Episode 13 Celebrity MasterChef

'The Celebrity MasterChef heats are over,

'and tonight the competition gains pace.'

We're down to our final eight and today it's going to be brutal.

I didn't in my wildest dreams

think I would get anywhere near this far.

I climbed a mountain and I'm here, which is fantastic.

It's just a different level of competition now, it's like,

everybody who's here is more than a competent cook.

If they don't keep me in, they're a bit weird.

I'm definitely fired up, without a doubt,

and I think seeing the other contestants has fired me up.

Let's do it, you know?

'They're about to face their biggest challenges.'

ALL SHOUT

This is when we get serious.

No-one is going to want to go home at this stage.

'If these celebrities want a shot at the culinary adventures that await,

'first they will need to get through this test.

'To cook their ultimate show-stopping dish.'

Welcome back to the MasterChef kitchen.

You are the best eight from the heats.

This is a wonderful achievement and you should be very proud of yourselves.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's your one show-stopping dish.

You have one hour and 30 minutes.

At the end of this, two of you are going to leave the competition.

Aw, give us something delicious! Let's cook!

When you get eight good cooks fighting for six places, John,

you are going to get great dishes, you're going to get fireworks.

Come on, guys, bring it on!

'Journalist Janet has earned her place in the competition with dishes full of flavour.'

I think the food tastes wonderful.

'But she hasn't always pulled off the presentation.'

I think the only reason to use the shell is to serve crab meat in it, not to serve a salad in it.

Well, we'll have to agree to differ on that, Gregg.

My biggest worry is they're going to start whingeing on

the way they've done all the way along about my presentational skills.

I just think my way's right and their way's wrong

and that's the beginning and end of it.

-What are you going to make for us?

-Lamb shank pie with the bone sticking out the top.

-Lamb shank pie, pastry puff top.

-Yeah.

-In an hour and a half?

-Yes.

-Are you slightly mad or what, Janet?

-You know I'm mad. That's why you like me.

-Yeah, that's true. Absolutely true.

-I'm using a pressure cooker to cook the meat.

Sometimes lamb shanks can be really rich and a little bit sickly, can't they?

-Do you know what I mean?

-Have you started moaning at the idea of the dish before you've even tasted it?

You've laid down a bit of a moan.

Yes. Because I want you to succeed, Janet, I like you, I think you're a really good cook.

But some people like it being rich. Just cos you don't, he might.

Janet is a marvellous cook,

and I love the idea of eating her lamb shank pie with the bone sticking out the pastry.

But where is the style and elegance?

If she wants to stay in this competition, she's going to have to take it on sooner or later.

-'Comedian Ade had a rocky start.'

-The thing is, your rosti's a bit greasy.

'But he's made great progress.'

Ade, the culinary term is "boom"!

I've spent the last week in a vague panic

trying to think of what to make,

how to make it, whether it's good enough.

You don't normally do that for your day job, do you?

The pressure is just enormous.

-Ade, what are you making?

-I'm making you a seafood risotto.

I made this for my wife the other day and she said it was the best food I'd ever made.

So that's why I'm making it.

Am I right in thinking you are making the stock yourself to feed the rice?

I am, yes. That's been the kind of heart of it, really.

And the secret is trying to pack flavour into the rice.

Although you don't see it in the end, it's what makes the dish.

You're an ambitious cook, aren't you? You don't want to go home now.

Well, I am ambitious, yes. And there's no point entering this kind of thing

unless you want to go as far as you can. And that means winning, doesn't it?

For the whole competition, I have not played it safe.

Rather than coming in and doing something boring and going out with something boring,

I'd rather destroy something fabulous,

and go out with, "Well, I gave it a go." Do you know what I mean?

-I'm cooking lobster tails...

-Ooh.

-..in a champagne sauce

and a hint of Irish.

-What?

-Oh, some potatoes.

-HE LAUGHS

-Some home-made chips I'm going to do.

-How many times have you cooked this dish, Shane?

-I've never cooked this dish before.

-Oh.

-As per usual, lads.

You know? Nothing's ever changed.

I haven't ever done it before so, you know what, blaze of glory.

A champagne sauce is not easy, neither is to cook a lobster perfectly.

Very tricky for a novice to do.

'From the beginning, actor Brian has shown a tendency to panic.'

HE GASPS

Brian, are you listening? Three more, yeah?

So, four, two, two, three. Yeah?

It's a nightmare!

'But demonstrated considerable promise.'

I think that whole thing is delicious.

The more you achieve, you do get an inner confidence going.

