Episode 9 Celebrity MasterChef

16 celebrities are battling it out

to win the coveted MasterChef crown.

How much do I want to win? I think you know the answer!

These celebrities have already reached the top of their profession.

But can they cut it in the kitchen?

I'm really happy that I made it through the first stage. I didn't expect to.

I would love to lift the MasterChef trophy.

At Wembley!

Cooking doesn't get tougher than this.

DRAMATIC MUSIC

All this week, these three celebrities

have been set challenges to determine their expertise.

At the end of the week, only the best will go through to the semi-finals.

Today, they'll be thrown in at the deep end,

cooking to professional standards in a busy London restaurant.

I've got upstairs shouting and screaming for their food.

Then they'll have to show John and Gregg what they've learnt.

It's still so early in the game.

I'm just kind of taking it stage by stage.

I'm trying to lift my self-esteem

that I am as good as anyone else in the competition.

I have no idea how I'm doing.

To me, this is a bit like golf, I've got to just play my own game.

It's 9am

and Margi, Aggie and Tim

are heading to a restaurant kitchen for the first time.

I've eaten at a lot of London restaurants and I'm thinking,

"I wonder if I've ever eaten at this place." I'm really excited.

I'm a little bit intimidated

because I know we've got to cook blind, in a way.

They might hit me with a dish that I've never even looked at.

To me, the kitchen's always too hot and too much stress going on,

but it'll be exciting to see if I can handle it.

They've been sent to ORA...

..a modern Thai restaurant in London's busy West End,

where they'll be cooking under head chef Tamas Khan.

Welcome to ORA restaurant. Everything's cooked fresh to order.

You have to be quick and fast. We have high standards.

I'm expecting every one of you to keep up with us.

Follow me.

Actress Margi Clarke is cooking a starter

of grilled chicken skewers with a satay sauce.

We're going to put chicken satay now on the grill.

Four pieces.

-How many minutes does it normally take?

-Two minutes on each side.

Two minutes on each side, yes.

Keep it low. Let it cook slowly. You don't want them burning.

-It's ready to go.

-That's ready.

-You don't want them to be overcooked and dry.

-You want to keep that nice juicy flavour in.

-Put one on top of each other. This goes straight through.

-Oh, yes.

That goes straight through. And then it's done.

We get the plate ready.

-Peanut sauce, about one ladle.

-One ladle.

-Yes.

Cucumber relish. We're going to plate that.

That looks lovely, Tamas.

Do you get a lot of orders at once?

Yes. Sometimes we get five chicken satay coming through,

sometimes we get eight or ten.

So...

-I hope that it doesn't happen today.

-It will.

Mm! It's not like what you get out the chippy.

It's absolutely lovely.

It doesn't look too complicated. She says...

..before she messes it all up!

Television presenter and journalist Aggie MacKenzie

is responsible for a main course of pad Thai prawn.

When they shout, they say "Pad Thai prawn."

If they say, "One Pad Thai prawn" you give me one portion.

-What if you say five?

-Tough.

This is the wok. As you can see, the burner is very, very high.

-You need to control your flame.

-Yes.

-Just let that prawn seal.

-Mm-hm.

-You don't want to overcook the prawns.

-No, no.

The key ingredient is egg. Now we turn the heat up.

-You don't want to cook the egg too long.

-Yes.

-Now the noodles go in.

-Yes.

Turn the heat up.

-So you need to play with it. Toss it around.

-Yes.

-This is the pad Thai sauce.

-Lovely.

-Palm sugar. Tamarind, sweet turnip.

-Sweet turnip?

-Sweet turnip.

As you can see, they start changing colour.

It's ready.

-Right in the centre.

-Yes.

-Keep your prawn on the top.

-That's all I want from you. OK?

-Oh, my God! Right...

'Tamas on the wok, obviously he's making it look really easy.'

I think, "That looks fine. I can do that."

But there's only so fast you can go.

I've got to do it as fast as possible and focus as much as possible.

Television presenter Tim Lovejoy is in charge of a main course

of Thai green chicken curry.

Is there fresh coriander in this?

-There's fresh coriander in the curry paste.

-OK.

This is a Thai restaurant. We use a lot of fresh coriander.

I really don't like it. But it's in there, so it should be OK.

