Episode 9 Celebrity MasterChef

It's the Celebrity MasterChef semifinals.

And the best nine cooks are left.

It's brilliant to be a semifinalist.

and it certainly confirms my belief in the miraculous.

I'm loving it, cos I'm pushing myself

like I've never pushed myself before.

Over the next two nights, they will face their toughest challenges yet.

Right turn!

-Something's burning.

-SNIFFING

-Disaster stations!

-Oh, buddy!

I'm getting fatter through this competition,

because I just want to eat and try everything.

At this moment in time...

-HE LAUGHS:

-..I don't know whether I'm coming or going.

They've worked hard to get here. We want more.

We are going to bend them, shape 'em.

Now we want 'em to deliver.

'The key to all this is to turn'

stress and worry into excitement and positivity.

I'm definitely focused. This is my game face.

HE GROWLS

Tonight, the gloves are off.

Three celebrities will be going home.

It's 8am and the semifinalists are in the Yorkshire Moors.

I have no idea where we're going.

We're all thinking, "Are we going to pluck the chicken? Milk a cow?"

All we know is we've got to wear wellies.

Now I know what "wellies" are!

Ahead of them lies the village of Howarth,

famed for its cobbled streets and old world charm.

200 years ago, this was also home

to the greatest literary family in the English language.

The Brontes.

Welcome to the Celebrity MasterChef semifinals.

Behind us here is the Bronte Parsonage, where Charlotte Bronte

wrote Jane Eyre and Emily wrote Wuthering Heights.

That is a big slice of history.

You could cut your own little slice

of MasterChef history here today.

This year marks the 200th anniversary

of the birth of the eldest Bronte sister - Charlotte.

You are preparing lunch for 70 people - Bronte enthusiasts

and members of the illustrious Bronte Society.

Two teams. The first is Cherry, Richard, Audley, Sid and Tommy.

And the other team - Neil, Louise, Jimmy and Alexis.

And you, team of five, you've got an extra pair of hands,

so you've gotta make sure it's extra special.

Right, you guys, we've got a lot to do and lunch is at one o'clock.

I suggest you get a move on.

'Very excited to be in Haworth. I'm a big fan of the Brontes.'

Also very excited to see what sort of people live the world of Bronte.

If there's going to be ladies with poke bonnets

and gents with britches - all for the better.

The Bronte sisters - I mean, that's massive, isn't it?

I'm excited to be cooking for 70-odd people,

although they're probably not odd, but 70 people!

It's great to be here, but I'm not going to be able to take it in,

because I know, in a few minutes,

all I'm going to be thinking about is cooking,

and the panic that is customary for me in MasterChef.

MasterChef, panic - that's just me.

-JIMMY:

-Wow! That's awesome!

The teams will each be working from tents in the Parsonage Meadow.

-Is this us?

-This is us?

They will have three hours to prepare their Bronte feast

for 70 guests, which must include a meat,

fish and vegetarian dish, as well as a pudding.

What I want them to do is

draw inspiration from this extraordinary landscape.

These beautiful hills, the lovely valleys,

the greenness of the fields, the stone walls!

This landscape inspired literary classics.

What we've got to hope right now is, somehow,

they get inspired to cook a damn good lunch.

-Er, you do need a team leader. Has anybody decided...?

-Yeah.

-Sid's your team leader!

-CHEERING

The Red Team's ingredients include saddle of lamb, hake,

Wensleydale cheese, parsnips, sprouts, pears and rhubarb.

-We have wonderful forced rhubarb...

-Yes.

-.. which is a local ingredient,

with some pears and maybe some ginger.

-I'll make some custard.

-Lovely!

I think the biggest challenge is the fish. I think that's

-a really, really difficult thing to sort out.

-Yes.

-Fish curry?

JOHN HUMS TO HIMSELF, OTHERS JOIN IN

I think we'll be all right. I shall do the skivvying and, er, you know,

let's see how it all works out. It should be interesting.

-SID:

-'Providing we can all keep to our jobs and respect and listen'

to each other, we should be all right. I'm feeling very confident.

What do we want to do, guys?

The Blue Team's ingredients include quail, salmon, celeriac,

beetroot, spelt, plums and figs.

-ALEXIS:

-They are poussin?

-We think they're poussin.

-What's poussin?

-They could be pigeon.

-Quail I was thinking.

-They could be quail.

-They could be pigeon.

-Yeah.

You could do individual roasted quails,

or you could do a massive, like, coq au vin with them.

Figs go really well with quail.

I want you to look at the ingredients and look out there.

It's freezing cold!

-It's gotta be warming and hearty...

-LOUISE:

-Mmm!

-..and delicious!

-Yorkshire pud?

-So fish pie, maybe?

-Aren't we better there?!

You've got lunch in about two and three-quarter hours.

Work is under way and, in the Red Tent, team leader Sid has started

sawing the saddle of lamb to make Barnsley chops for his roast dinner.

I hate a bit of butchery.

My hands are freezing, I can't feel my fingers!

-SHE LAUGHS:

-He's got a saw!

-You're going to do roast potatoes and roast vegetables?

-Yeah.

-So big chunky roasty bits?

