Episode 11 MasterChef: The Professionals

Only an elite group of chefs holds two Michelin stars.

Michel Roux Junior is one of them.

-Ca marche! Two Saint-Jacques au passe now!

-Oui!

Now he and MasterChef judge Gregg Wallace are on the hunt for Britain's next culinary superstar,

a professional with the talent to cut it in the world's top kitchens.

Perfect.

Ten professional chefs have faced their first challenge to prove to Monica Galetti

that they can cook at the highest level.

Now they've been split into two groups.

Today, four will face the final test to decide who is good enough

to cook for Michel Roux Junior.

At the end of it, one of them will be going home.

The pressure today is going to be intense,

but you've got to feed off that and turn it into loving it,

just do your best cos you only get this opportunity once.

I did expect the standards to be high.

I didn't expect them to be this high

I'd be a liar if I said I wasn't in it to win it

because everyone is here to win.

Skills test, one of my favourite bits. What have you got for them?

I'd like them to prepare this sea bass, remove the bone, but keep it whole.

I'd like them to use this separate fillet to make a fish tartare.

In a professional kitchen, preparing fish is a must. They should know what they're doing.

First, I'll scale the fish. I'm using this bag, so the scales don't go everywhere.

I'm using the back of a knife, but you should be able to use a fish scaler as well.

Rinse the fish down to remove any other scales that I've missed.

Next step, remove everything that's extra on the fish.

Now I'm going to cut into the fish and remove the bone.

See the fins along the top? You want to go just above it

and angle the knife in and you can feel the bone as you're cutting into that fish. That's your guideline.

You've got to be careful that your knife point doesn't split the skin.

You do not want to pierce the fish or any stuffing you're going to have will just leak.

And you let the bones guide you.

Remove the bone as a whole. That should come out loosely.

Then you just pull it out.

-Remove the gills.

-We want to keep the head on?

-Head on, eyes out, everything else out.

Give it a rinse.

Any professional chef should know they have to pin-bone a fish.

Michel is not a great fan of fish bones.

That's it, our fish ready to be stuffed.

Next, I'm going to make the fish tartare.

First, make sure there's no bone in that fish.

Take it straight off the skin. Hold on to that and pull the skin and the fillet will come off on its own.

Thinly slice that fish. You don't want to chew on big chunks of fish.

Into the bowl it goes.

The rest will be down to palate.

A touch of olive oil.

That's right.

Now I'm just very simply putting it into this ring.

Micro-fennel and mustard frills very simply on the top of that.

-I'll just finish with oil on the top.

-That speaks to my inner depth. That is lovely.

Then last, remove the ring.

Here we have it, Gregg - the de-boned fish ready for stuffing

and my fish tartare.

-This is a great test, Gregg. It's about accuracy, tasting, knife skills.

-Let's get 'em in.

First up is head chef Shaun who has cooked in the army for 23 years.

In the first invention test, he wowed the judges with his Stilton tart and glazed apples.

I'm here because I'm coming to the end of my career in the army. I want to continue in the catering industry

To have the MasterChef trophy in your restaurant would be fantastic.

Shaun, it's a skills test.

What we'd like you to do is prepare and bone that sea bass, ready for stuffing,

keeping it whole, then with the separate fillet, we'd like you to make us a tartare.

-We're going to give you just 15 minutes.

-OK.

-Are you ready, Shaun?

-Yeah, I am.

-Off you go.

Excuse me.

You've had five minutes.

Last 60 seconds. We need that on a plate, chef.

-Just in the nick of time.

-The pressure's on there.

That's a challenge and a half, that!

Shaun, the tartare is a decent, clean-looking plate. Let's taste.

I like all the combination of flavours, but you've just put too much lime in there.

At the beginning, when you looked at the fish and we told you what your task was, you did look afraid.

But you did a great job managing to take the bone out, even if you've gone the opposite end of the fish.

You took the gills and eyes out, scaled it perfectly, trimmed it down

and you showed skills as a chef to follow those bones and try not to damage the fish as much as possible.

It's not a bad effort.

-Shaun, thanks very much.

-Thank you.

The pressure was immense in there.

To do two things at once in 15 minutes and execute a dish on a plate, that was intense pressure.

21-year-old David is a junior sous-chef at a hotel and is currently on the pastry section.

