Episode 12 MasterChef: The Professionals

Only an elite group of chefs holds two Michelin stars.

Michel Roux Jr is one of them.

-One lamb, two fish.

-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.

These six chefs have made it to today's quarter-final.

It's a huge day today.

I feel ready for it. A little bit nervous,

but if we weren't nervous, there's something wrong.

I do believe that the pressure's going to get greater.

But if it's good enough, hopefully I'll reach the semi-finals.

I'm not going home today.

Well, I could be, but in my mind I'm determined I'm not going home today.

First, they must prove to Michel and Gregg

they've got what it takes with a dish of their own invention.

Only the best chefs will go on to showcase their food

for some of the UK's toughest restaurant critics.

Quotation marks, it's the MasterChef Pro "danger sign".

Terrible things have been done inside quotation marks on this show!

You talented six are now quarter-finalists.

And we expect you to cook like quarter-finalists.

We are going to give you an invention test.

One hour to make one outstanding dish.

At the end of this, two of you will be leaving the competition.

Just look what we've got here.

Beautiful glistening fresh fish.

Perfectly aged meat.

And the best fruit and veg.

Use your imagination and use your flair.

We'll give you ten minutes to come and choose your ingredients.

Up you come.

There's loads of ingredients to choose from.

I'm just going with my gut at the minute, trying to take it all in.

A little bit blank just now.

I'll come up with something.

Just not sure what yet!

Right. You've had five minutes.

Got a little plan in my head. I think I'm about there.

Hopefully it'll be the one to get me through to the next round.

You have one more minute to make your mind up.

You've got your ingredients. You know what's demanded of you.

One hour. Off you go.

Thomas, a 26-year-old head chef of a London gastro-pub.

And his food is good and it's tasty.

But he needs to prove that he can make his food more elegant.

The food that I've produced so far, I wouldn't say it's up with the finest of fine-dining restaurants.

It's up to me now to make sure that it is fine-dining food

that the likes of Michel Roux Jr expect in this competition.

-Hi, Thomas.

-Hi, Chef.

-What are you cooking?

I'm doing a nice little pan-fried trout

on a bed of summer beets, turnips, some violet artichokes.

I'm hoping to improve on the last round with my classic dish.

I've taken on board what you guys said about presentation.

So I'm going to work on that. Make it look like something that belongs in one of your restaurants.

-I like everything I'm hearing from you.

-I hope I can deliver.

-Me, too!

Thomas is doing trout. I love trout. It's a delicate, elegant dish.

I think Thomas has picked the right ingredients to prove to us that he has got finesse.

20 minutes have gone.

Michael is a 28-year-old head chef from Lanark.

He does good presentation, he's got skill.

His food has not yet been 100 per cent perfect.

And he's got to get rid of those nerves, cos they are going to ruin him.

He needs to believe in himself.

It's been quite tough.

I'm feeling a lot more confident.

I'm determined. I really do want the gold medal, yeah.

-All right, Michael?

-Yes, Chef.

-What exactly are you cooking?

I'm cooking a slow-roast partridge breast and a barigoule.

A classic barigoule is with artichokes.

Slightly soused or vinegared. Almost like a pickle.

I'm not going to ask if you're nervous. I'll ask how bad the nerves are.

No, they're good!

I hope I can keep them calm and keep the confidence going.

Really go for it.

Michael has picked a partridge served with a traditional barigoule.

For me, any game should be served with something sweet,

not necessarily something sour.

This, for me, is a bit of a gamble.

Alec is a 30-year-old head chef.

He's got talent, but some of his inventions are unusual.

To say the least!

He needs to rein it back in and deliver perfect cooking.

I consider myself quite a creative chef.

That's how I like my food to be. I like it to be fun, exciting.

And if you can make it fun for the judges,

hopefully it's a winning formula.

-Alec, what are you cooking for us?

-I'm doing a pan-fried fillet of pollock

with a celeriac and lemon puree

with crushed new potatoes and a fricassee of clams, girolles and baby turnips.

You're not going to deconstruct it?

No, it's going to be exactly what it says on the tin. A bit more the old traditional way!

Traditional may be safer.

Not too safe, I hope?

Not safe at all. I'm quite confident in this and hopefully you'll like it as much as I do.

Alec has chosen pollock, serving it with crushed new potatoes that he isn't going to peel.

Bits of skin is just wrong!

You're half way.

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

His creation in the last round was just beautiful.

But can he go further, just showing off his pastry skills?

I'm coming off the back of the last round. The dish was near perfect.

But it's all about the dish you cook today.

-Martin, playing to your strengths?

-Yeah, a little bit, yeah.

I'm doing a banana cheesecake.

