Episode 8 Celebrity MasterChef

Brand-new celebs in this kitchen.

We are about to find out whether they can cook.

I'm feeling excited, pushing the fear to the side.

Some of them think they can cook. Some of them know they can't cook.

Some of them are just delusional.

I think you've got to start pulling things out of the bag.

All we want is just a little bit of promise, a glimmer of hope.

I'm looking at cookery books all the time! It's crazy!

You can act, you can sing. But can you cook?

This week, five celebrities have taken on the challenge

to become MasterChef champion.

Last time, singer Kiki Dee went home.

Now the remaining four are back in a bid to stay in the competition.

It does get under your skin, even if you think, "I'm not very good".

But actually, it gets into you and you want to be better

and you want to learn, you want to push yourself.

I think they're probably thinking I'm all right

but I'm a bit flippant about it.

And I would like to show them a bit more knowledge, if I have it.

The competition is very strong, so even if you've done your best,

it's probably not good enough.

You know? So that's the thing which is the real worry.

I am very, very determined,

and I am going to get into the last rounds of this competition.

And that, to me, is like a red rag to a bull.

The first day was tough.

Today is tougher.

Welcome back.

You survived the first day.

Today is very different.

We're going to test your knowledge and your skills.

-Oh, well! That's that, then, isn't it?

-That's me done!

Well, it was nice cooking with you!

We're going to ask you all to go back into your room,

and then we're going to call you out one by one to see what you've got.

Off you go.

-Cheerio.

-Thank you!

-Look, that's a tap!

-That's a spoon!

-That's a spoon!

LAUGHTER

-Chopping board. It's easy.

-You'll be all right!

I'm a little bit concerned. I'm always concerned at this stage.

It could be identifying food, or herbs, vegetables...

-A bit of butchery?

-A bit of butchery, yeah.

-Maybe some fish.

-You know?

-How to scale a fish.

We want them to identify the six sausages on the bench.

And then our celebs are going to make

a sausage and an onion gravy for us.

We've got, I think, probably the easiest one on the bench,

the classic pork and herb Cumberland sausage,

round and round in circles like a piggy-wig's tail.

After that, I think it's very, very difficult indeed.

Spanish sausage, morcilla, black sausage.

But it's got those bits of rice in it.

That's what makes it identifiable.

And the Celtic sausage, this white pudding. Now, that's got oats in it.

We've also got the classic Toulouse sausage,

chunky with bits of pork fat and pork,

rich with sage and loads and loads of garlic.

This is a merguez, spiced heavily with garlic but made from lamb.

These little babies here are classic pork chipolatas,

a good old-fashioned sausage.

If they can't identify these sausages by sight,

they've got a chance to taste them.

This does test their knowledge, because if they cook,

if they read classic cookery books, they'll do well here.

If not...thpft!

And if this isn't hard enough, now we're going to ask them

to make a sausage, cook it, and onion gravy,

and they've got 20 minutes to do it in.

Brilliant!

YOUR 20 minutes starts now.

I'll do the onion gravy first,

because the onion gravy will take longer to cook than the sausages.

A little bit of butter.

This little thing, vinegar, is a great friend of brown onions,

because it softens the onions

and they go lovely and brown rather than burning.

How many of our celebs cooking at home

would put vinegar in their onions?

-I reckon none.

-No.

These are good old-fashioned hog skins.

The real secret is to get the skin on without tearing it.

Classic pork sausage mixture

with a little bit of rusk through it and some dried onion.

MACHINE HUMS

This is great!

There's the air, and if I had've tied that,

this sausage skin would have popped by now.

Now tie the end.

Tie the other end. Cut it.

There's nothing in there scientifically difficult.

You've just got to be dextrous.

Some flour over the top of the onions,

just enough to thicken a sauce.

Stock.

See, now we've got a lovely bit of colour on our sausages.

And so now to plate the dish.

So there we have it, pork sausages, onion gravy and a bit of sage.

Mm!

Nice, hot, spiced pork sausages and a very lovely onion gravy.

Let's see what they can do.

First up is actor Christopher Biggins.

So far, he has impressed with some great-tasting dishes.

It's got that depth and fruitiness from the wine

and salty tang of Parmesan cheese and the little sweet notes of pea.

-It's very good.

-Thank you.

'Oh! Skills and knowledge?!'

I mean, it's terrifying, really!

I'll probably go in there, look at whatever I've got to do and say,

"No, I can't do it".

In a moment, Biggins, we're going to ask you

-to make something.

-All right.

But right now, to test your knowledge, we want you

-to identify the ingredients that are under that tea towel.

-Right, OK.

Oh! Sausages!

Well, that's a good start, Biggins.

I'm feeling that I can only do the best I can.

-Are you a sausage fan, Biggins?

-I do quite like sausages.

Erm...

chipolata.

I'm not worried at all...!

-Was that chorizo?

-Chorizo?

-Chorizo?

Taste the third one and tell us what you think it is.

