Episode 10 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, six more hopefuls compete to impress judge Gregg Wallace,

renowned chef Monica Galetti

and two-Michelin-starred Marcus Wareing.

I'm very competitive, not taking this lying down.

I've got something to prove.

I've definitely thought about winning it. It's why I entered.

There's no point lying, saying that I don't want to win. Of course I do.

I think there is a hunger in me that is starting to flare up.

I really want to do really well in the competition.

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.

Six chefs outside waiting to see what the challenge is going to be.

It's a 20-minute skills test.

This one's yours. It looks very much to me like pasta.

It IS about pasta today.

I would like our chefs to make us a filled pasta of their choice

and to make a sauce to go with it.

Ravioli or tortellini?

Ravioli, tortellini, it's completely up to them.

Great challenge, pasta work, how to work that machine.

Really interesting to see how our chefs always approach a ball of pasta.

20 minutes, it's your challenge. Off you go.

The first thing that I want to get done is my filling.

For my filling, I'm going to use some of the baby spinach, ricotta,

a little bit of garlic and a little bit of shallot through it as well.

They've got a lovely larder to choose from, there - look.

Eggs, three types of cheeses, pancetta, sun-dried tomatoes,

butternut squash, wild mushroom,

spinach and a really lovely bowl of fresh herbs.

They need to remember that the filling is to be as cold as possible

before they fill their pasta parcels.

If it is a warm mix, what is going to happen is that

it's going to destroy your pasta. I'll fall apart.

The pasta will start to break up.

Now I'm going to roll out my pasta dough.

What pasta are you going to make?

I'm going to make a tortellini.

I chose a tortellini because it's something I actually enjoy making.

Pasta making is one of the key skills chefs should have,

in any brigade.

There's something really nice in a professional kitchen when you've

got to make a lot of raviolis or tortellinis or make some pasta,

you go to the machine, you can spend an hour so there.

It's really therapeutic. You almost step into your own world.

Absolutely. It's one of those jobs that, when you start,

you don't want to get interrupted.

I want it thick enough that it's going to hold the filling, OK,

but also thin enough that you are not chewing through

really thick pasta.

So now I'm just going to cut out my circles.

I need to get my mix which hopefully should have cooled down now in the freezer.

Just got to be careful that the pasta doesn't dry out.

I've got some water here.

Really important, as you know,

making sure that you press out any air pockets, sealing it.

The last thing they want to do is these parcels coming undone when they're being blanched.

If they've got shaky hands and they don't seal them properly,

it's going to be a disaster.

I want them all uniform, all the same size,

so that when they all cook, they cook at the same time as well.

Now the making of the tortellini, that is time-consuming.

They can't rush it.

I'm going to get my pasta in here cooking.

Just going to make very simple bacon and sage butter sauce.

Hot pan, got my bacon, using the cooking liquid from the pasta.

So now my tortellini is cooked, my sauce, as you can see, is ready.

Just a matter of scooping them out.

Soft pasta, big knob of butter, smoky bacon, that's fabulous.

And there we have it. My ricotta and spinach tortellinis,

served with a sage and bacon butter sauce.

Simple to look at but actually quite tricky to make.

Your pasta is superb.

I love tortellini - I love this.

It's such a skill to make great tortellinis.

It's a great skill to make any pasta work.

You made that look effortless.

Lovely-tasting dish.

Let's get our six chefs in.

-Ready?

-Absolutely.

Bring them in.

First to face Monica's skills test is Emrah...

..a 27-year-old senior sous-chef at a London restaurant.

As I was growing up, I watched a lot of chefs on TV,

which kind of influenced me to apply to be a chef.

What they don't tell you is that the hours are long and it's unsociable.

You can't be half in - you're all the way in or you're out.

There's no halfway.

At my previous place, I was there as sous-chef

when we gained the Michelin star. That was an amazing feeling.

Then again we retained it the next year, which was also great.

But now I feel like I'm ready for a new challenge.

Emrah, welcome to MasterChef. Are you feeling OK?

Yeah, a little bit nervous, but OK.

This is a skills test. 20-minute skills test.

This one was set by Monica.

I think you'll enjoy it.

Emrah, have you done much pasta work before?

Only really personally.

At my jobs that I've worked at, they haven't required much pasta work.

Well, Emrah, what I would like you to do is to make us a filled pasta

of your choice, and a sauce to serve it with.

Off you go, Chef.

-So what's the plan?

-Thinking about tortellini with a,

like a duxelle kind of a mushroom first, served with, like,

a bacon and brandy cream.

-That could work, Chef.

-Let's hope so.

I think what'll set me apart is my ability to stay cool

under pretty stressful situations, and maintain a level head.

-Don't worry, Emrah. Absolutely everybody does that.

-Ha!

-You're halfway.

-OK.

You're doing OK - you feel OK?

