Episode 11 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.

Oh, I really want to cook for Michel.

It would just be a milestone in my career, my life.

I'm confident I could go far in this competition. With age on my side,

I could give these guys a good run for their money.

I feel quite nervous at the moment.

Eager to get in there. Just want to know what we'll be doing next.

Quite hungry for it and just can't wait to get started.

Monica, Skills Test, I know.

What is that and what have they got to do with it?

This, Gregg, is a beef kidney. ThisTH

I'd like to see them prepare it.

I'm going to ask them to cook us one portion

and then serve it using any of the ingredients here on the table.

First thing we want to do is remove the fat from the kidney.

You should be able to just peel it away.

It's like a scene from Alien!

Right, we've got the kidney out.

That is a massive amount of fat around that kidney. I had no idea.

We use the fat. We render it down and it's great for cooking chips and to make confit.

What you want to do is to remove all of this membrane.

It's not something you should be eating.

That's a fiddly job, removing all the fat from there.

It is.

Right, pan is nice and hot.

What are we looking for - brown on the outside, pink in the middle?

Exactly. Like any piece of meat,

when it's nice and golden and coloured all round,

it looks like something you want to eat.

Next, I am going to make an onion puree to go with mine.

I'm going to use some of this brioche.

And you want that brioche to pick up the cooking juices from the kidneys?

Exactly, Gregg.

Right, that comes out.

And now I'm going to use the same pan to make my sauce.

Madeira.

Reduce it down. OK. Put a bit of cream in there.

I've got some lovely wholegrain mustard here.

-That's my sauce done.

-Cor, that's lovely!

Finish the onion puree off.

And then you're ready to plate up.

Kidneys on brioche with an onion puree.

I want these chefs to come in and show us what they're made of.

Be creative, be original.

-I love that. I'll be happy if our chefs make a dish half as good as that.

-Let's find out.

First up is Aaron, a 21-year-old chef de partie,

in charge of the fish and meat section.

Last time, his tarragon-stuffed chicken ballotine

delivered on flavour but let down on presentation.

There's things out there that probably I don't know.

I'm still young and still got to develop those skills.

But we'll see how it goes.

-What do you reckon of that then?

-That's quite scary.

That is a beef kidney.

What we want you to do is take off the fat,

get the kidney and then serve us a kidney starter.

You can use any of the ingredients on here you want.

12 minutes. Off you go, Chef.

Five minutes left.

Two minutes to go.

-Right. That's it. All done?

-Yep.

Aaron, preparing the kidney - you took your time about it.

And you did a great job. Well done. Your plate looks nice and tidy.

I think you could have just gone a bit more central, OK?

It's a little thing.

-Yep.

-But it DOES matter.

Nicely cooked kidney, nice, tangy mustard sauce!

Not bad at all, my friend.

Aaron, perfectly seasoned. The mustard you can taste.

You can taste the Madeira through it as well.

It's perfect. I think you did a great job.

-Thank you, Chef. Off you go.

-Cheers.

Good lad!

-Happy?

-Yeah.

To here Monica say it was perfect is absolutely fantastic.

There could have been things that I could have done differently,

but I think I did well.

Next up is Alec, an executive chef at a five-star hotel in Lincoln.

In the first Invention Test,

he wowed both judges with his chicken ballotine and caramelised onion puree.

I'd generally say my skills are very good across the board.

But who knows? Something could come up I've not done for years.

Who knows what they'll give me?

-Do you like that?

-Yeah!

Wow!

12 minutes, Chef. You and the kidney. Off you go!

There he is!

-You've done that in 90 seconds, Chef.

-Let's see what we can do with the rest of it.

Four minutes left.

-All done?

-All done.

Alec was very quick. He managed to remove the kidneys with lightning speed.

You've obviously worked with kidneys before, so you were very comfortable with that side of it.

Yummy, yummy! Maybe a little too sweet.

But the kidneys are cooked nicely. I love it on the brioche.

And there's enough bounce from the kidneys. Well done.

Madeira, mustard, cream sauce - one of my favourites. It works.