-Chunky, yeah.

-Fish main course?

-Still undecided about the fish.

What happened to the idea of the fish curry?

I like the idea of a fish curry, but I can't... If this is

all the spices we've got, I won't be able to make a curry out of that.

Sid, the oven is big enough to put the fish in whole.

I know, but what are we going to do with the fish?

That's what I'm saying - what will we accompany it with?

-Chips! Chips, fish and chips!

-Just don't worry about the fish.

Let's just crack on and prepare everything else.

Right, OK, I'll leave that for now, then.

With the fish course on the back burner,

Audley and Tommy press on with the accompaniments to Sid's roast lamb.

Peeling potatoes always takes time. It's a job you give to the newbie.

But I'm going to get these out of the way and then jump

straight into the fish, then jump straight into the custard.

-So you're doing parsnips and carrots, are you, Tommy?

-Yeah.

What else do you want, Sid?

-SID:

-No, that's fine.

-OK. All right.

Yorkshire people like to eat fish and chips and mushy peas.

Curries - well, that's a Bradford area, really -

land of the curries. They love good wholesome food.

And that's what we're doing for 'em today.

For the vegetarian, the Red Team have decided on a quiche,

which is not a bad idea at all. Cherry's doing it

and she's just about to make the pastry for the quiche.

I'm feeling the cold a lot, but for pastry, you need cold hands,

which is great, so I'm going to use it to my advantage.

Richard's taken over the dessert.

He needs to peel and poach 35 portions of pear,

which he's going to serve with rhubarb and custard.

The dessert in my last mass catering thing was an offence

against cookery, an offence against all that's decent and human.

So I'm conscious I'm really behind on pudding,

so this is going to be my best effort at that.

You need to sort out a fish dish, guys.

Sid?

Sid! You need to sort out a fish dish!

We'll decide in a minute.

But they don't even need to go in yet. We've got two hours!

The Blue Team has appointed ex-England rugby captain Neil

as team leader, who is tasked with butchering 20 quail to be

-served with a celeriac mash.

-The rest of the team

looked at me and said, "You're team leader!"

so I'm quite happy to do it.

-Ah!

-Louise is in charge of the vegetarian main

and has opted for a beetroot risotto,

but with no rice in the larder, she's decided to make it with spelt.

I'm not massively accustomed to cooking veggie dishes, um,

but I have... I have done risottos before.

Not with spelt. There's a few "nots", aren't there, going on here.

I'm making vegetable stock.

I've never made one of those before either. Am I worrying you, Neil?

It's all going to be scrumptious!

This is a photo I've always wanted to pose for.

Alexis is making a fish pie using fillets cut from the whole salmon.

A little bit stressful,

but I'm quite pleased with how this fillet's come out.

Nice fillet there, Alexis!

Ladies and gentlemen, Alexis has just filleted a salmon!

CHEERING

At the back of the tent, Jamie is tackling the first of four

pastry cases for a dessert of plum and raspberry tarts.

How do I know the quantity for this thing?

-Whose recipe are you following?

-My own in my brain.

I'm hopeful that everybody will give me a bit of input,

because, again, I'm kind of flying blind here.

The one who looks the most nervous right now is Jimmy Osmond.

Guess who's never made shortcrust pastry before?

Jimmy looks really nervous.

I think it's overworked, to be quite honest with you.

I think I've overdone it.

I'm half tempted to do another one.

Throughout the village, the Bronte Society is gathering

for the start of the bicentennial celebrations.

"My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods.

"Time will change it, I'm well aware, as winter changes the trees."

The Brontes came to Howarth Parsonage in 1820,

and it remained their home for all of their lives.

So the rooms are pretty much set out as they would have been

when the family lived here. The dining room is probably

the most important of all the rooms in the house.

It also served as a family sitting room

and it is here that the sisters did a lot of their writing.

To find three writers of genius in one family is unique in

literary history, and the sisters are ranked today as some of

the greatest novelists in the world.

-JOHN:

-Have we decided what's going on with the fish?

An hour of cooking time has gone

and Sid is still sawing away at the lamb.

I feel like I've had a workout. This is very time-consuming.

I'm not even thinking about the fish course at the minute.

I'm just trying to get this done.

There doesn't seem to be a lot of direction going on in the Red Tent.

There really, really doesn't!

There's a little confusion in the Red Team about the fish dish.

I don't know what it is yet! You don't know what it is yet!

In fact, I don't even think anybody in the Red Tent knows what the fish dish is yet!

Cherry is on track with the vegetarian quiche.

My pastry is resting in the fridge

and, in 15 minutes' time, I will blind bake it.

I'm hoping they can just go into the oven in the last 20 minutes.

-How are you doing, Richard?

-It's doing all right.

I'm just trying to find some power supplies.

I'm just creaming some sugar and some butter to make some sponge.

But I couldn't find a plughole anywhere but here.

I'm sort of doing a bit of everything, if you like.

I've done the carrots, I've done the parsnips.

Er, I'm now making custard, so I'm sort of

jack of all trades, master of none.

HE LAUGHS

Oh, no, come here!

With the clock ticking, Audley's decided to make

a start on the fish, cutting the hake up into steaks.

