Episode 15 MasterChef: The Professionals

'Only an elite group of chefs holds two Michelin stars.

'Michel Roux Jr is one of them.'

-Now!

-THEY CHEER

'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.'

OK.

'This week, ten professional chefs face their first challenge

'to prove to Monica Galetti that they have the skills required

'to 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 Jr.

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

I want to work in Michelin star restaurants.

I think MasterChef could give me that opportunity.

You really have to bring your A game if you want to do well here.

I think I am good enough to be the champion.

For me to win would be huge.

I just want my son to see me and to be proud of his daddy.

We've got four keen but quite nervous chefs outside waiting for their test.

-What are you expecting from them?

-Today I'd like them to make a Swiss meringue and use that meringue

to decorate this lemon tart and make a sauce using anything on the table.

So, meringue. Sugar, egg whites, vanilla. What's a Swiss meringue?

It's a more dense meringue. Just completely different to a very airy meringue.

The texture is light and crusty on the outside

-but the inside is almost like a marshmallow texture. Absolutely delicious.

-How would you do it?

Right, I'm just going to separate the yolks from the egg whites.

150 grams of sugar.

With the Swiss meringue, you whisk the egg whites and the sugar over the bain-marie.

The sugar melts into the egg whites and it starts to combine.

I'm checking the temperature. I want it to about 40 degrees.

-So what's the significance of 40 degrees?

-That's when it completely breaks down. You see?

-What happens if you carry on heating it?

-It will start to cook.

-Like a little white omelette?

-A sweet omelette.

-You're a sweet omelette.

And you can see, that's now at 40.

It's completely melted the sugar down and it's combined really well with the egg whites.

-Into the food processor. You can see this is just liquid at the moment.

-Yeah!

We leave that to whisk until it's cold and it will thicken as it's cooling.

Can you see that, Gregg? A really dense meringue.

It's starting to hold its peak when you pull it up.

Now we're going to use it to decorate our lemon tart.

-Doesn't matter how they decorate it, does it?

-You want to see some piping skills.

They can use any skills they want to,

just show us that they can pipe.

I want the meringue to be absolutely shiny like this

-and glossy.

-Lovely.

It's in the oven to glaze, to give it a nice colour on top.

-Yeah!

-Now, I'm making caramel sauce.

They can make whatever sauce they like.

And that's me. I'm ready to plate.

Mm! Come on!

-And there we have it.

-Oh, my word. Where's me spoon?

This task will show me who deserves to go through and cook for Michel.

-I think this is going to terrify them.

-Let's bring them in.

'After working in kitchens in Bermuda and France,

'Chris is now head chef of a Buckinghamshire hotel.

'In the first test, Chris's tofu tempura was one of the most original dishes of the day.'

My worst nightmare would be a really complicated pastry task.

Although I think I'm competent, I'm not a pastry chef,

so that would be my worst case scenario.

This is a skills test, Chris.

What we'd like you to do is make us a Swiss meringue,

use that meringue to decorate the lemon tart and then glaze it

and then make us a sauce.

Show me why you deserve to go through and cook for Michel.

15 minutes. Off you go.

-When you make the meringue, Chris, what do you normally add with it?

-Sugar.

Perfect. Seven and a half minutes left.

-All done?

-All done.

-It's not pleasant, Chris. The burnt meringue destroys anything that you've got on this plate.

-Yep.

It's all a little bit bitter and then raspberry tang

in the middle of it and lemon sharpness. It's a bit weird, Chris.

When you were making your sauce, you were doing everything right, wonderful sauce,

but with the raspberries in there, as well, it's just too much.

The plate's a bit of a disaster at the end of the day. I wouldn't dream of putting that in front of Michel.

Off you go.

Bit bruised, really. Not great.

I don't think my brain was functioning correctly, to be honest.

I'm much better than that. I'm much, much better than that.

'Next up is Byron, who comes from a family of chefs.

'In the first round, his stuffed aubergine delivered on flavour

'but lacked finesse.'

