Episode 10 MasterChef: The Professionals

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

'Michel Roux Jr is one of them.'

-One lamb, two fish.

-ALL: Oui!

'Now he, Gregg Wallace and Monica Galetti

'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 been put through their paces by Monica.

'Today, five of them have one last chance to perform to her demanding standards.

'Because only the strongest can go through to cook for Michel Roux Jr.

'One of them will be going home.'

The pressure really doesn't compare to anything I've done before.

I'm here to prove for myself that all the hard work

over the years was not all for nothing.

Quietly confident, but you just don't know what to expect so...

I might come out there crying! LAUGHS

-Skills test, Monica. What have they got to do?

-I'd like them to make a hollandaise sauce.

From that, you can make a mousseline sauce,

which is whipped cream folded through.

For the Maltaise sauce, they need a reduction of the orange juice,

and serve it with cooked asparagus.

They should be able to make a hollandaise and cook asparagus.

Whether they've heard of the Maltaise and the mousseline, I don't know.

The first thing I'm going to do is prepare the asparagus to cook.

Some wonderful white asparagus. Just snapping them off.

-You snap the ends off because they're too hard, what you call woody?

-Exactly.

I have the green asparagus as well.

Next, I'm going to get the reduction on for the hollandaise base.

I need white peppercorns.

We need white wine vinegar.

Egg yolks.

And then add the reduction.

You're wanting it to thicken up and cook before we start to add butter.

It's essential that they know to control the heat when they do this.

-You don't want to scramble the eggs.

-What texture are you looking for?

We want a nice ribbon stage. We're just about there.

Then we're going to add the butter.

If you add it too quickly, it will split.

Right, that's our hollandaise done.

Now, the Maltaise sauce is made from the reduction of the orange juice.

If you don't reduce it down, you add that to your sauce

and it becomes very runny.

We want a very intense orange flavour.

So, a little bit of hollandaise.

We're going to mix it with our cooled reduction of orange juice.

-Good?

-It's good.

So, there you have your sauce Maltaise.

Next, I want to whip up some cream. That is for the sauce mousseline.

Quite simply, we're going to fold in the whipped cream.

There you have it, the sauce mousseline.

-Love it, love it.

-All that's left is to finish off the asparagus.

You want to season it lightly and a very light squeeze of lemon juice.

And there we have it, Gregg, our prepared asparagus

and our three sauces - Maltaise, hollandaise and mousseline.

That's great. It's really nice.

The key to this is knowing how to make a quality hollandaise. If they can't do that...

That is something every chef should know. Let's see what they've got.

'First up is sous chef Alan, who's worked in a Cambridge gastro pub for two years.'

OK, Alan?

'In the first round, his chicken and pomme puree dish

'was considered flawed.'

I'm quite nervous about stepping in front of Monica and Gregg.

You don't know what to expect. It's really tough in there.

I'm hoping to really impress them.

Alan, this is a skills test.

What we want you to do is make a sauce hollandaise,

and then from that, two derivatives,

sauce mousseline and a sauce Maltaise.

Serve them with cooked asparagus.

I'd like you to use the hollandaise base to make me a sauce Maltaise,

blood oranges there.

For the sauce mousseline, you have the cream.

OK?

15 minutes, chef. Off you go.

-No!

-Don't know your own strength, chef.

ALAN LAUGHS NERVOUSLY Not when there's nerves involved.

Can't stop shaking. Can't believe it. I never shake.

Take a breath.

-Alan, you've had five minutes. You've got ten minutes left.

-Yeah.

-You've got five minutes left, Alan.

-Thank you.

You've got two and a half minutes left, so we've got to crack on.

I'm not sure what that orange one is.

-Mate, you're gonna run out of time.

-Where's the plate?

-There.

You've got one minute left.

Come on, come on, come on.

Come on! You've got 30 seconds to get your third one up.

Stick it in a bowl, however it is.

Please.

Right, time's up.

-That was...

-All done?

-..extremely hard. Yeah.

Yeah.

You've obviously made a hollandaise before.

However, it must have taken 12 and a half minutes to make that hollandaise,

and then ran out of time at the end.

You have the Maltaise with the orange through it.

You need to reduce the orange juice, so it's more intense in flavour.

The sauce mousseline is very simple, it's whipped cream folded through.

What you did was whisk it through,

but I think it will work because the base sauce was so thick.

Yeah.