BLENDER WHIRRS

-What are you cooking for us, Brian?

-It's roast duck breasts with flavours of beetroot.

So there's a beetroot fondant,

there's raw beetroot, there's a little bit of pickled beetroot,

and different colour beetroots.

-This is a hugely ambitious dish, Brian.

-It is.

Cos I'm also, I'm also wanting to show skill by doing my own fillet.

Ah, you're going to take that duck off the bone, are you?

-Are you going to manage this?

-Well, I don't know. Time is an issue, without a doubt.

-You all right, mate?

-Yes, I am. Yes, yes.

-HE LAUGHS

Naturally I'm always like this. I'm just a panicker, basically.

I'm really pushing myself today, yes, into a fairly dangerous area.

Although it looks like a very simple dish, it's a lot of effort.

Over half an hour gone!

You've got just under an hour left.

I'm really keen to stay in. Absolutely.

I've had a brilliant ride so far.

Mm! Mm-mm-mm!

That has got to be one of the best tarts I've ever tasted.

What is the recipe today, Denise?

So, we're going to have a monkfish,

a bit along the lines of a tandoori.

We're going to have a mooli and pomegranate salad,

French beans just done in a bit of butter and garlic, and that's basically it.

How much do you want to stay in the competition with us?

I've already designed my finals meal,

so, er, I've got enough time to stay for the finals, if you'll have me.

Spiced monkfish salad with vegetables.

My worry is whether it comes up looking like a plate that you picked up from the buffet.

It's not special enough for somebody trying to get through to the last six.

I hope that I serve up a really well-prepared, thought-out dish.

You're halfway! You've got 45 minutes left.

'Comedian Katy has made some standout dishes.'

It's brilliant, really wonderful.

'But they've not been without fault.'

-That sauce is a little wishy-washy, a little watery.

-OK.

Someone asked me the other day, "Are you a good cook?"

And I said, "I'm literally finding out on a daily basis."

Katy, I found the remnants of some chocolate-looking puffs of stuff.

-Yes.

-Quite extraordinary. What are you making for us?

I am making chocolate and raspberry tortellini

with a white chocolate and cardamom sauce.

-Classic Italian dish with ravioli, but in a sweet version?

-Yeah.

I really like making pasta and I wanted to just do something new with it. So I've sort of invented it.

But I don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing.

Wow! I am really impressed by Katy's attempt to make a chocolate tortellini.

It could be over-sweet, it could be over-sticky,

but wow, that is one ambitious dish!

There's only, sort of, two people in the world,

both of whom live in my house,

-that have ever eaten this before.

-SHE LAUGHS

I'm slightly worried it might be not very nice. Or just a bit too weird.

Guys, you've only got 30 minutes left. An hour's gone.

30 minutes left. One show-stopper.

I started off the heat, kind of,

like, firing, I hit the ground running.

Fabulous flavour you've got in there.

I like the flavour of the prawns with the strawberry sauce, it's sweet and peppery, I like it.

Oh, get out of here!

Er, Speech, we've got a soda siphon, a water bath, a plastic bag.

Really? You... What the hecky-deck are you making?

I am making trio of pork,

so there's jerk pork belly, braised pork shoulder with apricots, rosemary,

and sun-dried tomato and ginger-stuffed pork loin sous-vide.

Because it's a trio, I felt that the three bits of pork should be cooked differently.

-This is dangerous, isn't it?

-Yeah, it's dangerous, definitely.

But you can't really play it safe and try and stand out at the same time.

I've chosen to use a water bath, that's just the new thing, that's how they do it.

I don't have a water bath at home, but that's what's hot right now.

20 minutes left.

'Presenter Les's early rounds were plagued with disaster.'

-Come on, Les, this is all going to be ruined.

-Sorry, chef.

There's too much sauce. You have to replate.

Can you imagine that food to be served to these guys? No way.

-'But he's managed to turn things around.'

-Not a fault to be found, Les.

-HE LAUGHS Brilliant!

-Thank you very much.

I am really determined, determined to show John and Gregg that they made the right decision.

-Whoa!

-I want to prove to them, but most of all to myself, that I can do it.

Your bench presently looks like you're cooking with four four-year-olds, Les.

HE LAUGHS

I know. I had a bit of an accident with my mango chutney, I'm afraid.

I put too much into the blender and it went everywhere.

-What are you making?

-I'm making you lamb curry

with mini naan breads,

mango chutney and basmati rice.

I don't mean to scare you but you've only got five minutes left.

