Episode 9 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 quarter-final.

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.

Come on, we've got to move now!

You'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.

At the end of today's heat, only the best will become quarter-finalists.

I am so thrilled to be here. It still feels like a dream.

If I wait here any longer, I'm just going to explode with excitement.

This is it. This is my chance.

I think I've got what it takes to win this competition.

I'll give it my damnedest. I'll do my damnedest.

I love cooking. Did I want to see if I was any good? Sort of.

Am I frightened that I'm doing it? Yes!

This could be the start of something absolutely incredible.

You are going to cook for us one dish.

It can be sweet, it can be savoury, it can be anything you like.

One hour to demonstrate some skill and some potential!

Let's cook!

Today's ingredients include minced beef, ciabatta,

sherry, cream, onions, mushrooms,

courgette, red pepper,

parsley and potatoes.

Butcher's son Dave cooked his first dinner party with

a friend at the age of 11.

We refused anyone access to the kitchen and we made minestrone soup

and beef bourguignon, and I remember it being a massive ordeal.

And that's where it started.

-You were a bit slow getting started, Dave. What was happening?

-Yeah.

I looked at the ingredients and I knew straight away that

I was going to completely go blank, which is exactly what I did.

-What went through your mind?

-Um... Where's the exit?

-What have you decided to make?

-I'm going to be doing a slider.

I'm not sure whether I'm going to put a top on it.

I've parboiled some potatoes.

Basically, burger and chips, of a sort. With a relish.

What do you love to cook at home?

I like, sort of, molecular gastronomy and the precision.

-I've got a water bath which I use regularly.

-Do you?

-Yeah.

-How good are you then, Dave? You sound like...

-I don't know.

The problem is everybody who eats my food is family and friends.

I'm hoping they're not just being nice to me. I won't cook for them again if they are!

Dave is making a slider. It's a tiny little burger on a handmade tiny bun.

Delicious. I like good sliders, but they've got to be done well.

Your first 12 minutes of MasterChef have disappeared.

Singer-songwriter Shivi draws on her Latin-American, Trinidadian

and Indian roots as inspiration for her food.

I'm going to try to be organised, but I can't promise anything.

I don't know. I'm a bit mad.

-Shivi, you appear to be a bit of a bundle of energy.

-Am I?

I just want to show that I can do something wonderful

and not do anything drastically wrong.

What have you decided to cook for us?

Mushrooms stuffed with an Italian mince,

served with a chargrilled vegetable salad and a light dressing.

-Who do you cook for?

-My dad, my dog.

The dog eats the leftovers.

Could you cook for me and John better than you cook for the dog?

No! The dog eats well!

The dog eats well!

Shivi, I think, is in dangerous territory here.

How do you make a mushroom filled with mince taste delicious?

Ladies and gentlemen, you are halfway.

Barman Neil uses his expertise in creating cocktails to

influence the flavours in his food.

I'd either like to have a bar that does amazing food or a restaurant

that does amazing drinks. All achievable, as far as I'm concerned.

Neil, you look like you might be a bit of a cook.

I can knock a dish together when given the chance!

What are you making now?

A cottage pie, but I'm making a little pickle on the side,

something to freshen it up a bit, and some courgettes

-on the side.

-Do you think there are links between drinks and food?

You've got to have a good palate either way.

-You've got to balance it.

-How good is your palate?

I'd say it's pretty good.

Neil has made cottage pie, he's piped the topping,

it looks really professional.

It's what that meat filling is going to be like.

If it's delicious, maybe we've discovered someone really exciting.

Transcriber Helen owns hundreds of cookbooks

and once hosted a six-course dinner party for her friends.

I'll cook for 20 hours and do six courses, it's fine,

cos I know I can get it all done.

How good I am in the space of an hour is another matter!

Helen, what are you going to make?

I'm going to make some meatballs with, like, a fire-roasted pepper sauce.

-Kind of tapasy.

-Why MasterChef?

-Why MasterChef? Um...

-What's burning in the oven there?

Um, listen.

If you want to win MasterChef, toast might be a good thing to master!

All right, Helen?!

Meatballs are a wonderful thing. They need to be moist.

They need to be seasoned really well. But we have an issue.

Inside those meatballs is loads and loads of raw onion. Really?

SHE LAUGHS

You've got 15 minutes left.

Salesman Bertie was raised in a family of cooks

and loves to immerse himself in the kitchen.

Ideally, I'd quite like to have a glass of wine

and the radio in the background, and I'd be doing it nice and slowly,

but I'm aware that my presentation could do with some tarting up,

-if you know what I mean.

-HE CHUCKLES

What are you cooking?

A sort of burger with a bit of toasted ciabatta

and a sort of Spanishy, sherry, creamy sauce.

What do you love to cook?

Anything that grabs me on the morning, really.

You could go through a spell of deciding to cook French

and that'd be marvellous.

-How far do you think you can go in the competition, seriously?

-I'd like to take it all the way.

