Episode 17 Celebrity MasterChef

We've got 16 celebrities battling it out

to win the MasterChef crown.

If you ever want to lose weight, come and work in a kitchen.

These celebrities have already made a name for themselves

in their own professions.

But can they cut it in the kitchen?

'Relaxed' is probably a word

that should never be used in a cooking environment.

Whoo-hoo-hoo! Can we start?

Cooking doesn't get tougher than this.

Today, the celebrity chefs are about to face

their first outside challenge.

Obviously, you have no idea

what is in store, but can't wait to find out and get stuck in.

Cos you don't know, it's difficult to get nervous about it.

Once you find out, then you start panicking and start sweating.

We've been given chefs' whites,

so we must be going into some professional kitchen.

'I'm feeling pretty rubbish,

'cos yesterday was a bit of a disaster.

'I'm starting today fresh,'

like this is the beginning of Celebrity MasterChef,

and I'm going to go in there and give it my all.

Good morning. Welcome to Google, the global technology company.

You are standing in their very funky rooftop restaurant.

Today, your task is all about mass catering,

but also working together.

And our teams are...

Zoe and Danny... and Cheryl and Rich.

You have just two-and-a-half hours

in which time you need to cook these wonderful people

a very delicious lunch. Good luck, off you go.

Google's UK base was launched in 2002

with a staff of just 20.

A decade later, the workforce numbers over 1,000.

In charge of feeding them is executive chef Adrian Evans.

Welcome to the kitchens. We've got 120 Googlers coming in for lunch,

so let's get cracking, guys.

They now have to come up with their menus from a selection

of chicken, minced lamb,

cream cheese, eggs, pasta,

couscous, spices

and a large variety of vegetables

and fresh, dried and tinned fruit.

-What the hell's that? Is that coriander?

-Yeah.

They're going to be hungry as well.

-We've got to make it enough for 50.

-I know!

-How do you do that?

-Just put a load in and hope for the best.

This is the smartest staff canteen I think I've ever seen.

I tell you, it can't be mass catering slop, John, can it?

I mean, it's going to have to be pretty.

Yeah. It's got to be forward thinking.

So, what about a vegetarian dish?

It's got to be attractive and appealing

so they'll look at it and want to have it.

Almost like a stir-fry.

We could go along the tagine-type thought.

How about we make a crumble?

Do the crumble so that it's all just on top, you know?

-Deconstruct a crumble?

-Yeah.

-Summer fruit cheesecake.

-Summer fruit? Yeah, good call.

Just give me the easy jobs on that cos I'm not good at desserts.

Right, guys. What have you got for me?

Simple. Small meatballs to start with,

with a spicy tomato sauce. Maybe some roast potatoes.

Vegetarian option - rice, put in some turmeric,

make it really bright and vibrant.

Lots of chopped vegetables, and then we both think

we should go for the crumble for dessert, right?

Fantastic. We need to get cracking, guys. I'll leave it with you.

OK, guys. What have we got?

We're set on the dessert,

which is going to be a summer fruit cheesecake.

-Lovely.

-Good, good. That's good.

-I'm going to try a Thai chicken curry.

-Don't say "try".

-I'm going to do...

-Yes! This is it! And I'm going to do a veggie chilli.

What are you going to use to make the chilli?

You got any red kidney beans?

No, and that's why we might need to look at that one.

We've got North African spices. Why don't you change to a tagine?

I said that. I wrote it down and crossed it out.

Yeah? Serve it with couscous?

Yeah, that's a good idea.

-Possibly, possibly. I don't know. I haven't got a clue.

-OK.

OK? Happy with that menu? Let's get going.

-OK. Sorry, mate.

-Oh, God!

'This could be fantastic and this could be an absolute disaster.'

Haute cuisine!

Or horrible cuisine as it may turn out.

Whoo-hoo-hoo! Can we start?

Let's just take stuff for the sake of it.

In most mass catering situations, the first priority is cost

per meal and the second priority is quality. Here, it's reversed.

I don't know any other company that offers the food we get here.

London has some of the best food in the world,

but we have some of the best food in the world in the office!

Right, do we need to get on these biscuits?

