Episode 10 MasterChef

MasterChef is back. Hundreds auditioned, now the best 50 amateur cooks are through.

Let's cook.

Get your pudding spoon out and man up.

You either stand out or you're knocked out.

Each week, ten new contestants

battling for a place in Friday's quarterfinal.

I don't want to eat it.

I already feel nervous for them.

This is just bang!

Only the strongest will make it to the final challenges.

-We've got to move now.

-We've got six minutes left.

-Oh!

-Cooking does not get tougher than this.

These five amateurs all think they have what it takes to become MasterChef champion.

But at the end of today's heat, only the best will become quarterfinalists.

I can't actually believe I'm on MasterChef.

To be here and to be about to go into the kitchen is really exciting.

I'm as determined as I ever could be. I'm going to give it everything.

My heart rate is starting to increase.

I can feel beads of sweat forming.

But it's all good. I'm looking forward to it very much.

Welcome. Do you recognise this?

-This is the MasterChef kitchen.

-We would like you

to make for us one dish. Sweet,

savoury, whatever you like

but make a lasting impression. Here we go, guys, one hour.

Good luck. Let's cook.

Today's ingredients include pheasant,

plums, leeks,

potatoes, chocolate,

red wine, cream,

thyme and juniper berries.

My current job is an accountant.

My best work is under pressure.

And I can deliver. But there are occasions

when the pressure can topple you over and you have a bad day.

-You're a bit nervous, aren't you?

-I am. I am.

-What's happening?

-It's the pressure of being here.

-But I'll get control of it.

-OK. What are you making?

Roasted pheasant, a red wine and ginger reduction

and a dauphinoise.

Ooh! How good a cook are you?

I cook every single day from scratch for my family.

So I get a lot of practise.

-How many in the family?

-At home, we've got my youngest daughter, she's four.

And my husband. My oldest daughter comes over at the weekends and my granddaughter.

-How old is your granddaughter?

-She's 15 months.

So every weekend, there's a load of women in the kitchen?

-Correct.

-That is fabulous.

-Thank you.

It's becoming a bit of an obsession - food.

What started as a hobby has become a bit of a way of life.

That and ballet dancing, which is a bit odd but...

You look perfectly relaxed. How happy and relaxed are you?

I'm kind of doing the kind of thing I'd maybe cook at home

to ease myself in. I'm going to pan dry the pheasant breast.

I'm going to do it with fondant potato

and a red wine and blackberry sauce, jus type thing.

How long do fondant potatoes take to cook?

About 15-20 minutes. They're quite small.

-What sort of food do you do at home?

-I like French and Italian food.

I make a lot of risotto, make my own pasta.

-A lot of baking as well, a lot of breads.

-Do you?

-I love baking.

I was going to go sweet. I was thinking chocolate fondant.

-Then I chickened out.

-Pheasanted out, anyway.

-Yes, exactly.

-Good luck.

-Thanks.

-Get your fondants on.

The fondant's going to take a lot longer than 15 minutes. I reckon more like 45.

One thing you can't eat is an undercooked potato.

You are halfway. Halfway through your first round.

I really like experimenting with different techniques.

I'm not afraid to use whatever gadgets

I can get my hands on to achieve what I want.

What are you going to make for us?

I'm going to pan fry the pheasant, I've never cooked it before. I think it's pheasant.

-It is.

-I'm going to do a potato puree.

-I've heard you're a bit of a wacky scientist.

-I experiment with whatever I can get.

I've used a hairdryer before to cook pork, to dry the skin out.

I use a technique to separate the duck skin using a bike pump, so it's nice and crispy.

-A hairdryer is something I haven't used for a long time.

-It doesn't look like it, Gregg.

I think I'm fairly inventive. I won't necessarily follow a recipe.

But I'll take ideas and put them into my cooking.

Maybe "creative" is a better word.

-What are you making?

-I'm cooking a breast of pheasant

with a potato tortilla and a garlic puree.

-Where is the love of food from?

-I think it's from my love of feeding people.

Keeping people happy. I cooked for my brother's wedding, 200 people.

My dad's 50th I did and stuff like that, which I quite enjoy. It's stressful but I enjoy it.

