Episode 7 The Big Family Cooking Showdown

The British family kitchen.

Whether it's where you love to eat...

It's where we have our family feasts.

..or where you love to cook...

Yes!

..it's where we all learn to love food.

I've tasted the food of many chefs

in many different restaurants all over the world,

but family cooking...

This one's puffing up.

..this is where real food comes from.

Home cooking does something that fine dining does not -

it creates the heart within the home...

She's eating all the ingredients.

..bringing the family together.

We are searching for Britain's best family of cooks.

Over the next few weeks, 16 families will go head-to-head.

Teenagers and grandparents, brothers and sisters,

all cooking their very best family food in their own homes...

-The judges are going to love it.

-Course they will.

..and here, in our kitchen.

Oh, that smell!

That is delicious.

I'm shaking so much.

Judging their efforts every step of the way...

-Oh!

-Drama!

..renowned cookery teacher Rosemary Schrager...

I'm looking for a family who are going to blow me away

with the understanding of flavour, texture and, all together,

gorgeousness.

..and top Michelin-starred chef...

-Hi, Giorgio.

-..Giorgio Locatelli.

The food that I want to see is, of course, very tasty and beautiful,

but the most important thing is to see them cooking with joy.

That's what home cooking is all about.

These are the families who make ordinary food extraordinary.

Utterly delicious.

I learned something today.

The judges have made a decision.

This is The Big Family Cooking Showdown.

The search for Britain's best family of home cooks continues.

Today, another two families go head-to-head

over three challenging rounds,

here in our kitchen and in their own homes.

Only one can go through to the semifinals.

Cooking today, the Bellamys.

-I'm very competitive.

-I think we all are.

-Definitely.

-She's worse.

-Yeah, she's worse,

she's just acting nice but actually...

Wait until I get in the kitchen.

And the Bellamores.

We've had a good practice and there were a few arguments on the way.

That's the thing, you've got to keep chilled out.

No matter what happens, we won't fall out.

-When you feel like shouting, just laugh!

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Both families have had time to practise the dishes

in their own kitchens.

Welcome to our two families, the Bellamores and the Bellamys,

who are about to rustle up a belly full of amazing, home-cooked food.

Well, that's what our judges are expecting.

Rosemary and Giorgio will be tasting every morsel

over the next three rounds of cooking.

Let's get going with the £10 challenge.

Today, you need to come up with a perfect picnic

for a family of four with just £10.

The picnic should be ready in one hour and 15 minutes.

Off you go.

I need potatoes.

This is when we create a bit of a storm.

Where are my eggs?

One, two...

A great picnic is made of a lot of variety of things

that comes all in these fantastic bags and when you open it,

it keeps on coming out.

And something to surprise you as well.

Ocean. Ocean.

Turn down.

Good start!

The Bellamys are mum Mojgan, and her daughters,

18-year-old Ocean and 15-year-old Faith.

If we're going to make a picnic, we're going to make it nice.

This picnic has got to be luxury Persian style.

It's got to be the best.

They're preparing a Persian chicken and potato dish

called Salad Olivieh with freshly baked bread rolls

and spiced beef patties known as kotlets.

They are a classic picnic food for Persians.

-Children love it.

-It is the taste of our childhood.

Now, the kotlets, I'm interested in this,

because this is quite Middle Eastern,

but it's got those flavours, cinnamon, all those spices in there.

If they're cooked properly,

if they're seasoned properly, it will be good.

Got the grated onion and minced meat and we've got also turmeric, nutmeg.

I put a little bit of cinnamon in there.

-How's it going, Mum?

-Really well, look at the colour.

Originally from Iran,

single mum Mojgan lives in Bournemouth

with her young son and two daughters.

Food time.

I'm the fun one.

I'm the sarcastic one.

She's the boss one.

I left Iran when I was 14

and we got accepted as an asylum seeker in the UK.

It was tough times, cos I left my mum and dad.

Now I'm a fashion designer, designing bridal and evening wear.

You look amazing.

My mum's inspired me.

It's easy to turn around and say,

"I'm tired, kids, I've been working all day,

"there's a pizza in the oven."

It's never been like that in this house.

How many cloves of garlic?

-Shall we say two?

-I would say two.

When I come back from my work, I go straight to my kitchen.

I put the music on and I always wear heels when I cook.

When I feel nice, I can cook better.

Mum is the sort of person that wipes the edge of the plate

when she's finished a meal.

She'll make chicken stroganoff and there'll be a splash,

she's like, "Ocean, stop!"

-I'm not that bad.

-Yes, you are, you really are.

Everything's a competition to me.

At school, at the end of every term,

we have a sports, kind of, competition, if you will.

My team's never lost.

It doesn't matter who I go with, I will make them win.

-She's going to be the drive. The wheels.

-Positive.

Juice of four lemons, zest of two.

-Have we got a juicer?

-Just put it on the pan.

The Bellamore family from South Wales are Mark,

his sister Jo and his nephew Ross.

The boss in this kitchen seems to be my brother, Mark.

You can tell by the fact that we have these.

These are our instructions.

Not only the recipes, but also what we stir, where we stand.

-Isn't it, Mark?

-What are you saying, Jo?

I'm just quite happy just letting Mark and Jo try and work that out

between them, and then I'll just carry on doing what I'm doing.

Their picnic menu includes curried vegetable pasties,

cheese and caramelised onion tarts

and Scotch eggs,

all served up with freshly made lemonade.

Jo, how's it all going?

It's a lot better than our practice, Zoe, put it that way.

Were words had?

Oh, Zoe, we had a fallout.

Yeah, we had to sit Mark down. We had to sit him down.

-Oh, no - in a room, alone?

