Episode 3 MasterChef: The Professionals

Only an elite group of chefs holds two Michelin stars.

-Michel Roux Jr is one of them.

-One lamb, two fish, go.

CHEFS: Wahey!

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.

I'm going to give this everything today,

because I don't want to go home.

I really want to cook for Michel Roux.

I think I am good enough to be professional champion, but every

challenge, every time we cook, it's going to get much, much harder.

I'm very competitive, so I'm not going to give up without a fight.

Right, skills test, Monica, what have they got to do?

Today, they have to make honeycomb.

Make three different decorations from that honeycomb,

decorate these desserts.

The first thing I'm going to do is to make the caramel.

And you want about equal amounts of sugar to golden syrup or honey.

I'm just going to stir that through. And then leave it to cook out.

We want a nice, light, golden colour. We're going to add the bicarb.

OK, about a teaspoon and a half.

-Woah!

-You can see that, yeah.

So, to work with this, I want to cool a little bit down.

If you stick your finger in this now, it will burn.

I want it to a point where it's almost set

and then I can press it and mould it to what I want.

-We are going to have chefs with honeycomb around their ears.

-It is a mess.

Now, I'm going to pull the sugar.

And then you can just twist it, bend it, before it sets.

It's the warmth of your hands that is still keeping this pliable.

So, I want to set that aside.

And now, I'm just doing a very simple swipe.

For my third decoration, I'd like to make a spiral.

This is very brittle. It's very delicate work.

Mmm. Beautiful.

Three different honeycomb decorations.

That is fabulous, absolutely fabulous.

-Even I found that very challenging.

-Should we get the first one in?

Let's do it.

First up is junior sous chef, Matt, from Wales.

In the invention test, his squid was excellent,

but he let himself down on detail.

Like putting on too much salt.

Staying in the competition is really important to me.

Just prove to people that I can actually do it,

because I have been put down before.

Maybe I think I could be a good chef.

-What we want you to do is make honeycomb.

-Yep.

-And then do three separate decorations.

-OK.

-15 minutes, Matt. Off you go.

-Thank you.

I'm going to actually weigh it out.

Just waiting for it to cool down.

Cos I don't want to go in straight away and ruin...

-Hopefully.

-You're halfway. You've got seven and a half minutes left.

-Thanks.

-Try pulling it.

-Pulling it?

-While it's still warm.

It's fun.

Do anything you want.

Nah, that's awful.

I think I might just use that.

I'm happy. I just want to leave it at that, please. Thank you.

Not good for the teeth, but it's delicious.

Very light, not too crunchy, how it should be.

Looking at your decorations, some of them are very thick.

The spiral here is not very pretty and your flower needs a bit of work.

What you have here, though, are lovely.

These ones here, which are like teardrops.

You know, you've got a great attitude and you've given me three decorations.

Not three perfect decorations, but you've given it a great go.

-My favourite is the shield and the spear.

-That was the idea, gladiator.

That's my favourite.

All right, Matt. Thanks very much. Off you go.

I've worked with honeycomb before, but I've never pulled it.

I did my best.

That's all you can ask of anyone.

Rob started working in kitchens at the age of 15

and is now a sous chef in a private members' club.

In the last round, his squid dish was let down by a badly

dressed chilli and apple salad.

My love of food comes from my dad. He was a chef.

Always loved cooking from childhood.

So, I thought, why not?

Give it a chance.

See how good I can be.

15 minutes, honeycomb, three decorations. Off you go.

-Can you remember the last time you made honeycomb?

-No. Been a long time.

OK, you've got seven minutes left now.

You're going to have to put something on those desserts.

You can spread it. You can pull it.

You can be as abstract as you want. It's a fun thing to play with.

-All right?

-Yeah.

-Done?

-Yes, I am.

Rob, you struggled through that.

Instead of just throwing your decorations on there, you could

have put them on nicely.

Having an attitude that makes you soldier on

and giving it your all counts for a lot. OK.

You have the same attitude when you're in the kitchen struggling through a service.

Do you know, if it was served up to me,

you could actually have got away with the ones on either end.

And I would have thought "Yeah, it's OK. It's a shard of honeycomb."

