Episode 17 MasterChef: The Professionals

It's the professional MasterChef semifinals.

Last night, Gareth and Leo were sent home.

Now, the best six will be sent to cook

for some of the most inspirational chefs in the country.

Absolutely amazing.

You know, it looks exactly the way that we do it.

I need you to pick up the pace.

I need you to find a second gear -

third gear, fourth gear would be great.

Tonight, the first three chefs battle to secure their place in finals week.

27-year-old sous-chef Jamie,

25-year-old corporate chef Steven,

and 28-year-old private chef Matt.

Now, it's in the final six, you just want it more.

The end is in touching distance.

To be safe, there can be no mistake.

Everything has to be perfect.

I've put everything into this competition.

It's incredibly important for me to get that place in the finals.

The pressure is on, the stress levels are high.

They are going to have to be on their A-game.

It's early morning

and the three chefs are in Darlington, County Durham,

heading to one of the country's most unique culinary destinations.

Look, what does that brown sign say?

It says Raby Hunt!

-Raby Hunt.

-Yes.

In 2017, the Raby Hunt was the only new restaurant in the UK

to win two coveted Michelin stars,

and the first in the north-east to hold such an accolade.

It's led by self-taught rising star James Close,

who gave up a career as a professional golfer eight years ago

when his family bought a humble country pub.

When we opened up originally it was just me and my mum doing steak and chips,

just like real, like, easy-going food.

It was... It was an experience, but my mum, you could just tell,

didn't want to be in there.

So after about a year we kicked my mum out, in a nice way,

and I started to take control of the menu.

Despite having no formal training, James refined his cooking

by eating out and obsessively studying the techniques

of the world's finest chefs.

Three years after opening he won his first Michelin star.

I put everything I had into it, and it was just, you know,

constantly trying to get better every day.

And I always think, you know,

you've got to be better than you were the day before,

and that's the same philosophy doing the restaurant.

As well as gaining his second star in 2017,

James was awarded the prestigious Good Food Guide Chef of the Year.

For me it's been an amazing achievement,

and to do it in the north-east, it's just great.

You know, I didn't have to go to London,

I didn't have to go to, you know, abroad to do this.

The menu's inspired basically by what comes into my head.

The detail going into it,

it is quite refined but it's still quite simple in execution.

I am a self-taught chef. I don't follow the rules.

For him to have achieved that two-star level,

he must be doing something incredible

and I'm looking forward to seeing what that is.

Having to drop into a two-star kitchen and hit the ground running,

it's a massive challenge.

I've not had any Michelin-star experience, but I'm going

to just have to be a sponge and absorb everything around me.

It's going to be a push, but hopefully we'll get there.

Unscathed!

Good morning, chefs.

And you guys are the first chefs that don't work for me

that I've ever invited into this restaurant.

What we expect today is excellence, all right,

so every dish that I give you,

we want it to be done exactly the same way that we would do

in a normal service, all right? So are you ready?

-Yes, Chef.

-Let's go.

Today, the three semifinalists have the honour

of becoming part of James' brigade for lunch service.

At the end of the day they're sending my dishes.

We want them to try and push it as close as they can

to what we do in the restaurant every day.

Each contestant will be responsible for one of the dishes

from the 14-course tasting menu.

London-based sous-chef Jamie will be making James' intricate razor clam starter.

Cooked razor clams with brown shrimp, pickled celeriac, girolles,

almonds, samphire, frisee - a type of chicory -

pea shoots, and chopped parsley.

There's a lot of ingredients going to go on this dish, right?

So you've got to be very focused to get it right.

But the main thing with this dish is to get the razor clams cooked perfectly.

The razor clams go in...

First, the razor clams are slowly cooked in a spiced butter,

before adding the brown shrimp.

The worst thing about razor clams is if they start to overcook,

so we want to keep them very soft,

and then just get the seasoning right on that dish.

If you get the seasoning right, it's perfect.

Next, the girolles and samphire are gently cooked in a butter emulsion.

The razor clams and brown shrimp are presented in a shell with almonds,

pickled celeriac, girolles, and samphire.

So a little frisee then in between the pea shoots.

The final presentation of that dish has to keep everything inside

the shell, nothing to fall off it.

If you do that service, 30 of them today,

-we're going to smash it out, yeah?

-Yeah.

Yeah, obviously there's a lot of elements on this dish,

and they all have to be perfect,

and they all have to be on there in the right place.

So 30 of those.

Steady hand!

Steven works in corporate dining,

and hasn't done a restaurant service in five years.

He's in charge of rack of lamb, served with anchovy emulsion,

spring greens and spinach powder.

The lamb's going to test anybody that does that

because they've got to be right on it.

That dish all revolves around the cooking of the lamb.

The lamb, it's been in about 45 minutes,

and now we're going to put it on the Japanese barbecue.

