Episode 14 MasterChef

It's the penultimate MasterChef.

And the battle for the title is almost over.

Tonight, Tom, Andrew and Shelina's mentors return

to see just how far they've come.

I'm expecting big, big things from these guys.

If they really have aspirations of being great chefs,

tonight is the night that they have to prove it.

-And just nail it, yeah?

-Oh.

You might have to dress that one again.

Only the best will do.

Because tomorrow night, one of them will be crowned Champion.

The pressure is really on now.

It's all about delivering food

that John and Gregg have got no excuse but say

that is the best food out there.

I want to be able to say I am MasterChef Champion 2012.

Looks like two people are going to be really disappointed

and upset, but, you know, I'm sure they'll get over it.

I've definitely got more competitive, and I'm also the last girl

and have been since the final five.

So I really want to beat those boys now.

Throughout this competition,

you have all proved that you can cope with pressure.

But for you now, it's the ultimate challenge.

We have invited seven of your MasterChef mentors,

and you're going to be cooking for them.

That is a big task around the corner.

But, first, we have a test for you.

We need you to make three different amuse-bouches.

These are tasters of what a chef can do.

Something to whet the appetite.

You have just 60 minutes to make 30 portions.

You've now got to impress,

because you haven't got that many more chances to do so.

Ladies and gentlemen, let's cook.

An amuse-bouche translated means to amuse your mouth.

They should be fun, they should be exciting,

they should be full of flavour.

But they must be precise.

I tell you what,

I would bet my house we are going to get something spectacular today.

Well, I look forward to driving in your driveway, young man.

Because I can tell you now, there is a huge amount of work.

This is top-end pressure.

We're doing amuse-bouches today.

And I think, you know, it's quite exciting for me,

because it's about the chef titivating the taste buds

before the meal.

You know, it's like the foreplay, you know, of the meal.

That's what it is. It's there to excite.

And, you know, that's the plan.

I'm just going have to go out there and smash it.

What are you making, Tom?

I'm doing a spaghetti of rhubarb with white chocolate and basil.

That's my sweet.

And I'm doing a celeriac and truffle veloute. And a salad of crayfish.

How do you make rhubarb into spaghetti?

Very carefully with a sharp knife.

-So have you got to cut really fine, little slithers with a knife?

-Yes.

-You've got to cut them all out?

-Yeah.

-Wow.

-I'm looking forward to this.

-Good luck, Tom.

-Thank you.

I have never seen rhubarb spaghetti, I think it's brilliant.

With white chocolate. John, knock-out.

But the issue still remains

that he has got to be able to put all those dishes up.

15 minutes gone already. You've only got 45 minutes left.

I think it'll be very important to get the portioning right.

I think it has got to be more than a mouthful

but not more than four mouthfuls, probably.

That's where I'm pitching at.

I just need to keep cooking

beautiful, tasty and interesting food.

Andrew, you look completely stressed, you're in a flap.

Not at all like you(!)

I'm not stressed, I'm just working fast today.

What are you going to cook fast?

Cooking a Mediterranean fig salad.

And then, the second course is a tapenade and mushrooms

and this toast.

And the third dish is a sort of savoury-sweet goat's cheesecake

with red pepper compote.

These sound more like starters than they do an amuse-bouches.

They're going to be quite small portions.

I didn't want it to be one mouthful, maybe be two or three mouthfuls.

-Andrew, big challenge today.

-Yeah.

-Please, be on time.

-Will do.

My real worry with Andrew is his dishes,

none of them sound like an amuse-bouche.

They all sound like starters.

Lots of ingredients, lots of things going on every single plate.

Listen, guys, you've only got 25 minutes left.

If you want people to love your food,

it needs to look great as well as taste great.

So I've got to make sure that my amuse-bouches are really small,

really dainty and really pretty.

If I pull it off, it's going to be good.

Better than good, it's going to be fantastic.

Shelina, this is a frantic task, isn't it?

-Yeah. We're up against it today.

-Three dishes, what are they?

My first dish is chicken and vermicelli bhajis.

Second dish is sumac salmon with a coriander tabbouleh.

And the third is sticky rice with mango and papaya.

Tropical amuse-bouches is not something you see every day.