What I'm really happy about is we have a Bertie Burger.

But Bertie's the only person who thinks burger goes with a pepper sauce

with cream and sherry. Oh... I don't know.

Get it on a plate.

That's it. Finished. Thank you.

First up is policeman Dave, with his take on a slider.

A small beefburger on toasted ciabatta, served with cubed chips

and a sweet pepper relish.

A slider, it's one mouthful.

This is not quite a burger, either. It's halfway.

But I like the look of it, Dave.

Dave, your meat is really well seasoned,

then you've got this roasted pepper relish going beautifully with

that wonderful meatball of yours.

You've made me a proper chip, they're great.

It's absolutely bang on for an invention test. Delicious.

That's really good, Dave, it's a proper meal.

Soft, well seasoned burger. The relish you made is sweet.

The chips are crispy. Well done!

I'm just very happy I've not let myself down.

I've done what I like doing.

But I'm just going to take it one step at a time.

Singer-songwriter Shivi has made a minced beef-stuffed mushroom,

served with a chargrilled vegetable salad and garlic ciabatta.

The mushroom with the mince, which is the main thing, doesn't work.

The mince is dry, and the mushroom is so juicy that it's just watery.

I think the best thing on your plate are those rich roast peppers with

the garlic toasted bread. I think that's delicious.

But in the middle of that plate,

we've got a mushroom which is burnt underneath,

inside, we've got minced beef which has been boiled in red wine

and has no seasoning at all. Sorry, I've got to tell you the truth.

It's not for me.

It was a complete disaster. I just tried to do too much.

I should have just stuck with what I knew. It just blew up in my face.

Oh!

Assistant bar manager Neil has made cottage pie, served with toasted

herb ciabatta and a sherry-pickled onion and courgette salad.

I saw you piping the potato on top of that mixture and I thought,

"Whoa, this is good."

It's the meat filling I'm interested in,

because I didn't see what you did with it.

Your mashed potato on top of your cottage pie is wonderfully smooth.

The whole thing could do with being a little bit more sticky.

You didn't have a lot of time to cook that mince, and you can see it.

It hasn't really broken down.

Be patient when you make a filling like that for a pie.

-Let it become really rich with gravy.

-Not bad at all, Neil.

I love the smoothness of your mashed potato on top of that.

It's a little greasy.

I love the sherry-pickled vegetables you've got with the courgette.

I think you've got some very nice ideas

-and I think that's quite a decent start.

-Thank you.

Could've been slightly better - my sauce wasn't as thick

as it could have been. I'll just do better next time.

Transcriber Helen has made tapas-style meatballs in a sherry

and fire-roasted red pepper sauce, served with toasted ciabatta.

At the moment, I feel like I'm lost between some tapas meatballs

and a bowl of soup.

I don't think it knows quite what it is.

Your meatballs have raw onion in them,

and you get that quite sharp raw onion flavour.

They're getting a bit burnt on the outside.

But somehow or other, you've rescued the dish.

I think the sauce is wonderful. Really sweet with the peppers.

-I'd eat the whole lot.

-The whole thing is quite a sticky joy.

What I'm really pleased about is you managed to get a slice of toast out!

Pan-fried in the end! It wasn't grilled!

'It was more surreal than terrifying, which is really odd.'

In fact, it was easier when they said mean things than

when they said nice things.

Cos when they said nice things, I felt like crying, so...

Last up is salesman Bertie, who has made a beefburger with chips

and a mushroom and red pepper sherry cream sauce.

HE CHUCKLES

I really like your mushroom mixture.

It's really lovely and rich with that sherry.

I don't mind your burger, it's just really heavy with garlic,

which is a shame. And there's too much on your plate.

But I like your ambition. I think it's really interesting.

You can make chips and a burger, you can dress the salad.

-But you are throwing too much at that plate.

-Yep.

And you can't have great big lumps of raw garlic

-in the middle of a burger. Look at that.

-Yep, yep.

Yep, I know.

I'm cheesed off that I put a bit much garlic in my burger.

But phase one, let's progress to the next level.

Thank you very much indeed. Off you go.

Usually, when we've got loads of mince on the bench,

we have complete disasters, but it wasn't bad at all.

-Dave's good.

-Dave's very good.

You look at his plate and everything was sparkling, wasn't it?

It was all clean and crisp. I like that.

Shivi has a lot of work to do to catch up.

She's got a lot of work to do. That was not nice at all.

I'm not enamoured by Neil, I'm sorry to say.

I thought that cottage pie was going to be beautiful, and it wasn't.

It was free-flowing mince under some mash.

Helen may lack a bit of knowledge.

But what I'm convinced she's got is very good taste buds, John.

That girl does flavour.

I find Bertie amusing, but a little worrying.

I know he throws too much at the plate, but his flavours are good.

This is the palate test.

We need to know whether our contestants can identify flavours.

What we're going to do is we're going to cook a dish,

ask our contestants to write down the ingredients

they think are in that dish, and then they're going to recreate it.