-How come you've taken charge of this, big fella?

-We're just, um,

under the cosh, so it's just about all the moving parts,

so I said, "Let me just take the fish, so that we just get it done."

Let me ask you - it's round six right now, where are we?

Six rounds to go. It's been a tough battle, but we're still in there,

still in there fighting, keep your head, son!

-Keep your head!

-GREGG LAUGHS

Finally, Sid's portioned all his Barnsley chops.

-Are you happier cooking the meat than you were chopping it up?

-Yeah.

-LAUGHTER

-I've gotta be, yeah!

Yeah, I'm not... I'm not a good chopper!

But with limited oven space, he's opting to individually pan fry them.

At least they can't moan about the portion size.

-OIL SIZZLES

-Can they?

-Sid?

-Yeah?

-Is there any space on there?

-Will be in a sec.

-All right, bud. How long do you need?

-Give me a few minutes. You want to get the fish going?

-Yeah.

I'm not there yet, but I'm soon going to be.

The fish is going to be cooked really quick,

so I wouldn't worry about that. Going to pan fry it or bake it?

-Er, pan-fry it.

-Right, that won't take long at all.

Well, give me the signal, give me the signal. I'll get it ready and give me the signal.

-We don't need to cook that until 15-20 minutes before.

-Yeah, yeah. OK.

The Red Team has no set plan for their hake.

But the Blue Team's salmon is poached and ready to go into

the fish pie.

This is going to be flaked and put in the tray

and then covered with mash.

-How long have the eggs been on?

-They've been on for about seven minutes.

-Do you want them black in the middle?

-No.

-Then get them off.

Behind you.

-Your fish by, how's it going?

-It's going all right.

It's a fish pie on an industrial scale, a bit tricky.

-But I think we're fine, we're good. We're OK.

-And the sense of occasion?

The sense of occasion's great!

I remember, this takes me back to my A-levels.

I did Wuthering Heights. So now, being here, I can see it.

You know, it brings it all back.

Brings the book back.

You can see the harshness, the greyness, the Heathcliff character.

I can imagine them all walking around here.

So it's great, it's great to be here.

"Another step stamped on the flooring above and something

"fell and there was silence."

-CRASHING SOUND

-U-oh...

-Are you OK?

-Sorry.

"A servant has had the nightmare, that is all.

"She's an excitable, nervous person.

"She construed her dream into an apparition,

"or something of that sort."

Just finishing off and then they're going in the oven and hopefully,

we've got time to cook them

before we need to serve them at one o'clock.

We started off pretty relaxed

and it's hitting home that the pressure's on.

So we've just got to keep it together.

Because if you start worrying and panicking,

you won't get anything done, so we're just cracking on.

While Louise's spelt risotto bubbles away,

she lends Neil a hand making the celeriac mash.

That is actually quite tasty.

-Who's your weakest team member, Neil?

-We haven't got a weak member.

-Who would you have on the subs bench?

-The game's changing.

Sometimes you have your match winner on the bench, so...

THEY LAUGH

The Blue Team's in a good place.

The quails are in the oven, bacon across the top.

The sauce for the fish pies are made.

The spelt's being cooked for the beetroot risotto.

The beetroot's almost there.

Dessert's my biggest concern right now.

It's a bit rough. Very rustic.

Hey, we're out in the rough here, it's all right.

Sometimes, don't you love it when pastries have a bit of

a rough...

Roughness, you know?

Pressed for time, Jimmy gets his tart cases on to blind bake.

What is the temperature? I don't understand Celsius.

Something's burning?

-Something...

-Is it the paper?

You all right? What's going on, guys?

-Is there a fire?

-It's a bit of a disaster.

Ooh, what happened?

-Er, I think we need to get it out.

-Yeah.

Here, I'll make some space.

-Oops.

-There we go.

Jimmy's got a bit of a problem, because he's blind baking his tarts, he put too much paper in his

tart tins and the paper caught fire, so now we've got scorched tart tins.

-Trouble, trouble, trouble. Sorry, gang.

-Well spotted.

Who would have thought that cooking paper would start on fire?

-But anyway.

-You got it under control?

-Under control now.

TRAIN WHISTLES

In one hour's time, the Bronte revellers will continue their

celebrations in one of the most treasured spaces of all.

The old schoolroom.

It was here that the Bronte children taught Sunday school.

And it also played host to

Charlotte's wedding reception in 1854.

Today, the scene is set for the sumptuous feast.

Expectations are very high. We're all very excited at the parsonage.

And I think we're hoping that the contestants are going to come up

with something which is kind of befitting the huge legacy of

the Bronte family.

-Guys, you got an hour. We've got an hour until lunch.

-Woo-hoo!

-We're looking a bit behind, by the looks of it.

-No, we're not, Chef!

-Audrey. Audrey?

-Audley, Audley!

-Audley, sorry. "Audrey".

-What's up?

-I'm ready for the fish.

-No, give me a hand here one sec.

These potatoes need to get in.

What's bothering me right now in the red tent, is the amount of stuff

that's going in the oven and the amount of oven space they've got.

What's happening with this cauliflower?