Oh, I've no idea.

Is it a haggis? Oh, dear! I'm going to do very badly on this.

-What have you written there?

-I don't know. "Big black sausage."

And what do you think that might be called at a butcher's?

CHRISTOPHER LAUGHS

-No, I point to something if I go to the butcher.

-"And a bit of black..."

Pudding?

Ooh!

Now, this...

One of those German wurst sausage?

And...

I know it sounds stupid. I think... Is this called a white?

-A white what?

-Sausage.

-If black pudding is boudin noir...

-Yes?

-..what is white pudding?

Boudin...

Boudin, er...

-White?

-White!

Boudin noir, boudin...

-Blanc.

-GREGG CLICKS HIS FINGERS

-Right, Biggins.

-It's appalling!

-No, it's not appalling at all, actually.

You've got... You've actually got three out of six.

You got the chipolata, the black pudding and the white pudding.

-You didn't get the merguez, the Toulouse or the Cumberland.

-No.

I'll remember those, though, next time.

Now, in front of you, you have all the ingredients to make for us...

-A sausage!

-We want two sausages, we want onion gravy.

-You've got 20 minutes, Biggins.

-20 minutes?

-Off you go.

Can I ask you a question about the onion gravy?

Do we want to see the onions, the shape of the onions?

We don't want it too... You're not going to answer that, are you?

You're going to make me do it.

-Where did you get this from, the butcher's?

-Yeah!

Right, OK, so...

-MACHINE HUMS

-Oh!

I worry that if you don't hold on to the end it's going to come off.

-Look, it's coming off.

-Oh, I see, that end, you mean.

-Yeah.

How many of these do you want? Two?

Actually, it smells lovely, the mixture.

That's Gregg's after-shave.

-Une soss-ahge!

-Une soss-ahge!

I think that could take off.

Careful the casing doesn't split.

Actually, I might...

-..say that I've...

-Yeah.

-Are you thinking about getting these sausages cooked, Biggins?

-Right, OK.

-How much longer have I got?

-Seven minutes.

How long do you think those sausages are going to take to cook?

-The time that I've got.

-Careful they don't explode!

-What do you do to stop them from exploding?

-Turn the heat down?

No. You made a joke...

-Oh, I should have pricked them!

-Go on, then.

-Just three minutes left.

-Right, OK, thank you.

-Yeah! Are you done?

-I think I am done.

Good. Time's up.

-CHRISTOPHER LAUGHS

-Done!

Mate, the way you made the sausages,

you'd never done them before, but you worked it out.

Really impressed by the way you made your onion gravy. Really impressed.

The one thing that's missing from there that John put in his

-was a little bit of vinegar at the start...

-Ah!

-..to soften them

-and give it a little bit of a tang and a little bit of sweetness.

-Ah!

How interesting. I must remember that.

You catch on really quick. You might be a natural at this, Biggins.

-And...

-Now the taste!

-Look at that!

Ooh, I say!

Your onions are lovely and long, like spaghetti, and they're soft,

the gravy is thick enough

that it wraps around the sausage with the onions.

You've got sage running through it, lots of pepper,

-it's a nice consistency, and it tasted good.

-Good.

-Congratulations.

Thank you. Can I just taste that little bit? Cos I thought

this onion gravy was actually...

That is not bad!

-Thanks, Biggins.

-Bye-bye!

Mm! God, that's good!

-Who's he talking to?

-The wall, I think.

I think I did show my skill and knowledge

in that particular field, yes.

And I think they were quite impressed.

Next up is actor Tina Hobley.

Last time, she made some mistakes...

I like the butter and caper sauce you've got on the John Dory.

-However, you've overcooked the John Dory.

-Mm.

..but delivered on flavour.

Lots and lots of cinnamon, and that smoky sweetness

that comes from maple syrup, which I really like.

I don't know how I'm going to get on!

I'm petrified about this unknown task.

I need to stay focused and just show a little bit of confidence

and don't let those nerves get to me.

-Right, now we want to test your knowledge.

-Oh, God!

Would you reveal those ingredients, please?

-Sausages!

-Write down what you think those six sausages are, please.

You want the name of the sausage.

-Correct.

-I'll start with the one I know.

-So, this is a black pudding.

-You don't have to taste it, then?

-No.

I didn't think I had either skill or knowledge of a kitchen.

Something might come to me.

I'm praying to God that something

might shine its divine light down on me!

Pork and...

rosemary.

It's a white sausage. Er, a white pudding?

A white pudding...

Very simple, plain pork sausage,

-that tastes to me.

-Good, write it down.

-Yep.

OK, last one. Erm...

Very heavy.

Like a wild boar.

Tina, you haven't done too badly. You have got...

..three out of six correct.

Now you have in front of you all the ingredients to make for us...

sausages and onion gravy, and you have 20 minutes to do it in.

All right. And do I put a knot in it, one end?

SHE CHUCKLES

-You're not going to help me at all, are you?