The barbecue will be very hot.

We've got to make sure we don't burn the skin,

but we want to get a little bit of smoke just coming onto it.

You see that it's now starting to get a little bit of colour on the fat.

That's what we want.

That flame's nice - we don't want it to burn it too much, all right?

While the lamb rests,

the spring greens are lightly coated in butter emulsion,

and steamed in an oven at 130 degrees.

We always probe it before we send it.

I'm going to be there with a probe to make sure that it's at 54 degrees

when it gets sliced, so if it's not, you know,

the guy will have to do it again.

Nice.

The plate is dressed with anchovy emulsion,

and dusted with spinach powder...

Put the rack nicely there.

..and finished with the spring greens, lemon oil,

black olive oil and a lamb sauce.

Very nice.

-It's an amazing plate of food. It's amazing.

-Thank you.

You reckon we can do this?

Yeah, I've never used the barbecue before, but...

You must have had a barbecue at home, Chef - come on!

Private chef Matt will be in the pastry section,

and will be in charge of two desserts.

The first is a warm chocolate mousse

with black olive and sheep's yoghurt ice cream.

So first if you just lightly dust the tuile,

just a black olive powder with chocolate in as well.

The warm chocolate mousse is topped with fudge,

and drizzled with orange oil.

This bit's got to be done very fast,

because a warm chocolate mousse has got to go out warm.

There's no point doing a warm chocolate mousse

that's going to go out cold.

They've got to be finished with a little perfect rocher,

which under the stress of a two-star restaurant,

anybody's going to find that hard.

I know what that's like.

His second dessert is a summer berry tarte, consisting of strawberries,

raspberries, black and red currants,

placed around a soft cow's milk cheese mousse, with pistachio cream

and a strawberry gel.

Really carefully, watch the way that Marie is presenting this

and building it up, all right?

Because it's got to be the same.

This is the one dish that if it doesn't look right,

it's never going to go out.

The tarts, which are all made to order, are finished with a rocher,

or one-handed quenelle of lemon verbena ice cream.

The idea with this is to eat it with your hands.

How do I tackle this?

You can eat it with a spoon as well, Chef. I was only joking!

It is delicious.

So much going on. A very complete dessert.

Really good. Bravo, Marie!

The first customers are due in less than half an hour.

It is all anticipation now. The start of service is creeping up.

It is a bit overwhelming, really.

You've got to remember where you are,

the level that you're cooking at.

It is not your everyday restaurant,

these aren't your everyday ingredients, dishes, customers.

I think the challenge is just the whole complexity of it,

just getting everything right, and just speed and precision, I think.

It is a full restaurant. Chef's tables, you know, booked out.

They're going to get lots of orders coming on at once,

which is the way we like it.

They are going to get very, very tested, we're going to get tested.

This is going to be probably one of the most important services of my life, maybe.

So I just need to concentrate and nail it, really, today.

And hopefully I can do that. Oh!

-You ready to heat?

-Yes, Chef.

-Yes, Chef.

We are going to start six portion of razor.

Yes, Chef. Straight in at the deep end, really.

Straight away, Jamie has six orders of razor clams he must cook to James's two-star standards.

I want them really nice and delicate, all right?

-Yeah.

-Give it another little stir.

Just get a little bit of heat on that again.

What we are looking for is exactly how the chef cooks them,

that really delicious, soft texture.

As well as keeping an eye on the razor clams,

he needs to quickly cook the samphire and girolles,

so the dish is ready to plate at the same time.

He now has moments to delicately balance all the elements

inside the razor clam shell.

If he doesn't get it out quick, he will be doing it again,

cos they're going to overcook, all right?

-Going to have to come in here and give you a hand, all right, to get it out.

-Yes, Chef.

I know I've put you in at the deep end with this six,

but this is where it's at right, all right?

-Yes, Chef.

-Everybody's here.

Got to get it served.

Right, service.

Go to table eight, please.

Table two, please.

And these are going to table four, please.

You just need to just speed up, all right?

But you've done it once now, so from here on

-we're going to get to another level, yeah?

-Yes, Chef.

Went OK. Not quick enough, obviously, but I am finding my feet.

It's all very intricate.

It's all very delicate. It's details.

And the details are really what matter at this standard and at this level.

Right, Stephen, we are going to go with you next.

It's going to be lamb, OK?

-I want you to get me six up on the pass, yeah?

-Yes, Chef.

Using the Japanese barbecue,

Stephen has to bring the temperature of his lamb racks

up to precisely 54 degrees.

Charring the skin without burning it.

As soon as they come off the barbecue, spring greens straight in the oven.

-Yes, Chef.

-Got to be able to do more than one thing at once.

-Yes, Chef?

-Yes, Chef.

It is a bit of a juggling act.

It is the moment of truth for Stephen's lamb.

Just put these back on the barbecue for longer, please.

