:

-The puree is a bad idea, I don't know what he was thinking.

-But, despite all of that, he's seasoned it.

-Yeah.

And he's seasoned it well.

It's a classic case of someone trying to overcomplicate

and bring too many elements to the table.

You know, if he spent a little bit less time on his garnish,

and more time on getting the main elements of his dish correct,

he could have had a good dish here.

Your piece of fish is cooked, mine isn't cooked, mine's inedible.

That puree - it's grey, it's wet, it's sludgy

and it's quite nasty.

We've all eaten Bakewell tarts many, many times in our lives.

Classic, classic dessert.

HE SIGHS

You've got that Earl Grey ice cream.

It could work.

How's the Bakewell tart coming?

-HE SIGHS

-It's touch and go.

It needs about another five/six minutes.

-How's the ice cream?

-The ice cream needs the same.

-I've put it in the blast chiller.

-Oh, you are going to be very late.

I am, yeah.

It's not good. It's not good.

It's getting there.

Oh, no!

It's cos I put it on the top and I usually do it on the middle.

But, to try and get it on time...

-There we go.

-Are you putting icing sugar or anything on top?

-Yeah.

-It smells good.

-Better.

-A little bit of white dust across the top.

You don't need me to tell you you are very, very late.

Yeah.

You're done.

-I really apologise for being late.

-DEAN: Thank you.

For dessert, I've done a Bakewell tart

with Earl Grey ice cream.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

The pastry on the bottom...

is not really cooked through enough. In actual fact...

..it's pretty raw.

I think, the ice cream, the custard has caught

when he's been making the ice cream.

I don't know what's going on with the Earl Grey, I can't taste Earl Grey.

Erm... Yeah, a shame.

The flavour of the fresh raspberry jam and almonds

is a lovely, lovely thing.

Unfortunately, I've got a burnt top

and curdled ice cream sitting underneath it.

HE SIGHS

Today was really daunting

and really scary.

That's the best I can do in that time.

I really worked hard.

-How are you feeling, Jack?

-I'm all right, yeah.

-On time?

-Yeah.

-Confident?

-Yeah.

Good lad.

Jack's main - chicken ballotine with polenta,

radicchio and a chicken sauce.

Good skills on show there, as well.

Doing a ballotine and cooking that correctly, rolling it.

That should be a good plate of food, I'm looking forward to that.

Five minutes, Jack.

Get everything ready to go, Jack, please.

Sauces, polenta - nice and hot.

Nice, Jack.

Very, very nice.

-Sauce and crackling.

-Yeah.

Is that crackling?

Oh... It's caught on the edge, it'll be fine.

CRACKLES

-GREGG:

-Hey-hey, careful, careful, careful...

-All right?

-Done.

That's lovely. Go in there proud.

-Go on, mate.

-Good job.

-Very good.

Very good.

I've cooked for you today chicken ballotine, stuffed with mushrooms

with polenta, a chicken sauce,

grilled radicchio

and crispy chicken skin. I hope you enjoy it.

ALL: Thank you.

That looks really appetising.

I just can't wait to get stuck in, to be honest.

The crispy chicken skin definitely gives me

-that little bit of texture that I was looking for.

-Yeah.

It's got a nice bit of caramelisation.

I always find radicchio is a bit too bitter for me.

I don't mind that bitterness

because I think it contrasts the whole dish

and it actually balances the whole dish.

At this stage of the competition, I think

he's showing a huge amount of promise.

I think it's very good cooking.

They are big, big flavours amongst that chicken and that radicchio.

It's a good-looking plate.

I admire the young fellow, I really do.

I'd like a little bit more seasoning throughout the whole lot.

Whoa, whoa, whoa - 15 minutes, yeah?

-Yeah.

-Until pudding?

-Got it.

So for Jack's dessert, we've got peaches with white chocolate,

truffle custard and a thyme praline.

Some interesting flavours going on there.

The whole menu looks really nice.

The truffle part is the only thing that's worrying me.

Don't stir it.

It's caramel, don't stir it.

-Eight minutes, Jack.

-OK.

-If this works, it'll be exceptional.

-Yeah.

-It's still not set.

-Oh...

That's because it's not brown.

Simplest thing. Right?

-Done?

-Done.

-Well done, you're on time.

-Good.

-Well done, Jack.

-Thank you.

Hi.

-DAKSHA:

-Thank you.

For dessert, I've cooked a white chocolate custard

infused with truffle oil,

with grilled peaches,

an almond praline, that is a little bit soft,

so my apologies for that.

-I hope you enjoy it.

-DAKSHA:

-Thank you very much.

DEAN: The peaches smell great.

If this dish didn't have truffles in it,

I think the whole dish would be absolutely lovely.

The peaches are lovely and soft but, unfortunately,

I can taste truffle. So...

That's where it stops.