Today I'm really determined. I really want to cook for Michel

and show him what I'm capable of, so I'll pull out all the stops.

Bryon, this is a skills test.

-Pretty straightforward. You've got 15 minutes.

-OK.

-Off you go, chef.

-Er, Byron, I wanted you to glaze the tart with the meringue.

-Oh! Sorry.

Five minutes left, chef.

90 seconds, Bryon.

-All done?

-Yeah.

Byron, when you were making the meringue, there was not enough sugar to get the glossiness.

You then tried to glaze the tart without the meringue on top, misunderstanding.

Interestingly, you were making a caramel there. What were you trying to do?

-I was going to spin some sugar.

-Oh, right.

You should never stir a caramel that's got water in it.

It will crystallise, OK? This should not happen.

It's not been a good day at the office for you.

I get a little bit of sweetness from your meringue

but it just dissolves in the mouth because it's so wet.

The chocolate is far too dense and heavy.

Not what I would expect if I was out for afternoon tea.

By the look on Monica's face, not what she expected.

Off you go.

Rather than just using my basic chef instincts,

I just panicked.

It was quite a simple task, which has really upset me more than anything else.

'Ursula currently caters for banquets, but dreams of becoming a pastry chef.

'She's already demonstrated an accomplished palate with her onion tartlet.'

I don't think I have any weaknesses in the kitchen.

I think as a sous chef, you have to be strong and confident on every section.

-Ursula, are you ready?

-Yeah.

Take a deep breath, 15 minutes, off you go.

You've had five minutes, Ursula.

-What are you doing?

-Heating my sugar to pour into the meringue.

-I need the sugar and the egg whites together.

-Right, OK.

Get it out and get the other egg white in.

-You need the egg white.

-The egg white.

-You can do this. You've got seven and a half minutes left.

-Come on, let's go.

Five minutes left.

HE LAUGHS

Two minutes. You can do this, you know?

Go on, girl! It's working!

Ooh-hoo-hoo!

HE LAUGHS

It looks wonderful.

You made us a chocolate sauce, I think in the last two or three minutes.

I thought it was a very intelligent choice, one, for flavour,

and second, for the speed that you needed to get a sauce out. And you glazed your tart at the same time.

The colour is wonderful on that. You showed great skill in piping, as well.

Yeah, I love that. Your meringue is sweet

and it's thick and it's sticky and a sweet chocolate cocoa flavour underneath.

It tastes lovely, it looks wonderful and you did it in seven minutes. Very impressive.

Ursula, you've made my day. To have something like this

-really puts a smile on my face and would put a smile on Michel's face.

-Thank you.

Ursula, very well done. Off you go.

-Thank you.

-Good luck.

That made you smile, didn't it, you big, tough chef?

I knew my back was up against the clock to do a second meringue.

But I produced it on time.

It all went well in the end.

'Finally, it's demi chef de partie Joshua,

'who works in a one Michelin star kitchen in London.'

'Failure to remove the strawberry stalks in the last round

'tainted an otherwise exceptional dessert.'

I made a stupid schoolboy error last time. I feel I've got a little bit to prove today.

I really want to show them what I can do and do myself justice.

Joshua, we want a Swiss meringue on that lemon tart with a sauce. Off you go, chef.

-What temperature are you looking for?

-Around 120.

Joshua, four minutes left.

-All done?

-Yeah, I'm done now.

Josh, what you've made is a variation of an Italian meringue, not a Swiss meringue.

What I admire, Josh, is that you didn't give up.

You burnt the first one that went in the oven,

yet you scraped it off and put a fresh one on.

Some people would just leave that on there. So points for that, OK?

It's not the best-looking meringue. Piping skills leave a lot to be desired.

The meringue is not quite right. It's very spongy, almost like a souffle.

I think the sauce is wonderful. We could do with more of it.

The raspberry sauce is nice. It's sharp and it's sweet. I really like that.

Your meringue, it's a bit flat. There's not enough sugar in it, either. You can taste the egg.

Josh, thank you.

Although my meringue wasn't that great, I'm just glad I managed to put something up on time.