They just need a bit longer at cooking.

I need to feel it, get a couple of dishes out,

and then I'm sure we will be flowing, and we will be all right.

It is about managing the coals as well.

Making sure that you've got that right heat there.

Right, Stephen, this is it.

Right now we want to see that barbecue flavour,

but we don't want any overcooking.

-Yeah?

-Yes, Chef.

-We want it perfect.

-At rest, it'll get there.

-Yes, Chef.

Let's go, Chef.

With the lamb now at the correct temperature,

Stephen needs to move fast to get his six plates out on time.

-People are waiting now.

-Yes, Chef.

If everybody starts waiting, it's going to be a backlog.

-I'm just going to help you get this out.

-Yep.

Right, come on, we need speed, we need to go, all right?

That's it. Let's go. We're doing this now, yeah?

Yes, Chef.

It looks really good.

This is it.

Right, service, let's go with these, please.

We're going to table eight, two, and four.

That was really good.

Really good. Let's get that barbecue up a bit, yeah?

Let's get the heat up and then we are there, all right?

-Yes, Chef.

-Well done, seriously. Well done.

That's good.

Really good.

This was a bit of a push, but I just need to...

There is a few little things that I needed to improve on,

cos I am going to be juggling a lot soon.

It's going to get intense for me soon.

Right, Matt, first dessert, are you ready?

-Oui, Chef.

-Right, let's go.

On pastry, Matt, like Jamie and Stephen,

has to assemble all of the elements of his dish moments before serving.

That'll do.

The chocolate mousse must be served warm.

Right, Matt, you've got to be quick.

This is going to get cold, all right?

Go straight on with the tuile.

And with a steady hand,

he must precisely place the black olive tuile

before quickly executing a perfect rocher of sheep's yoghurt ice cream.

You are going to have to stop.

Hold that, hold that.

You need to get another tuile on this.

-Let's start again, all right?

-Oui, chef.

All right, this is it, Chef.

Right now, yeah?

Loads better.

That is great. Really good.

Really good.

Service, please.

We just want to get those rochers a little bit quicker on the plate.

-Yeah.

-But seriously, well done.

A bit shaky. I never shake.

Well, sometimes I do, just got to take a deep breath, calm down.

But there's no respite for Matt.

He must produce six summer tarts to James's exact requirements.

We get the right amount of pistachio, the right amount of raspberry gel,

the right amount of strawberry gel. All right, we can do this.

We're going to have to just speed up just a little bit, all right?

-Cos a dessert check's come in. All right?

-Yes, Chef.

So really push, push to get these out.

Right, you can put them on a plate.

And then serve with the ice cream.

Yeah.

Right, that looked really good. Really good, yeah.

-Just keep going, yeah?

-Table eight, go.

All right, service, please.

These are going to table two.

Amazing, absolutely amazing, Chef, yeah?

It looks perfect. Go.

Oh, yeah. Done.

Looks simple, but it's quite delicate,

and you've got to do it all last minute.

The final lunch guests are arriving.

And with each semifinalist responsible for a part of the tasting menu,

Jamie is under pressure with more starter orders.

Four razors, please.

I want it nice, soft, delicate again.

Four more razors straight in.

Not feeling more comfortable. You can get comfortable.

It's good, but I want those razors next time softer, all right?

They are taking on a little bit too much heat.

-Ready.

-Service. Go.

SERVICE BELL RINGS

Yeah, he's doing really well, he's nearly there.

It's only a two-star dish.

Last razors were just a....

..a touch firm. Just not gentle enough.

I think a little bit of pressure got to me.

Stephen 's got four more lamb on order.

The barbecue's hard, juggling the heat.

Getting it cooked right without overcooking it.

After undercooking his lamb the first time,

he's under pressure to hit 54 degrees.

If it is not right,

it won't leave the pass.

When you're probing, you have got to go in the middle. You go here...

It starts going down, all right?

Just put that back on again.

It needs to be accurate every single time.

That one or two degrees makes a difference, a huge amount.

So it is about getting it perfect, really.

All right, chef, what are we on over there?

Just probing now.

That's perfect. Let's go.

The lemon, the lemon sauce, yeah?

All right, that's great, that's really good.

Pick the furthest two over there, going to table 12.

Absolutely perfect that, yeah.

You're getting the hang of it. Handling the barbecue and

-everything, all right? Well done.

-Cheers, Chef.

On pastry, Matt is also feeling the pressure

to turn out the perfect rochers as the orders mount.

It's just all about speed, that last minute.

Really good, yeah. Just keep going.

Yeah.

We are going table one.

Two is probably OK for one person, but if you are doing four,

you kind of need eight hands.

And then straight after that you have got to do the tart!

It is one of those dishes that, you know,

you've just got to get right every time. The look literally...

-Yeah, I feel like I...