Today's dish...

Chicken pot pie and coleslaw.

-Lovely dish!

-Yes.

-Lovely dish.

So, let's start with the pie itself.

I've got a pound of chicken stock,

and I'm going to add all my chopped vegetables to that.

Potatoes, then your leeks in.

A really good grate of nutmeg.

Nutmeg is a powerful spice. I'd hope they'd identify that.

Some chopped garlic and chopped celery.

Add your ham...

No salt, obviously, because we've got salty ham.

-And then, chicken thighs, and add to that, some cream.

-Mmm.

I'll bring it up to the boil and let it poach for about five minutes.

This is puff pastry.

There's a little decoration for the top, they can do what they want.

Strain the liquid off as the leeks are starting to fall apart

and the chicken is just cooked.

And to thicken the sauce, I need to make a roux.

Equal quantities of butter and flour.

And really cook the flour out before you add the liquid to it.

And then take my liquid and pour into my roux.

So, my sauce, I want it to be quite thick.

It should be like the glue inside the pie.

Finish it off with the tiniest dash of cream to make it rich.

So there's our pie mix.

That's a great mix, and there's no reason why

the contestants shouldn't be able to identify that.

Not quite to the top,

because you don't really want the pie filling touching the pastry.

Just going to seal the edges of the pie

and then brush it with some egg wash.

Good-looking pie, John. Good-looking pie.

And then into the oven.

Now the pie's in, we can get on with the coleslaw.

Salt and lemon on to your cabbage, which starts to soften cabbage,

just a little bit, so it's not quite so crunchy.

In my coleslaw, I'm putting carrot, chillies, radishes,

red onion and beetroot.

I tell you what, you don't normally find chilli in coleslaw.

Add the vegetables to the cabbage.

A little bit of dressing, not too much.

There's something really wrong about coleslaw which is

covered in lots and lots of mayonnaise. I really don't like it.

The worst thing that can happen is they don't shred that fine enough.

You don't want great big chunks of vegetables.

Our pie...

Oh, look at that.

You see now the top has puffed up?

The problem with a pie is if the filling and pastry

connect with each other, the pastry doesn't cook,

-it goes all soggy and goes like cheese.

-Sure.

There you have it, chicken pie and coleslaw.

I'm hoping

a pie and coleslaw is not beyond the reach of most of our contestants.

Let's get them in.

There is a dish that I've cooked for you.

What we want you to do is to taste that dish

and write down what is in it.

Enjoy your lunch.

I quite like this challenge. I think I can see and taste what's in this.

There's radish and red cabbage, as well,

but there's something else and I don't know what it is.

It's disguised. Sneaky.

A lot of it's quite familiar, I think.

I think. I'm hoping it's what I think it is, so...

-I'll give it my best shot, so...

-LAUGHS

Now you've had a chance to sample it,

we are going to give you the opportunity of cooking it.

Underneath the cloth on your benches are all the ingredients

that went up to making that pie.

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

Have a look under your cloth, please.

The ingredients have been separated into groups,

those to make the pie filling, coleslaw garnish,

and the main proteins, which include turkey,

rabbit and chicken, only one of which is right.

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

I'm a little nervous, just because I haven't done

something like this before, so this is a stab in the dark, really.

Shivi has identified all the main ingredients that she needs to, John.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for her, she needs a good pie.

Do you know, I think Dave might have a really good palate.

He's identified chicken thighs,

he's worked out the texture of the chicken's not breast.

Dave might be pretty strong.

I'm worried I'm not going to get it right, that I haven't

correctly identified everything in it.

Helen's list is interesting.

Ham and chicken, as the protein, which is absolutely right.

Although she is chopping away at the turkey, as well.

What meat have you used inside the pie?

Chicken thigh, chicken leg and ham.

Good. So long as you're confident that's what you've used.

Bertie said he's used chicken thigh, chicken breast and ham in his pie.

He hasn't quite worked out yet that he's also used rabbit and turkey.

How do you feel about the palate test?

I thought I was going to do quite well on this one, but,

I think I may have ruined it already,

-but we'll see how it goes!

-Why?

I really went a bit wrong and I put a bit too much flour in.

We'll try and solve that problem.

I'll be happy at the end if I have produced a edible pie.

With just 20 minutes to go,

two of our cooks haven't even got their pie in the oven yet.

Shivi and Neil. Ooh!

What are your worries here?

That the pastry's cooked, mainly, more than anything.

You've got five minutes. That pie's got to be up, crusty and hot.

Time's up. Stop.

What we asked you to make was a chicken pot pie and coleslaw.

Big, earthy pie with chicken and leeks, ham,

holding it all together in a creamy sauce,

puff pastry on top, and that's got to be golden brown.

Helen, shall we start with you?

Wow.

Your pastry's a bit undercooked underneath,

but I can see why - your sauce is quite thin,

so you've got a lot of steam coming off it.