I feel OK. I was nervous when I came in, but...

You've got five minutes left, so you've got to get them in a pot.

-Yep.

-You've got to get a sauce on.

Keep it together. Don't panic now.

Two minutes, Emrah.

-Are you done?

-Yeah.

All done?

All done.

Emrah's made mushroom-filled tortellini

with a bacon, mushroom, spinach and brandy cream sauce...

..finished with sun-dried tomatoes, ricotta and Parmesan.

The pasta's just too thick.

The filling, I believe, was a bit runny.

I think on the sticking of it, it wasn't sealed properly.

The whole method was a bit...painful to watch.

It's not great, Emrah, but by the look on your face, you know that anyway.

Your pasta's too thick. You haven't rolled it out thin enough,

and it hasn't been sealed properly,

so when you've cooked it, all the water's got in.

And towards the end you just got a bit panicky

and started throwing handfuls of ingredients on top of the bowl,

which isn't particularly nice.

The key ingredient, or the flavour that I'm looking for, is mushroom

and this doesn't come through in your pasta dish because

there's so little of it, and unfortunately

with the holes in the pasta, the water's just diluted it.

Emrah, I think you've got skills.

I think you move around the kitchen as a chef.

I think in the signature round you just need to just calm down

-and bring that to the table.

-Yeah, definitely.

-Emrah, we'll see you in the next round. Thank you.

-Thank you.

Bit disappointing really.

Pasta's not my strongest suit, and I think that showed today.

Next is 24-year-old Swede Adam...

..who's a head chef at a Swedish restaurant, in London.

The most challenging part about working in England is,

even if it's in Europe and not far away from Sweden,

you still can't find the same ingredients.

I've known that I wanted to be a chef since I was seven years old.

I've never doubted being a chef.

I've always, always wanted to do this.

I decided to apply for MasterChef because I want to see what I can do,

what I'm capable of, how far I can go.

I guess we'll see.

Adam, we want a filled pasta and a sauce.

-You've got 20 minutes.

-Yeah.

-Off you go, Chef.

-Thank you.

You do know there's a pasta machine there?

-Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know.

-OK.

-Are you going to... Are you rolling your pasta like that, or by hand, or by machine?

-By hand.

-Why?

You get more connection with the dough. It feels better.

Connecting with the dough -

how close do you like to get to your ingredients?

-Is it...

-I'd rather do it by hand than trusting machines, actually.

-It takes a little longer, though.

-Yeah.

Ravioli or tortellini?

-Ah, ravioli.

-Tell me what you're going to put in your ravioli.

Different mushrooms, vinegar, houmous and spinach.

-Vinegar?

-Yeah.

-Vinegar.

Why do you season the pan?

Both for flavour and for not sticking, but I know they're nonstick.

Flavouring what - the pan? There's nothing in the pan.

-No, not yet.

-Is that something you're trained to do?

-Yeah.

-Wow.

-An orange?!

-Yes.

It's for the sauce.

Right.

SIZZLING

Adam, I'm getting slightly concerned.

You've got seven minutes.

-Yeah.

-How long is your pasta going to take to cook?

A few minutes.

-Taste good?

-Yeah.

When's this filling going to get in this ravioli?

Any second now.

-This isn't good.

-What's wrong, Adam?

My fingers are a little bit too wet to handle this right now.

You have four minutes.

You OK? It's getting there?

Yeah.

-All done?

-Yes.

Well done.

Adam's serving spinach, mushroom and white wine vinegar-filled ravioli,

with a bacon, sun-dried tomato and orange reduction.

When you spent those five minutes rolling out...

-Yeah.

-..the dough by hand,

when we've got a pasta machine for a reason.

The making of the filling - it was hot when you put it in.

-That's why it wouldn't seal.

-Yeah.

-OK? It was too wet.

-Yeah.

It's just the method was all wrong.

The way you work...

Need I say more?

These stalks of spinach are sticking out the ravioli,

which means that water's got in there.

The ravioli has got water inside it.

And you can't make a ravioli, Adam,

when you're putting a hot filling inside.

It's never going to stick, it's not going to come together.

The orange coming through in the bacon, it's actually quite interesting.

I can see there's thought in there.

It just wasn't done very well.

The amount of vinegar you've put in the filling

makes that mushroom ravioli really sharp.

But the pasta itself is rolled out beautifully well, beautifully well.

I don't know. I want to see more of you.

I think you might be slightly unusual, but in a very good way.

Let's see. You might be unusual in a very bad way.

I might be too optimistic!

-Off you go.

-Thank you.

To come up with a new dish in 20 minutes, it's...

It's quite hard.

You know what goes good together, but you don't have enough time

to make the best of the situation, sadly.

Originally from Paris...

-Hi.

-Hello.

..30-year-old Eduardo is a sous-chef in a restaurant in London.