But when you see the one that's rolled up in the middle

like a kid with Plasticine, you realise that something's gone wrong.

Rob, thanks very much. Off you go.

GREGG GROWLS

His confidence went completely.

The pressure got to me.

And I just totally forgot what I was doing for 15 minutes.

Yeah, not a good day. Not a good day.

Private chef and forager James lives

and hunts in the wilds of Northumberland.

His posh fish and chips blew the judges away in the first round.

At the moment, I work for myself, so I've got no other staff.

I have to do everything, from the cooking to the pot-washing.

In the future, I want to be at the head of a team.

I want to be cooking really good,

really simple food in tune with nature.

15 minutes, honeycomb to decorate those desserts. Off you go.

Over halfway. You've got just six minutes left now.

-You're having fun?

-Loving it.

-All right, James, you finished?

-Yep.

Like a kid in a sweet shop.

James, your honeycomb looks very light.

It's golden, it's how it should be.

You were in your element. I love this.

It's very funky, it's individual, it's fun.

As to your spiral here,

it didn't work, yet you still managed to make something of it.

-Great attitude and great-looking decorations.

-Thank you.

That's nice. It's light and it's brittle.

Yeah, that's a credible, quality, decent job.

And any punter would be happy if that came up to them.

-Well done, son.

-Thank you very much.

-Off you go.

-Really good.

-Well done.

All went really well for me.

I'm really pleased, so it's a great confidence boost.

And let's just see if we can go all the way.

Danish-born Morten is a head chef of a hotel in Scotland.

In the first round, he cooked his gurnard and gnocchi to perfection.

But it was ruined by his apple and vanilla sauce.

I love cooking. I love creating good dishes, beautiful dishes.

It gives you goosebumps sometimes, because it looks so pretty.

And it makes me happy when people love my food,

so it means everything to me.

Right, 15 minutes.

We want honeycomb and we want you to decorate those desserts. Off you go.

Can you remember the last time you made honeycomb?

It was a while ago. I'll have a good shot and see how it goes, you know.

Nah, total disaster.

Halfway. You've got seven and a half minutes.

You can be as creative as you like.

I think that's it.

-Finished, Morten?

-Finished.

Not a complete disaster.

You've made three decorations, unfortunately, the middle one,

which is broken, is nondescript.

You know, it's a bit of Play-Doh rolled together.

Mmm!

Morten, the honeycomb is wonderful and brittle. It's how it should be.

-But definitely room for improvement.

-Oh, yeah.

You seem to have created a rasher of bacon with the last one.

That's far too big. You can't eat that much caramel.

I am pleased that you did persevere. Your head didn't go down.

Morten, thank you very much.

Today was this challenge and it didn't suit me whatsoever.

But I tried my best. I just need to wait and see what they say.

Last up is 24-year-old Stefani.

As head chef of a deli and cafe, she has a passion for classical

but quirky food.

On the first test she impressed with her Lyonnaise potatoes,

but was let down by her overcooked gurnard.

I was quite disappointed with my last test.

I still feel like I've got an awful lot I need to prove.

No-one's seen an inch of what I can cook at the moment.

-Stefani, have you made honeycomb before?

-Never before.

-Caramel?

Caramel, yes.

OK, make your caramel, you have the baking soda to go in at the end, OK?

15 minute skills test, off you go.

You're halfway. You've got just over seven minutes left.

Not very good at all.

Go on, go on, go on, go on. Yeah!

Thank you for the encouragement.

Oh.

-You done?

-Yeah, I'm done.

Stefani, you had no idea what you were going to do,

but you gave it a great shot and I like to see that.

That's the kind of attitude that, to me, matters.

If this ended up on the table in front of me,

I would realise it wasn't perfect.

I mean, there's mistakes here.

However, the little sort of dragon at the end, with the tail,

I absolutely love.

I'm really impressed. What I saw was the cook brain just taking over.

Stefani, thank you very much. Off you go.

I was flabbergasted by the fact that they actually... I did a half-decent job

of something that I've never done before, so I'm so happy.

They all delivered honeycomb.

I always thought it would be difficult to ask them

to pull decorations, but what really stands out for me

are the chefs who are willing to go the extra mile and try something new.