They're punchy. It's punchy three amuse-bouches.

I'm going to really push today.

I don't want to have any faults today.

She's cooking the food she loves. They sound fantastic.

But she has to focus, she has to put her head down.

Ten minutes, guys. Just ten minutes left.

Last two minutes.

Come on, come on.

Guys, that's it, stop. Stop. Stop.

-You ran out of time again, didn't you?

-Timing was a massive issue.

I haven't quite achieved what I wanted to achieve.

Tom's only completed amuse-bouche is the celeriac and truffle veloute

topped with crispy bacon and grated truffle.

He's also made crayfish, fennel and tomato salad

but ran out of time to dress it with herbs.

And his spiced rhubarb spaghetti

only has some of its grated white chocolate.

Can we start with the veloute?

That really wonderful, velvety-smooth celeriac, earthy and rich,

the salty bacon in the cup is absolutely fantastic.

A couple of dribbles of truffle oil on top of that

to really bring it alive, and it would be incredible.

I agree with you, to a certain extent, because I can't get enough truffle.

But it's just really, really good.

It's one of those things that once you have one mouthful,

you're not going to stop until your cup is empty.

It's that good.

From your celeriac to your crayfish salad...

Bitter endive, sweet crayfish and then the sweet tomato

sitting underneath with a rich dressing made from the shells.

It hasn't quite come off,

because there's not enough of that crayfish flavour.

The crayfish flavour could be stronger,

the tomato flavour could be stronger. But good idea.

Thank you.

From your crayfish to your sweet rhubarb and white chocolate...

I've been looking forward to this all day. No pressure(!)

I think this is inspired.

There's a background of clove and spice coming from it.

I do think it is a very, very clever thing.

Your texture is firm enough to keep in shape,

soft enough to dissolve on your tongue.

But I'm not picking up any of the white chocolate at all,

which is a shame.

Cos I saw you scraping like a thing possessed, towards the end.

Would you have scraped more on if...?

There'd be more white chocolate.

Andrew's first amuse-bouche is fresh figs, Iberico ham,

ricotta cheese, and a port and vanilla reduction.

His second is sauteed wild mushrooms with tapenade

and a rustic loaf crostini.

And the last is goat's cheese coated with a sweet crumble

and served with a red pepper compote.

These signify that we about to have a starter

rather than amuse-bouches.

See, I think that's a fig, ham and ricotta starter.

That sauce you've got is really fruity and very deep.

And then you've got the natural juiciness of a fig, salty ham

and then the more creamy cheese. That's really lovely.

All you've got to do is get it into a shot glass and we've got an amuse-bouche.

You just soften those figs slightly in the oven

with your ricotta, which is lovely and salty, your sweet sauce

and the salty ham. It's very, very good indeed.

So that's your figs. And let's try mushrooms.

Lovely light, tangy, salty tapenade

on the crostini is absolutely delicious,

-but a wild mushrooms flavour won't get through the tapenade.

-Hmm.

I think your choice of bread is absolutely perfect

with that really rich, salty tapenade.

And you might be losing a bit of mushroom,

but I think the whole thing is actually quite delicious.

From your mushrooms to your sweet-but-savoury goat's cheese.

-This one's looking a little scruffy.

-Yeah.

-Little sloppy.

I really love that.

It starts off as a savoury mouthful and ends up as a sweet one.

I love food that gives a surprise like that.

Although it's not presented in the right way, it is great,

because you have that wonderful crunch of the crumble

around the outside, which is sweet.

You have the savouriness that comes from the roasted red pepper

and then the sweetness of the cheese.

It's delicious. Looks a fright, but it's delicious.

The comments were better than expected.

I suppose I knew what was wrong with it.

I knew, looking at Tom and Shelina's plates,

that I'd misunderstood the brief.

So, yeah, I'm a bit annoyed with myself.

Shelina has made chicken and vermicelli bhajis

with a sweet and sour chilli dipping sauce...

sumac salmon with a coriander and pine nut tabbouleh...

and sticky rice with papaya, mango, and a sesame and coconut sauce.

-They all look great.

-Thank you.

-Well done.

Going to start with these chicken and vermicelli balls.

Well-made balls, fantastic dipping sauce

that's got a little bit of heat to it.