First of all, when I finished school back in the day, when I was younger,

I started to cook for my mum.

And then I said, OK, why not be a chef?

And then I did my first apprenticeship...

..aged 17.

I am very excited to cook for Marcus and Monica, actually.

They're very good chefs.

Skills test I think could be the worst one...

..for everyone, because it's very stressful.

Three people watching you...

..so even if you're very confident with the food,

with your knife, you can lose everything.

-All right.

-20 minutes. Over to you, Chef.

Off you go.

-Everybody does that.

-Oh, yeah.

Don't worry. That's no problem.

Another one.

Have you finished rolling the pasta? Are you happy with it?

Yes.

So what are you thinking of making?

-Something a little bit spicy with sun-dried tomato.

-Fine.

Is that the filling for the pasta?

That's going to be the filling.

If you had your own restaurant, what style would you cook?

It would be casual fine dining.

Maybe a touch of fashion for young people,

and old people as well, in the centre.

Have a nice atmosphere - little bit of music, fashion, cocktails.

-You're halfway, Eduardo. You've got ten minutes left.

-Ooh la la!

Ooh la la!

So you're making just one big one?

Yeah.

Ah la la.

You've got four minutes left,

-which is JUST enough time to cook this pasta.

-Yes.

-All done?

-All done.

Eduardo's made a raviolo filled with bacon, mushrooms,

spring onion and sun-dried tomato,

with a ricotta, cream, lime and chilli sauce.

I think you're a bit out of practice in your pasta making.

The filling, there was a lot of liquid in it...

-Yes.

-..which makes it very difficult to try and seal it together.

Actually it tastes a lot, lot better than I thought it would,

and I'm relieved. There is too much sauce.

Cream and ricotta is going to make this far too rich.

However, the flavours inside your ravioli are actually quite good.

I don't even mind the lime in the ricotta.

I'm hoping that's your good palate and not luck.

-It's bizarre because I don't really want to eat this dish, looking at it.

-Yeah.

But then I just turned away, and just put a little bit on my

palate, I get flavours. So you've got potential, Eduardo.

Get the head focused, all right?

I think you could do well.

Thank you.

Your pasta is cooked, but it's quite thick around the edges.

I do like the flavours of what you have inside,

and I actually liked it when you were cooking it in the pan.

It was just too wet when you put it in the pasta.

-Thank you, Eduardo.

-Thank you.

-Off you go.

-Goodbye.

-Thank you.

It's been ages that I didn't do any pasta.

I made that when I was 19 years old, so it's been ten years, 11 years.

I never touched pasta any more after that.

27-year-old head chef Tom has been working in kitchens since he was 15.

I became a chef, I fell into it.

I essentially didn't like school.

I became a pot washer back in Stoke,

and then I just fell in love with food from there.

I went travelling.

I did ski seasons in France. It was brilliant.

Cook in the day, snowboard in the day,

and party at night, I suppose!

It's extremely daunting, that skills challenge.

What you know, you know.

If you don't know it, then you know enough about food to get over it, hopefully.

Service!

Tom, tell me you've made pasta.

-I have, yes.

-Recently?

-Yesterday.

-Ah, can I give you a hug?

HE GUFFAWS

Tom, 20 minutes, pasta of your choice. Off you go, Chef.

It looks to me, Tom, like you've got a plan.

I'm going to fill the pasta with the mushrooms,

and then I'm going to make a sauce with the pancetta.

-What sort of pasta?

-Tortellini.

-How many are you going to make?

-Four, three.

Who inspires you to cook, Tom?

My nan, essentially, inspired me to cook.

Cooking Sunday dinners with her.

-Yeah?

-And then just went on from there, really.

Always helping my nan in the kitchen.

Right, you've had five minutes.

OK.

-So is that your filling, Tom? Mushroom filling?

-Yes.

You are halfway, Chef.

Hey!

Tom, why MasterChef? Why have you entered the competition?

It's a new challenge for me.

I always wondered how easy or hard it'd be.

And now that you're here?

It turns out that I'm shaking a little bit, so...

HE LAUGHS

-How's the tortellini?

-It's cooked.

-All done?

-Yeah.

Thank you.

Tom's serving mushroom tortellini

with a pancetta, wine and cream sauce.

Does this resemble anything you made in your restaurant yesterday?

I can make better.

Definitely made better.

You've put up a sauce, a dish that is really, really salty,

and sickly as well, because the cream has been reduced,

and you added some more cream.

The working methods and the process didn't sort of come together.

You look a little bit sort of rabbit-in-the-headlights.

It's not a great dish.

All I can taste is salt and cream, unfortunately.

Yes, Chef.

I like the filling, and I like the thinness of the pasta,

and the pasta's sealed, and it hasn't leaked, and it's decent.

