Episode 16 MasterChef

It's MasterChef and knockout week continues.

-Fumbi, I need this ravioli, please.

-Coming, Chef.

They've waited long enough.

Last night saw the first group battle it out in a pro kitchen.

This is great stuff. You should be really proud of it, both of you.

Thank you, Chef.

Fumbi was sent home.

Tonight, the second six are challenged

to cook for the paying public for the first time.

Have I burnt this one, cos I think the butter's too hot?

You're going to have to get another two on.

-JAMIE:

-This is where it gets really interesting.

This is where you really learn how to step it up.

'I think he's completely mad'

for letting us into his kitchen.

I do get quite stressed under a lot of immediate pressure,

so I'm going to really try and keep it under control.

Do you know what? It's actually really good fun.

Honestly, this is mind-blowing stuff.

Then renowned Michelin-starred chef Tom Kitchin returns.

That's an outstanding plate of food. You should be very, very proud.

At the end, for one of them, the competition will be over.

Today, the amateur cooks will be pushed to their limits,

cooking in their first professional kitchen...

..at Roux at Parliament Square.

Michel Roux's second restaurant is run by head chef Steve Groves.

We want a lamb, pink, and a cod.

Steve won MasterChef The Professionals in 2009

and worked his way up from sous-chef

at the renowned Mayfair restaurant Le Gavroche,

before becoming head chef at Parliament Square three years ago.

The style of food here is very classically based.

We follow French classics, to a degree,

but then we take a lot of inspiration from all over, really.

The food here, I like it to appear quite simple on the plate,

but there's a lot of technique that goes in behind that

to create that sharp look.

This place means a lot to me. The reputation that we've built here

is the pinnacle of my career so far and, you know,

we're letting six amateur chefs come in

and trusting them with our reputation.

We're not prepared to lower the standard.

They're going to have to really be on top of their game.

So excited, yet so terrified.

Having someone put their trust

in you delivering their food is incredible.

'For me, with absolutely no culinary experience whatsoever,'

I'm just going to be, "Chef! Here, Chef, there, Chef."

I'm really just there to learn and learn and, hopefully, impress them.

'If you do what they ask, generally, you're OK.'

So, if I can just do what they ask of me, hopefully, I should be OK.

Morning, guys. My name's Steve Groves.

Welcome to Roux at Parliament Square.

We're going to be doing a special tasting menu.

You'll each be responsible for one course.

I'll show you how they all go and then you'll be on your own, OK?

So, lots to do, so follow me and we'll get started.

As the diners will all be having the tasting menu,

each contestant will cook for all of the customers.

They will have just four hours to prep their dishes for service.

Lorna will be in charge of the starter -

Orkney scallops with crab,

served with apple dashi, a Japanese broth.

We're taking a scallop here.

We've actually cut it with a zigzag knife,

just so we get a bit of texture on one side.

We're going to put that into a very hot pan.

This is a dish that OUR chefs can struggle with.

It's a very difficult dish to get absolutely bang-on.

The most critical part of this dish is making sure

-that those scallops are cooked perfectly.

-OK.

As well as frying the scallops,

22-year-old copywriter Lorna will have to prepare the crab

and assemble the other elements of the dish.

Over the top of that,

you're going to add this pasta sheet which we've made from scallop.

It's a very challenging dish to start off the menu

and I think that will kind of set the tone for the rest of the meal.

A few marigold flowers.

So, there's the dashi, which will be poured at the table,

and that's your finished dish, the scallop.

-That's not the kind of food that I would normally cook, so...

-No?

-But I'll give it my best shot.

-OK. Well, I hope you learn lots.

Yeah, definitely, I'm sure I will. Ooh!

Her first job is to extract the meat from three fresh Dorset crabs.

I have picked a crab before but they're very strict,

so you have to make sure that every bit comes out.

Dentist Imran is cooking the first of two fish courses -

Cornish mackerel, which will be served both fried and as tartare,

with a carrot lattice, carrot puree and a citrus dressing.

Put the mackerel into a little bit of oil.

It's a cold pan, and then we're going to cook it on a high heat.

If the mackerel comes up overcooked, then we're not going to serve it,

which is, obviously, going to set them back and cost a lot of time.

And then we're just going to char the skin,

so we get just a slight kind of smoky flavour.

Pop your plate onto the decks.

The wow factor in this dish is in the presentation.

So, this is a carrot and ginger puree.

-You want about a centimetre between the lines.

-OK.

The plating on this is quite intricate,

so if we don't get the plating absolutely spot-on,

it can look a bit of a mess.

That looks incredible already.

There's some sesame seeds and crispy onions.

Some mizuna leaves, and that will be your mackerel dish for service.

-Feeling confident?

-Not right now, but I will be.

Yeah, I cook mackerel at home - never, ever like this,

or used a proper big boy blowtorch as well.

Makes my blowtorch look ridiculous at home.

I'm most nervous about putting on the puree and having it spinning.