-It's going in the oven in a minute.

-With what, though?

-Cheese.

-For what?

For the lamb.

-We've got to get the fish on.

-Yeah.

Yeah, we need to get the fish on.

You don't want to... Have it sitting around.

No, it's going to go in the oven as well, so...

We want to get that on, don't we?

Once I've got this cauliflower, then I will do the fish.

OK.

-What's in the salmon? Don't tell me, cauliflower cheese?

-Yes.

-What's in this one?

-Potatoes...

-Roast potatoes?

-The quiche is on the bottom?

-Yeah.

So the quiche ain't going to be cooked unless you sacrifice

your cauliflower cheese and put it in with the potatoes.

Swap the cauliflower cheese with the quiches, please, and put the quiches in the top shelf there.

I just want them in that top oven, but they're delicate. So... OK.

-Can I stick this in here?

-OK. They're in.

With just 45 minutes until service,

it's the moment of truth for Jimmy's tart cases.

-A little soft in the middle.

-What do you think?

-What do you think?

I think that they've not turned out brilliantly.

-Would that be a fair assessment?

-Yeah.

-It would be more than a fair assessment.

-OK.

-What are we going to do?

-You know, I don't know at this stage.

-Wow. The tarts casing is going to be a construction job, aren't they?

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

-I'm thinking we should make a virtue of it.

Just crumble them up into one of these,

put a nice cream on the top, then fruit on the top of that.

You guys have got to work a plan together, so I don't see why not.

Oh, my gosh.

I still think we can salvage it.

Sometimes tragedy plus time equals humour and we're all going to

laugh about this some day.

The Red Team is also having a pastry crisis.

-It's not...

-Crispy?

-Yeah.

-It's not cooked yet.

-Shall I put it back in?

Yeah. Have you got oven space?

-Sid, is my quiche oven space still available?

-Yes.

-Thank you.

-You are up against it.

-Do I even have time to rebake it?

Well, I wonder what's going to happen if you don't.

Come on, come on. You've got to work quickly.

-Audley, can you open an oven for me, sweetheart?

-OK.

-And again...

-Thank you.

Brilliant.

Thank you so much.

You are going to have to serve in 30 minutes and it's got to be

down there in the school.

Sid's finally decided to fry off the hake.

-They don't look too clever, do they?

-They look all right.

-We've done ten extra.

-They look all right.

-Who put that... What's that?

-Ah.

Richard, that's the cake! Cake's been there too long, too high.

The communication's the key, lads!

-How many trays did you make of sponge?

-One tray of sponge.

So am I going to have time to make another one?

How long did it take you to make?

-Um, longer than I'm going to have time to get this... to serve this.

-Right.

-We don't worry about the sponge.

-We don't worry about the sponge.

-The show must go on.

-It must indeed.

-The show must go on.

-Thank you very much.

This is what we in the church call a "Damnable Inferno Sponge" and

it's not going to work, I'm afraid.

-You got about ten minutes!

-Yes, Chef!

Guys, you need to think about

your boxes and getting your logistical stuff organised.

Let's get our fish pies in a hotbox.

This is hot!

I'm expecting brilliant flavours,

incredible local produce and my taste buds to sing.

-Right, are they getting a little brown, the quiches?

-Go.

-No, no, no...

-Really?

-Yeah, they're burning.

-Take them out.

Oh, got it.

Burnt sponge! Burnt quiche!

Get the quails out and put them in a hotbox. OK, I can do that.

-The Blue Team's almost ready.

-Come on.

And Jimmy's decided to disguise his failed pastry under fruit.

I think you have pulled that out of the bag. Honestly!

We're absolutely famished.

We're all reet excited about the whole affair.

-There you go.

-"Roast lamb with Wuthering veg"! Look at this bit!

-He's on it!

-"Hake a la Rochester"!

-OK, that's done.

It's now one minute before we need to leave here.

-OK, let's get the main courses down there, please.

-Right.

-Go!

-Come back for your dessert later on.

-Are you ready, Jimmy?

-I'm ready.

Are you ready in there, Red Team?

-You are...

-Lucky!

-..a godsend!

-Jimmy?

-Yes, sir?

-You were on fire, mate.

-Yeah, literally!

-THEY LAUGH

Can I tell you the other team have gone? You need to move.

-Keep it going!

-Quite work out, this is.

-It's more than a workout.

-No pain, no gain.

-It looks lovely, doesn't it?

The Bronte sisters would be very proud of these menus.

I'm looking forward to roast lamb with "Wuthering veg"!

The bicentennial feast is finally ready.

-Hello!

-Oh, don't it look terrific!

-Hello!

There you go, darling.

The Red Team's menu includes Sid's Barnsley chops,

which are being served with roast potatoes, carrots,

parsnips, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower cheese and lamb gravy.

Anyone for fish?

The troublesome hake has been served with mash and a parsley sauce.

It's a great hake!

And Cherry's leek and Wensleydale quiche is accompanied

by a carrot, celery and raisin salad.

Thanks.

There you go.

Huge chop. Would have fed two, but it was really lovely.

Picked the right one.

This is what they call in Yorkshire "a gurt big chop".