-No.

-OK...

So, let's make some sausages first.

-Is that enough?

-I don't know.

-MACHINE HUMS

-Is that...? Is it coming now?

Oh! Right, it's coming!

I'll never look at sausages in the same way.

You've got to cook them yet,

and they're going in gravy, so hurry up.

-OK. Let's turn it off.

-MACHINE OFF

OK...

If you do that, you'll have one sausage.

Yeah, but I can...

Once they're cooked, I can slice them.

-That'll be one sausage sliced.

-Yeah.

-There won't be two sausages.

-What did you ask for?

-Two sausages.

-Can't I make two sausages out of this?

-You can.

-Yeah.

You're halfway, you've had ten minutes. You've got ten minutes left.

You're doing well, Tina.

Other way. Upside down. That's it.

These look rather nice, I think!

What's happened to this gravy?!

Erm...

-Are you hoping to thicken it by reducing it?

-Yes.

-What would you use at home to thicken your gravy?

-Erm...

-Gravy granules.

-Yeah!

I knew you were going to say that.

-You've got three minutes left, Tina, three minutes.

-OK.

There you are.

60 seconds left, Tina.

-Happy with the taste of that?

-Yes. Yummy.

OK!

-Done, Tina?

-Yes, I'm done!

I think you did really well,

especially with that sausage machine.

That's not easy.

And you were trying to thicken up your gravy, and you were saying,

-"If I reduce it, it'll thicken up," and actually it needed flour.

-Yeah.

And your flour was over there.

OK...

Da-da! You're cooked.

Keep your onions a bit chunkier, nice big slices of onion

so it becomes almost like spaghetti

wrapping around those sausages with the gravy.

Thicker gravy, it would be good.

-Your only mistake is a spoonful of flour.

-I know!

-That's not bad.

-All right.

-Thanks, Tina.

-Thanks a lot.

-Thank you.

Not bad. Not bad.

I made sausages! Amazing!

SHE LAUGHS

You know, like everything, every day I'm learning a little bit more,

and this weekend I'm going to make

the best onion gravy my family have ever tasted.

So far, actor and director Jason Connery

has demonstrated some decent skill.

That fish is as flaky and as delicately cooked as you like.

But he can overcomplicate his dishes.

If you can cook like this...

-Yes.

-..you can make one complete dish...

-Right.

..not little bits of 12 of them.

I will absolutely throw myself into whatever task they give me

and will go down in a flame of glory, if need be,

or triumph!

-In a moment, we're going to ask you to make something.

-Right.

But first, knowledge test.

Could you please remove the tea towel and reveal your ingredients?

Yes.

Aye-aye!

Have a look at it all and then try and work out what they are

-and write down what you think they are.

-OK.

I'm just hoping that the browsing that I did through various books

somewhere in the back of the grey matter stayed

and that I have something to give back to them.

-That, weirdly, tastes like chorizo to me.

-Write that down, then.

-No, cos I don't think it is.

-Well, no.

-No, OK.

-I think that is chorizo.

-OK, well, write that down, then.

So, what's the first one?

I have no idea what that is.

What sort of country do you think it comes from?

-Could it be South African?

-Well, it could be, yeah.

-But I don't think it is.

-Right.

JASON LAUGHS

-Are you going to help me at all?

-No.

-No. Next one.

-Oh, for God's sake!

This one I think is a pork sausage

or pork small sausage. Sausagette?

I wish I knew more about sausages.

-Look at the shape of it.

-Cumberland!

-Yeah!

-Is it?

-Yeah.

Ooh...

-I believe this to be chicken pudding.

-Well, what colour is it?

-White.

-Yeah. Maybe it might be, then...

Instead of a black pudding, it might be a...

White pudding!

Right. OK, yes, that was hard work, wasn't it? Sorry.

I think we can safely give you two and a half, possibly three,

-out of the six, which isn't bad at all.

-Right.

We've tested your knowledge. Now it's time to test your skills.

Sausages and onion gravy. 20 minutes. Off you go.

Are you going to stand there and watch me all the way through this?

Oh, yeah.

I get the feeling that at some stage I'm going to get to the end of this.

-That's right.

-There it is. OK.

-You've done this before?

-I haven't, no.

-Don't forget your onions.

-Thank you!

MACHINE HUMS

-Come on, baby!

-Why don't you have a go at the plunger?

Yay!

Aye-aye!

-Good lad.

-Right, stay there.

Ten minutes gone.

Right...

This is going to be fantastic!

-Five minutes left, Jason.

-Right.

-60 seconds. Get it on the plate.

-Let's get it in a bowl, please.

-Are you done?

-Yes, I am.

Jason, I think you did a really decent job.

I was really impressed you got the onions on first.

Great what you did with the sausages, got stuck right in.

And they look good!

Let's have a go.

They're cooked.

The onions are sweet.

I love the amount of pepper you put in there as well.

-You are big on flavour!