I love the thick hollandaise, I really do.

The mousseline's creamy and smooth. I really like that.

The Maltaise is also very good.

You can get the orange. You got away with that because it was so thick.

You were quite lucky. Asparagus, bit of love on there would be nice.

Bit of salt and pepper, instead of being thrown on the plate.

Not a bad effort. You could have just got away with that.

-Thank you, Alan. Off you go.

-Thank you.

Boy done good.

-He got lucky.

-You think he got lucky?

-Mm.

I've not experienced the shakes like that ever in my career,

so this is quite a challenge.

'26-year-old Nat started out as a waitress,

'and now is head chef of a pub in Huddersfield.

'Her chocolate mousse tartlet in the last round

'showed definite potential.'

I love what I do. I love that I get up in the morning

and that I want to do my job.

And when I'm not at work I want to cook, so it can't be bad, can it?

Just 15 minutes for this test, Nat. Off you go.

You've had four minutes, Nat.

Got five minutes, chef.

-All done, chef?

-Yes.

-Couple of minutes to spare.

The hollandaise, it looked very good, from what you were doing.

My only criticism would be I wish you'd tasted a bit more.

The sauce mousseline, it looks perfect,

a very light, creamy sauce.

Our sauce Maltaise, you need to reduce the juice

so it's more intense in flavour.

I like the Maltaise. Needs a little bit more seasoning.

But I really like that zingy blood orange in there.

The mousseline is lovely and creamy, but again lacks a bit of seasoning.

Which you'd probably have done if you'd have tasted more.

There's a lot of skill in here, Nat. Don't let yourself down by doing silly errors like that.

Thank you very much, chef. Off you go.

I'm a perfectionist so nothing's ever going to be good enough, but I think I did all right.

'28-year-old Michael was runner-up

'in the 2009 Scottish Hotel Chef of the Year.

'His chicken ballotine made a good first impression -

'that's until until the judges realised it wasn't cooked.'

I'm a bit scared! I'm scared of Monica.

But at the same time, I understand what she's looking for

and I just need to meet that expectation.

Calm down. Relax, OK? Concentrate on the first sauce.

-The others should be able to follow.

-Uh-huh.

15 minutes. Down to you. Off you go.

-Were you going to crack the egg into the sieve then?

-Sorry.

Need to open my eyes.

Work with that on a flat surface, rather than a...

-Three minutes have gone, chef.

-OK.

-LAUGHING:

-What...?

-Sorry. I've no lid.

-Got one minute to go and still need one more sauce, yeah?

-OK.

Come on. Quick, quick, quick. Put it down.

-Done?

-Yes, chef.

First off, hollandaise, with the egg yolks,

where you went wrong from the beginning

is they weren't cooked out enough before you started adding butter.

So it was never going to have the thickness to carry any other liquids you were going to add to it.

The hollandaise, definitely too liquid and very sharp on the lemon.

The Maltaise, again, is even more lemon

and you finish with the cream sauce, which has even more lemon.

It's not right.

I watched you taste, and for you, that it's OK that it's this sharp

and lemon and you keep adding more, that worries me.

I like the shaved white asparagus idea. It adds another dimension.

I like the way you thought about that. That's good.

-Michael, off you go.

-Thank you.

He did OK, you know.

In bits.

I would never make mistakes like that in my own kitchen.

I would love the chance to do it again, to show that I can do it.

SIGHS: Yeah.

'Since leaving catering college, 34-year-old Rickard

'has been head chef of eight restaurant kitchens.'

Hello.

'Last time, his moist chicken ballotine impressed,

'but his watery leeks didn't.'

I've worked in a lot of places

and I've trained a lot of young chefs in the basics.

I think that works in my advantage.

So it should go well - hopefully.

Off you go.

What's happened to the sauce?

I put too much fat into the egg yolks, too quickly.

And it didn't keep together.

You've had six minutes.

-You've got six minutes left. We need the asparagus cooked.

-Yeah.

-Last two minutes.

-Yes, chef.

-How much time is left?

-A minute.

You have to start getting the asparagus out.

-A bit longer.

-You haven't got longer.

-Time's up. Are you done?

-Yeah.

That was scary.

I commend the fact that you tried to fix that sauce.

However, you did it again, and did not cook the yolks out enough,

meaning it's runny.

Because the hollandaise was a problem, the derivatives of that

would be not right in the end, which is a shame.