-You have got to keep the speed up as well,

you know what I mean? So you've got to get it amazing-looking,

-but you can't sit around with it.

-Yeah.

As lunch draws to a close, Jamie is almost over the finish line.

It is the last razor to come for the day.

-Yes, Chef.

-Make these the best ones you've done of the day.

Yes, Chef.

This is what it's like working in a two-star Michelin kitchen,

do you know what I mean?

I would do this every day if they ask me.

Let's go. Perfect. Absolutely amazing, Chef.

All right, quickly. Jamie, absolutely amazing, all right?

-Thank you.

-Well done. You just got better and better through service.

And at the end of it, you smashed it.

-All right.

-Cheers, man, thank you.

Chef's happy. If Chef's happy, I am happy.

I loved that. I want to do dinner service.

This is my last table, so I'm just trying to make sure it's perfect.

It's going to be the best plate of today, hopefully.

We are looking for about 54 degrees in the middle.

That is spot-on. Really good.

Yeah. Service. Right, let's go.

Table three, and then table six.

Stephen, absolutely amazing.

All right? You got better and better as we got through that service.

-Cheers.

-Extremely well done, all right?

-Thank you very much.

That's been the best I have ever sent out, like...

Yeah, it was amazing.

I loved every minute. I loved every minute.

Can I come back, Chef?

Yeah, you can. Do you want a job?

STEPHEN LAUGHS

With all the starters and mains cleared away,

the focus is now on Matt to deliver his final desserts.

These are the last ones of the day, yeah?

Make them the best ones of the day.

Oui, chef.

Let's get some really good rochers.

Right, that looks really good.

The rochers through the whole of this service

just got better and better.

Just nail these and then I can relax.

Looks amazing. Absolutely amazing.

You know, it looks entirely the way that we do it.

Right, service, please.

Table three.

Excellent, Matt. Really well done. You should be proud.

Done amazingly well. Got better and better as it went on.

Well done. Seriously, well done.

-All right?

-A pleasure to work in your kitchen.

-Cheers.

-Thank you.

I really enjoyed myself.

I was a bit nervous at first, because I really wanted to do well.

I am actually buzzing.

One day, two-star kitchen, unbelievable.

You know, that's a great achievement for those guys.

It is day two in Darlington.

And Matt, Stephen and Jamie have one last chance to impress James...

..cooking a version of his signature dish, a seasonal salad,

consisting of up to 15 ingredients

which vary according to the time of year.

This is my favourite dish.

Every time I look at it I get that wow factor

and that buzz off it.

The challenge is to understand each ingredient by using different cooking techniques,

showcasing textural variation and balance of flavours.

The base of the salad is a scallop crumb.

The scallop taste is amazing.

It takes it away from just being vegetables.

It's then built up in layers of the raw,

pickled and cooked vegetables.

It's going to be different every time cos it's a salad dish

it's a natural dish. It doesn't get boring.

It's like every season changing.

It's all about the balance of the dish because you've got to get the

acidity, the crispiness and all of the combinations have to work.

If you get it right, it looks amazing.

It looks alive and it looks like you've just walked through the garden and you've picked the herbs.

To use as a guide, the contestants have been given a basic recipe.

I don't want to see a version that's similar to what I do.

I want them to really become creative with it.

I want to get like really nice colour on them.

Lots of barbecued, charred flavours running through it.

I'm only going to cook it about halfway, so quite al dente,

so it's still got like a nice fresh crunch in there.

It's going to have a nice caramelisation as well.

So I was going to get the vegetables that need to go into the emulsion

sort of like gently poached off.

You're not cooking them, you're just warming them through, really.

Just taking that tiny little bite off them.

The scallop crumbs, we get the Isle of Mull scallops and we roll them up

into a ballotine. We freeze the ballotine and then we grate

the ballotine into liquid nitrogen.

That's a cool texture.

We put that in oil at 160 degrees.

If it goes too dark you lose all the flavour and you cook it all out.

Obviously don't want to burn it. It's going to make it really bitter.

When you're at this level, if you can balance

all these ingredients, then that's kind of one of the reasons why you have two Michelin stars.

Everything, when you eat it, needs to flow.

It needs to work together,

so it's the biggest challenge about the whole dish, I think.

The world is endless with this dish.

We want to see them be really challenged by it.

I'm just going to stop,

if not I'm just going to put like too much stuff on.

It looks fantastic. It's very different to the way I do mine,

but that's what I wanted to see, something a little bit Jamie.

It really is a good dish.

The scallop crumb is great, but just lift it

with a little bit more seasoning because vegetables can

be so bland if you don't get that seasoning. So, just a touch more.

But really good execution.

You can tell you've got that little bit of refinement skill,

which is what you want.

You've done an awesome job

and it's been a real pleasure working with you.

Cooking a two-star chef's signature dish without any preparation

whatsoever is a little bit crazy,

but I'm proud, proud of the plate that I've put up today.

So many textures in the mouth, so many flavours going on.

Smokiness, freshness, sweetness, like there's a lot going on.

It's hard to...

I'm struggling, like. I don't know.

I don't like the way it looks at all.

The biggest challenge was getting it all on the plate and looking nice.

I failed, like for me, anyway.

We'll see what he says.

Maybe the scallop on the crumb on the edge here, a little bit random.

It just feels like it's not part of the plate.

It's got that little bit more freshness on it

than I was expecting.

The acidity's there but also with this dish you've got the seasoning.

It is there.

You've got a really nice char on your courgette and your carrot.

You can see your cauliflower is caramelised really well.

It just gives that extra dimension to the dish which I'm looking for.

All the vegetables to sing and done different ways.

Great, great attempt. Really good.

Thank you very much, Chef.

-Right, cool.

-Thank you very much.

-Good luck!

It was a really good experience cooking his dish for him.

I feel very happy with the comments that I got, but for me,

I didn't do that well.

I could have done a lot better than that.

All right. That is everything.

Everything's seasoned.

Now comes the hard part.

Is that all the flowers? I think so.

It looks tidy. I'm happy with it.

Hopefully, it's not too small for him.

Hopefully, he can taste everything.

Good afternoon, Chef.

Looks quite, quite refined.

Very different to what I do.

Just visually, maybe everything's just a little bit too small.

You've just chopped everything up a little bit too much.

It's getting that balance between refinement and, you know,

keeping that veg in its natural form a little bit.

The acidity's there.

You've got that freshness of the elements on the top.

Just cos you've cut it a little bit too small, I probably want a little

bit more barbecue flavour coming into it.

The scallop cream hasn't been quite enhanced in the dish

to give you that umami flavour coming through.

-Yeah.

-Maybe you've just cooked it a little bit too much.

But it is a really good attempt and it's quite interesting

to see your style.

It was really interesting. Really eye-opening

and I've had a great time and I'd love to come back one day.

Thank you very much. We'd love to have you back.

I feel quite good. I kind of figured that I didn't put enough scallop

crumb on there, because I actually really liked it,

but I just didn't want to overpower it.

But then I was happy with the way it looked.

It was too refined, rather than under refined.

All three of those chefs have got amazing talent,

and they, if they want it, they can get it.

I'm a great believer if you've got the desire

and you've got the passion, you can get what you want.

Stephen, I think he's got a lot of potential because he looks like he

loves it. You know, he looks excited when he sees those ingredients.

You can just see him looking at the lamb dish yesterday and he got inspired.

I was a bit nervous and anxious coming into the kitchen

cos I've never been in a Michelin star environment before.

But I feel like I can go away with my head held high, so, happy days.

Matt is very methodical.

So he still managed to get the refinement of my dishes perfect.

So he understood the way it looks has to be the same every time

and he was very good at that.

James as a head chef, really inspired me.

The way he runs his kitchen, and being a self-taught chef,

it's like a real eye-opener,

it's what you can achieve and what you can do in your career.

For Jamie, I was watching him during service yesterday and he was keeping

everything very clean and tidy as he worked, which I like to see.

By the end of it those razors were becoming very refined

and looking great.

It's been a really good experience.

When you come to a restaurant like this,

like, you're inspired from the minute you get here.

All the guys are all just going to leave just so excited to go back into the MasterChef kitchen.

Our chefs will have been inspired working with James,

but now I want to see that inspiration back here in the MasterChef kitchen.

I really hope that they've come back enthused, excited,

ready to battle it out.

As ever, it's all down to you.

One hour and 45 minutes,

and just two dishes separate you

from a place in Professional MasterChef finals week.

And I'm sorry to say,

that we're going to have to lose one of you at the end of this round.

Off you go.

It was a massive opportunity going to a two-star kitchen.

James's dishes were very refined.

Everything was precision and everything was perfect,

and I think I need to show that in my cooking as well.

No space for errors at this point in the competition.

-Tell us about your two dishes.

-Yes, of course.

So the chicken, I'm going to confit down the legs, crisp up the skin,

and with the breasts, I'm going to stuff it with truffle.

I'm going to have a sauce that is reduced.

I'm going to glaze it nicely.

Different variations of sweetcorn.

Dessert is strawberries and cream.

I've got strawberry consomme, a basil jelly, frais du bois.

I've also got some compressed strawberries on there, some crispy strawberries,

and then we've got just a Chantilly.

Stephen, I love it, right,

I feel like I've fallen asleep and woke up in food heaven,

but have you got time for all of this?

Oh, yes. Yes, yes, I have got time for this.

I love the sound of Stephen's menu.

Chicken, sweetcorn, strawberries and cream.

This is a chef that is going to let the ingredients sing for themselves.

My main concern is the wow factor.

How he's going to make those ingredients taste even better than they already are.

Push, push, yeah. Push, push!

Stephen as a chef has always given us tasty, delicious,

beautiful looking food, but it's always been based on classic flavours.

And it's always been something special when we eat his food -

he's got to do that again.

What did you take from your experience with James?

I was on pastry and the desserts, they looked very simple to the eye,

it's harder to make something look simple.

Good point. Now we're going to get into the complicated bit.

-Yes!

-What are you cooking?

There's a lot of ingredients, I've got a lot of stuff to do.

I'm doing guinea fowl with yeast, hay and maca.

-What's maca?

-It's a Peruvian tuber.

It grows above 4,000 metres,

so it's just got loads of natural health properties.

I'm doing a liver parfait, parfait out of the livers,

quite classic, actually.

I've got hay oil and a burned hay kombucha vinegar.

So dessert is chocolate, skyr, cherimoya and parsnip.

Skyr - is that Scandinavian yoghurt?

Skyr is Icelandic yoghurt, 0% fat,

with a little bit of the cherimoya mixed into it, custard apple.

It's called cherimoya, but some people know it as custard apple.

So, really sort of simple presentation which is what I kind of picked up from Raby Hunt.

Matt's come away saying simplicity on desserts is what he's learned most from James.

We love simple things,

as long as there's a mind-blowing experience to go with it.

I'm intrigued by the dish and I like the idea.

Matt's main course is guinea fowl.

You have to very careful with guinea fowl.

It can be a very dry bird if it's overcooked.

He's using the livers to make his parfait.

He's cooking the parfait with port and Madeira.

We've also got hay running through the dish in various different forms.

The maca powder's new to both of us.

I'm really curious whether it's going to bring something special to this dish.

Obviously, there is a risk using different ingredients that they haven't heard of before.

I'm looking for something different, something that's going to stand out.

I used sheep's dung, I cooked a vegan dessert for Gregg Wallace,

so it's kind of paid off!

One hour's gone.

45 minutes left, please, 45 minutes.

I'm just going to have to work my backside off today.

I've got so much stuff to do.

My main course is Iberico presa,

which is this really great cut from the shoulder of the Iberico pig.

It's quite a difficult piece of meat to cook.

We're going to make a ajo blanco sauce,

which is essentially like a bread, apple and almond soup.

I'll have a date, stuff it with smoked almonds,

wrap it in smoked streaky bacon and fry it off when I finish the pork.

I'm going to make my own style of Bombay mix,

but instead of using puffed rice,

it's going to be using puffed pork skin.

And then the sauce is going to be made with Manzanilla,

it's a sherry wine made in the south of Spain.

The dessert, I'm going to make a meringue.

It'll have a yuzu curd.

It's filled with a sharp raspberry gel.

Aerated white chocolate...

..and then quite salty peanut sable, finished with milk ice cream.

It's just completely refreshing.

What worries you most about these two dishes?

Um, the texture of the Iberico pork.

It's like, it's not like if you ordered a fillet steak in a restaurant,

it's like if you ordered a rump steak.

It's not going to be like soft and melting and boring.

-It has texture.

-You're the only chef I've ever met

who describes soft and melting as boring.

What is it about a final that makes you want to fight for it?

I'd not really thought about it until we went to the Raby Hunt.

Sort of, I don't know, re-lit the furnace, like that fire in my tummy,

and I couldn't wait to get back in the kitchen.

How fab!

The shoulder needs a lot of time to cook, nice and slowly.

The water bath is the perfect place for it.

Love the sound of the white cold soup that he's making from

milk, bread, smoked almonds, a little bit of garlic.

There are some very strong flavours and you want to be able to taste

all these little treats that are on the plate.

Jamie's dessert - using yuzu for his curd.

Yuzu is a Japanese citrus fruit, lovely fresh, vibrant flavour.

There's a raspberry gel going on the plate as well.

This sounds delicious.

Guys, you have five minutes.

Very intense in this kitchen.

Everyone's going for it today.

Are you a little bit under pressure?

No. Yeah, of course I am, yeah!

You've got less than two minutes.

Less than two minutes.

It's got the wobble factor.

That's my hands!

Your time is...

..up!

Stop.

Oh, mate!

That was a push.

My God, you've done loads!

-How was it?

-Tough! Yeah. Really tough!

-How was it?

-That was literally down to the wire.

Sexy.

For a place in finals week, Matt has cooked hay-roasted guinea fowl,

served with chicken liver parfait,

sitting on top of compressed kohlrabi,

kombucha vinegar gel infused with burnt hay,

hen-of-the-woods mushrooms

and chicken jus with yeast and Peruvian maca powder.

The guinea fowl is very well cooked.

The parfait has a lovely flavour.

Now whether that was to be maybe a little bit more cooked, a bit more

set, either way, it adds a lovely flavour to this dish.

You've got a very big flavour of the yeast extract, the maca,

in a very light, textured sauce.

It's almost too big in flavour,

but it does work once it's actually on the plate.

The maca, you know, is sort of malty...

it goes very well with the hay.

It is very strong on its own,

but as a dish it comes together and mellows out.

I particularly love those gels.

They taste to me like cider, and then sometimes sharp with apple,

and then a little bit of sweetness.

But although I love the rich flavour of that parfait,

I want it a little firmer than this.

Mm-hm.

For dessert, Matt has served a chocolate indulgence

with set Icelandic yoghurt,

topped with discs of cherimoya, a custard apple...

..and a parsnip tuile dusted with citric powder.

It's brave, it's simple.

-I just want to dive in.

-Please do!

You've got the smooth texture of the chocolate underneath,

and then this yoghurt with the custard apple going through.

You can taste everything individually, yet very harmonious.

You've got citric powder across the top of that parsnip,

which is, it's sharp.

You've got the custard apple, which is itself slightly sharp.

That amount of sharpness before the comforting indulgent chocolate is

just a little too zingy for me.

The texture of the chocolate is brilliant.

Interesting ingredients, using a custard apple, the citric acid,

and then throw a parsnip into the equation.

Why not? For me, this dessert works a treat.

Actually stoked, really pleased with the comments that I got.

Well done, mate.

To have your food critiqued like that

is a really pleasurable experience, so, yeah, more of that, please!

Jamie's main is Iberico presa pork,

served with morcilla black pudding fritter,

dates stuffed with smoked almonds wrapped in bacon,

purple potato mash,

Bombay mix with puffed pork skins, smoked almonds, dates and apple,

a smoked ajo blanco - a cold, white, almond soup.

All finished with a sherry sauce.

Love, love that date, with the almond.

Like the texture on the meat, like the seasoning on the meat,

like the way the sweetness of the date matches the little bit

of sweetness that you've got in that black pudding.

I find it delicious.

I find it absolutely delicious.

I'm trying really hard,

but there is nothing I don't like on this plate of food!

You know, it looks lovely.

And it's just very cleverly put together,

and like Gregg, I really like it.

Thank you.

I tasted the almond soup on your bench, and it was absolutely delicious.

Why is there not more of it on this plate? I would eat that

and feel disappointed that I'd been short-changed,

but I'd have had a great dish at the same time.

I like everything about the dish.

The Bombay mix is delicious.

You've got your pork scratchings, you've got pork, you've got apple,

you've got smoked almonds,

and then you've got the spices running through it.

And I'll tell you something else, it's the first dish I've ever eaten

in this kitchen where I've actually enjoyed purple potato.

For dessert, Jamie has served a yuzu curd with raspberry jam,

aerated white chocolate, meringues, burnt butter parfait,

peanut sable and milk ice cream.

I really like the yuzu coming into this dish.

It's refreshing, and it's light, and the curd is just delightful.

And it works very well, I think, with the jam.

The meringue is beautifully made,

the ice cream has got lots of flavour to it.

Really good, very good.

I've got a custard, and ice cream and a meringue, and they're all wet.

I just want those flavours to stay in my mouth a little bit longer,

wrapped around some texture.

Everything you've put on this plate works very well.

It is delicious, it's a nice follow-up to your main course.

I can't find an issue with it at all.

If this was like the first day, and I'd heard that feedback,

I'd be thinking, "Get in, I'll smash this, like, when's the next round?"

Um, but today to feel confident about going straight through is,

it's not happening right now!

Finally, it's Stephen.

He's cooked a glazed chicken breast stuffed with truffle,

crispy chicken thigh and skin, king oyster mushroom, sweetcorn puree,

charred sweetcorn salsa, creamed sweetcorn with truffle,

wilted spinach and a chicken and Madeira sauce.

The chicken is perfectly cooked. You've even managed

to shove some truffle into the centre of it as well.

You've got a side order of sweetcorn covered in truffle - yes, please!

It's indulgent, it's fresh, it's got a little crunch to it.

Then you've got this little salsa version,

bringing some zing into the dish.

The puree is like silk.

Stephen, it's brilliant.

Thank you very much, Chef! Thank you.

The chicken sauce is slightly sweetened by the Madeira,

but it's not strong.

I find the puree has got little hints of saffron coming through it.

I think it's very clever.

Thank you very much.

That's a great dish.

Sweetcorn, sweetness, a little bit of crunch there,

the indulgence of truffle, beautifully cooked chicken as well.

Mate, that is a cracker, you know that.

That's an absolute cracker.

Well, that didn't go very well, did it, Stephen?

-Let's hope for better with the dessert.

-STEPHEN LAUGHS

For dessert, Stephen has cooked strawberries and cream,

compressed and wild strawberries,

strawberry meringue, strawberry curd,

freeze dried strawberries, Chantilly cream,

basil jelly and finished with a strawberry consomme.