They did pretty well, actually. Obviously, some better than others.

James just had a whale of a time.

Pulling it, yanking it, cutting bits off, crunching bits.

He was just really enjoying himself, wasn't he?

Stefani was very, very afraid of this task today.

But actually, she made a really brilliant honeycomb

and thin enough that she could make a really, really fine spiral.

She worked it out for herself. Really impressed.

She had a great attitude. She persevered and I admire her for that.

So, James goes through. Stefani goes through?

-Definitely these two go through.

-That leaves us Morten, Matt and Rob.

Matt had made honeycomb before,

but he'd never thought about making shapes out of it.

And we did get some very unusual shapes.

He had a couple in there that were very nice.

I think Matt is someone you admire for the enthusiasm and he enjoyed it.

Are you happy to put Matt through? Yes, let's put Matt through.

Morten, he did actually attempt to make three different patterns.

His honeycomb was too thick, I think, but he had a go.

Rob, on the other hand, was nervous and it showed.

-He wasn't happy, he wasn't comfortable.

-He'd given up.

Even to placing the decoration on the plate.

He just kind of threw them on the top.

I can see a difference in approach between Rob and Morten, but

I don't see a difference, really, in skill set.

This is a really tough one, I think. Between these two.

Who do you think has got more potential? You've seen enough chefs.

We can't take all of you through to cook for Michel.

The chef leaving us today is...

Rob.

It's a big shame, but it's a competition.

Nerves just got the better of me.

It would've been very nice to be still in the next round, but...

Wasn't to be. Wasn't to be.

Well done.

You now get to cook for Michel.

You need to step up your game.

And you need to perform 110%.

There are classics

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

And Michel Roux Jr is looking for chefs who aspire

to execute them to his two Michelin star standard.

Today, I'd like the chefs to cook an epigram de sole.

It's a true French classic.

This delicate classic consists of Dover sole fillets

stuffed with lobster, sealed in breadcrumbs

and served with baby turnips and carrots,

and a rich lobster sauce.

My chefs here dread when I put this particular dish on the menu,

because they know it's going to test them to the limit.

First job is to fillet this beautiful Dover sole,

so we run down the centre here,

just running the knife along the backbone there,

to release a lovely fillet.

I would not be happy if our chefs didn't know how to fillet fish.

And it has to be the perfect shape.

There we are. Ready for stuffing.

We're going to fill the fillet with the lobster meat,

and with the carcass and the bones

we're making a lovely, rich lobster sauce.

No waste.

Now, quickly onto the sauce.

Some shallot, carrot, a little bit of celery.

Butter.

Bay leaf.

And...

Garlic.

In we go with the lobster bones, and the head as well.

Now we add the tomato paste,

just enough to give it a nice pink colour.

We crush the bones to extract the maximum flavour.

Then a generous splash of brandy.

Add the white wine.

And finally we add just a little bit of tomato, fresh tomato.

Not too much.

Now the brandy has evaporated, along with the white wine,

so it's time to add the fish stock.

And we let that simmer away, and at least reduce by half.

And that's the secret to any good sauce, intensifying the flavours.

Whilst the sauce is cooking, I can prepare the lobster meat.

I want to have a little bit of texture to this.

Chopped, but not too fine.

And some lovely aniseedy tarragon.

Delicious.

Now I'm going to stuff the fillets of sole.

Shape is very important, we want the epigram of sole

to look like a triangle, exact

and neat and tidy.

It's very, very tricky.

Now, the really delicate part is a classic pane

for this epigram.

If the chefs don't seal this dish properly,

then the lobster will seep out, and the dish will be ruined.

Right!

The sauce is ready to pass through a fine sieve.

That's the consistency I'm looking for.

So, now for the cooking of the epigram.

Lots of butter and oil in there.

Very important, not too hot.

If it's too hot, it's going to contract,

and the lobster meat is going to just ooze out.

Look at that, lovely.

Now to plate up.

So, there we have it, epigram de sole

with lobster.

I just hope the chefs do this dish justice.

It feels great to get past Monica.

Um, cooking for Michel Roux Jr's going to be absolutely...