I don't think I'm going to be able to finish it, to be honest,

but I'll do my best, I'll do my best.

-Look at that!

-That's very good.

-That's a Bronte-saurus!

Look at the size of that!

The lamb I like, because he's crisped the fat.

He's got rosemary and salt across the top, the potatoes are

cooked well, but I tell you what, it was a bit of a palaver.

Everybody was working towards the roast dinner.

The hake was excellent with the mashed potatoes

and the sauce that was with it, it was perfect.

I think the Brontes would be very happy with this.

I'm not sure if they had chard in those days, I don't know,

but we certainly know that they ate an awful lot of potatoes.

I've got a creamy sauce,

smooth mash and I've got a nicely fried fish steak.

Nowt wrong with that.

Without Audley, this dish would not have happened at all.

Leek and Wensleydale was absolutely delicious. All of it was super.

Technically, I think the pastry needs more cooking,

but I do, however, like the flavours.

It was really lovely.

When you're vegetarian and you see the word quiche,

your heart just wilts, but that was really something special.

Absolutely over the moon that they enjoyed it.

They came back for seconds! All of them!

Across the schoolroom, the Blue Team is also drawing the crowds.

Neil's quail is being served with an onion gravy, bacon,

celeriac mash and cabbage.

Can I have some quail, please?

-Of course you can.

-Thank you.

-What would you like, madam?

-Fish pie.

-Fish pie?

Also on offer are Alexis' salmon fish pie and Louise's

beetroot spelt risotto, topped with blue cheese.

Risotto? Oh, my gosh, I'm so delighted. Thank you very much.

It's a spelt risotto, so it's quite a sort of hearty taste,

I think I would say.

Never had quail before. It's lovely.

It was a really tasty and succulent,

but it's just really hard to eat and get into with a knife and fork.

I didn't want to pick it up with my fingers.

Quail with onion gravy and bacon is wholesome and hearty and warming.

Not something that a lot of people have eaten before,

and I think he's done a good job of it.

It was delicious.

Perhaps a tiny bit more salt in the fish pie,

a bit more seasoning, but, yes. But really, really nice.

I think the Brontes would have loved to have eaten it,

but I don't think they got such good food, unfortunately, poor things.

It was lovely. Yeah. And the sauce was nice inside.

And the potatoes were nice and soft. Fabulous.

Very decent creamy, hot, steaming fish pie by Alexis.

Good effort.

I think he understood the task completely and got this out with no trouble at all.

It went down rather well.

I think it's a very good fish pie.

This is great. I'd happily have this 3-4 nights a week?

THEY LAUGH

-I would. Very nice cooking.

-Everything's nice and chewy.

Spelt and beetroot with lots and lots of rosemary and thyme.

-I think it's a good idea.

-I'm a little uninspired by it.

I think spelt needs more cooking.

It's a little bit bouncy and chewy for me.

We forgot about the cauliflower cheese.

-I think there was probably enough on its own.

-Yeah, there was.

While everyone finishes their mains,

Audley is racing to finish his custard.

Hello, Audley.

We've just been completely swamped

by a rugby scrum of people in bonnets.

-Audley, what are you doing in there?

-Making custard.

-What you doing out there?

-I don't know, it's freezing.

I'm going to go to try and recover my pudding.

Having sized up the competition,

Jimmy decides to embellish his tarts.

-There's a snowstorm going on in the village of...

-That's perfect.

..the plum people.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

You're going to love this.

OK. Desserts are ready!

CHEERING

Branwell Bronte pudding, people.

Oh, yes, please.

Richard burnt his sponge, so has just served poached pears,

stewed rhubarb and raspberries with Audley's custard.

-Oh, look at this!

-Did you see how smooth that rolled on?

-Ooh, lovely!

-I hope it tastes as good as it looks.

OK, enjoy it.

And I went for the pear. And it was lovely.

Especially the custard, it was beautiful.

Roll up, roll up, we've still got custard!

Yeah, custard would be lovely.

I made this by hand, with love.

Fantastic Branwell pudding,

With the most beautiful custard made by Audley, with love.

What more could you want, really?

Yeah, they liked it, yeah!

That pair with that lovely rhubarb across the top is really, really delicious.

And the custard is wonderful.

-We're a sponge short of a triumph there, Torode.

-We are.

-You bet.

-You're supposed to say, "Can I have the phoenix tart!"

-Can I have the phoenix tart, please?

Yes, lovely! I hope you like it.

Jimmy's salvaged plum-and-raspberry tarts have been topped

with figs, chopped walnuts, blackberries and icing sugar.

Looks gorgeous, thank you.

Look, you're clearing your plate. That's a great sign!

Jimmy Osmond made my pudding!

The presentation is beautiful.

-It was really nice, but the fig was just...

-It was the first time we tried figs.

-And it was just odd.

-It had a weird texture.

-It wasn't very nice.

Without the fig, the tart would have been really nice.

That's a beautiful-tasting thing.

Pastry is sweetened and its light and it's got beautiful

fruit across the top of it.

He rescued it, and he did a really good job.

It's tart and it's sweet and it is crumbly and it's buttery and

it's very delicious indeed.

