Episode 1 MasterChef: The Professionals

48 chefs from across the UK are putting their reputations

on the line...

..in a bid to become Professional MasterChef champion.

Tonight, the first six hopefuls compete to impress

judge Gregg Wallace, renowned chef Monica Galetti,

and two Michelin-starred Marcus Wareing.

I think every chef who's probably been here has said

they're competitive, and I'm probably just as bad as

every single one of them.

I think I can go a long way if I keep my head and keep my cool,

and don't let the pressure of it get to me.

Yeah, I'm feeling really positive.

They're two great chefs, and a great eater!

Yeah, I'm very excited.

This is a massive opportunity.

I can't wait to see what they're going to produce.

They're going to have to come in here and show us something special.

Start of a brand-new competition.

Very good to see you guys.

You look suitably stern...

..with the odd smile! Right, we're going to start with the

-skills test, as per normal. Right?

-Yes.

-But you've changed it?

-That's right.

In front of me is a beautiful duck.

I'd like them to butcher it, removing one of the breasts,

cook it and serve it with a garnish and sauce

of their choosing from these fabulous ingredients over here.

So they have to show butchery skill,

and then creativity and imagination in cooking it.

Yep, they're going to have 20 minutes.

-20 minutes?

-There's not a lot of time, and you've got to remember,

they're going to be nervous when they walk through that door.

But they can create whatever they want.

OK, Marcus. 20 minutes it is.

Show us how it's done.

OK, so, first of all - butchery.

I suggest you just make a small incision here,

just separate the leg,

just run your knife down the centre breastbone.

So what I am actually looking for is our chefs keeping nice and close

to the bone, as you can see, as close to the breastbone

as you possibly can.

I would expect any of our chefs coming into this competition

to know how to butcher a duck.

Now they're going to need to trim it up.

We're going to take off this sinew.

So I'm just going to trim all the way around the outside.

So that's what we're looking for.

Now we're going to score the skin.

You do want them to score.

If they don't score this skin,

it's just going to tighten up really tightly.

What's really important is they don't cut through into the meat.

A little salt on the breast.

Pepper.

And it goes into the pan.

So I'm also just going to put a little bit of the skin

in there as well. It's just for flavour.

And while this is cooking, they have to consider what their dish is going

-to be, what's going to go with the duck?

-That's right.

That's a fine larder for that duck.

They've got fruit flavoured liqueurs, there's some spices there,

Asian spices as well.

A nice array of fruit, lovely load of veg and fresh herbs.

-What are you going to do, Chef?

-Duck with cherries.

Fruit and duck - classic.

First of all, I'm going to go for a vegetable

that I want to put in this pan and I'm going to go for the cauliflower.

Cauliflower, love cauliflower.

Goes into the pan...

Flat side down first.

Some butter.

Wahey!

Turn the heat up now, we need to get that butter nice and foamy.

Rosemary.

And now I need to get the duck breast wrapped up inside

this butter paper. So wrap that up...

That is to protect the edges from burning?

-Yes, because the oven is very hot.

-Right, OK.

They're going to have to move quickly,

get this in the oven, because the key to cooking a duck,

like any meat, is the resting. You need it to rest.

That's taken about eight minutes.

-There we are.

-Yummy!

Right, I'm going to make a sauce.

Shallots, garlic, a little bit of thyme, bay leaf,

and I'm just putting some fresh cherries in there,

-just break them down with your hands.

-Mmm, love cherry sauce.

Some cherry liqueur.

Veal stock in there.

It is possible, isn't it, a good sauce in a short space of time?

It is possible. We're not trying to trip them up here.

We want them to cook like they do in their kitchen.

I've given that about five, six minutes.

By touch, they just need to sort of identify how that duck breast

-is cooked.

-It's absolutely essential that duck rests?

Yeah.

Mmm, smells delicious, looks good.

Four minutes left.

Yes. Basting the sauce first.

Put all those ingredients into there.

Keep the heat going, because you want the sauce

to just slightly reduce.

-Fabulous.

-Just give that a little squeeze.

-Ready to go, you ready?

-I've been ready for 20 minutes, Chef.

Mmm!

Mm!

That's beautiful, shiny pink duck.

Look.

So now, with the plating,

I just want to see a little bit of flair coming through.

Steady hands.

That's really nice. That's really nice!

You could make a living out of this, Chef.

Look at this!

And there we have it.

Duck breast, roasted cauliflower with herbs, cherries, cherry sauce.

20 minutes.

Cooked in 20, eaten in two!

Now, that's delicious and it looks a picture.

It's a fabulous test for a chef because they've got to be able

to get the breast off the duck, cook it perfectly,

and design a plate and hopefully make us a quality sauce.