I think you can cook. You've clearly shown that you know what flavours go.

If anything, your Madeira dash at the end was not necessary.

The alcohol is still raw, that's why it's still very strong at the end.

But not a bad plate at all.

-Alec, thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Feeling OK. It was quite intense.

It's up there with a Saturday night service when you've got a full restaurant.

29-year-old Martin is a pastry chef from Glasgow.

He the last round, his chocolate mousse impressed on taste,

but its appearance disappointed.

Pleasing Monica and Gregg is going to be tough.

Very tough. It was tough the first time.

It's not going to get any easier. It's quite frightening.

-Martin, have you worked with kidneys before?

-I've seen them, but I've never handled them personally.

Right-ho, Martin! 12 minutes. Off you go!

You've had five minutes. You have seven minutes left.

You've got 90 seconds, Chef. Last 90 seconds.

That's it! Time's up.

Martin, you've never worked with kidneys, but what I do admire

is how you took your time about it.

You took the morsels out and trimmed away the veins in the middle.

So well done for that, OK?

That's actually not bad. You've got the tang of the mustard.

The creamy sauce is thick.

I could do without the blood.

And it could do with a little more seasoning.

It actually tastes a lot better than it looks, Chef.

You know, Martin, for someone who's not cooked kidneys before,

I like them how they are. The reason why the blood has leaked out

on to your toast is because the pan was not hot enough,

so they've not sealed completely.

-Martin, thank you very much.

-Thank you very much.

I think I gave it my best,

but I can always do better. That's what's frustrating.

I just hope that's going to be enough.

Georges is originally from Burgundy,

but for the last eight years has been head chef at a riverside restaurant in Oxfordshire.

Hello.

In the Invention Test,

his Bearnaise sauce divided the judges.

If you take cooking as just a job, then you won't go very far.

You have to be passionate about your job,

or I think you're wasting your time.

-Georges, you've got just 12 minutes.

-12 minutes?

-Off you go!

-Thank you.

You got that kidney out in less than a minute.

You've had four minutes.

You are halfway. You've got six minutes left.

-You've got two minutes, all right? Then you've got to serve.

-Thank you.

Right, time's up.

Honestly, I look at it and I expect you to be appalled

that you could serve that.

Why the hell you put a whole lettuce on top is beyond me.

It's like you're ashamed of what's underneath it.

Oh, Georges!

There's no way I would accept that served up to me.

You know, the blood of the kidneys running into all that cream! There's no way!

Now I tried a small piece of the kidney which is cooked very well.

And then you have the bigger piece, which is not cooked through.

So that is why it's very important that when we do the kidneys,

you have them all around the same size when you are cooking them.

Funnily enough, there's a nice back note of the Madeira.

Maybe a little more seasoning, because you put so much cream in.

Georges, it's not right.

Off you go.

-Thank you.

-Au revoir.

-Au revoir.

It is really disappointing. It is.

I was expecting much more from myself.

I let myself down, a lot.

Well...

Last up, is Italian-born Alessandro.

In the last round, his brandy-glazed grapes proved too sweet for his chicken dish.

I didn't expect the standard to be this high.

I think I'm good enough to go quite far.

We need to just see how far I can go.

You've got just 12 minutes to cook us a kidney dish.

Off you go, Alessandro.

You've had three minutes. You have nine minutes left.

You've got five minutes left. Just five minutes left.

-Alessandro.

-Yeah.

-You've got less than a minute, OK? But I don't want to eat raw kidney.

-Yeah, I know.

-So you keep cooking it.

-Thank you very much.

You're four minutes over. We're going to have to serve.

No, that's it! Stop, stop!

Stop! Enough, enough, enough!

Enough.

Phew! You OK?

No.

Alessandro, look. I like the way you prepared the kidney.

You removed as much of the vein as possible and that is how you should do it.

However, it was just taking you too long.

This is where you went wrong today. Timing issue, huge timing issue.

It takes good. You've got the fruitiness of the Madeira.

You've got a tang of mustard that you put across the toasted brioche.