Well done! Oh, my God! Well done.

Yay!

The start of our semifinals and I have to say,

a day like this has made me really smile.

Our nine have worked really hard.

Varying degrees of success.

There were a few mistakes made along the way.

But in all, actually,

they've fed those people in that hall and did us proud.

Now, back to the MasterChef kitchen.

Three of them will be leaving us.

It's a bit like a novel, this.

You just don't know how it's going to end.

A warm welcome back to the MasterChef kitchen.

I hope that you've recovered.

In front of you is your favourite ingredient.

The ingredient that you said to us that you love to cook with.

Showcase it alongside anything else you like

from this extraordinary larder behind us.

At the end of this,

three of you will be going home.

Ladies and gentlemen, 90 minutes -

let's cook.

I want to do the best I can do,

and I think I'm getting better each time.

If this show is about teaching people how to cook and getting

a passion for it, I think I'm a good horse to bet on.

Jimmy, you're dressed like Jim Morrison.

It keeps me awake...

What are you wearing?

..and I can spill loads of things on me and you'd never know, right?

Jimmy, what's your favourite ingredient?

Well, you know, I like halibut,

but I didn't realise I was going to cut the whole thing.

And I'm going to prepare it in a couple of different ways.

At home, we kind of put it in a batter.

So, I'm going to try and if that doesn't work,

I'll have a baked one as well.

You're not sure, right now, how your dish is going to end up?

I have a plan, but I have a plan A and a plan B,

and I'm doing to go forward with both and see what works.

Richard, what is your favourite ingredient?

My favourite ingredient is haggis.

-You're not a Scotsman?

-I've got some Scottish heritage,

but I've spent a lot of my life in Scotland and a lot of my life

has been mixed up with Scottish people and I love haggis.

So, that's why I'm it cooking today.

I was describing it to Jimmy Osmond and he thought it was like

something you'd scrape off a road in Utah, but actually, it's delicious.

Richard's idea, I think, is an extraordinary one.

He's going to encase little bits of haggis, which he's making into a mousse,

with straw potatoes around the outside and then deep fry them,

like a lovely Chinese dumpling.

I think, maybe, this'll work and I certainly hope I'll get some brownie points for originality -

although that can go horribly wrong, of course.

30 minutes have gone.

You've got one hour left.

My absolute favourite ingredient is scallops - "scollops", whatever you want to call them -

but, I don't have them very often because my husband's allergic to them.

Have you put favourite plate of scallops you can remember.

Oh, there's just so many!

Erm, there is one particular one, that I've had in Cornwall,

which I'm trying to re-enact.

I'm going to do it with a pesto mash, hopefully on a bed of wild garlic as well.

So, the mash, the wild garlic, the scallops and, hopefully,

some bacon on the top.

Is there too much going on?

What I have learnt in the competition is that I doubt myself.

I must try not to do that. I must go with what I think is right.

I should not be a doubting Thomas.

I'm a bit worried about the fact that somebody might be going home today.

It could quite possibly be me.

Tommy's favourite ingredient is chicken.

He's got bacon, paprika inside that stuffing

and on top of that chicken, he's put honey.

I love chicken. That was about the only thing that we could afford

when I were growing up, so I've grown up with it all my life.

-You love chicken.

-Yeah, I do.

-I think we all love chicken.

How are you cooking yours today?

I've spiced it up and, at this moment in time,

it's very near to perfection,

and it's all looking pretty good.

Your chicken's near to perfection, if you say so yourself, right, Tom?

Correct.

I absolutely love cooking with salmon. I cook with it all the time.

My kids love it, it's healthy, you can do it in so many ways.

It's just always in my fridge.

I'm going to cook my socks off today.

I'm going to try and make the flavours work together,

whilst also not being too safe and boring.

Cherry is putting with her salmon

lots of things that she likes to eat.

We have got crushed potatoes,

we've got tomatoes, pine nuts and bacon

and we've got cauliflower puree.

I'm sure she doesn't like to eat them all together.

What's your favourite ingredient, Alexis?

It's chicken thighs.

What is it about it?

I think dark meat absorbs more flavour.

I think chicken breast is dull, really dull.

Sure.

You look in control.

Do you know what? I realised the whole panic thing

wasn't working for me.

I was forgetting stuff.

So, I made a plan. Stick to the plan.

Just hope it's good enough.

He's going to serve chicken thigh with skordalia,

one of my favourite things in the whole world.

It's a mashed potato, flavoured with lots and lots of garlic and

olive oil, and it gives you a really big kick of flavour.

I don't want John and Gregg to think I'm a one-trick pony.

You know, "Oh, he can only cook Greek food."

But, it's the flavours I'm more comfortable with.

I don't think an invention test is the time to go,

"Oh, yeah, I think I'm going to put coconut with a bit of cucumber and lime.

"Yeah, I think that'll work."

This is not the time.

So, my favourite ingredient is plantain.

It is a bit of a comfort food.

It does remind me of my Jamaican parentage.

Both my mum and dad were born in Jamaica.

They came to England in the '60s.

So, you know, there was always a plantain floating around.

Audley's dish is sort of a Thai curry of prawns with coconut milk,

served on top of a sweet potato and plantain mash.