Um, I can definitely see some issues there, especially with shaky hands.

So, I'm just trying to pipe on...

..with some degree of elegance.

DJ Lyndsay is in charge of the third tasting menu course -

roasted sea bass with salsify, mushrooms,

cavolo nero and a red wine sauce.

Put our sea bass skin side down.

When we've got an ingredient as special as a wild bass,

we want to really make sure that we get that skin nice and crispy,

we keep the flesh nice and moist. Going to take our salsify.

So, this has already been cooked lightly.

This course has got the most cooked elements on it,

so it's a real tough one.

This one is all cooked to order, so it's going to be very challenging.

There's going to be a lot of people ordering at the same time,

so you're going to have to get yourself busy

with all these pots and pans.

This is a puree of lemon and we're just going to spread that across.

That's going to give us a very strong flavour.

Put the mushrooms on there. Pieces of cavolo nero.

And then a set mushroom puree, very intensely flavoured.

And that will be your sea bass dish.

Are you happy with that?

Yeah, I mean it looks so tasty, even without trying it.

Yeah, looks great.

I think it's going to be fast and furious.

If I'm OK with the multitasking - and, as a drummer, I should be -

hopefully, it will be OK.

Famous last words.

Crucial to Lyndsay's dish is the filleting of the wild sea bass.

It doesn't want to be filleted, I can tell you that.

These bones are really tough.

There's some proper elbow grease having to go in there.

So, Shauna, you're going to be in charge of our pork dish.

It's the main meat course of the menu,

so we're really building up to this course,

so we need to make sure that we deliver.

Shauna's on barbecued Iberico pork with spelt,

roasted carrot and onion, carrot ketchup and crackling.

So, the pork itself has been seared on the barbecue,

so we get that nice, kind of smoky charcoal flavour.

In this pan here, we've got some spelt

and we just warm that up with a little bit of pork sauce.

Nice spoonful of that, just off-centre.

Our carrot ketchup.

Our roasted onion.

Now, when it comes to carving the pork,

we need to make sure we cut against the grain and nice, long strokes.

Take one of our carrots, just lean that on the pork.

And here, we've got a nice stick of pork crackling.

Help!

And then our sauce, which we're going to pass through a small sieve,

and then that will be served at the table.

-So, are you happy you can deliver that?

-Yes, sir, I think so.

I mean, I'm sweating already.

I feel like I'm getting a suntan and I've only been here 20 minutes.

Shauna's prep starts with some hard graft.

Oh, my God, my elbow's killing me already and I'm five carrots down.

It's meticulous, you know.

You always think that you've got lots of time to do this stuff

but, actually, there's a good three hours' prep

before you even start to cook the dish.

Wine marketing manager Jamie is cooking the first of two desserts -

passion fruit souffle with pistachio ice cream and white chocolate sauce.

Obviously, souffle is one of those dishes

that a lot of people would fear.

There's a lot of scope for it to go wrong.

-Just wants to hold its shape nicely.

-OK.

And add that to our passion fruit curd.

During service, the souffles must be cooked to order,

so Jamie will need to work fast and keep a cool head.

-On the centre...

-Yeah.

..at that kind of angle, push down towards the edge,

so we get a nice flat top,

and then we want to run our thumb just around the edge.

So, that's ready to go in the oven.

Souffle's a very volatile dish.

We ummed and ahed whether we should actually give this to an amateur,

whether it was fair to give this to an amateur.

Make sure that the edges are nice and straight,

there aren't any cracks on the edges.

And then our pistachio ice cream.

So, this is how they'll serve

the white chocolate sauce in the restaurant.

There you go, nice and indulgent.

It looks so elegant and the flavour's huge.

Mm, mm, really delicious stuff, that.

-Happy with that? Confident?

-Quietly.

-Good.

Jamie's first task is to prepare the passion fruit curd.

Got to be very precise.

Got to be the exact 140g, otherwise it'll all go horribly wrong,

so yeah, just trying to get it precise

without chucking it everywhere.

Music teacher Giovanna is making the second dessert -

a mirror-glazed mangiare chocolate mousse

with malt meringue, milk solid crumb,

hazelnut gel and creme fraiche sorbet.

The mousse itself has got a really shiny glaze on it,

so nothing can touch that glaze. It has to be absolutely immaculate.

So, when you're plating this dish, you've got to be careful,

because any blemishes on there means

-we're going to have to start the plating again.

-Yeah, sure.

And then, around the edge of that,

we're going to add a bit of this crumble

and, again, be careful here not to drop any on top of the chocolate.

-Yeah.

-OK, and then the next element is this malt meringue,

which we're going to break into shards.

Add a little bit of salt on top of the glaze.

Hazelnut liqueur and roasted hazelnut puree

just gives this a slightly boozy element.

Then we're going to finish with a creme fraiche sorbet,

so we need a nice...

..quenelle of that sorbet sat on the side,

and that will be our finished dish.

I've got no idea if I can do this justice. I hope so.

