Episode 19 MasterChef: The Professionals

It's the final week of Professional MasterChef.

Of the 48 chefs that started the competition...

..only the four most exceptional remain.

You dream to get this far and obviously then it becomes a reality.

I don't want to be going home any time soon.

I want to stick around to the end of the journey.

Being in the last four and the final,

it's amazing, it sounds amazing.

And I'm really proud of myself to have got here.

I'm really looking forward to what comes next.

Over the next three nights...

..the finalists will face the scrutiny

of some of the world's best chefs...

I loved it. There is so much work there.

An absolutely stunning plate of food.

..and experience working in one of the most ground-breaking restaurants

in the world...

We take from the mountains, from the sea, from the garden,

and we create something totally different.

..before one of them is crowned

Professional MasterChef Champion 2017.

Each time I get through, I just want to take it up to the next level.

Just to be here today is huge for my career.

And it's huge for me.

I said that anything after the semifinals was a bonus.

But now that I'm in the finals, obviously you want to go for it,

you want to win.

The MasterChef Professional Chef's Table

is one of the most prestigious events

in the British culinary calendar.

For the finalists,

it's a unique opportunity to showcase their talent

to their professional heroes.

I'm feeling the pressure massively today.

I've been feeling it for, like, three days.

Like, sleepless nights just up with my notebooks, like,

what can I do to make it better?

It is daunting, cooking for some of the best chefs in the country.

It's going to be a lot of pressure.

I think it should run smoothly.

It has to. Or else it's not going to look good, is it?

The 23 guests are some of the greatest chefs

and rising stars in Britain today...

..and have held an incredible 22 Michelin stars between them.

At 6pm, this dining room will be full,

and service for the Chef's Table will begin.

We believe you've got the talent to impress

these giants of our culinary industry.

Prove us right today.

Five hours, off you go.

Throughout your career, you sort of look up to these chefs.

You are inspired by them every day.

And to get the opportunity to cook for them, it doesn't happen.

It's going to be hard, hard, hard work to get everything spot-on.

I've never cooked for this many VIPs.

Hopefully I don't bring disappointment.

And hopefully it lives up to the expectations.

Steven works as a sous chef in corporate dining.

He's made it to the finals with powerful flavours

and stunning presentation.

Today, he hopes to make his mark again with a starter

based on the humble onion.

I've got a lot of onions to prep today.

A lot. So I have got a lot going on.

Just need to get my head down and crack on, really.

So, Steven, tell us, what are you going to be cooking?

So, today, the flavours that I'm going with are cheese and onion.

It's a flavour combination that I've liked since I was a kid.

It's my favourite crisps.

And, yeah...

Sorry, you're planning your Chef's Table first course

on a packet of crisps?

Not the packet of crisps, but the flavour combination.

It's a dish that I'm going to have fun cooking. I've only done it once,

and I liked it, it was a very nice dish.

-Now you're going to do it 23 times.

-Exactly. Can't wait.

I love the sound of it. I love the fun element to it.

I hope the chefs upstairs are going to love it, too.

-So do I.

-Thank you.

-Better get peeling.

-Off you go.

-Cheers.

-Crack on.

Steven's starter uses four different types of onion...

..cooked in six unique ways.

So, the first jobs that I've got going on,

I'm going to get the white onion, the caramelised onion sauce on.

It's just a mixture of shallots, Italian onions... Oh, my God.

I'm crying already.

Oh, who picks an onion dish?

Steven's dish is inspired by cheese-and-onion crisps.

How crazy is that?

Steven is making a caramelised onion sauce.

He needs a lot of onions for that.

There is some pickled silverskin onions, and also onion gel,

and that is only a few of the elements

that are going on this dish.

Running through the dish is going to be the oak-smoked cheese curd,

which I think will really mellow this dish out.

It's got to be light, the flavour of the oak needs to come through.

I think it's a great idea and I'm looking forward

to this dish so much.

Steven's also making two powders to enhance his dish.

One created by dehydrating spinach leaves...

..and another made from burning white onions until crisp and black.

Like, literally burn them all the way through.

Ash, yeah.

This one can't go wrong.

Well, it could, actually - it could be too bitter.

22-year-old Louisa works as a senior chef de partie in Birmingham.

She's pushed herself in every round to make the finals...

..producing often complex and always creative plates of food.

Today I'm cooking quite a quirky and different dish today,

it's not going to be classical.

She will be responsible for the second course.

A veal sweetbread dish with Asian flavours.

It's definitely going to be out there.

So I'm a bit nervous about what they might think about it.

What's your dish going to be, Louisa?

So, I've got lime and coconut sweetbreads.

I'm going to fry them in a rice flour.

Are you doing that frying sort of last minute?

Last-minute frying, yes.

-For all those chefs?

-Yes.