And it grows. Very, very nice.

There's loads of boxes next to this plate

and they've all got ticks on them.

-Shelina, is this your own invention?

-Absolutely.

I think they're really delicious,

because the paste which is binding your chicken with the vermicelli

is rich with coriander and chilli.

And then, at the same time, we've got that salty and sharp dipping sauce.

I love the flavours, really good.

To your salmon with sumac.

It's a delicious little morsel that's perfectly refreshing.

You are clever today.

Great little mouthfuls,

because you have lots of different dimension going on.

And it gets you right in the back of your throat.

I think it's delicious, it makes me smile,

and I think that's exactly what amuse-bouches should do.

Pass us a couple of mangoes.

Coconut and mango, tropical sunshine, warm, cuddly.

I mean, it's just wonderful. That is really nice.

I think the rice pudding with the coconut is great.

I love the lime and the mint on top. Shelina, you've done a great job.

I've never had Indian Ocean amuse-bouches. It's brilliant.

Very well done.

That was just the warm-up.

Now you are going to cook for your mentors.

Between these seven greats, they hold 11 Michelin stars.

And, worldwide, they are considered at the top of their game.

Look, guys, they have seen you cook before.

But now it's your chance to show them how good a cook you've become.

Go and get your whites on, do yourselves proud.

Throughout the competition,

Tom, Andrew and Shelina have been inspired and taught

by some of the world's most celebrated chefs.

It's the first time I've made doughnuts.

There you go, see, look at those bad boys.

Welcome to a very windy Cumbria.

Really tasty. Good balance. Very nice.

Whisky, for me,

it doesn't belong in this dish. It's just not right.

To take a classic and deconstruct it, was very risky.

Everything looks pleasing to the eye, and I just want to dive into it.

Absolutely beautiful.

I've been told you're pretty good.

Prove it.

I'm feeling really nervous.

I'm cooking for lots of really scary people today.

I just really want to do well, I don't want to mess up at all.

It's a very big day. It's...

the culmination of everything we've learnt,

and I'm quite sure that my shaky hands will come back today.

You've got seven chefs with 11 Michelin stars -

I don't need to say what a big deal that is, cos it's massive.

So we've got to raise our game, meet those standards,

and, hopefully, everyone'll be happy at the end of the day.

For this daunting challenge,

they will cook under their last great mentor, Clare Smyth.

Considered one of the best chefs in Britain,

Clare has dedicated her life to reaching the top

of the culinary world.

Where other kids loved pop groups or were into fashion, I loved food.

It's a little bit nerdy, but, kind of, from a young age,

I just started to love it.

I wanted to come to London

and I wanted be the chef of a top restaurant in London.

Leaving home in Northern Ireland at 16, she has been taught by the best.

And at just 29, became the first female in Britain

to run a three-Michelin-starred kitchen

at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea.

I'm a crazy perfectionist.

Every ingredient's got to be prepared to perfection.

Even the way everything sits on a tray.

Three amateur cooks, I think it's a risk.

They are my dishes that they're cooking, at the end the day,

so it's very important to me that they get them right.

It's a really big task ahead of them. A really big task.

-Good morning. Are you ready to do this?

-Yeah.

-Excellent.

Cooking three-star dishes is very exposed.

And the chefs we will be cooking for are the best in the country.

So they'll be very, very critical.

Make sure every single detail is absolutely perfect, step-by-step.

And when we arrive to actually serve the dish, it should be perfect. OK?

You ready? OK, let's go.

Shelina must prepare Clare's intricate starter

of poached Scottish lobster with Lardo di Colonnata,

a speciality Italian pork fat,

pickled baby vegetables

and a coral vinaigrette.

The trickiest bit is definitely, you know, the cooking of the lobster.

If it's cooked too much, it's going to be tough.

If it's not cooked enough, obviously,

it's not going to be edible.

So we're going to get the lobster just poached in butter, 56 degrees.

So it should stay really nice and soft.

-OK. I've never done that before.

-All right.

I hope you're going to carry it off. Not to make you nervous or anything.

OK, I'm going to definitely try my best on this.

It looks fantastic.

Honestly, I'm probably quite worried about the presentation,

cos it just looks like it takes so long.