Does not have to be complicated,

it doesn't have to be as good as your plate of food, Marcus,

but I want to see some skills on display, some creativity.

Let's get the chefs in, let's hopefully eat some good duck.

First up is 22-year-old Will,

who works as a chef de partie in a hotel in the New Forest.

I've been working here for just over a year now.

It's amazing.

Fresh produce every day.

When I was younger, I used to do loads of cooking with my dad.

He's a great chef.

It just, like, blew my mind.

So I got a job in a pub.

I was 15, haven't looked back.

Service, please!

Being a young chef, I like people expecting the least from me and then

when I'm cooking, I can blow them away with how little

they expected from me, because I'm so young.

Yeah, I'm ready for it. I'm pumped!

Will, congratulations.

You are the very first contestant in this year's Professional MasterChef.

No pressure.

This is a 20 minute skills test.

I'd like you to make us a duck dish.

Serve it with a garnish and a sauce of your choosing

from those ingredients on the table right there.

Righto, Will, you know what you're doing?

Yep, I've got a good idea.

Let's see you do it, Chef. You've got 20 minutes, off you go.

Thank you.

Not a bad start that, mate, is it?

Do you do much butchery where you're working, Will?

Where I work at the moment, we quite often get whole animals in,

like, three times a month, maybe.

We take it in turns butchering them down.

It's good, it's good practice.

Will, you've had five minutes.

Thank you.

Would you mind taking me through how you're going to do the sauce?

I'm just going to sweat some shallots off, add the cherries in,

add the sherry.

It's going to be like a reduction, sort of real sticky and sweet.

You're halfway. So you've got ten minutes left.

-Is that enough time?

-Yep, looking on track.

Did you decide to enter this, or did your chef push you towards it?

Um, it was more my girlfriend more than anyone, to be honest!

She's got a lot of faith.

Is your girlfriend in the industry as well?

Yeah, she does front of house.

She'll eventually have her own restaurant somewhere.

Her own, not the two you?

Mine!

No, no, she's really good, so it'll be ours.

It already sounds like she's the boss.

-Yeah, a little bit.

-I like her.

I like a challenge, I like pushing myself.

I think I perform quite well under pressure,

so we'll just see what happens.

Will, you've got a couple of minutes left.

30 seconds. Come on, Will, please.

All done?

-Yep, happy with that.

-Well done.

Will has served his duck breast with a sweet cherry reduction,

green beans and cavolo nero.

Will, I think the duck should have gone in the pan quicker

and into the oven. It definitely needed a lot more resting.

I prefer my duck to be coloured beautifully all the way through.

But, overall, great butchery skills.

It is a really good dish.

The duck is tender, it's beautifully seasoned,

the vegetables are seasoned and the sauce is very pleasant.

-Great start.

-Thank you.

The sauce is quite nice, I like the hint of the sherry coming through.

Love the cherries through this as well.

You've done yourself a good job there.

Thank you very much.

Will, 20 minutes, first time you ever visited the MasterChef kitchen,

I think you've done really well.

Really, really well.

Thank you very much indeed.

-We'll see you soon.

-Cheers, thank you.

-Go on.

It's a good start, right?

-Yep, very good.

-Very good. I'd like five more like that, please!

Good lad.

For the first test, I think it went quite well for me.

There was a few little mistakes that I made.

I just wish I'd cooked the duck nicer, but I'm quite happy overall.

Glad... Glad to get it done.

Next to face the skills test is 35-year-old Portuguese-born Pedro.

I love to cook.

Food is always with me, in my family, my grandma, my mum.

And this is a good opportunity, because being a chef is not

to put the white jacket, it's make sure you love your job, you know?

When I came to England, I was kitchen assistant.

I was not proper chef.

They promoted me as a chef de partie and since then, I've been growing,

growing, growing.

Service, please.

I'm a happy guy, happy man, happy person, happy chef!

-Pedro, good to meet you.

-Good to meet you too, Chef.

I would like you to make us a duck dish,

using one of the breasts of that duck,

serving it with a garnish in a sauce of your choosing

from the ingredients on the table right there.

-OK.

-20 minutes, off you go.

-Are you sure that's on?

-No.

Check it again, check it. Is it on?

-It's on.

-Turn it up.

That's it.

Have you finished prepping your meat?

-Yeah.

-OK, flick the board over.

-Sorry.

You've got raw meat on the board, you need to get rid of it.

You can't then prepare vegetables on the same board.

Tell me, how are you going to cook your duck breast?

I'm going to seal them on there and then finish in the oven.

-Cool.

-OK.

How long do you think it'll take to cook that?