We both made the decision to start on the summer fruit cheesecake.

We've got to get the dessert out the way cos it needs to set.

Guys, don't forget, we're cooking for 120 people, yeah?

No pressure then(!)

We're trying to work out how many packets that small

you'll need for 120 people. I'm going for everything we've got.

Cos they've got all these little glasses, we're going to make

individual cheesecakes, which will look cute.

And also the bases don't have to be as perfectly set.

So it'll be a bit easier on us.

The mains are obviously most important to start with.

They have the most work,

so we're going to have to get everything prepared.

Meatball Man over there is going to do that course,

and I am going to focus on the vegetarian option.

A lot to do. Not very much time to talk.

Now, this rice, what's this? Like a rice stir-fry, is it?

-Erm...

-Similar.

-Yeah-ish. We're going to make...

You're not just sticking it in a pot and stirring it about, are you?

We're going to roast the vegetables, Get lots of herbs and flavour.

It's about looking colourful, taste as well.

Are you being paid by the word?

No-one could afford that!

Still sounds like you're going to stick it in a pot and stir it to me.

-We're going to need more courgettes in that, aren't we?

-Yeah.

-You've had 20 minutes.

-Yes, chef.

-Thank you.

-So after this I'll melt some butter, yeah?

-Yep.

Melt, butter, melt!

-Mix it in.

-Into the biscuits?

-Yeah, yeah.

-Whoo!

-Yeah.

I hope you don't mind me saying, but you need a big round.

I certainly do. When I went back home yesterday,

I was in a bit of a mess and I've had to have a word with myself

and I thought, forget yesterday, come back today stronger, go for it.

Cheryl's great. She's guiding me through.

Mate, you need to seriously focus. I've got confidence in you.

Cheers, mate.

Saucepans? Saucepans, saucepans. Saucepans?

Saucepans? Where's the saucepans?

-How are we getting on?

-We're just preparing the fruit.

Once we've got these out of the way, then we start on the main event.

OK, great. Crack on, guys.

-Just get it in the glasses.

-Yeah.

-Just over 50 glasses there.

-Yeah.

If in doubt, use a bottle of lemon juice.

I always find it does the trick to squash down a cheesecake base.

Top tip from Dick there.

Right. Perfect. Let's do the cream cheese and stuff.

Would you believe it? 50 exactly,

-with no more base left. Ah!

-Good bloke!

Ah, this is going to take forever.

If you ever want to lose weight, come and work in a kitchen.

This is better than a five-mile run, I tell you.

-Not easy.

-That's fabulous. Loving it. It looks great.

It's going all right, I think.

I'm sure there's normally people that know what they're doing,

but we're going to have a go. I'll be confident when it's over.

There's harissa to give them spice. A bit of onion, salt, pepper,

all that sort of thing. Excuse me while I just go past.

Meanwhile, Zoe's still working on her rice dish.

It's just taking forever to prep these vegetables.

It's ridiculous just how long it's taking. It's...argh!

It's just frustrating because I just want to get it in the oven

then I can relax. Well, I say the word "relax",

I don't know why I'm saying that.

It's a word that should never be used in a cooking environment.

Who's going to do the dessert? Whoever finishes first?

We'll hopefully get there at the same time and then both go for it

because we're probably going to be running out of time.

That means these vegetarian and meat dishes have to be

finished well before time to get on with the dessert.

-We know.

-We're right on that.

-All right, all right.

Right, guys, you've had an hour.

You've an hour and a half left to go. We really need to push on.

-Big piping bags, in you go.

-What about the chicken?

-Shall I leave him to do it?

-I would.

-Yeah?

Put that in there and push it right down.

Oh, my good God.

How are you going to make a Thai green curry

without green curry paste?

I'm going to make it with fresh ingredients,

the garlic, lemongrass, with ginger, with coconut...blah!

It's going to be lovely.

We'll see.

-Rich, I thought the plan was to make a berry cheesecake.

-Right.

-I'd leave some room for some of the berries.

-Of course.

-OK.

Cheryl, this is taking a long time and it's coming out looking a bit...

Just spoon it in. Spoon it in and then get onto your veg.

Yeah, totally.