-Who did your wedding?

-Er, half me and half someone else.

-You catered your own wedding?

-Yeah.

I'm a little bit of a control freak

when it comes to the food that goes on my table.

Sarah's promised us a tortilla and a pheasant breast.

Egg and pheasant, quite a strange combination.

However, it's the invention test, anything can happen.

There's 15 minutes left.

I'm very competitive. I play rugby for a local side.

I do believe I've got the competitive edge to win.

I've got the skills and I've got the motivation.

How serious are you? What sort of cook are you?

I'm serious, I'll win the competition. I'll start by winning with a chocolate fondant.

I'm going straight in there. I think you have to take risks and this is a great time to do it.

Hope you enjoy.

Chris sounds like one of those guys who's been in training

for MasterChef for a good year and I'm really impressed.

He's going for a full house. And I hope he gets it.

You've got five minutes.

Think about putting it on a plate, please.

That's it. Time's up.

Young grandma and accountant Tess has made roasted pheasant

topped with a blackberry and black pepper jam,

served with thyme dauphinoise

and a red wine and juniper berry reduction.

Despite the smudge of sauce on your sauce boat,

-which is shocking.

-Yeah.

-Look at that, look.

Er, I quite like you plate.

Good.

Mmm.

Your pheasant breast is lovely and soft, I think it's great you roasted it on the bone.

There's a faint flavour of orange coming through the background, which is brilliant.

Your thyme dauphinoise potatoes are really good,

they're lovely and soft and creamy.

I think the texture of your jam is great.

Not a bad show at all, Tess.

Tess, I think you may know your way around a saucepan. I'm impressed.

Thank you.

I'm absolutely gutted I didn't clean off the side of that jug

before I dished out. A little touch that's been my main criticism.

Events planner Sarah's pheasant has been served with a potato tortilla

and a garlic butter sauce.

Doesn't look right. Very rarely see a tortilla as an accompaniment.

It's either a dish on its own or part of a tapas collection.

The bird is overcooked.

It's dry. Your tortilla is all right. Flavoured with thyme.

This sauce is strong with garlic but it's really, really greasy.

I don't think this is quite right and I'm sure you've had better days at the stoves.

Egg and pheasant is not really a combination known to man.

It doesn't quite work. I'd like to say nicer things, Sarah, but I can't, I'm sorry.

That didn't go so well.

I don't think I've cooked a piece of meat quite so badly in probably about ten years.

Lawyer Larkin's pan-fried pheasant

has been served with mashed potato, roasted plums,

blackberry jam and a garlic and thyme gravy.

Oh-oh!

Your plums, blackberries and pheasant together,

I think are delicious.

It's savoury, it's sweet, it's sharp, it's sour.

I think it works well with that tinny meat.

Your mashed potato has got lumps in it and your pheasant's a bit dry.

Otherwise, I think it's bordering on dangerous and very clever.

You know how to do lots of things. I can't help but think

if you did less things they'd all be done a bit better.

OK. Yeah.

Bit disappointed with the mash.

It's a bit criminal to have lumps in it.

But I think I can do a lot better,

so bring on the next challenge.

Forensic accountant Emma also pan fried the pheasant breast,

coating hers in a red wine and blackberry reduction,

served with fondant potatoes.

-How long did you cook those fondants for?

-About 15 minutes in the oven.

Little bit firm.

That one's not cooked.

Your pheasant breast is a little bit dry.

But your blackberry sauce is nice, it's tasty.

It tastes of blackberry and thyme.

It tastes of sweet-sour background, which is the natural fruit.

You've made a good fist of the sauce.

The problem is, with only doing the meat and potatoes, I don't learn very much about you.

That's the problem.

My comments were mixed.

I think I really need to pull it out the bag in the next round.

Energy manager Chris went with a dessert.

And made a chocolate fondant with a cinnamon poached plum and a blackberry coulis.

Can I open up?

Very good.

-Well done.

-Thanks.

Really impressed because your fondant is absolutely perfect.

It's right. Not too sweet. You've got the centre running out.

You've got a lovely casing, which is crunchy and crispy.