-Give him a talking-to.

It was almost like an intervention.

So we've got little codes now. If I can see it happening...

She did say she'd give me a little nudge

-if I started to get a little bit untoward and uncontrollable.

-OK!

Mark's sister Jo and his nephew Ross

are regular visitors to his house in Newport, in Wales.

Jo's got a habit of turning the kitchen into a snow scene

when she's doing that.

Mark, the kitchen is fine, there's no mess, we're fine.

OK, Jo, just keep it tidy.

Who's the best cook in the team?

-I think Jo. I think Jo.

-Oh, no.

-I think Jo.

-No.

I'd probably say Jo as well.

You two always have a little brotherly-sisterly rivalry.

Yeah, ganging up.

Luckily, I'm the most sensible of the three adults,

even though I'm the youngest.

I just fuss too much. The timing is not brilliant for me,

it's always an hour or two later than I've said.

Jo invites everybody over at six and we will sit down about 10ish.

Hello, how are you? Nice to see you.

We try and get together as often as we can,

which is very entertaining,

cos it's a big family and slightly mad.

Cake, anybody?

Is it my recipe?

There's a lot of people sitting around,

a lot of people drinking, a lot of people eating.

Everyone is sat with a tray on their laps

cos there's not enough room on the table.

-Mark, I've noticed, he's quite good at giving direction.

-He's bossy.

-Helping...

-Just come out with it, he's bossy.

He likes to listen to all our ideas, but ultimately,

we'll be doing what Mark wants at the end of the day.

Oh, that's like luxury.

Jo's working on the shortcrust pastry,

which will be used for both the pasties and the tarts.

Pressure's on me at the moment.

We've got a mixture of butter and lard

and it's a traditional recipe from Mark's wife's family.

Yeah, that's my mum's recipe, actually.

Pastry is a real technique - it can't be too dry or too wet.

It has to be also not too thick.

Is it normal to get a little bit sweaty when you make pastry?

I'm happy with this, this is OK.

Hopefully that'll roll nicely

and my brother won't tell me off for over-rolling it.

I'm actually worried about the heaviness of it all.

They've got a pasty, the pastry's got to be correct for that.

They've got a tart, pastry again.

So, heavy.

You must remember that when you go for a picnic,

you should go for a nice walk.

But you're not going to be able to walk after that.

Well, you have the picnic at the end, then.

Over with the Bellamys, youngest daughter Faith

has made a start on the dough for the bread rolls

to go with their Persian picnic.

I've already put in half of my butter and milk mixture

and then I am adding the other half bit by bit,

just to the point of perfection.

So, normally I do it by hand because I prefer to get my hands dirty.

There's only so much a machine can do.

She's 15 years old.

I did not know what socks to pick.

I couldn't boil an egg at 15.

-Can you boil an egg now?

-I still can't boil an egg, no.

-OK.

I see, then, you are adventurous enough to make your own bread.

Yes. They're very quick rolls, they're nothing...

Don't need to rise for too long.

How much yeast did you put in there?

I put two sachets, so around 14g.

14g of dried active yeast.

-Yeah, they're just basic dinner rolls.

-OK.

Nothing too overcomplicated.

Their bread, what's going to happen with their bread?

Worried about the bread, worried about the bread.

14g of yeast over 12...12 rolls.

I know, that is a lot of yeast.

It's going to be so indigestible, it's going to be unbelievable.

That's not good.

Oh - peas everywhere.

How are you doing with that spice mix, Ross?

Yeah, it's going on now.

I'm making the filling for the pasties

which will go into Jo's pastry.

So I can add a splash of water so they don't burn or dry out.

The filling has to be the right consistency.

If that is wrong, if that's too runny,

then it'll make the pastry soggy.

If that's too thick, it won't be terribly nice to actually eat.

Mark, the softness of these tomatoes,

are they ready to go in the main mix?

-Perfect, Ross, that can go in.

-Yeah.

-All right, thanks, Ross.

Just going to start the Scotch eggs now.

So this is a mix of sausage meat, cooked chorizo and cooked onion,

which gives it a lovely flavour,

and then I'm going to basically attempt to wrap these eggs

into the meat mixture.

This is quite difficult, because the eggs will carry on cooking.

The perfect Scotch egg that I'm looking for is that when

I cut in the middle, I get that beautiful sensation

then the egg yolk's still a bit runny.

Let's see how we go.

OK, guys, you've got half an hour left.

Half an hour left.

Jo's rolling out the pastry for the caramelised onion and feta tarts.

The time plan for the tarts to go in the oven was possibly about

10-15 minutes ago, so I'm definitely running a bit late.

I hope Rosemary and Giorgio really like the rustic look.

Four tarts. Thanks.

At the bottom.

-That tray's dodgy, Mark, slides everywhere.

-Yeah.

-I'm just about to grate the eggs for the Salad Olivieh.

-Yes, go.

Ocean's working on the mashed potato and chicken salad.

I want the potato inside the Salad Olivieh to be very soft,

I don't want any bits in it.

I want to make sure there's no bits, it tastes smooth.

The potato salad is always difficult to produce because

the ingredients are varied, so you have to make sure

they are cooked absolutely properly,

and if the mayonnaise is too thin, it becomes runny,

and if it's too thick, it just becomes too congealed.

Faith, is the mayonnaise nearly done?

It's doesn't look mayonnaise-y.

I'm not sure, it might have split, Mum.

Really?

Mum, I think I might have to start again.

-Is it definitely caught?

-Yeah, look.

-Look at that. What the hell is that?

-How did that happen?

This could be a big problem.

The mayonnaise has come apart.

We are really tight in time at the moment, very, very tight.