Out of this world, it's amazing.

I've had two good results so far.

I can't let that slip, I can't have one mistake.

I've got to keep at least that standard, if not better.

It's an amazing achievement to be able to cook for Michel Roux Jr.

I'm really excited.

I need to cook absolutely the best I have ever cooked.

I need to show how good I really am.

Monica and Gregg told me there was some talent in the kitchen.

Well, now's the time to prove it.

My classic I want you to cook is epigram de sole.

You have one hour.

Off you go.

I'm confident, but...

The pressure could get to me, and I could screw up.

But I'm pretty determined that that isn't going to happen.

-Hi, Stefani.

-Hi.

-Have you ever come across this recipe before?

No, I've never tried it.

What about your background?

I spent three years at college, classically training,

so I'm confident on classical food,

but I haven't done it in a very long time.

-Classically trained?

-Yeah.

But now cooking what, more contemporary style?

Yeah, quite Italian based, quite rustic food, um, big flavours.

Do you understand what I'm looking for in these classic dishes?

You... Goodness, no. Not really.

I'm hoping to see a really beautiful sole dish, with lots of delicatesse.

I will try and pull it off.

Try my best.

Stefani is a very young head chef.

Classically trained, but this is a real test for her.

This is definitely going to push her.

You've had almost 20 minutes, guys.

I won't be nervous I'm cooking in front of Michel, I know that.

I know I'm a good chef, er, I just need to prove how good I really am.

Morten, first off, what brought you to England -

or Scotland, I should say.

Er, I came over ten years ago, as, like, a work trial.

Somebody from Scotland went to my college, I went to theirs,

and I've been here now for ten years.

That's fantastic. And did the Scottish guy stay over in Denmark?

-No, he came straight back.

-LAUGHTER

-Are you classically trained, though?

-No.

I started at college for a wee while, and I dropped out.

-There are some great restaurants in Denmark.

-Yes, there is.

Do you think you're - you've got some of that style?

I like to mix and match a wee bit from the Scandinavian kitchens

and bring it into my own kitchen, but... Nothing like this.

My budget is very low, so I need to go for a cheaper cut.

Morten is not used to working with expensive

ingredients like Dover sole and lobster.

He really doesn't look very confident at all, and that worries me.

I've been out of professional kitchens for a few years now,

this is really just to prove that I've still got what it takes,

and I can go back into them, and raise my game a bit further.

-Hello, James.

-Morning, Chef.

How are you getting on with this classic recipe?

All looking good at the moment.

-Have you got a classical background?

-A little bit. Earlier in my career.

There was a fair bit of classic work, and I do a little bit now,

-depending on my clients.

-So, private chef.

-Yeah.

But what was your background?

As a youngster I went to college, my mother's a cordon bleu,

so I have always cooked.

She had a small cooking business when I was young.

As soon as I could reach the bench and lick the cake bowls out, um...

Sounds a bit like my childhood!

So, what style of food do you cook now?

I'm into wild. I'm a country boy.

I've reared my own animals, butchered my own animals,

I've been shooting all my life, so that's where I really excel.

Shame I didn't bring in a live venison, then.

It would have suited me down to the ground.

James looks as if he understands this recipe, and his sauce looks good.

My only worry is that because he's out of the restaurant scene,

his presentation may not be up to scratch.

Coming up to halfway.

30 minutes.

I'd love to be on a level like Michel Roux Jr.

Anywhere near close to that would be fantastic.

I want to try and be the best.

I really do.

-Right, Matt, how are we doing?

-Really good, thank you.

-Classical training?

-No. None at all.

-So, what are you cooking now, what style of food?

Um, the style of food is modern British.

I do twists on some classics - classic BLT,

we make like lettuce cappuccino, pancetta crisp,

sundried tomato bread.

-Very modern style cooking.

-Yeah, it's very modern, yeah.

-What's your presentation like?

-I love my presentation.

Hopefully, it'll be colourful, you know, it looks good on the plate.

-So we won't be seeing any crumbs or fingerprints on you plate?

-Hopefully!

Matt hasn't sealed the fillets together,

and the lobster is escaping all over the place.

