Episode 20 MasterChef: The Professionals

It's the penultimate Professional MasterChef.

Tonight, Steven, Craig,

Louisa and Jamie...

..will have to fight for the opportunity...

..to cook in one of the world's most innovative restaurants.

Today is massive,

for me personally, for my career.

Today is definitely the biggest day so far.

All four of us are in with a shout.

I think I've still got a lot to prove -

I've still got a lot to give.

I want it so bad.

My ambition is just

way out there right now.

Getting to the final is such a massive opportunity,

and to miss out on it is really not an option.

Today, you are cooking for a place in our final three.

You are fighting for a place to cook

in one of the best kitchens in the world.

We want you to cook a dish for us, inspired by where you come from.

At the end of today, we are going to lose one of you.

You have 90 minutes.

Off you go.

This is a pretty classical dish.

These ingredients are quite close to home, close to my heart.

I've got to do them justice, otherwise...

..it's sort of like great produce ruined, at the end of the day.

I can't let that happen.

What is the dish,

and what does it say about you and where you come from?

First of all, the dish is... It's venison. I live in Berkshire,

and obviously Berkshire's countryside,

there's loads of venison around.

And then I'm tying that together with pumpkin puree,

doing roasted butternut squash,

pumpkin seed crust on top of the venison loin.

And then I'm doing, on the side, braised venison shoulder,

sort of like a hot pot.

You can barely stop yourself smiling when you mention this dish.

It's just really tasty.

-I...I like the dish.

-Craig, really looking forward to this, thank you.

-Good luck.

-Thank you.

Craig is cooking the venison fillet in a pan -

he's pan-roasting it with lots of butter.

I love that. He's using both the shoulder and the loin of venison.

Two great cuts, two very different cooking methods.

A good hotpot, when you're using the shoulder of venison,

is all about the braising.

You want to retain moisture.

You want it to be beautiful and tender.

And you want a lovely, rich sauce, and then a lovely, crunchy topping.

This is a hearty dish, but stripped back and refined,

which is what I like to do.

And I think it's one of my best dishes so far

that I've come up with. So, I'm happy.

What are you putting together for us today?

I'm from Bury, it's my hometown.

And there's not many things that we are known for,

but black pudding is one of them.

So, I'm doing a dish based around black pudding.

I'm doing a pork cheek and black pudding in a bit of pastry,

going to fry it. Black pudding and potato espuma.

A black pudding puree, that I'm passing through into the milk.

A pork loin, which we are going to roll in trompette powder.

I'm going to finish it with bone marrow,

-parisienne of apple and some chives.

-There's a famous black pudding

between you and a place in the final three.

-I wish you the best of luck.

-Thank you very much.

-MONICA:

-Thanks, Steven.

-Cheers.

You want the pork cheeks to be beautiful and moist.

And of course, the black pudding's going to give it

a completely different dimension.

Making a black pudding and apple espuma.

Should be a lovely, smooth mix with the flavours of the black pudding.

That should have a very light, fluffy texture.

I just hope Steven manages to get everything done within time.

Chefs, you have one hour to go!

So, what I'm making for you today is a Yorkshire curd tart.

Classic curd tart flavours - raisin, nutmeg, rose.

And then the whole thing is going to be covered in a layer of really

thinly-sliced gooseberries, and topped with a gooseberry jam sorbet.

And tell me about the heritage in this dish.

So, when I was younger, brought up in Hull,

my granny used to take us on the train over to York,

we'd always go into a tea shop, have a cup of tea and some cakes,

maybe like a fat rascal or a Yorkshire curd tart,

something like that.

You are giving us a very smart, but still afternoon tea, to get into the

-final three.

-Yes, Gregg!

Faint heart never won a MasterChef title, Chef.

When pastry is done well, it can be quite incredible.

But it does have to be one of those melt-in-the-mouth moments

of just pure glory. But it's very risky.

I'm just doing one whole tart on the plate -

there's nowhere to hide today.

So, this has to be the most beautiful tart that they've seen,

or it's just not going to be good enough today.

I would rather go out of the competition by taking a risk

than stick playing safe.

I'm here now, and I don't see why I can't push myself one more step

further.

-What is the dish?

-Got a grapefruit cake in the oven now baking away.

Grapefruit gel, a grapefruit granita.

Sherbet grapefruit peel.

I've got a caramelised white chocolate mousse,

and some white chocolate snow.

I'm from Luton - love it,

but I decided to do something more on my childhood memory.

We always used to have tinned fruit in the cupboards,

and the grapefruit used to be all mine,

cos nobody else used to like it.

Love grapefruit, love desserts, love your cooking.

-Thank you.

-Thanks, Louisa.

-Thanks.

-MARCUS:

-This dessert is going to be about textures, balance, flavours,

sweet and sour.