You've got the big, fat juicy strawberry.

You've got the wild strawberries as well, which is more intense flavour

but not as juicy. You've got strawberry running through the meringue,

and you've got basil in the leaf and in the jelly as well.

Finishing on the notes of basil is perfect, absolutely perfect,

marriage made in heaven.

Strawberries and basil, throw in some cream - heavenly.

Everything about this dish, I absolutely adore.

You've cooked food here at a level that I would consider

to be at a two-star level.

I think that went rather well.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you very much, cheers.

Love it! Well done.

Smashed it.

Wow. It's out of this world, them comments.

-Yeah!

-STEPHEN LAUGHS

I'm pretty confident that I speak for all three of us here,

when I say we don't want to lose one of you.

We really, really do not want to lose one of you.

I think you have set this competition on fire.

I'm going to ask you to take a break.

We have got to make what I think is going to be...

..a very hard decision.

Off you go, guys.

This is not easy at all.

On what parameters do we judge them, when all three of them,

as we well know, are incredible?

What do we do? I don't know.

I am really stuck.

There is one chef in here today who I think,

even in a room of good cooks just looked amazing.

Dishes looked amazing, tasted amazing -

and that is Stephen.

-MONICA:

-Loved Stephen's main course.

Very inventive, very thoughtful,

taking something that is very classic,

your basic match, which is sweetcorn and chicken,

and elevating it to something very beautiful and delicious.

Dessert - a delight.

Strawberries and cream,

the bitterness of the wild strawberries,

the lovely jelly from the basil,

the Chantilly, it's great.

I mean, there's just nothing not to like about it.

He's excelled.

I really enjoyed Jamie's pork dish.

Really liked the sauce, even liked the little purple potatoes.

Thought it was a delicious, delicious pork dish.

Really enjoyed the Bombay mix, loved the seasoning.

Love the freshness of the little apple going through it as well.

The dessert is a dessert that I absolutely adore.

The yuzu with the raspberry centre, so easy to eat and enjoy.

White chocolate, crunchy white chocolate was excellent,

and that beautiful sorbet, milk sorbet.

But I thought it was lacking in texture.

-MONICA:

-I enjoyed Matt's main course.

The guinea fowl dish with the flavours of hay running through it,

the flavours of malt and also the yeast extract,

I thought it was very clever.

I've still got an issue with the texture of his parfait.

That was almost like a sauce.

That hadn't set.

Was that an error?

Or was it supposed to be?

But then you go to his dessert.

Wow. Pure brilliance.

What wasn't there to like about it?

The chocolate, the richness, the smoothness at the bottom,

and then the yoghurt and the custard apple on top.

And then that very clever parsnip with the citric acid.

We both loved that dessert.

I think this is the most brutal elimination stage.

If it's not enough, then I'll be proud of what I've done, but, yeah,

I'm not ready to go home yet.

For me to get through to finals week would be mind-blowing.

Just thinking about it puts a smile on my face,

and I hope I can get there. I hope I've done enough.

I'd be devastated if I went home today.

If somebody goes and gets 100% feedback on both dishes...

..then that's it. Taxi.

We have three very talented chefs here,

who have cooked at a level that you normally see in a final.

How on earth do we take two forward...

..and say goodbye to one?

Today has been absolutely incredible, outstanding cookery,

true professionals all three of you.

This judging has been tough, really tough, and just so close.

The chef leaving us...

..is Matt.

Best of luck, guys.

Cheers, man.

Good job, man.

Thank you very much, Chef, it's been a pleasure.

You've got a great future in front of you, Matt.

You've absolutely excelled yourself in this competition,

and you've grown into a fabulous young chef.

-Thank you very much, Chef. It's a pleasure.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

I knew today was going to be super, super tough.

They're all exceptional talents.

All my dishes have had like a talking point

and that was no exception today.

I've learnt a lot.

It's probably one of the best experiences I've ever had.

Jamie, Stephen, you are in finals week!

Just overwhelmed with emotion at the moment.

I need to let it settle in and I think like ten o'clock tonight,

a massive grin will just come across my face and I'll be like,

"Oh, my God, that actually happened today!"

-STEPHEN:

-To be in the final four of MasterChef,

just hearing that sounds crazy.

There's no words for it to explain it, it's just an amazing feeling.

Congratulations!

-Thank you.

-Well done, boys.

-Cheers.

-Congratulations.

-Well done.

-Thank you very much.

Tomorrow night, the semifinals continue,

as the second group of chefs take on one of the most

prestigious two-star kitchens in the world -

Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons.

I need you to pick up the pace, I need you to find a second gear,

third gear, fourth gear would be great.

Only the best will go through to the finals.

There are things in life that just come natural.

I think cookery comes natural to you.