It's brilliant. I like your blackberry coulis.

It's got no seeds in. It's sweet and sticky. It's a really good thing.

I am so impressed. You didn't take the easy option.

You wanted to show off your talent and show off you skill.

That is absolutely fabulous.

A pretty good start. A pretty good start.

But we're only halfway through the day.

Thank you very much. Off you go.

There's some good cooks. But there's a couple who have work to do.

Anything can happen in this competition. You don't know.

The palate test, one of my favourites and one of the most important tests.

-Today's dish is seafood chowder and soda bread.

-Splendid.

Their first job has to be to get this bread on or it won't be baked in time.

Half wholemeal flour, half plain flour.

A good teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda.

Soda bread does rise, people don't think it does.

It does rise.

Then the liquid. One egg.

A big spoonful of honey.

And then about 200 mils of buttermilk.

It gets plonked in. It has to go in quite fast because the bicarb reacts with the liquid straightaway.

Then that goes in the oven.

And that's going to take about 25 minutes.

And now to make the chowder.

We've got smoked fish, whitefish, clams, prawns and scallops.

Those have to be cooked at different stages and different times.

First, poach the smoked haddock, a good old classic poaching

of milk, shallots, bay leaf and the fish itself.

-Put it in skin side down.

-Skin's easier to take off once it's cooked.

Yes, but it actually holds the fish together while it poaches as well.

Potatoes cooking. Now my clams.

The rest of the ingredients for the chowder. Our prawns, scallops

cut in half,

pollock or whitefish.

Clams are now ready.

Drain my potatoes off. Let them sit, that's fine.

Then my smoked haddock comes out.

I love haddock.

Now the base of our chowder itself.

I'm going to sweat onions and some garlic in a little bit of butter.

Corn goes in. Strain the liquid from our clams.

And now runner beans.

Poaching liquid.

-Haven't you got any stock?

-No, no stock at all.

That'll confuse them. Make a soup or chowder, you reach for the stock.

Brilliant. A broth made from cooking liquid.

-Is everything cooked in the chowder?

-Everything in here, that's why you get the flavour.

So haddock and prawns in. Add your potatoes.

And as it comes back up to the boil, and the prawns change colour,

in goes our pollock.

Scallops. A decent grind of pepper.

Add our clams.

That's a beautiful pot of fishy goodness, that is.

And then out with the bread.

The way to check it is to turn it out.

And tap the bottom.

That's the sound you want to hear from the bread so you know it's cooked.

Ah, yeah!

I love wet food.

-Oh, John.

-Slice of bread.

So there we have it.

-Seafood chowder and soda bread.

-Bravo.

The chowder is doable. I'll be very impressed if they make perfect soda bread as well.

Great challenge. Let's get them in.

Welcome back.

This is the palate test.

I've cooked you lunch. We're going to ask you to taste it

and write down what is in that dish. Get your senses to work for you.

At the end of this challenge, two of you will be leaving the competition.

Over to you.

I don't eat or cook a lot of fish.

So it's quite a challenge for me.

I don't want to blow it on something I should know.

So I'm nervous of making a silly error.

There's so many ingredients in there. Um...

It's quite challenging trying to break it down.

I don't cook and eat a lot of seafood.

I think I'm fairly confident of identifying most of the ingredients.

Now you've had a chance to taste it, we want you to make it.

Under the cloth on your benches are all the ingredients that went in to that food.

But there's also some under there that didn't.

60 minutes. Let's cook.

The ingredients have been separated in to groups.

Those to make the bread, the sauce

and a selection of fish and shellfish.

But, with no recipe, they'll have to rely on their palate

and skill.

The big issue is the bread.

And right now, everybody is using yeast.

There was no yeast in that bread.

That's soda bread. Nobody's using bicarbonate at all.

In the chowder, Emma's tasting

white wine and chives. There's definitely no chives in there.

There's no white wine in there, so I'm not sure what will happen.

LAUGHS

I'm a little bit scared because I don't do a lot of fish at home.

The prawns have got their heads on.

I make a lot of bread.

But an hour's not long to make bread.

With it being wholegrain, hopefully, it won't need as long.

It's not wholegrain bread, it's soda bread.