So I'm going to work my timings out.

That's going to be the base of the dish.

And then we've also got a namasu salad,

which is a Japanese raw salad.

It's pickled radish and carrot.

I've got shiitakes and mushroom powder.

This sounds so out of your comfort zone from a flavour point of view.

I'm quite confident as a chef that this dish will work,

the flavours will work together.

You're one brave cook, Louisa.

I think even I'm a little bit nervous now.

We're looking at about three pieces of sweetbread per portion.

That's a lot of deep frying.

So Louisa's really going to have to get her timings just right.

You deep fry them too soon, they are going to go soft,

you're going to have to keep them warm,

you don't want them overcooked.

There's a lot could go wrong with just the sweetbread alone.

The judges are obviously quite nervous for me,

and that's quite worrying,

but I need to just keep my head down, really,

and just create something really tasty.

27-year-old Jamie is a sous chef based in London.

He's made the finals with adventurous plates,

showcasing flavours from around the world.

Today he is staying true to his style

with a main course that will centre

around duck.

A lot of pressure on the main course, isn't it?

It's like, it's the main event of the meal.

I want to give them something that, yeah, something they remember.

For the right reasons, not for the wrong reasons.

Tell us about your main course.

So, essentially, it's a duck Waldorf.

You have a spiced roast duck, confit leg fritter.

The celery element, that's going to be mixed through with a sweet apple,

sour apple, and raw celeriac, all julienne,

-sweet and sour grape ketchup.

-Right.

The walnut element is just going to be toasted.

Sounds great. I like your interpretation of the flavours

of a Waldorf salad.

I can see where the sweetness sits in with the duck.

Is there anything that you're worried about?

Overcooking the duck, obviously.

-Yeah, that worries us, too!

-Nobody wants to eat overcooked duck.

Interesting, because I've never had duck with a Waldorf salad-style dish

before, but I do like his idea.

He's taking a classical salad and breaking it down

as key elements for his garnish for his duck.

Jamie is cooking the ducks on the crown.

He's got a spice mix that he's rubbing onto it,

and I love the sound of this.

And then he's going to remove the breast from the carcass and then

just finish them in the pan to get the skin lovely and crispy.

Jamie will be using all of the duck in his dish.

Braising the legs to create fritters.

And the carcass and wings will be used to make a sauce.

It's really important that the sauce is really good sauce,

but we've got really nice duck carcasses for it.

So I'm just starting it with a classic mirepoix.

Then there's going to be loads of port, red wine, red wine vinegar.

Just really classic, deep, rich sauce.

21-year-old Craig is a sous chef at a Michelin-starred pub in Berkshire.

His consistency and all-round strength

across both sweet and savoury dishes

won him a place in the finals.

If there was a day to get something right, it's today,

and if there is a day not to mess up, it's definitely today, so...

Craig will be responsible for the dessert.

I have got a lot of work to do.

There is a lot going on in this dish.

My first job, so, I am basically doing a freestanding baked custard.

The milk and cream mix is coming up to temperature.

Just lining the moulds here and then I want to get these in the oven,

baking slowly, then cooling down.

That's the biggest job for now so far.

What's your dessert, Craig?

I am doing caramelised apple, apple crisp.

I'm doing a smoked apple curd with vanilla,

sort of baked custard and Calvados ice cream,

crumb on there, I've got, as well.

Spiced brioche doughnut, as well.

-Why apples?

-Sprung from the idea of an apple Tatin.

Sort of caramelised apple and branching it out and doing a lot of

-techniques with it.

-If the creme brulee doesn't work,

-what are you going to do?

-I'm taking them out of the moulds

within the last half hour. Yeah, if it doesn't work,

there's nothing I can really do.

Ooh.

I personally am a huge fan of apple in dessert.

I love the different textures that he is using on this dessert.

Crucial to this dish is making sure

that that creme brulee is perfect.

It's got to be nice, beautifully baked,

it's got to be cooked to perfection,

light, with a lovely crunchy sugar topping.

To create the freestanding creme brulees, or baked custards...

..Craig must cook them at 90 degrees for 30 minutes

before cooling in the chiller.

Yeah, I'm really going at it,

I've thrown every single technique at this plate.

So, yeah, I'm gunning to impress today.

That's the main...the main dream.

One hour of cooking time has gone...

..and Stephen's burnt white onions can be ground into a fine powder.

It's, like, really bittersweet, it's quite nice.

But with five different elements

from four varieties of onions still to make,

he has a mountain of prep to get through.

There is a lot of work here.

There is a lot of onions to peel,

but there's also a lot of preparation.

Sounds easy doing an onion dish,

but it's full of detail and complexity.

The base of his dish is a caramelised onion sauce...

..which is made up of grelot onions, white onions and shallots,

as well as garlic and thyme.

