Episode 22 MasterChef

It's the penultimate MasterChef

and the battle for the title is almost over.

Tonight, Natalie, Dale and Larkin

will cook for some of the world's greatest chefs.

I'm expecting, tonight, a really high standard. They've got a lot to live up to.

It needs to be superb.

All three have got their eye on the prize. All three of them are good enough to win this competition.

Tomorrow night, one of them will be crowned champion.

Now the standard is so incredibly high.

I've pushed myself to the max, sometimes too much.

It's just been one hell of a ride, really.

Once you're at this stage, you've been through the mill,

you've been battered and bruised, through all kinds of challenges,

I'm confident I've got the ability and if I'm meant to win this thing, then I'll win it.

I don't think anything can be bigger than winning MasterChef.

It'd be probably the best thing I'll ever do in my life.

That trophy is quite nice, so it'd look nice on the side at home.

I believe the greatest honour for a MasterChef contestant is what we call the chefs' table -

cooking for undoubtedly the best chefs in the country.

Today, you need to show that you are good enough

to present your food to Michelin-starred chefs.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a great opportunity. You have amazing ingredients.

Demonstrate to us what you've learnt in the competition.

Please come up and select your ingredients.

The judges are giving the contestants one last opportunity to practise

before the daunting chefs' table.

I'm going to stick to what I know.

I've got two ideas in my head, so it's just whether I'll keep it together with the nerves.

I just don't want to mess up today.

I'm feeling quite taken aback at the moment. There's a million and one things going through my mind.

Time's ticking away and I've really got to put something together.

Yeah, this has to go right for me.

OK...

We've pushed you, but we've also nurtured you, we've shown you the way, we've guided you.

We know you can do this.

Cook us something extraordinary.

One hour and 15 minutes. Let's cook.

We need to make absolutely sure our finalists are up to it.

Yes, you and I have nurtured them, but at the same time, they've still got to impress us.

The pressure is on. I feel like I've used up all of my "get out of jail" cards.

I think I've struck the right balance now -

to be daring, but just knowing when to rein it in a bit.

-Larkin, you've got a big smile on your face.

-Yeah, I'm looking forward to doing this one.

Tell us what you're cooking for us.

I'll do a fish stew. I'll blanch the tomatoes, remove the skins and blitz those down and cook them down,

slightly Spanish style.

I'll whack the seafood in there, the squid and everything, just infuse the flavours from there.

-So, mussels, trout and squid all going into this fish stew?

-Yeah.

-How much would you like to cook for the chefs' table?

-I would love to cook for the chefs' table.

That's the most exciting challenge as well, just to be in the room with all those great chefs.

-Good luck, Larkin.

-Cheers, John.

Larkin has decided to cook us a fish stew.

To be able to hold up with that rich tomato, you need strong fish.

-Squid - possibly, mussels - yes, trout - too delicate.

-That's a risk.

You've had 15 minutes. One hour left.

This has been one of the most emotional things that ever happened.

Throughout the competition I've been blubbing my eyes out,

which I don't normally do unless, you know, someone dies.

You put everything into it, so, obviously, you will cry and you go up and you go down,

but I don't want the competition to be over.

-What are you making, young Nat?

-Roast grouse with an almond crust,

parsnip and salsify fondant, parsnip puree,

salsify crisps and a rich sort of red wine and grouse reduction.

Why grouse?

I just saw it was the wild bird and I've not used it before,

so I thought I'd try and cook it today and try and cook it well.

-You've never cooked grouse before?

-No.

-You've no idea how it'll act for you?

-No.

But I'm going to try and treat it the way I treat another bird.

Go on, roll your sleeves up. Stop messing about.

She has salsify crisps, something I've never seen before,

salsify and parsnip fondants that I've never seen before. I want to be fed and I want to eat that dish.

You're halfway.

Halfway towards the chefs' table.

I've genuinely been quite shocked by how much the bar's been raised every round

and you think you're pushing the boundaries and, suddenly, someone tells you you're not.