It's so aesthetically beautiful, it's perfectly balanced.

Yeah, if I can do this, I'll be really proud of myself.

With just an hour until the lunch sitting,

it's all systems go in the kitchen.

My hands are shaking a little bit already,

which isn't ideal for when it comes to plating up the circle.

Feel a real buzz in the kitchen.

Everyone's quite energetic, quite up for it,

so it's a real buzz that kind of gets you going a bit.

It's an excited nervousness.

It's like going in to have your baby in the hospital.

It's like you're excited but you're a little bit fearful,

but it's a positive fear.

OK, guys, first guests are starting to arrive.

We need to be ready for service in 25 minutes.

Make sure your mise en place is finished

-and you're getting set up.

-ALL: Yes, Chef.

Steve Groves's food is great.

If our six can actually just hold their own

in that big, tough kitchen, they've done amazingly well.

Steve understands the pressure cos he won MasterChef himself,

but I've got to say, this is one big ask.

Getting our first check in. Two tasting menu, OK.

-First course up is the scallop. You ready, Lorna?

-Yes, Chef.

Start working that.

And then two tasting menu

and one more four tasting menu.

-So, eight altogether?

-Sorry?

-Eight.

-Yes, eight altogether.

Lorna's scallops with crab and apple dashi is up first.

The pressure's on.

-Make sure the crinkle side is the side that goes down first.

-Oh.

Flip them over. OK, see there, you've put them the wrong way down.

Yeah.

Looking good. Go quickly, get them out the pan.

Let's get the rest of your garnish ready and up to the pass.

While Lorna assembles her other elements,

Imran is still trying to perfect his puree spirals.

They're looking a little bit better. Getting there.

It's just trying to keep that steady hand

and trying to get the circle just a bit more elegant.

Keep that one as your guide.

They've got to be nice and even, like that.

These ones are a bit... A bit of a mess.

Lorna must now work quickly to plate all eight starters

to Steve's precise standards.

Behind these eight, we've got another four.

-We need to start picking up the pace.

-Yeah.

Next bit is your scallop pasta.

That's it. Really need to pick up the pace.

-Need to go a bit faster with this.

-Yep.

I'm OK, I think. Stress.

-Coriander to go on now.

-Yep.

OK, service.

Right, take two to table two.

-OK, we're working the next four now, yeah?

-Yeah.

I think I just need to get a bit quicker and we'll be fine.

-OK, and we're standing by on eight mackerel.

-Yes, Chef.

-Need to start moving, OK?

-Eight plates away?

-Eight plates away.

Imran's up next.

His mackerel must be pan-fried so that it's just cooked,

before being finished with a blowtorch.

Yeah!

I get to use this awesome blowtorch!

I've been looking forward to it all day!

-OK, Imran, after this, we've got four mackerel away.

-Yes, Chef.

So, we need to step up the pace a bit now.

But Steve's not happy with the mackerel.

Some of it's getting a bit over.

We're going to have to do another couple again for this.

-Imran I'm going to cook those two bits of mackerel again.

-Yeah.

-You're going to get on with the plating, OK?

-Yes.

That's your dressing there. Give that a good shake and get that on.

Imran's struggling quite a lot with the mackerel dish.

It has to be plated with precision

and then, obviously, cooking the fish precisely as well.

Getting it all ready on the plate at the same time

is proving quite problematic.

This is more difficult than I could ever have imagined.

Honestly, this is mind-blowing stuff.

Over at the pass, Lorna's last dishes are being plated up.

-OK, it's looking good. More confident with this batch.

-Good.

Do you know what? It's actually really good fun.

-OK, that's it. Last bit of dashi. Very good.

-Yes, Chef.

Service.

-Well done.

-Thank you very much.

-Sit yourself down and...relax.

I didn't make any mistakes and I didn't make a fool out of myself

and I got a handshake at the end, so I think I did a good job.

It's so hot in here! Has my make-up melted off my face? A little bit?

Not my finest hour.

That's a very, very pretty and accomplished dish. Well done, Lorna.

The smokiness of the scallops

and the sourness of the apples all together,

with the sweetness of the crab... Lorna's done very, very well.

Very, very well.

Back in the kitchen, Imran is falling behind.

This is another level. It's really tricky.

Imran, how long are you going to be on these six mackerel?

-I think 12 minutes, Chef.

-12 minutes?

-Yeah.

OK, we need to go quicker than that.

With all the diners having the same tasting menu,

the whole service is being held up by the mackerel course.

OK, Imran, it's taking a bit too long now.

I'm going to put Henry on here to give you a bit of a push,

so we can get these plates out, cos people are waiting here.

-Focus on cooking, yeah?

-Yeah.

I'm feeling a bit stressed. I'm quite conscious

that a few tables have been waiting a little while already

and they're still a little way away from being finished on the mackerel.

Slightly disappointed, cos pride always comes into it,

but still bizarrely smiling, but just trying to do my best.