He is also making an intensely flavoured onion gel...

A lot of onions!

..made from sweating down white onions in whole milk,

butter and thyme.

If I colour the onions too much,

then it's not going to be a white gel.

It's going to be brown, which is not what I want at all.

Hopefully we'll get there.

The fourth onion element is tiny silverskin onions

that are pickled for two hours

in a liquor made from Chardonnay vinegar,

coriander seeds, star anise and pink peppercorns.

Yeah, it's going all right.

The gel is on, pickling liquor, caramelised onion sauce.

Just making it happen, you know?

On the second course, Louisa's sweetbreads are prepped

and marinating in coconut, lime and ginger,

ready to be cooked in the water bath.

These big ones, they're going to go in for about an hour and a half.

Once they are in, big job ticked off.

Once they come out then they need to be portioned,

they need to be seasoned again, so there's still quite a lot to do.

Accompanying her sweetbreads is a Japanese namasu salad,

made with carrots and mooli - an Asian radish.

Using a basic pickle liquor,

and I'm also adding kombu in there to add an umami,

so it's going to be a little bit seaweedy,

and it's got a lot of flavour to it,

but I've got to make sure that I put it on now so that I can get

maximum flavour into the vegetables.

There are some very strong flavours here.

I want to be able to taste the heart of this dish, the sweetbread.

I hope that it doesn't get lost in everything that Louisa's putting

on the plate of food.

Over on the main course,

Jamie's spiced duck breasts have been roasting on the crown

for 20 minutes.

Jamie's feeling the pressure of making the main course,

and rightly so. It has got to be perfect in every way.

The garnish for this sounds really interesting and it's all about

flavours of a Waldorf salad.

It's got the celery, grapes - apple, as well.

The grape element of his Waldorf garnish

Jamie is turning into a ketchup.

It's been quite playful, taking something that everybody recognises,

Waldorf salad, quite out of date, out of fashion,

this is my take on it.

They are boiled down in a sugar and vinegar gastrique until a sticky jam

consistency is formed.

Sweet and sour is what really goes with the duck,

just a good way to use grapes from the Waldorf,

just in a different way.

Chefs, you've had two hours and 15 minutes already.

On dessert, Craig's all-important freestanding creme brulees

have been baked.

They now need to cool in the blast chiller.

But he has to be careful they don't freeze.

To accompany his creme brulees,

he is making brioche spiced doughnuts.

I just wanted a little bit more substance to the dish.

I wanted to get a little bit of spice there, as well,

so spicy doughnuts, sort of cinnamon, sugar, that sort of thing.

All sort of tie it in together.

The doughnuts will be served on a base of smoked Bramley apple curd

that's been caramelising in the oven.

What happened there?

-That's how I wanted it.

-Oh, right.

It looks like they're burned,

but I really want a dark caramelisation to them.

It's going to sort of tie in with the smokiness, as well.

Otherwise it's going to be really sweet,

but I just want to add another dimension towards the apple.

-Right, right, right.

-It's dark, it's roasted,

it's got that slightly charred flavour to it.

OK.

Loving the sounds of the smoked and baked apple curd.

A lot of technique on show here for Craig.

He's going to smoke it while it's still warm, using it a smoke gun

while it's in the machine.

It's interesting. I've never known a curd being smoked that way before.

I quite like the sound of it, it's different and I just hope that the

smoky flavour does come through.

Keep on adding it slowly, obviously,

until I'm all right with the balance of the smoke.

Guys, you've got two hours for service.

-Chef.

-Steven, are you going to be ready?

-Yes, Chef.

-Good.

Steven is now focusing on making the other key element

to his cheese-and-onion-inspired dish.

The oak-smoked cheese curd.

Going to bring the whole dish together, really.

So hopefully it's going to work.

First the cheese is cooked and mixed with double cream and eggs

until thick and smooth.

Sometimes when you put a cheese with a starter,

it can be a little bit off-putting because it's sort of the flavour

that you want at the end of a meal.

But when it's in the right hands it works beautifully well.

It sounds good, but he's also got to get it right.

The curd is then left to cool, ready for piping during service.

Yeah, it's really nice, it's perfect.

Louisa's lime-and-coconut-infused sweetbreads have been cooking for

two hours.

As she'll be serving three portions per dish,

she must chop them into 66 pieces.

It's not very pleasant-looking at the moment,

but once it's fried and it's been seasoned and it's on the plate it's

going to look lovely.

To make sure the Asian flavours come through,

the sweetbreads are marinated for a second time in lime juice,

zest and coconut milk,

before frying.

Steven, am I good to turn the fryers up to 180?

Not really, I'm going to be going into them in about half an hour.

I've got this one. I had this one on 160.

-I'll turn that one up.

-That's fine.

-Thank you.

It's an hour and a half now until service and

it's getting pretty busy in this kitchen.

They're pushing themselves right to the wire, which is what we want.

Back on the main course,

Jamie is focusing on the celeriac elements of his dish -

the fondant

and the puree.

But he still has to create the duck fritters,

using the braised-down duck leg.

It's still warm when I'm picking it, so there is a lot of steam coming

off, so I need to work as quickly as possible to not dry the meat out.

He must work fast to portion them into 23 identical cylinders,

ready to be breadcrumbed during service.

My ducks are cooked, which I am quite pleased with,

my sauce is ready.

I have just got a lot to do myself and help the other guys in service

as well. I don't want to be stood here still prepping while they are

running around doing their own service.

Next stage is caramelised apple, poached down.

It's a special Japanese mandolin.

It's basically going to give me a sheet of apple,

which is going to roll up into a circular disc.

I'm probably going to have to do about 30 of these in total.

So, what are you doing with those, baking them?

These are going to be the caramelised poached apples.

-One each?

-One each, yeah, I'm going to trim them down

so there's no skin.

-That's going to take a while, that, isn't it?

-Yeah.

So this is like that tart Tatin flavour you were talking about,

that baked apple, rich caramelisation?

-Yeah.

-It sounds like you've got a lot of work to do.

It's different visually and it's going to give a different texture,

because you have got lots of thin layers,

it's going to be a lot softer on the plate rather than a chunk of

poached apple.

One down, just another 30 to go now.

With all of his focus on the apple rings,

he's forgotten about his creme brulees in the chiller.

And is your brulees done yet, by the way?

Thanks, Chef.

Are they all right?

-Yeah, they are OK, Chef.

-Craig, you owe me one.

I'll buy you a beer.

Craig has got a lot of work to do.

I just saved his creme brulees from freezing.

You know, with the creme brulee, once they get too cold, then they

become hard and that's it.

The pressure is on. When our guests arrive,

you feel the tension in this kitchen.

I'm looking forward to it, it's exciting,

but it's a little bit scary at the same time.

Outside, tonight's special guests are arriving.

These greats are at the top of their profession.

I know what it's like just to have one or two chefs coming to my

restaurant and the pressure that we put ourselves under.

I know for them downstairs it will be a living hell at the moment.

I think they're under a lot of pressure,

you can see the talent that is in the room tonight.

I'm just really excited to see how they use the produce and what they

come up with for the evening.

We cooked with Louisa and Craig.

They slotted into my team beautifully and I think, I hope they do well.

I'm going to look very closely with

my eagle eyes on the pastry course tonight.

It has to be precise, it has to be wow, it has to be so tasty.

Joining them are some of the rising stars of today's culinary world.

You've got to show some originality and show some creativity

and some personality.

If they put up something that we haven't seen before,

then everyone's going to be very impressed.

I'm really excited, yeah. First time here.

I can't wait to see what the finalists are going to be cooking.

Yeah.

They're going to have sweaty palms and you put yourself

under so much pressure doing a competition,

it brings the best out of you.

I really hope that it does that for the guys, and good luck to them.

Chefs, you've got just one hour left.

-Steven, are you going to be ready?

-Oh, yes, Chef.

With service fast approaching...

..Steven still has two onion elements to complete -

..the yeast-glazed grelots...

I just need to char them on one side now and then they're ready to be

glazed. Got a lot to do, I have got a lot to do.

Steven doesn't look anywhere near ready yet.

Final bit. This is the hardest bit.

He's running around a lot.

30 minutes to go and he's still slicing onions.

..he also still needs to make his crispy shallots and parsnips.

I need to pick up the pace.

It is coming up fast.

Louisa is also feeling the pressure.

Unfortunately, the cashews stuck to the J-Cloth

and they've got fluff on them.

I'm going to do them again. I want them to be absolutely perfect for

our guests. They can't have any kind of, like, fluff on them.

Yeah. I fluffed that one up!

Whilst she soaks more cashew nuts in lime-and-sugar water...

..she also has to test her sweetbreads

to make sure the seasoning and the texture is spot-on.

Does need a bit more seasoning.

I just want to make sure it's perfect, to be honest with you.

-How you feeling?

-A bit nervous.

I've got a couple more jobs to do.

So do I.

Jamie's in the final stage of making his grape ketchup.

Having reduced the grapes down, he must now thicken them

using agar-agar, a thickening agent.

On pastry, Craig is also running behind,

finishing his poached apple rings, caramelising them in sugar.

I just want to make sure they get all cooked in time.

I'd have loved to have this done and cooling down almost right now.

I'm not going to lie, I'm up against it.

It's getting busy in here.

Our chefs are starting to pick up the pace, which is good to see.

Service is now under way.

And Steven's starter has to go out at six o'clock.

Right, Steven, keep an eye on that there,

-yeah?

-Yes.

-Six o'clock on that clock.

What have you got left to do?

Literally, just char these grelot onions,

that's it. And then we're ready to start plating.

I love onions, but I think they respond really well to different

types of cooking. They haven't got anything to hide behind there.

This person's gone just for onions, which I think is a really brave

move, so I'm interested in what they're going to do with that.

The oak-smoked cheese curd is going to work wonderfully with onions

anyway. Really good contrast.

Really intriguing, I'm looking forward to seeing that.

-Right, you've got one minute left.

-Chef.

Right, you two, six o'clock, let's start sending some food.

-Chef.

-Yes, Chef.

The plates are ready to go.

Steven, this has taken you six minutes to dress five plates.

Do you need someone else, do you need Craig?

Um, yeah, I'll take Craig, then, yeah, please.

Craig, are you able to help here?

Chef, yes.

OK, go with the green powder straight down the line.

Service.

-Where's your big smile gone?

-STEVEN LAUGHS

There we go!

Come on, Craig, Steven, let's keep it going, come on.

Come on, come on, come on.

OK, six plates ready to go.

-OK, last table now, Steven.

-Chef.

-On the home stretch.

-Nearly there?

-Chef.

Steven, pass them forward.

Service.

Cheers, boys.

You're smiling again.

That was hard.

It was a bit of a struggle to get there.

I could have done with a bit more time.

I'm happy overall, I'm happy.

Steven's starter, inspired by his love of cheese-and-onion crisps,

is pickled silverskin onions...

..yeast-glazed grelots, a white onion gel...

..burnt onion powder, spinach powder,

smoked-oak cheese curd, baby leek,

crispy shallots and parsnips,

finished with a caramelised onion sauce.

I think it looks great.

It's really what I wanted it to be.

First impressions - fantastic, and it smells great.

Yeah.

It does definitely

smell appetising and it looks beautiful,

so looking forward to it.

Particularly like the smoked curd and how that worked well with

the onions.

A really, really good start to the meal.

-Really enjoyed it.

-It was a good balance of flavours there.

The smoked curd worked really well.

It helped cut through the richness there from the sauce.

Very good.

The little pickled elements on there really sort of helped to balance out

the richness of the curd.

The parsnip gave a nice texture.

Very nice, light start to the meal.

It was miles away from my imagination, to be honest.

The onion jus, I absolutely loved it,

I thought that brought everything together.

When you first look at it, it seems really quite simple.

But everything worked really well

together and I think the winner was the smoked curd.

Bittersweet flavour to it, worked very well with the dish.

Fantastic.

I thought that was lovely. Really modern, really light,

there's lots of flavour.

Love that smoked curd.

I'm really pleased for the chef who made this.

What we have here is delicious.

More of it was needed to sort of bring this dish together.

It's a lovely idea, it's great combinations -

onion, smoked cheese, yes, it works.

Big moment. Huge moment.

It's crazy! I don't know what to say, like.

What am I going to say when I walk in there and they ask me a question?

Come on.

-Hi, Steven.

-Hi.

You've cooked really well, I have to say that.

As an Indian, I thought I knew my onions.

But now it needs to be rewritten how onions should be treated.

You have done an incredible job, to be honest.

Thank you. What a treat.

Well done. I know how you must have felt getting that first course up.

You can see from our plates, as well,

it was an absolute master stroke.

You've definitely done the job.

Well done.

Steven, great bit of cooking.

Taking some very simple ingredients and creating a beautiful dish.

I think we all thought it was fabulous.

-Brilliant.

-Thank you very much. Thank you for eating my food,

I feel blessed to be here.

You're people that I've grown up watching,

taking your recipes from your books.

Yeah, it means a lot to me, and I'm glad that you all enjoyed my food.

So thank you very much.

Oh, wow. The chefs that are in there, crazy, like.

And they've just given me that feedback.

Mind blown.

Oh, my God.

All attention is now on Louisa.

Her final job before service is to deep-fry

her lime-and-coconut-infused sweetbreads.

Are you going to be able to help me for, like, a little bit?

-Not plate up.

-Yeah, of course.

-Thank you.

So you've five minutes, Louisa. Are you going to start dressing now?

-Yes, Chef.

-Everyone knows what they're doing?

-Yes, Chef.

Thank you, Jamie.

I'm a big fan of the veal sweetbread.

If they cook it right, it's got to be crispy,

it's got to be soft in the centre, it's got to be seasoned well.

I love sweetbreads, it's one of my favourite

things to eat. Whether it works with Asian flavours, who knows?

-You happy?

-Yeah, happy.

-Good to go?

-Everything's on.

-We're good.

-Everything's on, you sure? You double-checked?

Yeah, thank you very much.