Can I keep hold of this plate as a reminder, throughout the whole day?

This is a completely stunning dish,

and all I'm thinking is, am I going to be able to do this?

There's a lot to do here and there's a lot that can go wrong.

Andrew is in charge of the main course.

Roasted Bresse pigeon with confit leg, grilled polenta,

baby vegetables, smoked pork belly

and a pigeon sauce.

This was, actually, the first dish that I put on the menu

at Royal Hospital Road when I took over as the head chef.

And I've had a lot of good comments, including the chief of Michelin

telling me that it was an excellent dish.

-It's quite a classical dish.

-Yeah.

We're going to cook everything on the stove,

-so there's no water baths involved here. This is about you.

-Yeah.

-You need to know, by instinct, when it's right and wrong.

-Yeah.

The cooking of a pigeon, it needs to be a medium-rare, not rare.

This pigeon isn't good to be too rare.

If it's not right, when we go to take them off the bone,

-we're going to be in trouble, OK?

-OK.

-So that's the pressure point of this dish.

-Yeah.

-Hmm. Very smoky.

-Yeah.

-Hmm.

Yeah, I'm feeling a bit nervous now.

It's just very perfect French cooking and it's a lovely, lovely dish,

and I just hope I can do exactly the same.

Tom is making Clare's delicate dessert -

a lemonade parfait with sheep's milk yoghurt sorbet,

a bergamot gel

and a sugared honey tuile.

It's pastry, so the recipes,

you need to follow to the exact temperatures, to the exact gram.

You think that something's wrong, then just do it again.

When you're making these tuiles, it's all sculpted by hand,

so that's something that's going to take you a little bit of time to do.

And I suggest you give yourself time to do it,

cos it's really the show-stopping part of the dish

that's really going to make it sparkle.

You're a plasterer, so you've got good hands, right?

-So it's perfect for you.

-Yeah, hopefully.

Is pastry one of your strong points?

-I'd like to think that it's not a weak point.

-Good, excellent.

It's fantastic. Absolutely fantastic.

It looks, technically, very challenging.

So I'm a little bit apprehensive.

If I can get anywhere near that, I'll be very happy.

Shelina, Andrew and Tom now have just five hours.

Obviously, there's a lot riding on this, and, you know,

the pressure to deliver's massive.

It'd be very embarrassing for her if we mess up.

So, you know, we've got to pull all the stops out

to make sure everything's perfect today.

With such an enormous task ahead,

Clare has brought in her staff of regular chefs to help out

if the food is failing to match her exacting standards.

At the end of the day, it is my reputation, they are my dishes.

So I'm going to make sure that it's right.

Shelina's first task is to prepare

the Scottish island lobsters for poaching,

considered to be some of the finest in the world.

She must remove the intestines

and then insert skewers to keep them straight in the stock.

This is three-star lobster cooking.

Shelina, what about the clientele tonight?

I'm try not to think about that at the moment.

I want to just do what I can here.

You realise, if it's not absolutely bang-on, she won't let it go.

I know. I can't imagine that she would let something imperfect go out.

-So I'm just going to push through.

-I've been in this situation before.

You look calm, you look happy.

I'm not trying to scare you. It won't last.

In order to release the lobster meat from the tails for poaching later,

Shelina must cook them in a court bouillon for exactly 60 seconds.

This is my time to shine, I've really got to do it.

It's the penultimate challenge, really, before the final.

So just going to do the best I can.

The pigeons for Andrew's main course are from Bresse.

Highly valued for their tender flesh,

they must be butchered with the utmost care,

as any tear in the skin could mean they dry out when roasted.

Excellent. So, just, yeah, all like that.

Andrew, a bit of a nervous disposition about you, today.

Yeah, I am nervous. It's a really big day.

And there are lots of things on this dish that I haven't done before.

Whereabouts in the process are you up to, so far?

I have prepared the pigeons. I have...

I'm about to get the sauce on.

Then I need to prep the vegetables and get those on.

-I need to get the polenta on.

-And that's it?

-Yeah.

-You need to shift.

-Yeah.

-You need to put a smile on your face.

And the mentors, they know how good you can be, just show them.

