Episode 24 Celebrity MasterChef

We've had 16 celebrities battling it out to win the Masterchef crown.

It feels amazing to be in the final four.

Only the best are left.

Now the competition really begins.

You don't want to come all this way

and then go out just before the final.

The competition's certainly got a lot tougher.

We've got to the last four in this competition.

We know what their strengths are. We know what their weaknesses are.

Let's help them work on them.

To do that, we're going to send our four celebs

to four different restaurants to get one-on-one training.

And those four restaurants have four great chefs who know

exactly what to do to bring the best out of our celebs.

Emma will be cooking at the Savoy Hotel's River Restaurant,

which was opened in 1890.

Head chef James Pare's modern French menu

is inspired by the hotel's first executive chef,

the legendary Auguste Escoffier.

-Hello, Emma, how are you?

-Very well.

-Welcome to the Savoy.

We're going to do classical cooking, the foundation of modern cookery.

-Have you done any classical cooking?

-No, not at all.

SHE LAUGHS OK, so that's good.

-We start fresh. Right?

-Yeah.

-OK, let's go.

-Thank you.

Emma will be taught how to make Sole Victoria,

a Dover sole fillet layered with truffle,

served with lobster claw, mushrooms and sauce Victoria.

So this was a dish that Escoffier created that we're going to recreate

-with my touch, obviously, a little bit. OK?

-OK.

First, I'll take off the fillets

-then you'll do one as well.

-OK.

Have your knife on such an angle that you just scrape along the bone

to get a nice clean fillet.

-OK? There's one fillet, yeah?

-Yeah.

-It's your turn. All right?

Slowly, nice long smooth slices.

Oh, look. I missed a bit there, Chef.

Straight along, there you go. That's exactly what you're looking for.

-How's that one, Chef?

-That's beautiful, absolutely.

-Look at that!

So what we're going to do is layer them with truffles.

Do you know what worries me most about this?

You've made that so look so easy.

-That's why we're here today - to show you how to do it.

-Yeah.

So we're going to cook this sous vide.

-LOUD HISSING

-Ooh!

-Into the waterbath.

-Yes.

Next is the mushrooms.

'At this level,'

the tastes are so refined and delicate that a pinch

too much pepper and the balance is all off.

So I've got to really be vigilant.

-So there you are. Sole Victoria.

-Absolutely beautiful.

-OK?

This is a massive step up in terms...

of the level of food I've been producing

and I just hope I don't let anyone down.

Michael will be tutored by executive chef Jun Tanaka,

at Pearl in Central London. Classically trained

by chefs including the Rouxs and Marco Pierre White,

he is renowned for his own modern interpretation

of traditional French cuisine.

-Hey, Michael.

-Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

Today, it's all about building on the classics and attention to detail.

This is going to be a true test, I can feel it.

Michael will be learning to make pan-fried gurnard with parsley mash,

which is served with a sauce

made from a classic French bouillabaisse, combined with aioli.

Now this sauce, once you know how to make it,

you will use over and over again. First thing,

we want to start by caramelising all the vegetables.

In a separate pan, we're going to start caramelising the fish.

The amount of work you need to do

to make something as simple as a sauce, you want it good,

you want it to taste amazing, you need a whole lot of time.

This is going to be good. Definitely.

When you start to cook the gurnard, you don't want the pan too hot.

As soon as you flip over, it'll be about a minute.

I'm just basting it with the butter, just to give it that extra flavour.

Cocktail stick.

Insert it into the flesh.

As soon as it slides in all the way, then it's perfectly cooked.

That's a brilliant tip. Love it!

-That's it.

-It looks brilliant. Look so lovely.

Although I've got some cooking skills,

there are still massive gaps in my cooking ability,

so it's going to be a big learning curve for me, but I can't wait.

Danny has been sent to Theo Randall at the Intercontinental.

Theo opened here

in 2006 after spending 16 years

at the renowned River Cafe,

where he was head chef when it won its first Michelin star.

-Hi, I'm Danny.

-I'm Theo. Nice to meet you. We cook Italian food here.

I don't have a single Italian bone in my body, but I'm Italian souled,

so I'll show you the whole philosophy behind Italian food.

-It's all about simplicity and the quality of ingredients.

-Excellent.

Danny is cooking wood-roasted Cornish monkfish with roseval potatoes,

artichokes, capers, parsley and prosciutto.

It is very simple. It's less is more.

The more you complicate the dish, it actually can ruin it.

What we need to do is take the skin off, comes off quite easily.

So knife against the bone and then just pull the fillet off

and then you take off all of that membrane there.

Trim it up. You get a very hot pan.

Oil.

The food in this kitchen

is more about flavours and bringing that all together.

So, hopefully, I can go away and learn from that.

A lot of this cooking is about using your instinct.