Your Black Forest gateau wasn't your average Black Forest gateau!

It's not going to be a traditional cheesecake. More of a banana mousse with a mascarpone flavour.

-So it's slightly different.

-After the dessert you gave me in the last round,

my expectation now is dangerously high!

You've got me frightened now!

Martin is playing to his strengths. He loves pastry work.

I'm expecting Martin to deliver Michelin-starred standard presentation dessert.

Aaron is 21. He's a chef de partie in London.

You think that young man is a real talent.

Aaron is definitely talented, skilful. And he has that passion.

But he has to reproduce that today.

Being 21, it's a massive opportunity and a massive competition.

I'm just going to concentrate on what I think works.

Hopefully, the judges will think it's nice.

-So what ingredients have you chosen?

-All vegetarian today.

I want it to be different. Take the average salad into a another dimension.

-Hopefully, it'll be really nice.

-I see you have egg yolk in there.

I'm confiting these really slowly in oil to get a warm texture as well.

I've got white onions. I've sweated them down, covered them with milk for a white onion puree.

Are you making it up as you go along?

I was a bit lost at first. A massive range of ingredients.

Then I saw everyone was taking meat, so I wanted to take a different route.

Hmm. Very brave.

-I can't wait to try it.

-Brilliant. Cheers, guys.

Aaron has decided to serve us only vegetables,

bar a little confit egg yolk.

The egg yolk will be still runny so you can cut it open

and it forms a kind of sauce.

If anyone can present just vegetables and egg yolk properly,

Aaron can.

18 minutes left.

Alan is a 31-year-old sous-chef working in Cambridgeshire.

Alan always thinks outside of the box

and gives presentation which is unusual.

I like that in a chef.

The last dish he gave us I thought was beautiful.

As a chef, I'm quite daring with flavours.

I think that's going to set me apart from the rest, hopefully.

-All right, big fella?

-Good, thanks, yes.

-What are you cooking?

-A pan-fried fillet of bream,

giving a Mediterranean take on what I'm using with tomato consomme, turnips, beetroot.

-And clams.

-Of course, yes.

-Tomato what?

-Consomme, basically.

-Consomme.

-Consomme!

-Yeah.

-Why?

I just saw the ingredients. I got inspired by the Mediterranean.

Just the feel of fresh flavours, summer flavours.

-What do you dream of, Alan?

-I dream to probably have my own place one day

and I'm aiming towards maybe picking up some accolades in the near future.

-Let's hope we can rubber-stamp your dish today.

-Certainly, yes. Thank you.

Alan says he's cooking bream with Mediterranean flavours

but I've not seen any thyme or garlic on his bench.

Going the Mediterranean route, I'm not sure.

You've only got three minutes left.

On plates, now!

Final 60 seconds, final touches.

Your time's up.

First up is Michael,

who has made roast partridge served with a barigoule,

a pickled artichoke stew, a soubise, or onion puree...

..new potatoes, roast beetroot and a beetroot and red wine jus.

Presentation-wise, I like it. It's neat, elegant and colourful.

The partridge is well cooked, well seasoned.

And with the soubise, that's a very good marriage.

There are some great skills here.

For me, a barigoule is a stand-alone dish or an accompaniment maybe to a fish.

But not to a game bird.

I find it too sharp, too tart, and it doesn't work.

You've cooked everything really well. Brilliantly well.

But something somewhere on that dish

has got to bring all these different bits together

and make the whole thing flow together, and it doesn't.

At the moment I've got brilliantly well cooked individual bits sharing a plate.

-Thank you, Michael.

-Thank you.

I managed to control the nerves much better today.

But I'm a bit worried about the other competition there is in there.

Alec has pan-roasted a loin of pollock and served it with crushed potatoes,

a celeriac lemon puree, with a clam, girolle and baby turnip fricassee

and a lemon and clam veloute.

Presentation-wise, I think it looks really pretty.

I do like it. It looks good.

The pollock is beautifully cooked.

Well-seasoned crispy skin. Bang on.

The sauce has got bags and bags of flavour. The clams are lovely.

The potato, I really dislike.

It's got skins in there, and the texture is not right.

And it's got too much flavour, too many herbs.

I really dislike it.

Chef is not a fan of crushed new potatoes and neither am I.

Apart from that, I love that.

The saltiness of the sea, a little bit of citrus

and a hint of truffle through sweet celeriac.

That is delicious!

-Thank you.

-You've taken the pollock, which hasn't got very much flavour,

and you have just built flavour around it

which I think is beautiful.

Thank you.

'I'm feeling quite good today. A couple of little gripes.'

Hopefully that mistake with the potato skin and a few herbs won't be enough to knock me out.

Overall, I'm feeling good about it.