Chicken goes in. The wok's nice and hot.

What we need now, we need to seal the chicken.

This is the secret to get the flavour out.

I put in a little bit of coconut cream.

Now, what we need is the green curry paste.

You want to fry that.

Bamboo shoots, Thai aubergine.

You want the chicken to be cooked. Make sure it's cooked. You don't want to kill anyone.

It's ready.

Let's hope I can do it as good as that. That is phenomenal.

There's just two hours to get everything prepped, ready for service.

-I don't want to call an ambulance.

-Show me. I know.

Come on, my little baby. I want you out of there.

Tim starts on the vegetables for his green curry.

I enjoy prep. Prep's the best bit of cooking, I think.

This is the therapeutic bit of the cooking. It's the quiet before the storm.

Aggie has to exactly portion every serving of pad Thai

ready for the wok.

First time, I'm bang on the nail!

It seems very calm, but then it is only quarter to 12.

I'm sure there's going to be... It'll warm up soon enough.

Right, guys. Service is going to start now.

Are you ready to order?

-All right, guys. Let's go.

-Here we go!

Chicken satay to start, please.

-Chicken satay to start.

-Can I have the chicken satay?

-MISPRONOUNCIATION

-Maggie!

-Yes?

-I got three chicken satay.

-Thank you, Chef.

-Maggie.

-Yes, Chef?

-I got another two chicken satay.

-That makes five portion altogether, yes?

-Did you say five, Chef?

-Yes.

Right, get this on.

That's ready.

-Maggie, how long for satay?

-Erm, we'll be one minute.

That's not good enough.

-Let's go.

-Two, three, four. We have another one.

I can't send this up.

We've got too much cucumber, too much salad, too much chilli.

I want them to be equal. Replate that for me.

Every single plate should be the same.

-Are we ready with the satay?

-It's ready now.

It's been 15 minutes since the order came in.

These need to go. They only take four minutes to cook.

Put it down here for me. I need one more.

I got upstairs shouting and screaming for the food.

-There you go.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

The adrenalin's running,

but there's no orders!

Aggie! You've got two pad Thai prawn.

-Yes, Chef! I've got an order!

-Go!

Aggie, can you make me one new one? There's not enough salt in there.

There's not enough salt. There's not enough flavour.

He's saying not enough salt, John and Gregg say far too much salt.

I don't know where I am on the season, do I?

This time, Aggie's determined to get the recipe right.

Mm, that's good.

But already, the orders are stacking up.

Table six!

One pad Thai prawn. One green chicken curry.

Aggie, I'm waiting for you. Pad Thai.

This is impressive, isn't it?

-Leave your wok on and turn the heat down.

-OK.

Turn the heat down. That way, yes. Completely down.

-Yes, much better. I want another portion.

-Yes, Chef!

-Quick as you can.

-Yes, Chef!

The heat's on. The heat is definitely on.

Table six, main.

Tim, one green Thai chicken curry.

Yes, Chef!

I'm trying to remember it all. It's going over in my mind. Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.

-Is that OK?

-Did you taste it?

-Yes. It's nice.

-Good?

-Yes.

-Right, let's go.

-Tim!

-Yes?

-I think I just lost my job.

-Keep it coming like this.

-Brilliant. Thank you.

-What would you like, sir?

-The satay.

-And the satay, as well.

Maggie, can I have three chicken satay to go?

Yes, Chef.

-Maggie!

-Yes?

-You got one more chicken satay to go.

You've got two chicken satay to go.

Margi now has six orders on.

Try and get on it a little bit better than I did last time.

I want to impress the chef.

How long for the satay?

Er, two minutes?

-Can I give you a tip?

-Yes.

-Just drag it so you get it clear.

-OK.

-There's no dripping.

That dripped.

Can I have six chicken satay to go?

-Six! Thank you, Chef!

-Thank you.

I need these to go.

Here you go, Chef.

For your inspection...

-That's looking much better.

-I'm getting the hang of it now.

How come I don't get that first time? How come it takes so long?

This is really delicious.

I'm delighted. Happy days.

It's like someone getting the ale in in a pub, isn't it?

-Three pad Thai prawn to go.

-Yes, Chef.

-I want to see three coming out together.

Slow, slow, slow. Slower than normally.