After I seal, maybe seven, eight minutes.

And how much time has he got left?

You've got about 13-14 minutes left.

There we go. There we go!

What about a sauce? What sort of sauce are you going to give us?

Red wine sauce, maybe?

Lovely.

You are halfway.

-Pedro.

-Yeah?

-You have got five minutes left.

You've got to get the duck out, it's got to be sliced,

you've got to cook that veg, you've got to finish the sauce.

-Duck looks good!

-Thank you.

-You happy?

-When I slice it, I will be happy.

-How's it looking?

-Hmm...

Good?

No, it should be a bit longer on there.

I like the look of that.

I could have done better.

-All done?

-Yeah.

-Take a breath.

-Thank you.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

Pedro has served his duck with fried cavolo nero,

orange segments and a cherry and wine sauce.

If you could see behind you, the amount of meat that is left on the

carcass, there's still quite a lot of the breast left on there as well,

and I thought that your attempt at taking it off the bone

was pretty poor.

OK.

It looks nice and tidy.

But the cooking of the duck, well, it's not the best.

You can see where it's gone grey in the edges.

A bit, sort of, tough.

Your working methods are so important.

Yes, you're nervous, that doesn't mean you get to work like this

in any kitchen.

Your meat is tough and chewy.

However, I think you've got a decent eye for presentation

and the food is nicely seasoned.

So what's going to be really important now is how good

your own dish is in the next round and how fast you can learn.

Thank you.

Put this one behind you, and we'll go again later.

See you soon, Chefs.

It's one of those, isn't it?

If you haven't got the experience, you haven't got the experience.

If you don't know, you don't know. It's how fast he can learn.

I'm never disappointed with myself,

because I know next time I will do better.

Trust in me.

I will do much better.

Next is 25-year-old pastry chef Octavia,

who works in events catering.

It took me a while to get to being a chef.

I did four years at fashion school first.

And then hated it, and then, yeah, decided to be a chef and I love it.

I think I've got a bit of an eye for presentation.

From my degree, I think that's really where it comes from.

I'm feeling pretty terrified about cooking for the judges.

That's kind of my main worry, keeping up and showing

that I can actually do it.

And not just being the blonde girl in the kitchen.

I can actually... I can actually cook.

-Octavia, are you OK?

-Yeah, good.

-Nice to meet you.

-You too.

OK, this is a 20-minute test.

Off you go with your duck.

How are you going to cook your duck, Octavia?

I'm going to render the fat down.

So I'm going to get that on now in a cold pan,

which I probably should have started at the beginning, but...

What are you thinking now? You've gone back to the duck.

Yeah, I've just realised that - what am I doing

not making a sauce with the duck trimmings?

Just take one of the wing joints off...

and just crack it a bit.

Hopefully get a bit more flavour into the sauce.

I've got those shallots out.

-You're halfway.

-Thank you.

You've got seven minutes left.

OK, thank you.

Is that going to be enough time for you to get your duck cooked

and your sauce and garnish done?

Hopefully.

I started off a bit too slow.

What position do you hold, Octavia?

I am a pastry chef.

-Is that where your passion is, with pastry?

-Definitely, yeah.

I love the creativity side of it.

I feel like that's more apparent in pastry than in cuisine.

Would you agree, Marcus?

Hmm...

Definitely, um, varies, maybe.

-Difference of opinion.

-Yeah.

You've got a few minutes left, you've got to go a bit quicker.

I think for me to be in Professional MasterChef now,

it's good for me to get out of my comfort zone.

Go somewhere else, get critiqued from people

that don't see my food every day.

OK, you've got a couple of seconds left.

-Please, let's get this on a plate.

-Yes.

Just get the shakes too much!

Sauce...

-Finished.

-Just about!

That's mildly terrifying.

Octavia is serving her duck with poached cherries,

green beans and a red wine sauce.

Your butchery was OK.

-Yeah.

-I think the duck cookery is rushed,

that's the reason why there's quite a lot of blood left on the board.

The presentation, I think, is quite poor and very average looking.

Yeah.

That pan was on a very fierce heat,

hence the dark colouration on that skin.

Garnish is not exciting at all.

You know, you talk about pastry being where the creativity is

and you can make that look amazing,

-but you can do that...

-Yeah.

-..with the savoury side of food, too.

I like the duck flesh, I think that's soft,

I like the amount of seasoning you put on it.

I love those cherries.

You've burnt your duck skin.

Octavia, nice to meet you.

Look forward to seeing you again.

Thank you very much.

It was terrifying.

I just panicked, I think.

I let the nerves get the better of me.

Hopefully the next round, I'll pick myself up a bit.

I don't think it was all bad, but really wasn't my best performance.