I'm not going to stop taking risks because if you play it safe just to get to the end,

then you might lose a bit of pace.

-Dale, the last time you did an invention test, you were, how do you say...rubbish.

-Yeah, I bombed.

It was my worst round by a country mile.

-How will you make sure that doesn't happen again?

-I'm going quite Welsh.

I'm making a herb-crust rack of lamb, a red wine jus and an anchovy and caper dressing.

-How many times have you cooked a rack of lamb before, Dale?

-Twice.

I think I've just got enough time, but if I'm going to be on time, I've really got to crack on.

That's the most polite "go away, baldy" I've ever heard.

Let's not forget what a big deal this is for Dale.

The last invention test left him in tears. He has got a point to prove today, that young fella.

Finalists, last five minutes, please.

Last 60 seconds. This is last touches, please.

That's it, your time's up.

Today, we are going to bring in one of the greatest chefs in the country.

Ladies and gentlemen, Michael Caines.

Hi, Gregg, John.

The last time Dale and Larkin faced a guest judge, they both had disastrous results.

I'm speechless.

I'm absolutely speechless. I think that's appalling.

In every way.

I'm sorry, Larkin, but I'm not going to taste that. It's just not good enough.

These two ingredients are the most stunning things you can get,

nectar from the gods, and you've just completely obliterated them.

It's as far away from fine dining as North Pole, South Pole.

Dale, are you ready? Up you come.

Dale has made herb-crusted rack of lamb,

lamb rissole, caramelised shallots,

green beans,

potato puree, red wine and lamb jus,

and a caper and anchovy dressing.

Dale, this is a bold dish. That lamb, when I cut into that, I need to see the cooking of that.

-Oh!

-Your lamb's cooked.

I think you left too much fat on the lamb.

For me, the lamb was slightly overcooked and I think that's disappointing.

Having said that, where you used herbs, you've brought the dish alive

and my palate still has that now and it's giving me a great food memory.

OK. Thanks.

The lamb's cooked well enough for me. I like it like that.

I really like the sharpness of the capers and the strength of the herbs.

I really like that fruity red wine sauce when I can get enough.

I really like your combination of flavours. I wish you would have served me an extra bottle of sauce.

I did have more. I just didn't bring the jug.

I like your crispy beans. I am with Gregg on this. Give me some more sauce.

Cut your lamb because when you cut your lamb, there's no more residual heat. It doesn't keep on cooking.

-It was probably perfectly cooked when it went on the plate.

-I "ummed" and "ahhed" over slicing the lamb.

I understand why that might have, unfortunately, slightly overcooked.

These decisions that you "um" and "ah" over are the difference between perfect or not quite good enough.

These are instinctive decisions you're making now.

Yes, it's a good dish. It could have been a great dish.

Larkin...

Larkin's dish is a tomato-based fish stew,

made with confit trout, squid and mussels.

It's a hell of a job to make a stew look attractive, but stacking the squid up like that is a nice idea.

You've definitely got some bright colours there.

What you've done is a confit trout here that is beautifully cooked, squid well cooked,

and you've made a base of a dish that is smoky and sweet and chilli and beautiful.

But those two things just don't match each other.

You can cook great flavoured food, Larkin.

You've got really interesting ideas, but this now at this stage of the competition is clumsy

and it needs to be a little bit more refined.

You've got so many textures going on in there.

I can see what you've tried to do,

but, you know, at this level and at this stage, you're going to have to up your game.

It's such a shame because you've had some of the most amazing dishes in the competition,

but the invention test is your Achilles heel.

Natalie, do you want to bring your food up?

Natalie has chosen to roast the grouse and crust the breast with almonds.

She has served it with parsnip and salsify fondants,

parsnip puree, salsify crisps

and a cranberry and grouse sauce.

Natalie, the dish looks great.

Slightly rustic presentation

and it looks like you've got some interesting techniques involved with the cooking of it.