Normally, by now, we should be halfway through this ticket.

It's having to do it at speed, that's the thing.

That looks messy! Messy.

We've got five more portions for her to come in. See how she copes.

Aggie, when you've finished with that one,

you've got five pad Thai prawn to go.

-Yes, Chef!

-Thank you.

-Another five. Oh, my God.

-Listen, darling. It doesn't look good to me.

-Really?

-You don't put enough sauce, you don't mix them enough.

-Yes.

-Can you redo this for me?

-OK.

-Aggie!

-Yes?

What you do is lovely, but you're too slow.

I'm going to ask you to step on the side for a bit. Let the chef take over.

-OK? I need to get this food out the kitchen.

-OK. Right.

I had five orders at once and I got two out and, er,

she's doing the other three.

With the rush over, Aggie has another chance to redeem herself.

-I want one pad Thai.

-Yes, Chef!

Tad... Pat... Tat... What's it called? Pad Thai, Chef!

-Aggie!

-Yes?

If you can keep it like this, you get a job in my kitchen.

Great. Lovely. I'll try and do that.

I sort of feel fine.

I could make these all day now. As long as I don't get five at a time.

The pad Thai is wonderful. It tastes really fresh. The prawns are delicious.

This is really beautiful.

The prawns are really juicy and the tofu is lovely, as well.

As the end of service approaches, Tim's earlier success is about to be tested by a large order.

To go, three portions together, to go.

-Now?

-Yes. To go now, yes.

-OK.

-Tim. I think your curry's too dry.

-Too dry?

You don't put enough coconut milk in there. They come too thick.

He's only got minutes to get it right.

Come on, Tim. Come on.

-How long for that green curry?

-Coming now, Chef.

Tim, you just saved yourself.

Thank you, Chef!

For a beginner, if you can do it like this,

I think I'd better start looking for a new job.

-Very, very good.

-Thank you. Thanks, Chef.

Every time, I'm thinking, "Am I doing it right?"

You know, it's an art to get it just right.

I'm really impressed. I think this one's fantastic.

It's hot, it's fresh. Yes, it's good.

It's possibly one of the best I've ever eaten.

It's the end of the service. Let me say thank you very much.

Maggie, I think, there is a bit panicking going on there.

When her nerves settled down after that big order coming in, I think she got better and better.

I really enjoyed that.

It was a bit hectic at the beginning, but by the end, he was very pleased with me.

And I didn't burn the chicken!

Aggie started off with a very shaky start.

She doesn't know where to begin. I think she proved towards the end that she can do it.

It was mixed. I think I lost my way a little bit.

I think once I got the hang of it, it was manageable.

Tim done very well.

For a European to come in an Oriental kitchen

and learn how to cook Thai food in half a day - amazing.

I really enjoyed the challenge. Wanted to cook more really. I'd like to carry on.

Lunch service is over. But the celebrities now face another challenge -

to cook head chef Tamas's signature dish.

-We call it...

-HE SPEAKS THAI

A scallop stir fry with a chilli oil.

The key to this dish is controlling the heat of the wok.

To start, the oil must be heated to 300 degrees.

But once the scallops go in, the wok has to be turned down.

You don't do anything to it. Just leave it. Let it seal.

The scallop is really delicate and it's not easy to cook.

Turn up the heat.

Now let it cook. Too much chilli oil will kill it.

Not enough will be too bland.

This is very quick. Very fast.

-It was 30 minutes with the scallops -

-AGGIE: Seconds.

-Seconds! Sorry.

30 minutes, you'll probably see your scallop disappear!

That's pretty much it, really.

I'm just getting the vegetables ready.

I think this is what he did. He just had a couple of bits in there.

Yes, that's enough for one person.

Just get the wok going.

I think I feel quite confident about the wok.

I feel it's my friend. It's fine.

Chilli...

Ohh, I can smell it. It's gone right up my nose!

I'm sort of happy with it. It looks a little bit gloopy.

Anyway, it might be OK. It might be all right.

The scallop is well cooked.

The sauce is just there.

You pay attention to the garnish, that's the way I want it.

-I'm impressed.

-Ohh!

-Well done.

-Thank you!

-Can I give you a little hug?

-Thank you.

Thank you. That's made my day!

I'm pathetically thrilled! I really am so chuffed!