Next up is 27-year-old sous-chef Gareth,

who works in a Michelin-starred restaurant near Reading.

I started cooking fine dining about two years after I started cooking

and I've never turned back, really.

I feel in this competition I've got the potential to go all the way.

Every time, you know, I might get criticised,

you've got to take that and come back fighting.

I know it's not going to be laughs and giggles.

I'm very prepared that it's going to be tough.

OK, you've got 20 minutes, Chef.

Show us what you've got.

What's the plan with the duck? How are you going to cook it, Gareth?

Put it in the pan, on the skin side down.

Have you thought of the garnish and sauce, yet?

I was going to roast off some cauliflower, baby carrots,

and I was going to use the veal stock.

Do you like that, Marcus? Cauliflower and duck?

I do. I like cauliflower.

Gareth, five minutes have gone.

What's your ambitions?

To be head chef of my own Michelin star restaurant.

Gareth, what kind of sauce are you making?

I'm just caramelising a bit of shallots off, a bit of black garlic.

I'm going to bring that down quite quickly.

You're just over halfway, you've got about nine minutes left.

You work at a pace, Gareth, don't you?

I'm trying to be organised chaos.

Right, Gareth, because I'm not a chef,

can you give me a quick rundown on...?

OK, so I've got my sauce reducing down,

I'm going to get my bok choy in the pan, I'm going to colour it off.

I'm going to put a bit of...

..honey in there. Just to glaze it up a little bit.

Has it been in the oven long enough for you?

Yeah. Yeah? Yeah, it has.

I'd love to win this competition.

Obviously, it's not going to be easy.

It's going to take a lot of hard work.

But, yeah, I feel like if all goes well,

I could get far in this competition.

-All done?

-Yes, all done.

Gareth has served his duck with five spice, roasted cauliflower,

honey-glazed bok choy, baby carrots,

cherries and a wine and orange reduction.

Love the skill of the butchery. You approached it very, very well.

You took the breasts off, you took the legs off, and yet,

it wasn't in the pan straightaway.

It wasn't cooking, and I think all your work has sort of

come unravelled right at the end when you carved the duck

and you realised it's not cooked.

You know that duck should be cooked better.

The skin's not crispy enough, and the duck itself needs longer.

However, I like the five spice and the honey and the sweetness

in the sauce. It's making the duck go Asian and I really like that.

I just think you've sort of overcomplicated your thought process

and added too much to this dish.

Less is more.

And concentrate on a few things and get them right.

Gareth, thank you very much.

-We'll see you next time, off you go.

-Thank you.

I'm feeling disappointed. I feel that I made a lot of kind of

basic mistakes, which, you know, I shouldn't make,

especially with my experience.

Next is 33-year-old Nathan, who is a sous-chef in a hotel in Liverpool.

I kind of left school from a rough area, just outside Liverpool.

Joined the Navy as a weapons engineer at first,

and it kind of wasn't for me.

So, I transferred across and done the chefs' training course,

and just kind of fell in love.

Being a chef took me places that I could only dream of.

Been to Abu Dhabi, you know,

I've worked in places that people would just love to go to visit.

So it is absolutely unbelievable.

-Are you ready?

-Yeah.

-20 minutes.

-Cool.

-Off you go, Chef.

Do you do much butchery at work, Nathan?

We buy nearly all of our stuff,

all of our stock, in as whole, so we're trying to use as much

as we can out of the whole product.

So are you familiar with butchery, then?

-Yeah, a little bit, yeah, yeah.

-Good.

You've had five minutes.

Thank you.

I'm competitive. I think every chef should be.

There's always someone else who's below you

who's just kind of snapping your ankles, ready to take your position.

So I think every chef who's probably been here has said they're

competitive, and I'm probably just as bad as every single one of them.

What have you put in that pan?

Just a little bit of chicken stock and a little bit of cherries.

Nathan, why did you come on MasterChef?

To be honest, I don't really know.

I just kind of applied on a little bit of a whim.

I just thought I'd come down and see what happens.

If it just lasts a day, it lasts a day.

If it doesn't, you know what?

Just a bonus, every day I'm down here.

-How far do you think you can go?

-To the end of the day,

-and then I'll think about the rest!

-Right.

You've got five minutes left.

So it looks like a bit of a stir-fry?

Yeah, quite similar, yeah.

You've got a minute, Nathan.

All right, you've got to get that on the plate.

-What's wrong?

-Just a little bit pink for me, Chef.

-All done?

-Oui, Chef.

Nathan has cooked his duck with a carrot and cavolo nero stir-fry,

and a chicken stock and cherry reduction.