And of course, the bitterness of the grapefruit.

I really want to taste the grapefruit in this cake.

This is where it's essential for me.

You've got five - five minutes.

You have 60 seconds.

Ten seconds.

Time's up.

-How did it go? All right?

-Yeah, well...

Well done.

-Well done.

-Go good, yeah?

Steven's celebration of Bury black pudding is pork tenderloin,

wrapped in trompette mushroom powder, topped with crackling,

served with pork cheek and black pudding-filled pastry,

burnt apple puree and girolles,

black pudding potato espuma, or foam,

finished with a scrumpy and bone marrow pork sauce.

Steven, that's the best looking plate of food you've given us so far

in this competition. I think it's stunning, absolutely stunning.

I really enjoyed that pork loin.

In fact, I haven't seen pork loin so well cooked as that.

It's lovely and pink, I like the trompettes around the outside.

The pork cheek in the pastry has got that big, rich flavour.

The sauce is elegant.

It's not too strong, it's not too powerful.

I thoroughly enjoyed that.

Thank you very much.

I love your espuma, like the lightest of potato puree.

I think you've put together some really,

really good ingredients that you know are tried and tested,

in a very smart, cheffy way.

I think it's an absolute delight to eat.

The pork perfectly cooked,

I love how beautiful it looks in the black trompette.

Just delightful.

Very clever,

love the way you're thinking and the way you're able

to get that out onto a plate.

I'm over the moon, like, inside,

but on the outside, need to stay calm.

Because you can be so confident,

but then other chefs can just smash you out of the park.

Craig's dish is a celebration of Berkshire venison.

Fillet of venison in a pumpkin seed crust, served with venison hotpot,

roasted ceps, pumpkin puree,

roasted squash balls, pickled mustard seeds,

finished with a venison sauce.

Good-looking plate of food there, Craig.

The hotpot - the meat has been cooked wonderfully,

and the potatoes perfectly confit - delicious.

I think the pumpkin puree brings a bit of sweetness to your dish.

The venison is nicely cooked - it's pink, it's been rested well.

The vegetables have all been cooked wonderfully.

It's tasty. I love that hotpot.

I like the new and the old of this dish.

You've got your comfort food sitting on the side, in your hotpot,

and then you've got this really knockout modern plate of food

sitting right next to it. The plate itself, I think, is a triumph.

The way you've cooked the venison is beautiful.

And what you've got on the side here with the sauce just brings the whole

thing together. It's clever,

it's interesting and I love the story that sits behind it, Craig.

You have a cracking-looking dish.

This plate here is full of wonderful, sweet flavours

and great textures.

I, however, though, find your venison hotpot a little too sweet.

-CRAIG:

-Overall, I'm happy. It's pretty nerve-racking knowing

that that's probably one of the most important dishes of the competition.

Yeah, it's just tricky to think sort of what's going to happen next.

Fingers crossed.

Inspired by her childhood love of tinned fruit,

Louisa has served grapefruit cake

with caramelised white chocolate mousse,

topped with a grapefruit snap,

Greek yoghurt, white chocolate snow,

grapefruit gel and a grapefruit granita.

Louisa, a really lovely looking dessert.

The cake is a nice, decent texture,

but it's the zing of grapefruit inside it that I didn't expect.

The granita is really refreshing.

It satisfied my sweet tooth.

That's clever. I'm wondering now why I've never,

ever experienced a pink grapefruit dessert before.

I'm enjoying the little surprises also on this plate, from the gel,

even to the fresh grapefruit on here.

The cake has a fantastic flavour of grapefruit coming through it,

no doubt, but I do find it a bit dense.

That's my main disappointment, but everything else works wonderfully.

Thank you.

I agree with Monica - the cake could be just a touch fluffier.

But that is it.

I think it's excellent.

I think you're a very clever, very clever young chef.

Oh! The pressure in there is just so intense.

Who knows what's going to happen?

Jamie's Yorkshire-inspired dish is Yorkshire curd tart,

filled with golden sultana puree, baked in glazed goat's curd,

topped with sliced gooseberries,

lemon balm and tea-soaked raisins,

served with gooseberry jam sorbet.

Jamie, I think it looks beautiful.

I love how you presented the tart.

I really love those flavours.

That's a very sweet sorbet on top, which is beautiful.

And in the middle, it's quite tart, because of the goat's cheese,

and it's sharp because of the gooseberries.

Texture-wise, I'm afraid to say,

I think it's getting a little wet and sloppy.

I like the goat's curd, I quite like the sharpness that has.

The gooseberries I think works very well.

I like the tart, I just find it very sweet, for me, personally.

It's a tart on a plate.

Nice-looking tart, but that's it.

The goat's curd doesn't really come through -

there's a very grainy texture to it underneath.

The jam at the bottom is too sweet.

I don't think I'd be happy eating all of it because of the quantity of

sweetness in it.

Yeah, I suppose sometimes you've got to stick your neck out...

..to try and get your...

..your little point across, or something, but...

..not today.

I knew it was a risk.

To say to one of them, "You're good, but not quite good enough,"

after they've put so much into the competition...

It is hard.

I thought Steven's was the dish of the day today.

It was beautiful on the eye, it was clever in his thinking,

and his execution was exquisite.

I love Steven. He's found his style of cooking, it's working,

it's getting better, it's getting stronger,

and I'm just enjoying the journey that he's having.

I thought Craig's plates of food looked wonderful,

and that hotpot was stunning.

If we've got a chef here that can cook a beautiful modern plate

of food, with interesting ideas,

and then also serve up a classical part of his dish equally as good,

that's a talented young chef.

I really love Louisa's dessert.

I loved going from chocolate sweetness to grapefruit sharpness,

I just thought it was wonderful.

There was a lot I enjoyed about Louisa's dessert,

but I wasn't a fan of the cake, to be honest.

The cake for me was too dense.

I really enjoyed the flavours of Jamie's tart.

I really did - the sorbet on the top of it was really sweet,

a little bit of sharpness.

I loved the simplicity of it,

but the tart itself I found, for my liking, just too sweet.

It's a shame, because through the competition,

he has wowed us on so many occasions.

He took a risk, and for me personally,

I just don't think it paid off today.

So, who are our final three?

It is going to be sad to say goodbye to one of them, it really is.

You are four very talented people,

but we can only take three through to the final.

The chef leaving us is...

..Jamie.

Thank you, Jamie. You have cooked some stunning food through this

-competition.

-Cheers, guys.

It's sad to see you go. Thank you.

I can't say I'm shocked!

After the feedback.

I have really enjoyed it.

It's been like a short, but quite intense period of,

like, self-discovery, really.

To get to this stage, obviously, I've put a lot in.

Just stumbled at the final hurdle.

Well done. You are our final three.

Oh, my God, final three!

We are sending you to one of THE undisputed best restaurants

in the world.

YOU are going to the amazing Mirazur

to work with the inspirational Mauro Colagreco.

Congratulations.

The French Riviera.

A picture perfect landscape...

..and sun-soaked Mediterranean playground.

Nestling on the French-Italian border

is a town known as the Pearl of France,

famed for its seafood and citrus fruit.

Menton.

Just yards from the Italian border

is a restaurant regarded as amongst the most cutting-edge in Europe.

Mirazur -

brainchild of maverick Argentinian chef Mauro Colagreco.

I'm not a Mediterranean guy.

But we write a new page

of Mediterranean cuisine here,

in Mirazur.

Born to parents of Spanish, Indian and Italian ancestry,

Mauro came to France to further his career,

training with some of the world's great three-star chefs,

including the legendary Guy Savoy,

Bernard Loiseau,

and Alain Passard.

In 2006, inspired by Menton's unique landscape and produce,

he opened Mirazur.

We take from the mountains.

We take from the sea.

We take from the garden.

We go to the French market, the Italian market,

and with all of that,

with an Argentinian chef,

we create something totally different -

but with the Mediterranean products.

Less than a year after opening,

Mauro was awarded a Michelin star,

followed by a second five years later.

In 2017,

Mirazur had risen to number four

in the world's 50 best restaurants list.

We never stop to think

it's possible to do it something better.

I'm feeling very privileged right now.

Just absolutely excited to be getting in that restaurant today.

It's going to be immense, and I know it's going to be a real challenge,

but, yeah, bring it on.

I think if something like this doesn't inspire me to come up

with dishes or take something from this, I think there's something

wrong with me, I think.

The fourth best restaurant in the world -

that's crazy, really, isn't it?

Got to just be here to learn, that's exactly what I'm here to do.

For a chef to work here in Mirazur is extremely difficult -

because we don't have many.

We create new dish and we serve new dish - every day.

So, welcome to Mirazur kitchen.

Eh? So, I want to show you my food, my style.

To help the finalists understand his food,

Mauro is cooking his signature dish -

calamari served with artichokes,

artichoke puree,

squid ink crackers and bagna cauda,

a local Italian sauce

made with cream and anchovies and normally served with vegetables.

Never they eat the bagna cauda sauce with the calamaris.

I try that and I say, "Oh, my God, it's the perfect...

"..pairing."

So, these artichokes came from Italian market.

We spend a lot of time in the market.

It's very important for a chef

to have the contact with the raw product.

We always cook the vegetables very fast, not too much,

because we want to keep the textures and the flavours.

-LOUISA:

-Yeah.

-And that is very important, too.

In this dish, the most difficult

is, when we cook the calamari, we need to be extremely precise.

We want to have this colour in the calamari.

And then we will cook slowly

on the salamander.

The way that you've prepared it is something I've never seen before,

-it's very different.

-They didn't look like calamari.

We try to surprise the guests every time.

Plating begins with the artichoke puree.

We put the...

..artichokes, we cover with the crackers.

The textures in your kitchen is extremely important.

We have the bagna cauda sauce. We make it with anchovies.

And we finish with some thyme.

-That's it, eh?

-That's amazing.

-Lovely.

-That is our philosophy.

Simple dish, good quality, and fantastic flavours.

The presentation and the look of the dish looks amazing.

It also looks natural at the same time.

-CRAIG:

-I'm loving the sweetness of the artichoke

with the smokiness of the squid.

It's all working harmoniously,

and the cracker is like a lovely texture to go with it.

-Yeah.

-Very nice.

-Great.

Mauro's second dish is inspired by the surrounding mountain landscape,

and is called The Forest.

This dish look like when you go to pick the mushrooms.

I'm from South America.

In this dish,

we will represent the ground of the forest

with the quinoa risotto.

11 other elements accompany the South American quinoa.

An Italian cheese sauce.

Potatoes from the restaurant garden.

Three different wild mushrooms.

And a parsley and brioche sponge cooked in the microwave to represent

-moss.

-Some crackers of potatoes...

..for make more textures.

The mousse of potato.

And we finish with a very nice herbs.

All these herbs came from the mountains.

So, this is The Forest.

Wow.

The idea of the cake representing the moss,

it's imaginative and beautiful.

The look of the plate is absolutely stunning.

It's the forest on a plate, and it looks so natural.

Great. So, we cook for you.

I want you cook for me.

Let's go to the market.

-Eh?

-OK, yeah.

-Come on.

Every day, the menu at Mirazur changes,

based on the produce from the abundant restaurant garden

and visits to two local markets,

one in Menton and the other a few kilometres across the border,

in Italy.

I love to come here,

because here it starts, really, the creation of our dish.

Ciao. Ciao, bella!

You see the place, you see the colours.

You see the ambience, it's something amazing.

Ventimiglia market is renowned for its extraordinary range of Italian

produce, including many fruit and vegetables local to the area.

Fantastic.

And a vast array of fresh Mediterranean seafood.

So... Buongiorno!

So, here, each week, we come three, four days.

We find inspiration here, in contact with the product.

So, that is the philosophy of the restaurant.

The market is for you, OK?

So, good luck.

It's crazy being in here and, like, with all this produce.

I mean, if you had this at home, in the restaurant, obviously,

you'd be down there every day.

I was in France five minutes ago - it's pretty crazy that I'm here now.

Got to remember to start speaking Italian in here.

Here, you feel, you smell, you touch.

We start to cook here.

Don't know what...

Don't know what I'm going to go with.

And I hope the chef understand that,

and make a dish who I say, "Wow!

"That is the market, that is the sea,

"that is the mountains."

Going for...

..lovely langoustines. Be a shame not to cook some seafood.

I'll have a look at the vegetables now,

and see what I can pair with it.

Merci. Everywhere I've been, all the food stalls, you can smell mussels.

The smell that I'm going for, I'm really, like,

taking the smell of mussels and I really want to put that into a dish.

I'm going to go with mackerel, I think.

Because I want to keep it fresh.

Can't wait to do a dish with it, it's going to be fun.

The finalists have just one hour to produce a dish

in the style of Mirazur.

Very big challenge, obviously, especially to cook

in such a prestigious restaurant. So, yeah, I'm loving it.

To go with his fresh mackerel,

Steven is going to make a vegetable consomme.

The mackerel, I'm going to cure it, and then I'm doing a consomme, so,

it's like I'm putting the mackerel back into the sea.

Louisa's creating a dish based around mussels and tomatoes.

I've got tomato sauce in there, so that can act as, like, the sea.

Got your little mussels, like, floating on the tomato sauce almost.

To go with his langoustines, Craig has chosen fennel,

tomatoes and mountain honey.

Hopefully with the ingredients,

sort of following chef Mauro's philosophy,

I've got influence from the sea, the garden and obviously the mountains.

Steven is first up, with his cured mackerel dish.

Kind of cooking it in a similar way that he did the calamari yesterday.

This is just a bit of texture on the plate,

it's just a cheese that I got from the market

which I've just caramelised in the oven.

It's going to be nice, I think.

Yeah, I'm happy with the concept of the dish.

I think it's going to taste lovely.

Hopefully he enjoys it.

Hi, Steven.

-How are you?

-How are you?

-I'm very well, thank you.

-Wow!

Steven has seared salt-cured mackerel,

served with tomatoes in a basil stock,

vegetable consomme split with lovage oil,

olives and fennel fronds,

and an Italian cheese crisp.

Mm.

-Very crunchy.

-Yeah.

The cook is perfect.

Just the mackerel, I think, is cured a little too much.

You taste the salt.

A little too much.

But the juice of tomato, water of tomatoes and the basil,

are pairing very well with the fish.

The tomato was well done.

It is a very nice dish.

-Thank you very much.

-You really catch the ambience of the market,

the sea, the flavours of the Mediterranean.

Creating that dish was hard.

Cos trying to take on somebody else's philosophy and work with it

yourself, I feel like I did that a bit, and I'm quite happy.

Next to serve is Louisa.

I noticed that he's quite on point with getting textures in his dish.

So just making a squid ink tuile.

Hopefully, I can get this done on time.

The mussels, I'm just going to fry some of them, crispy mussels,

and I'm going to do some just normal.

A bit nervous, but, yeah, you don't get this opportunity every day.

So I'm just making the most of it, really.

-Hello.

-Hi, Louisa.

That looks fantastic.

Thank you.

Louisa has cooked mussels two ways -

deep-fried and steamed

in a chilli tomato sauce -

served with roasted and raw tomato, and a squid ink tuile.

Nice!

Great. Very interesting.

You understand the importance of the textures in my kitchen.

-Yeah.

-Very tasty.

I love. Really, fresh.

The chilli, that brings a little punch.

To have two kinds of cook for the mussels is very smart.

You made that in one hour?

-Yup.

-Wow!

Impressed.

I'm over the moon about the comments and the fact that he has mentioned

about the textures. I'm so happy, I just can't stop smiling all day!

Phew!

So I bought langoustine, and I'm going to grill it

to get that natural sweetness out of the flesh,

similar to what chef did with the...the squid.

It's got to be spot-on

because obviously they are beautiful ingredients.

Got to, you know, treat them with respect, you know?

Yeah, I'm happy. To have my dish just to be eaten by Mauro

in a few minutes' time, it's really daunting.

-Craig.

-Chef.

-Hi.

Craig has made seared langoustine tails,

served with a tomato consomme,

grilled courgette, confit tomatoes,

and mountain honey glazed fennel.

Wow! The consomme, very intense.

I want to finish my dish, so that is a very good sign.

The cook of the langoustine, I love,

because you understand the importance

of the smoky flavours who bring the plancha

in my calamari.

You really catch all the pillars of the Mirazur kitchen

in your dish -

the sea, the garden and the mountains.

-OK.

-Well done.

-Thank you very much.

-I'm very happy.

-Thank you.

The surroundings are so stunning.

To be able to have that as an inspiration for a plate of food is

absolutely incredible. I'm feeling...

I'm feeling great right now.

It's been...it's been a really great day.

I think the three chefs interpret very nice their area.

All the three cooks make it a good job.

I think for the menu we will serve tomorrow, I am very excited.

But Mirazur is the fourth restaurant in the world,

so we need to have a very high standard.

It is day two in Menton,

and the finalists are about to be pushed to their professional limit.

They have been given the honour

of joining Mauro's brigade of elite chefs

for lunchtime service.

In just a few hours,

they'll be feeding diners who have waited months just to eat

at the restaurant.

The finalists will each be in charge

of two courses on today's six-course tasting menu.

-So, Louisa, you will be in charge of the first dish of the menu.

-OK.

It is red prawn carpaccio.

We start with these unique product with this red prawn,

who is very sweet.

When you cut them, it is necessary to cut all the same level,

-the same higher.

-OK.

The more important is to cut the prawn not a lot in advance.

I want to keep the freshness of the prawn.

OK, so we take out the circle.

-It's like a flower.

-We try to keep the red part...

-On the outside?

-Yes.

You need to go fast because it is hot,

the prawns will be overcooked by the marinade.

So we need really to go fast.

In an unusual twist, Mauro pairs the prawns with fruit -

fresh raspberries and a raspberry gel.

I want really a very nice presentation.

OK.

The dish is carefully finished with fresh almonds,

nasturtium leaves and samphire.

And that's it. Very simple, very tasty.

It's elegant. It's really elegant.

Unbelievable. Never tasted a prawn that nice before.

To plate up, it's going to be tough to do it within time.

Chef makes it look quite easy, but I bet it's not easy in service,

especially under all that pressure.

Louisa is also responsible for a main of scorpion fish,

paired with a traditional bearnaise sauce that's been flavoured with

-liquorice.

-It is interesting, yeah.

It's an interesting flavour.

So, keep on whisking it, till it thickens up.

So now, we will dress.

-OK?

-Yep.

-That is the black garlic puree.