What you've done here I actually really like,

but you can't ignore the fact you've gone six minutes over here.

-Alessandro, thank you very much.

-Thank you, Chef.

Ooh!

I let myself down big time.

I came here to show them that I can cook at Michelin-star level,

and I gave them that dish.

I'm not happy at all. How can you be happy after this what I've done?

Overall, not bad!

There were mistakes, but it's enough for you not to have to frown for the rest of the day.

The best one for me was Aaron.

Hadn't handled the kidneys before, but cooked them sympathetically,

served it on toasted brioche with a very good, tangy, mustardy sauce.

He did a great job. He deserves to go through.

Alec did a good job. Alec got the kidneys from the fat

in absolutely record time.

He added a bit of Madeira at the end, which made the thing too sweet,

but, by and large, you know, that was a pretty good effort.

Alec did taste as he worked.

It was wonderfully seasoned and the plate was tidy.

The one that you admired, you were pleased with his efforts,

was Martin, the guy who's the pastry chef.

He was scared to death when he saw this today, yet he gave it a good go.

Those kidneys were cooked perfectly pink. I liked them the way they were.

Right, what we've now got to decide is between Georges

and Alessandro.

Now...

Alessandro was six minutes late.

HE LAUGHS

He spent 11 of the 12 minutes preparing the kidney!

You can't give somebody 12 minutes and then give somebody else 18.

Georges...

worked in such a crazy way.

The sauce wasn't right, you could see it when he started plating up.

And then top it off with a whole bowl of frisee salad on top of it!

What was he thinking?

I know I messed up today, but I would love another chance.

I really badly want to get through to cook for Michel

and show them all the dishes I've got in my mind.

I hope they give me a chance to do that.

I don't know which one of them has made the most mistakes.

I know who's definitely not going to cook for Michel.

The chef leaving is...

Alessandro.

I'm really gutted I can't cook for Michel. I thought I could do really well in this competition.

I made a few mistakes and I'm paying for them, that's all.

You go to cook for Michel. He is expecting some talented chefs.

You need to step up your game.

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 standard.

For today's classic I'm going to cook a pochouse bourguignon.

That is a freshwater fish stew from Burgundy.

The pochouse bourguignon has been around as long as the bouillabaisse from Marseilles.

It really is a French classic.

First job is to prepare the fish. So here we have the pike,

a beautiful freshwater fish

that's got quite a reputation.

A real predator of the rivers.

The char.

Freshwater fish have a lot of tiny bones

and it's essential that the chefs remove all of them.

I expect the chefs to work neatly and tidily, and to show off their knife skills.

Beautifully filleted and beautifully portioned fish.

So this is the perch - great fish!

I remember as a nipper, fishing for these. Delicious!

Now for the base of the stew,

I'm going to add some onion and a few mushrooms.

I'm going to use a little bit of this smoked bacon.

This is all classical Burgundian flavours.

Next ingredient, the bouquet garni, of celery, parsley, thyme, a bay leaf,

and leek, tied up in a little bundle to give all the wonderful flavours.

That goes in the pan.

Once the vegetables have softened and sweated down,

we're going to add to it the trimmings of the fish

and all of that is going to give a great depth of flavour.

Now's the time to add the brandy.

This is called "deglacer" in French.

"Deglacer" means to deglaze,

to pick up all the sugars that have stuck to the bottom of the pan.

That is the secret to great taste and flavour.

The white wine, so in that goes.

Just a little top up of water.

If there's too much liquid, it's going to be a wishy-washy fish stew,

which is not what we want.

This then comes to the boil and then it will simmer for about 15 minutes.

Now I'm preparing the garnish to go with this fish stew.

Onions, some mushrooms.

They just go straight in. Lardons.

One more little garnish - croutons.

Rub them with garlic, put a little drizzle of olive oil and bake them in the oven.

Next step is to pass this base through a fine sieve

to extract all the flavours.

The soup has got to be like an off-white colour, not brown.

Mm!

Oh, you can taste the wine. You can taste the bacon, the mushroom,

but, most importantly, you can taste the fish.