Martin has made a banana and mascarpone mousse cheesecake

and served it with an Amaretti chocolate crumb ganache,

roasted banana, peach cubes and a raspberry coulis.

Presentation-wise, the cheesecake seems to have collapsed a little bit.

It's not the best.

I think I just misunderstood the timing.

I just didn't have enough time. I tried to set it in time

and when I cut it, it just started to move. It's my own fault.

That's not right. Even the grey, purple colour isn't right.

Sorry, mate.

Martin, I'd happily eat the whole lot.

I mean, banana flavour, raspberry flavour,

nice chocolate, all very, very yummy.

But not looking like that.

I find the colour of the cheesecake off-putting. That purple brown colour.

-It's not the best.

-I forgot the lemon for the bananas, to keep the colour.

-That kind of held me back a bit.

-We know you're good at pastry.

And I know deep down, you'll be hurting, cos you know this isn't right.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Gutted. Absolutely gutted.

I can't believe it.

I made just tiny mistakes

which has ruined the dish.

Alan has pan-fried a fillet of bream,

topped it with capers and served it with candied yellow beetroot

beetroot crisps, turnip, clams and a fish and tomato consomme.

You mentioned Mediterranean flavours when we had a chat with you.

I really can't see much of the Mediterranean in there

other than the sunshine colour.

So maybe the wrong billing.

The fish is well cooked, crispy skin.

It's really nice. But not enough sharpness or seasoning.

The sweetness is overpowering.

I appreciate some good skills here, making the consomme,

cooking the fish with a lovely crispy skin.

But it's not wakening my palate up.

I've never seen a consomme used to flavour a fish.

I feel like I want something thick enough to stick to the fish.

You're trying to use a consomme as a sauce and whenever I think I'm getting somewhere,

in my palate, it washes away.

There's lots to admire, but nothing to fall in love with.

I think I showcased a few good skills there.

Hopefully enough to pull me through.

Aaron has made a warm vegetable salad served with crushed pistachios,

onion puree, pickled mushrooms and a confit egg yolk.

Very pretty. Very elegant. Very precise.

Mmm.

I think it's delicious. I really do.

I like it. Delicious vegetables, and they're all different.

Some with a crunch, some have been pickled.

The confit egg yolk is lovely and, of course, it's still runny.

I love the concept of the dish.

I think it's very clever.

I appreciate the vegetables are cooked really well.

I appreciate that the dressing is made really well.

But that's not exciting me.

I can't find fault with the way you cooked.

It just doesn't turn me on at all.

'Mixed emotions, really.'

My dish was just a massive risk.

Not having a protein, just having some veg.

But I hope it's paid off.

Thomas has pan-fried a fillet of trout

and served it with a warm salad of violet artichokes,

summer beetroot, turnips and a tarragon, dill and caper vinaigrette.

Presentation, I find it a bit bulky.

It's lacking in refinement, visually.

That is superb. Absolutely superb.

-Thank you.

-You taste every single flavour

of the vegetables and the fish individually.

The fish is cooked beautifully. It's seasoned beautifully.

It is cooking of the highest order.

I can't tell you enough how much I loved that,

but you've got to present it better!

Right.

-It's delicious.

-Thank you.

It really is. The vegetables are beautifully cooked.

Your trout is well cooked. It's nice and brown.

It's a good dish. It's a shame it doesn't look elegant.

Because it deserves to look elegant.

I'm absolutely buzzing. I'm a bit short of breath, actually.

For someone of Michel Roux Jr's quality and calibre

to say that your food is delicious,

I'm absolutely stunned.

Well done. Thank you.

Off you go.

Some outstanding cooking today and a little bit of silliness.

And a few mistakes. Big mistakes.

There's no ignoring it. Martin had a nightmare.

He wanted to make a cheesecake. He wanted it light, it didn't set.

We had a grey, purple oblong splodge.

I feel sorry for Martin cos it didn't quite work.

It really didn't look very nice on the plate.

Doesn't work at this level. On a day like today, you gotta go.

Can I say my favourite, favourite dish? That was Thomas.

Unbelievable cooking.

The lightness of touch steeled with flavour.

That is the Holy Grail!

It looked cumbersome, but it tasted divine.

My second favourite dish was Alec's dish of the pollock.

I thought it was absolutely delicious.

Honestly, my senses just came alive.

And these big flavours were just filling me up.

I disliked his crushed potato.

better to have just lovely beautiful potatoes as they are.

I liked Aaron's confit egg yolk

and his kind of salad of vegetables.

That's going to split us!

Not 'alf! Let me tell you, as a customer, that guy gave me five vegetables for my dinner!

It didn't excite me in the least!

If I go home, it's going to be so gutting.