Look at that.

Nice shine, nice sheen.

The grouse is well cooked, not too under.

You've got good seasoning, good technical ability shown in the sauce-making.

Perhaps you could do with a bit more acidity

and you could be a bit more precise with the way that you dress things,

but I'd trade that in for the flavours. That's the key thing. It's a tasty plate of food. Well done.

-Thank you.

-Aye-aye, what about that then?

-It's good. I'm really happy now.

-It's a fabulous dish. I love your use of veg. I really do.

The confit salsify is a delight.

An absolute delight. Big, bold flavours.

I love the sparkle of thyme across the top of the parsnip

and the salsify with that bitter, but sharp sauce.

-I like the sweetness, but I'd like a bit of sharpness.

-Acidity.

That sauce needs a bit of acidity just to break that sweetness down.

Just a bit more sharpness and you've got a great dish. Natalie, thank you very much.

-- Well done. - Cheers.

-Thank you.

-Michael, thank you very much indeed. See you again soon.

-Thanks, mate. Thanks very much indeed.

You are now, all three of you, going to cook for the chefs' table.

Get your chefs' whites on because we're off.

Thank you very much. Well done. Off you go.

Only the world's most celebrated restaurants hold the accolade of three Michelin stars.

Tonight, Larkin, Natalie and Dale

will be cooking for four chefs who have achieved that standard.

I think a lot's riding on this round.

I didn't have that good a run into this, so I need one big round.

You can't pay for this, so it's a privileged position

and I'm really pleased and proud to have got here.

The expectations of these chefs today are going to be very high.

They're Michelin-starred and they're not going to want any old rubbish.

For this daunting challenge,

they will cook under one of the country's most innovative chefs - Simon Rogan,

who was recently awarded his second Michelin star at his restaurant L'Enclume in the Lake District,

and holds another at his London restaurant Roganic.

My food is very much connected to our surroundings, nature.

We grow a lot of our stuff, we forage a lot of our stuff.

The way I cook,

the way I plate, is quite expressive.

It's just about a feeling.

I want food to look like it's grown out of the plate.

There are going to be lots of ingredients and techniques that they've never seen or used before.

Today is going to be a big day for them,

cooking my food with me looking over them,

making sure they get it right because I don't want them to muck this up.

If it's not right, I won't be happy

because it's going out to some world-class chefs and it's my reputation on the line.

For our three, their penultimate challenge and what an extraordinary challenge!

This is their Everest.

Welcome. I'm Simon Rogan.

Today, you'll be cooking my menu.

It's going to be difficult. No doubt about it. I've set you some quite tough tasks.

I think we'd better get cooking because you've got a lot to do.

Larkin must prepare Simon's intricate starter

of flaked mackerel in coal oil

with clams, vintage beetroots, fennel meringues,

mustard mayonnaise and a caper and lemon jam.

This is based on a variation of one of my signature dishes,

so it's something very close to my heart.

The key thing is getting all the balance right, there's a lot of flavours on there.

You've got the smokiness of the fish, you've got the sweetness of the beetroots,

the lovely, fresh fennel meringues which must be nice and crispy.

The jam on the bottom, very important for the acidity.

It's made by making a caramel. The danger is you could burn it.

I'm trusting you a great deal here, so please get it right.

I'll try my best. Actually, I will.

This is easily one of the best dishes I've ever tasted.

The refinement at this level is incredible. I've got a tough job replicating this.

Natalie is in charge of the main course -

duck breast with deep-fried duck sweetbreads,

salt-baked turnips,

young leeks with deep-fried roots,

chanterelle mushrooms and a cider sauce.

So it's quite unusual in the fact that we take the skin off the crowns,

give it a nice trim, then glue it back on,

so you get a lovely, crisp layer of skin on the outside,

but still a beautiful, pink duck underneath.

The sweetbreads, perfectly trimmed, I don't want any sinew, so when you deep-fry them,

it's crunchy on the outside and then meltingly tender on the inside.