And all that's left to do now is to pan-fry the fish.

Very, very important not to overcook it.

And not too much colour. A nice crisp skin is perfect.

This is all about refinement and attention to detail.

It should be little morsels, so the diner can enjoy a spoonful of fish

with the stew.

The fish is now cooked. It's got a lovely colour on the skin.

And that's it! We can dress.

There we have it, the pochouse bourguignon,

a Burgundian freshwater fish stew.

I really hope our chefs are going to do this recipe justice.

Feels good to have the jacket on, finally.

First test is over, but it's still the beginning.

I've always wished to be one of those chefs cooking for Michel Roux.

I have the opportunity so, hopefully, I won't let him down.

If we thought Monica was tough, it's going to be a whole new league.

Chef Michel's looking for perfection.

If there's anything in there that bothers me, it will bother him more.

Gregg and Monica told me that there were highs and lows in the Skills Test. Well...

You wanted to cook for me, now's your chance to impress.

I want you to cook a pochouse bourguignon.

You have got one hour to reproduce this wonderful Burgundian fish stew.

Off you go!

I've been cooking classic dishes forever since I'm a chef,

so cooking just a classic dish is not going to scare me at all.

Actually, I feel very confident about it.

-Hello, Georges.

-Hello, Chef. How are you?

-You've got a bit of an accent there.

-I have. I'm French, actually.

-You're French?!

-From Burgundy, actually.

-So...

-But I've never seen this dish before. Beef bourguignon, yes.

-I've seen it, but...

-Are you sure you're from Burgundy?

I am sure! Kind of sure, yes.

-Kind of sure?

-Now I am!

-Have you come across freshwater fish though before?

-Yeah, pike, perch.

-Yeah.

-Carp. Cos my dad used to fish a lot, actually, so...

Yeah, me, too. Georges, good luck with this pochouse bourgiugnon.

-Your native country calls you.

-Thank you very much!

Georges has used up the entire bottle of white wine to make his fish stew.

It may be just so winey that it's inedible.

You have had 18 minutes, Chefs.

I'm feeling nervous.

You know, it's a big day, but there's a lot at stake,

so I've just got to concentrate, keep my head down, just do what I do best.

Aaron, you've seen the recipe. Do you understand it?

Yeah, I do, yeah. Yeah, I think I do. Read it, piece by piece.

-Just going to put it together. I've not done it before, so see how it goes.

-Are you classically trained?

-No, I'm not, no.

-You look a bit younger than the others here.

-How many years' experience have you got?

-I started cooking as a pot wash when I was young, 14.

And just sort of worked my way up. Moved to London when I was 17 and I've been here since.

-What are you doing now? What style of food are you cooking?

-I work in a restaurant doing Italian food.

It's a Michelin-star kitchen, so I hope that could work in my favour.

-Well, it should!

-Yeah, definitely, definitely.

Good.

Aaron has only used a tiny splash of white wine in his fish stew.

It's supposed to have a good glug. It may not even taste of wine!

30 minutes. Halfway.

Definitely aspire to be cooking at the same level as Michel -

the highest level I could possibly push myself to get to.

I want to be the best that I can be.

Hi, Martin. Do you understand this recipe?

-Not really, but I'm going to try my best.

-Not really, but you're going to soldier on?

-Yes.

-What's your background?

-My background is usually hotels.

Started in a long time ago and then left the business for a few years.

Then got back into it only recently, actually, three or four years ago.

-Doing fine dining since then.

-So you went out of catering completely?

-Yes.

-Why?

-I was just too young, too silly.

All my friends were out partying and I wasn't. Then realised what a stupid mistake I'd made.

Cos I love what I do, so had to come back.

Why MasterChef? I mean, because it's pretty stressful.

I wanted to see how good I am. See how good I stand up against the competition

for the rest of the country and see if I can do myself proud.

Martin's struggling.

You can see just by the way he's working, this is really pushing him.

Being quite classically trained as a youngster,

I'm quite confident in tackling something like Chef Michel's classical recipes.

So, hopefully, I'll be able to pull it off.