I don't even want to think about it.

Michael's dish was a dish of very enjoyable well-cooked bits and pieces.

That was not one whole lovely plate.

The soubise, the red wine jus, braised leg.

For me, that was one dish.

Then we had a barigoule. For me, that dish didn't work.

'I'm hoping that I do get through'

cos I want to stay in this competition and go all the way.

Alan does good cooking.

Can I say it's a little bit uninspiring?

His fish was cooked nicely, but I'm not sure I like the idea

of pouring a tomato consomme onto a piece of fish.

I don't really see the point.

Alan was showing technique. Good technique.

But I think a lack of imagination.

He was using the banner of Mediterranean food,

but there was really nothing much that proved it was a Mediterranean dish.

I've got a sense of urgency in me cos I want to know that I'm through to the next round.

I want to know that I'm going to be doing my dishes.

I think it's quite obvious because of the mistake which one has to go.

It's who else is gonna go?

The first chef leaving us is...

..Martin.

-Thank you.

-Cheers, mate. Thank you very much.

I was expecting it. I knew it was gonna happen.

I'm totally kicking myself over it. I'm going home on a pastry dish.

It's what I do.

The second chef leaving us is...

..Alan.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

I feel a bit disappointed in the sense that you can't show them more of what you can do.

At the end of the day, it's just a really tough competition.

The pressure is so intense.

You are presenting your own food today.

A main course and a dessert, not just to Michel and I,

but to three very tough restaurant critics.

Two of you will be leaving us.

It's there. There for the taking. A place in the semi-final.

You have one hour before you serve your first course.

Off you go.

I think it's very hard cooking for critics.

Because it's critics' job to find fault.

Not smooth over the cracks.

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

It's got to be inspiring. Otherwise, they're out.

Thomas is gifted. His food is truly delicious.

However, that may not be enough to impress the critics.

My biggest worry today will be timing.

They're dishes I've done before. Not necessarily together.

I'm hoping that a chef of Michel Roux's calibre

can see that this guy's definitely worthy of a semi-final place.

-What are you cooking?

-Pan-fried Gressingham duck breast

with a caramelised red onion tarte tatin, parsnip and maple puree

and a Madeira sauce.

For dessert, I'm doing a twist on a classic, strawberry shortcake,

-but I'll be using shortbread.

-Plenty of sweetness in your cooking today.

Indeed, yes. I'm hoping that the tartness of the tarte tatin

will break the sweetness and help with the richness of the duck.

-Cooked for critics before?

-No, not when I've been the person with the name above the kitchen.

-If anybody's going to pull it off, you will.

-Thank you.

I love a duck breast, but even I am getting nervous about the sweetness piling up on that duck.

If he's not careful, that duck is going to end up as a dessert.

Thomas's dessert is a shortbread biscuit with creme patissiere and strawberries.

There's nothing really inventive about that.

It just sounds too safe for me.

Right. 18 minutes gone.

I know that Michael has got a fantastic touch.

But there are always little mistakes.

It never quite adds up to something perfect.

If he is ever going to turn it on, it has got to be today otherwise he could go.

-What are you cooking?

-For the main, I'm cooking line-caught sea trout

with wild pickings, crispy skin and fennel pollen.

-And dessert?

-I've got wild strawberries with elderflower sorbet,

chocolate mousse and I'm going to do a field mint jelly and sherbet, coated sherbet.

-Wild pickings. Lovely.

-I've got sea parsley, samphire.

This is a wild pig nut which grows on the stem and grows underground.

Are we going to get a cohesive dish?

You'll get a beautiful dish that I hope blends all together.

I love going out foraging.

It really showcases how I am as a chef.

So it's very good that I'm getting to cook the food today.

Michael's main course is like a little nature trail around Scotland!

Michael's dessert is wild strawberries, chocolate mousse, mint jelly,

an elderflower sorbet and some candied pignuts!

The dessert sounds like five little individual desserts.

They may not work together.

You're half way.

Alec has proved that he is a well seasoned chef with a very, very good touch.

He has a tendency to go wild!

However,

if he leaves the craziness behind and shows what a talented chef he is,

the critics will love him. Love him.

I think the critics will be looking for the same as Michel and Gregg. They're looking for perfection.

My dishes are big on flavours, appearance.

Hopefully it's just a great experience all round for the judges today.

-What's your menu?

-I'm doing pan-fried turbots

with peas and beef dripping potatoes and a tartare veloute.

And for dessert I'm doing a liquid chocolate cake

-with variations of apricot.

-How does a chocolate cake work if it's liquid?

Almost like a fondant, with more like 80 to 85% more oozing in the middle

and a fine shell on the outside of sponge.