It's a brilliant way of cooking. It's really getting back to basics.

-Camping.

-Camping, exactly. Very important it's nice and juicy.

If you just have a feel of that. It feels slightly springy.

There's loads of strong flavours, it's bringing them altogether.

I think, if you cooked it wrong, it could taste very nasty.

That's our monkfish dish.

Chef makes it look very easy.

And hopefully, if it comes out looking like that,

I'll be very happy man.

Jamie will be cooking at Skylon, situated on London's South Bank.

Head chef Helena Puolakka

spent three years training under the legendary Pierre Koffmann.

Her modern European menu draws inspiration

from her classic French background and her Finnish roots.

-Hi, Jamie. Welcome to Skylon.

-Thank you very much.

The dish that Jamie must master consists of three cuts of lamb.

The saddle stuffed with Swiss chard and ceps,

the rack and kidney,

served with a cherry marmalade and a Swiss chard gratin.

First you're going to remove the kidneys.

Now this is the saddle we're going to stuff.

We need to debone it with the knife under the bone.

One funny thing about this is I give you a baby lamb

and you know how to debone the baby lamb

and I give you a venison and you know how to do the venison as well.

-This is the same technique?

-Yes.

-So what you're teaching me now is good for everything.

-Absolutely.

So you really have to kind of feel the bone and try and follow the bone.

-Look how neat that is.

-That's it.

I'm beginning to think a bit more like a chef, I think.

This is all about tiny detail and so far it's gone OK.

-We cook the racks and the kidneys to order.

-OK. Done. I can do that.

This cooks really fast. Every piece needs to look exactly the same.

-Nice, golden brown.

-OK.

-OK.

-Happy with that?

-I'm happy with that.

This dish requires very strict procedure.

-Every plate like this, OK?

-You can rely on me, I won't let you down.

OK. Beautiful.

I feel like a greyhound in the traps,

chomping...chomping to get going.

-First course ordering three sole Victoria.

-Me, Chef.

-Make sure you get the pan hot for the mushrooms, OK?

-Yes, Chef.

-One minute on the mushrooms, Chef.

-No. 30 seconds, yes?

-Yes.

OK, get them in a line ready to go, now you need to come plate it.

Make it quick, OK.

Now garnish it up.

Two slices of truffle on each one. They've all got to be the same.

Put them in the same spot. It's ready to go, yeah?

Service, pick up, please.

-Emma, good job on them, but I need the next one quicker.

-Yes, Chef.

-How long is that going to take?

-30 seconds, Chef.

'The attention to detail at this level of cooking

'is just way beyond anything I'm used to.'

It's about the small precise beautiful looking plate.

Pick up.

I need one more sole Victoria. We had a complaint that one of them wasn't seasoned enough. OK?

Did we really? Yes, Chef.

I'm absolutely determined to get this one absolutely bang on.

Just one little sprinkle of salt, pepper.

Don't forget too, a little bit of lemon juice, yeah?

-Are you ready for the three?

-Let's go, let's go.

-These are the last ones. We want to make them perfect, yeah?

-Yes, Chef.

OK, quicker, quicker.

Perfect.

Service.

It was beautifully cooked, the lobster tail was fabulous.

The Dover sole was beautiful. It's a great dish. Really lovely.

-Away, one set beef, one monkfish. Danny boy.

-Yes, Chef.

Just trying to stay calm and relaxed.

We shall see by the end of service if that maintains.

New order - two set salami and a monkfish on the main.

Your monkfish is popular. Need another monkfish.

You haven't got time to think.

-Danny?

-Yes, Chef.

-One monkfish, quick.

That looks beautiful, Danny.

Danny, two monkfish, please. Plate now, table 117.

Not too much, not too much.

A bit more parsley and capers on the next one.

-That's not as good as the last one.

-OK, yes, Chef.

He's doing all right, yeah. He needs to speed up a bit.

He's taking it seriously, but I think he's enjoying it.

OK, new order. On the main, there's two monkfish.

Yes, Chef.

Four minutes on the pass, Danny.

-Yes, four minutes, yes, Chef.

-Thank you.

It's going all right, I think.

But again, let's not get too cocky just yet.

Last one, make it the best one.

Perfectly cooked.

Table 42, service.

Very simple but very well presented. I actually enjoyed it very much.

I've eaten here a few times before and this is definitely up to scratch.

At Pearl, Michael is inundated with orders.

-Michael, five gurnard away.

-Yes, Chef.

Just juggling so many orders. It's really, really, really hard.

-How long for the gurnard?

-About one minute.

-How many?

-Five.

-About one minute for five.

You put them on the same time so they should be ready at the same time.

You'd think that, wouldn't you?

At the moment, I'm more concerned about the fact they look awful.