Also, you're a chef. You've heard of multi-tasking, yeah?

Cook your asparagus while you're making the sauce.

You left it till the last two minutes.

You know, you need to multi-task as a chef.

Hollandaise is too runny and there's not enough citrus in there.

The sauce Maltaise is, although sweet with orange, far too runny.

The mousseline is also too runny and it needs more citrus.

There's a lot of schoolboy errors here, which shouldn't occur.

You need to step it up a notch.

Agh! You frustrate me.

-Thank you very much, chef. Off you go.

-Thank you, chef.

It's only a hollandaise sauce, which I've done millions of times before.

It's something that should be in my backbone, but that shows that nerves can change things.

'Last up is Thomas, who is head chef of a Mayfair pub

'with over 100 covers a day.

'His decision to combine a chicken ballotine with grapes,

'leeks and a cream sauce did not pay off.'

I want to be number one, so there's a lot of pressure on myself

to be as good as I can be and, hopefully, be the best.

15 minutes, chef. Off you go.

You've had five minutes, Thomas. Ten minutes left, mate.

-Three and a half minutes left now, Thomas.

-Yes.

Sauces up.

-All done, Thomas?

-Yup.

Thomas, you've clearly made a sauce hollandaise before.

Your asparagus plate is very neat and tidy.

It's been put on the plate with respect. I like that.

CRUNCH

-Nice texture on your hollandaise. I'd like a bit more lemon.

-Sure.

The sauce Maltaise, you do get some orange,

but it's not the right amount of orange for me.

It needs to be very intense.

Your mousseline is now tasting of cream.

Needs some more seasoning and some more lemon.

You know what? Not the perfect sauces I tasted from Monica,

but not a bad attempt at all.

Right-o, chef. Off you go.

I think it was a game of two halves, positive and negative comments.

But glad to get it over. Very nerve-racking.

I really enjoyed that skills test.

I enjoyed it a lot more than the chefs did but, by and large, it wasn't a bad attempt.

My favourite today was Nat.

Nat made by far the best trio of sauces.

By a long distance, she stood out. Very much so.

She deserves to go through.

I liked Thomas.

Thomas looked the least scared and did a very decent job.

He could have had more citrus zing, but not bad at all.

He did the best asparagus. He treated it with respect.

I like the way he worked today and I think he deserves to go through.

Alan made a good hollandaise.

Because it was very thick, it managed to hold once he added the orange juice and the cream.

I believe he did get lucky, but I'll take a risk putting Alan through.

The two that worry me are Rickard and Michael.

Michael because he gave me three sauces that tasted very similar.

They all had too much acid in.

Michael also gave us a plate of asparagus.

I wasn't sure what he was trying to achieve and it didn't look nice.

I have doubts about Michael.

I really want to go further and keep on striving forward.

Oh!

I just hope I've shown enough skill.

Rickard, on the other hand, didn't seem to be able

to make his sauces and cook his asparagus at the same time.

And his hollandaise split.

I like that he tried to resurrect it, but it still wasn't right.

Therefore, all three sauces were too thin.

It would be devastating if I wouldn't get through to Michel and cook for him.

I put so much effort in. I want to show what MY cooking is all about.

Gregg, I'm going to give one of them another chance.

We are more than aware of how scary that round can be.

Still, one of you, unfortunately, is leaving us.

The chef that is leaving us is...

..Rickard.

I'm sad that they didn't actually see what I'm capable of.

Yeah. It's gutting.

Right, guys. You need to raise the level a bit higher.

The standards are up here and you need to reach those standards, starting today.

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

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

'at his two Michelin-star standard.'

The classic I'd like the chefs to cook is beaujolais berry jelly,

flavoured with basil and white pepper,

served with creme Anglaise and an arlette biscuit.

It's a dessert that I cooked many a time as a pastry apprentice.

Every chef should have the essential pastry skills

to make this dessert.

I'm going to start with the jelly.

That really is the first job that the chefs must do.

So the wine in a pan, and we're going to set that on to boil.

Sugar.

We need to infuse it with a little bit of basil

and a few white peppercorns.

CRUNCH

Not too much, but enough to give a kick, a bite.

Now the gelatine needs to be steeped in cold water to soften it up.

The wine is boiled.

And we have the gelatine, which has gone all lovely and soft.

Into our wine.

This is then passed over the berries, piping hot.

And that heat should be enough to poach the fruit gently.