I can't believe the level of cooking and the level of ambition

going on in this room today, John. It fills my soul with joy.

Last 60 seconds.

It's got to go on a plate.

That's it! If you're still working, you're over time.

'The celebrities have been asked to deliver show-stopping dishes.

'Speech has chosen a trio of pork.

'Jerk pork belly on a red kidney bean mash,

'pork shoulder in an apricot stew,

'and sous-vide pork loin wrapped in pancetta and stuffed with sun-dried tomatoes,

'on top of asparagus with a feta cheese foam.'

Your sous-vide pork, considering it's the first time you've ever done it, is properly cooked.

But the sun-dried tomato inside is just a bit dry.

And the pork itself, because it's such a tender, flavourless piece of meat

is lost with those big, salty flavours

of sun-dried tomato, asparagus and feta foam.

-It's just an odd combination.

-Mm-hm.

I particularly like the shoulder in the middle. There's a sweetness and a sharp acidity there,

and the meat is falling apart. I love that.

I like the crispiness on top of the pork belly at the end,

and I like the sweet fruits you've got underneath it, and I like your bean mash.

But I find all three of them are pork flavoured, obviously,

with a little bit of salt a little bit of sweetness.

There's not a great deal of variation between one and the other.

I went for ambitious, erm, and I ended up losing on flavour.

'Ade's made a seafood risotto cooked in a fish stock made from scratch

'with sea bream, mussels, clams,

'prawns and fennel.'

I love the vibrancy of it. I can smell the saffron from here.

You start off with a sort of heady dustiness that comes from saffron,

then the saltiness from mussels, the sweetness that's coming from the prawns,

then you've got this sort of very, very rich fish stock running through with that chalky rice.

The rice itself could be cooked a tiny bit more.

-Oh, really?

-Just a tiny bit more.

But the rest of that I think is lovely.

I mean, that is properly rich, opulent food.

I'm happy with the rice, I'm really happy with the rice,

and that lovely flavour of saffron that comes straight away. It's heady.

It's almost an aroma on your palate, if that makes any sense.

And then after that, you get sweet and salty shellfish.

I think it's a very, very well-made, very tasty risotto.

Thank you.

It's delicious. It is delicious.

'Denise's monkfish has been coated in a yoghurt and peppercorn crust,

'served with mustard seed potatoes,

'green beans on tomato relish, and a mooli radish, carrot and pomegranate salad.'

You went over time at the end. You were rushing around and I think that shows.

It's not the prettiest of dishes. It looks a little chucked together.

It was, darling. It's a miracle it is on that plate.

Uh-oh!

I think you've got some very exciting and different flavours going on on there.

However, the dish really needs smartening up. It looks messy.

The fish, the yoghurt coating around the outside is a bit sweet.

It should be spicy. And the fish itself is not cooked all the way through.

And presently, at the moment, I think your fish is swimming in a pond.

Sorry, Denise, it's not for me.

I knew that that fish was an accident waiting to happen and it happened.

You come in here and you think, "Maybe I got away with it."

But you can't fool them, can you? It's real.

'Les has made a lamb curry with mini naan breads,

'mango chutney, cucumber raita and basmati rice.'

Loads of work to pack into an hour and a half.

-No wonder you had it all up your arms and your legs and...

-Yeah.

Your curry is really tasty, really tasty.

Loads of turmeric, sweet with coconut milk and spicy with chilli.

A little bit of cumin, but what I do like is that background ginger and onion amongst that smoky lamb.

Thank you.

I love your chutney!

It is sweet and it's light and it finishes in a bit of chilli heat.

But these aren't really naans,

-they are like mini scones.

-OK.

But these scones with your chutney is as close to a cream tea with a curry as you're going to get.

Les, you continue to surprise me, in a good way.

Thank you.

I feel that I did impress them, that they liked all the elements,

so, yeah, I feel good and happy.

'Shane's lobster tails and chips

'have been served with a sweet pepper salad and champagne sauce.'

I like the sweetness of the lobster, cooked it very well. Like your crispy chips.

However, that sauce could be slightly less thick

-and slightly less strong. Still taste booze in it.

-OK.

The sauce, 100 percent I agree. I was tasting it wrong,

I was tasting on my hand instead of on a spoon. And I think I over-salted it, too.

-Saying all that, Shane, I've got to say, you can't be disappointed with that.

-Thank you.

Generally speaking, I'm actually really happy. It went way better than I expected.

'Brian's duck breast has been served with beetroot four ways,

'pickled, fondant, poached, and a beetroot paint.