You're not going to deconstruct anything?

No, exactly what it says on the tin, today.

I think I've learnt my lesson!

-Have you cooked for critics before?

-Luckily, I have.

I don't know if that's good or bad.

All of us have good reviews and bad reviews. You have to take the bad ones as well as the good ones.

-Best of luck.

-Thank you, Chef.

Alec is cooking his potatoes in beef dripping

and serving them with turbot, scallops and minted peas.

That all sounds to me a bit like fish and chips!

I think he's preparing apricot five ways, serving it with a liquid chocolate cake!

When you break into it, ideally it should be totally liquid inside.

It's far more difficult to make that kind of cake than it is a fondant.

You've been really impressed by Aaron. He's divided us in the past.

What's he gonna do with the critics today?

I really don't want to split the judges again.

I want to be confident that they enjoy it, are happy with it.

I really don't want them to be 50/50 on any of my dishes from now.

-Are you up for this?

-Yes. I've got a lot to do, though.

I'm doing a modern roast chicken. I'm cooking the breast sous-vide with asparagus,

brown onion puree, I'm making a ballotine, taking the chicken skin and making a crumb.

A lot of textures, different elements, but essentially it's a whole chicken on a plate.

-Dessert?

-Dessert, I'm making my take on a banoffee pie.

All the elements again, but a different presentation, a different take on it.

Am I going to like this better than the six slices of vegetables?

Yes. It's my food as well. I'm not put on the spot. I've had time to think about it.

I've played around with it and come up with different ideas. Trying to bring something new to the table.

-Why do you want to be different?

-It's a way of being noticed.

-You can be different and noticed for the wrong reasons.

-I know!

Hopefully it's for the right reasons today.

There's lots of different techniques going on,

but in essence there will be the wonderful flavour or roast chicken. At least we hope!

And he's kind of smartening up the banoffee pie.

He wants to show everybody what a clever cook he is

and I don't think he's concentrating on what that is going to taste like.

15 minutes to go!

These people cook professionally for a living.

And it's not fair on them if we indulge them

and ignore their mistakes.

I don't need cartwheels, I don't need trapeze acts

to make a plate of food sing.

I just need good taste and really good technique.

I don't like fads.

Let's hope that there's someone out there

who's going to deliver simple, honest dishes

that are really well cooked and well thought out.

-Thomas, are we gonna do it in five minutes?

-We are.

-We are?

Thomas is giving us roast duck breast with parsnip and maple puree,

red onion tarte tatin.

The real worry here is sweetness.

I don't see why he would want a tarte tatin at this stage in the meal.

Rather have some potatoes.

Three minutes.

Two minutes of normal time left. How late do you reckon you'll be?

-A minute. Maybe two.

-Come on.

Nicely cooked duck, mate.

What about the sauce?

-OK. Off you go.

-Take it out.

-That's it. Be careful.

-Good afternoon.

-Hi.

I have made a roast Gressingham duck breast

with a parsley and maple puree and a red onion and rosemary tarte tatin

with a Madeira sauce. Thanks very much.

God, it's crying out for a bit of green, isn't it?

It's brown. Brown, brown and brown.

I think the duck is lovely. It's cooked really well.

It's properly seasoned.

But the tarte tatin hasn't worked.

It's so sweet, my pancreas is about to resign and go and find employment elsewhere.

The puree, the parsnip puree, may make a fine dessert in another life!

But I really don't think it goes with the duck at all.

It's all much too sweet.

The idea of a red onion tarte tatin I think is great.

But this one hasn't really worked.

I've got sugar stuck on my teeth from that tarte tatin

as if I've been eating a toffee apple!

Right.

Now just 15 minutes before dessert.

Strawberry shortbread. That doesn't sound exciting.

He should be batting a little higher than strawberry shortbread.

-How we doing, Thomas?

-Not very good.

-A couple are a bit over, there.

Yeah, certainly.

Well, you've got three minutes.

You've only got two minutes.

That's it on the time, I think, Thomas.

-Yeah.

-Come on, let's go.

For dessert I've made a shortbread with strawberries and cream -

a creme patisserie and a strawberry coulis.

I'd like to apologise in advance. I've overbaked the shortbread

so my apologies. Thanks very much for this afternoon.

You certainly have.

It's a calamity even without tasting it.

I've got a chisel in my bag!

The essence of this dish is a biscuit. And he's burnt it.

Not a bad custard. But I would need a great deal more of it

to make this dish fly.

Even if Thomas had got every element exactly right,

this would still be a pretty uninspired dessert to serve to us.

I don't want to be rude, but it looks like a school bakery lesson!

It looks terribly amateurish.

The shortbread biscuit is very overcooked. It shouldn't be on the plate.