-Tess, are you comfortable with this?

-I was. I'm not now.

-Why?

-My bread. I've had a brain block on my bread.

I'm really upset with myself that I should have a basic like that down.

You've had 20 minutes.

She's upset that she doesn't know how to make bread,

which I understand.

She's got the pot with the clam juice and shallots,

she's got all the seafood ready to go and might end up with a nice bowl of soup.

I don't think Tess should be that worried that she can't make bread.

Neither can the four people behind her.

Are you as good with fish as you are with fondant?

-No.

-No?

-I'm a little bit...

..rabbit in the headlights.

You've got 20 minutes left.

Larkin may have an idea how to get some flavour into his soup because

he's using the juice from the clams

and he's going to layer up the flavours after,

which I'm really pleased about.

Sarah, funnily enough, who did so bad on the invention test,

is doing something impressive. She's poached the haddock in the milk,

she's infused lots of flavours into it.

She's used that with the clam juice to make the base of her soup.

We have to hope she does some bread as well.

I don't cook bread a lot. But I knew I needed to leave it to proof for at least a little while.

I'm maybe short on baking time.

Got a couple of minutes left.

That is it. Stop! Your time's up.

What I asked you to make was seafood chowder served with soda bread.

Everyone used the yeast. Tess, shall we start with you?

No bread should sound like that.

THUDS

Well...

I like your broth in there.

It's buttery. It just needs more of it.

And because there isn't more, it feels a little bland.

But what I do like is the intensity

you got from the smoked haddock because you baked it

in foil, which was clever because you didn't know how I cooked it.

But you knew it had to be cooked before it went through the broth.

-I think that's impressive, Tess.

-Thank you.

The test was ridiculously hard.

I know I've made plenty of mistakes today.

I hope they can see through that and see that I can build on it.

Sarah.

We'll have to do the drop-bread test again, that is just...

Ready? THUDS

-Cor! That's even heavier. Wow!

-It's a scone.

I love the look of your chowder.

I have one criticism about your chowder and that is that some of your fish is going

a little bit overcooked and your prawns. Otherwise, I think you've done a brilliant job.

-Really good.

-I'll tell you what, kid,

from a bad start, you've soldiered on and you've done a decent job here.

Thank you.

After that challenge, I proved that I could cook.

Hopefully, Gregg and John aren't going to think that I'm altogether hopeless.

Larkin.

You made more of a seafood fricassee with a cream sauce, didn't you?

It's not too bad.

It's almost edible bread.

There's nice flavours in there. I like the sweet corn

and I like the sweetness of the runner beans and the salty sweetness of the prawns.

The prawns, because they have been pan fried,

the oil is coming out and sitting on top, you can see it hear.

That prawn oil is so strong. That's all you can taste.

I've never had a chowder before. I was trying to replicate it.

I put my own spin on it. But obviously it didn't work.

I'm not saying it didn't work. Not at all. In fact, on the contrary.

I think you haven't replicated my dish in any way but I haven't said it tastes disgusting.

It's just the fact that the prawns are the boss.

I didn't think that was my strongest task at all.

I'm a bit disappointed with myself but... there we are.

Emma.

What's that floating on top? A load of pepper?

Yeah, I got a bit carried away at the end.

This bread hasn't worked at all.

There's a big damp patch in the middle.

You've cooked your fish really well

and then you've thrown cream into this, which isn't nice. Strange.

Strange. I can't get inside the cook's brain that would do that.

The cream's really dense.

I can't taste everything individually.

I think that's more of a sauce for a bowl of pasta

than it is a chowder.

I don't think I impressed them very much actually.

I cook so much better at home. It's really frustrating.

Chris.

Your bread's OK. It's a bit heavy, it's not quite cooked enough.

There is flavour in there. You can pick out the flavours.

It tastes of the sea. Good flavours.

For me, there is way too much garlic in that sauce.

It's really overpowering the actual liquid itself.

It's not a chowder, it's not a soup, it's a stew of fish with cream.

50-50. Gregg really liked it.

John didn't so much. So it'll come down to my chocolate fondant and how well I did in the first round.

We've only got three places in the next round.