I've got a feeling you actually might be a decent chef,

but this sauce is awful.

Tom, you know where you went wrong.

Pasta making was dodgy, but at least it's thin.

I AM looking forward to seeing what your signature dish is like,

when you've settled a little bit into our kitchen.

Yes, Chef. See you in the next round, Chef.

-Off you go.

-Thank you.

Dreadful, absolutely dreadful.

I know I can do better than that.

I was just nervous. I can make pasta with my eyes closed.

28-year-old Liverpudlian Jon is a head chef

at a contemporary Chinese restaurant in Manchester.

Being a chef's the best job in the world.

The fact that people every day spend their hard-earned money on something

that I've created is the best feeling in the world.

If you don't want to work hard, it's not the profession for you.

If you just want a job, you wouldn't be a chef.

You have to love it. You have to care about it.

Obviously nervous about cooking my dishes for these judges.

They know what they're talking about.

There's a bit of excitement of hoping that they're going to give me

the confirmation that what I'm doing is good

but also the nerves that they could turn round and say

I'm going completely the wrong way!

Jon, have you made pasta recently?

This is the one that I said I've not done - Italian.

Jon, 20 minutes.

We want a filled pasta and a sauce. It's over to you, Chef. Off you go.

The shakes.

-What's the matter?

-Just nervous. Nervous.

But I'll be all right, keep cooking.

-Jon?

-Yeah.

-Have you got a plan together?

Yeah, so I'm going to make a really quick mushroom filling.

Just lightly sweat off the mushrooms, bit of garlic, fill that,

and then do it with a mushroom cream sauce.

-What pasta are you going to make?

-Like a little ravioli, basically.

What are your strengths, then?

I've been recently working a lot on trying to get dim sum perfected.

This should be much easier.

I've had a go at dim sum. That's very tricky.

That's what I'm trying to transfer - from dim sum to pasta.

-You're halfway, OK, mate?

-Yeah. Thank you.

-Happy with your pasta?

-I think so.

How did you become a chef, Jon?

I always loved food.

For my 21st birthday, my mother offered what I wanted to do,

and Nigel Haworth had just won on Great British Menu

with his hotpot dish,

and I thought that was the most sensational dish I'd ever seen.

So I wanted to go and eat there.

So I went, and asked for a job, and got one.

You asked for a job while you were eating in there?

I finished the meal and...

..I basically thought, I want to do for a living...

..making people feel how I feel right now.

Jon, you've got six minutes left, all right?

You're going to have to get that pasta in,

-and then start on your sauce, Chef.

-Oui, oui.

What type of sauce are you making, Jon?

I'm going to sweat off a bit of shallots and garlic,

a little bit of the pancetta,

and then a little bit of a cream reduction.

You've got three minutes.

I reckon your pasta might cook if you're lucky,

-but this sauce has got to get underway.

-Oui.

You've got one minute.

Steady, steady.

I'm not very happy with this sauce.

Come on, come on, come on!

Finished?

Yeah.

Jon's made a mushroom and rosemary-filled ravioli

with a garlic, shallot and pancetta cream sauce.

That's beautifully thin. If that's the first time

you've properly made pasta, I'm really impressed!

I love your ravioli,

and inside you've got lovely mushrooms with a hint of rosemary.

Your sauce isn't great,

but that's OK for me because you don't think it's great either.

Sauce in 60 seconds?

I don't think it was ever going to happen, was it?

Jon, there is something about you that fills me with confidence.

You have made a ravioli, and it is nice and thin, and they look great.

Pasta, for me, is a key skill any chef should have.

You know, you've been cooking six years already,

so I hope you've not missed out any other essential parts of your skills

that you will need to get through this competition.

-Thank you, Chef.

-Thank you very much. Cheers.

What can't our chefs see on that table?

Why is it just bacon and cream?

Going in blind, no preparation, you know...

It's tough.

They're not the softest of critics, either.

The final chef to face Monica's skills test is Scottish sous-chef Tasso.

My current head chef is Jamie Scott, he won MasterChef in 2014.

Jamie has said not to come back if I don't win it,

but I think that was more of a joking thing.

It's a bit more encouragement to push myself on.

Hopefully I'll do quite well in it as well.

I started cheffing at 15. I didn't fit into school very much,

I had to make a choice of what I wanted to do, really.

It's something that my family grew up with, was cooking.

My dad had worked in restaurants.

It's really kind of like something I've always wanted to do, is cook.

I'm not the kind of big-headed person to go in and say

"I'm definitely going to win this."

My chances hopefully are pretty good.

-Have you worked with pasta before?

-Yes, yes.

Amazing. Have you filled pasta before?

-Yes.

-Even better.

You have 20 minutes to give us a very nice filled pasta and sauce.

Off you go, Chef.

What are you thinking of making for us, Tasso?

A little soft cheese filling with basil through it.