-Love flavour.

There's so much sage in there I feel like I'm in Italy!

And when I ate it, I thought, "Wow, that's actually quite amazing!"

You've turned a classic British dish of sausages and onion gravy

into a sort of Mediterranean feast...

-Ah!

-..which is a very clever take.

-Thank you, Jason. Off you go.

-Thanks very much. Cheers. Cheerio.

I'm really pleased for Jason. I'm pleased he's done very, very well.

Hurgh!

Phew!

'It did feel as though I had my neck on the block,'

and I think I did all right. So I feel good.

HE CHUCKLES

Hey, guys.

Finally, it's adventurer Charley Boorman,

who has proved himself to be a strong competitor.

There is so much to admire on this plate.

Charley, I'm really impressed.

I'm just waiting to sort of drop off that cliff at the moment.

So, you know, just trying to keep a level head.

OK... Let's get this done, shall we?

We're going to ask you to identify

the ingredients that we've got underneath that cloth.

Oh! OK.

-So, now there you have a load of sausages.

-OK.

-What we'd like you to do, if you can, is...

-To tell you what they are.

-Tell us what they are, yeah!

-OK.

Give us that cloth.

I'm very dyslexic. I can never remember the names of anything.

It took me a month to remember my wife's name

when I first started going out with her.

-It tastes like black pudding.

-All right.

-Have a look at the shapes.

-Er, yeah, that's...

-I think that's a Cumberland sausage. I think.

-Righto.

Erm, not sure what that is. It tastes, erm...

-It tastes a bit like white pudding. A little bit.

-Does it?

-Mm.

-Does it?

I could potentially say it's white pudding.

-Well!

-Erm, this one here, erm,

I'm sure it's not your traditional colour of a sausage, so...

Oh, it's...

..quite garlicky.

It's probably a French, I would have thought,

French sausage of some kind. Toulouse sausage, I'm guessing.

This one at first glance looks like a chorizio.

-Mm, it seems to be that, I think, a chorizio.

-Chorizo?

-Chorizo. I think.

No, it's not, cos it's not very spicy at all, actually.

What do you think the meat is?

-Pork?

-OK.

-Possibly. I don't know.

-I'm not sure on that one.

-OK.

And that's your chipolata.

-OK.

-I would have... I'm guessing.

-OK!

-Yeah. I think your standard butcher's sausage.

-Charley, you have done exceptionally well.

-Have I?

-Yeah.

-You've got five out of the six.

-Oh, really?

-Yeah!

-So, what was this one, then?

-Merguez.

-Merguez!

-Made from spices and lamb.

-Oh, lamb!

-Mm-hm.

-OK!

I'm really impressed, Charley. Your knowledge is good.

-OK, I can go now, can I?

-No, it's time to test your skill.

-OK.

-Within 20 minutes, we need from you, please,

sausages and onion gravy.

Sausages. In 20 minutes. And onion gravy?

I can do this.

-When does the clock start?

-Now.

-It's started!

-Really?

OK.

-OK.

-You look to me like you've done this before.

I'm just guessing, guys, guessing.

-And you've got this to ram it down.

-Oh, lovely.

MACHINE HUMS

MACHINE SPEEDS UP

Is that going through?

Is it... Oh, here it comes!

Look, I've got air in there. That's not good, is it?

Now, something to do that...

-Yes!

-Just trying to get the air out here.

Do I have to cook the sausage?

-Yeah!

-Well, we're not going to eat them raw, are we, Charley?

Did you work in a butcher's, Charley?

No!

I'm feeling...

..a little nervous, cos I've never made an onion gravy before, so...

Ten minutes. You've got ten minutes.

They're looking all right, aren't they?

I'm confused as to what this is for.

Maybe a little bit of vinegar just to give it a bit of...something.

-You've got a minute, so I think they've got to get in the bowl.

-OK.

-Two is enough?

-I do.

-There we go.

-Charley, are you done?

-I think... yeah. Yeah. I suppose so.

I've got to say, I think you made your sausages like a pro.

I think you made your onion gravy with less dexterity.

-Your sausages are cooked.

-Mm-hm.

Good seasoning, and I love the addition of all that sage in there.

-Mm.

-Gives it a real punchy flavour. I like it! I do like it.

I would have liked to see more flour in your gravy,

and a bit more vinegar to give it a bit of sweet, sharp acidity.

I just got so into the idea of making sausages, it just seemed...

I'd never done it. I got quite excited!

Well, for somebody who's never done it before,

you did it with aplomb.

-Thanks, Charley.

-OK.

-Thicker gravy next time, please.

-Absolutely.

Next time it'll be perfect.

Thank you, guys.

-I tell you what, not bad at all!

-I'm really impressed!

I watched him make those sausages like he was a butcher!

I should know better, cos I can do sauces. You know?

But I think part of it is just the panic

and then realising I didn't have enough time for the onions, and...

Anyway, it's done, so there we go.