-Hi, Alec.

-Hi, Chef.

-Have you worked with freshwater fish?

-Worked with a lot of trout, not so much pike.

But worked with a lot of fish in my time, so, hopefully, be able to do it some justice.

-What position are you holding down now?

-I'm head chef at the moment.

-And where?

-In Lincoln.

-In a hotel. 115 bedroom.

-Oh, wow! That's not bad.

We have a small fine-dining restaurant, also banqueting, room service, bar.

So it's quite a big operation. Big challenge. That's what I enjoy.

Do you think with your background and your years of experience, you can go far?

I'd like to think so, but there's some fantastic chefs in this room.

So all it takes is a little mistake,

it could knock me out but, hopefully, I'll have none of them.

I think Alec has understood the recipe to a T!

He's not even got a bead of sweat on his brow.

I Just hope it tastes as good as he is working.

Final seven minutes. Think about cooking your fish. Now's the time. Come on!

Taste, taste, taste! Come on!

That's it! Time's up. Finis!

I asked you to cook a pochouse bourguignon,

that's a Burgundian fish stew.

It should be served in a bowl, the croutons should be thin,

the soup should have the lovely, delicate flavour of the freshwater fish

and not overpowered by the smoked bacon.

And the fish, little morsels. It should be delicate and well cooked.

First off, Alec.

First thing...

It's on a plate! It should be a bowl.

Therefore there's just a token amount of the broth.

It should be swimming in it!

The fish is well cooked, got a lovely colour.

The croutons, as well, are delicious. The bacon is lovely.

Everything is cut to the millimetre. It shows a lot of precision.

The broth is delicious!

You can taste the fish, a little hint of smoked bacon in there.

All the flavours are there. Why, oh why did you not put it in a bowl?

Aagh!

Annoying!

Very, very annoying.

A bit disappointed. Made a silly mistake by putting it on a plate.

Absolutely foolish, really. It was a fish stew,

and it didn't have that fish stew element to it.

Martin, your turn.

Served in a bowl, as it should be.

You've got a little bit of height with croutons.

Little onions poking up like that.

-They look smart. It's presented how

-I

-would present it.

Fish bone in the perch. I got one. Shouldn't happen.

You've left the rind on the bacon and it's really chewy.

And it's not been cut properly. It's not lardons.

It's big pieces, small pieces.

It's not right.

The broth is a little bit too thin.

Bit wishy-washy.

You have presented to me a very elegant pochouse,

but there are errors here.

I don't like mistakes and today I had a couple.

I'm not happy about that, so it could have been a lot better.

Aaron, your turn.

Visually, it's not the best. It's not pleasing to the eye.

That broth looks terribly thick.

The lardons, I think there are too many on the plate there.

There should be just a few.

Did you put mushrooms?

-No.

-Well, there should be.

Fish is well cooked. The onions are nice as well. They've got a bit of colour on them.

The crouton is delicious! Rubbed with a little bit of garlic.

It's got oil on it. It's yummy.

But the broth itself is too thick and far too much seasoning.

It's overpowering.

I've not actually done a classic dish like that at all,

so for a first time I think I interpreted it very well.

It's something to learn from and make sure in the next challenge everything's spot on.

Georges, now for you.

It's served in a bowl, as it should be and there's plenty of that broth.

The lardons are too big!

They look uncouth.

Remember, we're looking for elegance and finesse.

The fish is well cooked, well seasoned.

The onions are well cooked, golden on the outside with a bit of a crunch.

Your croutons are bland.

They should have a nice colour to them.

You didn't put any mushrooms in there as well. I mean, guys, "bourguignon"!

Classically trained or not,

lardons, onions, mushrooms.

They scream out at you, don't they, eh?

Georges, your broth is too thin

and wishy-washy.

I noticed that you put a full bottle of wine in

and I think you've added a lot of water into it to compensate.

Too much.

It's now almost tasteless.

It's not a bad attempt, but it's not refined.

And refinement is what I was looking for.

Still disappointed to make silly mistakes, of course.