Tom is making the lemon parfait, the centrepiece of Clare's dessert.

First, he must boil the sugar and water to exactly 121 degrees...

..then add it to the whisked egg yolks.

That's not really right. We have to do it again.

-So why's it not right?

-You're stirring it too much.

It goes crystallised, if you stir sugar.

You have to just let it do its own thing. Yeah. So get rid of it.

Seriously, I'm not happy about it.

I don't want anything to go wrong. I don't ever want anything to go wrong.

And so, you know, I'm a little bit miffed that has gone wrong.

And I just wish I understood why,

cos then I wouldn't let it happen again.

He's obviously quite upset about it.

I'm worried that it might knock his confidence.

He just needs to forget about that, it's happened now,

and crack on and just carry on.

OK, guys, we've got two and a half hours now, until service.

So right now, you should be starting to almost see the end

of all your preparations, OK?

-Maybe we need to, like, pick up the pace a little bit, OK?

-Yes, chef.

Shelina has moved on to the lobster jelly.

To make its consomme base crystal clear,

it needs to be clarified by whisking in egg whites.

If it boils, it will break the raft

and it will make your stock cloudy again.

-So we need it to just tick over very, very gently, OK?

-Right, OK.

Like, if this breaks, basically, I've ruined my whole thing

that I've been working on for, like, two and a half hours. So, yeah.

-Ah! Don't prod it around.

-I'm just checking.

-You look worried.

-Yeah, I am.

Let's see if the liquid's actually clear.

So what we're going to end up with is a nice, clear liquid.

-Taste OK?

-Taste that, it's good. Yeah.

-Yeah, nice. OK.

-Really nice.

-So now we need to hurry up,

-cos we need to get the vegetables all prepped.

-Yeah, OK.

And we get them cooked, so they can get pickling.

On the main course, Andrew has only just begun work on the pigeon legs.

I'm making ballotines, so that they keep their shape when I poach them.

Oh...

Three-star food, it's fiddly. You've got to take your time,

and I'm not very good at it, is the honest truth.

With the legs poached and the shape set,

they must be carefully unwrapped before being confited in duck fat.

-Is that...? That's what you're going for, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Let's get them on and confited. Because they're twice the size now,

they're going to take about an hour to cook. OK.

So we need to get them straight in,

because you're starting to run out of time now.

And, also, we need to get the vegetables prepped and cooked,

parfaits in the freezer.

It's two hours until service.

Shelina is still getting her baby vegetables ready for pickling.

I'd really like to see the vegetables finished

and in the marinade now, cos they need time to get the flavour.

Any mistake at this stage now

is really going to tip you over the edge.

Because now we're short for time,

so really need to focus and make sure everything's perfect.

Shelina. Now the brain's got to switch on.

She's got to start thinking like a professional chef.

She's got to start thinking clearly and focus on the task ahead.

On dessert...

..Tom is finishing his second attempt at the parfait mix.

-Is that 15 grams you've just put in there?

-Yeah.

-You sure?

-Did you weigh it?

-Well, no.

-OK, well, you need to weigh it, yeah.

That could be a problem. All right, fine, carry on now.

It's already in there, so we need to taste it and make sure it's OK.

Make sure everything is, yeah, absolutely perfect.

Nothing seems to be going right. It's been thoroughly awful so far.

Obviously, there's massive pressure. I really want to deliver.

Andrew has started on the vegetables for his main.

I am preparing the carrots.

And they all need to go from that to a very small carrot.

I need to turn them, but I've never done that before.

And it's very precise.

Chef.

Yeah? Time, yeah.

Running a bit tight.

We've still got quite a way to go, all right?

Andrew's pigeons still aren't ready, but he's got to start...

He's still preparing carrots. They should be done by now.

We might have to start giving him

a little bit of help just to get us through it, just to finish it off.

Because I care about it and I want it served right.

This is a really big dinner, and I want to do it all myself.

That's the whole point. So that's why I'm getting cross.

All right, John, we're an hour away from service,

and the atmosphere in this kitchen has just changed completely.

Clare is now prowling this kitchen,

and the smiles have now gone from the faces of our finalists.

There's a little bit of worry and concern creeping in here,

and I'm not surprised.

Mentors are everything.