As difficult as I thought that skills test was going to be,

actually all of them embraced it, all of them pushed really hard,

and we ended up with four plates of sausages and onion gravy

of various guises.

My cook of the day was Biggins. Did a cracking job.

His knowledge of sausages was OK.

A bit of prompting, he did very, very well.

But his actual skills were brilliant.

And his gravy was absolutely delicious!

Tina was slightly nervy, for me, probably the nerviest of them,

but she managed to make decent sausages.

Decent onion gravy, just needed to be thickened.

It was a little bit watery.

Jason did a very decent sausage and onion gravy,

but, erm, his knowledge of a range of sausages wasn't great.

I think Charley's knowledge was great, he proved himself

to know his way around a sausage or two, which was good.

And watching him with that machine, it was like a butcher,

it was brilliant to watch!

These four might be a force to be reckoned with.

And that's just as well

when you consider what's coming round the corner.

It's early morning and the celebrities are travelling

across London to face their most daunting outside challenge yet.

Welcome to the wonderful Royal College of Music.

Here they train gifted musicians from all over the world.

You are going to be feeding some of the students and staff here.

When he says "some," he means 120 of them.

BIGGINS LAUGHS

Two teams.

Biggins and Tina,

Jason and Charley.

I want to be with Tina.

Oh, Jason, I want to be with you.

THEY LAUGH

We want great food.

Really interesting, exciting food.

Lunch is at one o'clock, ladies and gentlemen. I suggest you get it on.

-Thank you.

-Thanks.

So, it's 60, main course...

Do 40...

The celebrities will be working under head chef Steve Robertson.

Welcome to the Royal College of Music.

You're going to have ten minutes to write a menu so good luck.

Each team will have two and a half hours to cook 40 meat or fish

and 20 vegetarian main courses

and 60 portions of dessert.

They can choose from ingredients including salmon fillets,

beef, minced lamb,

a range of fruit and vegetables

and a selection of herbs and spices.

-Roasted salmon.

-Roasted salmon,

40 pieces of roasted salmon.

Have you decided on something?

Yeah, er, we're going to do salmon with vegetarian vegetables roasted.

Then I'm going to do a, er,

mushroom and cheese sort of concoction

-to go with the vegetables.

-OK, OK.

And then we're going to do the meringues with the fruit.

Meringues, fruit, OK.

We can use the, er, courgettes and the tomatoes for ratatouille.

We'll have the peppers, the onions, red onions.

You can have the aubergines.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much. God, you're so kind.

-Yeah, I know.

-We need a few, we need a few courgettes.

-I'm beginning to feel hostility between us here.

Don't threaten us with courgette, OK!

Jason and Charley have decided on ratatouille

but are trying to work out the rest of their menu.

We don't really have very much time, so I think if we're going to get

too clever I think we're going to shoot ourselves in the foot.

I think this is going to be the one where we're all just going to melt.

Look, Jason's just standing there.

Do something, Jason!

At least look like you're doing something.

HE CHUCKLES

Founded in 1882, the Royal College of Music prepares students for

international careers as performers, composers and conductors.

We have 800 students and it's very exciting to me

that we've got 60 nationalities on the premises,

and they all have their own view of food as well as music, I expect.

Of course, being a music student here does require a lot of energy,

and you've got to make sure you're powered up for that,

so the students do expect food that's tasty, erm, good quality,

and something that they can really enjoy.

Keep working on it, you're building the bed.

Back in the kitchen, Jason and Charley have managed to

finalise their menu and are both preparing a beef stir fry.

-So if you crack on with that marinade...

-Yeah.

..I'll get these ready for the stir fry with the bok choy

and all this kind of stuff,

and then just at the last minute before service

we can cook the whole lot, yeah?

I don't know whether to add any sweetness like a bit of honey,

but I think I'm going to leave it.

No, I think keep it, I reckon keep it simple, what d'you think?

-Keep it spicy.

-Yeah, we can always...

We can always add it afterwards.

Yeah, and we want some... have you got limes?

Yeah, have we got limes? No. No limes.

How can a man work without the right ingredients?

This is where you get your hands dirty! Yes!

Now, I don't know if that's enough,

but it should give this a nice bit of zip.

-Fish sauce...

-Fish sauce and soya.

Just whack some of that stuff in there, bit more soy sauce, I reckon.

-I've put in two bottles.

-OK.

Fish sauce, fish sauce!

Lovely fish sauce!

-OK, I've got to get onto the ratatouille.

-OK.

We've got stir fried veg with noodles.

As long as that's packed full of chilli and lots of soy sauce,

and it's really well flavoured, I'll be happy.

And I like their adventure, I like the fact they're

thinking about something which is really tasty.

That marinated beef tastes epic! Epic!

They're sort of going around the world because for dessert,

it's cheesecake, and cheesecake with honeycomb running through it.

I reckon their menu is good and tasty,

as long as they can deliver the flavours they're actually promising.