Some salt-baked turnips, you don't want any gaps in the dough,

you don't want the oven heat penetrating into that.

-You want it to cook in its own steam, in its own juice.

-OK.

-You've got a lot of work to do. Good luck.

-I'm sure you'll do well.

-Yeah, I'm very excited.

It looks absolutely beautiful.

Hopefully, if I can try and get it to look half like that, I'll be all right.

There's loads of stuff that I've not done before and not cooked before, so this one's going to be hard.

Dale is making Simon's delicate dessert -

poached Yorkshire rhubarb with hazelnut crumb, meadowsweet yogurt mousse,

rhubarb snow,

sweet cicely syrup and a fine muscovado caramel tuile.

-So, Dale, dessert...

-Yeah.

The poached rhubarb, you want just a little bit of bite to it.

You don't want it too hard or too soft.

The rhubarb snow is quite a tricky process.

You've got to make a really tasty rhubarb stock, then you've got to spray it into liquid nitrogen,

then to finish it all off, the dramatic-looking muscovado tuile.

-It looks ultra-thin as well.

-It's very thin, yeah.

You'll break a lot before you get the ones that you need.

It looks pretty terrifying.

I think I'd be silly not to be worried.

This is the toughest plate of food I've had to replicate so far,

so this has got to be right.

The level of complexity in these dishes means that Larkin, Natalie and Dale

now have five hours' preparation time before service.

With such a huge task ahead of them, Simon has brought in some of his regular staff

to step in if the food fails to match his meticulous standards.

Each time I go on in the competition, it becomes my new favourite day,

but this is just going to be one of them experiences you'll remember for the rest of your life.

The adrenaline's flowing at the moment.

Simon Rogan is somebody that I massively respect and admire.

Hopefully, he doesn't give me a kicking today.

The dishes that I've set them today, they're tricky.

There's no doubt about it. There's lots of things which take a long time to make,

so if they do make that mistake, it's going to be pretty difficult to catch up and start again.

Larkin's first job is to make his fennel-flavoured meringues.

I've never made a meringue before, so it's going to be interesting doing this.

For the mixture, he has combined fennel juice with icing sugar, egg white powder, fennel pollen

and xanthan gum, a thickening agent which also helps

to stabilise the mixture and stop it from splitting.

You're only going to get one chance at this.

There won't be enough time to do another batch, so I'm going to try and work as fast as I can.

I'm not too happy with the shape right now.

-Whoops!

-Don't press down too much.

-If you get another Silpat, the way I do it...

-OK.

All right, so I'm looking at the meringue on the left

as I'm poaching the meringue... the new one on the right.

Get rhythm...

and you're like a robot.

OK?

That's good, a lot better.

-Do you think you've got enough there now?

-Yeah.

-You want to see a nice, full tray of meringues, don't you?

-Larkin, you must love this.

-I've been blown away by the dish. Amazing.

One of the best things, most interesting things I've ever tasted.

Three-star Michelin chefs in a dining room,

Simon over your shoulder, what do you want to get out of today?

I'm really concentrating. I want to cut out any sloppy errors. I'll show you that I can deliver refined food.

-This is right up your street. Enjoy it.

-Cheers.

Natalie has started the complicated preparation of her duck.

She begins by removing the skin from the crown.

I've got to stick this skin on to it,

but you have to make sure you don't leave all the sinew on it, or it will stick and just ruin the whole dish.

-So are you ready to start gluing now?

-Yeah.

Using a protein glue, another duck skin that has been slow-cooked in a water bath for 12 hours

must then be stuck back on to the crown.

You need to move quite quickly to get the skin glued on.

You need time for it to bond, at least three hours, so that'll take you right up to six o'clock already.

Once this bit's been done, I'll feel a little bit better, but there's still loads to crack on with.

There's still the sweetbreads and the rest of it to get on with and we've got to cook it right,

so this is only one part of the duck.

Natalie, main course...

It's a wicked dish, but there's a lot of processes,

so I've got to make sure I follow the recipe, otherwise I'll end up screwing it up.

Tell me about the detail on the plate and what you've got to do to impress Simon.

I think we've got to put it on with love and care, like Simon said.

It's got to grow out of the plate and look as natural as possible.

I wrote down how many mushrooms are on one bit of the plate and the other bit of the plate,

so I've got it in my memory and I've got to bang it out there.

-Good luck.

-Cheers.

Dale has completed the first stage of his hazelnut crumb

and has moved on to his meadowsweet yogurt mousse.

Foraged in North Yorkshire,

meadowsweet is a herb with a subtle vanilla flavour.

I've got to go at this for quite a lot of time, so yeah, it's quite tiring.

Dale... How are you getting on?

I'll need a new arm in a minute.

Dessert, Dale, your favourite course(!)

I'm becoming accustomed to desserts now. I tasted that dessert and you could've been walking in a forest

and eating as you went. It was that good. That's what it does. It takes you on a journey.

Trying to get close to re-creating that is pretty daunting.

What about Simon's ethos of letting things grow out of the plate and just come up?

You're very structured. How are you coping with that freedom on the plate?

It's great. It's a good, new insight.

So if I can add part of that to my cooking, it'll only strengthen it.

-Well, good luck.

-Cheers.

Guys, you've got two and a half hours left.

We really need to crack on.

Yes, chef.

I'm a little bit worried because they started off quite slowly.

They really need to start motoring on.

After taking over an hour to make the meringues,

Larkin has finally moved on to the lemon and caper jam.

Be careful, yeah? Please don't pour it over yourself.

Whoops!

It's a time-consuming process.

First, he has to freeze the lemons in liquid nitrogen, so they can be blitzed to a fine powder.

Yeah, should be all right.

-Any more in there?

-Yeah.

-You've got to work quick.

-OK.

-OK, so that's what you want.

-Great, thanks.

Repeat the process until it's all done.

This is right up my street right now.

I just love it. It looks amazing. It's quite therapeutic as well.

Good stress relief.

He then melts caster sugar to make a caramel

which must be taken almost to the point of burning

before adding the capers and lemon powder.

The lemon hasn't been blitzed enough. We'll have to start again.

-Let's get another one pretty quickly. We can do it, but we'll have to move it.

-OK.

-OK.

We'll just make half a recipe. That's all we've got enough lemon for. It'll be enough for six plates.

This jam's really killing me at the moment.

This time, Larkin has burnt the caramel.

-You need to...

-Another one?

-Yeah, another one, quick.

I'll get rid of this.

I'm really concerned about Larkin at the moment.

I mean, he's mucked his jam up twice.

He has to stay focused, not let his head drop. He's the first up.

If he goes down, the whole service will go down.

With just two hours until the guests arrive,

Larkin must start his jam for the third time.

I'm a little bit stressed right now.

There are just a handful of chefs in the UK with three Michelin stars.

And four of them will be here tonight.

I don't want them to eat my dishes and think they're inferior.

I don't want my reputation being slaughtered really.

Meanwhile, on the main course, Natalie is rushing to make the salt dough

that will encase her turnips.

-Your salt pastry, how's it going?

-I don't know if that's right. What do you think?

-What do YOU think?

-Do you think it's ready?

-I think it needs a bit more arm muscle, then I'll be ready to roll it out.

It's a bit damp around the outside, so you want to get all that moisture into the centre,

-then it'll be ready for rolling out.

-Brilliant.

I've got to get it quite thin, but you need to keep it moist at the same time

because you've got to wrap it around the turnip and cook the turnip inside it.

I've got to get the pastry perfectly sealed

because if it falls apart, then it's game over.

Natalie's doing all right. A lot of her prep's been done. I think she's well on track.

But she gets a lot of work later on.

I've got my turnips in the oven. My duck's in the fridge.

I'm now starting my sauce,

then I'll prep the other vegetables to finish around plating.

On the dessert, Dale starts the first stage of his muscovado sugar tuiles.

First, he makes a caramel which must be heated to exactly 160 degrees.

It seems to be the right colour.

Whilst it cools, Dale begins prepping the rhubarb.

It needs to be quite uniform. I'll just try and get all the batons the same size.

OK, Dale, where are you at?

I'm just about to start juicing the rhubarb for the rhubarb snow.

The muscovado sugar is set, the batons are in the vac-pack.

-I'm making sure we really push for the last hour and a half.

-You'll have to. You've got a bit to do.

-So push on, yeah?

-Yes, chef. Thank you.

We can't get complacent yet.

He needs to make his juice, his rhubarb. He needs to spray it into the nitro.

He needs to pull his sugar. There's a lot of unfinished jobs and he needs to crack on a bit.

I'm expecting, tonight, a really high standard.

It's Simon's food. It's going to be right when it comes out.

They've got a lot to live up to.

-Nice to meet you.

-Hi. How are you doing? Clare. Are you all right?

It isn't the easiest thing to replicate.

There's a lot of techniques there that are quite difficult.

The way I'm going to approach it is with an open mind.

I want to see they've put pride in what they've plated up.

It needs to be superb.

We've got to really push on now.

With just an hour until the starter is served,

this is Larkin's last chance to get the caramel for his jam right.

Yeah, got it.

Finally, he can move on to his beetroots.

OK?

-Yeah, the mandolin...

-Oh, dear.

First-aid box.

Mandolin one, Larkin nil.

My turnips have come out. They're cooked, so they're just resting

before I take them out the shells. Yeah, happy days.

Natalie's duck has now been in the fridge for three hours,

but it must cook in the water bath for a further 60 minutes

before she will know if the skin has bonded successfully.

-Plenty of responsibility on your shoulders.

-Yeah, there is indeed.

That dish is beautiful, so I want to do it justice.

-What bit of this worries you the most?

-Just the cooking of that duck.

I just hope it's stuck together.

Dale is still juicing the rhubarb for his rhubarb snow.

-That's two kilos of rhubarb to get a kilo of juice. At the moment, we're on 150 ml.

-Right, OK.

Larkin has made his mustard mayonnaise

and has started cooking his clams,

but with service fast approaching,

he hasn't even begun the time-consuming job of flaking the mackerel.

You really should have your fish well and truly on the way by now,

so you really need to motor on. I'm getting a bit worried.

Larkin, the pressure's on for you now a bit, isn't it?

Yeah, I'm running a little bit behind at the moment, so I need to get a move on and fillet these fish.

Where should you be and where actually are you?

The fish should be well done by now.

-I don't need to tell you how important it is that you do get this on time, do I?

-No, Gregg.

It's going to be technically quite difficult for the chefs to produce.

It will have the highest quality ingredients here

and it will demand the highest amount of respect given to the ingredients.

Hopefully, the amateurs will portray that in the dishes that they produce.

All right, so how it's going?

I'm going to take these bones out now and tidy them up and...

They're a bit of a mess, aren't they? You're wasting all the nice fish.

You need 60 grams for a portion, so I'm a bit worried you won't have enough.

25 minutes to go and young Larkin is in trouble.

There's all these things happening to Larkin. Slowly but surely, he's being unnerved.

Oh, blimey!

My natural coolness is being tested.

We've got some serious people coming for dinner, so I've had to let one of my sous-chefs step in and help.

I'm a bit stressed right now, to be honest, because service is in ten minutes and I'm still not ready.

At the moment, he's all over the place,

but he just needs to cool down, focus, concentrate and hopefully, we'll get there.

There's a big bunch of different flavours for the starter.

Although it's quite classic flavours in a way, they won't have seen those techniques before

or made those things before.

I've just cooled the plates down in cold water.

You're putting them on a hot pass. Everything's cold, nice, fresh. You're putting it on a hot pass.

-Oh!

-Come on, Larkin. Don't lose it now, mate. You can do this.

-You really need to get this out in the next five minutes if you can.

-Yes, chef.

Nearly there.

Come on, mate, let's go. Go, go, go, go.

So, one of them on each. Give it some height, yeah?

This finishes it all off.

Once again, give it some height.

A few drops of the coal oil.

-And off we go?

-Service, please!

-A little bit late, but it looked fabulous.

-Thanks, chef.

-Well done.

-Thanks for your help.

-No problem.

I had an absolutely torrid time out there today.

It was tough. It was really tough.

The flaked mackerel is dressed in coal oil

and served with vintage beetroots, fennel meringues,

mustard mayonnaise, on a lemon and caper jam.

It looks amazing, beautiful colours, super bright.

It does reflect Simon's food quite well. It's precise, but natural.

I really like the beetroots. Super intense flavour. I really like them, sweet.

The meringues as well offer another textural element there.

All the things come together really well.

A much more complicated dish than I expected it to be, but yeah, it works beautifully.

It's a really well prepared dish.

There's not a lot left here because I've eaten most of the starter.

For me, it's nicely executed.

I was proud of what I achieved.

As an amateur cook, cooking a really intricate dish like that is pretty tough, you know.

I'm a bit annoyed with myself at the moment.

Simon Rogan, like a massive, massive idol of mine, and I just know I could have done a lot better, you know.

Back in the kitchen, Dale is about to tackle the most difficult element of his dish -

the sugar tuiles.

With his caramel blitzed and re-melted,

he must gently pull the sugar into delicate shards.

God, they break so easily!

Time is of the essence just to make sure I get enough for however many plates I've got.

-All right? You're doing well.

-I'm pleasantly surprised with it.

-You're doing really well.

With her duck cooked, Natalie will finally find out whether the skin has bonded successfully.

It looks like it's stuck on, so, so far, so good.

This complex process means you can crisp the skin without discolouring the perfectly pink flesh.

Right, starters are cleared. OK, you're free to go.

OK, make sure you carve them beautifully. The duck is the centre piece of this dish.

-Yeah, that's cooked lovely. Nice and crispy skin.

-Thank you, chef.

-Very nice.

-Because these are so big compared to my ones, we'll do them in two bits. Put them on the plate like that.

-OK.

Duck breast, I imagine there's going to be a nice, crispy skin on there, nicely cooked red meat.

Even for us professionals, sometimes it's tricky because it depends on the duck.

Two minutes, really. Push on now. Let's get this dish out.

We were late with the first one. I was hoping to be on time with the next one. Come on, quickly.

That looks hot enough, yeah. OK, get it up to the pass.

Sweetbreads aren't easy to cook as well perfectly. I'm not sure if they'll have done that before.

The salt-baked turnip, you know, it's an old-age technique,

but it can be difficult. You can overcook or undercook it.

That's it, speed, speed.

It can be quite difficult to get it all done perfectly and out at the right temperature.

You are looking like a pro!

Remember, naturally on the plate.

-It's looking really, really good.

-Hmm!

Get it to the table while it's hot.

Service, please!

-OK, well done.

-Cheers. Thanks, chef.

I'm really excited that they're tasting something I've cooked.

I hope it's bang on. I know it looks fantastic, so I'm really pleased with myself.

I've shocked myself, I think, today.

Natalie's duck is served with deep-fried duck sweetbreads,

salt-baked turnips, young leeks with crispy-fried roots,

chanterelle mushrooms and a cider sauce.

It's nicely cooked. You see the skin. It seems to be crispy on the top.

The duck, for me, is nicely cooked, not overcooked.

I think you've got the countryside on a plate.

I really like the turnip. I thought that was probably one of the strongest parts of the dish.

To get all that to come together in time for plating is a difficult thing to do for one person.

They've butchered the duck very well and getting the skin back on to the breast, they've also done very well.

The mushrooms are very fresh and the sweetbread too.

The skin was crispy on the duck, perfectly cooked. Overall, it was a delicious plate of food.

I'm really happy with today.

For him to turn round and say that you've done a decent job, what more can you want, really?

You know, I feel like I've gone away thinking about food a lot differently today.

It was a great experience and it's something I won't forget.

Dale is now working on his second batch of tuiles.

I'm just annoyed with myself now because the first ones were right.

I'll have to go with what I've got.

I've got enough just about, hopefully, but I just can't break any.

It'll be a delicate operation putting the plates together.

-20 minutes for dessert, big finale.

-Yeah.

-Go out with a bang.

-Ready?

-Just the snow left to do.

-Shall we do it now?

-Yeah.

-Let's go.

To create the rhubarb snow, Dale has to spray the juiced rhubarb into liquid nitrogen.

It's less stressful than sugar.

Let's go for it. Remember, we've got to work quickly. Very, very important.

'Sweet cicely and the meadowsweet, they can be overpowering, but Simon knows what he's doing.'

It's whether the amateurs know what they're doing with these ingredients and the presentation.

Spread 'em out, spread 'em out.

Very nice. I'm in danger of this one being better than mine, actually.

I'm really looking forward to the dessert. I'm a big fan of Yorkshire rhubarb.

It can be something very tricky to deal with, to get the texture right.

If it's under, it can be quite stringy and not nice.

Amazing. Go, go, go.

Very good effort on the tuiles. For your first attempt, that's pretty good.

Service, please!

Well done, Dale. That was no mean feat, yeah?

Thank you.

I feel really happy. It went well, I think.

But the people that matter are the people eating the food, so I can be happy as Larry at the moment,

but they could bring me down a peg if they find anything wrong with it.

Dale's dessert is poached Yorkshire rhubarb with hazelnut crumb,

meadowsweet yogurt mousse,

rhubarb snow,

sweet cicely syrup

and a muscovado caramel tuile.

It's a brilliant-looking dish. Great colours, really bright.

I think it's looking great and I want to go inside...straight.

On the technical side, the poaching of the rhubarb was really good.

It's nice and soft. It's not too overcooked and gone to a puree.

The rhubarb snow is beautifully fresh, just like biting into a fresh piece of rhubarb.

All the elements are balanced out perfectly. I was really impressed.

Really tart, the rhubarb, but balanced out really well with the hazelnut and that caramel tuile

which had just enough bitterness in it to balance everything really well.

Overall, I feel the chef has nailed the main points of this dessert.

Yeah, I'm really proud today because it shows me how far I've come.

I just wanted to put in a good shift and make sure that I did myself justice, really.

And I think I did that today.

Plenty of empty plates, plenty of smiling faces, so yeah, I'm smiling too.

It's been a massive challenge for them today. The menu was not easy.

Considering that they're three amateurs in an alien environment,

I think they did an amazing job and they should be commended.

That was a lovely evening with some amazing food.

Not one of our finalists would have dreamed that level of cooking was possible a couple of months ago.

Incredible.

Today's been an incredible day. Everything that you do is building up to this point.

I'm glad that I'm able to focus on that final and do what I came here to do which is, hopefully, to win.

Today was an amazing experience, but honestly, I think I'm lagging behind.

I've got a lot of work to do, but I'm going to give it my best shot.

The next time we cook for John and Gregg is the last time.

To be honest, I don't want it to be the last time.

I've loved this competition so much that I think I'll be a bit lost without it.

All they've learnt, culminating in one extraordinary cook-off...

I'm really excited. I can't wait to crown one of these champion.

Tomorrow night, it's the final of MasterChef.

-We're not looking now for an apprentice. We're looking for a master.

-Bring it on!

I am loving these dishes, absolutely loving them.

-Whoa, Dale! You've picked the pace up a little bit, mate.

-Yeah, I'm really, really pushed for time.

-I've got a lot to do.

-Come on, let's go. Push.

I don't know how you're going to plate your dishes in this mess.

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