I'm just going to do a little

girolle and garlic white wine sauce with it.

Who taught you to do that, loop that together like that?

I used to work in an Italian restaurant.

I was on garnish there for a little while.

There was a lot of pasta, a lot of pasta work, so...

That's lucky, son, isn't it?

Hey!

Nice. Nice work.

You're looking pretty comfortable now, Tasso.

I'm trying not to get overwhelmed.

You, Chef, are halfway.

-All under control?

-Yes, should be there.

Nice pasta rolling. Very nice.

Tell me how you're making your sauce, please, Chef.

So, I'm sweating off some shallot and garlic,

reducing down some white wine in that, a splash of cream,

and just a little bit of milk to thin it down,

and I'm going to add a little bit of pancetta to the sauce.

What do you like about being a chef?

The thrill of it. The thrill of it's massive.

I love when we're really busy on a Saturday night, rushing about,

and looking busy and stuff like that.

It's a butter and cream sauce?

-Butter and... Yes.

-That's going to be a rich sauce.

It is, indeed. And I'll just finish it with a touch of vinegar.

-All done?

-All done.

-Right on time.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

Tasso's serving goat's cheese and basil tortellini

with a white wine, cream, butter, girolle and pancetta sauce.

You've shown that you're very competent in the pasta department,

which was wonderful to see.

I like how the dish looks.

Tasso, I love the way the pasta's been cooked.

It's perfect. The filling, I really enjoy the goat's cheese.

I don't like the cream sauce with it,

but I do like the bacon and the basil.

It's a pretty good start, I think.

You've shown some skills here.

-I'm relieved.

-Thank you.

I have to say, watching you roll out that pasta was probably one of

the most professional things I've seen in this kitchen for a long time,

especially today. This is a restaurant-quality dish.

-Good job.

-Thank you.

-Best dish of the day.

-Thank you very much.

I'd be really happy if that was served to me as a starter in a restaurant.

And for me to say that in a skills test

I think is nothing short of miraculous.

Tasso, I think you've done an incredible job.

-See you in the next round.

-Thank you.

-Good lad.

-I'm so relieved.

-Are you?

-You can't imagine how relieved I feel right now.

That's huge coming from Marcus Wareing,

saying I had the best dish of the day.

Yeah, I'm happy about that. Definitely happy about the feedback.

It's more than I could have asked for.

I know you were disappointed at times,

but I really honestly believe we've got six very different

and very interesting chefs.

As trained chefs, we take pasta making for granted,

and it's shown today that it's not as easy as it looks.

Of course I was disappointed.

However, they will come back fighting, and I expect them to.

This round, the signature dish round, this is about your food.

A chance for you to showcase your skill and craft.

One hour and 15 minutes to show your talent.

At the end of this, three of you will be leaving the competition.

Off you go.

The skills test was tough for me.

Pasta's not my strongest suit.

Moving forward to the signature dish, I'm quite happy with my dish,

I need to make sure I nail everything and it's all flawless.

Moving forward in life - make more pasta.

Emrah, what's your dish?

So, I'm cooking a rack of lamb with crisp sweetbreads,

puree of broccoli, and I'm using the stalks as a garnish

to be dressed in lemon dressing.

And I've got also a caper and black garlic puree working.

And tell me why you're not serving a sauce, so you're thinking more a vinaigrette?

Yeah, I'm thinking more down the vinaigrette route.

A sauce could be heavy for the dish.

You must be slightly disappointed after the first round.

Yeah, certainly, the first round didn't really showcase what I know I can do.

I was very upset with it, but, like I said, half-time.

If you're disappointed by that round, what do you feel you have to do now?

-Everything needs to be flawless.

-Simple as that?

-Simple as that.

-You got it.

Emrah looks like a different chef in this kitchen.

His bench is so organised.

He knows exactly where he's going with his signature dish.

He's not serving a classical lamb jus.

He wants to put a little lemon vinaigrette on the plate as well.

So, this could be interesting.

Just push myself in this round.

Show them what I can do on a plate.

Hopefully stand out.

Got the skills test out the way.

About time I went in and proved I can cook properly.

What are you cooking for us?

I'm doing a lamb rump which I'm cooking in a water bath.

I'm going to do that with cauliflower.

I'm going to grate that down to act like a rice couscous.

And then in the jus, I'm going to add chocolate.

-So, lamb and chocolate, essentially.

-Have you served it at the pub?

-Yes.

-Yeah? People loving it?

People... Not heard a bad word about it, yeah.

So if we don't like it,

we could be wrong and the people of Macclesfield could be right?

Well, yeah, essentially.

-Good luck, Tom.

-Thank you very much.

Chocolate sauce goes very well with venison.

We all know that. But with lamb, I'm yet to be convinced.

The garnish... Raisins, that makes sense with cauliflower.