This is far from being perfect.

I genuinely believe that's me done.

I wasn't happy with it at all.

The pressure got to me.

The dessert was very poor. Very poor.

Michael's main course. Line-caught sea trout, crispy skin and wild pickings.

That could not be more 2012 if it tried!

Wild pickings.

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

You've got just about three minutes to go.

-OK.

-Will we be out on time?

-Yep.

-Yeah?

-Yes, Chef.

-You wouldn't lie to me, would you?

-No.

Nearly there.

Right, come on, mate. You've got about a minute of normal time.

I love, love, love that.

Amazing colours. Wow.

It's nice, but we are four minutes over.

Chop-chop! Let's go.

-Six minutes over, Michael. You better say sorry.

-Will do.

Apologies for being six minutes late, ladies and gentlemen.

You have line-caught sea trout with crispy skin, fennel pollen and wild pickings.

Garden sorrel and field sorrel, which made the sauce.

And sea samphire.

-Is it all picked from close to where you live?

-Yes, that's correct.

-Right. OK.

-And you picked them?

-Yes. Enjoy.

From a presentation point of view, I love the look of this.

Unfortunately, the dish fails for me

because this fish really is desperately undercooked.

You could probably put this in water and watch it swim away!

It's a pity, cos the mashed potato is very nice, the leeks are very nice.

The fish crackling is very pleasant, very crisp, very nice.

You do get a nice little whiff of aniseed from the fennel pollen on the fish.

It's such a shame about this fish.

But I wouldn't write him off because of it. It could just be a mistake.

When I see lots of little wild things on a plate,

I expect lots of little flavour explosions. And I don't get it.

I just get a subtlety throughout everything.

The sea trout for me I find too soft in texture.

It needed a bit more cooking. It's too flabby.

It looks nice, but it doesn't taste good enough.

-15 minutes until dessert, yeah?

-OK.

Michael has a tendency to give us a shopping list rather than a menu.

"Scottish wild strawberries, field mint, elderflower, candied pignuts."

It does sound like someone's "to do" list, rather than an actual dish.

I must confess, I don't think I've had a pignut.

I'm not really sure we know what a pignut is.

Come on. Keep it together, mate.

OK. That should be leaving now.

Ooh, that's lovely and shiny!

Look at that.

Come on. Keep it together, mate. Let's go. Nearly there.

The sorbet's not set, Michael.

No.

-Are you serving that as a sauce?

-Yes. I could say elderflower slush.

-You're off. Well done, Michael.

-Go on, mate.

My word!

Here we have Scottish wild strawberries, field mint jelly and sherbet

with a marbled chocolate mousse and elderflower slush.

And wild pignuts. Enjoy.

There is always an issue with chocolate mousse and how it looks on a plate.

-And this, it's not pretty, is it?

-No.

I think it's overcomplicated for complication's sake.

I've never eaten pignuts before, and now I know why!

I really don't think they bring anything to the party.

The idea of foraging is that you go and snuffle out delicious things.

Unusual flavours.

I can't see the point of snuffling out something that tastes like a rotting carrot.

Apart from that, I like the strawberries, I like the mint jelly.

The chocolate mousse is unoffensive and the pignuts are pretty horrid.

This plateful is many things from the world of foraging

which is currently hyper-trendy.

But not welded together into a dish.

I don't like this at all. It's back to putting lots of things on a plate.

I think he's tried too much here!

It's just not working. But that elderflower slush I think is delicious.

I just want a bowl of those lovely fraises de bois and that elderflower slush and I'd be happy.

There are some good things on there. But there's no way all of that is ever going to work together.

'I'm feeling high and low.'

I could have maybe lost one element on each dish

and you wouldn't have known any better.

-Five minutes, Alec.

-Yes, Chef.

Alec's main course is pan-fried turbot, peas, beef-dripping potatoes.

That is basically fish and chips with peas.

Obviously if you're going to do fish and chips,

it's got to be fantastically good.

-Three minutes before these plate are due to go.

-Yep.

-You've got the shakes, Alec!

-Little bit nervous, Chef!

You really have got the shakes!

It means a lot to me.

-They're ready for you out there.

-One minute, Chef.

I love the look of that plate, mate.

-This has got to go now, Alec.

-Coming now, Chef.

-That is looking really nice.

-Thank you very much.

That is stunning.

You've got a pan-fried turbot fillet with beef dripping potatoes,

pea puree, a diver scallop with a Cabernet Sauvignon reduction

and a tartare veloute to bring to you right now.

I think this is definitely the best composed dish of the day.

It's been put together by someone who's got an eye.

It looks really nice.

All the various bits have been done very nicely.