I really like your fresh, crunchy, sweet coleslaw.

I really like the flavour of the inside of your pie.

I like the salt in this, pepper in there, as well,

and I also get the flavour of the leeks.

-You do flavour, Helen.

-(Thank you.)

The chicken is cooked quite nicely, even though it was pan-fried first.

I like your pastry top, which is puffed up.

It needs to be in the oven a little bit longer

so it's not chalky underneath and a bit raw.

You all right, love?

Yeah, I just wanted to cook something that's good.

And I don't feel I have. (Quite.)

Isn't it weird? We say loads of nice things,

and the contestants only ever pick up on the negatives.

Shivi, let's try yours, shall we?

Shivi, that's neat. I like that.

You've got an even colouring all over your pie.

I'm really pleased with you,

because everything inside your pie is really nicely cooked

and really nicely seasoned.

Your coleslaw is lovely and crunchy and sharp.

I like your coleslaw a lot.

Nice thin layer of pastry, cooked really, really well.

I'm surprised, because it went in quite late.

It's a tasty little thing.

That task went better. I didn't embarrass myself as much.

I felt, you know, I approached the actual cooking task

with a little bit more calm, which made a lot of difference.

Bertie.

Why did you take your pie out of the oven so soon

when you had all that time left?

Because I thought it was probably ready.

-Patchy.

-Yes.

-Those bits aren't cooked.

If you smell it, it smells of cheddar.

Go on, stick your nose on there. It smells of cheddar.

-SNIFFS

-It does. Absolutely. Yeah.

It's nothing like my pie, because you've got turkey and chicken

and ham and rabbit.

-And rabbit?

-Yes!

-Well, now, there you go. Yeah!

-OK.

-But your meat's all cooked really nicely.

All your veggies in there, it's lovely and hot.

Your sauce is not thick enough and there's a reason for that,

you haven't cooked the flour out enough

when you made your roux to thicken the sauce up.

And it's still a bit chalky on the back of your throat.

The coleslaw's lovely. You've got a lemony tang to it.

I LOVE the flavour of your pie filling. Plenty of pepper.

-Mate, that so deserves to have a decent pie crust.

-Yeah.

I think that they liked the filling,

but I... Pastry, come on, I should've done that better,

so there we are.

All right, Dave, your turn.

Hey. Hey.

You've used rabbit as well as chicken, Dave, and you didn't know.

But actually, your rabbit in there is quite soft.

Your sauce is a bit translucent

and needs a little bit more cream rather than just stock.

Your pastry's all right. I like your coleslaw, but it is a bit chunky.

It's not bad.

Your pastry's good, I do like your pastry and the seasoning.

The meat's all soft inside there,

the potatoes are cooked all the way through.

It's all right, Dave. It's OK.

'It wasn't all bad but it wasn't great,'

so I'm hoping I've done enough. I'm just hoping I can get through.

Neil, let's have a look at yours.

It's a bit scruffy. It's coming away at one corner.

I don't think your leaves have been particularly successful.

Your coleslaw is nice.

It's crunchy and there's also a tang of chilli in there.

Unfortunately with your pie, that filling is too wet. It's too liquid.

And it's washing flavour off my tongue.

It's almost we're eating a bowl of soup

with leeks and ham chopped through and some celery.

The pastry on top, it's all floppy.

You know, it should be lovely and stiff.

I'm sorry to say, Neil, I don't like your pie at all.

'It was terrible.'

I'm not preparing myself for good news, necessarily.

Thank you very much indeed for your hard work.

We are now going to have a chat about you all,

because we have to make a decision.

We can only keep three of you in the competition.

That means two of you are going to go home. Off you go.

Mr Wallace, that has turned it all on its head.

I've changed my mind about quite a few of the contestants

-from one round to the next.

-So, who's got the best pie?

I tell you, it's going to amaze you, this.

Who did I think had the best round in this round?

-The person who had the worst round in the invention test.

-Shivi?

I really liked Shivi's work. Honestly.

We got a very good pie and very good coleslaw.

Shivi's back in the game.

I think I did prove I have a good palate.

I'm not sure if it's enough to get me through.

You know, the first test, I just so fabulously failed on.

Bertie's fun. I mean, cooking from Bertie is fun.

-Although he does make mistakes.

-His pastry wasn't cooked enough.

He didn't know the difference between a piece of chicken,

a piece of rabbit and a piece of turkey on his bench.

I'd really very much like to go through to the next stage,

it means a great deal.

I don't know. It's in the hands of our great leaders.

Dave didn't know the difference between a rabbit leg

and a chicken leg. However, Dave had a very, very good first round.

And I don't believe there's enough mistakes

in his pie to knock him out of other competition.

-Can I put my hand up for worst pie of the day?

-Neil?

I mean, that pie, it was soup with ham, celery and leek,

and two bits of overcooked chicken inside it.

I think right now there is a guillotine hanging over Neil's head.

Well, Helen, I liked her meatballs in the invention test.

I think she lacks a little bit of finesse

but the inside of that pie tastes good. She does flavour.

In my head, I kind of expect to go home,

so anything other than that's a bonus.

Who stays, who goes?

Whoever goes today, all I'll say to you is please keep on cooking.

The first person leaving us...

is Neil. Thanks, Neil, very much. Thank you.

The second person leaving us is...

-It's Bertie. Thank you very much.

-Thank you, Bertie.

-Thank you.

'I'm feeling extremely disappointed.'

What can you do? You can but try in life.

It's not going to stop me from continuing to cook. On we crack.

Obviously feeling gutted, not wanting to go out so soon.

Did the best I could, so onwards and upwards. Onwards and upwards.

Congratulations, we are now sending you to a professional kitchen.

Good luck. You're going to need it.

I'm feeling really nervous about going to the kitchen.

Excited, bit of trepidation, though.

I just hope it's going to be all right.

Dave, Helen and Shivi have been sent to Bistro 51,

just a stone's throw from Buckingham Palace.

This modern restaurant's eclectic menu features

flavours from around the world.

They will be working under chef, Vikas Milhoutra.

A very busy session ahead.

One hour is what we have to serve the first guests in and out.

So it has to be quick, fast, and very, very responsive. All right?

Let's get on with the real action, follow me.

They have just two hours to learn and prep their dishes

before service will begin.

Singer-songwriter, Shivi, will be in charge of the portrait of duck -

duck and orange sausage, smoked duck mash,

and crispy skin duck breast, served with a blueberry jus.

Pride of my restaurant, the study of duck.

It's one of the most popular items, the signature dish on the menu.

Duck, skin side down, you get a nice, crisp skin. OK?

See the edges of the duck cooking, and browning.

-You see the colour of the skin?

-Yes, Chef.

-That's what we want.

-OK.

-OK?

The duck breast is finished in the oven.

The last bit to go onto the plate is sausage.

When the sausages are golden brown,

Shivi will have to plate her dish to Chef's standard.

OK, we start with the smoked duck mash.

Plate it up in line with the corner here. Slicing this up...

You go a little diagonally.

And I want the duck to have long slices,

so that we can see more of the skin.

-You see the colour inside, it's nice and pink?

-Yes, Chef.

Sausage, again at an angle. Blanched asparagus...

The blueberry jus, ready here. That's your study of duck.

-Wonderful, thank you.

-You think you'll be able to manage it?

I hope so. I don't want to disappoint you.

I haven't cooked duck before, so I'm a little bit nervous,

but I'll just have to stay focused, and just get stuck in.

I'm determined.

Policeman, Dave, will be cooking wild mushroom-crusted halibut,

carbonara-style giant couscous, baby vegetables,

and a Sauvignon beurre blanc.

What we do first is,

crust each of these fillets with mushroom powder all around.

Right, Chef.

It's important that we heat the pan up, because if you start with

a cold pan for the fish, the fish would stick to the pan.

How long do we do it for in the pan now?

Roughly one-and-a-half to two minutes.

-All I want is the skin should get nice and crispy.

-Right.

And we put it in the oven

at 170 degrees, for about seven minutes to cook.

OK, Dave, we get ready with the carbonara-style couscous.

This is cream and Parmesan cheese sauce,

so let's have some couscous in this.

Fill it up, so that there is just enough sauce to coat

the couscous itself, and it's not too thick.

The sauce will reduce and thicken a bit a bit, and when I do this,

I can see a dripping consistency of the sauce. You see this?

-That's lovely.

-The fish will be ready, soft, springy.

So this tells you that the fish is done just about right.

We'll plate up now. The vegetables come down...

This is what the fish sits on, and unlike the usual presentations,

we present it with the mushroom crust on top of it.

Right, yeah.

Fish has to be done just about right, you can't overcook the fish,

-it makes it very rubbery, and very, very chewy.

-Yes.

I don't cook fish that often,

I'm just hoping I can do myself justice, and do myself proud.

Transcriber, Helen, is in charge of the Indian-spiced lamb cutlets,

served with a mango salsa, and tempered potatoes.

You already have lovely lamb cutlets.

I've got marinade, take a little bit of it,

and you rub it on to the lamb cutlet.

OK, we get on to a griddle like this, it gives you grill marks,

and gives a nice little smoky taste to the meat, as well.

About a minute on each side.

-There you see, look at the grill marks on them.

-Brilliant.

-And then it goes into the oven for about five to six minutes.

-OK.

For the garnish, cold roasted potatoes are tossed in a carefully-balanced dressing

of tamarind and coriander chutneys and spices.

What your lamb cutlets will look like.

Soft in the centre, which means the doneness is about medium.

Ready to plate up...

This is the mango salsa, just a little bit,

so that you can drizzle it on top.

Have you cooked something like this before?

I've only ever cooked one rack of lamb, never like this,

never with spices in this way. It's gorgeous.

I'm quite nervous about service.

I'm hoping I can keep up, these guys have been doing it for years,

and they're very fast.

All they need to tackle is the pressure game.

If they can handle that, I think they'll be fine.

I'll have the study of duck.

OK, guys, we have the first order in now.

-One duck, one lamb, and one fish, now on order.

-Yes, Chef.

-Shivi, you got that?

-Yes, Chef.

-All right.

All three contestants have their first orders in,

and they must deliver them to the pass at the same time.

But within minutes, Shivi has five additional duck orders.

-You have a total of seven study of ducks.

-Yes, Chef.

Why is that not browning on me? Oh, that's really low.

She's struggling with the sheer volume of duck orders.

I'm getting the lamb out in the next two minutes,

I need the first two duck in the next two minutes.

Yes, Chef. OK.

-Fish ready to go?

-Yes, Chef.

Yeah, it needs to be in for a little while more. Slightly raw.

All right. Wait, wait, wait. Next time you plate it up,

I want less of the oil picked up by the spoon when you plate the salsa.

-Yes, Chef.

-Can I have it to the pass, please?

-Coming now, Chef.

One fish, Chef.

-I need this to be more creamy than this.

-Yes, Chef.

-Run this again.

Policeman, Dave, is coping with the cooking of the halibut,

but must perfect the consistency of his giant couscous.

Thank you, that's what it should be.

That's what it should be every time, first time.

Shivi, we have the other food waiting here, the halibut

and the lamb is ready to go.

-Chef. All right, I think I'm ready to plate.

-OK.

Shivi, the duck, please.

Coming, Chef.

OK, wait, wait, wait, wait.

You need to move all of this a little closer to the plate,

we have a plate which is empty here, and is going in there.

Chef re-plates Shivi's duck,

leaving her to get on with a mountain of orders.

Table number 80, ready to serve, please.

Helen, two-spiced lamb. I want one to be rare, and one to be well done.

Yes.

I've got the well done, and a rare,

so they've got to go out together, which is quite tricky.

Two lamb, Chef.

-This one is over.

-That one?

-Change this for me, please.

-No problem.

Lamb rare. That's the one that's been changed.

-Good, thank you.

-Thank you, Chef.

-Two fish, now, order.

-Yes, Chef.

-Dave, can I have that pass, please?

-Coming now, Chef.

I need the bowls to be wiped clean, and when you're plating up,

I don't want the fish to get cold.

Your vegetables and the carbonara should be ready,

and in comes the fish, and it's bang, ready to go.

-Yes, Chef.

-All right? Service, please.

It feels like a juggling act, I'm getting my head around one thing,

and then there's something else I've got to get going. It's non-stop.

It's halfway through service,

and orders for Shivi's duck are still pouring in.

-Shivi, I've got news for you, two ducks on order now.

-Yes, Chef.

-We have nine duck in all. I want five duck together.

-Yes, Chef.

It's intense, you see I'm sweating up a storm.

I mean, I'm enjoying it, but it's crazy.

-Five ducks now.

-Coming, Chef.

-Shivi, that's very nice.

-Thank you, Chef.

Service is drawing to a close,

and the contestants are finishing off their final orders.

-Wait, wait, wait, wait.

-What have I missed?

-Brilliant.

-Thank you.

-I need one more fish, on the double, now.

-One more fish, coming, Chef.

Really happy with that.

-Here we go, Chef.

-Perfect. Looks like it's come out of the sea.

-Thank you very much, Chef. Thank you.

-Thank you, Dave.

-Duck, Chef.

-Put those there.

Perfect.

Chefs, enough service. Good job done by all.

-ALL:

-Thank you, Chef.

We had a lot of duck orders, so Shivi did get shaken up,

but having said that, how she coped with it was pretty good.

Oh, it was an incredible experience, there were times

though, that I thought I was going to mess it all up.

At the end, I loved it.

It's made me really want to prove even more than ever that

I can really do this.

Helen had fewer orders compared to Shivi.

She did manage to get the cooking of the lamb cutlets

right most the times. Overall, I think she did a great job.

It wasn't bad at all. I really did love it.

I thought it was going to be awful, and it wasn't!

Dave, once he started getting his orders on,

he seemed to be getting a little nervous, coordinating all

of the three, four elements on the plate was a little bit of an issue.

Had he had a few more orders, I think he would be fine, as well.

I just didn't know where my feet were, most of the time.

I was just using every reserve of energy I've got,

so hopefully I'll last the day.

Welcome back. This is your own two courses.

We expect food good enough to push you through to a quarter-final.

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

I'm really excited about having opportunity to cook my dishes.

Obviously, I've done it in the comfort of my own kitchen,

but with Gregg and John hovering over my shoulder,

I'm not quite sure how it's going to be, but this is it.

This is my chance.

Shivi, your two courses, what are they?

Pan-fried fillet of seabass, on saffron polenta,

with a mussel sauce vierge.