This time, I'm just going to take it much slower.

The oil has got to be poured very slowly.

Yeah, that's what I'm going to do this time, much slower than before.

Lemon juice.

Families, you have 15 minutes to go.

Oh. Hurry up!

I'm actually panicking, because I should start frying now.

There's a fire going on over there, I think.

Fire extinguisher.

If we can get these pasties in the oven,

we're a little bit concerned about the time.

I'll put a sprinkle of turmeric on top and then some nice sea salt,

which gives it a nice texture and flavour.

I need the mayo, Fay.

I've got the mayo, it's right here.

-Is it good now?

-Yep.

-Perfect.

-Jo, do you want to start filling them?

-Yeah.

-That's not cooked.

-No, no, get them in, Jo.

All a bit of a panic now.

Joanne, I'm going to struggle to get the lemonade on,

so we're going to have to think about that.

So just the four lemons in a pan and the zest of two lemons in a pan.

Mum?

More salt and lemon juice, please, for me.

-Lemon juice, yeah?

-Yeah, one more lemon juice.

Families, you've got one minute left.

Come on, let's go.

OK, my kotlets are ready.

Oh, one pasty's bust.

Check your bread, Faith.

Oh, one fell.

One roll went.

-These all right?

-Some lemon needs to go in there as well.

One more bread there?

They are very undercooked.

That's it, time up.

My God. Well done.

Guys, group high-five, group high-five.

-Well done, Rosso.

-Oh, well done.

With their £10 budget,

the Bellamores have made a picnic hamper filled with

curried vegetable pasties, Scotch eggs,

caramelised onion and feta tarts

and a fresh lemonade.

Can I just congratulate you?

I love your bunting. That's amazing.

Thank you, my daughter Annie made it.

-Did she, really?

-Yeah.

They look like you!

LAUGHTER

Now, what are we looking for?

-Soft egg?

-Well, we're hoping it's going to be

slightly soft in the middle.

-ROSEMARY GASPS

-Yay!

I find the mixture around absolutely delicious.

I don't think you needed the chorizo,

it was a bit of a distraction.

-You've got the soft egg, but it's not seasoned enough.

-Right.

Now for the curried vegetable pasties.

It looks really beautiful, that yellowish golden colouring.

I feel the pastry's slightly undercooked.

Especially when it gets to the edges.

The filling is actually really good,

but it's just lacking in seasoning again.

You used the same pastry for this?

-Yes.

-We're going to have the same problem.

-That's not even cooked.

-No.

We've got some lemonade too.

-I think that was such a nice touch.

-I adore the lemonade.

-I'd never made it before.

-What?

-That's delicious!

-That wasn't part of my...

Can I drink it? That's delicious.

That is delicious, yeah.

The Bellamy family have produced a classic Persian picnic of kotlets,

a chicken and potato salad

and Faith's bread rolls.

OK.

I was worried about this bread and I was actually right to be worried.

I think 14g of yeast for 12 rolls,

that's a little bit too much,

and, yeah, it's a little bit thick in the middle.

Now for Mojgan's kotlets.

I like the flavours, I like the spices.

I think, for me, I prefer these warm.

-Definitely. Yes.

-Would you agree with me?

Yes, I do prefer them warm, but you can eat it cold as well.

Here we are.

Finally, Ocean's salad.

Really a fantastic combination of flavours, this one,

and unexpectedly as well,

because it looks a bit boring like that, when you look at it, no?

A bit mushy, a bit boring, but it tastes fantastic.

Has it been in your family for a long time?

-Yes, very much so.

-Well, you know, it shows that, it really shows that.

It's not what I had envisaged as a picnic

but I think it's fascinating.

-Thank you for that.

-Thank you very much.

Next, both families will be cooking

their tried-and-tested favourite dishes

for Rosemary and Giorgio in their own kitchens.

The first stop for the judges is Bournemouth.

This Victorian seaside town has been home to Mojgan

since she came to the UK from Iran in the '80s.

It's very important for me today to show the judges

the taste of Iranian-Persian food, that authentic taste,

the old-fashioned family cooking.

And Mojgan makes sure that Ocean, Faith and little brother Oscar

appreciate the food she grew up eating.

We are all kind of doing separate elements to the dish,

so we have to be on time, prepared and not bicker.

-I'm always right.

-I'm always right.

DOORBELL RINGS

Hi, Ocean, how are you?

Nice to see you.

Thank you, sweetie.

Come on, through, it's freezing outside. Sunny, though, it's lovely.

Hello, gorgeous, how are you?

-Nice to see you.

-You look beautiful.

-High heels for cooking.

-I know!

-You're my kind of girl.

It's so glamorous in here, it's fantastic.

Now, I couldn't help but notice, on challenge one,

the two of you in the kitchen together,

-slight competitiveness I picked up on.

-Yes.

-Definitely.

-We have a lot of competition.

-Where does this come from?

Our parents definitely brought us up with a competitive streak in us.

Whenever they'd come to support us at school,

-like, running competitions...

-"Go on, you need to win!"

And did you win? What were you particularly good at?

-What sports were you good at?

-Oh, Ocean and her shot put.

I remember, when we'd go to the shot put competition

and you'd see all these girls, they're quite big

and then Ocean just walks up,

-like this little noodle, with her little arms...

-Noodle!

..and she just goes back and she launches this ball

and me and my dad are just staring...

I came second in the Dorset shot put and everyone was like,

"Where is this coming from?"

So, girls, are you ready?

As you know, the judges have set you a challenge, Family Favourites -

you have to do a main course and a dessert.

You have 90 minutes.

Good luck, off you go.

Let's go. OK.

Need to be muscly for this, really.