So for them to have been able to have been trained

by some of the best chefs in the business

is pretty much a dream come true.

So I'm expecting nothing less than perfection tonight.

I saw the contestants in the studio, early, at the beginning.

They've been trained now. They've had amazing experiences.

Tonight, I'm expecting big, big things from these guys.

They're going to have to cook their hearts out.

I want to see a soul,

I want to feel that in the food that I'm eating tonight.

If they really have aspirations of being great chefs,

tonight is the night that they have to prove it.

Guys, we've got 50 minutes to go. And we're still quite a way behind.

And now I'm very worried that we're not going to be ready on time.

You all need to keep a really cool head here.

-Stay focused and just nail it, yeah?

-Yes.

Realistically, you'd be wanting to be...

having everything ready to go by, like, seven o'clock.

Yeah, absolutely.

To be ready by seven o'clock, pigeons need to be going on by 6:30.

That gives you 17 minutes now, to get everything absolutely finished

-before your pigeons are going to start cooking.

-Yeah.

I've still got lots do. I've still got absolutely loads to do and, yeah,

I've just realised I haven't peeled the beetroot yet.

And the pigeons aren't even on yet. So still a lot to do.

And I needed to get them on ten minutes ago.

-Andrew, you know we're running short of time?

-Yeah.

And I know you don't want any help.

-I understand 100% that you want to do it all by yourself.

-Yeah.

I'm sure you don't want to keep your guests waiting

and I most certainly don't.

-No, I don't.

-And I want to get this right.

-Yeah.

-OK.

-So we're going to give you a bit of help just to get some jobs done.

-OK.

We're going to get it out on time, all right?

With Clare's brigade finishing off the vegetables...

..Andrew can finally start cooking the pigeons.

-You all right?

-I think it's going to be all right.

Just get the pigeon right.

If we don't get the pigeon right, we're screwed, no?

With 40 minutes to go, Shelina's butter stock is ready.

Now she must start the difficult job

of poaching the delicate Scottish lobster.

Can we just get the lobsters in, cooking, please?

-56 degrees.

-56 degrees.

Yeah, the temperature's absolutely perfect, all right.

Yeah, pop them straight in.

Make sure the temperature stays at that temperature, OK.

Tom is back on track with his dessert...

..but still faces his biggest challenge -

making the fragile honey tuiles.

This sugar tuile that he's making

is going to be the showpiece of the dish.

The tuile is made up of two different mixtures -

one honeycomb and one glucose syrup.

Now cooled, Tom combines them into a powder.

He's going go do this by hand. Going to do them one-by-one.

This isn't something that's going to be done quickly.

He just needs to keep a cool head and not panic.

I've just put in my first honey crisp

and I'll officially call this a tester.

So I think I've just about got enough time to mess a couple up.

Once melted, he must sculpt them into delicate loops.

You see, I can't even see that.

It was a disaster, not a complete disaster.

I've learned something.

And hopefully, I'll learn something else next time.

So this is one that was made earlier. This is mine.

That's how it was a disaster. But they're the same colour, at least.

So I am getting there.

There's some great produce on here. Scottish lobster. Bresse pigeon.

I just hope they don't waste it.

It seems quite a difficult menu.

So if they can pull this off, I think they'll be doing all right.

Shelina has just 20 minutes before her starter is served.

I really, really hope I'm going to be on time.

I'm, like, pushing as hard as I can now.

-You need to start carving your lobster.

-Right, OK.

The poached Scottish lobster, that's difficult.

You got to poach it to perfection.

Even 30 seconds over, it's gone, it's history.

You know, it's just rubber on a plate.

We're going to start to plate now, OK? Do we have everything?

-Yeah.

-Let's go.

Clare, her food is precise, beautiful,

it relies heavily on the execution of simplicity,

which, we all know, as professional chefs,

is the single, most difficult thing to get right.

You need to get it tidier than that, OK?

Can you see this one's all nicely in the centre of the plate,

and that's, kind of, fallen down?

We might have to dress that one again. We'll take it all back off.

You're not feeling stressed now, are you?

No, just finding it difficult putting it together.

-You know it tastes good.

-Yeah, it does taste good.

-All right.

OK. So...

Be confident in yourself, you know.