-OK, are we nearly ready on these?

-Yes.

OK, give it a big push on the last bit, yeah?

OK, keep them nice and neat and tidy.

OK, service. Let's just give them a quick wipe.

They took a bit of time, but they all look good.

-That was a tough dish, yeah?

-Yeah, thank you so much.

What a privilege.

-I've learnt some things today, mainly to get a crack on.

-Yeah.

Oh, wow.

Still reeling from it a little bit, if I'm honest.

My mind is spinning, like those plates, um...

I did need help and whatnot, but you have to bear in mind

this is a world beyond what I know.

I did what I could.

That's a beautiful dish, but Imran is far too slow.

I like it. It's very, very subtle.

Good textures, good flavours, lots and lots of hard work.

Lyndsay's up next with her sea bass and red wine sauce.

-OK, Lyndsay, you're standing by on eight bass now.

-OK.

-Get your pans on, get them nice and hot.

-Yeah.

It's all going to kick off for you.

All the elements of her dish are cooked at the last minute,

requiring her to juggle multiple pans at the same time.

Right now, I've got two lots of four on so, you know, quite a lot.

Already, I'm cooking for more portions

than I've ever cooked before.

Where's Chef? I think the butter's too hot.

Have I burnt this one cos I think the butter's too hot?

-Yeah, it is.

-I put it in.

-That's a bit burnt.

-Yeah. It seemed to reach temperature really quickly.

-These pans are for your bass, aren't they?

-Oh, sorry.

-And I want you to use the silver pans for your salsify, OK?

-Sorry.

-You need a bit more oil in your fish pans.

-Yep.

-The heat on there is pretty raging.

-Yeah.

-So, just put it off to the side if you need to.

-Yeah.

I think the fish is looking all right.

It's really difficult to regulate the heat on this thing.

OK, this one's a bit burnt, so you're going to have to get

-another two on, cos we're going to redo a table for two, OK?

-OK.

There's a lot going on.

I've stacked it on the first couple, but...hopefully, he'll forgive me.

It's all right, plenty of time to redeem yourself.

On the other side of the kitchen,

Shauna's gearing up for her meat course.

-OK, Shauna, we're away on eight pork.

-Yes, Chef.

Her challenge is to perfectly barbecue the pork

to medium rare over hot coals,

roast the veg and prepare the crackling strips.

-OK, Shauna, how long do you need for the eight pork?

-Two more minutes.

-Coming out to the pass now, are we?

-Yes, sir. Meat against the grain.

-I just need to be sure that I'm...

-Against the grain, yeah?

The grain's going that way, so straight through there.

-Watch your fingers.

-Yeah.

Lovely, perfect.

Meanwhile Lyndsay's first orders of sea bass are finally on the pass.

Plating up is just all about speed. You need to keep everything hot.

There's no chance to nuke something in the microwave here.

-Get the garnish a little bit tighter in.

-Oh, OK, sorry.

Looking really good. Let's keep it going quickly. OK, sauce.

Not on the fish skin, just a little bit in amongst the garnish, OK?

They look really good. Next ones just like that.

We need four more and we need it a lot quicker, OK? OK, service.

-OK, come on.

-Yeah.

-No time to stand and admire it.

It's all a learning curve and you've just to make that curve

as steep a curve as possible, I think.

It's lovely.

Mm, she's crisped up the skin beautifully.

The salsify is divine, the sauce is divine.

It's a classic and that's good for Lyndsay, I think.

It'll also show her how to be able to get her timings absolutely right.

Shauna's Iberico pork with spelt risotto is next.

I don't believe it. I'm not going to have enough.

-Let's see.

-I have enough for five.

-Pop it all back in the pan and we'll get a bit more.

-OK.

I misjudged the portion size,

and they're meticulous at this level of restaurant,

so I've got to get it right.

OK, here we go.

Keep the root end of the onion into the centre

and then it comes out more at a point.

OK, that's it.

It's looking good.

OK, you're doing a great job, well done. Keep it going.

-Thank you, Chef.

-Everything looks nice and precise.

OK, service.

-Shauna, they look excellent, well done.

-Thank you. Thanks a lot, Chef.

I am having a blast. I could do this all day.

I'd love to be doing 20 more dishes,

but let's see what the guys in the restaurant say.

Ooh, wow, look at that crackling.

Lovely looking dish. Shauna's done well.

Ooh, wonderful puree!

And the spelt - I love the flavours there as well.

It's very clever, very subtle. I think Shauna's done a good job.

Lastly, it's desserts.

OK, guys on pastry, we've got the first six desserts away -

-three souffle, three chocolate.

-Yes, Chef.

Make sure you communicate with each other, come up at the same time.

Giovanna's dessert depends on

precisely executing the chocolate mirror glaze.

Any blemish or bubble and the mirror effect will be ruined.

-Very nice.

-Is that all right?

-Nice and even. Good.

Timing is crucial. Any delays and Jamie's souffles will collapse.

