Episode 23 MasterChef: The Professionals

Only an elite group of chefs holds two Michelin stars.

Michel Roux Jr is one of them.

Tomas, two St Jacques au passe, now.

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.

It's the penultimate Professional MasterChef.

Ash, Claire and Steve are one step closer to claiming the title.

You're in the home straight. You can see the finish line.

You have seen what it takes to achieve perfection.

That is what we are expecting from you now.

If you deliver the goods today,

you could have one foot on that podium.

We want a dish that shows us everything you've learned in the competition so far.

One hour and 30 minutes. Off you go.

This whole competition is getting harder and harder.

But all the way along I've improved, got better and pushed myself.

I'm going to go for it and showcase again what I can do today.

I think my style of cooking

is different. I try and work with unusual flavours and make them work.

You have to take risks in this competition, otherwise I probably wouldn't be here.

Hopefully, I'm going to absolutely wow them today.

You have got just 25 minutes.

Being on MasterChef has had a big impact on me, like lack of sleep is one thing!

It's been quite stressful

but it's been inspirational, a great learning experience overall.

I just want to prove to the judges what I'm capable of.

Ten minutes! Guys, ten minutes, please.

Come on, guys. The clock is ticking down.

Stop! Your time's up!

Claire's dish is roasted white asparagus

with a buttermilk panna cotta

accompanied by rhubarb puree and ribbons.

Served with toasted pine nuts, baby violet flowers

and a mustard aioli.

It's just exquisite to look at.

It's almost nomoresque, which is wonderful.

There'll be nothing left for you, Gregg!

I really love your white asparagus with the buttermilk panna cotta.

It's delicious and it works very, very well.

I am not convinced that the rhubarb works with the asparagus.

But, saying that, I'd eat the lot. I would.

And I'd be very happy.

I've never eaten anything like that ever before.

I like it.

Asparagus is a very strong, earthy, earthy flavour.

But the buttermilk softens it.

The little sharp notes of the rhubarb I like with it.

I can completely understand anyone who wouldn't be OK with it

and I think this is going to be true of your food if you carry on like this.

Nice. I like it.

Steve has made a tasting of squab pigeon

comprising of pigeon breast,

confit pigeon leg, a truffle and pigeon ballotine

and pan-fried pigeon liver,

served with cabbage puree,

stuffed cabbage ball and a potato, parmesan and truffle croquette.

The pigeon is cooked beautifully, the croquettes are heavenly and light and truffley.

Your cabbage puree is bright, vibrant green.

Without using chemicals, you've managed to keep it nice and green which shows skill and thinking.

It's great. It is very, very fine cooking. Very fine cooking.

You're in the final for a reason. You're a good chef.

That proves it.

Mmmm!

Phwoar!

That has a punch well beyond its size. Salty on the outside of the ham,

the richness of that pigeon and then a hint of truffle is my idea of heaven.

That is lovely.

I eat out three to five times a week and have done for the last 20 years.

This is up there with the best of them. No doubt about it.

This is proper high-end dining.

It looks it. It tastes it. It's fabulous.

Ash has made a lobster salad,

a ballotine of carrot, lobster and quinoa

with a cashew nut emulsion,

a butter-poached claw of lobster with a brown butter emulsion,

and fried lobster with a crust of quinoa and panko breadcrumbs

served with pickled carrot and a carrot and orange emulsion.

It's not really a salad, is it, Ash? It's eye-wateringly beautiful.

It hurts it's so pretty.

That's the first time I've really enjoyed quinoa.

If I knew, I wouldn't have served you quinoa!

But I'm glad you enjoyed it.

The little quinoa salad in the middle with the butter-poached claw of lobster is exquisite.

That Hollandaise emulsion that you've made with the nut brown butter

is...exemplary.

The little beignet has been rolled in panko breadcrumb and quinoa,

which gives it a lovely crunch which is fantastic because the lobster inside is soft and sweet.

The lobster roll that you've made with carrot, more quinoa, superb.

It goes beautifully well with that cashew nut sauce.

It's really clever cooking. Very, very clever.

Whoa, that's light.

That is so light.

I love all of it.

I love, love, love all of it.

Your food tastes every bit as good as it looks.

Wow!

And I've never had a lobster with so many different flavour dimensions.

Ash, I don't know where I would go to, if I wanted to eat that sort of food again.

-Your house, I suppose!

-Yep!

Your food is amazing. Amazing.

You three have incredible talent.

Saying that, your next challenge is the most demanding of any MasterChef challenge.

The Chefs' Table.

Every year at the Chefs' Table, the three finalists have been cooking my food.

My recipes.

This year...

..YOU are going to be cooking YOUR recipes.

That is how much we think of you.

Don't let us down!

Off you go!

Are you sure? Are you sure?

I just can't believe what I've just heard.

It's going to be our own food.

It really is terrifying!

I'm so nervous about it, honestly.

It's a great opportunity to really show what we can do.

But yes, it's going to be interesting!

Definitely adds to the pressure. We'll have to make them proud of us, hopefully.

Pretty shocking news, really. It's really exciting, but yeah,

"daunting" is probably one word I'd probably use!

But hopefully we're going to rock that dinner!

Tonight, at Pearl, in the Chancery Court Hotel, central London,

the dining room will be filled with some of the greatest chefs in Europe.

They include three-Michelin-star chefs...

And Michel's father, the legendary...

This is probably the toughest day of their career so far.

They've proved it to us. Now's their chance to prove it to the great and good.

The pressure to cook for these chefs today is immense.

Everyone aspires to be like them.

They've achieved great things and that's what we want to do.

It's an honour to be cooking our own food for them. An absolute honour.

Today's a huge occasion.

I'm very worried about the standard today.

I have to impress. There's zero room for error. It has to be perfect.

There's loads riding on this today. No-one wants to slip up now

and that's the worry. This is the last test before the final.

To do well today would be a massive leap towards winning the title.

Welcome to Pearl Restaurant.

Guys, if you're not nervous, you're not normal.

It would be no exaggeration to say that this is the most important day of your career.

If you mess up, you have messed up for 34 of the most influential people

in our industry.

If you do well, you could even get a few job offers.

If that wasn't enough,

you've got my dad to please as well!

Yeah.

I don't want a call from him in the morning

saying the food was not up to scratch.

You're on your own, guys. You have six hours to cook

the best plates of food you have ever even dreamt of.

Off you go!

The finalists have each been asked to create a dish

that best represents their style.

Claire will be providing the starter.

Right, Claire.

-Feeling nervous?

-Yes.

-Good. So you should be.

-What are you cooking?

-I'm doing dressed curried scallops

with fresh almonds, lime and vanilla syrup,

black olive oil and apricot jam.

-Where does the curry come in? You're making curry oil.

-Yes.

I'm going to dress the scallops last minute with curry oil.

-How will you cook the scallops?

-I'm not cooking the scallops.

-Raw scallops.

-Yes.

So it's a cold dish. The scallops, I take it, are served like a sushini?

-Yes.

-What about texture? Got something crunchy going on?

-I've got the almonds.

-Fresh almonds.

You've got an incredible amount of work to do.

-You've got these beautiful scallops to prepare.

-Yes.

Fresh almonds. These take hours to take that green husk off and then peel them.

You want them to be all perfect. You've got vanilla here as well.

The vanilla is for the syrup. I'm doing a lime and vanilla syrup.

Wow. You've got a lot of flavours going on.

You're not worried about this overpowering that delicate scallop?

I think it really works.

I'm confident with the dish. I really love this dish

so I want them to too.

I think the chefs will enjoy a challenge.

Oh!

I'm confident. I know if anybody can pull off bold flavours, you can.

-Yeah.

-Six hours, Claire. Go for it.

-Thanks.

Claire's first task is to prepare over 100 scallops.

It's my neck on the line, really, if they don't like it.

I've got nowhere to hide. It's my creation

and it'll be pretty embarrassing if they don't.

Yes, got to get it right.

Beautiful raw scallops.

I love sushini. I love that style of food.

Claire has to get the balance right.

She's serving the scallops with a curry oil which is really nice with scallops.

It's got to be a fine balance. Sea food, especially raw sea food,

needs acidity, needs a good dressing.

This dish does carry a risk. Raw scallops are not to everybody's taste.

Ash is in charge of the main course.

-Ash, what are you cooking?

-Guinea fowl, roast and braised,

with morcilla, which is a Spanish blood sausage.

And garnished with apples, baby leeks, and cider and onion puree.

-And a starch?

-Yes, I'm doing a rosti with this,

a classic accompaniment to roast fowl, and the texture is beautiful with it.

It's like a homely Spanish Sunday roast.

Let's hope our guests tonight appreciate a Sunday roast!

I hope so. It's a bit more refined than just a Sunday roast.

-I'm taking it up a little.

-Knowing you, it's not going to be a Sunday roast.

-No!

-Have you ever cooked for this amount of people?

-I'd be more comfortable

cooking for 500 in my own environment

to cooking for 35 today, especially with the calibre of the people we're cooking for.

This is a lot of pressure, yes.

-This really is pressure.

-I haven't got my own team of chefs to help me out, either,

so I'm really on my own here.

I don't want you to have to get your jacket dirty today!

-Right. Get cracking.

-Thank you.

Ash has got his guinea fowl to prepare. He's roasting the supreme on the crown

which is the perfect way to retain the shape and flavour of that beautiful delicate bird.

He's then going to be cooking those legs slowly in a cider-based sauce,

full of flavour until they're nice and moist and flaking it and making a ballotine.

Wrapping it and then roasting it and slicing it.

So an incredible amount of work.

Ash's first job is to braise the guinea fowl legs

which will be used later to form the ballotines.

For me it's pretty amazing. One of my first cook books was by Michel Roux

and it was really a beginning to my career

and hopefully this is going to be a pinnacle as well to my career.

It means a lot to me.

Steve will end the meal with his dessert.

-Right, Stevie.

-Chef.

-What are you preparing for dessert?

Coconut cream with a mango mousse,

passion fruit jelly and lime curd.

-Some rum going in there as well.

-I'm doing a little poached pineapple

with a bit of star anise and vanilla.

Mmm! Wow! What have you got for texture in this dish?

-It's got a coconut tuile.

-You have six elements to this dish.

-Are you happy with the timing?

-There could be loads of timing issues.

Could be a disaster. But I'm not going to believe in that.

The first thing is obviously get the coconut cream on, as that's the main component.

So I need to get that in the fridge, get that set, and then I shouldn't have any worries.

-So nothing's going to go wrong?

-Nothing should go wrong.

One little tip. My old man loves rum, so put plenty in!

Cool. I'll do that, then.

-Well done, Steve. Go for it.

-Cheers, Chef.

Steve has got an incredible dessert going on here.

It all hinges on that coconut cream to set in time.

I'm pretty confident, but I don't want to speak too soon!

It's taken two hours, but Claire has prepared more than 100 scallops.

Now she starts on the next big job.

Claire's using fresh almonds. That's beautiful, delicious,

it'll add texture and a lovely creamy flavour.

But they are so difficult to prepare.

You have to bash them with a hammer, but delicately,

so that you remove that green outer husk

and try to keep them as whole, and that's tricky.

And that takes a lot, a lot of time.

That's the kind of job that could tip you over.

It's taken me ten minutes to just do those.

And then if they break, you can't use them.

This is where I need a little commis chef!

I've got my braise in the oven, which I needed to get in early.

To cook them takes a while. Pickle the meat for the ballotine.

I've got my sauce on, I've got my crowns ready to be seared.

It sounds like I've done a fair bit, but I've got a lot to do still.

So, yeah, very much so.

I'm not going to get comfortable yet!

Because Ash's dish will require so much work to bring together at the end,

he's decided to make his rostis now, to be warmed later.

I've got to do 35 of these, then I'll do five or six more extras

just in case - you never know.

Might end up on the floor. Might end up being black.

You know. So...

I can't afford to not have the food ready in time.

Downstairs in the pastry section, Steve is making the coconut and star anise syrup

for his pineapple salad.

Let's have a little taste of that.

-Hmm.

-A bit too much?

No, definitely not too much booze. Definitely not.

-But you've lost all the alcohol. I don't get a kick of alcohol. That defeats the object.

-OK.

If you're going to bill it as an alcohol, which you have,

-then the customers, or guests, will be expecting a little kick.

-Yes.

So put some in there.

-Everything on the plate is going to be cold, isn't it?

-Yes.

-Might be an idea to put the plates in the fridge.

-OK. Cool.

-Yeah?

-Yeah, cool.

-Good. OK. Keep going.

Steve now adds this alcoholic syrup to the pineapple cubes,

seals them...

..then leaves them to poach for 20 minutes.

It's two hours until service. Claire has been shelling almonds for almost an hour.

But only has 25.

These are sending me over the edge!

Just wondering if there's a better way to do it than I'm doing it.

I'll maybe ask Michel.

-Yay!

-Young lady. Everything going well?

I'm doing OK, but quite a few of them are breaking

and I'm wondering if you've got a better technique of doing them?

-Let's have a look.

-They're breaking.

-Yeah. I mean, that's no good.

-I know.

You need the whole ones. And you've got a lot of waste.

-Look!

-I know.

It really is a horrible job, but if you hold it like that...

Oh!

It's not easy.

-That's two I've done for you!

-Thank you!

Wa-hoo!

I'm glad I asked!

Ash is shredding the guinea fowl leg meat for his ballotines.

I'm not really on schedule, but I'm hoping I'll get it done.

It's really just hope now.

Hope to have it rolled in the next 15 to 20 minutes in the chiller.

Ready to be sliced for serving later on.

Yeah, I've still got a lot to do, though, after this.

Next, Ash needs to wrap the meat in paper-thin slices of Serrano ham.

Ash, how are we doing?

I'm just having a few problems with bits and pieces.

-Basically, the ballotine?

-Yeah, I'm trying to get this ham off.

It's difficult to get it off in one piece.

Once I've got this laid out, it's quick to roll, the ballotine.

It's five to six. Five to six. Starters on the pass at seven.

Mains, I'm guessing, will be at eight o'clock.

Ash, you have to roll your ballotines, set them, roast them,

roast the crowns, prep your cabbage.

You've got your black pudding to slice and roast

-and sauce to finish.

-Yeah.

-Are you going to be all right?

-Possibly not.

-Ash, you're feeling the pressure.

-Yeah, definitely.

-I'm going to be in trouble soon.

-Does that mean

maybe not serving on time?

Yeah, possibly.

-We don't want that, do we?

-No.

-Not at all.

-You haven't yet not delivered on time.

There's a first time for everything!

You'd better put the turbo on!

Finally, the ballotines are rolled.

But now Ash has to get them to the blast chiller to set,

which is downstairs in the pastry section.

Wonderful if we got stuck now.

What would we do? Well, here's the ballotine!

Steve's passion fruit jelly is ready.

But he can only pour it on top of the coconut creams if they're completely set.

Yeah, they're set already. So I'm pretty game on. Pretty happy.

They're pretty perfect.

I've still got a bit to do. I've got to make my tuile mix,

then cook my tuiles.

That's quite time-consuming as well to make a nice 30 for them,

so there's still a lot to do.

Tonight's event will see the greatest gathering of Michelin-starred chefs

in Europe.

The men and women who continue to prove that they are the masters of their craft.

Dedicated to achieving perfection.

They include:

Also attending are the finalists' three mentors:

And joining them, two leaders of quite unique culinary styles:

And possibly one of the most demanding critics at this gathering:

Right, guys, the first guests have already arrived.

One of those guests is Monica. She's looking fierce!

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

You know what that means. Up a gear. Let's go. Come on.

Go, go, go!

Have you seen the time?

Claire, we can't afford any mess-ups here tonight.

We cannot.

Ash starts to pan-roast his 35 guinea fowl crowns.

I'm not blind, so I'm all right.

Steve is making the coconut tuiles.

They're just a bit over. I'm not going to serve bitter tuiles

to 34 of the best chefs in the world.

I'm going to make sure I do them perfectly.

It's now 30 minutes till service.

Claire decides to do a test plate.

I'll tell you what.

Let's taste.

I think, personally, I need to put more black olive oil on that.

-For depth, I don't know. Something.

-Do you know what I get?

Predominantly sugar. Your balance is not quite right. You need more black olive, as you said.

-A little less vanilla syrup and you're there. OK?

-Yeah.

-Great.

-Thank you.

I've never had this occasion in my life

to cook alone in a kitchen

for 30 great chefs like that.

I think it's a lot of pressure.

Cooking for all these chefs, it's a nice, nice chance.

I think they sweat a little bit now then!

It is the final push.

I need to keep it together and make every plate look as nice as the mock one that I did.

I like the sound of the scallop starter with the curry.

Interesting to see how it's cooked. Looking forward to that.

Claire, come on. Don't take your foot off the pedal.

Can you carry on doing that with those?

Do you want to carry on doing this?

-Five minutes, Claire, yeah?

-Yeah.

-Good.

-Is it the same garnish?

-Same garnish, yeah.

Curried scallops. They need to be careful how much curry they put on.

Almonds are very delicate. So they have to get the balance of flavours right.

We'll see how it's executed.

Two minutes to go, yeah? The waiters are here, ready.

-Claire, please, I did promise we would be on time.

-Yep.

-I said seven o'clock on the dot.

-Yes. Service!

Go.

Thanks, Steve.

Sushi!

I'm really nervous now, because that's it. It's out there.

So I've just got to wait to see if they like it.

Claire has designed a starter of raw scallops in curry oil

served with fresh almonds, a black olive emulsion,

lime and vanilla syrup, dots of creme fraiche

and an apricot fluid gel.

At first I thought they were undercooked.

Then I realised they're raw.

It didn't say ceviche or raw scallops on the menu.

I love the fact that the scallops are marinaded and not cooked.

For me, that's a big plus. I love raw scallops.

This shows they understand the produce. It's fantastic.

It's very different. Whoever cooked it has imagination. That's good.

The curry oil

that the chef marinaded the scallops in

was light and wasn't overpowering. So that was good.

The olive puree is good. The apricot is powerful, it's good.

Together, I think it was a bit too much.

And the scallops is just a little bit lost.

The scallop was exceptional quality. Beautiful melt-in-the-mouth consistency.

And individually, some great tastes from each of the ingredients.

All good ingredients. But the scallops should be cooked or sliced more thinly.

I love scallops and curry. A brilliant synergy.

Overall, I think they were very brave. You've only got one dish to shine.

I wouldn't cook for this lot!

Very nice dish. Very nice idea.

I think it's a good base to make a fantastic dish.

Overall, the dish is fantastic. Very good.

The slight gripe I've got is not enough acidity on there.

But otherwise, a very good dish.

Look at my plate! It shows imagination.

A little bit of daring into that dish.

I think the scallop and the curry and sweetness of the apricot was lovely. Really lovely.

Not everybody agrees with me, but it's a tough audience to please. I think she's done it.

Claire, may I first congratulate you on a very brave dish.

It's no easy task cooking for such a collection of chefs here tonight

in the sense that the scallops were raw and the curry and olives

competed a little bit, but we thought the olive and apricot went very well.

Overall, we enjoyed it. Congratulations and well done.

The general feeling was the dish was fantastic.

Great balance of flavours. The only negative really

was that the scallops needed a touch more acidity.

But overall, we thought it was a fantastic dish.

I'm feeling really relieved that it's over, cos it was very stressful.

To have the privilege of doing my own dish

for all of those chefs is amazing.

Wow, yeah, it's great. I'm so happy that I've achieved it.

Next, it's Ash's main course.

He still has to prepare the cabbage and baby leeks

and pan-roast his Morcilla blood sausage.

Braise the apple balls in cider.

Finish his sauce and slice and roast his chilled ballotines.

I've got a lot to do still, and 45 minutes to start serving.

I'm very panicked, yeah.

A lot to do.

No, I'm not confident I'll get it out in time.

Ash is in a right state!

He is sweating buckets and he is so, so worried, it is palpable. It's terrible.

This is agony. This is torture for him and for me.

Part of me says I've got to go in and help him.

And part of me says, "No. He's got to do it on his own."

If he really wants this, he will rise to the occasion.

It won't take long to cook them, as long as I get them cut.

Don't enter Professional MasterChef!

No, do. You've got to be in it to experience it.

I think you've really got to be here.

It's quite technical to do a ballotine of guinea fowl.

There's a lot of work involved. It's a traditional French technique

but one that has to be handled with precision.

The one who's making the guinea fowl will have the biggest challenge.

It's very, very difficult to make it perfect for so many people.

Two-handed!

If I had two more hands, I'd use those as well!

-You've got a smile on your face. I love it.

-Yes, but not on the inside.

-Ash, 20 minutes, yeah?

-Yeah.

-Sure you're all right?

Uh... Yes.

He's going to push it fine. It'll be right down to the wire.

-Ash, you need to start dressing.

-Yep. Ready.

Bring it all together. Come on, now.

I like that, Ash. I like it a lot.

-Are you ready?

-OK, yeah, ready to go with these.

Two plates at a time. As it is.

That's looking great. Come on, guys.

Service, please!

One more plate and that is it.

Ash, well done. Well done!

-And Stevie, thanks for helping.

-Yes, very much so.

-Well done, mate.

-Cheers, bro.

-No worries, mate.

No worries, mate.

Ash's main is pan-fried guinea fowl crown

with baby leeks on a potato rosti

and a guinea fowl ballotine encased in Serrano ham

on a bed of braised Savoy cabbage

served with Spanish morcilla, or blood sausage,

topped with braised apple balls, onion puree and a guinea fowl jus.

It smells good.

It's a lot mentally different here because I know who's sitting in the room.

Obviously it adds a lot of pressure to it.

Hopefully, I'll get some good comments out of them.

The presentation was wonderful. To me, this is just perfect.

This is my sort of dish. Well done to whoever did it.

Every component works with each other.

It's a song. It's perfect. I love it.

A beautifully cooked piece of guinea fowl. Nice and juicy.

It is easy to overcook the guinea fowl. You have to catch it just right.

And it's actually... They've done a good job.

The dish is perfectly cooked, perfectly seasoned.

Incredibly enjoyable.

It was a beautiful dish.

It's really, really good. It's hearty. You want to keep on eating.

That's what you want!

Every mouthful is a pleasure. I like the ballotine. The rosti is lovely.

A great dish.

It's very well executed. Well seasoned.

It all goes very well together.

It's very hard to pick fault with the dish.

Very, very enjoyable. Very, very nice.

Absolutely fantastic. To me, it's a chef's dish.

It tastes absolutely beautiful. Stunning.

One chef to do all of that, a fantastic job.

That is food that's been cooked for its enjoyability.

That's massively important.

I think whoever cooked this is the same kind of chef as me.

This is the kind of dish I would put together and put on the menu in my restaurant.

Beautifully cooked. Moist. Very nice.

Very, very nice.

The special thing for me about this dish was the sauce. It tied everything together.

A very well-worked piece of cookery. Beautiful. Really, really good.

It was very, very tasty food.

If you cooked food like that, you'd be busy every day.

It's a daunting thought, going out there and standing in front of a group of chefs just sitting there.

-How are you doing?

-Very well, thank you.

-How do you feel after that?

-Yes, it's been a big push today.

I gave myself a lot to do. I wanted to impress you guys tonight

and I hope I have.

Congratulations. The dish was fantastic.

-Thank you.

-Perfectly cooked, perfectly seasoned,

and I think every single person here enjoyed eating it.

-So well done.

-Thank you.

I remember when you came in my restaurant you did a great job.

Tonight I can say the same. The seasoning was amazing.

The temperature as well. I can say you did a great, great job. Thank you very much.

It's been a privilege and an honour to cook for everyone here tonight.

I've had a world of inspiration from a lot of you

and I just want to thank you. I hope I've repaid you all tonight with a good meal.

It was pretty amazing. Yes, I was a bit sort of star-struck, to tell you the truth.

Having these sort of people giving me positive comments about my food.

It's sort of like, like "Wow!"

I've got to keep pinching myself to realise I'm not dreaming.

It's actually happening!

It's something I'll remember for the rest of my life.

Amazing!

In the pastry kitchen...

..Steve is cutting out his second batch of coconut tuiles.

Steve looks really under control.

In fact, like I've never seen him before.

But he has to transfer everything from this cool pastry kitchen

up into the hot kitchen to plate up.

He's going to have to really do this efficiently and quickly, otherwise it's going to melt!

Dessert, it's a good combination of, I guess, classic flavours, really.

I'm looking forward to it. It'll be a nice way to finish that meal.

There's a real chance to shine with that dish.

Stevie, attention to detail, yeah? Make it look beautiful.

Desserts should be a treasure to the eye, yeah?

Yeah.

It's all very exotic for me. That's a dish I would have chosen in the restaurant.

I hope the balance is there. Not too acid, not too sweet.

I think this one is all about execution. It's going to be a tough one.

-Right, Steve, ten minutes.

-Thank you.

-Ten-minute warning.

That's looking great, Steve.

Service!

Steve's dessert is coconut cream with passion fruit jelly

served with dots of lime curd.

Cubes of star anise syrup-infused pineapple,

a quenelle of mango mousse

and a coconut tuile.

It's a very appealing dish.

The colour's very similar, but it's very clean.

It's a very, very sunny dish.

All these colours are very warm.

It's fantastic to look to it.

Probably the best feeling ever,

to think there's 34 chefs that I idolise eating my dessert!

It's daunting.

Well executed in every sense. The flavour, texture,

it was exquisite. Wonderfully done.

I like it. Very fresh, very clean.

As a customer, you can taste each part, which is what you want. Very good.

Very fresh. Very good combination of ingredients. Fantastic.

-Very good plate.

-The coconut mousse was a really good texture.

All the flavours were good and it was executed really well.

The coconut cream was beautiful. Maybe just pushed it a bit too far with too many flavours,

but technically very, very good. Technically very good.

For me, it was missing an ice cream or sorbet to cut it.

Something cold on the palate as well.

It was a good effort.

I liked the coconut on there. I don't like very sweet desserts,

so the acidity marries very well with the sweetness of the dish.

It works very nicely for me.

Overall, a very successful dish. The coconut cream was superb.

The jelly was a touch too gelatinous, perhaps,

but the combination worked well.

Nothing overpowering, it was very nice.

A good combination.

Coconut, mango, lime, pineapple, passion fruit, have real harmony together.

I thoroughly enjoyed it.

It's all perfectly balanced. There's nothing left.

It cleaned our palates. A perfect dish.

I thought it was a great dessert.

Whoever cooked it really knows what they're doing. It was great.

Steve, well done. Congratulations on your effort today.

Every individual element on the dish was great.

For me, personally, there was just one too many flavours.

But congratulations and well done.

If there's a second helping left in the kitchen, just bring it!

It was superb.

It's still lingering very happily in my mouth.

-A perfect marriage of flavour. Thank you.

-Thank you so much.

Uh, I'm just... I'm just really speechless.

It's such a pleasure to cook for every one of you.

I'm glad you enjoyed it. It's a dream come true!

I just feel so over the moon, so happy.

Albert Roux, he's an absolute legend.

He is like the Maradona of food.

For him to say that about my dessert is just phenomenal.

I won't forget this moment for the rest of my life.

It's something I'll tell my kids and grandkids, because it's such an achievement.

Yeah, amazing!

You should be very, very proud of yourselves.

I don't think there is a chef in this room,

as brilliant as they all are,

who would want to swap places with you this evening!

You did amazingly well.

I couldn't have picked a better three to be here today. Well done.

What an achievement!

I mean, I'm blown away!

For the first time ever,

we have let them do their own food and they haven't let us down.

-You were right to have confidence in them.

-They've done us proud. Done us really proud.

Just to cook my own food and have that feedback from them,

it's a learning experience in itself.

If I can get those flavours bang on and just listen to my head,

then, yes, why can't I win?

It would be so amazing.

Having good feedback from these guys, it's a pinnacle. It's amazing.

I'm very tired and like, worn out,

but hopefully next challenge I can create three great dishes

and hopefully win it.

That is, so far, the best achievement of my career.

The next best thing is, in my opinion, to be crowned winner of this competition.

After nights like this tonight, I want it more than anything.

Tomorrow night, it's the final.

Steve,

Ash

and Claire

face one final challenge in the battle to be champion.

-We have a culinary joust!

-Bring it on!

This is the final.

We should get superb, sublime, delicious, beautiful food!

This is without fault.

It's cooked to perfection!

Your food needs to be eaten by lots and lots of people.

Our Professional MasterChef champion is...

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