There needs to be like a beautiful vase of flowers,

showcasing all of the ingredients.

-It's starting to look really good, OK.

-OK.

-Let's move to the next one.

Now you've got it. Perfect.

It needs to go straightaway. So you need to shout for some service.

-Service, please.

-Yes.

-Thank you very much.

-You all right? Well done. Are you happy?

I found that really hard. So much harder than I thought.

It's something that you, yeah, you don't realise just maybe...

-How many processes.

-..how something can be so simple...

-I know.

-..but so complicated at the same time.

-Thank you very much.

-No, it's cool. Well done.

The poached Scottish lobster is served

with rolls of Lardo di Colonnata,

pickled baby vegetables,

cubes of lobster jelly,

and a tarragon, tomato and coral vinaigrette.

Right, I've got to say, the presentation of my dish is perfect.

It looks a joy.

I thought it was a beautiful dish. Very accomplished.

The lobster, beautifully tender and succulent.

Visually, it was awesome. I can see there's loads of work

in the preparation of the vegetables, they're beautifully prepared.

I thought the lobster was cooked really well.

Well, I really enjoyed the dish, actually.

Definitely, it's a very complex dish.

So I think really...

for me, for this dish...the goal.

Perfect dish. I think it was fantastic.

I would very happily sit in a Michelin-star restaurant

and pay good money for that. Thought it was great.

Many congratulations.

You absolutely nailed it.

Presentation-wise, cooking-wise, everything was great.

Fantastic effort.

I'd just like to thank all of you for being involved

in our journey in MasterChef.

It's been amazing, and I have learnt so much. Thank you very much.

Incredible day. I just can't believe I just did that.

It makes me think how far I've come from, you know,

an amateur big mama cook to this,

cooking elegant and beautiful food.

I won't forget this, ever.

Back in the kitchen, Tom is still trying to master his honey tuiles.

I've got two that are close to being

how they should be, they're not perfect yet.

But at least I'm getting there.

-There was some satisfaction there.

-Good on you.

And now it's just about being patient, getting the others done.

Yeah, that's it. Now you've got it.

Looking really good.

I'm very happy that you've stood here and you've done this properly.

-Yeah.

-Cos this is going to make all the difference to your dish.

It looks really good.

With minutes before service,

the main course is finally coming together.

Andrew. The pigeons and now rested, yeah?

-And you're confident that they're perfectly cooked? You are?

-I am.

One of them... I've done an extra one.

-One of them is a bit pinker than the others, I think. So...

-OK.

-So you're confident?

-We'll check that one.

-OK.

Andrew, he seems to be quite happy

that the pigeons are cooked properly,

and, you know, I'm just going to wait and see.

He's a lot more relaxed than I am about it.

And a lot more confident than I am, which might be a bit misplaced.

It could be a disaster if they're not cooked properly.

Come on, Andrew, we need to get this on the pass now, yeah?

-You ready to start dressing?

-Yeah.

-OK, let's go.

We need to speed up, cos it needs to go out hot. OK?

Make sure the pigeon leg is on the right...the skin-side up.

Yeah? And don't panic at this stage, just do it, yeah.

Roast Bresse pigeon with confit leg. Ah, a true classic.

I love pigeon - it's my favourite all-time meat.

We need to really hurry up now.

The pigeon's starting to overcook, it's hot, it needs to go.

My concern will be for the pigeon. Got a table of seven people,

to make it right, this is very complicated, for me.

Last two pigeons on the plate.

-Yeah, OK. Go, send it.

-Service.

-All right.

-Thank you.

-You happy now?

-Happy now.

-Difficult.

-Very difficult.

Not as easy as you think. No.

-Hopefully, they'll enjoy it.

-Hope so.

The roasted Bresse pigeon with confit leg

has been served with grilled polenta,

smoked pork belly,

braised baby vegetables and a pigeon jus.

I'm looking around at the different dishes,

every single one is identical.

This looks a serious, serious piece of cooking.

I think it's absolutely delicious. Everything's cooked so beautifully.

It was just fantastic. It was great.

I mean, if I had people in my kitchen producing food like that,

I'd be a very happy bunny.

I cannot believe that this cooking was one of the contestants

that I was in the studio with. Unbelievable.