And for dessert, Moroccan floating islands,

so, with orange blossom meringue,

rose and cardamom creme anglaise, pistachio praline.

It sounds amazing. Are you going to be able to get all of this done,

considering you stuffed the mushroom with braised beef and red wine?

Oh, please. I don't want to be reminded about that horror.

I hope so.

It's trying to get all the flavours, and not rushing too much,

so it tastes right, and everything is cooked correctly.

-Shivi, why would you push yourself this hard?

-I really want to be here.

A great sauce vierge is actually quite difficult.

Your tomato has to be soft and peeled,

the right amount of basil, and a tiny bit of acid in the background.

It's a really fine balance to get absolutely right.

Let's just hope she's got the skill, and the time,

to pull off two very difficult dishes.

You've had ten minutes. Ten minutes have gone.

My two dishes that I'm preparing, they're quite time-consuming,

there's quite a lot of elements. I have to push myself

to get it all done in a time. I will be chopping frantically.

-Are you all right, Helen? You have got a lot going on here.

-I have.

I'm making partridge with a wild mushroom pearl barley risotto,

and some parsnip crisps.

And then, sticky toffee pudding, with custard and a praline tuile.

Do you understand what you've just promised the Pudding Monster?

Well, I'd rather go out with a shout than a whimper.

If it went wrong, at least I tried. I've cooked it lots of times,

it's...

85% of the time, gone really well!

That partridge has to be soft and beautifully cooked.

It doesn't want to be dry and grey.

After that, we are going to get a sticky toffee pudding.

# Go Helen! Go Helen!

# Go Helen! #

Guys, you've got 18 minutes.

If I get my two dishes right, I'm quite confident that they'll

enjoy them, and I'll hopefully go through.

If I get them wrong, it could go very wrong,

and it might be an early exit!

Dave, I'm slightly confused, or baffled, actually.

I can smell garam masala, I can see black pudding,

what are you going to cook us, Dave?

Black pudding and apple fritters, and apple puree on the side.

And secondly, is Mogul curry.

Basically, a cashew-based curry with a ballotine of chicken.

With oven baked cauliflower,

and then on the side, I'm going to make a flatbread.

So, is this curry with the ballotine in it, is it a big wet bowl of food?

No, it's quite delicate.

If I was to cook this at home, it would be just a big

plate of curry. I'm trying to do it a little bit differently.

You're a copper, you must have been in a few hairy situations?

You're not worried about this?

I was hoping that would count for more, but, no.

You're a lot more scary!

Black pudding and apple fritter, brilliant idea.

He's going to have to make a decent batter.

It needs to be light enough, that it's crispy on the outside,

but it also holds that heavy black pudding.

He's got a ballotine of chicken,

and he's serving it with like a curry sauce,

I hope you doesn't smarten it up too much, and lose the essence of it.

Listen up, last five minutes.

Don't forget, you've got to get your food on your plates, as well, Helen.

Oh!

Quick, quick, quick, let's go, go, go.

Right, that's it. Time's up.

-Stop.

-Stop, Helen.

For a main, Shivi has made pan-fried fillet of seabass,

on saffron polenta, with mussels, a sauce vierge, and broad beans.

Mmm...

You've got some lovely, exacting flavours in there.

Your fish is cooked really well, I like it.

Your sauce vierge is delicious.

Really good, rich and vibrant, with basil,

that aniseed in the background.

Your polenta, bright yellow, with saffron, is a little bit flat,

because you forgot to season it.

I actually think it's a really good dish, I think it just needs a tweak.

It's fabulous. Really took me by surprise.

Lots of big flavours on there, actually balanced pretty well.

I mean, it's picked me up,

it's rocked me gently from flavour to flavour, sat me back down again,

very nice indeed.

Shivi's dessert is Moroccan floating islands.

Poached orange blossom meringues, on a rose and cardamom

creme anglaise, topped with a pistachio praline.

I like your egg white on top.

It's soft like marshmallow, and then underneath,

you've got the creamy, thick sauce, which is like a confectioner's

custard, but for me, it's lacking flavour.

You promised me a carpet ride of orange blossom and rose water,

and I've got nothing.

John Torode, great chef from Australia,

lacks the expertise in desserts - for that, you need somebody like me.

That is lovely.

And that is cardamom, and it is roses,

and it is the hint of orange, and he is right, it is light,

and it is subtle, very, very well made indeed.

-I like it.

-Thank you.

There were some nice comments. There were also criticisms. I feel good.

I feel good about that. I mean, I hope...

It would be wonderful if I go through,

so I just have to wait and see.

Helen's main is pan-fried partridge breast

with a wild mushroom and pearl barley risotto

served with parsnip crisps.

It looks shocking.

It looks awful.

Your partridge is getting a little bit dry.

Apart from that, I really like it.

I like the texture, the softness, the wetness of your pearl barley,

but I can still taste those nice, earthy, woody mushrooms.

I like the flavours of the dish. You've got the textures in the dish.