The truffle gives it a real woodlandy flavour.

-I quite like it.

-I'm with you there.

I'm pleasantly surprised.

For me, the star of the show is the peaches.

They're literally the juiciest, most flavoursome, soft peaches

I've had in a long, long time.

If he'd got the praline on,

that would have been an amazing dish.

Jack got in a bit of a panic with this.

Peaches and custard are a lovely thing.

Peaches, custard and truffle oil?

Not a lovely thing.

The main was OK, I think.

But I ran out of time, towards the end, for the dessert

and served something that I'm not 100% happy with.

PAN SIZZLES

You've got five minutes, please, Juanita.

-Doable?

-Yes.

Good.

Juanita's menu...

Spanish inspired, so we've got Iberico pork

with coco de paimpol beans,

parsley crumb and a chicken jus.

If you're cooking Iberico pork,

you need to do it justice, I'm afraid.

-GREGG:

-Cooked how you want?

Yes.

Come on, let's go!

-Oh!

-SHE CHUCKLES

-You need to shift now, Juanita.

-Yeah.

Lovely...

Nice.

Nice, nice, nice.

-JOHN:

-Anything else?

-No, that's it, that's done.

-Checked your plates?

-Yeah.

-Good. Go.

So what I've cooked for you is, secreto Iberico pork,

which is sat on some coco de paimpol bean stew.

You've got a parsley and sourdough crumb.

-I hope you enjoy it.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

This plate looks amazing.

The aromas coming off it are fantastic.

I really, really like this.

I love the smoky flavour of the paprika and the chorizo.

The crumb on there is a bit of a revelation for me.

Really nice, adds a texture.

I'd eat this every day of the week, not a problem.

The pork, for me, is absolutely spot on.

That is exceptional cooking for this stage of the competition.

The flavours are absolutely fantastic.

I would eat this, happily,

and pay for it, happily, too.

Ooh!

This is why I love our job.

Do you know that, it tastes good,

it is good. It's just...

It makes me happy.

That is a very clever, full of flavour,

understated, beautiful dish, actually.

Dessert - 15 minutes.

An orange tart.

There's lots to go wrong.

She's showing her skills of pastry,

whether it's undercooked, whether it's cracked and overcooked.

It's a very good combination, orange and cardamom.

I think if she takes it easy with the cardamom,

it'll be lovely.

-GREGG:

-A beautiful plate.

-Oh!

-Tarto collapso.

-OK.

-Stick it back together again.

Nothing to see there. Perfect!

Well done, you. Absolutely lovely.

Go on, go get 'em!

-Thank you.

-Well done, Juanita.

-Thanks.

Hello again.

Here's your dessert.

I've cooked you an orange curd tart.

You've got a mascarpone cream with rose and cardamom

and you've got an almond and orange brittle over the top.

I hope you enjoy it.

Thank you. Thanks.

This presentation's amazing.

I'm expecting this to taste spot-on.

The taste is absolutely balanced.

I thought the cardamom might just overpower it

but it's coming through but it's not overpowering.

Everything marries together.

The whole thing, the cream, the brittle...

And the tartness is quite nice, as well.

This is finals level cooking.

The quality of this.

This isn't what you'd expect at this stage, at all.

Oh, my word.

I know it's early days

but this lady looks like she might be the real McCoy.

She's good, isn't she?

I am so glad that's over.

That was really intense.

Really, really hard work.

Only one small disaster with a crumbly pie,

but I've given that to John and Gregg so, hopefully,

they'll forgive me for that.

Sarah, are you going to put that fish in the oven?

You've got four minutes.

Sarah's main course, cod with tarragon gnocchi,

mussels, samphire and lemon butter sauce - brilliant.

The only thing that she needs to be very careful

is the cooking of the cod.

Now, it's a very delicate fish.

Overcook it and it's not nice.

It's absolutely atrocious.

How long do you think those pieces of cod will take in the oven?

-About seven, eight minutes.

-Oooh!

-What, you expect to be five, six minutes late?

-Yeah.

If I don't want to serve them raw fish.

Which I don't.

That's not right.

-Not right?

-No.

-What's the matter with it?

It's really, really sour.

What are you going to do?

I'm just going to do some butter instead, I think,

-just to coat the gnocchi.

-Better be quick, cos we've got to get this food out.

-Four minutes over now.

-Yeah.

Are they cooked?

-Yeah.

-Hurray!

Let's have the cod.

Sarah, you've got to go. Come on.

You're eight minutes over.

Well done. Straight back for your dessert.

Well done. You did it, you did it, you did it.

Oh, my word.

Hiya. I'm so sorry I'm late.

Thank you.

So I have for you pan-roasted cod with mussels,

samphire and tarragon gnocchi with a butter sauce.

Thank you.

The smells are nice. You know, it smells of the sea.