The fish has been cooked very well. The scallop is great.

I rather like the confit potatoes.

This tartare veloute, well it's a slightly acidic beurre blanc by any other name.

Put it all together and it's a very balanced plate of food with some serious technique.

The little Cabernet Sauvignon jus that comes with the scallop,

it's really delicious.

Every element about this is really nicely done. it's a good dish.

That is a beautiful, beautiful plate.

It's got a certain style to it.

The turbot is cooked to perfection. The pea puree is silky smooth

and has a nice hint of mint to it.

The potatoes, you can taste the beef dripping.

But for me, the sauce is far too thin.

However, there's some very good cooking going on here

in a brilliantly well-presented dish.

You've got 15 minutes to do your pudding.

"Variations of apricot." I don't know what that means.

The apricot will be presented to us in 15 different ways.

We like a bit of technique at this point in the competition,

but it had better be in the service of something that tastes nice.

Not just because he can.

Just three minutes to go, Alec.

A minute to go, Alec. Come on.

-Well done. That is lovely.

-Thank you.

For dessert, I have a liquid chocolate cake with variations of apricot.

Apricot puree, apricot gel, raw apricot, poached apricot

and an apricot sorbet.

Indulge me. What's the difference between chocolate fondant and liquid chocolate cake?

Hopefully this is a lot more gooey chocolate moreish. I hope that's what I've achieved.

Thank you.

Ooh, it's nice.

Let's put all the guff about liquid chocolate cakes aside.

It's a really, really, really good chocolate fondant.

The variations on apricot are really a bit silly.

What I'd have liked is a big scoop of a brilliantly zingy apricot sorbet.

But the main thing, Alec's liquid chocolate cake, a chocolate fondant by any other name,

is a bit of a triumph.

Technically, all the little bits of apricot he's done perfectly well.

The poached apricot was lovely and sweet.

You can see why Alec has reached this stage in the competition from what he's fed us.

You have to hand it to Alec, his presentation is stunning today.

That's more of a fondant than a liquid chocolate cake. A very good one, though!

He has changed the texture of apricot

yet kept the essence of the beautiful light apricot flavour. Very nice.

That was one of the hardest things I've done in a long time.

Not been looking forward to that one, to be fair!

Overall, really, really happy, but thank God it's over!

Aaron, you've got ten minutes.

Poor Aaron looks really under pressure.

Aaron's first batch of cream for his banoffee pie didn't work.

It set in the blender.

He has burnt his crumble. He's not happy with it.

He's had to sift through it to pick out the best bits.

The pressure is getting to him.

-Seven minutes!

-Really?

-Yeah. How you getting on?

Not too good. Stuff's gone wrong.

I haven't got my custard yet.

I'll try and set it again. It doesn't take long to set. Burnt the crumble slightly.

-But that's all the dessert, right?

-Yeah, but...

-Are we gonna get the main out?

-Yes. Yep. Yep.

All right.

Aaron's not giving too much away with his description of his main course.

Corn-fed chicken, onion, asparagus and morels.

Some things that go together really well?

It could be magnificent and it could be simple, which is even better!

Unfortunately, Aaron, this should be going out now.

Aaron, I'm afraid you're six minutes over.

-Lovely. Well done, Aaron.

-Well done, mate.

Sorry I'm late. You've got roast chicken with chicken ballotine.

Asparagus, morels and brown onion puree.

This is the emulsion, the cooking liquid. That's part of the jus.

-Thank you.

-Enjoy.

Some care has gone into the presentation here.

It's very much a restaurant dish, isn't it?

I'm worried about eating that. I don't think I'll risk it.

The ballotine is very pink chicken indeed.

It really shouldn't be like that.

The chicken breast is OK.

The chicken wing was crunchy on the outside and did what I'd hoped.

This brown onion puree, a little goes a very long way.

You've got lots of nice things on the plate.

He's removed the skin from the chicken, ground it up.

So what looks like breadcrumbs is actually shards of chicken skin.

Which is a nice idea.

The ideas are all quite good

and there's just been the occasional dropped ball in the execution thereof.

I like the look of this. It shows confidence. If you close your eyes and you smell...

it smells of roast chicken.

The chicken supreme that's been cooked sous-vide in the water bath

is really tender and juicy. I really like that.

The brown onion puree really has got the taste of a roast.

The ballotine, slightly undercooked, which is a shame.

But nonetheless, there's some good cooking and some great flavours.

It's not like any roast chicken dinner I ever had,

but it's very, very nice indeed.

Right. You've got 15 minutes for your dessert.

His dessert says "Banoffee Pie" in quotation marks,

which is the MasterChef Pro danger sign!

Terrible things have been done inside quotation marks on this show!