Now we need to set these and get them into a mould

and immediately into the blast chiller.

I remember my grandmother always eating her strawberries

with a dash of red wine and a little twirl of pepper.

I thought she was crazy, until I tried it. Absolutely delicious!

Now I'm going to make the arlette biscuit.

So, puff pastry...

and lots and lots of sugar instead of flour.

And then we roll it up.

Very important to be tight. Otherwise, it's not going to hold.

I'm going to wrap this and put it to rest in the fridge

for at least ten to 15 minutes.

Next step, creme Anglaise,

a custard cream flavoured with vanilla.

Every chef should know how to make a creme Anglaise.

And we release those seeds. Very important.

The milk is on to boil with the vanilla.

Now for the egg yolks and sugar.

Whisk until it's a nice ribbon texture.

When the milk has boiled, pour it into the egg yolks,

mixing it quickly, so it doesn't burn the egg yolk.

Then back into the pan.

This is where you have to be very careful

not to scramble the eggs or overcook it.

We know it's cooked when it's nice and thick.

As soon as it's cooked, it's passed through a sieve

to remove the vanilla pod.

It also ensures that the creme Anglaise chills quickly

and stops cooking.

Back to the biscuits. They've had ten, 15 minutes in the fridge.

They need to be rolled out and cooked.

This should be a refined dessert,

so the arlette biscuit has to be very thin.

While we're waiting, I can cut a few strawberries up for garnish.

Yes! Beautiful!

That's exactly what I want to see - nice, golden, crispy, perfect.

Now we take our arlette biscuits and make a little sandwich.

A little bit of honey, but not too much.

Otherwise, they're gonna be too sweet.

Perfect. Crunchy, buttery...

and delicious.

The jellies should be set. The biscuits are made, the garnish is ready. Now we plate up.

Here we have it, the beaujolais berry jelly

with arlette biscuits and creme Anglaise.

It would be shameful for one of the chefs not to get this right.

When you've got the whites on, you've got to live up to your name.

Just getting through has been a massive encouragement. Hopefully, I'll be able to impress.

Yes, the nerves are there. Am I gonna let them get to me? No.

My ambitions are to learn from the likes of Michel Roux Jr

and, one day, maybe give him a run for his money!

I am about to find out if you are here on merit.

Gregg and Monica told me that your skills test was not error-free,

but not bad.

The one thing that got you were the nerves.

For my classic recipe, I want you to prepare a beaujolais berry jelly

with a creme Anglaise and an arlette biscuit.

You have one hour to complete this dish. Off you go.

I'm not classically trained, no, not in French foods,

but I trust my instincts.

Hopefully, I can create what he wants. It's going to be tough.

-Where are you working at the moment?

-At a small gastro pub restaurant.

Mainly, it's a modern take on British food.

My history's more in Italian food, so it was a bit of a change.

It's given me a chance to explore my own techniques

and find myself in food, really.

-You understand the recipe?

-I understand the basics of the recipe but I'm worried on my presentation.

I need to work on it, but, yeah, there's always room for improvement.

15 minutes have gone, guys.

Each round is going to test you in a different way.

Michel's gonna want to see the best of you cos he's not seen you before.

That's a lot of pressure.

-Hi, Nat.

-Hi.

-Have you worked in pastry before?

-A little.

-But I'm not a pastry chef.

-Where are you working now?

I work in a gastro pub. Been head chef for a year and a half.

I was in front of house for nearly eight years.

I decided I wanted to be a chef so I got a job as a commis and worked my way up.

-So you crossed the line.

-Yes.

-Ooh!

-We don't usually do that in our business, do we?

-No.

-Well done for doing it.

-You found your passion in the kitchen, then?

-Definitely. It's what I live for now.

Getting involved with things that I'd never seen. I don't come from a foodie family.

I don't think my dad's ever eaten an onion! That's how bad it was!

We're halfway, guys. 30 minutes gone.

I do have fine dining experience.

I've worked in a one Michelin-star restaurant. I learnt a lot there.

I've had an inkling into the kind of standard that Michel expects.

-Hi, Thomas. Why MasterChef?

-It's something I've wanted to do for a number of years.

To test out my abilities and prove to myself why I'm a head chef at the age of 26.

-The stress levels in a competition are different to those in a busy service.

-Very much so.

It's down to the individual. I haven't got my team to rely on.

Yeah, pressure's fully on myself.