-As soon as they go in, I'll start plating.

-OK.

-And when you take them out, I'll do the ice cream.

-OK.

It's going to be heart in the mouth stuff

when the first souffle comes out of the oven.

Just seeing it risen or not risen

will be quite a nerve-racking moment.

With the souffles in the oven,

Giovanna must quickly and carefully plate

all five elements of her mangiare mousse,

making sure the mirror glaze stays pristine at all times.

Oh, no.

I've messed one of them up, so I'm going to have to do it again,

but I think it's going to be OK.

I just dropped a little bit of a crumb on it,

so it ruined the mirror glaze.

So I just have to do it again cos you can't ruin the mirror glaze.

How long do you reckon on those souffles?

So, the souffles are another two minutes

-and they might need another minute.

-OK.

OK, with the meringue, try not to have them quite so big.

-Yeah, OK, smaller.

-And not all the way round.

We want to leave an opening

-where we're going to put the sorbet, OK?

-Right, OK.

It's the moment of truth for Jamie's souffles.

-OK, good to go?

-Yeah.

-These ones look really good.

-Thanks.

OK, so a bit of the crumb on top and then icing sugar.

Are we ready on the chocolates?

Giovanna has just the creme fraiche sorbet to add.

OK, we really need to go.

But she's struggling to get it into the required quenelle shape.

Is that good enough?

OK, it's a little bit big.

Giovanna, how are you looking?

No.

-Souffle is dying over there.

-No, that's too hard.

Grrr, these quenelles! Ooh!

-How's that?

-It's OK.

-Yeah, well done.

-Phew!

-Mm, yum!

-Oh, my goodness, that's so passion fruity.

Mm. It's as light as air. Wow!

The order's come and it's, bang,

you've got to create souffle really quickly,

so suddenly you feel the pressure, like a punch in the face,

and it was just really interesting to see that and experience it.

Passion fruit, pistachio, white chocolate - good job.

Whoa, Jamie's done well, hasn't he? Cos that passion fruit is superb.

Plating was so hard. It was so fiddly.

It took a little while, but we got there eventually.

Oh, mate, I'm so in love with that!

Not too sweet, really luxurious.

Mm, I thought my souffle was good.

But nicely made as well.

I love that little very, very fine coating

of the mirror chocolate across the top.

-Well done, brilliant!

-Thank you very much, thank for having us.

-Difficult technique, isn't it?

-I'm glad I've learnt it.

Very good. You can do it all the way through the competition.

Yeah, that's all I'll do.

After three gruelling hours, lunch service is finally over.

Tough service. I don't think I could do more than one of those a week.

Ultimately, they've done a good job.

Just taken us a little bit longer to get there than we would have hoped.

Talk abut a baptism of fire! I've never been in a kitchen at all,

so to learn so much in one day was just great experience.

My hands smell of mackerel, my back aches,

I'm exhausted, but yet I've had a great time.

I'm absolutely buzzing right now.

Today has further energised me.

I don't think you can go into that kitchen and not be inspired.

It's a fantastic experience for anyone.

Six courses, all cooked by amateurs.

Their first time in a professional kitchen

and what a baptism of fire it has been.

For the best of them, it should have been a real injection of confidence.

They're going to need it. They're coming back

to the MasterChef kitchen now, and we've got a big decision to make.

Welcome back.

Good to see you after all your hard work in the professional kitchen.

What we're hoping is that you've found inspiration

from your time with Steve Groves

and we want to know what you've learnt from it

and how that is going to improve your cooking.

Surrounding Gregg and I is an extraordinary larder,

a larder packed full of beautiful ingredients

and we want you to choose whatever you like

and cook for us one plate of food

that is worthy of gracing a restaurant table.

Ladies and gentlemen, choose wisely and cook well. Up you come.

The contestants have ten minutes to choose their ingredients.

Today's larder has a Scottish theme,

with a choice of venison, grouse and a selection of seafood...

..as well as haggis, black pudding,

cheeses, wild mushrooms

and a wide range of fruit, vegetables,

herbs and spices.

I'm trying not to take everything.

That's kind of the difficulty, is seeing all these amazing ingredients

and trying to get it down to just one dish.

I'm a bit nervous about this one

cos it's a lot of stuff I don't normally cook.

But I do want to push myself.

Something's in my head, ticking along.

I'm going to go for a sweet,

so just making sure that everything is here.

Wow, what a bounty some of you have!

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

One hour, twenty minutes. Let's cook.

The professional kitchen was a fantastic experience for me.

It's not about having plates flying everywhere.

Even when we were dicing up a mango,

it's making sure your cubes are all perfectly even, the same size.

It's about precision.

It's about making sure you do everything properly.

Jamie, what's your dish today?

Um, so, obviously, I've been inspired by Scotland,

going up to the bench there and seeing some great produce,

so I'm doing pan-roasted venison

with some neeps and tatties and a haggis crumb.

Little bit of whiskey going into the dish,

just to give it that real Scottish heathery flavour.