His deconstructed crumble with almond sponge was a big hit.

Cooking is my life. There's nothing better to me than having a nice meal, cooking a nice meal,

trying out new things. I eat, sleep, drink cooking, really.

All yours, David. 15 minutes. Off you go.

Quick.

Five minutes left.

-Is that good?

-Yeah.

-You've got 60 seconds to stick it on that plate.

Yeah, those 15 minutes go quick, don't they?

Right, David, let's start with the sea bass.

You scaled it into the bag. Well done. You trimmed all the fins off.

You pin-boned the fish.

The only thing you haven't done is taken the gills out.

You've also gone in through the belly. You should go through the back, but not a bad attempt.

Thank you.

We're going to look at your tartare.

I think the grated zest of the lime on top of that was inspired. The smell is lovely. Very good job.

I enjoy watching you work. You taste as you season and you flavour. It is lovely.

-So well done, big fella.

-Thank you.

The amount of time they give you to do that is unreal,

but I'm not feeling too bad. It went a lot better than I thought it would

Kim is a senior sous-chef in a luxury hotel in London

and has been working in kitchens for 11 years.

Last time, the taste of her food impressed the judges more than the appearance.

For me, it's always about being better and getting better and becoming that great chef you want to

I want to be recognised and be a head chef

at a great restaurant in London and hopefully have my own one day.

-Kim, 15 minutes. Off you go.

-Thank you.

-You've had five minutes.

-OK.

Three minutes left.

Last minute.

We're going to have to push you here.

Right, time's up. Time's up.

Kim, let's start with the fish.

You started off scaling the fish.

-Well done. However, you forgot to trim it down, remove the gills and the eyes as well.

-OK.

-OK?

You must also remember to take out any pin bones on the inside.

-When you do take the bone out, you should go through the back.

-OK.

You can see in there you should never leave all this in the fish.

Right, let's look at your tartare.

As soon as I got it near my mouth, I breathed in broken onion smell.

-A spring onion is a powerful little allium.

-Yeah.

I like the chilli dressing you've made.

However, I wish at one point you would've stopped to taste.

-Kim, thank you. Off you go.

-Thank you very much.

My nerves in there, it really gets to you inside.

Your heart's racing a thousand beats a minute and for me, I felt it.

At just 20 years old, sous-chef Rob has already won the Ludlow Young Chef of the Year award.

In the last round, Rob's presentation let down an otherwise impressive dish

of pork with liver ravioli.

Cooking is everything to me. You think about it 24/7.

If you slit me open, you see a cookbook pop out.

-Rob, 15 minutes. Off you go, chef.

-Cheers. Thank you.

You've had five minutes.

-Is it all right if I leave it as tha and get on to the tartare?

-Sure.

-Thank you.

-Sure.

Three minutes left.

-Stop.

-You've cut yourself.

I don't think we've had a winner that hasn't cut himself.

But they've managed to do everything successfully.

Two minutes left, chef.

Ten seconds. We need the ring off the plate. We need it finished.

Complete and utter rubbish. I've never done either of them before.

I didn't do the fish proud like I wish I did.

You did your best to try not to damage this fish.

But what you should have done first is scale that fish,

trim it down, remove the eyes, remove the gills from the inside.

It's the rule of thumb of preparing fish. Also, once you've been in the inside here, take the pin bones out.

But at least wash it.

In saying that, you've still managed to keep the fillets pretty much undamaged.

Knife skills. You know, you cut yourself using the wrong knife.

As to making your tartare, you took the fillet straight off the skin,

but also make sure there are no bones in that fish.

It's nicely seasoned.

It tastes good. It tastes decent.

Cheers, Rob. Thanks, mate.

Gutted.

I've mucked up completely.

I tried my best,

but you know, it's whether they thin I've got something in me for them to give me that chance.

Our four today had never boned out a whole sea bass.

They all removed that bone, but it was done through the belly. No-one took it out from the back end.

Shaun was very, very nervous.

He did everything that he knew how to do right, then attempted the rest of the task.

He managed to get all the bones out of that sea bass. He cut all the fins off, de-scaled it properly.

He cut the eyes and gills out. He was pretty good.

-His tartare is what let him down the most today.

-He put too much lime in it.

It was a few little things, minor errors there that I need to tweak.

I'll take them forward. If I'm lucky enough to go through, then I can only improve myself.

David, I really like him.

He scaled the fish properly and he did attempt to pin-bone the fish.

David made the best tartare for me today.

It was a bit heavy on the chilli, but I like hot food. I like the way that he worked today.

I definitely could have done the fis a lot more justice than what I did, instead of hacking it up a bit,

but I tried my hardest, so...

Kim scaled her fish. However, she forgot to remove the gills,

the fins, the eyes.

Again she took the bone out through the belly, then when she'd done that, she didn't pin-bone as well.

And her tartare was decent, but it had big chunks of spring onion which was wrong.

It went OK. I just messed up on a few things.

Rob was scared. He stabbed himself in the finger, he was so scared.

He managed to get all the bones from his sea bass, but he even forgot to scale the fish.

He knows how to scale and trim the gills and everything down.

He knows to remove the innards. He just lost it.

-His tartare he made tasted good, well seasoned.

-And it was finely chopped.

I want to win this and I reckon I do have the chance of winning it

if I get the chance to cook for them the food I can cook.

We can put all four through if we want.

I think Rob was the weakest, but I don't believe he did that badly that he shouldn't get another chance.

To put Rob through to cook for Michel is a big risk and it worries me.

All I'm asking is you chuck him a lifeline.

We have discussed at great lengths who to put through to cook for Michel.

It has not been easy for me.

We have decided...

..all four of you should get the opportunity to go and cook for Michel.

However, one or two of you need to prove that you deserve to be there.

-Well done.

-Congratulations.

We can breathe now then.

I didn't deserve to go through and just this lifeline comes through

Words can't describe how I feel. It's amazing.

There are classics that should be part of every professional chef's repertoire.

And Michel Roux Junior is looking for chefs who aspire to cook them at his two Michelin star level.

For today's classic recipe, I want the chefs to cook a classic chocolate and raspberry tart.

Chocolate is indulgent and special.

It has to tick all the boxes of a great dessert, the ultimate pleasure.

It has to look beautiful. It has to scream out, "Eat me!"

The first job is the sweet pastry - sifted flour,

the soft butter in the centre along with the sugar.

The egg yolk...

A tiny pinch of salt.

Now we start to bring in the flour,

using the fingertips, a delicate touch.

So once you have achieved this kind of a sandy texture,

now you take the palm of your hand and you're pushing away.

This is not kneading, but it's bringing the dough together.

I did my apprenticeship at the age of 16,

learning how to make beautiful pastries in a shop in Paris.

It takes years of experience.

That's it, that's the consistency we want.

It's wrapped in clingfilm, so that it doesn't dry out.

That goes in the fridge quickly.

Now we need to get the ganache on, so the liquid glucose goes into the pan

with cream, brought up to the boil.

Take the pan off the heat.

We incorporate the bitter chocolate and the butter.

This makes a really beautiful, rich, shiny ganache,

so we can leave that there and come back to it later.

20 minutes later, the sweet paste should be set and ready to roll.

The pastry should be about two millimetres thick.

So now I'm going to put this in the oven to bake at 180 degrees centigrade for about 15, 20 minutes.

It has to be fully cooked.

Now the base is cool and we can put our raspberries in here.

The chocolate ganache...

Hmm!

Just shake it a bit. That's it.

Now quickly into the blast-chiller or the fridge to set. I don't want it solid.

When I cut into it, it has to be soft.

This is a dessert. It has to be beautiful.

They've got to give us some kind of decoration with the chocolate.

I want to see the chefs' creativity. I want to see them give me one chocolate decoration.

There we have it - bitter chocolate tart with raspberries and a beautiful, imaginative decoration.

That's what I want from the chefs.

It's every chef's dream to cook for Michel Roux Junior.

It's an amazing opportunity to try and show him what I've got.

Nervous, excited. So many emotions are in my head at the moment. I don' know what to do - cry, laugh, jump?

I'm in the MasterChef whites. It's a great honour to wear these whites.

I've just got to produce the goods now.

You may have found this competition a little bit tough, but this is where the cooking really starts.

All great chefs understand pastry.

You are going to be cooking a tarte au chocolat aux framboises.

I'm expecting great things from this recipe.

To be a great chef, you have to understand pastry work.

You've got an hour and ten minutes. Off you go.

Every time that you do come back to cook, you do have to prove something

You always have to be better than the last time and that's what I'm here to do.

-Kim, do you understand this classic recipe?

-I do.

-Are you classically trained?

-No.

-What about pastry work?

-It's one of my weakest points. I like desserts a lot.

-We all like desserts.

-Of course.

-Some more than others.

-But I want to prove to you that I can do this.

-How do you feel about the competition?

-It's a lot of pressure. It's been intense.

-Do you push yourself? Are you tough on yourself?

-Yeah.

Kim hasn't worked in pastry, but she understands the recipe.

She understands the principles and knows that we want beautiful presentation.

You've had 15 minutes.

Cooking for Michel Roux Junior now, you know, the stakes have been raised immensely.

If I get one positive comment, then I'll be happy, really happy.

-Right, Shaun...

-Chef?

-How are you with pastry work?

-This is not my favourite subject.

-Oh, dear.

-This is my weakest area and something I really need to concentrate on.

-So not trained in pastry at all?

-Not a trained pastry chef, no.

I would have thought with the military, that would be part of the cooking training?

During training, they give you some classical skills and flavours. We take them into the field army.

We use them basic skills to progress and we have a bit of free rein.

With all the opportunities in the army, why did you pick up a saucepan?

My father was a chef in the army. He tried to talk me out of it.

He wanted to see if I had the dedication.

I stepped into the field army kitche at 16 and I've been there ever since

Shaun has overcooked his chocolate and I worry that his ganache will not have that lovely shine I expect.

You've had 30 minutes.

I'm confident in my abilities, but I also think, being 20, I'm not quite the finished package.

I want to learn and hopefully Michel Roux and Gregg can point me in the right direction.

-Right, Rob, you all right with this classical recipe?

-Sweets aren't my strong point at all.

Doesn't seem like anything has been!

-This recipe is new to you.

-Yeah. I've made chocolate tarts,

-but the ganache filling is new to me.

-What started you cooking?

I grew up in my dad's restaurant. You get the vibe, the noise, everyone shouting and blurting.

You get shivers up your spine.

Rob is already well behind on the timings. I worry that that tart won't be cooked

and won't be set in time.

I think my strength is being very adaptable in the kitchen.

A lot of people don't know pastry, which is a plus on my side. I like pastry a lot.

-David, do you understand this classic recipe?

-I do, yes.

-Dab hand at the pastry?

-I work in pastry quite often. I find it more challenging than other parts.

-How did you feel when you came in and saw this recipe?

-I saw raspberries and thought, "Dessert!"

Without telling everybody else what you're going to do, chocolate tempering?

-You'll just have to wait and see.

-Good. I like to see a big smile on a chef's face.

David has got an eye for presentation. He is tempering chocolate, has a different ganache,

he's made coulis. He's got so much going on and he looks so confident. It's great!

It's your last ten minutes!

That's it. Stop. Stop!

We asked you to cook a classic pastry dessert - tarte chocolat aux framboises.

A chocolate tart with raspberries.

The chocolate tart should be beautifully presented, the pastry cooked through and crispy.

There must be some form of chocolate work.

Kim, we're going to start with you.

Kim, very simple decoration there, that big teardrop of coulis.

But it works. Very neat, very precise.

Your chocolate ganache has set just in time. It looks soft. It's just holding.

But that's good. It's not neat, though, and that's because you just cut the raspberries in half

and threw them at the bottom there. Chocolate shavings on top is good. That's easy chocolate work,

but done neatly and nicely.

Tastes really good. Could look a bit sharper, pastry could be crisper.

The base of the tart is not quite cooked enough. Your chocolate ganache is silky smooth and shiny.

The coulis is lovely.

This is a good attempt. It's not far off the classic recipe.

But I would have liked a little bit more chocolate work.

For someone that doesn't do pastry, I thought I did OK.

I was going for the presentation. I wanted a clean plate and thought that's what I gave.

David, let's have a look at yours.

David, you're quite obviously trying to show off your skills.

The chocolate work on here is very good.

A lovely chocolate curl. Good.

The base of your chocolate tart is fully cooked.

The ganache is two minutes away from setting properly.

That really is the only criticism I have on your dessert

because I think it's great.

I love that ganache you made, the lighter one with the cream. That is heaven.

I could have that by the ladle! Although I think you've overdone the raspberry on that slice.