Cooking from somebody like Michel Roux, he spots everything

and doesn't let go, but it's mistakes I won't make again.

Now, you cook your own classic dish.

One hour. After this, one of you will be leaving us.

Off you go.

At my restaurant, I cook simple French classics,

but we elevate them a little bit.

So, hopefully, Michel will appreciate that.

-Hi, Georges.

-Hello.

-What are you cooking for us?

Loin of lamb with herb-crusted sweetbreads,

crispy cabbage, celeriac puree and a redcurrant sauce.

So why this dish, Georges?

It's something close to my heart, cos where I come from in France,

we eat loads of offal. It's a take on what my mum used to cook before.

-What did you do before you were a chef?

-I was a policeman.

A policeman in Paris.

-A nice one!

-And how much would it cost to get me off a speeding fine?

A lot, I'm afraid. A place in the quarter.

THEY LAUGH

I like him!

Georges' dish sounds quite simple,

but actually he's picking ingredients that I absolutely adore.

If it's cooked properly, beautifully presented, it's got to be enough.

First cooked this dish about three or four months ago.

It's just making sure every minute detail is perfect.

There's no second chance, really, to do it again.

Alec, what's your classic recipe?

My classic dish today is a take on paella.

Isn't it dangerous to take a dish that everybody loves and mess around with it?

When you eat it, when all the components are combined, you'll think you're eating a paella,

but the way it's presented, it's totally different.

So, hopefully, a bit of a surprise will bring back memories

of sitting on a beach in Spain, enjoying that big pan of paella.

What was food like growing up? What was the kitchen like?

I've got three brothers, three sisters, so it's a big, big family.

The main attraction for us was on a Sunday lunch.

All sit down together, big table full of food.

That's why this dish is part of it. I love the way the Spanish eat.

They put the big pan in the middle of the table. All the family dig in.

That's what it's all about for me. This is just my little take on it.

Pfff! Alec has got a dehydrator, a blender, a smoking gun, a blowtorch!

Every piece of kit possible.

I just hope it's all worth it. He's throwing everything at this dish.

You're halfway. 30 minutes left.

I'd love to be Michelin-star standard, definitely.

I can't see myself settling for anything less.

I want perfection. I've just got to work hard and get there.

-What are you making that's going to get you a quarter-final place?

-Lobster ravioli...

with lemon and ginger, a tomato consomme, pea puree

and a little fricassee of peas, broad beans and tomato concasse.

You have got a lot of techniques there, a lot going on.

Yeah, there's a lot that can go wrong but, hopefully, the comments in the last round,

I can take them on board, get the seasoning right, the presentation nice and just go from there, really.

-Food is your passion, obviously.

-Definitely, yeah.

-Any other hobbies?

-I do magic, every now and then. I've done it for a few years.

So I go out on the weekends with friends and do some street magic, if you like.

Yeah, it's fun. I like it.

That is absolutely fantastic! So you're going to pull it out the hat today, Aaron?

I'm going to pull it out the hat, yeah.

I absolutely love the sound of Aaron's dish.

Aaron had issues with his seasoning and his presentation in my round.

He's got to get it right this time.

For my classic dish I'm doing a very technical dish.

It's risky, but I think it's a risk worth taking, if it pulls off.

-Martin, what are you making?

-Basically, making my own take

on the flavours of Black Forest gateau.

It's based on a chocolate mousse and an Italian meringue flavoured with kirsch.

Biscottis mixed with pistachios for texture.

And a little bit of this here - that's cherry creme fraiche.

It's just more vibrant than double cream.

-In the earlier round, you were a little bit lost with the fish.

-Yeah, that's true.

-You love working in pastry.

-Yeah.

-So this is playing to your strengths?

-Definitely.

-OK, you're the only one in the room doing dessert. I look forward to it.

-Thank you. Thank you very much.

Martin said he loves pastry work and it's his forte.

So now's the time to prove it and book his place in the next round.

Chefs, last ten minutes!

You have got just two minutes.

Oooh!

Right, that's it! Time's up.

Alec, I saw the accident. Carry on working, but you're on borrowed time.