It's supposed to be a little parcel with lobster inside.

15 minutes to go, guys.

15 minutes.

Focus.

Start plating up.

That's it, time's up.

James, on the plate.

I asked you to cook an epigram de sole.

The fish should be perfectly filleted, filled with the lobster,

folding it carefully to give it a beautiful triangular shape.

The sauce should be made with the carcass

and the innards of the lobster.

That is where the sauce gets its taste from.

James, let's start with you.

James, you only just managed to get it on the plate.

It's not got the finesse and elegance that I'm expecting.

I hope they're cooked all the way through.

You're all right, it's cooked.

Your sole is crispy, crunchy, soft in the middle.

Just the right amount of tarragon. Highlight is your sauce.

It's got that lovely taste of lobster,

and not overpowering in tomato.

It's exactly what I'm looking for.

Well done, James.

It felt really good to be told that my sauce was good, but I was

unhappy with my presentation, it was very rushed at the end.

Your turn, Matt.

You've decided to cut these fillets of sole,

which is not the way I would have presented it.

But it's very neat.

The sole is ever-so-slightly underdone.

But well-seasoned.

The breadcrumbs are crunchy, and they're evenly coloured,

which is very good.

But if the fillet of fish isn't beautifully prepared,

then lobster pieces are going to fall out.

And one of those fish parcels has very little lobster in it.

The sauce, far too reduced.

Very little lobster taste at all.

Your vegetables are overcooked.

They're almost a puree.

There are errors here.

Errors - are they down to nerves,

or lack of knowledge and understanding?

You know, you've got Michel Roux Jr looking at everything you're doing.

Hard.

Morten, your turn.

Presentation-wise...

You've got the right shape, it's a triangle shape, this sole,

but it's not 100% neat.

And clean plates are important.

The sole is cooked properly, and well-seasoned,

and the breadcrumbs are nice and crunchy.

The lobster's cut up too small, though.

You know, I expect to see little chunks of lobster,

so there's a nice chew there.

Little bit too much tarragon.

Which is overpowering.

The vegetables, overcooked.

And the sauce predominantly tastes of tomato.

That was really tense.

I've never worked with Dover sole before,

so that was a hard challenge for me, really hard.

Stefani, your turn.

First thing I see is that you've obviously cooked it

at a far too high temperature.

And the crumb has burnt a bit.

However, the presentation looks good.

Very elegant.

And I like that fact that you've kept a claw to put on top, there.

It adds another dimension.

That's thinking...

Like a chef should think.

You can taste those breadcrumbs that are slightly overcooked.

You decided to give two little lobster parcels,

which means there's very little lobster inside.

The fish is cooked through, well-seasoned.

And a good kick of tarragon, but not overpowering.

The vegetables, slightly overcooked.

And your sauce, predominantly tomato, not enough lobster flavour.

There are errors.

But there's promise here.

It meant an awful lot when Michel praised my presentation.

I wasn't expecting him to say it at all.

You've cooked my classic recipe,

now you have a chance to shine by cooking your own.

And not just to impress me, the chef, but also the diner.

You have got one hour, off you go.

So important for me to get this dish right.

My dish, Michel Roux Jr's going to be trying it.

What are you making for us, Chef?

Um, I'm going to try and do my take on a duck a l'orange.

Obviously a great classic.

I've got a lot of twists - I've got duck liver tortellini going on,

I've got a hot orange jelly.

Every great dish has got a story.

What's the story behind yours?

Erm, I actually got ready for this dish last year for a competition.

I didn't go very far in it but I've worked at it since then.

So you're giving us a dish that previously judges hated?

-Yeah.

-Isn't that a bit risky?

No, there's no other dish that will show me better than this,

-this is me.

-Ooh!

As a chef, I admire your bravery and I think, "Yeah, go for it."

-BUT you've only got an hour to do it in.

-I know.

-I need to crack on. Thanks.

-All right, mate.

Shocking.

Matt's having problems with his pasta recipe.

He's put too much olive oil in it and he can't roll it out - it's just not holding.

You've had 15 minutes.

15 minutes is gone.

My food is...forever evolving.

It's very quirky, it's very Mediterranean, it's very unique.