Jamie, why did it say Scotland to you? You're not Scottish, are you?

Well, I'm Northern Irish,

so we're kind of brethren across the water there,

so I got quite inspired.

Saw the heather, saw the deer, got visions of the Highlands,

with the mist rolling in and the purple hills

and the stag up there, looking over his country.

I'm glad you're inspired by Scotland.

-I'm looking forward to the full kilt and bagpipes.

-Cool. Thanks, Gregg.

Jamie's ideas are sound.

However, the venison - he's cooking it in a water bath first,

then he's going to brown it.

OK, but he's going to have to make sure

that is cooked absolutely perfectly and I mean properly seasoned.

You've had 15 minutes already. Hotting up, innit?

Love the competition!

There's absolutely no room for error.

I just have to cook my absolute best.

It has to look perfect, it has to taste perfect.

Everyone is exceptional, so one little slip-up and that's it,

you're out. So, yeah...

Giovanna, there's lots of things I want to ask you

but you seem to be doing a dessert, yet you seem to have a pumpkin.

Yeah, I have a pumpkin.

I'm going to make a sweet pumpkin and vanilla puree.

I'm doing quite a lot of hazelnuts. Goes well with chocolate.

-It's a nice colour.

-What are you making?

I'm making a chocolate mousse with some caramelised pears,

a little hazelnut crumb, a yoghurt sorbet and a little pumpkin puree.

How do you feel after your time in the pro kitchen?

I feel really inspired. I was really glad that I was on dessert,

cos it's not really my thing, which is why I've chosen to do one today.

Did you have the shiny chocolate dessert?

Oh, my word, that was divine!

I don't think this will have quite the wow factor,

but I'm hoping that I'm going to take some of their plating elements.

-Prettiness on a plate.

-Hopefully.

Giovanna's got lots of process going on.

She's got a chocolate mousse which needs to set.

She's got a sorbet which she has to make sure she churns properly.

And she's got to make sure that her pumpkin puree falls off her bench

and goes on the floor so she can't use it.

Chocolate and pumpkin?

Back's aching, mind is spinning like those plates,

but I feel ready, I feel focussed. I'm really excited as well.

I can't wait to show John and Gregg what I can actually do.

Imran, how did you find the pro kitchen?

I found it incredibly tricky. It gave me nightmares at the time.

I'm still getting nightmares about that plating up.

-But I just tried my best.

-What's your dish?

Poached quince with frangipane tart

and I'm serving that with a creme anglaise.

What do you want for your food now?

It's very hard for a food magpie like myself.

I really like all different styles.

I would like to refine it a little bit more

but still being all about the taste.

Yes, he's making pastry, yes, he's making frangipane

and he's poaching a quince. But this is knockout week.

Could be perfect. Could be. But it sounds a bit safe.

You are halfway.

40 gone, 40 left.

Smells good in here, guys.

Today, I want to show John and Gregg

that I have learnt from the restaurant.

I've got some pretty out there ideas,

but they are pretty out there, and maybe I think invention test

with some beautiful produce maybe isn't the time to do it.

-What are you making?

-The fallow deer with some pickled blackberries.

I'm doing a crumb with toasted hazelnuts and the black pudding

with some glazed carrots, cavolo nero,

parsnip puree and parsnip crisps.

OK, so are you on a bit of a mission now, do you think?

I'm doing fairly classical cooking today, but it's that thing about,

"You've got to learn the rules to break the rules."

Yeah, Heston can only do the crazy stuff he can do

-because he first learnt how to do all of the disciplines.

-Exactly.

If she can pull off this classic, I'll be really, really impressed.

But that means the venison has got to be cooked beautifully,

the vegetables have got to be sweet and really well seasoned,

the sauce has got to be really robust

and the parsnip puree silky-smooth but bold with parsnips

and the crisps across the top.

Invention test - I'm shaking like a leaf, you know,

because you've got to think on your feet

and then you've got to do it against the clock

and present something restaurant standard,

you know, this time round. So, I'm a bit, yeah, scared.

-What are you making?

-So, I'm not really a big dessert person.

I prefer the savoury, but I thought I would push myself today,

so I'm going for a poached pear with a walnut crumb.

I am doing a homemade gingerbread sponge, some red wine granita

and then I am trying some beetroot chips with a blue cheese mascarpone.

And you know, do you,

-how they're all going to sit together on this plate?

-Yes, I do.

Because you mastered the technique of presentation in the restaurant.

Yeah, it's going to look beautiful.

Poached pear, ginger cake and walnut, I think sounds fantastic.

But in the mascarpone, there's blue cheese

and we've got a red wine granita - a red wine ice!

And beetroot crisps! Wow!

Guys, word of warning. You have just 20 minutes left.

Just 20 minutes, please.

I feel confident, I feel nervous, I feel terrified.

But we're down to the final 12 and one of us has got to win it,

so it could, it could be me.

-How was the restaurant, Lorna?