Just 15 minutes to go, guys.

I wouldn't say that I was afraid of classic cooking,

but there's lots of techniques

and lots of elements that people miss out on,

so I just hope I don't do that.

-Hi, Michael. How are you today?

-Yeah, good.

Hopefully, losing the nerves.

-Hopefully got a wee bit more confidence today.

-Good. Great big smile on your face!

-Why are you putting yourself through this?

-I wanted the challenge in my career.

Also, to gain a bit of self-confidence in being a chef,

which is a big part of why I'm here.

Just hope I can keep on going, striving forward and making myself better.

-Michael, keep it going.

-Thank you.

Fives minutes to go. Think about presentation.

That's it. Time's up. Step back.

Finished.

I asked you to prepare a beaujolais fruit jelly

set with the lovely delicate berries.

Creme Anglaise should be silky smooth, well cooked.

An arlette biscuit is super-thin and stuck together with honey.

It should be delicate, neat, exciting to the eyes.

Nat, you first.

I like the look of it. It's very delicate. It's appealing.

-What happened to the creme Anglaise?

-It slightly split.

-I decided not to serve it.

-You ended up with scrambled egg?

-Yeah.

The jelly's well set, got just about enough sugar.

I feel it could have done with a bit more basil

and a bit more pepper to spice it up.

The arlette biscuit is far too thick and not cooked enough.

Puff pastry in the middle is raw. Could have gone a lot better.

If I could go back, I'd slow down a bit.

I have a tendency to rush when I'm nervous, so... Yeah.

Thomas, your turn.

I like your presentation. Looks really nice.

-However, three jellies like that is a big portion!

-Yes, chef.

Well cooked creme Anglaise, silky smooth.

Lots of vanilla, which is really nice.

Such a shame there's not more on the plate.

The jelly is just set, got the right amount of sugar.

You have put a lot of pepper and basil in there.

You get away with it - just.

The arlette biscuits are just about cooked through, but too thick.

-This is a good attempt.

-Chef.

Pastry's not one of my strong points

so, for a two Michelin-star chef to like it is an achievement.

Yeah, proud as punch.

Michael, now for you.

Hm. The biscuit is the wrong shape, but it's cooked all the way through.

It's lovely and crispy with a hint of honey. Delicious.

The creme Anglaise is a little bit thin.

The jelly is set, however, there's no hint of pepper or basil in there.

This is mixed, a mixed plate.

I don't think I've shown enough skill quite yet.

I hope next time I can get it down to a T for him.

Alan, your turn.

Presentation, I quite like it. It has a certain elegance to it.

You've made a bit of sugar work, showing a little bit extra skill.

Which is good.

Creme Anglaise is good. The jelly itself is good.

A hint of basil and pepper, and the right level of sweetness.

However, there's not enough fruit in there, which is a shame.

A few berries on the plate would have been nice.

The biscuits are not right.

They're too thick and not cooked enough.

You've given me little add-ons, but I would have preferred the biscuits to be cooked properly.

It was a bit of a risk but I think what I showed Michel Roux Jr

was that I can step outside of the box.

You have cooked my classic recipe.

Now, you cook YOUR choice.

You now need to prove to me and to Gregg

that you deserve to stay in this competition.

One hour. Off you go.

Getting my dish right is going to be critical.

It's got to be everything that Michel Roux would want to see.

It's important that you believe in your dish so I'm going to do that until the end.

-Alan, tell me what you're doing.

-Paupiette of sole.

Scallop with spinach wrapped around that and Parma ham around the outside.

-Sauce to go with it?

-I've called it a sea foam.

It's my take on a variation from a veloute, but not using the flour,

adding a splash of cream and using xanthan to thicken the sauce.

You're going to be thickening up with xanthan gum, a gelling agent.

-That's going in the siphon gun so you're making a foam?

-Yeah.

-Lots of skills. I like what I'm seeing already.

-Thank you.

-It is a complicated dish.

-Yeah. I really need to get cracking.

Alan is serving some kind of a foam.

I'm not a great fan of foams

unless they have that punchiness and flavour that a sauce would have.

You've had 15 minutes. 15 minutes.

-What are you cooking for us?

-I'm doing two fillets of gurnard layered with a lightly spiced coley mousse

on a bed of wilted baby spinach and braised puy lentils.

I used to do it with a tomato puree,

but to give it a little bit of heat, went with the harissa instead.

It does work with the gurnard and with the coley as well.

I love the idea of harissa in the lentils. I think it could take it.

But not too much. You did have issues in my classic recipe with the amount of pepper.

-It was borderline.

-Yes, chef.

I've seen Thomas make a little test of the mousse

to make sure it has got the right consistency.

That guy is a true pro. He knows what he's doing.

I just hope his food tastes as good as his working.

You're almost halfway.

I'm most worried that I'll have enough time to get it all done.

You've got to give it all you've got.

There's no point simplifying it. Just go for it.

-What are you cooking for us?

-I'm cooking a ballotine of rabbit saddle with a roast leg.

The offal and the offcuts I'm going to make into a little pasty

with Dijon mash, baby carrots and a cream and Armagnac sauce.

Cor! That's a lot of work!

I think I'll just have enough time to make it look great.

-What is it that makes a good chef?

-I think the bottom line is passion.

If you've got it in here, then it comes out. The rest you can learn.

-You can't teach passion.

-Mm.

-Is that right, chef?

-Absolutely.

She's right.

-Let's hope we can taste some of that passion.

-Yes.

You've got 25 minutes left. It's not long, you know.

I would love to get a Michelin star one day for my own restaurant.

At the moment, I'll just focus on cooking to the best of my ability.

-Michael, what's your choice of a classic?

-Troncon of turbot

with marquis potatoes and shrimp beurre noisette.

-Tronconette of turbot is like a T-bone, so you're cooking it on the bone.

-Yes, chef.

-Fantastic.

Turbot is such an expensive fish. For me, the best fish in the sea.

Doing it justice is very, very important.

You're serving a marquis potato, that's mashed potato that's dried.

-A little bit of tomato and shallot inside?

-Yes.

-That sounds delicious.

Very, very classic. So classic it hurts.

-The thing with that kind of cooking is it has to be bang-on.

-Yes, chef.

I hope that I can prove key skills and simplicity to classic dishes.

I love the sound of Michael's classics.

Cooking fish on the bone is not easy.

You have to get it just right. I hope he doesn't mess this up.

Last five minutes. I really should be seeing plates now, I think.

That's it. Stop. Finished.

'Alan's classic is paupiette of sole

'filled with scallop mousse and spinach, wrapped in Parma ham,

'served with saffron brunoise potatoes,

'tomato concasse, samphire, cockles and a sole, leek and fennel foam.'

Presentation, I think is beautiful. It has a lot of elegance.

Beautiful colours as well. Very precise work. I like it.

Well cooked fish. Incredibly light scallop mousse down the middle.

The saltiness of the Parma ham around the outside works well.

The sauce, texture-wise is a little bit gummy.

I think you may have overdone it with the xanthan.

It leaves that gelatinous feel in the mouth.

-Other than that, I think it's a very good dish.

-Thank you.

It's nice seasoning. The fish is cooked really nicely. You get the flavour of the sea.

But I think we're losing something making the scallop into a mousse.

I think it's just too subtle in there.

Pretty good feedback on the dish.

It's not a knock-out dish, but it's getting up there.

'Thomas has made fillet of gurnard

'filled with harissa spiced coley mousse

'on a bed of wilted spinach with puy lentils

'and carrot, shallot and celery brunoise.'

Everything on there is really well cooked, but that firm fish texture

does not feel right with wet lentil on my palate, not right at all.

The gurnard is firm and meaty and has a great flavour.

Your mousse, you can pick up the hints of the harissa - only just!

Which is just right, I think. Good cooking skills on show.

Good seasoning. But it's lacking a little bit of colour.

It needs a little bit of refinement.

I don't think I have shown the judges what I'm capable of.

They've had a taste, but I'm yet to show them exactly what I'm about.

'Nat has cooked rabbit three ways.

'A ballotine of the saddle wrapped in Parma ham

'and stuffed with rabbit and mushroom mousse,

'roasted leg wrapped in bacon,

'and an offal, carrot and celeriac pasty,

'served with mustard mash, carrots and a prune and Armagnac sauce.'

I love all the ideas, but it's just not neat and pretty and sexy enough.

The pasty's got a hole in the middle and not sealed at one end.

The bacon doesn't go all the way around the rabbit.

It definitely needs sharpening up.

The rabbit is nice and pink,

but far too dry on the edges.

That's because you cut it and then put it back in the oven.

The pasty, I actually quite like.

The pastry itself is really short.

-It's a shame there's not more stuffing in there.

-Yeah.

I really like the flavour of the prunes, but the dish is all too dry.

That's not eased by how thick and sticky your sauce is.

That could almost be a topping for a Christmas cake.

There are errors here. Maybe you've tried too much.

Maybe a little bit less and getting it right would have been better.

I tried to do too much in the time.

Halfway, I knew I wasn't going to finish it as well as I wanted to.

I was just a bit all over the place.

'Michael's classic dish is troncon of turbot,

'marquis potatoes filled with tomato concasse

'and a shrimp, caper and parsley beurre noisette.'

The piece of turbot looks very small.

I was expecting a whole big chunky T-bone of turbot.

Actually, I'm quite disappointed.

Turbot, you should take the brown skin off. It's not nice to eat.

The potato, really lovely and soft,

but it could have done with more cooking on the outside to get a nice crunch to it.

Your beurre noisette could have done with 15 seconds more in the pan

to get that intensity of hazelnut brown butter.

The whole dish is well seasoned.

I do find your turbot ever so slightly over-cooked.

Gosh!

I was expecting so much from this dish, because it's true classics.

I'm a little bit disappointed, Michael.

Flavour combinations are classic and great.

I like your beurre noisette with the shrimp.

Bit disappointed in your turbot.

There are certain little elements that I could have done a bit better.

I'm kicking myself...for that.

No-one gave us absolute perfection today.

Lots of skill on show, but none of them nailed it.

They didn't get it 100% bang-on.

Alan's dish was by far the most attractive.

I thought it was really wonderful.

But I'm not sure I approve of a scallop being turned into a mousse.

It was a good dish, perfect presentation and good seasoning.

-Shall we put Alan through?

-Alan has to go through.

I'd like to put Thomas through,

because everything he did he did well.

I'm not sure about the dish,

but I am sure about his ability to cook and flavour.

He showed a lot of very good skills there.

I definitely want to taste more of Thomas's food cos that guy can cook.

We've agreed to put Alan and Thomas through. That's good.

That means, really, we have to decide between Michael and Nat.

Nat had some great ideas today, but it was scruffy.

And the sauce was too thick.

The pasty had leaked and didn't look very neat and tidy.

The ballotine had dried out.

Maybe she wanted to show all the skills in her repertoire.

I think, personally, she'd have been better off just doing one properly.

Nat, in my classic round, presented her jelly really beautifully.

There were faults. The biscuits were too thick and not cooked enough.

She over-cooked the creme Anglaise. Thankfully, she didn't serve it.

I'm hoping I've shown them a little bit of something

that they see potential in me.

Hopefully, that'll...help!

Michael attempted a lot, but under-cooked his potato,

under-cooked his beurre noisette and over-cooked his fish.

And he could have taken that skin off to make it look better.

Michael, in my round, his creme Anglaise was a bit thin

and the jelly lacked a bit of pepper and basil.

He was the only one to have cooked the biscuits properly. They were delicious.

Words can't explain how disappointed I'd be if I get sent home today.

Yeah, I just hope that they recognise the skill that was involved.

Both these chefs made mistakes, but who's shown the most promise?

I think I know.

Not a bad effort. Some good dishes. Some less so.

The chef leaving us is...

-..Nat. Sorry.

-Thank you.

Thank you.

I knew I was going. GIGGLES

Gutted. I didn't do myself justice there at all.

But it's been a good experience, either way, to cook for Michel.

So I'll take the positives away.

Still got a long way to go to get to his standard, but that's not going to stop me.

-Well done.

-Well done, guys. Well done.

I'm over the moon. LAUGHS

Quarterfinals, MasterChef, yeah. Wow. It's amazing.

It's the best news I could have.

I'm going home to give my two-week-old baby a big hug.

I haven't seen her for a few days, so that should be good.

To be in the quarterfinals is such an achievement.

I'm going to do it justice.

More to come, a few more surprises. These sleeves are very deep.

'Tomorrow night, the remaining five will battle to impress Monica.'

-What do you reckon to that, then?

-It's quite scary.

I expect you to be appalled that you could serve that.

-Happy?

-Yeah.

'Only the best will cook for Michel Roux Jr,

'for the chance of a place in the quarterfinal.'

Gosh. Now, that's good. I like that.

Oh!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

E-mail [email protected]