I hope he's got lots and lots of spice in that dish.

Last time we put you through, you did a lap of honour.

Yeah.

How would you celebrate today?

May be a lap of honour

and a song

and a little dance.

You know, if I go through, we're going to get a little crazy.

Guys, you've got 20 minutes left.

-What's your favourite ingredient, Sid?

-I've chose mackerel.

-Why mackerel?

-Cos I think it's a little bit underrated.

I like to cook it. It's a breakfast thing. Lunch. Dinner.

It's, er, multipurpose.

And the competition - tell me about how you feel about the competition?

I'm feeling good. I mean, obviously, I don't want to go.

I love cooking and I feel that I want to learn more. You know?

I want to step it up a gear.

The mackerel has to be the centre stage.

He's baking it and he's going to serve it in a broth,

almost like an Asian noodle soup.

I don't want just a bowl of soup with a few bits of mackerel across the top.

I want to taste the mackerel.

My favourite ingredient is fillet steak.

I'm cooking a traditional dish, steak and chips,

but obviously, because it is simple,

to get through I've got to do things

a bit special with it.

And if you did get through?

I'd be on the phone to my wife probably crying again,

that I've only gone and done it.

Which I've done at every stage.

It's emotional, yeah.

He's going to do a peppercorn sauce,

traditionally made with the meat juices,

and then you flame the plan - to deglaze it - with brandy.

Neil's going to use whisky, which is fine,

as long as the whisky's not too strong.

Last five minutes.

Amazing, in a kitchen of nine cooks you could hear a pin drop.

There seems to be this nervous silence going on.

Everybody, their head down

and they're trying to make the best dish.

Final 60 seconds, ladies and gentlemen!

That's it. Stop, please, stop.

For his place in the final six,

Jimmy has cooked halibut, which he served with mash,

courgettes, carrots, wild garlic

and a dill yoghurt sauce.

Your fish is cooked really nicely.

-Really?

-And I really like the smoothness of your mashed potato.

I think your vegetable medley is just chopped up too small.

-I think you could afford to make it a bit bigger.

-OK.

That sauce you've made is absolutely lovely and it shows

a really good balance of sourness, sharpness from vinegar

and it's packed full of dill.

Jimmy, somehow try and tidy up these plates

because your touch and your palate are sound.

THEY LAUGH

Neil's ingredient of choice was fillet steak,

which he served with triple-cooked chips, onion rings,

mushrooms, tomatoes

and a whisky peppercorn sauce.

That sauce looks very liquid to me.

It needs thickening up.

I'd like a crack of seasoning,

pepper and salt across the top of that steak.

I would want my steak cooked more than that.

Love those mushrooms.

Little bit of butter on there and they're bursting full of flavour,

but that sauce is an issue.

It needs to coat a piece of beef, doesn't it?

You need to be able to dip a chip in it.

Your sauce isn't just thin, I don't like the whisky in it.

I find that peatiness of the whisky with the chips really quite weird.

It's almost floral, almost fruity in its own way,

and I think that's misplaced with the steak.

The sticking point is the sauce

and I knew it would be at the start of the dish.

You know, I didn't get it quite as good as I hoped to.

Richard chose to use haggis,

which he deep-fried in spiralised potato,

accompanied by spiralised turnip and a whisky cream sauce.

I think it looks great.

The peaty whisky sauce is delicious with that haggis.

And then a little bit of sharpness

from your raw turnip with the vinegar, I think it's great.

-I really, really like it, but that's just me.

-Thank you.

I love the potatoes around the haggis so much,

I'd like a lot more.

In saying that, I think that's a very, very good dish.

The whole thing is really, really clever. I think it's a knockout.

Thank you.

I think what I'm most encouraged by is that

they seem to applaud my efforts to make the food a bit prettier

because I'm not a great person for that, really,

and I really did try on this one.

Louise's dish was designed around scallops,

which she's topped with bacon and served in a curried cream sauce

alongside pesto mash, wild garlic,

carrots and courgettes.

Your scallops are cooked really nicely and with the bacon

and that curry-like sauce with the white wine,

I think that's lovely,

and then you throw a big hunk of mashed potato

-with that tinny-ness that comes with basil, that just doesn't work.

-OK.

I completely and utterly agree.

But you have got some really lovely colour on the top of those scallops

and you've cooked them well, as well as a chef would,

and that sauce is divine.

Thank you.

They said about the scallops, and I'm really, really pleased,

because I don't get to cook scallops very often,

that I cooked them as a chef would.

I can't be more pleased than that.

Tommy's chicken breast has been

filled with paprika-spiced Greek yoghurt, wrapped in bacon

and coated in honey,

and served with new potatoes,

carrots and a cheese sauce.

The chicken itself is cooked nice

and I like that filling with the yoghurt and spices

and for me, I'm sitting somewhere in India,

and then I start having the potatoes with the cheese sauce

and I think maybe it's sort of French.

I don't really like the flavours very much, Tommy, I'm sorry to say.

OK, all right.

-That sauce is a little rich for me, a little bit too much cheese.

-OK.

And I think you're another one here that needs to work on presentation.

Sure. Thank you.

Hopefully, if I'm still here, I will try twice as hard

to get the presentation right.

Deep down, I think that's what sort of spoiled it, really.

Sid's favourite ingredient is mackerel,

which he shredded and served with prawns in a Thai noodle soup

made with carrots, courgettes,

coconut milk, lemongrass,

chilli and ginger.

Every single part of your mouth is full of this extraordinary flavour.

I don't believe it's necessarily showcasing the mackerel,

-but it's very, very, very tasty indeed.

-Thank you.

He's got a point, Sid.

I don't think anyone would describe that as a mackerel dish.

However, it's a very nice, tasty dish.

Anybody would enjoy those flavours, Sid. They are really good.

Thank you.

Where did you learn stuff like that?

Just made it up as I went along.

They were quite happy with the actual end product, the dish,

the flavours, the taste, so it should be enough.

Cherry chose to work with salmon,

which she pan-fried and served with crushed new potatoes,

cauliflower puree, roast tomatoes

and a garlic mayonnaise.

You crisped up the skin on the salmon and then you turned it over,

so the skin goes soggy again.

Which is frustrating because I really tried to

make the skin really crispy.

For me, the salmon is cooked absolutely perfectly.

Your potatoes are really tasty with your garlic mayonnaise.

However, I don't like the cauliflower puree and roast carrots

because fish is a lovely, salty flavour of the sea

and I think that sweet root vegetable doesn't work.

Not for me, I'm sorry.

I'm not convinced that all works together.

You would lose that fish with the garlic and a cauliflower puree.

It didn't go brilliantly, just together it was too much,

and I can totally see what they're saying.

Audley's favourite ingredient is plantain, which he pan-fried

and added to a sweet potato mash

served with prawns, cherry tomatoes,

carrots, courgettes

and a coconut curry sauce.

It does look a bit rough.

However, the plantain you've done in two different ways,

in the mash with the sweet potato, I think that's great,

that's stopped it being really sweet and become more mealy

and I think that's delicious,

and the way you've just fried the plantain on the side,

they're lovely.

I really like those vegetables in that sauce

with those baked potatoes

and I think we've got a very colourful, interestingly,

nicely flavoured thing,

but you got to smarten this thing up, mate.

As you're moving towards the final, everything has to be right,

so I can't let my presentation lag behind the quality of my cooking

and the taste of the cooking,

so I've really got to focus on that if I get through.

Alexis' favourite ingredient is chicken thighs,

which he pan-fried and served with skordalia - garlic mash -

topped with beetroot with aubergine,

leeks and a garlic mayonnaise.

It's not a plate.

It's a collection of things, but those things taste damn fine.

Let me tell you.

That chicken is moist, it's lovely, the aubergines are perfectly cooked,

they are soft but they've got tonnes of seasoning on them as well.

That skordalia is a delight.

It's citrusy but it's packed full of garlic.

It's almost hot, it's got so much garlic in it.

I would happily munch the living daylights out of all of that.

Thank you.

It's robust, it's gutsy, it's proper food.

Every single thing on that plate is absolutely delicious.

It went a lot better than I expected.

I'm hopeful but I don't want to...

feel too secure just yet.

MasterChef semifinal's always going to be tough.

I think we've got to be realistic

about who can cope with the rest of the competition.

I believe three of them have done more than enough to march

straight through to the next round.

Alexis...

..Richard...

..and Sid.

I totally agree. As for the rest of them, I think it's a tough decision.

Three cooks will be going home.

I cooked my heart out.

I just don't know if I'm going to go through with that.

Looking at all the other contestants,

I think I'd better start packing.

I'm really hoping that they remember that most things they've liked,

so I really want them to let me stay.

Everything's there for a reason.

Everything happens for a reason

and if I go home, the reason is I wasn't good enough.

I just hope that you look back on this with a certain amount of pride

because all of you have been great.

We said that we could only take the best cooks through.

The three cooks leaving us are...

..Tommy...

..Cherry...

..and Neil.

-Cheers.

-See you round.

-Thanks, guys.

-Thank you. Thank you, thank you.

Good luck! Oh, my God, good luck!

It's probably right that I went today because I believe

the guys that are left in - better knowledge of cooking than I have.

I would have liked to have fought on

but it's the way it goes.

I don't think I'm ever going to forget it.

So full-on!

Oh, my God, what an amazing experience.

There's base jumping and there's driving fast cars

and then there's MasterChef. Oh, my God!

THEY CHEER

He's doing the lap again!

To make it to the last six is a big surprise, hugely welcome.

I'm very happy right now.

That's unbelievable!

Way to go, vicar!

I'm getting a little emotional.

I already had the farewell speech prepared.

CHEERING

I feel I've made it by the skin of my teeth

but I am going to focus now.

I really need to focus and get on with it properly.

We're really close to the final.

I'm really gunning now for that final place.

Tomorrow night, it's the last of the semifinals,

and it's a battle for a place in finals week.

Oh, it's gone all over the side!

Don't worry, most of it's going in.

HE SHOUTS A COMMAND

Quick march!

That is beautiful.

I think this could convert me into rarer meat.