That means two of you will be leaving the competition.

Thanks, guys. Off you go.

Well, I think we can discount the bread and we've got five very similar chowders.

-So I don't think this is easy.

-The one dish I'm disappointed about comes from Emma.

All that cream in there. So much cream, John, it was bordering on a fish dessert.

She didn't have the strongest round in the invention test, we hoped to see more of her.

-I think you're right.

-Emma's run her race.

And I like Chris. Obviously, that chocolate fondant was just fantastic.

Absolutely superb for an invention test.

I didn't think his chowder was that bad.

I see no reason why Chris shouldn't go through to the next round.

Can I talk about Tess? I really liked her chowder.

She baked the smoked haddock in the foil. I think Tess is a really good cook.

I like what Tess did in the invention test.

-She roasted the pheasant brilliantly.

-Good. She stays.

That means we have to decide between Sarah and Larkin.

Larkin's hard to read at the moment because he does make mistakes.

In the invention test, the mash potato had lumps in it but he's got some very interesting ideas.

The chowder, although Larkin hasn't in any way replicated my dish,

what he has done is made his own dish, which is very tasty.

The dishes I've been cooking today

aren't what I'm most comfortable with. I don't know if I've done enough to stay in.

Sarah in her invention test didn't deliver a nice plate of food at all.

You said you've got to come back in the next round and do a good job and that's what she has done.

The question is, has she done enough to secure her place?

At the end of the day, there's nothing more I can do.

-It's their decision. I've done my best.

-Who is it going to be?

We have made our decision. The first person leaving us is Emma.

The second person leaving us...

..is Sarah.

Obviously, I'm disappointed.

The other people rode the pressure better than I did at the end of the day.

So congratulations to all of them.

I am feeling really disappointed. I feel like I have let myself down.

I just think I had a bit of a shocker of the day, really.

-Congratulations.

-Well done.

Get some rest because in the next round you'll be working in a professional kitchen.

It's 9am, and Larkin, Tess and Chris

are heading to Westminster for their first experience

in a professional kitchen.

-Good morning.

-Morning.

-I'm your head chef today.

-Morning, sir.

We have a busy lunch today. Are you ready?

-Yes.

-Yes.

-Follow me.

During lunch service, solicitor Larkin will be in charge of the starter

of buffalo mozzarella tempura, grilled vegetables

and a garlic and thyme dressing.

OK. Your main challenge today is to get the mozzarella done like that.

Hot with nice colour. Don't let them burn

and don't let them have more than one minute in the fire

because all the cheese will be going out.

You need to be quite fast during service. If you wait too long, the tempura are not crispy any more.

-Are you ready to challenge it?

-I hope so.

-Under stress and pressure?

-Yes, chef.

-OK, perfect.

Very focused today because I want to show

that I do have good attention to detail and good quality control.

This is a French duck from Dordogne.

And we use only the breast today, OK?

Fantastic.

Energy manager Chris will be cooking the roast fillet of duck,

basil polenta and blackberry pear

with a truffle and cider sauce.

This is the main challenge for you, to cook rare, medium-rare,

medium, medium-well, well-done, you know the difference between each one?

-Yes.

-Yes? OK.

Can you touch the duck breast to see if it's medium-rare?

-The more spongy the more rare it is.

-Yes.

-OK.

-Exactly.

My duck dish requires four things on the hob at the same time.

I've got to make sure I get the timings right and the temperatures correct.

Make sure I get perfect dishes out every time.

An here we've got the plate.

You need to be focused on the cooking

-and to send everything out.

-Yes, chef.

Accountant Tess will be making the grilled scallops

with black tagliolini, green asparagus

and a parmesan cream sauce.

This I what I'm expecting from you today for lunch.

With this perfect cross and all similar.

Are you comfortable with that?

Yes, chef.

Don't overcook the scallops, which can be dry after.

And if you undercook the scallops, the scallop is raw and cold.

For the plating, the pasta I want on the middle.

OK. The sauce around. And here we go.

Are you thinking you can do the dish doing service like that?

Clean plate, cooked, hot.

As long as I stay calm and focused.

Follow my voice and everything will be fine.