Whatever he can say about my food is great to hear.

If it's bad, I can work on, good is fantastic.

-Stefani, what are you making?

-Bouillabaisse.

-A great bouillabaisse may be cooking all morning.

-Yeah.

Very difficult in one hour.

I'm using crab meat and I'm just trying to enrich it...

in a short space of time. I'm doing it with a rouille sauce,

I got long, garlic crouton and I like mine quite zesty

so I've used some orange and some lemon through it as well.

-I've got a serious question here.

-Yep.

You've already had to prepare about five different fish, have you got time to do all these things?

-Yep.

-Are you sure?

-Yep.

Do you believe the "yeps" or do you think the "yeps" are a cop-out?

-I would like to believe the "yeps".

-They're going to happen.

-They're going to happen?

-Yep.

-Good, well, stay focused -

-I'm looking forward to this bouillabaisse.

-Thank you.

Bouillabaisse - classic French fish stew, if you like.

A good bouillabaisse normally takes hours and hours of preparation.

She's attempting to infuse all of that flavour in an hour?

That's the question, it's a massive question.

You need to cook your heart out in the next round.

You need to do every single thing perfect or else you're gone.

Morten, tell us about your dish.

I'm going to do a pantry of calves' livers

with crispy pancetta, asparagus and onion puree.

Sounds delicious, a real classic.

What's going to make it different, Morten?

I'm not going to try and do something really, really spectacular

here because if I fail, I'll be out of the competition.

I'm going to stick to what I'm really good at.

-You've got a tattoo of... Is that your son's name?

-Yeah, Hayden, yeah.

So what does the family think, your good lady,

-what does she think about you being here?

-It was actually my lady who entered me

so she obviously wants me to do really, really well and proud.

I'll do that, I'll make her proud.

Morten's chosen a classic combination of taste and flavours

which work together, we know that.

But the secret there is bringing that up to the level of fine dining.

He's got to bring some elegance to basically liver and onions.

Not easy.

You're halfway.

30 minutes left.

I'm fairly confident with my classic dish.

It's ingredients that I'm used to handling.

I just hope my presentation doesn't let me down again.

What are you making, James?

I'm making a little saddle of rabbit,

faggot of the haunch and the liver,

little pan-fried kidney and heart.

Erm...

Little tarragon and mustard gravy. So quite a classic dish,

with my little twist in there in the vegetable.

-What's the twist?

-I'm using ground elder.

Bane of the gardener's life,

used by the Romans as a culinary pot herb, a bit like cabbage.

I can't wait to taste this because I love wild rabbit.

-This is playing to your strengths?

-It is - butchery of the rabbits.

I've been chopping up rabbits since I was knee-high to a grasshopper.

It's me, it's really me all over.

-You were slightly rushed earlier on.

-Yep.

-And it showed on your plate.

Yes, Chef.

-Is it going to happen this time?

-No, Chef, it's going to be perfect.

Wow, I tell you what, if there's one dish

that I'm really excited about, it's James and his rabbit.

Wild rabbit! Fantastic. Little bit gamey but can be dry.

He has to be very careful how he cooks that meat.

We've got five minutes left. That's it, come on, move.

OK, two minutes to finish plating up.

15 seconds.

Final touches.

Stop.

That's it, stop!

First up is Matt with his version of the classic duck a l'orange.

Duck breast served with hot orange jellies,

duck liver tortellini,

Grand Marnier foam,

and a beetroot puree.

Matt, first off, the colours are wonderful BUT

it just looks too...abstract.

Classic taste combination of duck, orange and beetroot -

they all work together and you've pulled that off.

The little orange jellies have got the perfect balance

between sugar, bitterness and sourness.

Very, very good, well done.

But there are major issues - the duck fat is not rendered down enough

and the tortellini dough is far too thick.

The stuffing of the tortellini, though, is delicious.

The concept is great.

It's just the execution that you've not quite nailed.

I love the duck with the flavours you've got -

really, really lovely combination.

I was really looking forward to your Grand Marnier foam

but I can't get much flavour from it at all.

I can't believe it went wrong.

Ah, it's just...

..stupid mistakes.