Well, one's fearing something deconstructed.

-Is it set?

-Yes, just.

-You've got five minutes left.

-Perfect.

-What do you mean, "perfect"?

-I'm gonna be on time.

-You're kidding!

-It's a miracle!

-Really?

-But miracles happen.

You've got two minutes.

A bit of milk snow and we're there.

-Can we go, Chef? Can we go?

-Yes.

It's a deconstructed banoffee pie. A set custard, caramelised bananas,

fresh bananas, some chocolate, some crumble,

some caramel sauce and milk snow.

-Enjoy.

-Cheers.

This is the curse of inverted commas, isn't it?

I fail to see how making a plateful of all the bits you get in a banoffee pie

is an improvement on the real thing.

If it eats well, then I think it's creditable.

-I don't like it!

-There's nothing to like. There's nothing there.

It lacks substance. Each of the individual bits doesn't really work.

It's just a bit sad, as am I!

The set custard doesn't taste of anything at all.

Overall, ill-conceived and not very good.

That certainly doesn't look like a banoffee pie to me!

But I like it. I like the look of it. It has a certain elegance

that you would find in a really high-end restaurant.

This has got all the wonderful flavours that you have in a banoffee pie.

But it's much lighter and not quite as sticky or sweet, which I like.

Aaron has worked his way through so many cooking processes

and things went wrong and he rescued it.

And he caught up and delivered his dessert on time.

I don't know what to think. I wasn't happy with the dishes.

I can't expect anyone else to be happy.

But when things go wrong, you have to try and rectify it as best you can.

If I'm honest, Gregg, I'm a bit disappointed today. I'm a bit flat.

There was so much promise. It just didn't deliver.

The level of competition was so intense, they went over the top.

Thomas, up to now, has delivered some of the most flavoursome food.

And all we asked him to do was bring some finesse to the look of his plates.

Instead, he ends up with a very good duck breast with a very weird red onion over-sweet tarte tatin.

And then two burnt shortbread biscuits with strawberries and creme patisserie that was too runny!

Oh, my word.

The shortbread biscuits, for me, were a disaster.

What sort of a dish is that? It's like school baking!

I think that Thomas has got to go.

Alec, I think, was probably the best chef of the day.

His presentation was absolutely superb.

The turbot was cooked to perfection.

And those potatoes cooked in the beef dripping

I thought were another good addition.

I enjoyed Alec's dessert, as well.

The chocolate fondant. He called it a liquid chocolate cake.

It was very good. Alec's definitely got to go through.

He impressed the critics. And I must say, I think he impressed us.

So with Alec definitely in, Thomas out.

That means we are debating the MasterChef future of Michael and Aaron.

I liked Michael's presentation. His sea trout looked really good.

It looked tasty.

But it lacked in taste.

Michael's dessert had bits on it that I really loved.

But none of them came together.

I liked the chocolate mousse. I liked the mint jellies.

But pignuts?

That's the first and last time I've munched on a pignut, I can tell you!

PRETENDS TO SPIT

I don't normally pray. But this is a time for praying!

What do you make of Aaron? He was really late on his main course.

He promised us "essences of a roast chicken dinner".

Almost.

I really liked the chicken breast that he'd done in the back-pack.

That was really, really moist.

And he served it with a brown onion puree which was delicious.

That ballotine was underdone. Not very nice at all.

But there were elements there that I thought were very clever and very well done.

The critics panned the banoffee pie. They didn't like it at all.

We found bits and pieces in there to admire.

We got on with it OK. The critics hated it.

It certainly didn't look like a classic slice of very rich and sticky banoffee pie,

which was a good thing. It packed really great flavours.

It's harder than you think. It really is.

For me to go through, it would just mean everything, it really would.

I want to get to the end.

We've got a place for the semi-final up for grabs.

We've got to get this right.

We have to make the right decision.

There are only two places in the semi-final.

We have made a decision.

And the first chef leaving us is...

..Thomas.

Really disappointed cos they haven't seen everything I have to offer.

But it's fierce competition and I just wasn't rated today.

And the next chef leaving us is...

..Michael.

Very disappointed.

More disappointed cos I knew I could have done better.

You two -

semi-finalists!

That's a massive achievement. Well done.

I am so over the moon, so happy.

To get this far is amazing!

It's such a relief to get through that today!

I couldn't be happier. I really couldn't.

I don't want to leave. I want to go all the way to the final.

It's not what I imagined it to be. It's a million times better.

Alec and Aaron will be back for the semi-finals.

Next week, ten more chefs are back to try and impress Monica and Gregg.

I've never seen anything like that.

I don't like that. I don't think Michel would like that very much at all.

I don't just want to eat that. I want a bath in it!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd