Episode 28 Celebrity MasterChef

These are our three finalists. It's time for them to show off.

It's time for them to really pick up the pace

and show us what they've got.

I need to push myself.

The competition is really, really, really on it now.

I can only take a day at a time.

Every single day in this process, you get a fresh challenge.

It has been tough.

You only get out of something what you put into it.

I've given this everything I've got.

We are about to find out how long they've travelled along this MasterChef road.

Now their cooking has got to go up a notch.

Danny, Emma and Michael

are en-route to Buckinghamshire for their next challenge.

John and Gregg are always raising the bar.

So I've just got to be all over this today.

From now on in, it's going to get harder.

Final week, the final few challenges.

You have to be on your best.

These two guys are fantastic.

The competition is tough.

You've just got to keep pushing on.

Welcome to the incredible Bletchley Park.

During the Second World War, this was Britain's most top-secret location.

The people that worked here helped to actually bring the war to a close

and saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

This is where they broke the code

of the famous German Enigma machine.

Tonight we want you to cook a very special dinner.

Your guests include eight people that worked here during the Second World War.

Tonight is all about fine dining.

Your food has to sparkle. It's got to be beautiful.

Do yourselves proud and give them a very special night to remember.

The men and women being honoured at tonight's dinner

worked in pre-fabricated huts to decrypt encoded German messages.

Among the famous mathematicians and analysts was Alan Turing,

widely considered to be the father of computer science.

The German messages would be

in five-letter groups.

So it would say something like

Q-X-V-Z-C A-B-Z-C...

You know, it would just look like rubbish.

Trying to turn that into plain text German

must have been a really quite awesomely-difficult task.

The possibility was enormous.

It was 158 million million million, the possibility of getting it.

NEW SPEAKER: We were thought to be wizards in some quarters.

I never thought of myself as a wizard even at that time.

But the Germans did some extraordinarily silly things.

They would sometimes throw in the words "Heil Hitler!" which were very useful to us.

I did feel that I was doing something which was very useful.

I kept secrets not because I'd signed the Official Secrets Act,

but because I knew if we gave away these secrets, we wouldn't be able to break the messages.

-MICHAEL:

-To cook for these distinguished codebreakers at Bletchley is a real honour.

What they achieved was incredible. To get the opportunity, hopefully,

to impress them with a plate of my food is just amazing.

EMMA: My granddad was a veteran.

I want to deliver the absolute best meal for them that I possibly can.

-DANNY:

-We owe an awful lot to them.

It's a special occasion.

It's an honour to be cooking for these sort of people.

The celebrity finalists have just two-and-a-half hours to prepare a three-course fine dining dinner.

Emma is cooking the first course,

a chicken liver mousse served with a champagne lemon thyme jelly,

flat breads, an apple salad and a celeriac remoulade. There's lots going on in that plate.

Emma begins by preparing her champagne jelly.

That's the issue for you to make sure it's set properly?

I put in an extra gelatine leaf just to make absolutely doubly sure.

-OK.

-Yeah.

-You've got rid of most of the alcohol? Don't get them drunk!

They're only getting one each. They're not going to go crazy!

Right. Good.

-Emma, you're the curtain-raiser.

-Yes, I am.

-So you set the tone for the whole evening.

-I know. No pressure(!)

-It is, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-It really is.

-Yes.

-I just want you to know

we're all counting on you!

God bless you, Gregory Wallace. Gregg Wallace, whatever your name is!

Next, Emma gets to work on her chicken liver mousse.

A little of the butter.

Do you think that'll be enough for a quenelle for 12?

Danny has got main course and a celebration of the sea.

It's a beautiful dish of herb-crusted halibut,

a scallop mousse, langoustine glaze, langoustines

and a galette of potatoes. It sounds absolutely delicious.

We've got 12 bits of halibut,

-all cooked at the same time, all being plated at the same time.

-Yep.

-How will you keep the fish warm?

-It'll be the last thing that goes on.

Bang, bang, bang, bang. 12 bits of fish on top. Go.

-I'll plate like Billy Whizz.

-It's a tough ask.

-It'll all be fine. It's all under control.

I'm making the herb crust to go on top of the halibut.

I've rolled it nice and flat, nice and thin.

Which one's the freezer? ..Ah.

We need a tray that'll fit in it. So what does fit in it?

The dessert is being done by Michael.

He's doing a salted chocolate torte

that he's serving with an ice cream.

Michael's touch tonight has got to be bang on.

My dessert is great,

but there's a lot of eggs and they have to be separated into whites and yolks.

So I'll be cracking somewhere between 25 and 30 eggs at some point.

-I'm glad you've got the dessert. I think you might have the makings of a pastry chef.

-Really?

At home, puddings really aren't my thing.

But being in this competition, picking up bits along the way,

I've started thinking, "You know what? I quite enjoy it."

-I've never seen you make ice cream.

-I haven't made ice cream yet on MasterChef,

but I'll give it a go. Just a simple vanilla, nothing too complex.

-The torte obviously has such strong flavours.

-But ice cream IS complex!

Yes, in itself it is a complex thing. Simple flavour, complex item.

-Have you made it before?

-No, not with an ice cream machine.

-Oh, Michael!

This is totally a marathon and not a sprint.

It'll probably be sprinting at the end, the last 200 metres.

But for now, slow and methodical to make sure I don't make a single mistake.

Brandy.

I wanted it to do that. That's fine!

There's something burning somewhere!

Whoops! I'll take that out.

Actually, I'm feeding old people, so I don't know if I'll go that pink.

I'll tip that in for five more seconds.

I don't want them to get E-coli!

It would be a very bad thing if I was seen to be killing heroes!

So, blender.

This is the time-consuming bit.

That's lovely and smooth. Look.

Ooh, I think I need to put my lemon leaves in there now.

The good news is, the jelly is already setting.

I'm just pushing the lemon thyme leaf into the jelly now.

You have to wait until the jelly is on its way

to put sort of solid matter into it.

I've just got to prep that.

Next on Danny's agenda is a warm seafood mousse

made with scallops, egg yolks, cream and cayenne pepper.

For me, the real danger point has to be the scallop mousse.

Cos it's got to be creamy, it's got to be light,

it can't be grainy. How many times have you done that before?

-Just the once! So it's a gamble, but...

-Do you know what I like about you today?

You've got a smile on your face. You like this dish.

I do. Again, if it turns out how I want it to, I will be very pleased with it.

Danny's next job is to finely slice potatoes

for 12 individual layered potato galettes.

-Aghh! Plaster, please!

-Oh, oh, oh!

It's only a slice. I need a plaster.

Slight accident with the mandolin.

Trying to do too many things at once. No-one else's fault but mine.

Danny needs to ensure his scallop mousse sausages are fully frozen

before he poaches them. Otherwise, they won't keep their shape.

I've got to do the last of these and get them into the chiller. Time is my only enemy.

Michael is cracking on with the salted caramel that will go inside his chocolate torte.

Come on!

How do you think these people, their generation, are going to feel about salted caramel?

-It's very modern, new age.

-It's different. It's a little bit out there.

But I really hope the distinguished guests tonight are going to love it.

Next, Michael moves on to making the mixture for his torte.

A torte is almost like a cake, but not quite. It's much softer.

It needs precision and it needs a soft hand.

With half an hour to service, tonight's guests arrive.

Including eight Bletchley Park veterans.

Doris Moss came to Bletchley as a refugee in 1942,

where she helped to crack Italian codes.

There was an airman who'd crashed as well. He was a Frenchman.

They were in the same hut as us.

Betty Webb worked in the major's office,

meticulously registering intercepted German messages

as they arrived at Bletchley.

You had an allowance, didn't you, for your underwear?

-Were they brown and worn?

-They were khaki.

Nina Horwood was recruited by Bletchley

straight after she passed her A-level in German

and helped to crack the enemy's naval codes.

Having been turned down by the army due to health issues,

Cambridge language graduate Arthur Bonsall

was snapped up by Bletchley

because of his ability to speak fluent French, German and Russian.

..in the air force man's bed, and all the bugs came out!

With less than half an hour to go,

Emma begins rolling out the dough for her starter.

They will be sprinkled with sesame seeds and poppy seeds and a bit of Maldon salt.

These are time-consuming.

It's going to be very tight.

-Flat breads?

-They're crackers.

-Ah!

-Rectangular crackers that will stand over the quenelles.

WOLF WHISTLE

-It's going to be beautiful.

-I hope so, yeah.

Ooh, I'd better not touch that with my hand, like an idiot!

Are you doing one large torte or...

No, no. Fine dining. I want it to be an individual piece for everybody.

-Not just a cut section.

-You're doing little squares.

-Yeah.

-Then it's got to be absolutely perfect.

Yeah. It's going to be tough, John. I won't lie.

I've got to try and measure this out as accurately as I can. That's the plan.

With fine dining, you've got to be as precise as possible.

I'm worried about my ice cream not setting.

Which would be great. The other thing are my tuiles.

You can start obsessing about this.

You're like, "Is that thin enough?"

Do you know what? It will be.

Cambridge history graduate, Asa Briggs,

was 21 when he was recruited by Bletchley

to crack German army and air force messages.

I'm full of high expectations. Great expectations!

I will compare it with the food that we had at Bletchley Park during the war!

It comes back in my mind.

But I hope we'll do better tonight! I'm sure we shall.

Gwendoline Page was 18 when she was recruited

by the Women's Royal Naval service.

She was posted to Bletchley as U-boat Intelligence Section.

Being a Wren, we had our own canteen.

And we had naval food and it was very much the same all over the world.

I'm hoping on a very interesting meal.

Rozanne Colchester would cycle three miles uphill every day

to come to work as a Luftwaffe code breaker.

When the war ended, she became an agent for MI6.

I thought the food here was very good.

It wasn't French or anything marvellous, but it was adequate

-and it was hot!

-LAUGHTER

Jean Valentine was also 18

when she was enlisted as a Wren and was picked up by Bletchley

as a code breaker because of her passion for cryptic crosswords.

Ladies and gentlemen, first course - Emma. 15 minutes.

SHE GASPS

I'm going to be very, very tight.

I'm going like the flippin' clappers.

Sorry, I know you're up against it. Has the jelly and mousse set?

I haven't checked. I haven't had time to go and look.

Take your time.

Be pretty. Think about your plate.

Oh, please God, please God, come out!

Love that! Love that!

-That's really nice, Emma.

-Thank you, George - Gregg, sorry!

I had something on my mind.

-Come on, darling.

-Right, quenelles.

Come on! Mousse, mousse, mousse, mousse!

Right. Come on!

-Five minutes, Emma.

-That's good, but you can't take that long over every quenelle!

-Well done. Just put one cracker on! One!

-That's it. Nice.

-Really?

-Yeah, lovely.

-No, no, no.

Lovely. It's like a temple of pate!

-That's it.

-Well done, well done.

Service, please!

Could you serve it with the jelly forward, please?

Very good!

Great job! Great job.

Great job!

For the starter,

Emma has made a chicken liver mousse

with poppy and sesame seed flatbread crackers,

an apple and watercress salad, celeriac remoulade

and a champagne and lemon thyme jelly.

I don't quite know what to do with they pyramid, but I'm using it as a shovel!

-My dear, do what I'm doing. Just pile it on top.

-You're making a terrible mess!

But nobody's watching! Just tuck in!

LAUGHTER

I thought it was a perfect pate.

And the jelly thing, as we're all calling it, was delicious!

I'm really enjoying this. Absolutely delicious.

I love that jelly thing. I've never had that before.

If there's any going begging, I'll have another!

Definitely an improvement on the naval food we used to get. It was very interesting.

But not quite filling enough for me!

The pate, I thought, was very, very good.

But I think I've had so much champagne, I can hardly remember it now!

LAUGHTER

I found it was absolutely delicious.

Looking forward to the next course!

Danny, with about 20 minutes to go, has got to cook every piece of halibut

and the langoustine and then plate up.

Phw...

That is tough. Tell you what, in 20 minutes, ooh, right to the wire. He's under pressure.

-How are you getting on, Danny?

-I'm getting there.

You're poaching your halibut. Sauce is done, your glaze.

Yep. Just get the broccoli on and get plated up after that.

After all that work, don't ruin that fish.

Danny's got to make sure that mousse with scallop is cooked all the way through.

Otherwise, he'll open up that plastic and pour it all over the plate.

Mind your back, please.

-Eight minutes, Danny, and it should be leaving the room.

-I'm a touch late, then.

-How long?

-About five minutes.

-Don't forget your langoustines which are still raw on a plate.

-Yep.

Lovely. Really lovely.

No, that's too... They're too soft. (Get yourself together!)

I'll have to leave them off.

-What about the mousse?

-It's not servable.

-It's not what I had in mind.

-There's enough on that plate. It doesn't matter.

-We're running a bit behind.

-When I was in the navy,

we were told that navy time was five minutes before time, not five minutes after.

So a couple of these can go, Danny, can't they?

First six can go.

Well done.

For the main course, Danny has cooked poached halibut

topped with a herb crust and langoustine,

served with potato galette, broccoli and a langoustine glaze.

I'm longing to get down to eating it.

The sauce is marvellous. The halibut dipped into it is wonderful.

I could do without the broccoli, but then I always can do without broccoli!

I'm afraid I disagree with Lady Briggs about the broccoli!

I thought that was very nice. But then I was always told to eat my greens when I was small!

When I think back to the war, and the only fish we had available was snook, I think.

This shows you what we were missing!

The fish is superb. Very well cooked. Not overcooked.

Very good. Delicious.

You've got ten minutes, Michael.

I like this, Michael. I really, really do.

I told you you were a pastry chef, Michael, didn't I?

Come on, mate. Quick, quick, quick. Let's go.

You're a star, Michael. It's a cracking looking dessert!

-OK.

-Ice cream. You sure it's all right?

He's just pulled the handle off it!

-Three minutes left.

-Right. OK.

You've got to be quick, or the ice cream will melt.

Not quite set enough, no?

No.

Last one. Well done.

Let's go, mate, please.

It looks very tempting!

For dessert, Michael has made a chocolate torte

filled with salted caramel and chocolate mousse

served with vanilla ice cream.

I just hope I've got room for it all after all that.

But I'll do my best!

Mmm!

My goodness me, it's absolutely wonderful!

I shall have to go home and do some rather better cooking in future, I think!

Lovely texture, lovely flavour. That toffee, if you haven't eaten that squiggly bit of toffee -

oh, you have! I see. That's particularly nice!

Wonderful!

Delicious ooze from inside this. Well worth waiting for!

My sweet tooth has been having a field day!

Delicious, but I'm afraid it's a question of capacity.

I might nick a bit more crust off the top, first!

Very good, indeed, except my ice cream has slightly melted.

I think it's a wonderful way of ending a meal. Terrific.

Could I thank you for a really absolutely delightful evening?

We've all enjoyed it.

The food was delicious.

We never ate anything like this during the war.

A wonderful occasion.

And we'll remember it for the rest of our lives. Thank you very much.

When we found out who we were cooking for, I can speak for all of us,

we were over the moon.

It's been a real joy to be here. Thank you very much for having us.

They're heroes and heroines.

So it was incredible, really incredible, to be able to cook for them.

And even more incredible that they liked it!

It's a fantastic honour.

These people have done incredible things.

I really put everything into this and filled every second of that two-and-a-half hours

because I wanted it to be such a nice dessert for them.

I'm so pleased that they loved it.

We wanted our three to truly impress today. And they've done it.

The food completely matched the occasion.

They were so adventurous.

They are going for it, no doubt about that!

It's very exciting. I don't know how we're going to pick a winner!

Tomorrow, the three finalists face their penultimate challenge.

Expectations are going to be very, very high.

Pepper? Did you put in pepper?

Cooking for four of the UK's most respected chefs.

I wouldn't enjoy cooking for us, so God knows what they're thinking!

Go, go, go. You need to be faster.

-Eugh! It's dead.

-No, don't say that!

-Weee!

-Oh!

To think that this was an amateur that cooked this. Amazing. Really fantastic!

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