Yeah, Mum.

Mojgan is in charge of their main course,

Khoresh-e Fesenjan,

a sweet and sour duck in a pomegranate and walnut sauce.

It's going to be served with a saffron rice and potato dish.

I'm cooking today a traditional Persian dish

called Khoresh-e Fesenjan.

It's a royal dish, and it is 1,000 years old,

and it reminds me of my childhood.

And how often would you eat this dish?

In childhood, it would have been at least once a week.

I hope that this recipe,

which has the duck cooked in a very traditional way,

doesn't deliver a duck that is tough as the sole of the shoes.

Where's my turmeric?

Mojgan, what's going in with the duck?

I've fried the onion first, and then I add on my turmeric,

and also some saffron,

and then I'm going to put a little teaspoon of cinnamon in there,

before I add on my pomegranate and molasses.

And your molasses.

-When you bite into it, it's history.

-Yeah.

So, that's your molasses here?

That's the molasses. This is a home-made one.

Wow.

-It's sour.

-Oh, my goodness.

-But it's heaven.

-That is heaven in a pot.

Mojgan adds honey to get the perfect sweet-and-sour flavour.

They have a lot of sweetness going on

and I'm hoping it's not going to be too sweet.

When it's served, the duck dish will be sprinkled

with fresh pomegranate seeds.

This is just, again, my childhood.

My dad used to have a field in Iran

and we used to have a pomegranate tree,

and we used to go and pick them off from the tree.

-Who's this?

-That's my mum and dad.

My mum was 17 there.

-Recently married.

-She looks so in love.

Don't they just?

-When did you come here from Iran?

-I came 31 years ago.

-How old were you?

-I was Faith's age, actually.

But you came here on your own, didn't you?

Yeah, we had to escape the country,

and I came as an asylum seeker in this country.

So, 15, without your mum and dad. How frightening was that for you?

At that time, I didn't feel that way,

but, you know, these kinds of things,

you've got to take them as a journey of life.

-You had to grow up very quickly, very young.

-Very quickly, yes.

-But I guess it's made you.

-Yes, I love who I am now.

I think I'm more sensitive and more compassionate towards people.

It's an amazing story.

Can you get me a glass of cold water, please?

-OK, ladies, you've had half an hour.

-Ah!

-Ocean, check your rice, please.

-Yeah.

Yeah. Go, go, go.

Ocean's responsible for the traditional rice dish

to serve with the duck.

Ocean, what did you do with the rice?

I cooked it half.

Then I put sliced potato to make tadhig, the Persian favourite.

Then I've placed the rice back on again

and put the lid so it will steam.

So you cook your potatoes and rice at the same time.

Exactly. Two in one.

Two in one, very clever.

They're going to cook potatoes with the rice?

I don't know this process.

I don't know how they're going to do it.

OK.

I'm actually mixing the butter with saffron.

That will melt together.

And I'll put that on top of the rice when it's cooked.

Iranians are world-famous for their rice

and these girls have to deliver a perfect rice.

I've been very generous with the saffron.

-You have, haven't you?

-I've just realised that.

15-year-old Faith is in charge of dessert.

A summer berry coconut sponge cake with a shortbread base,

served with coconut rum flavoured cream.

My grandma, my dad's mum, she loved shortbread.

The jam, my mum's mum taught me how to make.

And the actual coconut cake itself,

my dad actually lives in Barbados

and there are coconuts everywhere you go.

I love that, it's great.

That's perfect.

The dessert, I'm a little bit puzzled by this.

There's a shortbread and a sponge together.

Are they going to be a bit dry? Is it going to deliver that flavour?

I don't know.

Faith's added coconut rum to cream to serve with her cake.

I want to re-pipe that one.

You are definitely a perfectionist, Faith. Definitely.

OK, the judges are on their way.

Faith, I don't want to rush you but I'm a little bit worried

-about your cake timing.

-How long do we have left?

Four minutes and everything has to be plated up

and ready for the judges.

Ah!

Let's go, guys.

Hopefully I won't drop it, like my bread rolls.

-It looks so good.

-Look so good, doesn't it?

We have to wait until the judges have had some.

It smells great!

Come on, we've done very well. Don't panic, it's fine.

Look at Mojgan. "Do it quick, but no-one panic."

Gosh, why am I shaking?

-Are you shaking?

-I am shaking.

It's cos it's important to you. Just one minute.

Ocean, Faith, would you like to put it on the table?

That's it, time up.

-Well done.

-Well done.

-Brilliant.

-Well done.

The Bellamy's Family Favourites are

Mojgan's duck in walnut and pomegranate sauce

and Ocean's traditional Persian rice dish with crispy potatoes.

I was expecting to eat a duck breast.

The presentation is a little bit particular.

The pomegranate molasses is one of my favourite ingredients.

It has this really special quality to add something to the flavour.

In this case, I find it very, very sweet.

I think you reduced it a little bit too much.

I think the sweetness is overpowering.

It is killing everything else.

You overcompensated, I'm afraid, for the sourness,

which is a great shame.

And, in fact, I can't even see it's duck in the presentation,

which is slightly disappointing,

because the duck is actually a very good flavour.

But it's dry.

Who was in charge of the rice?

I was in charge of the rice.

-Fantastic.

-Thank you very much. Thank you.

It's perfectly fluffy. It's a beautiful colour.

-I think this rice is just perfectly cooked.

-Thank you.

But I LOVE those potatoes.

To finish, Faith's summer berry shortbread and coconut sponge cake

with coconut rum flavoured cream.

I must say congratulations for presentation.

I think that looks really pretty.

The cake itself and the jam in there work really well.