You started the challenge with the duck preparation

and the butchery very well, but it went from the pan to a tray

and into the oven pretty quick,

and it came out pretty quickly as well.

So I think the cooking of the duck is really poor.

Nathan, I'm really sorry, I don't particularly like it.

You know that duck is seriously undercooked, but also,

you haven't cleaned or peeled the carrots.

The fat's not even rendered down on the skin,

the vegetables are poorly prepared.

It's just no care, no love.

The cherries are cooked to death as well.

The whole thinking of the sauce,

just boiling some stock and just throwing some cherries into it -

that's not sauce making, Nathan.

-No.

-If there's one bit of advice I can give you...

..is you're going to need to get serious.

Nathan, you know what you've got to do next round, right?

-Yep.

-See you there. Off you go.

-Thanks very much.

Oh, shocking. Awful.

To be honest, if someone had put that plate of food up

in front of me, I wouldn't be too impressed either.

So, what they've said's understandable,

and I agree with everything what they said as well, so...

Last up is 30-year-old Stewart,

who is currently working as a head chef

of a two-Rosette restaurant in St Andrews.

The way I've ended up as a chef, I actually fell into it.

I was front of house for four years,

and they were shutting the kitchen one day and I went in...

..gave them a little hand,

and here we are ten years later, still smiling!

The skills test, it's one of these things.

I'm either going to know it or not know it.

I wish I had a crystal ball, but I don't!

Stewart, I'd like you to cook us a duck dish using one

of the breasts from the duck, serve it with a garnish and a sauce of

your choosing from the ingredients on the table next to you.

20 minutes, OK?

Go on, Chef. Let's see you do it.

Here you go.

So what's the plan of the dish, Stu?

I'm going to do some sauteed cabbage, some fresh plums,

a duck breast, which I'll serve pink.

I'm going to make a sauce using some of the carcass from the duck,

just get a bit of depth of flavour in there.

Scottish chefs traditionally have done quite well in this competition.

Yeah, no pressure!

-What's that?

-Chinese five spice, just give it a little...

Small bit of heat, I think it's a great flavour to use with duck.

-You're halfway.

-Yeah, thank you.

Just a little bit of cream.

So, it's a cream sauce?

Just to thicken it up a little bit. So I'm making, like, a veal glace.

Bring it down, a little bit of cream.

How's the duck doing?

You've got a minute.

OK, time's up.

Stewart's duck is accompanied with sauteed cavolo nero, fresh plums,

and a five spice and cream reduction.

You got a good start with the butchery of the duck.

Your working methods were good,

your techniques in areas were good,

but the main reason why that duck isn't cooked in time is that

you didn't score.

When it sits on its skin without scoring, it tightens up,

and that's why the breast looks so plump and so round.

Yeah, I understand that.

Stewart, the duck, it's raw.

The plums are raw, and the sauce, there's hardly any on the plate.

You don't need me to tell you that that duck is undercooked,

I can't eat it. I am disappointed. Can't hide it.

Yeah, I understand.

There's some issues here, but you have also shown

some skills throughout.

So it's not the complete package.

I'm wondering if it's because of the nerves...

-Yeah.

-..and you're going to have to hit the ground running

-on the next round.

-That's good, thank you.

He started so well.

So disappointing.

So disappointing.

I'm just going to forget it happened,

move on with the next round and just really try and impress them.

Well, guys, what do you make of that?

I think the standards need to come up in areas.

There hasn't been one perfectly cooked duck today,

and let's just hope this is just that first dish nerves

that always happens.

If this competition over the years has taught me anything,

it's that everything can change once these chefs do their

own signature dish.

Welcome back. You have now had your first taste

of the MasterChef competition.

This round, this is vitally important.

This is your signature dish.

This tells us a lot about who you are as a cook.

It's going to have to be good, because at the end of today

three of you are going to be leaving the competition.

You've got one hour and 15 minutes to show just how talented you are.

Chefs, good luck.

Off you go.

I think I will be less nervous cooking my own food.

I know this dish really well.

I do have skill.

I think they definitely didn't see that in the skills test.

Octavia, do you feel better getting the first round under your belt?

Yep, definitely. I feel so much better!

-What's the dish?

-The dish is an orange and vanilla panna cotta,

with garnish of poached rhubarb, clementine segments,

ginger biscuit crumble, tempered white chocolate -

hopefully, with the heat of the kitchen, we'll see!

And, what else goes on it?

Poached rhubarb and grenadine, rhubarb gel...

-In an hour?

-I've got to get my skates on a little bit with this.

If I can stop my hands from shaking, that'd be good.

Octavia's got a lot to do.

There's a lot going on and she's really challenging herself.