But not with a chocolate sauce and lamb.

I'm hoping what sets me apart today is just excellent cooking.

It is a plate that's very close to my heart.

And I think it's a great plate of food.

So, as long as I deliver what I've got my head,

I think I should be all right.

Jon, there is no meat or fish on here.

Just cauliflower, essentially. That's one key ingredient.

-What are you going to do?

-We are serving it inside a jacket potato skin,

so the skin acts as a nest.

-Right.

-And inside there, we've got a roast cauliflower puree,

the pickled Romanesco and cauliflower crumble.

And then we've got a gherkin gel, so made from the liquid from gherkins.

Are you ambitious, Jon?

-Yeah. Of course.

-How ambitious?

Ambitious enough to stand here with a cauliflower and say,

-"This is good enough."

-I'll tell you what, Jon,

this is the bravest dish I've seen in here for while.

Go get them, son.

I've got to admire Jon, to come here with just a cauliflower...

..and cook us a dish that's going to be inside a jacket potato.

I think Jon's being very brave, and I like he's standing strong with his cauliflower.

He believes in it and he's going to give us something very different.

Chefs, you are halfway.

I love cooking my own food for people.

I'm not stressed. I'm not stressed. I'm very confident.

But when you have three judges watching you, this is different.

Right, tell me a little bit about what you are going to be cooking for us.

I'm going to do some celeriac cannelloni,

stuffed with aubergine and cumin, and my base,

I'm going to do anchovies and sardine puree.

So, the celeriac is replacing the pasta?

-Yeah.

-I've never seen a celeriac cannelloni.

Eduardo, where do these ideas come from?

You haven't been taught these things, have you?

I'm a creative person. I like flavour.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't work.

But you know this one works, right?

This one, you guys are going to be shocked,

but that's the first time I'm making it.

No way. You've never made this dish before?

No, it's going to be the surprise.

It's going to be a surprise to you, cos you've not made it before!

Yeah, that is what it is.

So, we are all going to be surprised.

I'm going to be surprised as well.

Eduardo's dish, when you break it down, it comes with two things.

It comes with a cannelloni.

He's replacing the pasta with slices of celeriac.

And he's going to be stuffing that with his aubergine to create

the cannelloni effect.

My concern is he's not tested this dish.

I want to impress the judges a lot.

I want them to feel the Scandinavian in my dish,

but also all the other worldly influences.

The judges haven't seen anything yet.

Adam, what are you cooking for us?

Today I'm cooking baked halibut,

and for that I'm going to use smoked dashi

and a ragout of mung beans, squid and pork.

Adam, you know what?

I thought you might cook like this and I'm not disappointed.

-Thank you.

-Good luck.

Adam's a big, bold chef and I think this is going to be a really big,

bold dish from him. It's going to have to pack some flavour, though.

I just hope not too much flavour.

I don't want the halibut to be overpowered by that casserole.

There is a little bit of pressure,

being told it was one of the best dishes of the day.

But hopefully, I can just continue that,

and cook how I know how to cook. And that's all I can do, really.

It's three of my favourite things on a plate.

We've got mutton, we've got some hispi cabbage

and just a little carrot puree

and a roasted carrot, roasted in hay.

Where does the malt extract come in in your dish?

The malt extract, I put some malt into the sauce,

and I'm going to finish the carrot in malt as well, the roasted carrot.

Ambitious for this competition?

Yeah, definitely. This morning's given me a little taste of it,

so, never thought I'd feel like that, but it feels really good,

and hopefully, I can carry on.

-I like the sounds of it. I love that you are using mutton.

-Thank you very much.

This is a dish I really do like the sound of.

Mutton, it's got a lovely flavour,

but the timing of the cookery of mutton has to be absolutely spot on.

You've got to know your produce.

This chef wants to go a long way in the competition.

If he can cook this dish well, Tasso will be well on his way.

You have got just two minutes.

You have to get your food on plates. Come on.

Last 60 seconds. Come on, please.

You have just 20 seconds. Final touches.

That's it. Stop.

-Well done, guys.

-How'd you find that?

-Cheers.

-How did you find that?

-Good luck. All the best.

-Not too bad.

-All the best.

Tasso has prepared loin of mutton served with charred hispi cabbage,

carrot puree, roasted carrots with a malt butter glaze,

and topped with a lamb fat crumb,

finished with chive oil,

and a mutton and malt sauce.

I'm enjoying everything on this plate.

I think your presentation looks

very smart, very clean, very tidy.

The mutton has been cooked nicely.

It's still pink. I like the addition of the malt

through the roasted carrot.

A smart little trick, I think, and it tastes divine.

It's a clear statement - you can cook, you've got a certain style,

and I would like you just to keep going, getting stronger.

Thank you.

I love that carrot with the malt, and the crunchiness on it.