-It was a lot of fun.

I learnt a lot about how to work quickly and efficiently

and not to annoy everyone else around you.

Mate, I've built a career out of annoying everybody around me!

What are you making?

Butternut squash and sage tortellini

with a pumpkin veloute, sage and brown butter sauce,

some little bits of pancetta and pine nuts.

Very, very much classic Italian, this.

Well, cos I've done a lot of game before already,

I didn't want to cook that again, and something that was maybe

a little bit different to what everyone else was doing.

-Any concerns about this now?

-Yeah, I need to crack on now.

-So, your biggest concern is me.

-Is you, yeah.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

It sounds really lovely.

If she gets the pasta right, if the filling is strong, that'll be great.

I hope there's enough power in it.

Guys, you have five minutes.

Just five minutes, please.

Sixty seconds. One minute left.

OK, stop, stop. Thank you very much.

-SHAUNA:

-Look at you again - bold, beautiful.

-LORNA:

-Fab-u-lous!

-LAUGHTER

-GIOVANNA:

-It looks so good!

Well done.

This is an important part of the competition and because of that,

we've got somebody very important to come in and help us judge.

Somebody who has built an amazing career

centred on the love of Scottish produce - Tom Kitchin.

GREGG LAUGHS

-You all right, Chef?

-How are we?

-Afternoon, Tom.

Some of you look delighted, others look absolutely terrified.

Terrified.

Lorna, please come and join us.

Lorna has made butternut squash and sage tortellini

with roasted squash, bacon,

pine nuts, pickled girolles,

crispy sage and pumpkin veloute.

The filling in the tortellini is very, very good.

But the pasta's too thick.

The pumpkin sauce as well,

for me, should have a pumpkiny kind of colour to it.

At this level, at this competition stage now,

it just needs that little bit more finesse.

But the marriage, the idea, it could have been brilliant.

Just needs a bit of tweaking.

"Veloute" translates as "velvet" - a velvet sauce.

And your sauce is thin and it shouldn't be.

I think your flavours are good. I think your pasta lets the dish down.

I think, with thinner pasta,

we may have all been discussing this dish differently.

But such small margins are what divides

the OK from the good, isn't it?

I do feel a bit kind of deflated.

The standard is so high and everyone else's food looks so good,

so it really comes down to the smallest little things.

Lyndsay, up you come, please.

Lyndsay's cooked roasted venison

with pickled blackberries,

a blackberry reduction,

pureed parsnips,

cavolo nero, carrots

and a toasted hazelnut and black pudding crumb,

served with a venison jus.

Lyndsay, that's an outstanding plate of food.

Really?

-TOM:

-The venison is cooked to perfection.

-LYNDSAY:

-Thank you.

The puree is beautiful. The blackberries work fantastically

with the venison.

Attention to detail for an amateur cook -

you should be very, very proud.

Oh, wow, I really am, yeah.

Throughout this competition, Lyndsay,

you've always been very experimental, very adventurous.

Today, you went classic and it suits you.

-It's lovely!

-Thanks.

I love the way you cooked the venison,

but what really impresses me is the quality of your sauce,

which just enhances the venison flavour up another notch.

I can't believe that that just happened, actually.

Tom Kitchin? For goodness' sake!

GREGG LAUGHS

Imran has created a poached quince and frangipane tart,

compressed quince, hazelnut crumb

and served with creme anglaise.

I think the use of quince was inspired

and to poach it as well as you have and take the time,

it becomes lovely, honey-sweet, rich.

But the tart itself is just not good.

The pastry's not cooked properly, it's very almondy,

the anglaise is too thin.

OK.

The best part of the dish is the quince. You've poached it well.

I love the flavours, I love the idea.

-I wish it could have been executed better.

-Yeah, me too.

Rationale sometimes just goes out the window,

so another five minutes here, a bit less flapping there, perhaps,

but that's the way it played out today, so, yeah...

Giovanna has cooked caramelised pears with chocolate mousse,

served with a hazelnut and sable crumb,

sweet pumpkin puree

and a yoghurt sorbet.

I'm really happy that the pear is poached and it's cooked properly.

The hazelnut and the chocolate works well.

But then, all of a sudden, there's like pumpkin

and the pumpkin, I don't really understand what it's doing there.

Mm-hmm.

I think your flavours are really, really good.

-My issue here is one of texture.

-Right.

You've put three very soft things on a plate.

Your pears are poached really nicely,

you've got a decent chocolate mousse,

I really love that yoghurt sorbet. But they all don't belong together.

It's really tough.

I think I just made a bad choice on some of the stuff

and some of it was great, which is good.

Jamie has made sous-vide and pan-roasted venison

with roasted potatoes,

turnip puree,

roasted shallots

and haggis crumb,

with a whiskey and venison sauce.

It sounds like a celebration of Scotland.

Let's see if it is a celebration.

That was the aim, so fingers crossed.

The flavour's kind of worked in a crazy kind of way.