I just hope she can deliver the dish that she wants to within the time.

Octavia's a chef who is very strong in the pastry department.

So I'm expecting a great dessert from Octavia today.

To impress the judges would be incredible.

Quite a skilful dish, there's lots of elements which could go wrong.

I feel like I need to push myself more now, show them what I can do.

-Will...

-Yeah?

-..you had a pretty good start, mate, didn't you?

-Better than I expected.

-It's signature dish now.

-Yeah.

-What are you doing? Tell me about it.

Pork loin wrapped in compressed apples,

which I'm going to be braising in scrumpy.

So what's the garnish, then?

I'm doing pickled apples, blue cheese croquettes

and then, like, a cider pork sauce.

-How old are you, Will?

-I am 22.

You have a confidence like far bigger than your age.

I've put in some hours, shall I say?

-Good.

-Yeah.

Generally, you'd wrap a pork loin in fat or maybe Parma ham,

give it some moisture, but today Will's wrapping it in apple.

And I'm not 100% sure whether it will work or not.

I love the element of the croquette.

If that's made well, that could be a little star on this dish.

Looking good, yeah.

Yeah, good.

You've got one hour left. 15 gone.

I've practised this dish pretty much every other day for the last

couple of weeks. I think this time, it's just about the execution.

Prove to them that I know what I'm doing, I know how to cook.

Gareth, feeling a bit better now you're cooking your own food?

Yeah, a lot more comfortable now. So I'm doing duck breast again,

but this time I've still got like a spice mix around it,

so it's like lavender, cumin, coriander.

And then on the side, I've got a peach chutney, some nectarines,

bok choy, duck jus as well to go through it,

which is going to finish with a peach liqueur.

Wow. Where has the inspiration for this dish come from?

I've always thought about doing a duck

which is basically like a duck fruit salad.

That's interesting, I've never looked at a duck

and thought - fruit salad!

It's not the normal. You won't go into every restaurant

-and have this dish.

-I wish I was still a greengrocer

and you were buying off me, cos that's a lot of fruit and veg.

Gareth's dish is a mixture of Asian flavours.

It's all about the balance of all these fruits,

as well as a lot of spices that he's using for this duck dish.

I don't want a fruit salad with my duck.

That I do know.

I have to prove everything...

..to myself, to the judges, to my family.

The skills test, we'll forget about that

and we'll just move forward now.

Do you think you can pull it back round now?

-I hope so, yeah.

-So what is the signature dish that you are doing?

I'm doing a milk chocolate set custard.

I'm going to serve that with variations of chocolate.

So I've got aerated, a bubble tuile, white chocolate ganache,

some fresh orange, an orange Chantilly,

popcorn, and dressing it with some celery cress.

Wow.

Listen, I got no hint of this before when you were cooking the duck.

Where has all this pastry work come from?

I would never call myself a pastry chef,

but it is an area that I like doing.

But to come in on your signature dish,

-the very first dish you're going to cook?

-Yeah.

-You're that confident in pastry?

-Hopefully, yeah,

if everything goes right.

Stewart's making a set milk chocolate custard

with hazelnuts and orange.

Orange, hazelnuts, white chocolate...

..without a doubt can work.

But always, when you're making a delice or a set custard

or anything along with chocolate, you've got to make sure

it doesn't set too hard.

One thing we always want to see in our chefs is that

they're all-rounders -

they can do the savoury and the desserts just as well.

You have 30 minutes left, please.

The judges have probably seen me at my worst today.

I'm really happy with the dish, so...

..hopefully everyone else agrees.

What's your signature dish?

We have got a sous-vide cod, broad beans, peas, parisienne potatoes,

compressed radish and a fish broth.

Nathan, Marcus said you needed to focus in this round.

-Yeah, that's right.

-What are you going to do?

I am just going to get my head down, make sure all the flavours

are right, make sure I nail every single element.

That's the aim on the plate.

-Good luck, Nathan.

-Thanks, Chef.

-Thanks very much. Thank you.

-Thank you.

This cod dish, Nathan is going to cook sous-vide.

For me, it's all about the simplicity of this dish.

There's not many places where you can hide.

It's just a piece of cod, a very light broth to go with it

and a couple of vegetables.

The fish has got to be beautifully cooked.

And that broth is going to have to have real good depth of flavour,

big flavours.

I don't want it to just taste of chilli and coriander.

I practised the dish at home, I practised the dish at work.

It is a nice and simple dish.

But if it's well done, it will work well for me.

Pedro, what are you cooking for us?

It's a French lamb rack with a lamb shoulder, mint pea puree,

fondant potato, and I'm making a port sauce.

Why this? Why the lamb?