Are you comfortable with presentation?

No, I need to clear round all the tops of the...

-I think so.

-And probably flatten them down a little bit more.

-How are we getting on with main courses?

-Cheryl has her chicken on.

I haven't even started. I need to get these done,

and get onto that straight away.

-Time is ticking. We need to crack on.

-I've just got to get these

-in the fridge, that's the problem.

-Crack on, yeah?

-No worries.

We're going to get done. We'll get done. I'm confident.

Oh, I like this.

Musical kitchens. Sing to me.

Right. OK. I'll just get a can opener, then(!)

Why don't they have one on the wall like everyone else?

It's one of the hardest turns you've done, innit, that?

-What's in there?

-Coconut milk.

-What is left to do?

I've got to put the coconut milk into the sauce...

-And the tagine? You don't know, do you?

-I've got no idea.

-That's my partner-in-crime's domain.

-It's all going to be fine.

Cheryl and Rich - dessert is ready to go,

the chicken's cooked, I'm confident the sauce'll come together for that.

They haven't started the vegetarian dish yet, so I'm a little nervous.

Right, guys, we really need to get a move on.

We've only an hour left to go and we've 120 people to feed.

So, please, keep moving.

So this rice, what's the origin? Indian? Moroccan? Spanish?

-You haven't decided?

-Yes, I have. It's an Indian-based rice.

JOHN CHEERS

-And my vegetables are all done and all seasoned.

-Good.

-Then hurry up.

-Yeah. They're going into the oven now.

-We're nearly there?

-I need four more.

-Four more?

Where are you with your sauce?

The onions are soft, they're ready, so it's just the tomatoes.

-We need to crack on, yeah?

-Yeah.

Zoe and Danny haven't started their dessert yet,

so they're going to have to push on and work together to get that done.

We're going to get there. If we don't believe in getting this done,

it's not going to get done, and it's as simple as that.

We're just getting on with it.

I've been smashing me nuts.

They all need to be smashed? Some whole ones in?

I actually like a mixture. Leave it - it's organic.

I might draw a little face on it. 15 managers I could pick from.

Haven't worked this hard in years. I've lost about four stone.

We got the dessert done a little bit later than we thought,

so we've both had to really power on to get this veggie tagine done.

Everything's on the stove but we're still behind.

-Rich?

-Yeah.

-Come and have a look at this, please.

You've got less than 15 minutes to go. You've got carrots in there.

They'll never be cooked on time. They'll need to come out.

Softer vegetables - think about how long it's going to take to cook.

-That's never going to be cooked.

-Right.

I don't see any rice or couscous going on, guys.

You've got 40 minutes to go till service. So, crack on.

-Does garam masala go in a tagine?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, throw it in.

-Cheryl, your sauce.

-Oh, my God. Blimey.

Just pull it off the stove, gently to the side, that's it.

-OK.

-Just be careful, your rice at the back looks like a volcano.

These are fierce!

We are so feeling the pressure.

But it's a good feeling, like doing Eurovision,

you know, it's scary but fabulous.

Guys, we've got 35 minutes to go. We need to push on.

You're not there yet. Come on!

How long before you put anything in these pans? Are we ready to go?

-Fruit needs to go in now. Zoe, is that fruit ready to go in?

-I'm on it.

-Be careful, it's hot.

-I know.

The fruit crumble hasn't been fruited and it's nowhere near crumbled.

It's still in great big pots over there.

We've got under half an hour!

We've done the topping for the crumble,

and because he's got good muscles he's whipping cream.

Please clean your stations down.

We're celebrities. We don't do cleaning!

Perfect.

Guys, food needs to be on the pass. We really need

to get these dishes together. Both main course items

out on the pass as soon as possible.

Come on, we need to be on the pass.

We Googlers take our food very seriously.

If these guys serve up food that doesn't tick all the boxes,

there might be a riot on their hands in the canteen.

Genuinely, I'm not even joking. There might be.

They've been trained to expect pretty high standards of food.

I expect they'll be quite a critical audience.

Danny is serving up his team's meat main course.

Spicy meatballs, paprika potatoes, meatballs at this end, anybody?

-You know you're hungry.