It's great. He didn't say anything negative at all.

It's lovely.

I think he said at the end, "That's how I would cook it." Get me!

That's ready. Let's get the wok going.

It's on high.

One, two, three,

four, five.

Ooh. I don't think you're supposed to set the wok on fire.

Start again.

That's twice I've set it on fire!

I've never cooked scallops before.

I don't think it's as good as his.

I'm not sure whether I've done enough sauce.

But it's my best effort. It doesn't look too bad.

The taste is there, the flavour is there.

The only thing I would say, it's a bit dry.

The scallops have been overcooked. That's why you can see them getting tough now.

The chilli oil is very powerful. You don't put enough stuff, it overpowers the dish.

-OK.

-It overpowered the dish.

I made an obvious mistake. I set fire to the equipment!

I'm a touch glum about that,

because if that wok hadn't have gone on fire,

that would've been one juicy dish.

Cook time!

I'd like to impress the chef, now I've spent the day with him.

This is the hard bit. This is the bit where you've got to get the temperatures right.

I've never done wok-cooking before,

but I'm going to get myself a wok once I've left here.

I've found my home here.

I'm a bit worried that I might've just undercooked it a bit.

Oh, well.

I'm tempted to replate it

because the sauce is on the bottom and not the top.

Whether you like it or not, I'm replating it!

I'm going to run to the chef now.

Scallop - perfectly cooked.

And you can see the sauce has run out.

That's perfect.

-It's brilliant. Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

-Thank YOU! Brilliant!

I got the "P" word - perfect! How about that?

D'you know, I'm absolutely made up. That's really good.

I just think that's, you know...

I feel like an excited little schoolboy impressing his teacher!

To be told mine was perfect was just brilliant. It made me feel really happy.

Mixed feelings, really.

Loved the experience, it was great being in their kitchen,

but I didn't quite pull it off.

Liked it, loved it, wouldn't mind coming back here for some scoff.

Raring to go. Looking forward to the next challenge.

I sort of feel like I'm getting into the swing of it a bit more.

I really enjoyed today. It was my sort of cooking.

It's quick. You don't stick it in the oven for half an hour.

Get it on! Get it made. Get it out. Eat it. Beautiful food.

Good to see you back.

Now we need to see what you've learnt

from your time in ORA.

On the benches next to us are a beautiful set of ingredients,

and those ingredients can be found throughout Asia.

Two dishes inspired by your time in that restaurant.

Come up and select your ingredients.

The selection includes pork fillet,

langoustines, chicken thighs,

coconut milk, rice papers,

beansprouts and pineapple.

I don't know.

Five minutes left to select your ingredients.

I'm just taking every ingredient!

OK, one hour 15 minutes. Two dishes inspired by your time in the restaurant.

Let's cook.

I just want today

to taste the unmistakable flavours of Thailand, John.

They have to really work hard. They've got to deliver something truly delicious.

Margi's a mum, she likes to cook for her family, John. I like her cooking.

There's nothing wrong with that. It's real and it's from the heart.

-It's lovely. Really good bowl of Scouse.

-You make me want to cry!

I'm number blind. I was at the back of the class for maths.

We need to see a little bit of style and elegance from her.

Margi, you worked in the most extraordinary mess.

How that appeared here, I have no idea.

My nerves are gone. It's got me up the pole.

I don't want to throw away the opportunity.

It only comes once in a lifetime,

so you want to give it your best shot.

Margi, how did you enjoy your time in the restaurant?

It was hot, it was furious.

They had everything prepped up first,

because it's fast cooking,

and so I took that as a tip.

-Is that the way you're going to work today?

-Yes.

What are you making for us?

A chicken dish, and I'm going to have a go at the king prawns.

Never had a go at them before.

-A chicken stir fry?

-Yes.

-And a prawn...?

-Two stir fries.

-One chicken, one prawn.

What are you going to do to differentiate between these two dishes?

I've not worked that out yet.

I've got to try and come up with that in a minute!

-How tough is it for you?

-It's really tough.

I slipped a bit in the restaurant,

a slight disadvantage that I'm hoping to make up today.

I'm worried for Margi. She's doing two stir fries.

She'd better manage to get some big, big flavours in there, John.

45 minutes!