I like lamb, especially when you mix the flavour of the lamb

with the mint.

That's why I try to mix it together.

Pedro, the reason I'm smiling is because if there is one thing

that I can't ever get enough of, it's lamb and mint.

I'm glad with that.

Pedro's looking very confident.

He looks a lot happier than he did in the first round.

What's going to be interesting is, can Pedro refine this dish to the

standard that we are looking for?

Five minutes.

Right, yeah.

The duck's a lot better this time, happier with how it's cooked.

You have 60 seconds.

Don't get caught out, we're going to call time on you. Come on!

That's it. Stop.

Finished.

-That was terrifying.

-The last five minutes just went straightaway.

Yeah.

First up is Will.

He's made a braised pork loin wrapped in compressed apples,

with a blue cheese croquette...

..pickled apples, apple puree, broad beans and edible flowers,

finished with a cider pork sauce.

Will, very nice presentation, colourful.

I think the pork is very well cooked.

You made a nice sauce.

There's quite a lot of fruit going on with this dish

and it sort of takes over.

I think there's only so much apple I can take with my pork.

Love the texture on the croquette, nice and crispy,

but I completely and utterly agree with Marcus here.

Three types of apple, I think, is too much.

The sauce is sweet, lots of apple,

but it does have the making of a great dish here.

I think it's a good start for you.

Thank you very much.

Looking back on it now, I wish I'd put another vegetable element on

instead of an apple element. It's a bit too overpowering and sweet,

but I'm still happy with it.

Gareth has made roasted duck seasoned with Sichuan pepper

and lavender,

served with soya marinated bok choy,

confit apple, nectarines,

peach chutney, nasturtium leaves and a duck jus,

finished with peach liqueur.

I think your presentation is extraordinary,

I think your flavours are extraordinary

and I absolutely love that.

All those flavours I'm picking up, sweet, sharp, sour, fruity,

Sichuan and lavender, that's lovely.

I don't think I've ever tasted anything quite the same as that,

so that has come as a wonderful surprise to me.

The cooking of the duck, definitely much better

than the first time round.

I love the sharpness coming through with the different fruit,

with the peaches. It's a great first dish.

I like a lot of what's on here.

You've just about kept it on the savoury side enough for me.

The peach chutney is delicious, your sauce is big and it is bold.

Gareth, overall, like the dish.

Very tasty, refreshing, risky...

..but not bad.

I love that, when someone comes in, you know, and surprises us.

Pedro has made roasted rack and shoulder of lamb

with fondant potato...

..purple sprouting broccoli, carrots, minted pea puree

and a port sauce.

I love the colours, I love the ingredients.

It does lack a little bit of finesse.

It's not refined.

You've got the chops, they've got quite a lot of fat on them.

The pea puree's too dark because it's been on the stove too long.

The broccoli stems have just overcooked.

Your carrots are raw.

You and I obviously love the soft fat of lamb with sweet sauces,

with mint in the peas, and your fondant potato is stunning.

It wouldn't take a great deal to turn this into a fine dining dish,

but it's not here at the moment.

The execution of it all has not been well done.

It doesn't look great, but it is tasty.

Yes, I agree, I could refine that dish a bit better.

There was too much food on the plate.

Too much food on the plate.

Nathan has cooked sous-vide cod,

served with broad beans, peas,

parisienne potatoes, compressed radish and fennel shavings,

served in an Asian spiced broth.

The fish is cooked nicely.

I don't feel there's much body in the sauce at all,

because it just looks like a watery stock around the outside.

The garnish is sort of a bit of a wishy-washy garnish.

I think it's too simple and too tasteless.

I don't see how the broth matches the fish.

This broth tasting of aniseed and lemon isn't for me, I'm afraid.

OK.

The fish, it falls apart, it's what you want, it's flaky,

but there is really nothing to write home about with this dish,

-and I'm sorry about that.

-OK.

A bit disappointed.

Maybe it was a little bit too simple.

Octavia is serving an orange and vanilla panna cotta,

with a rhubarb gel,

poached rhubarb, ginger biscuit crumble, fresh clementine segments,

stem ginger, tempered white chocolate, and sorrel.

I think the panna cotta's got a great wobble to it

and a lovely texture, beautifully made.

But you've got a lot going on, just one too many steps, I think.

-Yeah.

-But overall, I like the flavour and I like the texture

-of your panna cotta.

-Thank you.

I think the texture of the panna cotta is lovely.

However, I am missing the vanilla.

The rhubarb is a disappointment for me.

You've taken off all that beautiful pink

that a forced rhubarb is known for, which is all natural,

and you've poached it in grenadine to give it this bright pink,

which is not natural.