-What do you think?

-It's beautiful.

Absolutely terrified about juggling loads of orders.

I'm used to cooking for four people maximum a day at home.

I think the contestants start to be nervous.

The service will start in two minutes.

You can feel the pressure coming on.

We will see.

Guys, keep focused. Service starts.

-Two tempura.

-Yes, chef.

-To follow, three scallops.

-Yes, chef.

-And two duck, medium.

-Yes, chef.

All the contestants have orders but they must wait for Larkin's tempura starters to go out first.

You've got two minutes to finish your first table.

-Are you OK?

-Yes, chef.

Voila. Like that.

You need to centralise all the main ingredients inside the plate.

You need to have it on the plate.

Service, please.

With the starters out, the pressure shifts to Tess and Chris who both have orders

for the same table.

How long does it take to plate up?

-It'll take a couple of minutes.

-Literally, as you're starting that, I'm going to be cooking mine.

-OK.

Wooh!

Tess, do you know how many scallops you need to do?

-Three.

-Four in total, you've got a second check away.

Perfect.

Keep calm and just give me the three first, OK?

Can we get the plate across?

-What's happened? Did it look like I showed you?

-No.

-OK. Why?

-Panic.

-Panicked.

-Look at the plates. The sauce is too thick.

-I agree.

-The scallops are not grilled properly.

If you send that, I can't send it.

-OK.

-We will clean the plate.

Start another one. You've got one more portion, OK?

And after, I will need two.

And three after but you have time for this one.

Oh, this is manic. It's a hundred times worse than I thought it'd be.

It's full-on craziness.

The duck, the cooking is good.

What I don't like is the sauce.

You've got sauce everywhere but the rest is good.

I was a bit heavy handed with the sauce but I'm learning as I go along

and trying not to make the same mistakes.

Grilled vegetables and tempura to start.

-Please may I have the mozzarella.

-The mozzarella, yeah.

Larkin, we've got four checking orders.

I think you need to really push it.

-You can put a little bit more colour on that.

-Oui, chef.

The tempura is crispy, it's a nice plate like I showed him.

He's doing a quite good job.

-Thank you, chef.

-Continue like that, please.

-Thank you, chef.

OK, go ahead. 66.

It's about timing and making sure you don't burn anything. I haven't yet. So, touch wood,

I should be OK.

Tess is now trying to juggle eight of her scallop orders.

I've got a problem here. The food is cold, we can't serve the food.

You need two more. Two more portions, OK?

I'm gutted because they were my best ones.

I think Tess is in total panic.

She completely lost, doing the ticket, timing. She don't get it.

This is the main key for her.

You got something burning on the salamander.

Oh, my god.

I hope she will finish better.

As service comes to an end, Chris is working on his most complicated duck order.

Ready, chef.

This is rare to medium, this one's medium.

-Yes.

-And this is medium to well, chef.

-OK.

-Perfect. Continue like that.

-Thank you.

And Tess doesn't have much longer to try and impress.

What do you think?

-It looks better. I'm much happier with it.

-OK.

-Hot everything, nice foam on the sauce, they need to be like that.

-Thank you, chef.

Thank you. OK, service. Table 37.

It is getting there. I'm more confident.

They're coming out on time and chef seems to be a little happier.

OK. End of service.

Thank you very much for today. You did a great job.

-BOTH:

-Thank you, chef.

Larkin, he did really well. Quite confident. He started alone, he finished alone.

To plate up in a minute is not easy. And he handled quite well the pressure.

It's been an absolutely amazing experience. I need a coat hanger to fold up my smile at the moment.

Hopefully, I can continue the journey.

Chris did quite well. Everything was on time, hot.

I'm quite proud about Chris.

Absolutely loved it. Loved every minute of it. It was massively intense but so satisfying.

I don't think I had one sent back, so, yeah, fantastic.

Tess had quite a difficulty at the beginning.

She started and wasn't organised at all, she was a little bit lost.

But finally she did quite well at the end.

I'm proud of myself for not walking out and just sticking with it

and getting it done. It's opened my eyes about what it's really like.

There's a lot of practise and commitment before you get near this level.