Alec has made his interpretation of chicken and squid paella,

with paprika-flavoured fondant potatoes,

wilted spinach and balsamic dressing,

and a chorizo and saffron risotto served on the side.

First off, we saw you had a bit of an issue

with the squeezy bottle and some anchovy, olive and squid ink puree.

-On the second plate, you didn't put it on.

-I didn't want to risk it going all over the plate again.

-OK.

Visually, I'm not keen on it.

I don't think it's doing

the great classic paella dish a favour. For me, it's confused.

That squid is so well cooked. It's lovely.

Those potatoes are buttery and soft. I love picking up the chicken with balsamic vinegar.

I like the rice as well with saffron running through it.

I like it, but I feel like I'm at a buffet, taking little bits off the plate.

It's... It's bitty.

It's little morsels which are very well cooked and well done.

But it doesn't work completely as a dish.

And I tell you one thing that is missing...is that.

I feel absolutely gutted, really. Nightmare.

Just a big disaster at the end.

A big accident with the squeezy bottle. It's not come together today.

So it might not be enough.

Aaron's classic is lobster, ginger and scallop mousse ravioli

served on a pea puree,

broad beans, pickled cucumber

and tomato concasse with a tomato consomme.

It's incredibly neat.

And it looks very classy.

It's the kind of starter dish that you would get

in a high-end Italian restaurant.

That is delicious, Aaron.

I love the flavour profiles.

The highs and lows of taste and of texture. Very clever cooking.

The pasta is cooked perfectly. The filling is moist.

It's sweet. It's got a little bit of bite from the lobster.

Gosh!

That's good. I like that.

The lobster in there is perfectly cooked

and it's sweet and it's got just the right amount of give.

Your puree is silky smooth.

Oh! Amazingly well-cooked, beautifully presented dish.

Absolutely!

When both of the judges give you praise like that,

it's like a massive pat on the back. It's unbelievable, it really is.

And I smashed it, I think.

Georges has made loin of lamb with herb-crusted sweetbreads

on a bed of crispy cabbage and celeriac puree

with mustard frills and a redcurrant and raspberry vinegar sauce.

It's very, very simple.

There really isn't much on this plate.

I really like it. I love that style. I think it smacks of confidence.

Thank you.

For me and for most Frenchmen, that lamb is a bit overcooked.

It should be a little bit more pink.

The celeriac puree is nice and smooth.

It's delicious.

Cabbage, I'm not so keen on.

It's almost verging on burnt and it's got that caramelised taste,

which is borderline bitter.

Seasoning, bang on.

Cooking-wise, a couple of mistakes here.

That sweetbread with the zing of herbs

picked up with a sweet sauce, tasting slightly of raspberry is just lovely.

But I would also like the lamb a little less cooked.

I'd also prefer my cabbage not to have burnt bits.

Apart from that, I think it's absolutely, absolutely lovely.

I'm kicking myself quite a lot for that little bit of cabbage.

Cos that shouldn't happen, it just shouldn't.

That could be very costly, actually.

Martin has made his version of Black Forest gateau -

a dark chocolate mousse with kirsch-flavoured meringue

on a biscotti and pistachio base,

topped with popping candy and cherry sherbet

and served with pistachio praline,

cherry creme fraiche and edible pansies.

I absolutely love that.

That's just the prettiest little thing ever. I'm a big pud fan.

It looks absolutely delightful.

Gor! Mate, that is fantastic!

I've got a cherry there flavoured with a bit of booze,

just emphasising the cherry's natural flavour.

Then when you dip into this great big, thick chocolate,

biscuity at the bottom, you are picking up the flavours of a Black Forest gateau.

Mate, that is plate-lickingly wonderful.

I haven't got a single comment other than to say that is just superb from start to finish.

Right, my turn!

The chocolate mousse is delicious. It's smooth, it's light.

Your meringue filling in the middle there is a little bit too soft.

That's why it's seeping on the edge there.

But it tastes great!

Your biscotti biscuit base at the bottom is a little too thick.