I got a few compliments so that's a good thing.

Shaun, your turn.

Not quite up there with the best desserts I've seen, but pretty impressive.

There's a crunch to your pastry, the chocolate is lovely. Not too sweet, lovely and rich.

My only complaint is I'd like a little bit more raspberry along the bottom.

I love your presentation. Very neat, precise, dare I say, military fashion.

-Thank you.

-You've done some sugar work, which is brilliant. Very clever.

Your chocolate ganache is shiny. I noticed you were beating the ganache there

to make it come back together because it had split. You've brought it back.

The pastry is well cooked, it's crunchy, not too thick. The ganache has set, only just.

I like your little chocolate curls on top to give texture.

I really like this. You've done a very good job here.

Thank you, chef.

I think I did very well. Pastry is not my forte, so I stuck with what I know.

Whether it worked or not, I didn't know. That was the big key.

Rob, let's have a look at yours.

You've made a nice, bright coulis. We've got a slice of fine chocolate work.

But, of course, your tart hasn't set.

The flavours are there. You've made a lovely coulis.

It's a wonderful match for the rich cocoa chocolate, but it's not a tart. It's like chocolate sauce.

I do like that you did attempt some chocolate work and you've got a piece of chocolate strip there.

That shows you're willing to give it an effort.

Your coulis is good. Nice and shiny, not too sweet.

The ganache is good. It's shiny. It's just not set.

The pastry base, I can't really judge it because it's not cooked.

I mucked up big time.

The next test is your choice of a classic recipe.

This is your last chance to show us what you've got. I expect perfection.

You've got one hour to make a memorable dish.

Off you go.

I'm feeling pretty confident.

The recipe I've chosen is quite dear to my heart. I created this recipe myself.

So if I don't execute it properly, I'll be beating myself up about it quite badly!

-David, what classic dish are you cooking for us?

-A creme brulee with maple sable biscuits

-and a milk chocolate mousse.

-Surprise(!) A dessert.

-Yeah.

-It's a creme brulee, pecan and...?

It's a milk chocolate creme brulee and I'm not glazing it in the traditional method.

But I feel I can still call it creme brulee when I have caramel on top. Pecan caramel.

I'll be sprinkling this on top instead of burning it.

I want to show you that I can do something different, with a twist.

-What does it mean to you to get through?

-It means everything to me. It's my career. I'm still so young.

-How old are you?

-I'm 21.

-Are you? Cor, you're ageing badly!

-I've been told that many times!

-Hard work. It makes you age.

-It does.

-You have got very little time to make your dessert amazing. Get cracking.

-Thank you.

David says he'll present his creme brulee in a different way.

It had better be very good because the classic creme brulee, for me, is the perfect dessert.

15 minutes already gone!

'I think this dish is going to highlight for me what kind of chef I am.'

Very seasonal, classic, traditional. Looking the wow factor and tasting the wow factor.

-Right, Kim, what classic recipe have you chosen to cook?

-Lamb Wellington.

I'm going to do it with some carrot and cardamom puree

-and fresh girolle mushrooms.

-What's the chicken for?

-A mousse. I'll put the morels with the mousse

-and then the pancake and puff pastry on the outside.

-Wow.

-Quite layered.

-I want to get lots of flavour in.

-It's coming with a sauce?

-A little light jus of lamb,

-which I'll put the girolle mushrooms through.

-Why go through the terror and pressure of MasterChef?

Pressure is what all chefs live for and I love it.

It's all go, go, go and you have to have that inside you. I think I do.

The secret to a great Wellington is that the meat is cooked and that the pastry is crisp.

I just hope Kim can achieve that.

We've reached halfway. There's only half an hour left!

The first time I cooked this dish was about six months ago for an internal military competition.

There's a few bits of advice I've been given and I've got a couple of elements I must pay attention to.

-Shaun, what classic recipe are you cooking?

-It's more classic flavours.

And three classic skills, really. My recipe I'm trying today is pan-fried rainbow trout

with soused vegetables and a watercress tower with a slight twist - a savoury egg custard.

But with mainly watercress flavour. I'm making a beetroot caviar and serving it with creme fraiche.

-What custard did you say?

-A savoury egg custard.

-Watercress custard? Right, you loony.

-No wonder we lost the Empire.

-There's a lot of technique on show. I hope you get it right.

-Thank you.

The flavours of Shaun's dish should be a perfect harmony.

Slightly bittersweet pickled vegetables should work perfectly with the fish.

I'm not sure about the beetroot pearls. What does that bring to the dish?

The classic dish I've chosen is a classic with a wow factor to it.

I do think I can deliver a perfect dish. I think that's what I need to do to impress Michel.

-Right, Rob, what classic recipe have you chosen?

-I've chosen papillote of John Dory

with turned potatoes, braised baby gem lettuce and a saffron and shallot butter.

-So you are wrapping the fillet of John Dory in greaseproof paper and baking it.

-Yes.

-And hoping the bag is puffed up.

-Yeah.

-And when you open it, you get lovely vapours of the fish.

-Yeah.

-There's quite a bit for you resting on this dish.

-I do this right or I go home. Simple.

I want you to see what I'm all about. You want a part of you in your dish.

If I don't do that, I'll be a boring old chef.

-And you don't want to be a boring old chef!

-Oh, no.

The perfect papillote puffs up with steam from the fish.

If it's wrapped too tight, it'll just overcook the fish and be soggy.

Last five minutes!

Guys, get it on those plates!

Stop!

First up is David.

His classic dish is a milk chocolate creme brulee topped with a pecan nut caramel and served

with maple sable biscuits and milk chocolate mousse.

First off, it's not what I would call a creme brulee. In a parfait jar?

I'm more used to seeing pates in parfait jars, but if it's a good one, why not?

Shortbread biscuits are delicious. You just about get that maple syrup. Very, very good.

Your milk chocolate mousse as well, I think, is delicious.

I like your idea of making the caramel with the pecan nuts and putting it on top.

That, for me, is a dessert. That's where it stops.

I don't like your chocolate creme brulee. I don't like the texture.

I'm not sure about the balance of this dish. It's just milk chocolate and milk chocolate!

It's a crazy looking pudding!

It really is. It's making me smile.

Yeah.

I think it's absolutely wonderful. It's sticky and chocolatey and maple syrup and nuts! It's lovely.

But all of it together is too much even for me and I'm a self-confessed sugar chocaholic.

I definitely should have put something acidic on there or bitter.

The dish was way too sweet. I should have thought it through properly.

Kim has cooked Lamb Wellington, a twist on the classic Beef Wellington,

layered with a chicken and girolle mushroom mousse, pancake and puff pastry.

She is serving it with a carrot and cardamom puree and a rosemary jus.

First off, I think it looks really nice. I love that the puff pastry looks cooked all the way through,

crispy and shiny - you've egg-washed it.

Mm.

The lamb for me is ever so slightly overcooked. Saying that, it's still moist. The pancake has absorbed

all the humidity and natural juices of the lamb and meant that the pastry is nice and crisp.

Your lamb jus I find a little bit too strong in rosemary.

Carrot puree is beautifully seasoned, nice and silky smooth, with just a hint of cardamom.

-As a whole, I like this dish.

-Thank you very much.

-I think this dish is showing a lot of skills.

It's more than I was expecting from a Lamb Wellington. It's very good.

The Wellington itself is absolutely beautiful. Slightly overcooked for one side of the Channel.

Us over here on these beautiful windswept islands, we find it cooked very well indeed.

But it looks incomplete to me. I'm looking around for some potatoes,

I'm looking around for maybe a portion of spinach.

Michel Roux Junior said that my dish was this close to perfection.

For him to say that to me, I am absolutely over the moon.

For his classic, Shaun has pan-seared a rainbow trout fillet

and served it with soused or pickled vegetables and a watercress custard, topped with beetroot caviar.

The colours are beautiful. Really, really exciting, vivacious colours.

-Very nice.

-Thank you, chef.

Your soused or pickled vegetables are delicious. Works beautifully with the fish.

I love that watercress pepperiness with the fish. It works beautifully.

The combinations of flavours there are great.

The beetroot pearls or caviar are very well done, but...

they taste of, really, not a lot.

-OK, chef.

-This is very good choice of ingredients and well cooked.

Your showing off a lot of skills.

-That dish is beautiful. Some great cooking and some great taste on that plate.

-Thank you.

-Go home with a smile on your face.

-Not much of a smiler, am I?

Overall, I think my presentation was really good and Michel Roux commented on that,

but I could have executed other flavours on the plate a lot better.

Rob's classic dish is John Dory with saffron and sweet peppers,

cooked en papillote,

served with braised baby gems, turned potatoes and a saffron and shallot butter.

Your papillote is a little bit scruffy. It isn't puffed up and the right shape.

The colours, when you open up that papillote, it really looks appetising. It looks wonderful.

Your choice of ingredients is really nice, it's colourful. The cooking is very good, the fish is moist.

The idea behind it is great.

Maybe some lemon rind or orange rind to give it that kick, give it a boost.

I'd happily eat all of that. I think it's cooked really well. Soft potatoes, soft fish.

Good cooking. I think you proved a point.

I'm really happy with what I did. I couldn't have cooked any better. The fish was cooked perfectly.

I reckon I have done myself justice.

- What do you think? - Hard, wasn't it?

What a fantastic couple of tests.

Nothing brightens my day more than good cooks with good cooking.

I started off with an enormous pile of chocolate and finished with an enormous pile of chocolate!

-I had a great day.

-Great cooking. Lots of passion, lots of skill. Everything I was expecting.

Shaun's attempt at my classic I thought was very good.

His pastry was cooked to perfection.

And his decoration was spot-on. It looked great.

Shaun's classic recipe was a rainbow trout, pan-fried, with soused or pickled vegetables

and a custard made with watercress.

He then made us some beetroot caviar, which were expertly done,

but lacked in flavour. They didn't bring anything except colour.

Apart from that, I can't see any reason why that guy should not march, soldier-like,

-straight into a quarter-final. He is a force to be reckoned with.

-We've got to put Shaun through.

Michel Roux had some really positive comments and I've taken on board those where I need to improve.

So I'm ecstatic, really.

Kim's chocolate tart was far from perfect. The pastry was undercooked, but her ganache was really shiny

and the right texture. Also it had set properly.

I loved Kim's Wellington. It tasted wonderful and that lamb was cooked fine for me. Absolutely fine.

The flavours were brilliant. That chicken mousse with morels

and the pancake that meant the puff pastry cooked and was crisp and really tasty.

Kim has all-round qualities, enough to go through.

I so do not want to go home today! I hope I have done enough to stay in the competition.

Shaun through, Kim through. All right, fair dos. I agree.

So we decide between the two young fellas.

David -

his decoration of his chocolate tart was very good. So obvious, obvious talent there.

A very accomplished dessert, but spoilt by the fact that the actual tart was runny.

I really loved his chocolate creme brulee, but the milk chocolate mousse that he'd made

-was very similar.

-It was far too chocolatey, too creamy, too mousse-y, too sweet!

I really don't want to go home because I feel I've got a lot more to show than what I've done today.

Rob had the worst chocolate tart up at the bench. He never really managed a chocolate tart, did he?

-A chocolate puddle on pastry.

-On uncooked pastry.

If we'd stopped this challenge then, Rob would have been on his way home,

and he redeemed himself completely with his fish en papillote.

Rob's fish looked really colourful and it was a very brave attempt to cook a fish en papillote.

If they see something in me that they want to take through, brilliant.

If not, I'll be absolutely gutted.

I'm not convinced by Rob, but then I've only seen David cook pastry.

I'd like to say I thought today was great.

Really good standard, which has made this judging extremely difficult.

It's never easy, but we have made a decision.

And the chef leaving us is...

..Rob.

'I'm feeling gutted.'

I'll take away, obviously, the positives, but also I've got to do a lot of work.

I have a lot more to learn. I'm still young. I'm only 21.

No, it's not the end. You'll see me again - just not on MasterChef!

Congratulations. You three are quarter-finalists.

Well done.

I'm so happy. I'm going to get all tearful as well! I'm very excited and happy.

'Making the quarter-final now I can show off more skills not only for myself,'

but the boys in green out there. I'm still here.

Going through means everything to me now.

You've not seen the best of me. I haven't even got started yet.

Tomorrow night, Shaun, Kim and David will join three other heat winners in the quarter-final.

Our chefs cannot afford to play it safe. Now is the time to really excel.

Only the best will go on to cook for the critics in a bid for a coveted semi-final place.

I like chocolate. I hate this.

This is as near as it comes to a faultless dish.

Subtitles by Subtext for Red Bee Media Ltd - 2011

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