Welcome back. I hope you've enjoyed your time in the professional kitchen and it's been inspiring.

Your job today, two courses

and at the end of this we will choose our quarterfinalists.

One hour. Let's cook.

-Tess, how does it feel?

-It feels amazing to be cooking my own food.

-And your own food is what?

-It's salmon and ricotta ravioli

-with a tempura samphire.

-Something deep fried on ravioli? Not something we've seen before.

I think the textures together work beautifully.

Dessert, spiced apple crumble tart, mascarpone and vanilla cream

with a sweet bloody mary.

What do you want out of this competition?

I want to go as far as I possible can and, if nothing else,

show other mums, especially working mums,

that we can create this food. on a nightly basis.

Tess is going to make pasta and pastry and the crumble and tempura.

She's got loads of work to do but I admire her tenacity,

her drive, her adventure.

You've had 15 minutes.

Fire!

Larkin, incredible aromas coming from your bench.

Now you're making dumplings. Tell us what you're going to cook for us.

For a starter, I'm doing a plate of surf and turf.

I've got steak tartare paired with a seared scallop, hoisin sauce.

-Then your next course is?

-It's pan-fried sea bass with a pork belly

-and pancetta wontons.

-You have almost a fusion thing going on here.

-Why the adventure?

-I don't have a particular style.

It's an east meets west kind of thing.

Influences I've grown up with. I'm here to see what I can and can't do.

Pork and fish? Scallop and beef?

I want to eat Larkin's food, I'm just not sure I want to eat it together.

You're halfway.

-What are you cooking for us?

-For starter, I'm doing a ravioli with crab and ricotta, samphire

and chorizo butter.

For main, I'm doing venison steak, a cranberry glaze.

I'm trying to put bold flavours in there to show you what I can do but not keeping it too safe.

-You said, "I can win this competition."

-Hopefully.

After the experiences you've had so far, still that confident?

I think it's possible, yes.

I'm hoping that what puts me on top of the other contestants

is a raw motivation and enthusiasm, passion.

You have a serious face. How does anyone know when you're happy?

It's my game face. You'll know when I'm happy. There's a smile on the surface.

Each one of these cooks is throwing together combinations

which are unusual and very daring.

Good on them. Those who dare, win.

Just two minutes left.

Final touches, please.

That's it. Time's up.

Tess's first course is salmon and ricotta ravioli

with samphire tempura.

The pasta itself is good. You've got the sort of fragrance of fish

and smokiness coming from the salmon and the creamy richness from the ricotta,

which is really well seasoned. I don't think the tempura should be on there.

It's a sort of batter and ravioli. You've got too much carbohydrate going on on one plate.

-OK.

-It's competent without being worthy of note.

-You'd get a tick from me but you wouldn't get an A-star.

-OK.

Tess has made a dessert of a spiced apple crumble tart

with vanilla mascarpone cream

and a sweet bloody mary made with raspberries instead of tomato juice.

Your pastry could do with a little bit more cooking.

Despite that, you've got some really well-worked flavours on that plate.

Really well-worked flavours.

A bit of sharp-sweet apple, not too sharp.

It's cinnamon and nutty, toasty, autumnal,

put-a-jumper-on-and-give-me-a-cuddle pudding. I really love it.

I really, really love it.

I admire your work, I admire your courage.

You've really proved to me that you do understand presentation.

You've pushed yourself like mad, Tess.

My presentation was far better.

And, hopefully, John and Gregg can see that I have got potential.

Larkin's starter is steak tartare topped with a quail's egg, seared scallop

and two sauces - hoisin and soy and ginger.

The plate is dressed with edamame beans and cubes of nashi pear.

-Oh, my word, your food is beautiful.

-Thanks.

-Look at it.

It's absolutely fantastic. It's the sort of plate you see photographed in magazines.

Beautiful stuff.

You have a wonderful sharp chilli heat coming from inside your steak tartare,

with that pickled green mustard running al the way trough it.

Then little sweet notes like your pear.

For me, your beef tartare is overpowering the scallop completely.

But I think there's some real beauty in this dish.

In its flavours and also its precision.

For me, your tartare's got far too much sesame in it.