It's a little bit of a clown's face at the moment

with all those pink and yellow bits going on.

I'd like to see it look like a smarter, sharper dessert.

But I think your flavours and textures are very good indeed.

Thank you.

Well done.

Terrifying.

I'm OK, it could have gone better, it could have gone worse.

I think after this morning, I think I did redeem myself, but we'll see.

Last up is Stewart.

He's made a milk chocolate set custard,

topped with a chocolate tuile and orange Chantilly...

..served with aerated chocolate, popcorn, roasted hazelnuts,

fresh orange segments, and garnished with celery cress.

I think your chocolate custard is lovely,

but what really lifts it for me is the texture of the tuile

you have set on top. The orange Chantilly is a nice touch.

Orange, chocolate - works very well.

It's very tasty and it looks wonderful.

I like your custard. Nuts and popcorn, nice bit of crunch,

nice bit of contrast to an otherwise very soft dish.

I think it looks attractive and it tastes good.

I love the chocolate custard, I really like the popcorn

and the hazelnuts. They bring fun, they bring texture.

We asked you to raise your game and you did just that.

Great job, Stewart.

Well done.

-Well done, mate.

-That was great, well done.

Well done, so good.

To get feedback like that off people like these is just something

you would never dream of.

This is day one of the competition, and if this is a true reflection

of the standard we're going to get,

we are in for one serious competition.

If I had to choose one dish, I think Stewart's chocolate dessert

was absolutely fabulous.

That was a nice surprise. You know, very quiet,

very focused, serious Stewart, who I think blew it out the park.

Did you two love that chocolate dessert that much?

I thought Stewart really did deliver the best dish in the kitchen today.

My outstanding favourite, who really, really surprised me,

was Gareth.

The presentation was a picture.

The spices that came through the cooking of the duck and the peaches,

the different textures on there. A very clever dish.

I do like his style.

If he can produce a little bit more of that,

then we have a very talented young man on our hands here.

Without stating the obvious, I think there are a couple of people here

who probably aren't ready just yet for MasterChef.

Pedro, I loved Pedro's lamb, I really did.

We all know we would eat it all,

but it's just not right for this competition.

Nathan has not had a good day.

His dish of cod with an almost broth of citrus and salt and fennel,

-no, no, no.

-It's a real disappointment to see a chef cook

like that here.

Now we have to discuss Will...

..and Octavia.

Will, he came in here and cooked that pork loin really well,

nicely seasoned. However, we all agreed, a little bit too much apple.

But, you know, he's got some skills and he's got a bit of confidence

in there, which I like.

A 22-year-old to come in with that level of maturity

is absolutely refreshing to see.

Octavia's dessert of the orange panna cotta,

little clementine segments and the rhubarb, I really liked.

Not a perfect dish. Had more on the plate than needed,

but the centre point I actually really liked,

it had a great wobble, a great texture as well.

I was a bit disappointed,

I couldn't get the flavours that I was looking for.

I didn't find a hint of vanilla through that, not even a seed.

I'm not feeling confident.

I'm feeling like I will be getting through by the skin of my teeth,

if I get through.

Hopefully, I've done enough.

That dish, I'm quite happy with, so, hopefully...

We now have to make the decision between

two young, pretty talented chefs.

Three of you are staying in the competition.

Three of you are leaving us.

We have made that decision.

Nathan,

Pedro...

..gentlemen, I'm sorry, you are leaving us.

Thank you very much indeed.

Good to meet you.

Stewart,

Gareth...

..congratulations.

You've done more than enough, you are staying in the competition.

You turned that around, Stewart, didn't you?

We have one more place.

The third chef leaving us...

..is Octavia.

Thank you very much for the opportunity.

-Nice to have met you.

-You too.

It was tough, the pressure was hard work.

I don't think I did myself justice, but...

..unfortunately, the nerves just got the better of me.

The pressure is absolutely horrendous,

especially when you've got Marcus and Monica just watching over you.

It's something you've just got to deal with

and I just didn't deal with it correctly.

It was a bit tough in a few situations.

You didn't see the best of my cooking today.

Congratulations, you three, you are MasterChef quarterfinalists.

Cheers, well done.

It was close, but I'm so happy, I'm through now.

Now I need to crack on, do the food I want to be doing

and up my game a bit now.

It's amazing to get through to the quarterfinals.

Now I've got the taste for it, I want to keep going as far

as I can in this competition.

My head did drop a little bit after the first round,

but I'm relieved now.

Yeah, it's been a really hard day.

Tomorrow night, another six professionals compete

for a place in the quarterfinal.

HE COUGHS

You've salted your souffle.

Now it's your signature dish.

For a first dish, it's an exciting one.