Tim... He's observed a lot of really good cooking.

He knows what good food should taste like.

Boom, boom, shake the room! The sauce is absolute wizard.

But he doesn't have the practical experience.

Your custard is beginning to curdle.

That should've come off the heat before.

I don't know how to make crumble!

-Tim?

-Yes.

You had a brilliant round in the kitchen.

-I enjoyed it.

-And now you look a bit nervous again.

I'm all right when people tell me what to do, but as soon as I have to think myself...

I just don't have the knowledge,

so I'm slightly nervous and scared about what I'll produce.

My biggest problem is,

I'm looking for some nice herbs and the herb that I hate most is coriander.

I can't make anything with coriander because it's horrible.

-Tim.

-Yes?

-What are your two dishes?

I'm going to try and do

a porky-style stir fry sort of pancake thing with soy sauce on them.

-Don't look so confused.

-How do you stir fry a pancake?

-No, no. I'll stir fry it and then make it into a pancake.

-OK, Tim!

Then I'm going to try and make some sort of delicious coconutty-style langoustine curry.

What could the issues possibly be?

Erm, that I don't know how to make the curry!

Thai green curry - brilliant.

As long as he makes sure that it's balanced very well.

His other dish, the rice paper rolls between pancakes,

he doesn't know what he's doing and he's experimenting up there right now!

That could spell disaster.

This thing wasn't hot!

I honestly have no strategy.

It's a blank canvas. I have no idea what to do, what I'm going to do.

Every time I come in here, I think, "This is the day I get found out."

Just over 15 minutes,

then we want Thai food on the bench!

Aggie, we know, has a wealth of experience and knowledge.

-It's delicious.

-Oh!

That custard is heaven.

But right now, she is just not confident in her own abilities.

I would love your butterscotch sauce just to be a little bit deeper and darker.

Trust your instincts.

I don't know what I need to prove to John and Gregg.

For me, I think it's about holding my nerve

and doing the best I can.

Aggie, you seem very tense today.

I'm always tense! I always worry.

-What about?

-I think, because it matters.

-How much Thai cooking have you done before?

-Very little.

I do bits. My boys love Thai food. I can be at the cooker and the little one will go,

"You're not putting that with THAT, are you? Move over!

And then something wonderful appears and I think, "I wish I could do it like that!"

So I'm having to think about what Ewan would be doing.

-Using your son as inspiration!

-Yes!

-Fantastic.

-What are you cooking for us?

-Stir-fried pork with, erm, fragrant rice.

And caramelised pineapple with a chocolate sauce.

-Acidic pineapple, sweet, sticky sauce and chocolate...

-Mm-hm.

-Interesting.

-Now I'm doubting it. Now I'm seriously doubting it.

What do you have to do today? What do you want to show us?

Everything on the plate looking nice, tasting fantastic.

-That's pretty much MasterChef in a nutshell.

-That's what we've got to do.

Can I do it? I don't know. We'll see.

What's going on? She's doing pineapple and chocolate sauce!

Pineapple and chocolate sauce! Really?!

Five minutes left! Last five minutes!

You've got about 30 seconds left to finish your plates.

That's it! Time's up!

Margi's made two stir fries.

The first is a langoustine stir fry with fish sauce.

There's sweetness in there and there's real sauciness in there.

It tastes a little bit muddled.

It looks like you've chucked it all in a pot and stirred it.

I'm a bit of a scruff, aren't I? I need to go to a finishing school.

A really pungent saltiness coming from the fish sauce, which I like.

I got a lovely big hunk of chilli,

so I've got spiciness on the back of my throat.

I like those flavours. Your veg are just a little bit overcooked.

Right, that's your stir fry. Let's have a look at the stir fry!

Margi's second dish

is stir-fried chicken with oyster sauce.

Mm! Mmm!

-Whey-hey!

-SHE LAUGHS

Cowabunga! This is much, much better.

We've got saltiness, loads of ginger and real heat.

Listen, you've got to make your food look prettier, because that is great!

It's like a diamond ring in a carrier bag!

It's such a pleasant surprise. It's so lovely.

It's got the wonderful heat of those big hunks of chilli. Really nicely-cooked chicken.

Really good. I'm really pleased, because it's not the food which you naturally cook.

I do try to do my best and I do try to put feeling into it.