Yeah, two tiny errors away from being, for me, a perfect dessert.

One of the biggest pastry chefs in the world just told me that my dish was almost perfect.

I don't know how much more of a confidence boost you can get.

So, yeah, massive, massive.

Great cooking. Very good! Each and every one of you

can be very proud of yourselves today.

Thank you. Off you go.

Some of that was fantastic. That is four solidly good chefs.

Precise, lots of skills. Just what I wanted to see.

And it's very sad because one of them will be leaving us.

You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to work out which one was my favourite dish!

Martin's dessert was fantastic.

I questioned the wisdom of deconstructing a Black Forest gateau

but he had all the flavours of a Black Forest gateau, plus.

He made a couple of mistakes with his fish stew. Bacon rind and fish bones.

But, for me, his dessert was a triumph.

So beautiful it could have been in any fine-dining,

Michelin-starred restaurant.

You haven't seen my full potential yet. I've got loads more cards up my sleeve.

So, hopefully, I get that chance.

For me, the best dish today was Aaron's. I loved that ravioli.

It was a perfect pasta dough.

The lobster was cooked beautifully. It was well seasoned.

Beautifully presented. It had elegance. It had everything!

The vegetables, cooked to perfection.

Very well-made consomme. Very well-made puree. It really was quite wonderful.

Aaron needed to have a good round because cooking my classic,

it was not the best.

The fish broth was more of a puree and heavily, heavily seasoned.

He did, however, have the best croutons. I'd have had a mountain of the croutons. They were delicious!

Personally, I think I've done enough.

There's a lot of techniques in there and skill,

so I hope that's enough for me to go through.

Now...

we're left with Georges

or Alec?

In my round, Georges cooked the fish perfectly and seasoned it beautifully,

but the broth was just insipid and wishy-washy,

and it just looked cumbersome and not refined.

I really liked Georges' lamb dish. The sweetbreads on top of lamb with a sweet sauce

I thought was absolutely lovely, BUT I would have preferred my lamb pinker

and there were burnt, brown bits of cabbage.

When you only have three or four ingredients on a plate, it has to be bang on.

And I feel that's where it's let him down slightly.

When you do something you shouldn't and you know you can do much better,

there's nothing worse, I think.

Alec can obviously cook very well.

His chicken was well cooked. The squid was absolutely perfect.

But he tried to take a paella apart

and put extra things in, like fondant potatoes.

And if the rice comes up to you in a jar,

you know that something's gone wrong!

What was he like with your classic dish?

Alec excelled in my classic dish. It was absolutely delicious.

Not fault free. The biggest mistake he made was,

rather than putting it in a bowl, he plate it on a plate!

I just hope that I've done enough today for Chef Michel and Gregg to put me through to the next round.

But there's only so many chances you can have, so maybe that's my chance gone.

Which one of those two would we want to see cook again?

Alec is a little bit daring for his own good.

Georges maybe not daring enough.

-Interesting, isn't it?

-Mmm.

The chef leaving us is...

Georges.

Thank you.

It was amazing, amazing experience.

I don't feel I should be sad from today.

I'm quite proud.

It was a good day.

-Cheers, mate.

-Well done.

-Excellent.

Yeah, I'm feeling so great. Happy and...

It's a massive weight, you know, off my shoulders.

Just to know that you're through to the quarter-final is unbelievable.

I, honestly, thought I was going home then.

That one mistake I thought was big enough to cost me.

Thank God it didn't! I can't wait to get cooking in the next round.

Utter joy right now, but also dread thinking about what I have to do next.

It's just going to get harder every day.

So, yeah, I'm ready to do it. I'm ready for it.

Tomorrow night, Martin, Aaron and Alec

will join three other heat winners in the quarter-final.

The chefs can't play safe. It's got to be magnificent.

It's got to be inspiring, otherwise, they're out!

Only the best will go on to cook for the critics,

in a bid for a coveted semi-final place.

-I don't like it!

-Wild pickings!

If I wanted to take a bite out of the hedgerows, I would have done so by now.

It's a calamity, even without tasting it!

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