That's one of the best carrots I've ever tasted. That is fantastic.

I think you've got lovely flavours, I really do.

I think you've got some really clever ideas.

Everything I've tasted is delicious.

This is absolutely exquisite.

It's very cleverly thought out.

It's a plate of excellence, it really is.

And for your first signature dish, you've really,

really raised the bar incredibly high.

I think you've just made three judges very happy, Tasso.

-Well done, chef.

-Thank you.

I feel amazing after that. Some of the best comments I could have got.

-Well done.

-Cheers.

-Smashed it, man.

People like Marcus, Monica and Gregg to enjoy it,

it's a whole new level of happiness right now.

So, yeah, really good.

Emrah's cooked rack of lamb and crispy sweetbreads,

served with runner beans and broad beans

in a lemon and rapeseed vinaigrette,

with broccoli puree, stem and shavings,

and a black garlic and caper puree.

The black garlic and capers really work together very, very well.

The sweetbreads are nice and crunchy.

But there's a few things here that don't quite work,

and there's the cooking of the lamb.

It's a little bit on the underdone side there.

For me, the dish is crying out for the vinaigrette

to have a little bit of meat jus running through it.

The vinaigrette comes through, but only in places,

when you go searching for it.

I love those fresh vegetables.

I love the purees.

It's a shame that lamb is undercooked for me.

You've got some great positives on this plate of food.

I really enjoyed the black garlic puree.

Big fan of black garlic.

The broad beans are cooked very well.

But the lamb, you're a few minutes off.

They said the lamb was a little bit under for them, but again,

that's preference. I thought it was OK.

I hope it's enough.

Fingers crossed.

Adam's dish is sous-vide halibut on a pork loin,

squid and mung bean ragout,

served with a garnish of crispy cavalo nero,

fennel tops, golden beetroot,

broccoli stem and puree,

finished with a pork dashi.

Your presentation's too muddled for me.

I would like less going on there.

Now, the fish is slightly dry.

I really like the crispy cabbage with salt.

I really like the quality of your dashi.

That is slightly meaty, it's also a little bit of sharpness as well.

I really, really love that.

However, there's too much going on for me,

and a lot of it is quite salty.

The dish could work.

I feel that you've just really tried to put a lot into one plate of food

and it's a bit muddled.

It's a little bit like your dashi stock.

Cloudy. There's no clarity to the dish.

The ragout, I like the idea of it,

but I don't think the cut of pork you've chosen...

Brings nothing to it because it's dried out and it's overcooked.

I would have preferred something quite fatty.

But I will say this - it's a damn sight better than your skills round.

Thank you.

I'm happy with what the judges said, yeah.

It's honest. Tough, but honest.

Just better now, like, it's done.

Just breathe, relax.

Jon's made a jacket potato skin filled with cauliflower puree,

crumble and fondant,

with pickled Romanesco cauliflower and silver skin onions,

it's served with a gherkin gel.

To take a cauliflower and yet for it to go across a range of

different flavours I think is quite extraordinary.

I think it's absolutely delicious.

So much flavour in something so light, I think is clever.

Thank you.

I know you were pretty adamant you had a point to prove here with

the cauliflower, and I think you did just that.

I really enjoyed this.

I love the cauliflower puree.

I like the addition of the gherkin gel, as well.

This is quite clever. It's a bit of fun.

And it's a nice introduction to who you are, Jon,

because I never got that in the first round.

-Thank you.

-Jon, I have to say, I'm shocked.

Cos when I was standing at your bench over there earlier,

talking to you about your dish, I was laughing,

cos I just couldn't understand what it is you were thinking, where you were going.

But wow, have you proved me wrong.

What a fabulous dish.

You know, I am really impressed with you.

It's a jacket potato skin, yet you've filled with delights.

This is a dish I actually would want to eat again.

It's nice when other people believe in what you believed in.

-Yeah.

-I think the plate says it all.

I'm buzzing. I'm really happy.

They got it and it was just great.

Great. Really lovely feedback.

Really, really generous.

Next, it's Tom with his lamb rump.

Served with asparagus and aubergine puree,

cauliflower couscous with raisins and a cauliflower puree,

finished with a chocolate jus.

I like the cooking of the lamb rump.

It's nice and pink. It's how I would have it.

Your cauliflower couscous, it's OK,

it's not the best and I find the quantity is a lot on here.

The sauce, I really don't like.

The chocolate sauce, I don't like the way it's been made.

Chocolate sauce?

With lamb? No, no, no, no.

No. No, no, no.

Doesn't work, that, Tom. Chocolate and lamb is not a marriage.

It doesn't work. The couscous idea I like.

I just find it just a little bit too rough, lacks seasoning.

Your vegetables are just a little bit on the overcooked side.

If you go through, Tom, you're going to have to

slightly take a step back. This is just a little bit too rustic.