-OK.

-But you're so close, Larkin, so close.

Larkin's main course is pan-fried sea bass

with steamed and fried wontons

filled with pork belly and shiitake mushrooms,

accompanied by a bundle of enoki mushrooms, gai choi mustard greens,

and a lemongrass consomme.

Within the dumplings, you have the wonderful sharpness of the spring onions,

the smokiness of the ham and the richness of your garlic with the sesame oil.

And it reminds you of the best wonton soup you've ever eaten.

Your sea bass is cooked beautifully and you get the richness of the sea.

But with the broth, you have the smokiness of the mushrooms

and then you have a real distinctive lemongrass fragrance.

But the base of it is a bit thin.

But saying that, the amount of work in here and what you've done,

I think there's some real inspiration.

On its own, you can take a spoonful of that consomme and it's subtle.

It's too weak for all these other flavours.

I agree with you with the broth.

I thought so but it was too late, I'd already poured it in.

Mate, most people can't do this sort of stuff.

This is opulent food. It's very good, Larkin.

-Very impressive.

-Thanks very much.

-Thank you, Larkin.

-Thanks.

Very encouraging. It just makes me want to try harder really.

Chris has cooked a starter of crab ravioli

topped with samphire and a chorizo butter.

Your pasta's a little too thick. A little too thick.

Love the ricotta. I really like that chorizo oil.

I like the slight sweetness of crab but the crab needs to be stronger.

-You are losing the crab.

-I'm with Gregg on the crab.

Bit of brown meat, shake of Tabasco,

grind of lemon, a little bit more pepper,

bring the flavour of that crab out.

Sure.

Chris's main course is venison steak

topped with creamy wild mushroom sauce

with a cranberry sauce and carrots.

This looks untidy. Having those great big chunks of carrot isn't helping.

It indicates a lack of care.

The venison is cooked nicely.

I like the little sweetness and sharpness of cranberry

leading its way into the real woody strength of those ceps.

Very brave to do ceps with cranberry. I didn't think it would work but it does.

-I don't agree, I'm sorry.

-No, you don't like it, do you?

I don't like the combination of that sharp, bitter cranberry against the mushroom.

For me, those cranberries suddenly come in and there's a hailstorm of flavour smattering over my head.

I'm going, "I don't want it. I don't want it."

"Get it off my plate and let me have my mushroom sauce and my venison."

I think it's just a push too far.

Sure.

I did some good things. I made some mistakes.

We have to decide who is worthy of a place in the quarterfinals.

Thank you very much. Off you go.

Larkin does some incredibly good-looking food.

Stunning-looking food. He's got knowledge and great technique.

He's an amateur that's walked out of their home kitchen going,

"Look at this." I think that's incredible.

I just want to carry on learning, carry on getting better.

I'm looking forward to getting the result, whatever it may be.

Tess has got some very nice ideas and she's got skill. I loved her dessert.

But I didn't particularly like that tempura.

But there are details of the dishes Tess cooked that point towards somebody with real potential.

A place in the quarterfinals would mean everything to me.

I just can't imagine what the next challenge will be.

But it would mean everything.

Chris, in the invention test, impressed us with the chocolate fondant.

Since then, that precision hasn't been matched yet.

But it doesn't stop him being a very good cook.

He needs to shake himself down. He's got to focus and he's got to get everything nailed.

I'll be absolutely devastated if I don't get through.

I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best.

-Who's it going to be?

-I think there are two cooks

who have the ability to go further in the competition.

This kitchen has not been short of ambition today.

Thank you very much indeed. We've made our decision.

The contestant leaving us is...

..Chris.

It's been up and down. Obviously, it's sad to finish on a down.

But I still really enjoyed it and I still feel proud of myself.

You two are the quarterfinalists.

Oh, my God! I can't believe it.

It means everything to be in the quarterfinal.

Still so much to learn. I want to carry on with the process. It's been amazing so far.

-TESS:

-Ecstatic.

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

My husband and my children are going to be made up.

Next time, Larkin and Tess join other heat winners

Dave and Shivi as they fight to stay in the competition.

-This is nice.

-We've never had anyone come in and do a dish like this.

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