I actually quite enjoy the pepperiness of the haggis.

The venison was cooked very well.

The sauce - I can taste the whiskey in it, it's not too overpowering.

-It's got potential.

-I'm with Tom on this.

I think it's a great start as a dish,

but I think you can work on it

and I think it can become really, really special.

I can't pick fault with it,

but I think what would really make that come alive

is a richer, deeper sauce.

I'm constantly thinking about what John's going to say,

what Gregg's going to say,

and I think that's throwing me off slightly,

so I need to be more confident in myself.

Shauna has made a duo of pears,

poached in rioja and port...

..with blue cheese mascarpone cream

and a walnut and pecan crumb...

..treacle gingerbread

and a red wine granita.

Just these bits on here, Shauna - cinnamon stick, star anise.

The problem is that not everybody knows you can't eat them.

The pear is poached really, really well.

It's not too strong, it's not too sweet. After that...

I don't really know what to say after that, really.

Um, the lavender, the cinnamon, the blue cheese, the granita...

I mean... Whoa.

I'm really sorry. It didn't work for me.

OK.

The problem is it doesn't all go together. It's just too confused.

The blue cheese, I honestly cannot make my mind up

whether I like it or dislike it. I would probably leave it out.

Gutted. What can I say?

It's Tom Kitchin and I've been following him for years,

I have his books and stuff.

Obviously, it looked maybe prettier than it tasted, but there you go.

Thank you very much indeed for all your hard work.

At the start of this, we said that one of you would be leaving us.

What we'd like to do is ask you to step outside

and we'll call you back in as soon as we've made our decision.

-Off you go.

-GIOVANNA:

-Thank you.

-LYNDSAY:

-Thanks.

-Tom, a pleasure. Thank you very much.

-Thank you very much.

-Thanks for your help.

-Lovely to see you, Tom.

-Good luck, guys.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Tom was critical. You'd expect him to be, wouldn't you?

He's going to judge everybody by his own standards.

But this is knockout week.

We are looking for finesse. We're looking for our champion.

Tom - he loved Lyndsay. He absolutely loved Lyndsay's dish.

He was in raptures about it - the way she'd cooked the meat,

the quality of her sauce, her choice of accompaniments.

I think Lyndsay did a great job, a great, great job.

Lyndsay goes straight through.

Jamie had a quality round. There were few faults on his plate.

There were suggestions on how Jamie's plate could be better.

I'd like a bit more seasoning

but you have to say it was a good plate of food.

Giovanna's a good cook, that's for sure.

But there were issues with her plate.

For me, all I wanted was some texture,

something a little bit firmer to put all those soft things on.

Lorna's problem was obvious

and that was that her pasta was far too thick.

All she had to do was roll that pasta out a little bit thinner

because the filling was sound, the sauce had flavour

and the garnish was really tasty.

Lorna and Giovanna didn't present us with perfect dishes

but I think their food was actually good enough.

We've got two people here in danger of going home.

Shauna had some ideas that Tom Kitchin thought were unusual.

It just didn't work.

It's Shauna throwing so many things at the one plate, a cacophony.

Imran served us a quince and frangipane tart.

What a wonderful idea.

Unfortunately, the only part of the dish

that was any good was that poached quince.

What happened to Imran today?

When you've been given some negative feedback,

you do start to question your level of skill

and you think, "Maybe it is my time to go. Maybe I'm out of my league."

But if I get through, then tomorrow's another day.

Pretty tough day. I gave it my all. Unfortunately, not up to par.

I just don't know what to say, don't know what to say.

Yeah, hopefully not going home.

I think one of these contestants here

has just had a drink from the last chance saloon.

Thank you all very, very much for your efforts.

It's been a tough decision, but we've made that decision.

The contestant leaving us...

-..is Shauna.

-OK.

-Shauna, lovely to have met you.

-Well done, guys.

Lovely to have met you.

Deflated and a bit upset that I couldn't have gone further.

I am really thrilled to have got this far.

It's given me the confidence to go forward now.

I'd love to have my own little boutique catering company,

so it's definitely given me the confidence to pursue my dream.

Someone like Tom Kitchin... Sorry, I still can't believe he said that.

Ridiculously happy. Can't stop smiling.

I'm thrilled I'm still here. I think it's one of those things

where you just have to look forward to the next step.

'It just feels really exciting.'

It feels like you're getting into the real meat of the competition,

so I'm excited to see what comes.

Final ten is insane, but I know it's going to get harder,

I know it's going to get more exciting.

I'm really, really pleased to be here still.

Don't! 'Positives - I'm through to the next round,'

so I can't ask for more than that at the moment.

Onwards to the next round and I'll try and be better.

No, I WILL be better.

Tomorrow night,

the final ten are back for the last challenge of knockout week.

-All that stands between them and a semifinal place...

-It's hot!

..is one exceptional plate of food.

It tastes great, it looks great, it smells great.

-It really, really works.

-That's just absolutely delicious.