-They look great.

A spicy tomato sauce with harissa and then paprika potatoes.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-Meatballs, please.

-Meatballs, sir?

-Please.

I'm playing right back tonight for my football team if you've any tips.

Don't pick me!

The meatballs are really good, but a little bit undercooked -

they broke apart.

I'm a little disappointed. Tomato sauce is quite bland,

the meatballs need more seasoning.

The paprika potatoes are really nice

and I could probably do with a few more of those.

-Harissa meatballs with spicy tomato sauce and paprika potatoes.

-Lovely.

Not bad, not bad.

Tomato and onions is the flavour I get.

I don't get any harissa at all. I really like those potatoes.

Wonderful flavour of smoky paprika on those potatoes.

Really actually quite delicious.

Hi! Chicken?

On the other team, Cheryl also has a healthy queue

for her Thai green curry with rice.

-Chicken curry?

-Curry, please.

-Is that too saucy or is it OK?

-Lovely.

-He likes it saucy!

-Hi. Could I have curry, please?

-Curry, yeah.

-Curry, please.

-CHERYL:

-Oh, my goodness.

The Thai green curry is going nuts. It's selling one after another.

The chicken's very soft, well cooked and it's a really fragrant sauce.

It's on a par with the standard of food we'd normally get here.

It's not very green. It's a milky chicken curry.

The chicken is cooked well. Rice is cooked well.

The flavour of coconut and also the lovely flavour of Thai basil.

But we need some citrus in there and we need a whack of chilli.

It's a bit mellow.

It's as if you made one for your nan and even she thinks it's too mellow.

It probably could have used a bit more spice.

I think if I went back to queue,

I might have picked the meatballs instead.

Back in the canteen,

Zoe's vegetable rice with honey and soy dressing is being

overshadowed by Danny's meatballs.

If anyone is for the spicy rice and vegetables

with honey soy sauce, you can come over here.

-Meatballs, yeah?

-Anyone for the honey soy spicy vegetables and rice?

-Meatballs, sir?

-Yes, please, mate.

Anyone for the healthy vegetarian option?

No!

I've nearly sold out. No, one more to serve.

JOHN: Danny? Rice selling well?

-It's difficult with vegetarians.

-That's a "no", is it?

We're a team, and we've given them an option. That's all we can do.

-I think you should have them both.

-I'll try both.

-See, I like that.

We're a team. Thank you very much. Cheers.

Apologies, guys, meatballs have all gone.

I've a delicious rice and vegetables, gorgeous soy honey dressing.

I suggest you get stuck into that.

With the meatballs sold out, Zoe finally picks up some customers.

Thanks very much. Cheers. Enjoy.

I'm not going to turn people vegetarian.

That's the way the cookie crumbles.

Today I had vegetarian rice.

It was pretty good. I liked the vegetables, slightly marinated.

I like that.

Even though I'm not a vegetarian, I went for the vegetarian option,

cos I'm lazy and didn't want to queue so much.

It looked delicious. I liked the sauce. It was very tasty.

I think she did a great job, but I'm not sure I know what

the dish is - rice and vegetables?

It's a bowl of rice with some things thrown on top of it.

Actually, it tastes a great deal better than it looks.

There's a little bit of spice, cumin and coriander

and a little bit of warmth coming from chilli.

But then there's lovely sweet vegetables, and that seems to be

apart from the rice.

It's just some vegetables piled on rice.

-RICH:

-Vegetarian option here, veggie tagine.

For the other team, Rich's vegetable tagine with cranberry couscous

-is going down well.

-Who's next?

-Could I get a vegetable tagine?

-Course you may.

-Next, please.

-Hi, could I get the veggie tagine, please?

-Lovely.

-Very healthy. There you go.

-Thank you.

-No problem.

Tagine for me, please. I cook that myself so I'll be able to compare.

Don't!

-This is my first attempt, so do let me know.

-It looks good.

-You make a mess in the kitchen?

-Course not.

-I don't believe you.

-Thank you very much.

-No worries.

I had a vegetarian tagine. It's delicious and very good.

Quite intense flavours. Very spicy, but very delicious.

This is actually quite tasty but the peppers are a little bit overcooked.