These aren't good enough. We're going to start again.

The sauce is a nightmare. If it's too hot, it splits. Argh!

-That's split.

-Yeah, that one's split.

Just being in this kitchen, you start to get an understanding

of needing to be across everything.

Keep your head up, look at everything.

It's one of those things. I've not done it before.

You practise and learn. You make a mistake, you learn,

you make another little mistake, you learn,

then don't make the mistake again. Otherwise you're fired.

-I am much happier with these.

-Michael, can I have the fish please?

Yes, Chef.

OK, I want you to plate this gurnard absolutely spot on, no mistakes.

Fish goes on top. Gently press it down so you just see the mash.

Right, sauce on now, please. Don't dribble.

Perfect. Spot on.

That's exactly how I want it.

That was... That was quite intense.

Very fresh, very light.

The flavours and the tastes just are remarkable.

Jamie is also having to cope with a busy service.

OK, Jamie, two more lamb, please.

-So that's one beef, one lobster, followed by two lamb.

-Yes, Chef.

-This looks a little rare.

-Can you just put it in the oven for a minute?

-Chef, how long on table 211?

-211 coming right now.

-17 minutes now, Chef.

-I know, yes. One minute, please.

-Jamie, two lamb coming up?

-It's coming.

-Please.

How long for the lamb, Chef?

OK, Jamie, give me those two lamb, please.

-Take the string off before you bring it to the pass for me.

-Sorry, Chef.

Pay attention. It's not a part of the dish, people don't want to eat it.

OK, next lamb needs to be perfect, Jamie.

-Do you promise?

-I promise you.

I'm down to one more lamb now and I want to prove to Chef

that I can do it. I want to make sure this one's spot on.

Jamie keeps on making the little errors

but I hope for the last dish he will come up perfect now.

-Almost perfect, Jamie.

-Huh?

Almost perfect.

The lamb was perfectly cooked.

It was a little pink, just how I like it, which was spot on.

The main thing I've learned today

is to be absolutely at the top of your game as a chef,

you need to be concentrating all the time. Keep right on top of it.

When you see food like that, you see the ambition of the chefs

who make it, and that's something to aspire to, actually.

It was an amazing experience.

I have learned so much, I don't even know where to begin.

I really enjoyed that.

It's opened my eyes a little bit to a new way of cooking.

Hopefully now, I can show Gregg and John what I've learnt

and take it into the next challenge.

Our four celebs have had an extraordinary experience

and now we're going to ask them to show us what they've learnt.

Good to see you back.

We want you to cook a dish

inspired by the time you've just had in the restaurant.

Today, prove to Gregg and I that you've learnt something.

Ladies and gentlemen, you've got one hour. Let's cook.

'I think I have a better understanding

'of what's expected of us now.'

What I'm taking on is proper high-end restaurant quality food.

And I've never cooked anything like it before.

Jamie, you have a really concentrated look upon your face.

Yes. It's an important round for me today.

I need to convince you that I can do restaurant-quality food.

Hmm. And can you?

I think I can, yeah.

What is it you've learnt from Skylon?

It's built my confidence.

I've learnt what it takes to be a chef in a commercial kitchen.

I've learnt the pressures that are involved

and it's been quite an experience.

-The dish you're cooking for us today is...?

-A pork fillet with Agen prunes and Armagnac,

with a celeriac and apple gratin and deep-fried cavolo nero.

-Cor, this has got into your blood, mate, hasn't it?

-I love it.

It's a real balancing act for Jamie today.

It sounds really good, but it's intense.

When I came to this competition, I was a home cook.

Roast chicken, that's your lot, really.

But now, I've evolved as a cook just beyond all recognition.

Emma, there's an absolute glow of vibrancy and opulence

-coming from your bench today.

-Yes.

-What are you going to cook for us?

I'm going to cook a pan-fried turbot on samphire with a clam broth.

The one big thing I learnt yesterday is that

great cooking is a combination of instinct and experience,

and I haven't got much experience, but this is an exercise in instinct.

-So it's definitely changed your outlook, has it?

-Definitely.

It's made me ambitious as a cook. It's wonderful.

Turbot, samphire and a clam broth. It sounds absolutely delicious.

It should work for Emma

as long as she does cook with the instinct she's promising.

You're halfway. 30 minutes left.

Every single thing you do matters. I've got to be on it today

because I know the other three are going to be,

so I need to make sure I bring my A-game.

What did that restaurant experience do for you, Michael?

With cooking, what I suffered from

is not looking at the bigger picture.

I'd always focus on one thing, "This has got to be right," then other things would slip.

Being at the restaurant yesterday,

I suddenly realised that, actually,

a little bit of focus can make a big difference.

Michael, what dish are you cooking for us?

Some red mullet crusted with almonds,

a blood orange and fennel salad, a blood orange vinaigrette,

some crushed Jersey Royals and fennel puree.

-Orange and potatoes?

-Yes, it's an interesting combination.

I think what I learnt yesterday was that take classic flavours,

put them together and sometimes give them a twist, surprise people.

I think, with this dish, it's going to do that.

'Michael's asking a lot of our palates. Almonds, red mullet,

'blood orange and buttery potatoes.'

That is very difficult to pull off.

'I'm going to try and relax a bit more today.

'I'm pushing myself in a different direction.'

This is going to be a bit more free-flowing, which my concern is

it could be so free-flowing, it free-flows out the door to the bin.

Danny, probably the fewest ingredients I've seen on a bench

when you're cooking for a very long time.

-What are you cooking for us?

-I'm doing a piece of sirloin

with some roast vegetables and a fresh dressing.

Being with Theo yesterday was fantastic.

Great experience, good learning for me,

and I think before it's all been about technique

and presentation and all that sort of stuff.

This is really cooking on feel and taste and sensation, really.

Hallelujah.

It could be delightful, as long as Danny

gets those big flavours of Italy into it.

Seven minutes left.

Just seven, please.

Three minutes, guys. Just three minutes left.

Time's up. Stop. Stop.

First up is Jamie.

He has cooked pork fillet with Agen prunes wrapped in pancetta

with a celeriac and apple gratin and deep-fried cavolo nero.

I really like the look of this. It's really quite modern and very clean.

However, I'm happy with my pork pink,

but this one here is too under.

Got some great flavours coming up from that plate there.

Salty ham around that juicy pork,

and the depth and sweetness of that prune with the brandy is lovely.

However, that gratin needs some more cooking. It's still firm.

I think it's a great dish.

You can taste every flavour individually, it's all distinctive.

I just wish the cooking was as good as the flavours on the plate.

I feel like I didn't quite pull it off.

I was ten minutes away from it being perfect.

Michael has cooked red mullet crusted with almonds,

crushed Jersey potatoes, a blood orange and fennel salad,

fennel puree and a blood orange vinaigrette.

Looking at your dish, it's deceptive,

because I think that I'm looking at a dessert.

Nuts, fish, orange, fennel - that bit of it I love.

That really works for me.

What I don't like is buttery potatoes on there as well.

This is one of these dishes that is going to completely divide the crowd,

but I get it.

I think it's out there, absolutely out there, and I really admire it,

and I think it's really interesting and actually quite exciting.

You know what, they liked it, and they appreciated

the fact I took a risk and took a chance,

so I think I just about got away with it, just.

Next up is Emma.

She's cooked pan-fried turbot on a bed of samphire in a clam broth

with pea shoots, broad beans and a fennel salad.

Emma, your dish is so pretty.

It's so elegant.

Your flavour notes are wonderful. You've got the saltiness of the sea,

then you've got the wonderful textures of that perfectly cooked fish,

the wonderful crunch that comes from the fennel

and the softness of the clams. It's delightful.

Honestly, that is heart-thumping stuff from you.

I'm really pleased for you.

In that bowl, you have managed to emphasise

Mother Nature's natural flavours really, really well.

And your matching and pairing of ingredients is perfect.

-Thank you.

-However, if this broth is going to remain this thin,

-then it needs to be stronger.

-Right.

What I wanted to achieve today was to...

present a dish that looked elegant and that had lots of flavour.

I think I did that, so I'm really pleased. I am. I'm pleased.

Last up is Danny.

He has cooked sirloin steak with roasted Mediterranean vegetables

and a chilli and marjoram dressing.

A good-looking plate of food and a really good, tasty plate of food.

You get smokiness coming from those courgettes,

sweetness coming from the peppers, the sharpness of the tomato

and the meat perfectly cooked,

but that beef needs a huge whacking great amount of pepper on it

to give you that spice background to go with all the other wonderful flavours.

-That's my only criticism.

-OK.

That's great. The whole thing is just

juicy, juicy, juicy from the veg to the steak.

What you've learnt there is how to produce the most flavour

out of what appears to be the simplest of ingredients.

Really good big-flavoured dish, Danny.

I think that went pretty well. Simplified everything,

but no, they liked it. I was pretty pleased with that.

You four are shining.

What you've done today is raise this competition up

-a couple of levels, brilliantly well done.

-Off you go.

It has to be said,

our four celebs are just cooking way beyond expectation.

They are a competitive bunch, John,

and they are pushing each other to newer and newer heights.

Tomorrow night, the battle for a place in the final three reaches its climax

as the celebrities face the restaurant critics.

Two words - "oh" and "wow."

It's got a nice gooeyness to it.

It's the Pamela Anderson of ducks.

Oh!

Only the best will make it.

The celebrity leaving us is...

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