That rump of lamb is beautifully soft and brilliantly cooked.

I loved the raisins through the couscous.

However, I don't see that the raisins and the jus match.

Dreadful. I was, yeah, they didn't like any of it, so...

It's pretty hard to take.

Eduardo's made a celeriac cannelloni,

filled with an aubergine puree,

topped with Mediterranean crumble of olives

and sun-dried tomatoes

with a sardine and anchovy puree and a Parmesan crisp.

Eduardo, your presentation lacks refinement.

But what does carry through this dish

is very interesting flavours coming through,

especially from the sardine paste.

It's a lot smoother than I expected it to be.

The celeriac is well cooked,

and the aubergine that sits inside it

has a really interesting flavour, as well.

It's not very well executed, though, unfortunately.

Can you imagine what you could do, Eduardo,

if you plan a little bit better?

-Yeah, sure.

-And practise before you come in here?

I love that paste you've made out of the fish.

It's salty and it's deeply fishy.

It's lovely. I don't like that cannelloni.

I don't like the flavour inside.

To me, it's really, really bitter.

Your sauce, anchovy sauce, I really enjoyed.

It reminds me of a sauce anchois.

Yeah? Some nice surprises on your dish.

I took a lot of risks.

And I should have worked on the recipe...

make it properly, 100% properly, and make it well.

What an interesting day.

Lots of different cookery styles and most certainly I think

some boundaries being pushed.

Tasso was the outstanding chef of the day, from the first round,

and then carried it on with that wonderful mutton dish.

Tasso's mutton dish was a delight.

Beautiful presentation.

I loved the mutton, the carrot, the malt.

-Looks like he's going through to the next round.

-Absolutely.

Jon was a surprise.

Wow! What a very interesting idea.

I loved the story, I loved his passion.

We were laughing at the bench, thinking, "Wow! What have we got? This chef, where is he going?"

but isn't it refreshing to be shocked and surprised

when the food does the talking for you?

A dish like that can only go one of two ways.

And for him, it went the right way.

I can't be alone in thinking that Eduardo isn't really cut out for this competition.

To come in here and do a dish that you've never, ever done before?

What's going on?

I've never had a chef come in here and decide to just

make a dish then and there. Never tried it, never tested it.

Eduardo had some interesting flavours,

but they weren't well executed at all.

There's one other guy I think struggled today.

And that was Tom.

I liked Tom's rump of lamb.

I thought that was cooked really well.

After that, I think the dish got very confused.

I think the flavours got a little bit lost.

I wanted to like a lot of this, but that chocolate sauce just put me off.

Putting chocolate with lamb is a no-no. It doesn't work.

And we are left with two chefs.

Emrah and Adam.

Emrah, we all agree, had under-cooked his rack of lamb, right?

I loved those sweetbreads.

I thought those crispy sweetbreads were delicious.

I liked the little puree.

There's a lot to like. There's a real disappointment, though,

when the star attraction on the plate is slightly undercooked.

Adam, the big Swedish chef, whoa!

I mean, I've got to hand it to Adam, for the work that he did.

I found it a little muddled.

I understand, he's got the Swedish background,

he wanted to bring that in with the pork stew,

but that pork fillet was not the right cut of meat.

It had dried up.

I personally think the dish was over-thought.

I want to stay more than anything.

Just the wait... I hate the wait.

I certainly hope I've shown them enough.

If I went home today, I'd be quite upset

but hopefully that won't be the case.

Unfortunately, three of you have to leave us today.

The first chef leaving us is...

..Eduardo. Thank you.

-GREGG:

-Thank you, Chef.

-Thank you.

The next chef leaving the competition is...

..Tom.

-GREGG:

-Thank you, Tom.

-MONICA:

-Thanks, Tom.

And the final chef leaving us is...

-..Adam.

-Thank you.

-GREGG:

-Thank you, Adam.

-MONICA:

-Thank you.

It feels really bad. So, a bit sad.

But someone had to go.

It's disappointing that I'm leaving at this stage.

Should be more prepared. It just didn't work this time.

Well, a bit upset, but I think that's the...

That's a part of the game. That's it, really.

Congratulations, you three.

Look forward to seeing you in the quarterfinal.

Well done.

I'm feeling very relieved right now.

Yeah, I feel like I can just go on

and prove myself further in the competition.

Right now, I'm ecstatic. Just really happy.

I want to get back and just make sure the next dishes are just as good.

It's an absolute massive confidence booster.

I'm hungry for more. I want to push on,

and definitely push as far as I can in this competition.

Tomorrow night, it's the last of the heats

as six more professionals fight for a place in the quarterfinal.

-Calm down a little bit, Tom.

-Said than done.

Now it's all about your signature dish.

Keep it going.

Whoa!

That's the best signature dish I have ever eaten in MasterChef.