You can really smell the black garlic coming through.

Yes, it's amazing.

The dish is also dressed with baby leeks and fresh garden herbs.

And we will put the liquorice bearnaise, OK?

Yep.

-OK?

-It's beautiful.

-How do you feel, Louisa?

-I'm really excited.

I've never cooked this fish before.

So it will be good, it's learning new things.

Great. Let's do it.

Yeah, let's do it.

Craig has been given charge

of Mauro's signature squid and bagna cauda dish.

He also has to prepare 25 perfect duck breasts,

for one of the most challenging courses -

A classic French duck served with plum sauce.

The difficulty in this recipe is the cook of the duck.

To know when is the moment, the right moment,

to serve the duck.

It is very important when you cook to have all the same colour and a

very, very fine skin and very crispy.

That is the most important in this recipe.

Then we go with the garnish.

The dish is dressed with a red and yellow plum compote.

And sliced green plums.

We need to go fast in the dressing for the oxidation.

-OK.

-Of the plums.

Then we put more pieces of raw plums.

Always the textures, always the textures.

It's very important in my kitchen.

Totally amazed. Just watching chef hands on,

obviously you soak everything up

like a sponge, just, like, watching every single detail.

It's absolutely amazing. A one-on-one sort of masterclass.

That doesn't happen.

It's a once-in-a-lifetime sort of opportunity.

I want you taste, because this sauce is one of my favourite for the

-duck.

-Oh, wow!

-That is very... Explodes in mouth, eh?

A lot of acidity, a lot of flavours.

And we put the duck like this.

OK?

A stunning dish. I have definitely got my work cut out for this dish.

It's beautiful in its presentation.

The accuracy and the cooking of all of the elements are perfect.

So I've got to meet that standard and hopefully get it bang-on.

Steven's first task is to prepare a mountain of mushrooms for Mauro's

highly complex dish, The Forest.

But he will also finish today's tasting menu

with a classic citrus dessert

named after a famous Argentinian tango,

Naranjo En Flor.

It begins with a saffron-infused creme anglaise.

Then that is a reduction of orange and saffron.

So it's very powerful.

Then we will put some pieces of almonds.

That is for the textures.

Then the orange.

Three over the cream.

Then orange sorbet.

We make a nice quenelle.

Espuma of almond is then added.

And then we need to go fast because the espuma goes down, eh?

So that is a mix of sugar.

You put it on the top.

OK?

That is the dessert.

That's probably up there with, like, the best dessert

I've ever tasted in my life. That was crazy.

Like, the flavours are so clean, so fresh.

I love that dish. I can't wait to do it.

I guess it is the biggest service of my career.

It's going to be high pressure, but hopefully it goes good.

Chef has put a lot of trust into me today, and I want to make him proud.

I'm feeling a bit nervous.

It's just those pre-service butterflies, isn't it? So...

But it is good to have those, keeps you on your toes.

The pressure of working in a kitchen of this level

is quite extraordinary.

I think this could be life-changing for our chefs.

This is a massive opportunity.

Our chefs are going to come in here, grab it with both hands

and learn as much as possible.

Look at that!

-You ready?

-Yes, Chef.

-I don't hear?

-CONTESTANTS:

-Yes, Chef.

-Como?

-CONTESTANTS:

-Yes, Chef.

-FORCEFULLY:

-Yes, Chef!

-Come on.

-The restaurant has filled up, it's very,

very smart indeed.

It has a serious reputation.

I reckon right now they could be shaking in their chef shoes.

Two menus.

Two carpaccio, right now, please.

-Go!

-Yes, Chef.

Louisa is first up with her raw red prawn starter.

We're off and running. We're off to a fast start.

It's vital that she cuts the prawns to precisely the same length as

quickly as possible.

Louisa has had to prepare this dish a la minute

to keep the freshness of those prawns.

-We need to go fast.

-Yeah.

We all know, once you start to handle them,

they start to take on oxygen, it discolours very quickly.

Everybody is here. We need to go fast, eh?

Oui, Chef. Yeah, the pressure is on.

-Service, please!

-Table 21.

Ah! Be careful.

They need... The you don't put the salicornia herbs.

-Yes, Chef.

-Please.

I forgot to put the samphire on that one.

So I won't be doing that again.

Try that again. Service, please!

The red sides.

-I want everything with red sides.

-Yes, Chef.

-OK?

-Next four I want really red.

-Yes, Chef.

Every dish needs to be perfect.

Like one of my chefs do it.

It's a lot of pressure on my 22-year-old shoulders right now!

Fire. Three calamaris.

-BOTH:

-Oui, Chef.

Two calamari, table 14.

-Chef.

-Fire.

Mauro's attention is now on Craig,

who must fry the calamari on one side to chef's exacting standards.

It's very hot in here. It adds to the pressure even more.

-Craig.

-Chef.

-Come here to plating, please.

-We need to go fast, Craig.

-Chef.

That looks wonderful.

But we need to go fast.

Yes, it's definitely intense, this.

After a shaky start,

Louisa has to prove she can deliver the perfect carpaccio dish.

Go faster, go, go, go!

Please, there you go.

Good job. Next, better.

-OK?

-Yes, Chef.

-Scorpio fish.

-Yeah.

-Hey!

-Oh, that was hard.

That was pressure, a lot of pressure.

Louisa has made red prawn carpaccio in a Menton lemon marinade,

served with fresh raspberries, raspberry gel, samphire,

nasturtium leaves and fresh almonds.

Wow! Who puts raspberry and raw fish together?

-That's beautiful!

-The little raspberry gel has got a lovely

little sweet tanginess to it that worked very well with the shellfish.

It's great. Everything on this plate is just raw.

It's quite incredible.

This is simplicity at its best, at perfection.

It's the perfect way to start a meal.

All is fire.

-OK?

-Chef.

-First six, and then four, please.

Six and four.

The spotlight turns to Craig, to deliver Chef's calamari dish.

It's a very high pace.

It's keeping up, and obviously the immense detail on every plate.

-Salt, salt, salt.

-Chef.

He is very focused.

I love that. The calamari, looking good.

He make a good job.

Please, service.

Pick up table 14 and table 16.

-BOTH:

-Oui, Chef!

The two last table, please.

Fast, fast, fast.

-Chef.

-Service 25.

Go.

He is good. He is very talented.

It looks like what we serve in our restaurant.

So I am happy.

Phew!

Hopefully I'm doing all right. Maybe I've got to work on my speed.

You can't fall behind in this kitchen. You can't fall behind.

-Wow!

-OK.

-What is that?

-Wow.

-Yeah, what is that?

-It's squid.

Craig has made calamari,

served with bagna cauda sauce, artichokes,

artichoke puree, and squid ink crackers.

Interesting-looking dish.

I've not had squid quite like that before.

It's like eating a very light, fishy tagliatelle.

It's so light.

-It's delicious.

-I think the squid looks incredible,

but the cooking of it is delightful.

Because it's tender, but it's got a great texture.

That is brilliant. Bagna cauda and squid?

I normally dip veg into a bagna cauda.

It's a beautiful accompaniment for a piece of squid.

Just trying to not burn the mushrooms.

Going to get intense in a second.

-Steven?

-Chef.

-It's your turn now.

-Yes, Chef.

-OK?

Fire three Forest.

The Forest consists of 12 separate elements.

Go fast, Steve.

And is served as a large sharing plate.

I want the most beautiful forest.

This is lighter food then Steven has ever prepared before.

And there are techniques here that Steven won't have used before.

Making parsley into a sponge?

This is very interesting.

Very interesting.

OK, go.

Don't put the dry part...

On the bottom part, just the middle?

Oui, Chef.

Go in with the girolles.

Be careful, you put a lot together.

A lot together, a lot together.

Beautiful. Beautiful!

Let's go with the others. Go, go. Fast, fast.

Still trying to learn which is going which on a plate.

Just trying to keep up right now.

Right now! Go!

You've got to be fast.

Every second that that plate of food sits on a pass is the worse it gets,

so you want to do and go.

The last one.

This is very, very nice.

But you feel the hot in the kitchen?

-Yes, Chef.

-I want you to really take care of my desserts.

-Oui, Chef.

-OK?

-Oui, Chef.

Wow! Oh, my word.

Steven has made The Forest - sauteed mushrooms,

served with parsley sponge cake, garden potatoes, quinoa risotto,

Parmesan cream

and potato wafers.

It's just incredibly light, yet very many interesting flavours and

-textures.

-It's delicious, it's got texture, it's got a lot of flavour,

yet you can taste a bit of everything that's on this plate.

I think this is a lovely dish, and I love the parsley sponge that

represents the moss.

What a great idea.

Seven fish in three minutes, please.

Oui, Chef!

There is no letup for Louisa, as she's cooking scorpion fish for the

-first time.

-Course number two, a bit more hard.

The cooking of the fish has to be perfect.

If it's not, then it's not going to be a very good service.

I need the fish in three, please.

-Yes, Chef.

-Let's go now.

We need to dressing.

Put the other leeks.

Yes, Chef.

Not bad for the first time to work with this fish, huh?

Not bad for the first time, Chef.

That's it.

Go!

Louisa, that is the last six plates, please.

Yes, Chef.

Table 31.

I want the same cook, the same presentation as the first one.

Yes, Chef.

Wow! This is your last dish here, yeah?

-Last dish.

-Go!

Go, go, go! You happy?

-Yes, Chef.

-You're happy?

-Yes, Chef.

Louisa has made scorpion fish served with a liquorice-infused bearnaise

sauce, black garlic puree, baby leeks and fresh garden herbs.

Louisa has cooked this fish beautifully.

Just take a slice off and it's just melting in your mouth.

There's two really big flavours here -

the liquorice and the black garlic -

but they work together so well.

-It's fascinating.

-You can taste the fish,

it's not lost when you have such strong flavours on a plate of food.

-MAURO:

-So, Louisa, I am very happy.

The cook was perfect.

That is the most important, the most difficult in this dish.

Great. Very, very happy.

-Thank you, Chef.

-Thank you.

Cooking to a two-Michelin-star standard, whoa!

I'm really, I'm still buzzing now.

It was so fun. I really enjoyed it.

Definitely I will remember this day, 100%, till the day I die.

Craig, fire.

Three ducks.

-Yes, Chef.

-Go.

Duck is all about the resting, the gentle cooking.

Not too much of a fierce heat,

really nice and slow and obviously it's nice and tender.

More fast, please. More, more, more fast.

Craig's at the final hurdle.

recreating the French duck dish to Chef's exact requirements.

Now the sauce, and then you go fast to cut your duck, please.

I see you make like this.

Never make like this. You need just to make one cut like this.

-Straight slice.

-For the next ones.

-OK.

-OK? Great. Go.

Please, Natalie.

Pick-up. Table 16.

Fire. Table 14, two ducks.

Yeah, the cutting, I have to get used to.

Obviously, a perfect slice on it.

Can't repeat that mistake for this one.

I want a nice cutting.

Wow! You see the difference?

-Yes, Chef.

-OK?

Much better, much better.

Good.

Go, go, go, go!

-You are happy?

-I'm happy, Chef.

Good. Me too.

Craig, I really love how you put passion for dressing, for plating.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you very much.

Thank you. Thank you.

Yeah, that was intense. That was a real push, it was a fast pace.

It's obviously an immense attention to detail on every plate.

-GREGG:

-Hey!

It's a great experience, great experience.

Craig's last dish is French duck

served with plum sauce,

yellow and red plum compote, fresh plums

and onions filled with basil oil.

It's very pretty. Love the colours on that.

What I really like about this duck

is, first of all, it's melt-in-the-mouth.

You've got the richness of the duck, then you've got sauce,

then you've got this refreshing, almost fruity salad,

sitting on the side that just sort of cleanses the palate.

-Beautiful.

-This might be the lightest duck dish I've ever eaten.

After three hours of service and five courses in,

it's up to Steven to deliver the final course.

Fire, table 20.

-Three guests.

-Oui, Chef.

And then four more.

He must quickly plate Mauro's signature dessert, Naranjo En Flor,

before the orange sorbet melts or the almond espuma drops.

Yeah, I am going to need a steady hand plating this one.

Go, you need to go fast.

It's very hot, the ice cream, foam, espuma.

-It's a very critical moment, that.

-Chef.

-Go.

I want a very nice quenelle for the two last.

Give me five.

Good job. Go.

We came out the other side, and I'm happy.

One of the best experiences of my life.

I wish I could come back and do it again.

Steven's final dish is Naranjo En Flor -

saffron cream with orange sorbet, almond foam,

topped with an orange-infused sugar tuile.

Mm!

Cor, that is just stunning!

It's incredibly light, and I love the fact it's not over sweet,

it's quite a natural flavour.

-It's really good.

-This is a coastal area renowned for its citrus fruits,

oranges and lemons,

and it's portrayed beautifully in this lovely, lovely dessert.

So...

-Eh? Cheers. Oh!

-Cheers.

-Cheers.

Cheers.

To give the keys of our cuisine to

three young chefs, it was nice, because the three of them

take that with a lot of responsibility

and very professional.

-MONICA:

-I think our three chefs have served us magic,

and if they could take some of this back

and hone it into their own craft,

I think we're going to be in for one fascinating final.

It's been amazing.

Breathtaking. I don't want to go home, to be honest with you.

All good things must come to an end.

Hopefully, I can come back here one day.

This whole weekend in France has been amazing.

I've enjoyed every minute.

I think this is the biggest and best experience that I've ever had,

so far in my career.

It's been truly unforgettable.

It's always about being better and obviously striving,

and it's that sort of philosophy and that sort of mentality

that I think I'll really take forward.

It's all going to be about the three final plates of food.

That's all that stands between our chefs

and being the MasterChef Champion.

Tomorrow night, it's the professional MasterChef final.

We know what they're capable of.

Now it's down to them.

You say you want to bring a smile to our faces,

and you've done that once again.

That is stunning.

Absolutely stunning.