I think the secret ingredient in any dish is love.

When John and Gregg give you a compliment, honest to God, you feel as big as a house.

But the same thing is catching me out time and time again,

and that's to make it look as beautiful as it tastes.

Tim has invented a crispy chilli pork

and Thai veg rice-paper wrap

with a soy and chilli dipping sauce.

Your spring rolls promise a lot and don't quite deliver.

Inside that spring roll needs a little bit more of something, a herb, or whatever it might be.

Your sauce of just the soy and the chopped chilli

is a little bit strong.

But for me, a really inventive, interesting dish,

something coming out of your mind at this stage of the competition.

Good on you. Really good.

Once you've got the saltiness of all that soy, everything else is just a texture.

That sauce is whoa!

That's just like drinking from a bottle of soy.

His second dish is a langoustine green curry.

Probably the first person in the history of the world

to make a Thai curry without coriander in it.

For that, I doff my hat to you!

Creamy coconut base, wonderful fragrant rice,

enough chilli to give me a little bit of a kick.

I... I would like a lot more chilli,

but that's me.

I like the flavours,

ginger, saltiness, a little bit of sweetness, as well.

-That I like.

-I think you've done very, very well.

Honestly, when I stood there to begin with,

I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do.

So, er, I'm quite impressed with how far I've actually come.

Aggie's made pork stir fry with fragrant rice,

and caramelised pineapple with chocolate sauce.

It looks to me as though all the work has gone into your savoury dish

-and very little has gone into your second dish.

-I kept it simple!

I really like your lemon grass- flavoured fragrant rice.

It's really well seasoned. It's delicious.

Your pork stir-fry dish is halfway between a curry and a stir fry.

I like the cleanness of the dish, I like the crispness of the dish,

but it is erring on the side of over-seasoned.

Mm. Ginger is what I love in there. Absolutely lovely.

Picking up a little bit of lemon off your rice, as well. I really like that. It's good.

Pineapple, caramel, chocolate sauce...

Mm-hm.

Really nice chocolate sauce.

Nice, soft, sweet pineapple, with a bit of bitterness from the caramel.

But I crunch into that pineapple

and it washes away every bit of chocolate sauce

and all I'm left with is that very sweet, acidic pineapple.

Caramel, pineapple, yes. Chocolate sauce, no.

I'm not convinced by this dish.

I'm not convinced you're convinced by the dish, either.

I'm feeling a little bit twitchy now.

Kind of a little bit sick in my stomach.

Kind of... Ooh!

I should've really...

..done better.

Next time you come in here, you're going to be cooking for your MasterChef lives.

It's a challenge to take our contestants to a professional kitchen

and ask them to cook dishes inspired by their visit.

I thought all three really stepped up to the mark.

Each of them had a really good dish.

Margi's chicken stir fry...!

That's the best-tasting dish in the room for Margi today.

She's working really hard to get better and better.

What I think is brilliant is that she gets real definition of flavour in her food.

She just needs to, somehow or another,

take her food and make it look pretty.

I so much want to stay on board. I want to go all the way.

There's a lot to learn and I want to give it my best shot.

Be the cook that I want to be.

Aggie's pineapple dish looked like an afterthought,

but her main course - brilliant!

Aggie almost got it today, but she was so indecisive,

not just in what she was cooking, but also in her own ability.

But I just want her to believe in herself!

I'm very tentative, I think. I need to be less unsure, I suppose.

I'm pleased for Tim. He was worried today about his knowledge,

about his ability to create dishes out of his own mind.

I think they were really ambitious and I think he pulled it off.

Tim is being adventurous. He's pushing himself.

But Tim's spring roll dish just didn't quite work.

It's just not quite there.

There's a lot of guesswork going on in everything I'm doing.

But I'm enjoying it now and I'd like to go as far as I can.

Massive week for them. We are getting towards the climax.

Who's the best? Who deserves to stay?

The pressure's truly on.

Tomorrow, these three are going to have to fight it out for their MasterChef lives.

Tomorrow,

the battle for a place in the semi-finals reaches its climax...

What's the matter? You're looking at them.

..as the celebrities face the harshest of critics...

It's got quite a strong, acidic smell. It's quite off-putting.

..and find out their fate.

The first person leaving the competition...

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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