First table's gone, Louisa, let's keep this momentum going.

-Yes, Chef.

-Plates look fabulous.

-And bang on time.

-Yes, Chef.

-Go on, you.

-Thank you.

Do you want the last ones straight in, Louisa?

-Not just yet, Chef.

-Oui.

-In about two minutes, please.

-Oui.

Right, let's go, come on.

-Right, Louisa, you're halfway.

-Yeah.

-How you feeling?

-Feeling OK.

-Good.

-Happy?

-Yeah, getting there.

Good.

Service, please.

-Right, last table.

-Yep.

Final push, guys.

-Come on, Louisa.

-Yep.

-Looking good. Yeah?

-Yep.

Service, please.

Nice one. Smashed it.

Hopefully they like it.

Looks good, though. Well done, good service, smooth.

Thank you.

I'm proud with what I've created today.

I'm quite happy with the flavours on the plate.

And I just hope that they like it, as well.

Louisa has made crispy veal sweetbreads

infused with lime and coconut...

..served with a Japanese namasu salad,

carrot and ginger puree,

crispy cashew nuts...

..shiitake mushrooms and powder, candied lime, shiso cress,

and a Thai basil oil.

Presentation looks nice, it looks appetising.

The sweetbreads don't look too big.

It does smell fantastic and I'm just excited to try.

Considering how many pieces of sweetbreads

and they're all cooked really,

really well. That takes a lot of skill.

Coating on the frying of the sweetbread has given some textural

difference. So it's soft inside, crispy on the outside.

The daikon and carrot salad, that was quite nice, nice acidity.

To be honest, if that was a fried sweetbread on top of that salad with

just a nice sauce, that would have been a brilliant dish.

Quite like the sweetbreads

and there's an overwhelming Asian flavour going on,

but there's a confusion with too many flavours

which sort of kicks it a little bit sideways.

Carrot and ginger puree, that worked, that was nice.

Just needed more of it and take some of the other elements away.

The sweetbreads were delicious and actually I didn't find it too

unbalanced, I ate it up and quite enjoyed it.

I thought it was really tasty,

but the dish could have been brilliant if it was maybe pared back

-slightly.

-I definitely get the ginger and the carrot puree,

got the pickles from the salad.

But I can't really taste the Thai basil.

There's three little pieces of shiso cress.

They're totally lost.

It's just like tumble dryer,

everything is just tumble dry in my head.

I'm just confused. I'm still confused what I'm eating.

As you can see, I did not finish the plate.

So, a little bit disappointed.

I'm sorry.

She's a chef who's always brought lots on her plate,

and when she gets that balance right, it's spot-on.

For me, it's not as balanced as I know Louisa is able to achieve.

I like the idea, but this dish was missing a really good flavour,

a good sauce.

I'm just really hoping that I'll get good feedback.

Really hoping.

Congratulations. I would hate to have to cook for all of these guys

here tonight. Well done.

It's a huge achievement.

I really enjoyed it. I thought there was an incredible freshness.

When you look at the menu,

I think it was the one that, around the table, everyone thought,

there's going to be a lot of ingredients on there,

not sure if it's going to work. And I think that took a lot of guts.

The shiso and the basil oil,

they didn't take away from it but they didn't add anything to it.

But that's the only criticism I can give.

I enjoyed it, well done.

-Thank you very much.

-Sweetbread can be very, very difficult.

They have to be cooked perfectly.

You did that, you've achieved that, well done.

Nicely seasoned, perfectly cooked.

It's just missing a little bit of coming together.

It was a little bit confused, I think.

But really well done.

I took a really big risk today doing something very out there and all

feedback is good feedback,

so definitely going to take that away with me and I'm still learning.

So thank you very much.

I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Bit overwhelming, really, being in a room with that many great chefs.

I already knew that the dish was a risk and I totally agree with them.

There's room for improvement, which is good.

I should not be perfect at 22 years old.

I should be learning and I should be getting to be good, you know?

So I'm really happy with the feedback.

You've got about 20 minutes before the main course is due.

You've set yourself up, you're ready?

Yeah. I just need to re-seal the duck,

which I'm going to do at five past, and let it rest before I carve it.

-Good luck. You've got a lot to do, I'll leave you to it.

-Thank you.

Before service,

Jamie must perfectly crisp the skin on all 22 portions

of the spiced duck breast.

Spiced duck with walnut, apple, grape, celery and celeriac.

I think everyone's going to like that.

I'm sure if the duck's cooked nicely,

it's going to be a nice dish.

-Want to get those fritters on for me?

-Yeah, on now?

-Yeah.

With the clock ticking, Steven helps to finish off the cooking of Jamie's

duck-leg fritters.

I've heard from the dining room, they're ready to go.

-Yes, Chef.

-Chef.

Very classic, spiced duck, walnut, apple, grape, celery and celeriac.

Yeah, I mean, it's got Waldorf salad written all over the tin.

I'm sure it won't come out like that.

I can see that working and I can see me enjoying that.

At this moment in time, I'm really looking forward to that.

-Are you happy with the cooking of the duck?

-Very happy, Chef.

Right, let's keep this going.

We need to maybe just step it up and speed a little bit.

Yes, Chef.

Service, please.

Right. One table down, Jamie, three to go.

Yes, Chef.

Service, please.

Let's keep this going. Are you happy?

Yes, Chef, very happy.

Right, last table, let's go.

Come on, come on.

Looking good.

Service, please.

-Cheers.

-Mate.

That was really intense.

Really intense. A lot of good fun, though.

I'm happy with the execution of the dish.

I just hope the chefs upstairs understand it

and like it as much as I do.

Jamie's dish is roasted duck breast spiced in coriander,

star anise and allspice...

..served with a duck sauce, a duck-leg fritter, celeriac puree,

roasted walnuts, grape ketchup...

..pickled celery, apple and radish slaw...

..celeriac fondant and lovage oil.

Yeah, I love it. It looks amazing.

Smells incredible. You can get all the spices.

Yeah, I'm really excited to try this.

I am really enjoying this dish.

Whoever has cooked this has kind of done a clever play

on Waldorf salad.

It has worked perfectly well for this dish.

-Very tasty.

-The apple celeriac, it's light, it's fresh, it's clean,

it's tasty. Classic combinations and it is classic for a reason -

they work.

Duck breast is cooked lovely, it's got nice pink there,

and the spice has come through nicely.

Really nice dish.

Brilliant flavours. Everything is really, really well done.

I can tell that whoever has cooked this is tasting everything.

It is just so tasty.

The duck is so delicious, the spices just come through.

Not overpowering.

You know what? I really enjoyed this dish.

The grape puree.

That gives a bit of fruitiness there.

And I love my duck cooked really pink like this, so...

Really lovely, really lovely.

I like the textures, I like the fresh salad on the top,

and then the cooked celeriac underneath.

All in all, it's a fantastic dish.

Cooking, flavour, execution, seasoning, they've nailed it.

They really have nailed it.

The Waldorf salad idea is a really nice idea.

It brings a lovely freshness to this dish,

and it works really well with the duck.

I love the sauce that goes with it,

and the spice and the aromas that's coming off the plate is lovely.

I am very pleased with this dish.

I am really pleased for Jamie.

That was a brilliant, brilliant dish.

You showed restraint. Not too many ingredients on the plate,

and everything was there for a reason.

Brilliant. You should be super proud.

Fantastic cooking.

It was unanimous. It was a fantastic dish.

I loved the combination of the Waldorf salad thing

that you had going on there,

I thought that was very clever.

Combination of flavours and textures, I think you nailed it.

I thought it was fantastic. Well done.

Such a tall order to do a main course for anybody.

I can understand from your whole dish that you understand food,

and you understand the flavours.

I think you can do even better,

because I think you are a really good cook, just from this dish,

and I think you are going to be an interesting one to watch,

-so well done.

-Thank you for coming.

For a start, obviously, it is a massive deal to get to cook for a

group of chefs of this calibre.

It is a real honour and a privilege.

Just thank you, really, and thanks for your feedback.

I got goose bumps when they said that they were excited to see what

potentially I could do next.

I am still in shock, to be honest.

I should just sit down and have a cup of tea or something.

Finally, it's Craig's apple dessert.

Are you going to be on time?

-I think, just.

-Come on.

But he still has to finish making the one crucial cold element.

The Calvados ice cream.

There's quite a lot of alcohol in this ice cream.

So if I just used a domestic ice-cream machine,

it would take hours and hours to freeze, because of the alcohol.

So I've just ground the dry ice into a powder,

so it will evenly dissolve into the ice cream.

Now I'm just freezing it, pretty much.

Oh, hello. No!

A bit heavy-handed on the old dry ice.

With the ice cream frozen,

he can now move on to deep frying

the spiced doughnuts until crispy and golden.

Going good so far. Doughnuts come up nicely, got a nice shape to them.

Before he can plate up,

Craig's freestanding set custards must be carefully portioned.

How many per portion?

-Just one.

-Oh.

Oh, look, that one there is kind of on the side, it shouldn't be there.

You won't like these, Marcus.

You don't need them.

Craig, time to go for your desserts.

-Chef.

-Are you ready?

-Yeah, bring it on.

Good.

We have got a bit of Apple going on again.

It feels classical, and then you read the smoked apple curd.

So that throws it into another dimension.

If somebody asked me to make a smoked apple curd,

I'm not sure how I would approach it. Probably...

It would take quite a lot of thinking, that would.

Looking good, Craig. Very good.

Well, vanilla, caramel, doughnut...

Who don't like all this in a menu?

Whenever you see doughnuts, like, please get it right.

With desserts, it is all about the execution, the presentation.

They get to have a little bit of fun with that, as well.

I think if it is nailed perfectly, I mean,

they are lovely flavours that should all work together really well.

Service, please.

Service, please.

Well done, mate. Well done.

That looked really good. Can I have a doughnut now?

Yeah, go for it!

It was a real push, the last half an hour.

I had to work a little bit faster towards the end.

I am definitely proud of what I put up.

I put a lot of work into that dish,

and hopefully it pays off.

Craig has served a vanilla creme brulee, or cassonade,

Calvados ice cream,

spiced brioche doughnut on oak-smoked apple curd...

..caramel-poached apple rings...

..apple gel,

an apple crisp, and a white chocolate and dried apple crumble.

I was not expecting that.

Yeah!

I really wasn't. That is...

Fair play.

The skill it took to make that perfect cassonade,

caramelised perfectly,

you had the quenelle of Calvados ice cream,

which I thought would be overpowering,

but it was perfectly balanced.

That was an absolutely stunning plate of food.

I was seriously impressed.

I really like this dish.

I would have liked another doughnut.

I thought that was really spot-on.

It was really light. Well done.

Ice cream is delicious.

The cassonade was really nicely set.

Really nice having the different textures, as well.

All of these - ice cream, creme brulee, baked apple, doughnut,

all have apple running through them.

That is clever, that is skilful, and that is delicious.

Amazing, amazing dessert. I absolutely loved this plate.

That person, I think, was working from two nights before,

in my opinion, to do this kind of dessert.

Slightly smoked apple curd, which is delicious.

Then you have caramelised apple, which, it has that acidity.

Everything together works so well.

I loved it. I think it is a clear winner today.

There is so much work there.

I think I would have been petrified cutting through that cassonade

for fear of it melting everywhere.

I enjoyed it so much.

It was delicious.

The dessert has had so much work on it.

He wanted to showcase the apple, and, by golly, he has done that.

Wow, it has a great flavour.

The doughnuts were beautiful and light,

and I love that spicy finish to them.

Blocked it out of my head, the whole day,

I have not thought about the chefs whatsoever.

Yeah, I will have to wait and see what they say.

What I see on this plate, the skill that you put in, I am so impressed.

I can imagine you running around this morning and afternoon in the kitchen.

Well done.

Dessert was the highlight of the whole evening.

I think every element in that dessert

you executed really well.

Couldn't fault it. You did a great job,

and you should be really proud of yourself.

-Thank you very much.

-Well done.

That was an absolutely stunning plate of food.

You know, you could serve that dish in a Michelin-star restaurant and

no one would blink an eye.

It was technical, but everything came together perfectly.

And the mark of a good dish is when you finish it

and you still want more,

so absolutely well done to you.

A lot of those chefs are absolute idols.

And to get that feedback, I can't believe it, honestly,

I can't believe it.

Wow, what a day!

Cooking for the Chef's Table, our chefs have done a great job.

I am very proud of them.

This is an experience that our four chefs will take away forever.

Although you might be in admiration of all your heroes and peers in

this room, like, I am in admiration of you guys.

You should be super, super proud.

And I think that what you have done today is absolutely brilliant,

and use it to take you forward in the competition, listen,

and just absolutely go for it and smash it.

Well done.

This has got to be one of the best ever Chef's Tables I have sat at.

And that is obviously because of you four.

That was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

Well done.

It is definitely not a day I'm going to forget any time soon.

It is up there. Especially when you get that feedback.

It kind of takes your breath away.

Very happy indeed. I can go home and sleep tonight.

It has been amazing. Such a great experience.

Just so exciting. From start to finish.

I'm just going to take the energy and the confidence from the feedback

today into the next challenge,

and hopefully I can make the final three.

It's been a really hard day.

It's been exhausting and nerve-racking.

But I cooked for some really good chefs.

Won't be forgetting this, never.

Taking it to my grave.

Loved every minute of it.

To get to do something like this as a chef, absolutely amazing.

Maybe today has given me a little sort of boost, obviously, to think,

yeah, maybe I can do this.

It is so, so close now.

Our chefs will leave here with their heads held high,

proud of what they've done.

But the journey isn't over.

The battle is still on.

Any one of these chefs can win this competition.

They are that good.

Tomorrow night, Steven, Craig,

Louisa and Jamie

fight for the chance to cook in one of the world's best restaurants.

We take from the mountains, from the sea, from the garden,

and we create something totally different.

Cor, that is just stunning!

It's very pretty. I love the colours on there.

It's melt-in-the-mouth.

Only three can make it through.