I'm a little out of my depth. Chef!

-Chef!

-Yeah, he's here.

-Oh!

Erm, so you just put the cream and the...

-All in together with the vanilla?

-Yeah. Not too much cream, though.

-Not too much cream.

-No, just enough to bind.

-Both of these...

-Stick both of them in.

-And then, erm, just enough cream, yeah?

-Yeah.

It's great to have someone here, I've never made this before.

You might need another one of them,

-I think another one.

-Double cream, OK.

-Chef!

-Oh, he's gone, Jase. He's deserted us!

CHARLEY SHRIEKS

How are you guys doing?

-We're almost finished, so it's fine.

-You liars!

Across the kitchen, Biggins and Tina have already prepared

four trays of veg to accompany their salmon fillets.

Don't come round here and get any ideas.

I'm just going to take one of those.

Look at those colours! Just says summer, doesn't it?

Mediterranean, Italy.

South of France, glass of wine.

So I want to get these in quickly

cos we've got, you know, we've got vegetables that are quite hard.

With the veg roasting, Tina now has to cut 40 portions of salmon.

So the portions that you would normally serve,

-would it be half of that or...?

-Yeah, yeah.

-Half of that.

-It's way too big, yeah.

-Way too big.

-Yeah.

-I'm way too generous, you see.

-Yeah, giving food away.

-Giving food away!

-Yeah. No, that's a lot better.

-Is that better? That size would work for you.

-Yeah.

-Yeah, OK. Cool.

And are you just going to put the olive oil and stuff on top

-or are you going to marinade it first?

-Don't know yet.

Erm, I'm going to marinade it first, that's what I'm going to do.

And then put it onto the tray, yeah?

-And then put it on, yeah, thank you.

-No problem.

Just got to make sure I don't overcook it.

-D'you think we should marinade it first?

-No. Haven't got time.

-Just put the olive oil on?

-Olive oil, no, put lemon.

Put them in a line, put them in line so you've got your 40 pieces.

D'you think I should put some olive oil on the bottom first,

-of the greaseproof? No?

-No.

-No.

-No.

OK, and after this, I will do, erm,

-start preparing the strawberries, yeah?

-Yeah.

-Actually, after this, if you could do all the fruits...

-Yes.

..that we're going to use.

Having delegated jobs to Tina, Biggins gets on with

preparing a cheese sauce for his mushroom gratin.

-Put it all, all the way...?

-Yeah, all of it.

And then just keep whisking until it starts to go thick.

I'm just making my white sauce before I add the cheese,

which is my vegetarian cheesy, erm, er, erm,

cheese and mushroom...!

Mushroom cheese delight! I am winging it!

-What's the vegetarian...?

-Erm, it is a mushroom, er...

-Gratin!

-..gratin.

-Mushroom gratin.

-Mm.

-What the heckie-deckie is a mushroom gratin?

-I have nothing to do with it.

It's just fabulous!

It is one of the greatest dishes this side of the equator.

It smells good, garlic and mushrooms in a cheese sauce.

Mushrooms in a cheese sauce.

It sounds like you're cheating the vegos to me.

My sauce is fabulous, look at this!

It's so rewarding to see, you know, a liquid turn into a sauce,

it's gorgeous.

Right, do we have any tea towels?

Throughout the Royal College, morning classes are well underway.

-Got it, chefs?

-TINA AND BIGGINS: Yes, chef!

-You've got about an hour and a half left.

-Thank you, chef.

-So you want to get a move on.

-Right.

-Yes?

Yes, chef.

While Charley bashes biscuits for the cheesecake base,

Jason is boiling aubergine for the ratatouille.

Doing this will stop them soaking up oil later.

I've got a lot to do in the prep of this ratatouille,

but it seems to be just about coming together.

I've just got to chop up the garlic and then I'll be ready to go.

-But is it going with couscous or anything?

-Not at the moment.

Probably a good idea to do something with it.

Cos otherwise it's like a side dish, isn't it?

-You know, it needs to have stuff with it.

-Stuff with it, yeah.

We've got a nice bit of, er, chicken stock there, Charley,

we can put the couscous with that.

Chicken stock and couscous for the vegetarians? Well done(!)

-I meant vegetable stock.

-Well done, Jason(!)

Lovely.

Even containers.

-That's not enough.

-It will be enough,

you don't want to have too big a thick base,

just squash that right down.

Yeah.

With the base done, Charley now has to hand whisk enough mascarpone

and cream for 60 portions of cheesecake.

Supposed to keep your elbow in

and just use your something-or-other.

I don't know.

Over on the other team,

Tina is also preparing a cream filling for her meringues.

And once it starts to get just thick you can take it off

and then use a whisk and take it yourself so it don't go too far.

-Right.

-Yeah? It will ache, it will hurt your arms, yeah.

All right, OK, look, I'm doing that by hand.

-Sorry?

-She stole my...