Now, because the shortbread is so dry,

and because it's so crumbly, it's fighting against the cake,

which is not dry but it makes it dry.

It just doesn't work together.

I think the cream, it's quite a nice touch to have the Malibu in it.

I must admit, I never tasted Malibu in my life, this is the first time.

Really? Wow.

It works. As a cream with the base, it works.

How are you feeling overall, then, girls?

I feel like, overall, our comments were positive and, obviously,

they have to pick out things that we'll improve on.

I mean, for the final round, hopefully we can build on it and...

We can do better.

The judges' next visit is to Newport in Wales, home to the Bellamores.

To cook their Family Favourites,

Jo and Ross have come round to Mark's house.

It's typical of Mark to have no butter left in the fridge at all.

And to leave the empty packet as well. How useful!

Ross and I, I would say,

are the more chilled ones of the team.

My brother's the organised worrier.

I sort of organise things for the family.

Jo's probably in charge in the kitchen, if truth be told.

Today's going to be a nice, calm, relaxed day.

Hi, Nadiya, come on in - how are you?

-How are you?

-Good.

Hi, Nadiya, nice to see you.

-Where's Mark?

-He's in the garden.

-Oh, hello!

-All right, Mark?

I'm going to check out your hot tub. Oh, yes!

-I didn't bring my swimming suit.

-How are you? Lovely to see you.

-And you.

-How's it going?

-Really well.

How are you? With the chickens?

I've got three chickens, yeah.

So just going to see if they've laid anything.

Here we go, look at that, fresh eggs.

Challenge two.

As you know, the judges would like you to cook your Family Favourites.

A main and a dessert.

You've got one hour and 30 minutes. Off you go!

Right, Mark. I've got a beautiful fish

but it's not quite fitting in the tin.

Can we squeeze it in, Jo?

Jo is in charge of the centrepiece for the main course,

salt-baked sea bass.

It will be served with a warm potato salad,

green beans with almonds,

spinach and hollandaise sauce.

Let's see when that's trimmed.

Yeah, let's just trim the tail.

-Go on, Jo.

-Why is she doing it and not you?

I'm holding the tail!

Moral support. Come on, Jo.

We've gone all the way to Cardiff market to get the fish

so we're quite excited about the fish.

It was a line-caught fish so...no pressure, Jo.

It should be absolutely delicious.

I just hope they don't overcook it.

Oh, so you're stuffing it now?

I am. Some lemon.

A load of this. Lovely thyme.

I know you were worried about low seasoning

but this might kill them.

We were criticised for the lack of seasoning, so, you know.

-We haven't held back this time.

-No, you haven't!

To create the crust,

Jo mixes the whites from Mark's hens' eggs with salt.

What consistency are you looking for with the egg whites and salt?

This is just going to mix now, like wet sand.

-Just want it to be able to mould.

-Yeah.

-As long as it holds its shape,

-the salt keeps it so moist, it's so beautiful.

-Yeah.

And, strangely, not salty.

-And not salty.

-Yeah. Just seasoned...

-But just enough.

-Yeah.

So I'm just going to make a bed for it.

Ooh. This is interesting. Come on.

-Building sand castles.

-Yeah.

Just one slight concern.

-You haven't put the baking paper underneath it.

-Oh.

-So we're not going to be able to serve it.

-Right.

-OK, I can do it again.

-Yeah?

-OK. Big boo-boo.

Lift that for a moment. That's it.

So, what we're going to do...

-Can I not put that on there now?

-No, no, don't put it on yet.

OK, let's try that again.

Once you put the fish under salt, that's it.

You can only see it when you break the crust,

if you cooked it perfectly or not.

How are you testing the fish?

I'm going to put a skewer into the centre of the fish,

into the thickest part,

and I'm going to take it and put it on Jo's lower lip.

And then if Jo squeals, we know it's cooked.

This is what I've had to grow up with. He once shoved...

-Is he your big brother?

-Yeah. We grew up camping a lot.

And he, I remember, when I was very little,

rolling me on the ground and putting my face in a cowpat.

I don't know what to say, Mark.

-I don't know how I feel about you any more.

-We used to have fun.

Ross is responsible for the vegetables

to go with the salt-baked sea bass.

It's not the most glamorous of tasks.

Ross, I feel like you're being punished for something.

Green beans, spinach, potato.

All these are very simple ingredients

but you must get them perfect.

Come on. That's fine.

-So what we want to do is blanch them for two minutes.

-Yeah.

Oh! One bean down.

Ross, have you got the beans on a timer?

It's all up here, Nadiya.

I just estimate two minutes.

-OK.

-It'll be fine.

It's all done.

So, you've dunked these in icy water?

Yeah. It's to stop them going any softer

because we want to try and make them al dente, as they say.

And it'll keep them really green.

Yeah, exactly.

I'm going to focus on the tarte tatin.

For dessert, Mark is making a classic tarte tatin,

served with a Calvados cream.

All I want is a really rich,

beautiful flavour coming from the tarte tatin.

You know, a lot of sugar, a lot of caramelisation.

The pastry must be crispy in certain parts

and really soft and delicate in others.

And I really want to taste the Calvados in this cream.

-Trying to get them drunk, aren't you?

-Yeah. Absolutely.

Guys, you've had just over one hour.

-OK.

-That's perfect.

-Have you got a crust?

Yeah, we've got a nice crust now.

Ross is working on the dressing for the potato salad.

-Is the salt and pepper out?

-Do you want me to salt it for you?

-Who's the chief taste tester?

-Jo is definitely the chief taste tester.

So it's all down to Jo, then?

-Of course.

-I'm the one that's seasoning. The pressure's on me.

-Pressure's on you.

-Yeah.

Guys, I don't mean to alarm you but the judges are on their way.

-Right. Come on, then, let's test the fish.

-Let's test the fish.

48 degrees exactly!

This is where it can all go horribly wrong.

Hollandaise. OK.

I want to check the tarte tatin. Can I open the door, Mark?

How is the tarte tatin looking?

-It's looking pretty golden now, Mark.

-Take it out.

-Are you happy with that?

-Oh, Mark!

-Yeah, that's perfect.

-Little bit underdone. Pop this back in the oven, Jo.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Which oven's on? There's not really an oven on.

-That's all right.

Just give it a couple of minutes.

So, you've got five minutes.

-Shall I get the dishes out?

-Yes, start serving up.

CLATTERING

-Don't worry.

-Little bit of a chip. It's fine.

It shows we've used it lots of times on many family occasions...

-Ha-ha!

-..which is what we want.

-Oh...

-Look at that.

How are your potatoes doing, Ross?

Yeah, OK, Jo.

Ready?

This is a big fish.

Oh! Look at that.

Just that couple of minutes longer, look,

you've just got that golden crust on top.

Guys, time's up. Time is up.

-Stop fiddling.

-Sorry, sorry.

-And breathe!

-You can, like, breathe a sigh of relief now.

The first Bellamore Family Favourites dish

is Jo's sea bass baked in a salt crust...

..served with Ross's green beans, wilted spinach, potato salad,

and hollandaise sauce.

Just brings a smile to my face.

It looks fantastic.

Looks perfect. Absolutely perfect.

You produced one of the best fish that I've tasted under salt.

I mean, it is delicious.

It is just beautifully done.

All the other ingredients, all your vegetables and the hollandaise,

is perfect as well.

The star, for me...

..is also those little beans.

They look like they've just been picked.

But I'm going to say one thing which is a real shame -

the vegetables were all under-seasoned.

It lets it down...

..from becoming perfection.

Now for dessert - Mark's tarte tatin with a Calvados cream.

The texture of the apple is perfect.

Perfectly cooked, still got a little crunch but it needed more caramel.

It needed more.

-You did the cream, did you?

-Yeah.

Mmm.

Very alcoholic!

Overall, I think I'll come back to your house

whenever you make it again.

-It's great!

-Oh, it's fantastic.

What lovely comments. It's really lovely, isn't it?

Oh, brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. It's all worth the hard work

when you get comments like that. It's fantastic.

Totally chuffed about the green beans.

Today, the Bellamys and the Bellamores

take on their third and final challenge.

After which the judges will decide which family to send home

and who to put through to the semifinals.

I feel we're going to rise to the occasion.

Yes, we've got to win. Come on, guys!

Yeah, we can do it.

These ladies are very confident, and I like that.

But there is a little issue with their technique

and also with their flavour combination.

If they manage to smooth these out,

I think the place in the semifinals can be theirs.

W-I-N-N-E-R.

We're the winner!

They've served us some really good Persian food.

But if they're going to get through,

they're going to have to think about their balance of flavour.

-Is that the trophy, girls?

-Yes.

So, whoever wins, they've got the trophy made already.

The Bellamores' sea bass was a fantastic dish,

but under pressure, they make little mistakes

and little mistakes at this stage

can be the difference between staying in the competition

or going home.

For me, the Bellamores are such generous cooks.

The first challenge - the pastry wasn't quite right,

but the fish was sublime.

If they continue this type of cooking,

they are going to be a hard act to beat.

Welcome back to the Bellamys and to the Bellamores.

It's so lovely for us all to be back together,

but I'm afraid that's where the loveliness ends.

Oh, yes, it's the deciding challenge.

Impress the neighbours.

You'll have two hours and 15 minutes.

So, knives at the ready - let's get cooking.

I need my aubergines.

Bellamys looking as glamorous as ever.

What do you cook in, Zoe?

-Generally a vest, pyjama bottoms and slippers.

-Hmm.

-Yeah, glamorous.

-Good look.

-Very glamorous in the kitchen.

-They're very chilled over there. I'm a bit worried.

-Very calm.

They're talking and laughing.

I know, they were last time. We were sweating the last time.

The beautiful Bellamys and the sweaty Bellamores.

No, don't say that!

Each family must make a starter and a main course.

The Bellamys' first course is stuffed vine leaves,

served with kashke bademjan,

a traditional Persian aubergine and walnut dip.

and dough balls.

They're doing dough balls.

I hope they're not too heavy.

They're doing aubergine dip with walnuts, should be yummy,

full of flavour, and stuffed vine leaves.

I think this is a really nice little starter.

Mojgan's stuffing the vine leaves with spiced rice, lentils,

and minced lamb and beef.

We definitely cannot be Iranian vegetarians.

-That's not OK.

-Vegetarianism isn't a word in the Persian language.

Meat, meat, meat, meat, meat.

Stuffed line leaves.

We want the flavour to burst out of these beautiful leaves.

It is a very simple dish, but it can be glorious if it's done properly.

You put the two vine leaves into each other, put the filling inside,

and you fold them like that.

-OK.

-And you fold once.

So, you're rolling it.

And then like that.

Whenever I've done them, I've only ever used one vine leaf.

I've never seen it on with two.

My mother always used two. They sandwiched inside like that.

-Really? How long do you steam it for?

-About 40 minutes, roughly.

-About 40 minutes?

-Yes.

Good team.

Despite her disaster with bread rolls in the first challenge,

Faith's in charge of the dough balls.

It's the return of the bread.

I haven't used as much yeast this time,

and I'm kneading it for much longer.

It's starting to get really stretchy now. This is my favourite part.

It's scary because they're just there watching me like eagles,

but...it's OK.

Nice, warm spot.

OK, some more carrot there, just do a bit.

-Fine.

-All right. Watch your fingers, Ross.

I know, I came very close then to losing part of my finger.

The Bellamores are making a starter

of twice-baked goat's cheese souffle

with a pear, walnut and pickled vegetable salad.

Twice-baked cheese souffle.

The cooking must be perfect.

It must be fluffy. It must be light.

And it must carry a really good punch with the flavour.

I want that cheese to come through.

So this is forming the base of the souffle,

so what we're going to add to that is some egg yolks

and the Abergavenny goat's cheese, which is fantastic.

That's come from near my home, so it's going to be extra special.

Bringing a bit of Wales with us.

It's good cheese. It smells nice.

I want to be as gentle as I possibly can with this, really.

Keep the air in there.

Now, Rosemary, can you give me any tips?

I'm not allowed to. I could, but I'm finding it very difficult to watch.

-I'll have to leave.

-You're welcome to help!

I'm really worried about that souffle, Giorgio.

The egg whites had started to split before he even stirred it in.

And the mixture is a bit thin.

Jo, I'm struggling with these egg whites.

Are you? OK. Just start again.

-We've got time.

-I'm going to go with it. I'm going to go with it.

Let's put it in, Jo.

I think maybe Mark should have started again.

He didn't listen to me.

We'll see, won't we?

Rise, souffles, rise!

Are you holding it all together, Ross?

Are you managing to keep these two in check?

You know, I just perform a calm presence, which helps everybody out.

I like that. Thank goodness you're here.

I don't know what they would do without you.

Panic stations, that's what it would be.

I know the fat part is the best part,

but I like to take off the upper layer.

The Bellamys' main course is a crown of lamb

with a pistachio crust.

The crown will be filled with stuffed peppers.

This will be stunning. This is quite a royal dish,

and I wanted to impress the neighbours.

Can somebody give me a hand with making the crown, please?

The rack of lamb has got to be very good.

It's got to be just pink. I like it to be well rested.

I'd like nice, clean bones, I want it well seasoned.

Basically, I just want a really good rack of lamb.

You haven't seared it first.

Oh, God!

-Right, let's go, pan.

-Let's go quickly with the pan.

-Pan, please.

-Do you have to, kind of, cut them again?

-Yeah. Doesn't matter. We'll do it.

-Mum, it's fine.

I forgot to fry it a little bit.

I have to, little bit, sear it before I put it in oven,

otherwise it won't be nice at all. I forgot. I rushed, really.

While Mojgan sears the lamb...

..Faith's making the pistachio crust.

In this crumb there's quite a lot of mustard.

I'm just going to add it bit by bit, really, though.

I've got the pistachio crumb ready.

I think it's too much Dijon...

-You put Dijon in there?

-Yeah.

-Oh, my God.

-Mum, you have to add Dijon mustard.

-No, Dijon goes on the skin of the rack.

-No way.

-Yes, way.

I swear to God I didn't realise that.

No problem, no problem, no problem.

We've got pistachios there. Do it again.

-It's fine, I'll make it again.

-We've got time.

-Do it again, please, that's wrong.

-Go, go, go, go, go, quick, quick.

-Dijon goes on the skin.

-You told me, Mum, that...

-Dijon goes on the skin.

-Go, go, go. It's fine.

-Doesn't matter.

So we must have screwed up at home, as well, then?

No, we did not, we put it on the skin of the lamb.

She can't take being wrong.

Faith and Mum sometimes have their offs because they're very bossy,

-both of them.

-No, no, no, it doesn't matter.

Mum, please don't say anything,

because we're going to fall out in the kitchen.

-She needs to admit to it, and don't blame somebody else.

-Drama!

Over in the Bellamores' kitchen

Mark and Jo have started on their main course.

Duck breast with roasted baby beetroot,

mashed potatoes, and red wine sauce.

We all like all our meat. We like roasted meat...

Or any meat.

Oh, God.

Jo, just be careful about your meat.

We're trying to get it so that all the fat comes out of the skin.

We're rendering it down.

What I'm looking for from this duck breast is lovely, crispy skin.

Pink, well rested, and absolutely delicious.

Jo's also making the red wine sauce.

Some... Just chicken wings for flavour.

Going to roast it off with the carrots and onions.

We're going to simmer it with lots of alcohol,

and that'll be the sauce for the duck.

It needs to be right, so there's a lot of pressure on the sauce.

Ross is in charge of roasting the baby beetroot to go with the duck.

Ross, I see that they've got you doing vegetables again.

-Again.

-After the success of your green beans.

-Exactly.

-It's because he loves them so much, though.

-Yeah...

I'll be looking out for your veg.

Thanks.

If you put beetroot into water, it dilutes it.

So, I like the fact they're going to roast this beetroot,

because it intensifies the flavour.

I'm hoping the beetroot is going to be the star.

You happy with that, Mum? It's a better texture this time.

Much better, isn't it?

-Perfect.

-Yeah?

45 minutes left, families. 45.

OK, so this can go in now, really, can't it?

I just don't want them to be well done. I'm just paranoid.

Give me the other one, please.

That's it.

And then we've just got to put the Dijon on.

Yeah, you come and do the Dijon now, please, because we've got no time.

Dijon now, please. So, not too much.

Mum, it needs to get in the oven now.

Put some more Dijon on it if you have to.

All right! OK, wait, wait, Mum, it's fine,

we'll put it on there in a minute. We'll put it on there in a minute.

Argh!

I can't watch. It's stressing me out.

Why do we always do the things that are unnecessarily nerve-racking?

It's a good coating for the judges.

Don't overdo it, but don't underdo it, you know?

-OK, let's go.

-Oh, my goodness.

-OK, ready?

-Tight squeeze.

And in.

OK, timer on, how long?

-Timer on, please.

-20 minutes, yes?

Oh, my gosh.

Mark's souffles for the starter are now at the critical stage.

I think they're going to flop.

Yeah, they've already flopped.

So, the infamous souffles, they should have risen straight up.

And, of course, what they did, they split

and fell back in on themselves.

We've got something out and hopefully it tastes nice.

He must turn them over and it's back in the oven to be twice baked.

OK, Jo, souffles are in for the second time, all right?

Five minutes, families.

Just five minutes.

Right, come on now, let's not get into that sweaty state again.

Oh, hello, hi!

This would be so good to take a selfie in.

I'm pleased with the sauce, actually. It tastes lovely.

-We need lamb space.

-Yes, yeah.

I'm worried it's not ready. It's not ready.

-How do you know?

-I think it is ready, Mum, don't overdo it.

Gently, please, gently out, gently, please.

Just there, please, for me.

Guys, the crowning glory.

They went to all that trouble to cook beetroot.

Lovely, little baby beetroot.

Took it up, shoved it all into ice-cold water.

-Yeah, yeah, so it's lost all that...

-So, it's lost all the flavour.

-Oh, it looks beautiful.

-They look good, don't they?

One minute to go, guys.

-All right, Mark? The duck?

-Yes.

-Is it rested?

-Yes.

-Get them all out, Faith, we've got no time.

-OK. They're coming out.

You know what? I did that the last time.

That looks good.

-Oh, Mum...

-Is that a feast or is that a feast?

Guys, is the bread ready?

We made an extra effort to make it look spectacular.

Time's up, families - step away from the plates.

Well done.

-That'll do.

-I don't think we've forgotten anything, have we?

-No.

-No.

The Bellamore family's starter is Mark's twice-baked cheese souffles,

served with a pear, walnut and pickled vegetable salad.

It actually hasn't really worked as a twice-baked souffle.

First of all, it's grainy, secondly it's too dense,

thirdly, the cheese isn't strong enough.

Where do you think you went wrong with this?

I think I over-whisked the whites.

What a shame.

You had enough time to go back and beat those eggs again.

Yeah, I'm disappointed.

For their main course,

the Bellamore family are serving duck breast

with roasted baby beetroot, mashed potatoes and red wine sauce.

This is a lovely, really clean-looking dish.

I think the duck

is extremely well cooked.

-Phew!

-Really, really perfect.

The sauce is exceptional.

Well done, Jo.

That sauce, that really makes that dish work.

-I'm really, really impressed with that.

-Thank you.

The beetroot.

I watched you. You make this delicious baby beetroot,

all that gorgeous flavour inside.

What do you go and do?

BOTH: Put it into iced water.

The idea behind that is so that it would keep its colour.

Yeah...

If anything, it's going to gain colour by cooling down in that bag,

and keeping all its flavour.

To wash it off, to wash off that flavour, unbelievable.

Criminal!

The Bellamy family's starter is Faith's dough balls,

served with an aubergine and walnut dip,

and Mojgan's stuffed vine leaves.

I have never, in all my career, seen bread displayed like that.

You made a beautiful bread.

-Oh!

-That's a sigh of relief.

-It's absolutely delicious.

It's perfectly cooked.

I'm really impressed with this.

Now for the vine leaves,

stuffed with spiced rice, lentils, minced beef and lamb.

It's a great shame.

The vine leaf is overpowering the filling.

The filling wasn't strong enough.

For their main course, the Bellamy family have cooked

a crown rack of lamb with a pistachio crust

and stuffed peppers.

Can I say, the colour looks perfect.

And this is exactly how I like it.

I think that's a really delicious piece of meat.

I thought the lamb is cooked beautifully.

Oh, my gosh.

I think it needs a little bit more work with the knife.

You should have cut off all that fat.

So that would have allowed that beautiful flavour

of the pistachio and the mustard to come through.

With all three challenges completed,

the judges must now decide which family

is going through to the semifinals.

This is a very tricky one.

I mean, we've had two great meals today.

-Well done.

-Well done!

Ha-ha! Thank you.

We've got one family who, in terms of impressing,

everything is about gorgeousness.

Whatever they've done for us, it's been almost an abundance.

-We're dying to taste yours.

-Oh, of course you can.

And we have another family excel on really coming through with flavour.

I agree.

Welcome back to the barn.

The judges have had a tough time deciding,

but they have come to a decision.

They've taken into consideration all of the dishes

that you've served up across all three challenges.

But the moment is here,

and the family staying in the competition,

and going through to the semifinal, are...

..the Bellamores.

APPLAUSE

I'm disappointed and that's all I can say. I'm quite upset,

but...we worked very hard for this.

I'm feeling upset, obviously,

just cos I know how much hard work my mum especially has put into this.

I am so proud of my girls.

They've done incredibly.

I just, I cannot believe it.

You are one of the best bakers and you did amazingly well.

The Bellamys' food presentation is great.

Unfortunately, today, it was their flavour that let them down.

Both families are great home cooks,

but the Bellamores actually had the edge.

Just fantastic - I can't believe it.

Really chuffed, actually, cos they were such great competition,

but, yeah, I'm absolutely delighted that we're through.

Well done, well done, well done, well done.

-Brilliant.

-Well done.

Mum would like to think she's the boss.

All right there, rolling pin queen? Is there a technique?

Just round and round like that.

It's just magic I've got in my hands.

LAUGHTER

This is a very improvised method of stuffing the sausage skins

without a machine.

You have to grab hold of it,

and you literally pull it at the same time.