'It's accompanied by a Madeira sauce.'

I tell you what, mate, that is incredible. Incredible effort!

Beautiful dish, look at it!

Silky sauce, as well, look at that!

I love that salted beetroot that's sitting on that side, almost to the stage where it's burnt.

Your pickled beetroot, thinly sliced, sour and sharp, I think is wonderful.

Brian, I am blown away by the amount of work on this plate.

For me, stunning.

-You're joking me.

-Absolutely stunning.

I particularly love the sauce John poured out of that jug,

that's got a slight smokiness, real richness, a nice deep sweetness,

perfect for the duck flesh. My only complaint is I would like that duck skin crispier.

And that is my only complaint in an otherwise absolutely stupendous dish.

Well, I feel quite stunned. Quite stunned.

'Katy's showstopper is her chocolate and raspberry tortellini

'in a white chocolate cardamom sauce with hazelnut brittle.'

Your tortellini could be a lot better shaped.

The mellow chocolate flavour of the tortellini

against your raspberry inside is nice, it's refreshing.

But a white chocolate sauce with brittle,

even for me, is a sugar-thick overload.

It is hugely sugaristic.

The actual tortellini themselves are just holding a soft filling,

and that soft filling is going into a soft sauce,

so it's more like a sort of white chocolate raspberry soup,

than actually a bowl of tortellini.

I definitely have made some mistakes and some flavour mistakes, which is a cardinal sin.

'Finally, it's Janet,

'who's made a lamb shank pie topped with puff pastry,

'accompanied by wild garlic cabbage and honey-glazed carrots.'

I love that.

And you may say, "I don't care about presentation."

Well, you obviously do. That looks fantastic.

Thank you.

I think that's fabulous. Really fabulous.

The lamb is soft and there is a sweet, rich sauce in there.

I'm also in love with these veg.

The veg are just delicious! You've got honey on the carrots, making them sweeter.

You've got wild garlic leaf through the cabbage, which is giving it a lemon and a garlic flavour.

That is absolutely lovely.

You've added a sweetness coming from some sort of apple jelly,

lots of red wine, lots and lots of onions going with the meat.

The meat is lovely and soft and tender, good job in an hour and a half.

I like your crispy pastry on top.

It's really very, very good indeed.

I can't believe you've said that!

I can't believe it.

-Surely you can find something to have a moan about?

-No.

-Go on, have a go.

-No.

It went very well. In fact, it went very well indeed,

and I'm concerned that if they like something that much, they'll never like anything I do again.

Let me tell you, that is a level up from what I expected at this stage.

And I'm serious about that, I thought that was wonderful.

Thank you very much. We need to make a decision because two of you are leaving the competition.

Off you go.

-Oh, well, that was such fun!

-THEY LAUGH

-Oh, thank God I took Valium!

-THEY LAUGH

That was fantastic!

To get eight of them in the kitchen together and go, "Right, cook for your place in the next round,"

just brought out some stunning dishes and some really fantastic effort.

-Whose is the best dish for you?

-Janet's.

The whole thing was just delicious!

Best I've seen Janet cook and she made an attempt at presentation,

even if she doesn't want to admit it to herself.

Good on you, Janet, you stay in the competition.

I can tell you the person today who has absolutely surprised me beyond belief and that's Brian.

That was a massively courageous attempt.

I think he deserves to go through on the strength of it.

-What do you think about Les today?

-I think there is no denying his effort, his workload,

his desire for the competition, and more importantly, his progress.

I think you might be right. We're going to keep Les, then?

Ade's rice dish today was quite amazing.

It was layered, and surprisingly, you got so much going on at different times within your palate.

He made his own fish stock that was very, very good.

I think he's great.

For me today, Shane did really good. Really good job.

Even though he's not the most experienced, he seems to have a very good touch.

There's one person who cooked today whose competition is over and that's Denise.

I agree with you, John, I think Denise's time has come.

The dish looked a mess and the fish wasn't cooked.

John, it's about as bad as it gets. Definitely the worst dish in the room.

One more person needs to leave the competition. Who's it going to be?

Katy, today, was really ambitious,

the only person in the room to do dessert, and for that I applaud her.

But actually, it didn't eat very nicely, it was too sweet. And it was too soft.

I really don't know if that's enough to stay in, actually,

because I think there's some really amazing cooking from the others.

Speech has a style all of her own.

Caribbean meets London style, and I do like it, and I have to admire the work she put in.

Speech has got the skill,

it's just whether she can actually get those combination of flavours absolutely right.

I didn't realise I'd be this emotional about it,

where it's something...

..that I'm realising now means a lot to me. A lot.

So I don't want to go yet.

Two of you are, unfortunately, leaving us.

The first contestant to leave us...

..is Denise.

See you.

I'm very proud to have got this far, or I hope I will be tomorrow.

At this moment, I'm just gutted that it's over.

Cos it's a good ride, you know, it's a good journey.

The second contestant to leave us is...

-..Katy.

-Thank you.

That's it. I shall never touch another pan or spoon again,

-except in anger.

-SHE LAUGHS

No, I've had a brilliant time. And I've doubled, tripled my cooking repertoire.

There are things I can cook now that I'd never even have considered cooking before.

-Our final six.

-Celebrate, by all means,

but you have absolutely no idea what's coming up next.

ALL LAUGH

'It's 8am and the six remaining celebrities are travelling through Warwickshire.'

Historic Warwick.

'Having proved themselves with their show-stopping dishes,

'they will now have to deliver on a much grander scale.

'This is Warwick Castle,

'on a site dating back over 1,000 years

'and the regal setting for their next challenge.'

Welcome to the magnificent, medieval Warwick Castle.

Today there is a battle enactment

between the two sides in the War of the Roses,

the houses of York and the houses of Lancaster.

You have to create a banquet for medieval soldiers.

Two teams. Janet, Ade and Les.

Speech, Brian and Shane.

Three hours, guys. Plenty of time. Off you go.

'The two teams now have to create their dishes from ingredients that would have been available

'in the 15th century.

'And then serve it in the great banqueting hall

'that is nestled in the heart of the castle.'

I don't know whether they'll have knives and forks because of the times.

'Shane, Speech and Brian have been given pheasant, cabbage,

'beer, pike, parsnips,

'carrots, wine, bread and plums.'

Do you think we're doing, like, baking those...

-What, whole fish?

-So bake them out like a big thing.

That's the biggest thing we've got to look like a banqueting type thing, isn't it?

If we do it, like, as one whole thing, there will be bones.

Fantastic!

'In the other tent, Janet, Les and Ade

'have been given rabbit, fresh herbs including lovage,

'figs, dates and apricots,

'quinces, mussels,

'clams, gooseberries and salmon.'

Does anyone know how to fillet those fish?

Oh, no, let's not fillet it. Let's not go there.

I think looking like that is more medieval.

Look, someone who worked with me earlier.

THEY LAUGH

What we could do for a dessert,

we could use more exotic fruits, medieval fruit tatin.

-You'd want to definitely use these veg.

-Yeah.

We need two well-organised, very busy tents

because you've got 100 hungry soldiers to feed.

Big question mark on whether they're going to succeed or not.

Is there a team leader?

-You mean like a supervisor?

-Correct.

-Well, who else would it be?

-All right. OK.

All I've said is if Les cooks his fish now, cos they're very big fish,

then they can keep warm or they can be lukewarm,

but then he can make things to go with them and decorate them.

He's got to allow time for the presentation.

I know what you're going to say!

I know it! All right, I said the P word!

I was going to come and give you a big hug.

-All right, you can give me a mini hug.

-Aww!

-Aww!

She's doing presentation! I love you! I love you!

'Les starts his salmon main

'by stuffing it with a mixture of lovage, parsley and ginger.'

I've never cooked quite as big a salmon as this before.

How long are you going to cook the fish for, Les?

Er, we reckon between 20 minutes to an hour and a half.

-About an hour and a half.

-An hour and a half?

-It won't take an hour and a half.

-I think an hour.

-Two hours? Big, isn't it?

-OK, let me just say something.

-A chicken, as dense as it is, takes about an hour and ten minutes, right?

-Yeah.

-A duck takes about an hour and a half.

-Right.

-A fish takes longer, does it?

-No.

No, no, absolutely not.

-That's...

-HE LAUGHS

It's a salmon. About 35, maybe 40, Les, if you're lucky.

'Janet has decided to make a rabbit stew with apricots and shellfish.'

I'm going to cook the rabbit stew slowly and then I'm going to add at the last minute mussels and clams.

-Are you?

-Got a problem with that, Gregg?

Sort of a medieval surf and turf.

Exactly.

A rabbit, dried fruit and shellfish.

A combination I've never tried before.

I wonder very much whether anyone's ever tried it before. But who's going to argue with Janet?

Meat and fish together are absolutely fine.

It's shellfish. As long as you cooked it separately and you've taken it out...

There's beef and oyster pie, for God's sake, I mean, you know?

'Ade is going to make the fig and quince tarte tatin.

'And he's starting with the caramel.'

The quantities are always tricky if you don't know what they are.

I vaguely remember caramel being half and half. I'm somewhere close to that.

See, it already looks like quite a lot, doesn't it?

-You're trying to make what here?

-I'm trying to make a caramel.

-A caramel?

-Yeah.

-Right, just melting sugar makes caramel.

-Yeah.

-Putting sugar and butter together...

-Yeah.

..all you're going to do is boil butter to make butterscotch.

Ah, so that's butterscotch?

That will become butterscotch eventually.

-You want the smallest amount of butter and lots of sugar.

-Right.

-It's about ten to one.

-Is it?

-What have you got there?

-One to one.

-50/50?

-Yeah.

-Brilliant!

Ade's had a disaster with his caramel.

We've got almost a cross between fudge and butterscotch, but not quite.

He's back to the drawing board but, you know, Ade's resilient, he'll be OK.

'Meanwhile, the other team is also hard at work.

'They've decided to make pheasant and ham pie with roast veg,

'baked pike with sliced bread,

'and mulled fruits with cream.'

Can I ask, is there a leader?

-Yes, Shane.

-Shane, you're the leader.

Well, yeah, look, we're all in it together, boss.

But we have direction.

'Brian and Speech are working together on the pie.'

I'm doing two big pies. I'm lining it with the shortcrust and putting puff pastry on the top as the lid.

Hey, so Speech is doing the filling for the pie.

-Yeah.

-You're making the pastry.

And then the fish is going to be done when, after that's done?

-After that, yes.

-OK.

It always works a lot better if you put that in.

-HE LAUGHS

-Don't tell anyone.

I hope after they've done their medieval fighting, this is exactly what they want to see.

'Shane is busy making the pudding.'

Hopefully it'll be nice and tasteful, try and warm the cockles of the boys out there,

-cos it's going to be cold.

-And what are you going to serve with the fruit?

-Not entirely sure.

-So you've got wine and a bit of fruit?

Well...

OK. Well, have a think about it.

It's a nice environment in here, it feels quite relaxed

in that respect, there's no... I know we're going to be under pressure at some point,

but at the minute, it's quite nice, everyone's just getting on.

It's lovely.

'In the castle grounds,

'the houses of York and Lancaster are preparing to do battle

'to take control of the English throne.

'Back in the tent,

'Janet is planning her own strategy for the rabbit stew.'

People tend to be a little bit squeamish about rabbit

and it's the most delicious meat and it tastes exactly like chicken.

So I think the trick to get them to eat it is to present it so it looks like chicken stew.

'For Les, the challenge is still how long to cook his salmon for.'

They're so big, they're not cooked yet. Come and have a look.

OK. It's nearly cooked.

-Just have a quick prod inside, have a look inside it.

-Yep.

Pull the skin apart and see if it's cooked.

What do you think, Ade?

-I think it needs just a little bit more.

-OK.

The fish is doing all right.

Er, but I'm going very much on Janet and Ade's instinct with that.

'Ade is still battling with his caramel.'

Oh, yes, I almost know what I'm doing.

'While it re-melts, he fills his tarts with the quince and figs.'

It didn't start off this ambitious in my head. I thought, "Oh, that's simple."

I'm going to pour the caramel on.

Then I'm going to put the pastry on top,

cook it for 20 minutes

and then try and turn them over.

-HE LAUGHS

-What an idiot!

Right.

'Over in the other tent, Brian is beginning to roll his pastry for the pheasant pie.'

Does your pastry look like it might have worked?

Er, it's seems to be working at the moment.

But you've still got a puff pastry to make for the top, is that right?

-Yes.

-Have you even started making your puff pastry, mate?

-Well, it's already made.

-So it just needs rolling out.

-Fine.

And how is the inside of our pie?

It's nearly there. It's looking very good.

I think at the moment the kitchen is calm.

Everybody's just got their head down and they're getting stuck into what they need to do.

There's no point in having a hectic kitchen.

If it's going to go wrong, it will. No point in screaming and shouting about it.

But Shane, your dessert is now done, is it?

Yeah, it's pretty much done, it's just sitting there.

When you say pretty much done, it was fruit in mulled wine and some thickened cream,

-so what's not done?

-The cream.

-Right.

-Cos Brian there is going to look after the cream.

He is in charge of getting that pastry together

cos we need to get it into the oven, so as soon as he's done there...

Well, you've got about an hour and a half. How long is that going to take to cook?

-What to cook?

-The pie.

-How long is the pie going to take to cook, Brian?

-About an hour, I would think.

-So you've got to get it in quick.

-Yeah.

-But your fish, as yet, no-one's even looked at.

Haven't even looked at it yet.

THEY SHOUT

'Battle has commenced, and in just over an hour,

'these soldiers will be in need of a hearty lunch.'

I do like the organisation that's going on in the tent of Janet, Ade and Les.

But with just over an hour to go before lunch, I'm very concerned about Shane's tent.

-How about the pies?

-The pies?

-Yeah.

-We're just going to fill them.

It's either this or that. This has got to go in.

-Mate, if your pie doesn't go in, you've got no pie.

-I know.

-You've been working on the pie for two hours, it's still not in the oven.

-No.

-OK. We are doing that now.

-Get the veg in and then get the pie in.

Yeah, that's what I'm going to do.

-Why would you put lemon on something before it goes in the oven?

-Oh, I don't know.

-It tastes awful.

-No, that's true. Right, erm...

-BRIAN LAUGHS

-Just get those...

-Don't panic, Brian, it'll be all right. Don't worry, don't panic.

'Finally, Speech makes a start on the pike main.'

-How long do you think this will take to bake in the oven, Shane?

-15, 20 minutes.

Just get it in, anyway. We'll check it as we're going.

'While Brian and Shane frantically fill their pies.'

Doesn't get any more medieval than that.

HE LAUGHS

Move it just half an inch this way.

-To you?

-No, no. The actual pastry itself.

That's it!

-50 minutes.

-Oh, that's good, cos my pie's a 45-minute pie.

Well, seeing as it's taking you two and a half hours so far...

HE LAUGHS

-Don't panic now.

-Don't panic. Don't panic.

Right, good.

THEY SHOUT

SWORDS CLASH

'In Janet's tent, it's the moment of truth for Ade's tarte tatin.

'And Les's salmon.'

Come on, Les, take the gamble, get the fish on the trays, mate.

Janet.

'In the final minutes before service, Shane's team realise the real challenge of the pike.'

-This fish kind of stinks.

-The fish tastes like nothing.

You may as well lick a stone. There's more flavour in a stone.

Yeah, this is really looking bad. Look at the bones, it's...

Someone's going to die on this fish.

There's a medieval army waiting for their lunch!

I'll just get this...

The pie's looking fab. The pastry's looking really good on top there.

Two tea towels.

Next up, please.

'Janet, Ade and Les are offering rabbit stew with apricot, mussels and clams with bulgur wheat,

'or salmon stuffed with lovage, served with a gooseberry sauce.

'Shane's team is offering pheasant and ham pie with roasted parsnips and carrots,

'or baked pike with sliced bread and pickled cabbage.'

-Pie, please.

-Pie, good man. Pie and veg, so it is.

'The pheasant pie is an instant hit.'

Would you like some pie? Yeah?

It's really great, delicious food,

but for somebody of my social level, I don't think I would've been eating pheasant

as a medieval peasant, unfortunately.

If this isn't fit for a knight, I don't know what is.

The pie is looking a little bit short.

-We are letting our pheasant and ham pie do its talking.

-HE LAUGHS

Most of their effort went into that dish and it shows.

It's tasty, it's moist, lovely filling.

Decent pastry, good roast vegetables.

That's a winner on a cold day.

'But there are fewer takers for the old-fashioned pike.'

There's plenty of bones in it so just be careful.

-All right. Thank you.

-You're welcome.

Do I have to eat this? Well...

I've got to say, that pike is one of the nastiest things I've eaten on MasterChef for a very long time.

It's dirty, it's muddy, it's not cooked very well,

it's dry and it's on a piece of bread with over-cooked and over-vinegared cabbage.

'Back with Janet's team, no-one's queuing for their food.'

They seem a lot more popular than us. Look at that.

-Oh, yeah. Theirs is going fast, isn't it?

-Yeah.

I have made a fantastic stew, but all these people are complete wusses.

All the women go, "Ooh, I don't want rabbit!"

But if they were truly medieval, they'd be eating it. It tastes fantastic!

If they want to eat that fish that looks all white and drab,

and a meat pie, good luck.

Go and rustle up some business, Ade. Go on.

Rabbit stew and salmon this way.

HE HUMS

Evening. Do you all know what you're queuing for?

Because this is only for half of the food,

So the salmon and the rabbit are on that side.

So if you want that, I'd go round that way.

-I've seen the pie. It's not very pleasant.

-LAUGHTER

-Wow, they was no persuading them.

-LES LAUGHS

-Ooh, that salmon looks good!

-Ooh, it tastes good!

-Look at it!

-It tastes really good!

-Yeah.

And that rabbit... wow.

Tastes exactly like chicken.

We're calling it chicken stew now.

-I'll try some of your rabbit stew.

-Thank you.

'At last, their tactics seem to be paying off.'

Hang on, I'll give you a bit more stew.

This is excellent.

The meat from the rabbit was extremely well done.

The juxtaposition of the sweet from the apricots

and also the shellfish, the mussels, it worked very well.

Top marks for that. The army will be able to march once again on its stomach.

That's brilliant. Thank you very much.

Well, I've got to say, rabbit, shellfish and apricots

is not a natural combination, I've got to say.

Mm!

I stand corrected. That is lovely!

It's refreshing, it's filling, it's delicious, it's vibrant. Very good, Janet.

If the soldiers didn't choose that, they've missed out on a treat there.

-Would you like some clams with your salmon?

-Yeah, go for it. Thank you.

-'The salmon has also had a surge in popularity.'

-Thank you.

-Hello.

-Hello. How you doing?

-Good, thanks.

-Would you like the gooseberry sauce?

-Of course.

-Good day on the battlefield, sir?

-A lovely day on the battlefield.

-Did you die?

-Several times.

It's very, very tender, very well cooked.

It's definitely an authentic dish for the medieval period. They've done a good job.

Look at that fish. Cooked nicely.

I think the salmon's delicious, I love the salted clams.

I like a small amount of gooseberry, but it's really sharp,

that gooseberry is really, really sharp and almost overpowers the salmon.

Saying that, those big fish all poached away, good job, Les.

Looked a picture. I think eats as well as it looks.

'For dessert, Shane's team is offering fruits in mulled wine with almond vanilla cream.'

That is delicious!

Wow! That's a lovely taste, Shane!

'And Janet's team has made fig and quince tarte tatin with custard.'

Oh, great. That's really great, isn't it?

Mulled fruit. Boil up a load of fruit.

# Who will buy? # There you are, look at that!

It tasted really good, so I'm happy. I lapped it right up.

It's got a toffee bottom that's almost bitter,

it's got tons of vanilla running through it

and the deep, almost rum flavour of figs and dates. That is lovely!

'How will Shane's fruit fare?'

It's really, really good. In fact, I couldn't see any negatives for it. The cream's amazing.

A winter warmer, a little Christmas present in a bowl,

tasting of mulled wine and smelling of Christmas, rich cinnamon,

almonds flaked across the top, a lovely, lovely dessert.

-Yeah, you like it? I like it.

-Yeah, that's good.

Have you seen how much is left? Hardly any.

We've had three people come back for seconds. Great.

Quick, quick! If you want any, don't hang around.

-Fantastic.

-Well done, you.

-All right.

-Well done, us three.

-Yes!

-I'm really proud of us.

-Really pleased.

-Did all that without any arguments.

-Yeah, we had no arguments.

-None.

Great day, great challenge. We asked them to step it up,

and by and large, they did.

The food that came out of Janet's tent today was fantastic.

I was kind of inspired by the medieval brief.

People with taste chose my dish.

People that wanted food that was just like school dinners chose the other lot.

We worked very calmly as a team, Ade, Janet and myself,

and I think we did a great job.

I thought we put on a brilliant medieval meal.

I was very disappointed with the medieval jousting people

who didn't seem to have any appreciation of that at all.

So we didn't sell as much as we should've done,

and they went instead for the 20th century pub grub that the other team were doing.

Erm, what can you say?

Although Shane's team struggled a little bit, their dishes sold, John.

You can't deny that. It sold.

It was nice to know that we made a good effort,

especially with the pie itself. Not a lot of them opted for the fish,

so it balanced out quite well for us in the end. We got away with it, I think.

I actually feel really good about today. I think it was a really good team and we got it done.

I felt really thrilled and quite a sense of achievement.

Hey, we won the day. Well, I don't know if we won the day, but we feel like we won the day.

No-one's going home yet, but this competition is really hotting up.

And what comes up next - what an education that's going to be.

'Tomorrow night, the competition moves up another level.'

GONG BOOMS

-I've got another one with a hole in it, Brian!

-I'm doing my best.

-Just move your tushy-tush.

-We're trying not to panic.

-Agh!

'The celebrities must battle to keep their place.'

One of you is leaving the competition.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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