-Yeah, it smells nice.

-It smells really nice and fresh.

Well, it's cooked well. It's cooked right through.

But I feel that there's no seasoning on the fish at all.

It's really bland.

The tarragon and the little bit of lemon that's through there

and those mussels - those flavours for me are clashing.

The gnocchi is...

claggy. You know, it sticks to the roof of your mouth.

And we're missing the sauce,

which was going to hopefully carry the rest of the dish.

Those gnocchi are too heavy.

There isn't anywhere near enough flavour to match that cod.

Therefore, it's a little plain.

-15 minutes, then your dessert, yeah?

-Yeah.

SHE EXHALES

Sarah's dessert is shortbread millefeuille

with raspberry and lemon cream.

My favourite.

The shortbread needs to deliver.

It needs to be really buttery, have a nice little crunch to it as well.

If that's not right, it's out the window for me.

A minute and a half to go.

Yay!

-Right, got to get the lid on that.

-Yes.

There you go.

Just icing sugar.

That's sitting up nice and firm and proud, isn't it, that?

There you are.

-Good to go?

-I am.

-Well done.

Look at that. On time! You caught up.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

-Well done.

You have a shortbread millefeuille with raspberries and lemon cream.

Thank you very much.

It looks pretty.

The shortbread is so short.

It's lovely.

And the whole combination of the raspberries and the cream

and the shortbread is delicious.

I've got a sweet tooth, and it's too sweet for me.

It needs the lemon,

and I'm not convinced she put any lemon in that curd.

The biscuits are really nicely made. I like the texture of the cream.

But all together, it's just way too sweet for me.

I feel incredibly stressed and disappointed.

The cod just took forever. That's why I was late.

Didn't go as planned, unfortunately.

I have to say, I came in here with high expectations,

and some of them delivered.

A couple of disappointing plates, though.

For me, there's one person who's done a great, great job,

and that's Juanita. I think her two courses were superb,

and I think pretty much without fault.

That piece of pork - a thing of joy.

Juanita followed up the lovely pork dish with a wonderful dessert.

It looked pretty and it was delicious.

I mean, the lady looks to be class. Real class.

She goes straight through.

I really want to say, as much as I get terrified before the challenges,

I'm loving, loving, loving the experience,

and I'm learning lots.

Jack has definitely got skill.

I mean, that chicken that he had wrapped in the Parma ham

was absolutely delicious.

For me, a little bit more seasoning in every single part of that dish.

But I thought it was a great thing.

We knew that Jack's custard flavoured with truffle was daring.

No matter whether you liked it or not,

it remained a very, very simple dish

in comparison to the skills shown in his main course.

I would be absolutely gutted if I left today.

But at the same time I'd be incredibly proud.

I've definitely given it my all.

Intense. Very, very intense.

Sarah's main course was a piece of cod, mussels,

tarragon gnocchi, samphire and lemon butter sauce.

Didn't quite turn out the way she wanted it.

The gnocchi were a little bit hard.

But I liked the tarragon, with the little slippery bit of butter

and the sweet mussels.

Sarah's dessert was OK.

It didn't have any faults.

But it actually didn't excite anybody.

Not me, not you, most certainly not the three MasterChef finalists

that we invited here today.

There's a certain amount of competence there,

but there's nothing to really excite.

Really annoyed at myself, cos I know I can do better.

It's one thing to go out on your best.

It's another thing to go out on your worst.

-SHE LAUGHS

-Oh!

Gabin did not have a good round.

We had issues with Gabin's fish, and mine was raw.

Then we had a Bakewell tart that was burnt on the top

and raw on the bottom.

I feel for Gabin today.

That's the pressure of MasterChef.

Even if I go home today, I've learnt loads.

I've had an amazing time.

Who stays?

Who goes?

There was some good food today.

There's no doubt all four of you worked extremely hard.

There were some ups and downs.

It wasn't all plain sailing, that's for sure.

We have three quarterfinal places,

which means that one of you is leaving the competition.

The person leaving us...

..is Gabin.

Sorry, Gabin. Thanks very much.

I am sad to be leaving. It was a strong group.

I'll be watching at home,

and I'll be learning as much as I can.

Oh, my God!

Group hug!

I feel absolutely shellshocked.

I just can't believe it. I really can't.

I was all geared up to go home and sit and be depressed,

but I don't have to!

Feels amazing! Just, like, really happy, really chuffed.

-Going to be smiling for ages.

-SHE LAUGHS

MasterChef quarterfinalist - that feels good.

Feels really good.

There is a pint with my name on it somewhere,

-and I can't wait to have it, I'll tell you that much.

-HE LAUGHS

Tomorrow, five more cooks battle it out

for a place in the quarterfinal.

Cut yourself?

This isn't going to work.

Argh! For crying out loud!

I just think it's miraculous.