She came in with that really pretty smile and went,

"Oh, Charley, can I use that bowl cos I need to whisk something?"

And I go, "Yeah, sure, of course you can!"

Without remembering that I had to whisk my own cream.

I just want everyone to know that this was hand beaten.

Whereas I, on the other hand...

You on the other hand are just standing there.

Surely you should be doing something else?

-OK, take that off.

-Take it out.

-Now, what you do, you finish it by yourself with the whisk, yes?

-Yeah.

Oh, I know what you mean, Charley. This is hard work.

-Oh, you're beating now, are you?

-Yes.

-Yeah.

It always somehow tastes nicer when you do it by hand.

This is really hard.

As Tina struggles on,

Biggins is making some last minute changes to his mushroom gratin.

We're changing our vegetarian dish

because it was felt that cheesy mushrooms weren't really the...!

HE LAUGHS

John was really underwhelmed. I mean, I thought

he was going to have a little bit of a fainting, er, thing,

but we're going to put some pasta in with the mushrooms,

so it'll be quite substantial, I think.

We've got mushroom pasta. Really?

Wow, well, that's exciting, isn't it(?)

Not quite as exciting as a meringue nest

with some whipped cream and some berries. Oh, come on!

Mmm...lovely.

Only another 67 to go!

See, I would normally go and buy this.

In just over half an hour, the students will break for lunch.

We've got exams here today.

Viola players, oboists, bassoonists, percussionists,

they've got to be back for their exam in the afternoon

and timing is very important,

so we expect the food to be on the table at exactly the right time.

If students are late for their exams,

I'm sorry to say that marks will be docked off,

and that's pretty serious because this is all about their careers.

Chefs. You've got half an hour.

-Need to start looking at putting stuff in serving dishes.

-Right.

Time is running out, but Charley and Jason still have to

cook 40 portions of beef and veg for their stir fry.

I'd start stir frying your beef and your vegetables.

I think, I think I'll...

I think I'll just panic!

It's all starting to become a little bit more frantic.

It seemed calm not so long ago and now it's really starting to hot up.

-Perfect.

-Yeah?

The ambition of Charley and Jason could be their undoing

because they may not get their food out on time

whereas common sense has prevailed with Biggins and Tina,

and they've kept it pretty simple.

Their food will be out on time, but will it be impressive?

-Biggins?

-Yes, sir.

You want to get this pasta off and into cold water straightaway.

You're going to want to put a colander in the sink as well.

Hurry up with your pasta, Biggins, because it's overcooked.

Cold water, straightaway.

I can't see, take my glasses off!

Oh, bum!

All right, chefs. You got 15 minutes left.

You really want to be at the front in about ten minutes

ready with all your dishes. Yes?

Wilt, wilt, wilt.

-Charley, that looks lovely.

-Thank you, chef. Hope it tastes nice!

Finish them under the grill, yes?

With minutes to go, the queue for lunch is building.

Jase, can you deal with those two things while I take this food out?

-Where are you?

-We're down here.

-Very good, darling, I'm impressed!

-Very impressed!

-Has that got enough in it?

-Yep.

OK, let's plate it up.

Wow, that salmon looks amazing!

Watch your backs there, guys.

Woo!

As soon as you've done that, straight outside, yes?

-Ready to serve, with two minutes spare.

-Oh, plenty of time.

Well done, well done.

Right, let's go, you two.

Get that one in the hot cupboard quickly, come on.

The students have a choice of Biggins and Tina's salmon fillets

on a bed of sweet potato, peppers, garlic and onions

or a mushroom and spinach pasta bake.

Jason and Charley's mains are beef stir-fry with noodles

and a ratatouille with couscous.

Looks all very colourful.

Come on, girls.

-What would you like?

-I'll have the salmon.

Head over that way and get the salmon.

What would you like, would you like a stir-fry?

-Salmon, I think.

-Good on you, good choice.

Even though it pains me to say it.

Hi, what would you like? Salmon?

-It's got lovely Mediterranean vegetables.

-Oh, jolly good show!

-And the lemon's cheap...

-It's not...

-It's cheap lemon.

Biggins and Tina's salmon is a clear favourite.

The salmon's great, it really has a very nice texture,

it seems like a good temperature. I'm not an expert but it's very succulent.

But are the vegetables a bit salty, I'm wondering?

The salmon in this dish is a little dry

but the vegetables are beautifully cooked and sweet and well seasoned.

That's not a bad effort, John.

I'd just like a little bit more, do you know what I mean?

Just a little bit more to the dish.

No, I'm happy. I'm very happy, yeah, yeah, yeah. In volume, nice dish.

Sorry, the salmon is sold out! Sorry!

STUDENTS GROAN

Should have come early!

We have a little, Oh, I know, boos... Oh, dear.

Like some pasta?

Thank you, I'm sorry about the salmon.

-Like some salad as well?

-Yes, please.

The pasta's cooked well, the mushrooms and spinach cooked,

I would simply like to see more sauce on it.