They should be a little firmer.

Although it does look like something you put out for the cat,

it's a really tasty, seasoned dish with spice in the background.

I like the sweetness coming from the peppers and tomatoes

and I love it when you get a little juicy dry berry in the couscous.

Guys, well done. Main course done now.

Obviously you're only halfway through. You need to get desserts

onto your station ready to serve.

Rich and Cheryl's summer fruit cheesecakes go head-to-head

with Zoe and Danny's crumbles, which are stewed fruit

sprinkled with crushed biscuits and pistachios.

Put more crumble on if you want.

I suppose we don't want to hide the fruit too much.

RICH: Summer fruit cheesecake. Please take them. Fantastic.

Ginger fruit crumble. Thank you. Go ahead.

Summer fruit cheesecake.

Fresh fruit ginger crumble.

-Sounds lovely.

-Fresh fruit ginger crumble.

Summer fruit cheesecake. When it's sold, it's sold.

Far less calories than cheesecake, guys, this end.

-I'll take the crumble.

-There you go.

-Healthy option this way!

DANNY: You know it makes sense.

-RICH:

-Cheesecake on a lovely sunny day.

You don't want that. It's bad for you!

Only a few cheesecakes left.

Thank you very much.

It's a sell-out! It's a sell-out.

I've got the berry crumble. It's absolutely delicious.

Hint of ginger running through makes it outstanding for me.

Delicious fruit, but the crumble

isn't really crumble. It's dust sprinkled on top.

This was just a little bit flaky and there wasn't a whole lot to it.

I was a little disappointed.

-If it wasn't called crumble I'd have loved it.

-They promised crumble.

-What on earth is that? JOHN:

-Looks like breakfast.

Actually, it tastes very nice, but defies description,

because it's slightly stewed, soft fruits

with a taste of nuts and digestive biscuit.

It's quite nice. You don't like it?

It's like someone has dropped lots of things into my bag

and it's crushed together. Strawberries and berries

crushed with the biscuits and your nuts.

It tastes OK. I would eat it all.

I had the cheesecake.

It was quite rich, and it took some doing to get to the base.

-But I did like it.

-It's nice. The flavours are all there,

but a little heavy, quite solid. I don't think I'll manage to finish.

It's hard to get to the bottom of it.

It's probably the nicest thing I've eaten today,

because it's really sour berries on top. Really sweet cream

-and a buttery base.

-Oh, my word.

The berries are sweet, buttery base is lovely. Middle is too cheesy,

too sharp.

I want to chop some chives and put it over it.

Yay! Well done, Team Dan and Zoe.

-High five!

-Well done.

-Well done!

-Hard work, but good work.

-That's tough.

-Cheers, fella!

I've got to say, I'm really chuffed. Really pleased with them.

The kitchen looks like a bomb's hit it, but the food wasn't bad at all.

Danny and Zoe were a little disorganised, but there's no doubt

the amount of work they got through. The engine room,

the driving force of that team was definitely Danny.

It was worse than a training session. I was here,

there and everywhere. Nuts. No, I really enjoyed today.

JOHN: Zoe, we now know is an inventor.

She's got a really good touch but she needs to have a plan.

'I've learned loads today,

'being thrown into a kitchen, into the deep end.'

And a lot of happy people walked out, so...

Cheryl is a star, an absolute star.

She organised Rich,

and at the end she actually lent a hand in getting the tagine out.

'Absolutely had a ball.'

It's like being at school again but actually liking the lessons for once!

Rich is a little disorganised, but his passion is there,

his work rate is very good.

Considering the disaster he had yesterday,

I think he redeemed himself a little by making this dessert.

It flew out the door.

'I feel like I've run a marathon twice. I'm absolutely shattered.'

It was just 100 miles an hour from the word go,

but, you know, in a weird kind of way I've really enjoyed it.

Today, I think they proved their mettle, all four contestants.

Next time we see them, John, one of them's going to leave.

Tomorrow night, the battle to stay in the competition continues.

How we've ended up with all three things on the plate is a miracle.

-That's fantastic.

-And for one of the celebrities,

the dream is over.

The contestant leaving us is...

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