-Good evening.

-Good evening.

Andrew, oh, my goodness me.

When I was in the studio with you, you gave me a dish

that was, like, the most catastrophic dish I've ever had.

-It had so many ingredients.

-Yeah.

-You had spoots - razor clams - cooked with whisky.

-Oh.

-LAUGHTER

-Oh, I'm glad I wasn't there.

Tonight, you have gone the full circle.

Many, many congratulations.

-Unbelievable cooking.

-It's an incredible privilege to cook for you.

That's going to take a long time to sink in.

I...

..really...

I can't believe it.

Cannot believe it.

To make a good parfait is, actually, quite difficult.

So I'm really interested to see

how that's going to come out on the plate.

These are beautiful, these parfaits.

It's cos you put them into the moulds so nicely

with your little palette knife.

-You should be used to doing that, shouldn't you?

-I am.

-That's pretty much my life.

-You did it better than I can do it.

Before serving, the parfaits must be rolled in a fine, lemon sugar.

To finish, Tom adds flakes of gold leaf to his tuiles.

-OK, Tom, we need to plate up now.

-Yeah, OK.

You're going to do this all by yourself,

cos you've done it all by yourself so far.

If they can it pull off, can follow the recipe and execute it very well,

then I think we've got a great dessert coming our way.

As soon as the sorbet goes on, we need to send.

You need to shout for some service.

Service, please. These first two can go.

Perfect. Last two.

-Well done.

-Thank you very much.

-Ah. Well done. You all right?

-Yeah, really enjoyed it.

-I think you did a phenomenal job.

Really, really good.

-I'm really happy with that.

-Stunning.

Going to want to see it on your restaurant menu, yeah?

-OK?

-You'll be waiting a long time before that.

The lemonade parfait is topped with sheep's milk sorbet

inside the honey sugared tuile,

and served with dots of bergamot gel

and confit lemon.

I think this is a very classy and a very sexy dessert.

The sugar is gorgeous. The threads are really fine.

That's a really hard technique.

For an amateur to execute at this level is actually phenomenal.

Mmm.

Fantastic. I get the flavour of the honey.

It's great, they've captured that flavour in the tuile.

And to make it so intricate is fantastic.

I felt the parfait, the texture, was just sublime.

The sorbet just knocked me out. I loved the sorbet.

I love the way the ice cream went with the parfait.

A brilliant dessert.

The bitterness of the lemon, a little bit preserve, was very nice.

And, yes, the work on the sugar was impressive.

All the elements in this dessert are perfect.

This, I think, shows a pastry chef in the making.

-Good evening.

-Tom, I'm almost speechless.

I can't believe that you are the same person

who prepared that...lemon tart...

who has just prepared that amazing dessert right now.

It was executed beautifully.

You must be very, very, very proud.

And I don't say that to very many people, I can assure you.

-Thanks very much.

-So, congratulations.

Thank you, that means a lot.

Thanks for all your help throughout the competition.

It's been a pleasure for me to cook for you tonight.

-Thank you.

-Well done, Tom.

-Thank you.

It's terrifying to be stood in front of those chefs.

But for them to turn around and give such high praise

for some work that I've done, you know, it's absolutely wonderful.

It's the sort of thing that you enter the competition for.

They never dreamt they could produce food like they did tonight.

All three of them should be really, really proud of themselves.

That was one of the hardest but most rewarding days I'd ever had.

Next time I cook, it's to win MasterChef.

So I've just got to pull everything I've learned together,

cook to perfection, like we did today,

and see if I can win.

You know, knowing that the next time I'm going to be cooking

is going to be for John and Gregg for the last time

to decide who wins MasterChef.

After today, I'm confident.

I think if I do myself justice, then the chances are I might win.

It's just been unbelievable. I just feel really proud today.

Three plates of food, that's all I've got left.

But, you know what, I've just got to be confident,

I've got to stay focused and just truly believe that I can do it.

I would love to win.

They created magic tonight, John,

but who can create magic for the final cook-off?

For these three, the journey is almost over.

Tomorrow night,

Andrew,

Shelina

or Tom will be crowned MasterChef Champion.

Ladies and gentlemen, let's cook.

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