But there are mistakes - your partridge is overcooked

and you literally hurled it at the plate.

For dessert, Helen has cooked sticky toffee and date pudding

with a pecan praline disc and custard.

In order to be sticky toffee pudding, forgive me,

-it needs a bit of sticky toffee.

-I sort of made it into the disc.

I was sort of meant to be an unusual way of doing it, having the praline.

What would make that sponge come alive is a toffee sauce.

If you tell a chap he's having a sticky toffee,

you are duty-bound to provide such.

I think your custard is lovely. It's really creamy, it's really well made.

Your pudding is a bit of a disaster.

It's sunk, which means that it's not cooked enough.

You must have put in cream of tartar or something to activate the dates?

-Yeah.

-And it's a lot, so you've got this very sort of bitter iron flavour

in the background of that pudding, and it's weird.

It's like I'm eating steel wool.

I was in a real rush and things weren't cooked properly so,

yeah, obviously, it was criticised quite a lot, but fair,

because there were a lot of things I didn't do properly.

For a starter, Dave has made black pudding and apple fritters

on a bed of lamb's lettuce and pea shoots served with apple puree.

I really love that crispy outer texture you've got from your fritter

with your black pudding.

Inside the black pudding, you've got its natural seasoning.

Then you've got the sweet, sharp Bramley apple puree

and the texture of that is great, because it's really soft,

going with that crunchy little black pudding.

I think it's a really interesting idea.

The flavours are good, it just lacks sophistication.

This dish is a work in progress.

For his main, Dave has cooked spiced chicken ballotine

on a cashew mogul curry sauce

served with baked garam masala cauliflower and flatbread.

-This isn't how you present it at home, is it?

-No, no.

Lots of good ideas,

but you haven't quite yet figured out how to posh your home food up.

Very difficult to do a ballotine. You've pulled that off.

That sauce is at first sweet, then spicy, then it delivers heat

but it doesn't deliver enough heat.

The cauliflowers are a really nice, refreshing idea

because although they're lightly spiced,

they're more of a natural flavour.

That would be a perfect accompaniment to something very hot.

Dave, what you've done here, I think has demonstrated lots of skill.

You've made your own bread, made a sauce, made a ballotine,

but what you're trying to do is give Gregg and I

food that you think we might find visually impressive.

I would much prefer to eat this in your kitchen at home because

I think it would be more succulent, I think it'd be more powerful.

You have sacrificed flavour here, I think, for presentation.

At the moment, everything's a little bit of haze.

It was something I've done at home without any issue.

I'll just wait until the decision's made

and hopefully it won't be a bad one for me.

I enjoyed that.

You've most certainly all got promise,

but we can't take you all through to a quarter-final.

Thank you, off you go.

I've got to say, I'm impressed.

Considering the first rounds, the ups and downs,

our three have bedded themselves in quite well.

Shivi got off to a disastrous start to the competition.

That invention test was awful.

I mean, she was almost dead and buried.

But she actually turned her competition around.

I think what she's done today is outstanding.

Those two dishes were the two best dishes in the room.

Skill set, flavours, interesting ideas. Yeah, absolutely.

Shivi, I think, should stay, I really do.

Our conversation needs to be had between Dave and Helen.

Dave, he's got a good touch.

He showed he had good touch right from the start

when he came in on the invention test.

I think he's got good ideas but he's not quite doing them justice.

I think Dave's a good cook,

whether he's just trying a little bit too hard

and it hasn't quite worked out? But I like his base skill.

If I was sent home I would be devastated.

It's a chance for me to do something I love, which is cooking,

and every step further through is a step closer.

I still believe Helen's got a good palate.

She knows what she likes, she knows the style of cook she is.

Yes, her food is rough around the edges.

I watched her throw stuff at the plate. It's frightening.

And listen, it's whether now we think she's made too many mistakes

with those two dishes today.

If I found out I was through to the next stage, I'd be really excited.

I'd love to carry on cooking, but if I'm sent home,

I'd think it was fair, based on the fact that

I cooked dishes with loads of errors.

Who do we think deserves to go through?

Well, who's got the potential?

Thanks very much for really exciting food, interesting food.

A shame, really, to see one of you go.

The contestant leaving us is...

..Helen.

-I'm sorry.

-Thank you.

I'm disappointed to be going home.

I don't think it's unjustified, though.

I would have liked to have gone further, but I'm not devastated.

I'll go home and cook something for pleasure.

Congratulations, you two are quarter-finalists!

I'm shattered and exhausted but I'm absolutely over the moon.

I want to go as far as I can

and I'm going to do everything I can to get there.

This competition just keeps astounding me.

My happy sign is my knees and my muscles are shaking. I'm so happy.

Tomorrow night, another group of amateurs will battle

to earn a place in the quarter-final.

Fire!

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

Ready...

No bread should sound like that.

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

Now, a hairdryer is something I haven't used for a long, long time.

No, doesn't look like it, Gregg!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd