Episode 1 MasterChef: The Professionals

Only an elite group of chefs holds two Michelin stars.

Michel Roux Jr is one of them.

One lamb, two fish, guys.

Whey!

Now he, Gregg Wallace

and Monica Galetti are on a hunt for Britain's next culinary superstar.

A professional with the talent to cut it in the world top kitchens.

Perfect.

These chefs all believe they've got the skill

to cook at the highest level.

Cooking is my life. I'm going to put everything into this competition.

I don't need a game plan to go far.

I just need to be me.

I'm entering this competition to win it.

That's it, the bottom line.

I mean, the passion and the drive to get to the end is so fierce.

I'm going to push the barriers.

But first they'll have to impress Michel's sous chef,

Monica, who has set them two tests

to prove they are good enough to cook for Michel.

Professional MasterChef is about discovering

some serious, serious talent.

I want to see someone who'll knock our socks off from round one.

Let's find the next cookery genius.

Welcome to Professional MasterChef.

This is it. This is your first challenge in this competition.

One hour to prepare one dish.

Uncover your ingredients now.

In front of you you have some squid,

a portion of gurnard,

two apples,

vanilla,

basil, chilli

and raisins.

You also have a basic larder in front of you to use.

Before you start cooking, we are going to give you ten minutes to design your dish.

Your ten minutes starts now.

Every year this competition gets better, it gets harder.

My expectations get higher and so does Michel's.

Come up with something that's going to make me think,

"Wow, this person is here to win".

60 minutes. Your time starts now.

Great ingredients here today.

There's so much they could do.

They could make a savoury ravioli, you've got crispy squid.

There's a lovely apple tart.

Lots of options here today, I wish I was cooking.

Food is my life.

Whether it's growing it, shooting it, cooking it...

I can pluck a pigeon.

I can butcher an animal and I want to take it all the way.

What are you cooking, James?

I'm going to do a little gurnard with squid tentacles,

some apple julienne and a dressing of chilli and lemon.

-How long have you been a chef?

-Nearly 17 years now.

-Are you head chef?

-I have my own business as a personal chef.

-Ahh...

-So I go all over the place from the south of France

to the north of Scotland.

-Mate, you've got the cooking job from heaven, haven't you?

-Exactly.

I get to fish it, I get to shoot it, I get to cook it.

-So why MasterChef?

-There's only so far you can go in private cooking.

I want to go further. I want my own restaurant.

I want to be the best in the North.

-James, you're a man on a mission.

-Absolutely!

-I hope you cook as well as you talk it.

-So do I.

I'm very whacky guy when it comes to food.

Sometimes it works, and other times it's not good.

If you just play safe, you'll not go anywhere.

Morten, where you from?

Originally from Denmark, Copenhagen.

I moved to Scotland 11 years ago.

-What position do you have now?

-I'm the head chef at a small hotel,

but one day I want to own my own restaurant.

What are you making, chef?

I'm going to make pan seared gurnard some vanilla creamed apples.

I'm going to try to get my potato gnocchi finished.

-Then with a basil and chilli salsa to go on top.

-Interesting, good luck.

-Thank you.

Morten is making gnocchi

and he's making a creamed apple sauce.

Sounds horrendous, but if that sauce is lovely and creamy,

it could go very well with the gnocchi.

I initially started off as a waitress and kept seeing all these chefs

and thought "I want to get in there and do that".

So I can kind of asked the chef, "can I come in the kitchen,

"I don't like it out here."

He said, "yeah, go on, then."

That was it, I was in.

-Anna, are you making custard?

-I am. I heard it's your favourite.

-What are you going to make?

-I'm going to do

a lemon and vanilla sable stack

with an apple and raisin compote

and creme anglaise and, if you're lucky, a bit of spun sugar if I get time!

What position do you hold now?

I'm part-time in a kitchen and I'm part-time also in an office.

I work with insurance and accounts.

-It's not where I want to be in life.

-Your heart's in the kitchen?

It is, my heart is definitely in the kitchen

-and I'm going to do whatever I can to get back in there full-time.

-Good luck.

Anna's making things, she's used to but, hopefully, she pushes it out

and really creates that dessert that's going to make us go, "Wow!"

I'm from a really small village in Wales.

I'll stand out because, I think, I'm a different style of cooking

with my twists and hopefully it will show my personality.

What are you going to cook, Matt?

I'm going to sear the fish and make some tempura squid

and like a chilli, basil rosti.

Is this the style that you cook in the restaurant?

We do modern, British.

We like doing classics and maybe a twist on them.

-How on the edge is your food?

-It's pretty close, I can imagine, yeah.

-I've done lettuce milkshake and stuff before.

-Have you?

-Yeah.

-You like playing, mate?

-I do, I do. I really do.

-Good lad.

-Thanks.

Chefs, you are half way. 30 minutes left.

It's in my blood, my father is a chef.

I followed in his footsteps.

It's the only thing I've ever wanted to do,

it's the only thing I know how to do.

I want to be the best at it.

Cooking with a smile, Rob. What are you making for us?

Today I'm doing a chilli squid and basil salad

-with pan fried gurnard.

-What job do you hold down at the moment?

I'm a sous chef in a private members' club.

I run the whole operations from banqueting to fine dining.

-Ambitious?

-Yeah.

-Here and at work?

Always.

I'm only 20.

To be in a competition against a lot of high-ranking chefs,

a lot more experience, it's quite nerve wracking.

But I feel like I can do it. I feel like I can impress.

-Are you OK, Andy?

-Yeah, good, thanks.

-Can I ask you what position you hold in the kitchen at the moment?

-Commis chef.

-What does that mean?

-It's just a basic prep chef.

-I'll help run the service, prep the food.

-Where has your chef's brain with this, what are you making?

I'm thinking of lightly pan frying the fish, doing a bit of vanilla

and basil beurre blanc,

maybe a bit of diced apple, a bit of apple puree.

It's quite simple, full of flavours. I think it could work.

-I'm looking forward to that.

-Thank you.

I'm a bit of a sceptic using vanilla in savouries,

but I've had the odd combination which works very well.

I'd like to try this apple and vanilla.

I'm a traditional chef.

I know what works and the plan is to go as far as possible,

which is the final - the winner.

Karl, what job do you do right now?

-I'm head chef in a pub.

-Doing what sort of food?

-Pub food, or...

-Yeah, there's burgers, fish and chips,

the no-brainers, sausage and mash.

Is that a food that you like, is that what you want to do?

It's not exactly me. And that's the way it is.

-What's in that bowl?

-We've got chilli, squid,

apple and sultana.

-Thank you, Karl.

-Thank you.

I've never had apple, raisins with fish.

No, I really don't think I've had that combination

so I'm curious to see what that's going to work out like.

I've done a couple of competitions before, local ones.

I've yet to win it, but I've come runner-up twice.

Point to prove.

What are you cooking?

Were going to do fillet of gurnard with the basil, mash

and vanilla buerre blanc.

-Classical training, have you had?

-Yeah, to an extent, I'd say, yeah.

In a gastro pub in Devon, but all of our training was classic.

Do you expect to go far on MasterChef?

I certainly hope I get past the first round

and then we'll just see how we go.

Depending on the balance of his ingredients, this could work out.

But vanilla with squid, basil and mash...

It's a new one for me.

My food is very imaginative.

It's quirky, it's different, but it's quite classical as well.

So maybe I'll stand out.

Stefani, tell me what you're going to make for me.

Lyonnaise-style potatoes char-grilled with squid.

I'm thinking about maybe doing a shaved apple salad to go on top as well.

Is this the sort of food you cook professionally at the moment?

Yeah, at the moment I work in a posh cafe-style delicatessen

and a cookery school.

Wow, like a food...

-Food heaven.

-A food palace.

-It is food heaven for anyone.

-And what role do you play in there?

-I'm actually head chef.

I run the whole business with my boss.

Thank you.

Last ten minutes.

Come on, guys - focus. Ten minutes.

I'm completely self-taught

so I'm probably the underdog when it comes to experience-wise

and a lot of the skills that other chefs probably have,

but I'm looking forward to getting into the mix with it.

-What sort of business are you in?

-I'm head chef in my own restaurant.

I accidentally stumbled into cheffing three years ago

so I've been at it a short while.

-So what were you three years ago?

-A joiner.

-Is that right?

-Yeah.

What sort of food do you do in this place?

Sort of, coffee shop during the day where we do fresh soups,

sandwiches, wraps, paninis,

things like that and then we've got a bistro menu

where we do pork belly, lamb, venison.

-What are you going to make?

-I'm doing a caramelised onion chilli and basil tart.

-Good luck with the pastry, Mark.

-Thanks.

Mark is a self-taught chef.

Pastry is no easy thing to achieve.

If Mark makes a great pastry today he could be on to a winner.

Final five minutes.

Last 60 seconds. You have one minute.

These ten chefs were given squid, gurnard,

two apples, vanilla,

basil, two chillies and some raisins.

Matt is serving seared gurnard on top of a chilli basil rosti

with tempura squid, basil puree, chilli salsa and crispy basil.

I love it. I love the colours, I like the presentation -

I really like it.

It's a nice plate.

The fish is nicely cooked, the rosti is lovely and brown on the outside,

but it's a huge piece of rosti for the amount of fish you have

and it's very stodgy in the middle.

I like it. Garlic, basil, chilli throughout everything.

In the rosti, in the sauce here - I really like it.

One complaint is the amount of salt

that you've put on to these fried basil leaves.

-Maybe a little bit too heavy-handed.

-A bit?

Mate, I've got the equivalent taste of the Indian Ocean on that basil leaf.

Thank you.

Morten's pan-seared gurnard

is served on a caramelised apple vanilla cream

with gnocchi and chilli basil salsa.

You, as a chef, obviously have skill.

Gnocchi - wonderful to see here today.

Wonderfully cooked - however, what I don't like

is the flavour of that vanilla matched with the very hot chilli.

I like chilli - that's not a problem for me -

but with vanilla and sweet apple, it does not go for me.

Not today. Maybe not ever.

However, really light, good gnocchi.

Really well-cooked gurnard.

Don't know what to make of you.

Questionable palate, but obviously very good touch.

-Thanks, Morten.

-Thank you.

Anna, the only chef to make a dessert,

has made lemon and vanilla sable biscuits

with apple compote, apple puree and creme anglaise.

SHE SNIGGERS

So we have ourselves a pastry chef.

Well done, Anna.

The biscuit, though very thick, is perfectly cooked.

The filling - I love it. Apples, raisins - can't fault it

and I love the vanilla through that and even more through your sauce.

-I think it's a very well-done plate.

-Thank you.

What can I say, Anna?

You had me hooked on the custard. That's absolutely lovely.

The crumbly biscuit, the apple giving sweetness and sharpness -

the luxurious vanilla creamy custard.

That's it - Anna waving her pastry banner.

Quite right. Job well done.

Thank you.

'Everyone wants that smile from Gregg and Monica when they walk away.'

And if they turn and they smile to each other you know you've done OK.

So I think, yeah, I've done well.

Rob's pan-fried gurnard is served with crispy squid,

chilli and apple salad and basil oil.

I really don't like that salad. I'm finding it almost unpleasant.

Apple juice is spilling out into oil,

which is flavoured with basil and you've got lemon as well.

I just don't like it.

But your fish, both the squid and the gurnard, is well cooked.

I like the hint of the basil oil underneath.

It goes very well with chilli and the apple salad, but it's all too sharp.

-Thank you, Rob.

-Cheers.

The judges had their comments, I'll take it all on board.

Hopefully I'll just get the opportunity to impress them on the next dish.

Andy has also pan-fried his gurnard

and is serving it on top of sauteed potatoes

with a vanilla and basil cream,

caramelised apple puree and a basil and apple garnish.

It's a very strong sauce.

The vanilla really comes through, and then the basil,

and then the fish and the potatoes. It's, it's...

Having issues with that.

Yeah.

I absolutely love the puree and the sauce.

I just got fruity and slightly sharp apple,

then a big whack of vanilla, then a really tangy basil.

And I thought, "This is great."

But it needs to be over an apple Charlotte or something. It doesn't need to be with a piece of fish.

Andy, thank you very much.

Thank you.

It was one dish, but that dish means everything.

I feel that I've let myself down about today.

James has served his version of fish and chips -

pan-fried gurnard and squid,

sauteed potatoes, apple julienne and a chilli basil dressing.

James, this is the kind of plate I've been waiting to see.

Presentation, perfect.

The fish is cooked perfectly and so is that squid.

The right amount of acidity, right amount of chilli. I love this plate, thank you.

Whoa-ho-ho, no criticism whatsoever, James.

-How does that make you feel?

-Good.

That's very good.

What I really like, as a punter, as a diner, is no flavour dominates.

You get little hints of stuff, you get little bits of apple,

little bits of citrus, little bits of garlic.

Really quite refreshing. You clever old stick!

-Well done.

-Thank you.

Feeling really proud.

You'd like to think you can cook, but have someone like that say you can cook...

I'm chuffed. Really chuffed at that.

Karl's gurnard is pan-roasted, and served with Parmentier potatoes

and a squid, chilli, apple, basil and raisin salad.

Karl, the potatoes, wonderful.

Absolutely love it with the garlic.

The fish is cooked wonderfully, seasoned wonderfully,

and then we come to your squid salad.

Unfortunately, you've made something wonderful taste of nothing. For me, its a let down.

I really like that squid salad. I really like it.

But, hot fish, hot potatoes, in the middle? Cold, fruity salad?

But I tell you what, on their own, really good.

-Thank you, Karl.

-Thank you.

Craig has made seared gurnard served on basil mash with pan-fried squid and a vanilla beurre blanc.

Very clean plate.

That's a lot of mash, though.

For the amount of fish and squid you've got, that's a lot of mash.

Lucky for you, Gregg likes mash.

Well, even Gregg doesn't like that much mash.

And it sticks out even more, because it's now basil-green.

Fish is wonderfully cooked, love the colour, the crispy skin, the seasoning, perfect.

The squid, I love how you scored and cooked it. Still very tender.

The colour is perfect.

I'm stuck on your vanilla.

There's just so much, it ruins this dish.

But you can cook, OK, so there's hope for you yet.

I really don't like that vanilla beurre blanc.

Beurre blanc, buttery, slightly citrusy and vanilla? Nah!

-Thank you, Craig.

-Thank you.

Stefani is serving lyonnaise-style potatoes with confit onion,

pan-fried gurnard, char-grilled squid

and a basil and apple salad with a lemon dressing.

You've got a lot of flavours going on.

The squid, cooked very well, is very strong in lemon.

The onion is wonderfully caramelised and they go very well.

The fish, however, is overcooked, which is a huge let down,

-because it's the main ingredient you have in this dish.

-OK.

I think you've gone for two different styles on this plate and they clash a little bit.

I like squid with chilli and lemon. I think that's good.

I like gurnard with lyonnaise potatoes that's sweet and sticky.

But sharp lemon and chilli with lyonnaise potatoes that are sweet and sticky? It's a clash.

-Thank you, Stefani.

-Thank you.

Finally, it's Mark, who has made a caramelised onion,

chilli and basil tart

with a chilli and basil vinaigrette.

The filling, I love the sweetness from the onions.

The chilli with a hint of basil, the base, golden, buttery,

crumbly, perfectly made.

I think it's a very well made vegetarian tart.

It may be simple, but it tastes really good.

You've got nice, soft, slippery, sweet caramelised onions in there.

You've got a bit of heat from the chilli. Really nice.

Thank you very much.

I tell you what, chefs, that was a pretty decent opening round.

And there were some exciting dishes there.

That's your first round, you've got a second round to go.

So don't fear, no-one's going home today.

I'm expecting great things from you and I know you expect great things from yourselves, so let's deliver.

Off you go, we'll see you soon.

Now, the ten chefs will be split into two groups.

Tomorrow night, five of them return to face the final test...

15 minutes, off you go, chef.

You wanted it butterflied, yeah?

We need your stuff on the plate now. You've got 30 seconds.

Watching you today was painful. It was frustrating.

..before Monica decides who will go through to cook for Michel Roux Jr.

The standards are high, and it's only going to get harder.

To be a great chef, you don't cut corners. That, for me, cuts corners.

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