Varying degrees of success but one or two here have got a real touch.

I very much enjoyed watching Ursula in particular.

She made the wrong sort of meringue to start with and then actually had half the time

and produced by far the best meringue on the lemon tart. Even the chocolate sauce was great.

She pulled it out the bag in the end. Her plate was perfect. She definitely goes through.

I'd like to talk about Joshua. When he burnt his meringue,

he pulled it back out of the oven, whisked the top off and actually piped it on again.

You liked his raspberry coulis, I liked it.

I think it actually ended up looking one of the better plates.

Yes, the coulis was nice, but he looks like he did OK

because the other two did so bad.

Now, Chris had a half-decent attempt at the meringue

but then he burnt it in the oven and turned what could've been a beautiful sauce

into a big, lumpy, raspberry, chocolaty mess. I don't... I...

He just ruined what would've been a wonderful sauce.

Silly errors here. Frustrating to watch, actually.

What concerns me about Byron was his attempt at a chocolate sauce,

which is quite a basic technique for a chef.

He attempted a caramel, which crystallised.

These are skills that you need to be sure are going to work if you want to show them off.

We're discussing who's going to leave the competition here and it's either Byron or Chris.

I came here to cook for Michel Roux Jr.

If I don't get the opportunity, obviously I'm going to be devastated.

I'd love another chance. Absolutely love another chance.

If I went home now, I'd be desperately disappointed. I've let myself down.

Both these guys made fundamental errors here today.

But we've got good contestants still in the competition that have had bad skills tests.

They get nervous. Who's got the potential?

It's a very hard decision, but I know who's going to go through and cook for Michel.

Three of you will go through and cook for Michel.

And one of you will have to leave us.

The chef that is leaving us today...

..is..

-..Byron.

-Thank you.

I definitely didn't show the judges what I could do. It definitely wasn't me out there.

It's one of those things.

Well done, the three of you. You now get to cook for Michel.

If you want this, you've got to work for it.

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

'and Michel Roux Jr is looking for chefs who aspire to cook them

'at his two Michelin-star level.'

For today's classic recipe, the chefs will have to cook un pigeon roti aux petits pois.

'Sharing its name with a Picasso masterpiece,

'pigeon aux petits pois requires the peas to be cooked a la francaise

'with bacon, lettuce and onions,

'a traditional recipe dating back to the 17th century.'

Peas are a classic accompaniment to pigeon in France. It's rather like bangers and mash in England.

This dish is going to be accompanied by a confit grilled potato.

It needs long, slow cooking, so it's the first job to do.

And cut it about a centimetre and a half and then just shape it.

I'd rather see the skills of the chef using the knife than using a cutter.

Grilled on a bar grill, so it has the lovely criss-cross

and slightly smoky flavour, and then long, slow cooking in goose or duck fat.

Beautifully marked on both sides. It goes into the fat.

So now this is going to go in the oven for long, slow cooking.

Chefs cannot afford to serve an undercooked potato.

Al dente potato is a no-no.

The next step is to prepare the pigeon for roasting.

Chefs should know how to do this.

They have to remove the wishbone, which will help to carve later.

The customer doesn't want a mouthful of feathers when he's eating his pigeon.

I want to see a nice, golden skin on that pigeon, then into the oven.

I want it served pink but not underdone. If it's rare, it will be totally inedible.

The sweetness of the peas is what works with the pigeon.

Just the perfect marriage. I'm looking for peas that are shelled and peeled.

It's taken me about ten minutes to get just this much. It really is painstaking.

Chicken stock here. I'm going to infuse the pods with the stock.

Pass the stock through a fine sieve and that's intense, sweet pea flavour.

I'll be looking for neatness and precision all the way through the process

and at all times working methodically.

Then the carrots.

At this stage, no salt. The bacon is very salty there, so we have to be very careful.

Now for the peas. All the flavours mingling there.

And then our intense pea stock.

Lots of butter.

Everything has still got vibrant colours.

Pigeon is now fully rested.

I expect the chefs to be doing this.

Cleaning that pigeon properly and making it look beautiful.

Ooh, yes. That is a lovely, perfect pink.

It's moist, it's hot inside.

And just how we like it.

At the last second, the lettuce goes into the peas.

It should be wilted but still have a bit of a crunch.

The crispy legs.

It looks divine.

There you have it. Pigeon aux petits pois.

A beautiful dish. A great French classic.

It's an amazing feeling to go further in the competition.

This is what dreams are made of and hopefully I can just keep on progressing.

I haven't cooked to Michel's level, but I believe I can strive to that and it's what I want to do.

It feels like the competition's really on now, so I'm just going to come in all guns blazing.

'Returning to join them is 27-year-old head chef Ben,

'who was unable to finish his classic round.'

-You've taken the top of your finger off.

-I can't go out with a cut finger.

I felt a little bit embarrassed, a little bit robbed, a little bit angry.

I never expected a second chance, so to be given one, it's made me extremely determined.

I want to take it as far as I can possibly take it, and hopefully win it.

Welcome back. Ben, good to see you back with a repaired finger. You've got another chance.

You've all now got a chance to impress.

But let me tell you, it's about to get tougher.

I want you to cook pigeon roti aux petits pois.

There are many versions of petits pois a la francaise,

but there is only one true one.

This is one of my favourite all-time dishes. I know it inside out. Get it right.

It will test you on all your skills.

This is the first of two classic recipe tests.

At the end of the tests, one of you will leave the competition.

It's up to you. Now is the time to turn it on.

One hour. Do yourselves proud, do this recipe justice. Off you go.

To be back here now feels incredible.

The number one determination for me is to finish what I started.

I need at least closure.

-Great to have you back, Ben.

-Yeah. Unexpected, but really excited, really pleased. Very grateful.

It's a horrible way to go out. A little eye-off-the-ball moment for one second

and it's game over. Yeah, it was gut-wrenching.

You're the only one in this competition that's done two of Michel's classic recipes.

A silly mistake cost me big time last time and there certainly won't be a third chance,

so I'm more determined than ever. No mistakes, no excuses.

Concentration. This is extremely important.

Ben's back. His finger's bandaged and he looks like a man on a mission.

He's preparing two kinds of potato when I only asked for one.

He's thinking out of the box.

He's cut the carrots in different shapes. It's little things like that that make the difference.

You've had 20 minutes. 40 minutes left.

I think Michel Roux Jr will like what he sees with me.

He sees hundreds of chefs every year, but I'd like for him to see a spark in me. I'm pretty confident.

Chris let himself down badly when he cooked in front of Monica.

He's now really got a point to prove.

He's tied the pigeon beautifully.

And prepared it for roasting just as I would.

And he's working like a professional chef.

I do have an understanding of the classics.

They're the basis of everything that we know, that we cook.

They're so important, from your bechamel sauces right up to your pigeon dishes, such as this.

I'm quite confident I'll do all right with this.

-So far, it looks good.

-Fingers crossed.

-THEY LAUGH

You are half way, 30 minutes left.

I've been a chef for quite some years.

When I was at college, it was all classic French.

I'm quite confident. Hopefully I'll just keep a level head and everything should come back to me.

How long have you been a chef, Ursula?

-22 years.

-Is that like a gentleman asking a lady her age?

-It is, yeah.

-Sorry. Why did you become a chef?

It's a passion of mine. Both granddads were chefs, so it was kind of in the blood.

Why MasterChef? Why pit yourself against a load of other chefs?

I think, at the age that I am,

I have more confidence now than I had as a junior chef.

I think now is the right time for me to progress in my career

-and actually get out there and show people what I can do.

-Hm.

Ursula did very well in the previous round. I've got high hopes for her.

I believe Ursula to be a class act.

You have 20 minutes to go.

The places I work at are a bit more contemporary,

but there's still that ethos around classic dishes.

I'm hoping I can do a classic dish justice.

-All right, Josh, have you cooked pigeon with peas before?

-No, I haven't.

I don't really have much classical training,

but I think I understand the processes and what's needed,

-so I'm hoping I can do OK.

-And where do you think you're at now?

I still consider myself in a very junior position within kitchens, constantly learning.

I think I'm always going to be learning. But I'm just hoping that every day, every week,

I'll continue to improve and one day that pays dividends.

Being a chef is tough. Have you made many sacrifices?

I've always been a really keen rugby player, played since I was ten, so that's a sacrifice I've had to make.

But I'll focus on where I want to go and that's a pretty easy sacrifice, really.

Joshua I think is a young chef who's got an eye for detail.

He is shelling the peas properly.

I noticed him taking off the legs of the pigeon to roast them separately.

I think this young man can really cook.

It's your last five minutes.

The last minutes, attention to detail,

making sure the bird has rested properly so the blood doesn't seep into the plate.

It's not easy to make a roast pigeon look elegant and dainty on a plate, but I am expecting it.

Last 60 seconds.

Stop. Time's up.

I asked you to cook un pigeon roti aux petits pois.

A truly great French classic.

The pigeon should be roast with a nice crispy skin and pink.

The legs, beautifully trimmed.

The secret of this dish is to get intensity of flavour in the stewed peas.

It should be full of butter and rich.

Confit potato should really be moist and succulent.

It's the attention to detail that will make the difference in this dish.

Chris, you first.

First off, Chris, it's not neat.

It's just a mound of pigeon.

The pigeon leg hasn't been trimmed up properly. There's a lack of attention to detail here.

Oh, that's good, chef. Gamey flavour of the pigeon, soft meat, peas are sweet,

buttery potatoes, good seasoning on there.

It's got to be worth taking the extra couple of minutes just to make it look a bit smarter, surely.

The pigeon has been very well roasted.

I like it served pink like that.

And you've roasted the legs again, cos the legs should be served well done. So that's good.

Your vegetables are well cooked. The taste in there is very good.

I like the fact that there's a lot of peas and a lot of sauce there,

because that is the way petits pois a la francaise should be.

Great flavour, but not as neat as I would've liked.

I feel a lot better than I was in my previous challenge.

I think this time I've justified my being here.

Right, your turn, Ben.

When you roast a bird, it needs a long time resting

so that the blood permeates back into the flesh

and it doesn't leach all over the plate when you cut it.

This is almost like a deconstructed dish,

with the lattice of carrots and the onions placed there.

I think it's the chef side of you showing off.

Ooh.

It's a bit burnt there. When it's like that, don't put it on the plate.

The pigeon is absolutely lovely. It's cooked so well, it's soft and full of flavour,

but it's not coated in sauce.

So you're missing all that slippery, buttery flavour.

I love your little cubes of confit potatoes. They are really very tasty.

Ben, in parts, this is the classic dish, but only in parts.

On the positive side, look, all your fingers still there.

I maybe went a little bit too chefy, but I'd say it was 90 percent there.

If I can just... eradicate the stupidity

then, yeah, we'll do all right.

Ursula.

First off, Ursula, it's not roasted properly. The skin isn't brown and crispy.

It looks a bit pale. And obviously you haven't trimmed up the wings there. Attention to detail.

Beautifully turned carrots there.

You've trained a bit in the classics, because turning vegetables is a classic skill.

Gamey, buttery, sweet pea, lovely.

We're a crisp skin away from a very good dish, aren't we?

I like the fact that there's a lot of sauce there, a lot of buttery braising juices of the peas.

The potato is beautifully cooked, but not seasoned enough.

It's your pigeon that's the problem.

It should be a star, but it isn't, it's a letdown. It's a shame.

A bit disappointed in myself.

I shouldn't be making those type of mistakes, being at this level.

Joshua, now for you.

First off, it's a bit small. It's half a pigeon.

If I order pigeon as a customer, I'm expecting a whole one.

Saying that, the presentation is exactly what I'm looking for.

The pigeon leg has been roasted, it's nice and brown.

Cleaned up that bone, as well. It's attention to detail

that great chefs aspire to and that you have given me here.

One thing, though, is petits pois a la francaise, peas. That's the first word you get.

There are no peas in this dish, or very few.

Oh, that's lovely. I don't think I chewed more than three times.

Everything is so soft, so lovely, so buttery, and that pigeon, gamey and then almost metallic.

It tastes divine. I mean, really, really lovely. Well done.

Very chuffed. Could kiss you.

Mm. Lovely potato, beautifully confit.

Soft and tender. Your peas, when you get to them, are delicious.

You've gone to the trouble of shelling them completely and removing the outer skin.

The bacon has been beautifully cut into thin strips.

The carrots into beautiful, tiny little cubes.

You're showing off a lot of knife skills here, which is great.

I like your dish, Josh, I really do.

Hearing those comments made my day.

I'm going through to the next test with my head held high.

We've seen you cook my choice of a classic recipe, now it is your turn.

Your classic recipe.

It should be a dish that you have cooked time and time again.

I want to see perfection.

After this, one of you will be leaving the competition.

You have one hour.

Off you go.

Chris, what classic dish are you cooking for us?

-I'm cooking sole Veronique for you today.

-Where did you come across this dish?

-College, initially.

-It's stuck with me since.

-Done properly it's beautiful, great recipe.

What will make this sole Veronique really special?

I'm going to cook it on the bone. It's far better.

-It doesn't dry out.

-This is down to timings.

I ate sole cooked by Michel when I asked my wife to marry me.

-And that was cooked on the bone, as well.

-It was, yeah.

-It was.

-Did she say yes?

-She's my wife.

-Oh, yeah.

Chris is doing sole Veronique, which is sole served with cream sauce with white seedless grapes.

A lovely, lovely dish if he gets it right.

But Chris gave us scruffy, untidy presentation in his first dish.

He's going to have to deliver beautiful sole Veronique this time round.

I've been cooking sole Veronique on and off for 19 years.

The most challenging thing is making sure the fish is cooked to perfection.

And also that there is not a bone in sight.

I will lose sleep over that.

20 minutes gone.

Right, Josh. What classic recipe are you cooking?

I've chosen to do sole Veronique. Trying to keep it, in essence, as it's supposed to.

One variation, I'm going to make my potato look like my rollmops of sole.

So it gives aesthetic value to the dish

-as well as a nice textural difference.

-Excellent.

There's another sole Veronique going on in the room.

Yours has got to be a lot better, hasn't it?

Yes, I'm hoping that my refinement, attention to detail and slight adaptation might give me the edge.

Josh is also doing sole Veronique.

But he is playing around with little potato ribbons

that he's going to make into shapes that are going to match the fish.

I've eaten out a lot and I've never seen any chef make potatoes try to look like fish.

With this dish, the thing that could go wrong is perhaps my adaptation that I am doing.

But I think, without it, it could just be an ordinary plate of food.

A modern cooking technique could really bring this dish up into the 21st century.

You're half way.

Ursula, what are you cooking for us?

I'm doing a rack of lamb with confit sweet potatoes and a red wine jus.

-Have you got a sweet tooth?

-I have, yes.

-This is a very sweet dish.

When I've served it in the past, I've had some good feedback, and it's been a popular dish.

I've put my own twist to it with a mint jelly.

I just wanted to do something maybe a little bit more different than actually mint sauce.

Ursula, I look forward to your lamb and mint.

Ursula knows a thing or two about butchery.

That rack of lamb was superbly butchered. Every bone scraped clean.

But I'm not sure about this mint jelly thing. I don't know how that's going to work.

If it does, my chef's hat off to her.

I'm 100 percent confident that I can make this dish perfect.

It's just up to me to step up to the plate.

You've got 20 minutes left.

-Go easy!

-Yes, chef.

Right, Ben, what are you cooking for us?

We're doing roasted poussin, ballantine of leg, saffron dauphinoise.

-What is so classic about this recipe?

-It's essentially a roast chicken,

-which is about as classic a British dish as it gets.