I'd like to see it wetter.

I think they had the time to make the sauce a bit richer,

put some cream in it. Maybe it's because my expectation is higher

because I know they're really good cooks.

As a vegetarian, we often get given the same food over and over again,

and I have to say, I think it was quite an unoriginal choice,

quite formulaic.

I think people often fall back on pasta

and they've done the same thing here today.

With the other team's dishes sold out,

business for Charley and Jason picks up.

-I would love the Chinese stir-fry.

-Stir-fry, OK!

I'll see how that compares with the ones my mum makes!

Yeah, all right!

-Oh, no!

-I'll be nice.

-Your mum's is always going to be better, always.

-Thank you!

Can't believe she's put that pressure on us. Her mother.

-Always got to bring the mother into it!

-All the students will love it.

-What would you like?

-Beef stir-fry, please.

The noodles make that a little dry but the meat itself is really moist

and the bok choy gives juice as well

but the flavours in there - he's got salty soy in there,

he's also got the fragrance of Thai basil, that sweet aniseed.

Got little bit of chilli as well. Good flavour!

They need to make a sticky sauce around those noodles,

that's what they really need to do.

But saying that, it's good.

I loved the beef because - I don't know what they put in the seasoning,

I will find out, but it was very special and actually quite unusual.

This is the last stir-fry, so, sorry. Ah, there's ratatouille.

I am a terrible cook so I thought it was absolutely great, well cooked.

Yeah, she knows! And so yeah, I thought it was great.

What's really nice is the courgettes and the aubergines

are actually cooked and not hard,

the tomatoes have got lovely flavour and juice, the peppers are roasted along with the onions,

and it's all done really well.

It deserves to look better, that dish, cos it tastes good.

With mains out of the way, the focus shifts to dessert.

Yeah, try and get 30 out of them.

-In fact, we can work it out if any of us can do maths...

-It's way too small there now.

-It's fine, calm down.

-Long as they all get a little bit.

-If that's the right...

-That's lovely.

Guys.

Want to stop eating and go and get your sweets ready to start serving?

-Yes, chef.

-Thank you.

Thank you.

HE LAUGHS

-He's a lunatic.

-HE LAUGHS

Absolute lunatic.

Did you want this outside?

-Come on, Tina. Stop eating!

-Oh, careful, mind your sleeve!

Steady, steady...

The students can choose between Biggins and Tina's meringue filled with vanilla cream

or Charley and Jason's honeycomb cheesecake.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, pudding is served!

CHEERING

Come and get it!

-Can I have some meringue, please?

-You can have whatever you like, girl!

HE CACKLES

This time, it's Charley and Jason's cheesecake attracting the most attention.

-Thank you.

-Would you like a bit more?

-Yes, please.

Pudding-wise, they've obviously got no taste.

They're all going for this cheesecake thingamajig.

You got any more plates?

Lovely buttery base. You know how much I like that.

Nice fruit on top but the cream's not sweet enough.

And I thought I was supposed to get bits of honeycomb

and there's nothing in there.

They've all dissolved in the moisture, they've disappeared.

There's just a lot of cream and

there wasn't very much flavour in it.

So it was a bit disappointing, I'm afraid.

Free music lessons with the meringue!

-Are you an item?

-Yes.

-You are? Oh, perfect.

They're sharing, how sweet!

Oh, lovely. Getting married?

HE CACKLES

We'll do the wedding!

HE CACKLES

Well, it said meringues on the menu but there was only one meringue,

but, you know, with the Trades Descriptions Act and all that.

I quite enjoyed it but it had a slightly bought feel to it,

I could imagine it in a box in the supermarket.

It's the simplest thing in the world, but it's pretty and it works.

It just seems to me to be a little bit of a cop-out.

Saying that, it tastes good.

Hello guys, that's end of service now.

You've done exceptionally well today.

It's not easy cooking for that amount of people.

Let's clear down and we can go home.

Thanks very much, Steve. Really enjoyable.

-What does "clean down" mean?

-That means clean all this down.

I don't even do that at home!

Today has been the most fantastic experience.

I don't want to do it again

but I'm pleased I've done it this once, with success.

Today was brilliant.

I will always remember it, I'm completely exhausted now

but a dinner party for four won't throw me ever again.

I really loved it and have a real feeling of satisfaction

of having achieved something that I never thought I could do.

It was a great day, a lot of emotion and I'm ready for my next adventure.

I'm absolutely delighted with the performance of both teams.

All four contestants worked really hard,

John, they really did well in this task.

I tell you what, it's going to be a hell of a cook-off for the semifinal place.

I think you're absolutely right.

And they're going to have to fight for their place in the competition.

Next time, Jason, Charley, Tina and Biggins

will be cooking for a place in the semifinals.

It's like a holiday on a plate.

-You talk too much.

-We do(!)

-Natter, natter, natter!

Oh, no, that's raw. This is not a good dish.

Only two of them will make it through.