-Who came up with saffron dauphinoise?

Well, we've done a few different, over many years, flavoured dauphinoise.

I think saffron gives a nice edge to this particular dish.

-How important is it that you get this dish right?

-Yeah, sink or swim, this.

There's no messing. If this isn't right, there's nowhere really to hide behind.

OK, Ben, you know what's at stake.

Ben's cooking chicken two ways. The legs stuffed with the mousse, with some tarragon and olive oil,

and the breast, slow-cooked in a water bath.

And he's making something I can't wait to get my spoon in and that is a saffron dauphinoise.

If he gets this right, this will show off all the skills necessary.

This is now the second time for me having a go at this dish.

And so the determination to finish the dish and to do it justice is very strong.

Last five minutes.

There's some food in here I'd actually walk over hot coals to get at.

Great classic recipes, great classic cooking.

And they're all 100 percent focused. They want this.

Last 60 seconds, guys.

Stop!

'Ben's roast chicken has been served with a ballantine of chicken and tarragon,

'saffron dauphinoise, carrots, asparagus, onions, broad beans,

'and a lemon and thyme reduction.'

The carrots could have been scraped a little bit more there, just to remove a bit more of the skin.

but very vibrant colours, very appetising for the diner.

But I really don't approve of stacking the chicken up. It looks a little bit like Stonehenge.

Bits of it are absolutely glorious. The chicken is cooked really well,

the tarragon inside the ballantine is lovely.

That little hint of aniseed, and it's very subtle, and I love the saffron in that dauphinoise.

What's lacking is a good sauce. It's too thin. Much, much, much too thin. It's such a shame.

I think I've almost done myself justice.

It was only the sauce that I wasn't happy with.

I hope it doesn't cost me.

'Chris has made a sole Veronique with glazed carrots and new potatoes.'

I'm not keen on the presentation.

I don't think it looks elegant enough.

The fish itself is well-cooked. It's really moist, tender, and no bones.

For me, the high point of this dish is the quality of your sauce.

It's got the right consistency, perfect balance, you can taste the fish,

the grapes, the wine, the herbs in there. That's a very good sauce.

One potato needs a bit more cooking.

However, the sauce, thick and creamy, it's almost sweet like a caramel,

it is very, very good indeed.

-I'm very happy with that.

-How do you look when you're happy?

HE LAUGHS

Presentation-wise, I didn't get there, again. I've struggled with that.

But I hope the flavour will compensate, and they'll turn a blind eye this time.

'Joshua's also made a sole Veronique, but with his take on a potato galette.

'The dish is scattered with micro herbs.'

First off, incredibly neat dressing of the plate again.

And I quite like your play on a galette.

I like the fact that, erm, you've rolled the potato in a similar fashion as a classic sole Veronique.

It's pretty good. It's pretty good.

The fish is lovely and soft, the potatoes are crispy but still light.

The grapes give lovely sweetness, it is a lovely balance. But look at this sauce. Look.

You said you were going to put the poaching liquid in from the sole.

But it needed more, it needed to be reduced down to intensify those flavours.

Very nearly, Josh. Very nearly wonderful.

There was a bit of style over substance. But some real positive feedback.

Erm, no, I'm happy with that.

'Ursula has made a rack of lamb, with confit of sweet potatoes,

'tomato petals, red wine sauce and a mint jelly.'

First off, Ursula, the presentation, I think, is beautiful.

Really vibrant colours, a lot of attention to detail.

The tomato petals are beautifully cut. You can just see the orange of the sweet potato,

thrown off there with the bright red of the tomato. Butchery skills on show, superb.

The bones are perfectly scraped down and clean. And that's beautiful. That really is fantastic.

Lamb is cooked beautifully, well-seasoned, pink. Very nice.

However, I find these mint jellies a little bland.

I'm not a great fan of sweet potatoes,

but they actually add a little sweetness to this plate of food which I like.

It tastes good.

You got a little bit of texture on the outside of the lamb but it's perfectly soft inside.

There's a little bit of mint sweetness in there, as well. Also a little bit of red wine sweetness.

It tastes good. And it's not very often I disagree with Michel,

but looking at it, I think it's too many big, bold colours. I don't like it.

I've got mixed emotions right now.

I don't know who to, sort of, put my beliefs into, you know...

I don't know.

I'm really pleased we had four decent plates of food. And it was good. It was a great standard.

This is really tough. The first round with the pigeon, ups and downs,

but then in the second round they all upped their game, and all gave us really good food.

These guys can cook.

Chris's roast pigeon dish looked fairly uncouth and heavy-handed,

however, the taste was by far the best on all the bench. But it wasn't neat.

There's got to be a question mark over his ability to give us stylish food.

He struggled a bit with the look of his sole, but he's got a good touch, the fella.

I thought what Chris's food lacked in presentation more than made up for in taste.

Chris understands flavour like probably nobody else in that kitchen today.

The further you get in the competition, it gives you something to work towards.

The presentation will definitely come.

Joshua gave us the best-looking food and looks the most competent chef.

His presentation of food is really classy.

Josh's pigeon, I thought, looked so elegant. It was, however, tiny.

It was only half the pigeon and there weren't enough peas.

-Other than that, it was perfection.

-And I loved his take on that sole Veronique,

I thought the potatoes, spiralled and rolled up to resemble the shape of the fish was great.

I just loved the look of that young fella's food.

As the competition has progressed, I have shown what I'm capable of,

and I think I've put myself as one of the contenders.

If we could morph together Josh and Chris, we'd have the perfect chef.

They are two that should definitely go through.

How do you then choose between Ben and Ursula?

Ursula's skill test was so good, so good, that I was expecting great things from her

and was quite disappointed that she hadn't carried on the momentum and done a brilliant pigeon dish.

Ursula contradicts herself because the roast pigeon was not right.

It wasn't trimmed down properly. But then the roast lamb was perfect.

It was a decent-tasting plate of food. Everything was cooked really well. It was yummy lamb.

I'll give it to you, it was a bit garish and OTT. But I'd far rather that than a very dull plate of food.

Ben, that ballantine with the tarragon flavouring was terrific.

The bird, the poussin, was cooked really well. And I loved, literally loved that saffron dauphinoise.

Technically, there were a lot of good skills there.

He can cook, but he's got a strange way of presenting his food.

He made a concertina shape out of the carrots. I don't know what that was for.

-What's all that about?

-What is that about?

-I don't know.

Why did he want to create Stonehenge out of a poussin?

I think he's trying too hard with his presentation to the detriment of the food.

It's the most important thing in my life right now.

I've already gone home once. And I don't want to put myself through that again, it was horrible.

What are we going to do? It's a quarter-final ahead. We've got to make this decision.

I can't even think what I'd be like if I went home today.

I just think I'd be mortified.

Everything would just come crashing down.

I think I'd be quite emotional.

Ursula and Ben showed signs of being good chefs.

I know who, sadly, has got to go home.

We have made a decision.

And the chef leaving us today is...

..Ben.

It's a bitter pill to swallow.

I'm upset and I don't want to go.

But I feel like this time, at least it was for the right reasons.

Well done, guys. Well done.

Oh, mate, over the moon. I'm so chuffed. Glad to be through.

I made a few mistakes but I did just enough. Going to have to up it a level. Chuffed.

I can't believe I'm through to the next round.

It just gives me more motivation to keep on succeeding in what I'm doing. I'm so happy.

Every time I come here, I want it more. Through to the quarter-finals, over the moon, ecstatic. Can't wait.

I'm so excited.

'Tomorrow night, Ursula, Joshua and Chris will join three other heat winners.

'First, they'll battle to impress Michel and Gregg with a dish of their own invention.'

You don't get to a quarter-final without talent. Now you have to prove that for a place in the semis.

'Only the best will go on to cook their food for some of the UK's toughest food critics.'

None of it tastes of anything.

Very good indeed. Can't fault it.

'In a bid to win a coveted place in the semi-finals.'

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