For his classic,

Morten has cooked pan-seared calves' liver with crispy pancetta,

onion puree,

confit garlic,

asparagus,

and deep-fried onion.

Presentation-wise, Morten, I think it actually looks quite nice.

Always dressing things in three looks more pleasing to the eye.

I really like that.

I really, really like that.

I mean, you got perfectly-cooked, soft liver, really rich.

You've got a sweet sauce but that's matched

by the smokiness and the crispy bacon.

There's a crispy onion ring in there as well.

There's a hint of garlic, I just love it.

Sort of dish I'd order and I'd demolish it.

Morten...

Very difficult to fault this.

It is a very simple, straightforward dish

and well-executed, well-cooked, well-seasoned.

I think you have raised liver and bacon to noble status, mate.

I got lots more to show.

This is nothing, this was what I was waiting for to show them

really how good a cook I am.

Stefani's classic dish is a bouillabaisse,

served with a garlic crostini

and rouille sauce.

Presentation-wise, I think it looks neat, tidy.

Your fish are all cooked very nicely.

It's a decent rouille.

It...you know, smacks of garlic.

We all love a bouillabaisse but unfortunately it's a little bland.

As a customer, right now, I'd be reaching for a pot of pepper.

The fish is beautifully cooked, it's moist.

The razor clams are beautifully cooked as well.

Delicious. So I see cooking skills in here...

..but this is obviously a disappointment for a diner.

Pepper, garlic, chilli.

It needs all of that to waken up the taste buds.

Making a bouillabaisse or any kind of fish soup, or a fish stew,

in an hour is always going to be a challenge.

And I don't think you've pulled it off here.

I think I've let myself down a bit.

Erm, which is a shame

because I felt like I really had something to prove here.

For his classic dish, James has cooked saddle of rabbit,

kidney and a haunch and liver faggot,

served with Duchess potatoes

a mustard and tarragon veloute

and ground elder.

James, I like your presentation.

Very neat, very tidy.

Rabbit is soft, beautiful - those faggots are so meaty,

so intense.

The potatoes are creamy.

Absolutely lovely.

My one complaint is there is nowhere near enough of that sauce

on that plate and you've got a whole saucepan of it over there.

So, so easy to overcook loin of rabbit, which you haven't.

It's pink, tender, perfectly moist. Delicious.

The little faggots - bags and bags of flavour, great.

My only negative comment on this plate of food...

is this ground elder.

The stalks are stringy, they taste bitter.

There are certain things that we forage for

that we should just walk past

and I think that's one of them,

but great skills on show here.

Great skills and good palate.

It means so much to get that praise.

You know, the palate is the chef's secret weapon.

If Michel says my palate's good...

I'm not going to argue with that.

I wasn't here for your classic test, of course,

but I've tasted some pretty good food, Michel.

The classic test that I gave them to cook was an epigram of sole.

Pretty basic skills but it seemed to fox them, it seemed to throw them.

Did anyone stand out?

James stood out as the chef, the most competent in the classics.

His sole was a little bit rushed but his sauce was bang-on.

Well, if James impressed you with the first classic test,

he definitely impressed me

and you with the second - his rabbit was sensational.

Absolutely sensational.

And the flavour that he got in those faggots...

with the offal, I'm still licking my lips at the thought of it.

I've rarely tasted wild rabbit that good.

I think James can cook and he understands the classics.

He should go through.

I've got a lot still to come.

Erm, I've kept it simple.

I've kept it steady.

I want to start pushing it now, really want to start pushing it.

My next favourite dish was Morten's.

I can't remember seeing a better-looking plate of liver.

Sweet sauce, little bit of balsamic, perfectly cooked liver,

smokiness, almost bitter where he'd crisped up the bacon.

Mmm! Mmm!

There was so little wrong with that plate of food -

I mean I would have licked it clean...

but pushed out of his comfort zone, can he deliver the goods?

Morten didn't have a good time with your classic recipe,

didn't have a great time with me and Monica.

But really did turn it on here today.

It would be wrong to eliminate him

because his liver dish with bacon, it was SO good.

You know, I proved that I can cook and you know,

if it's not enough for them today, it doesn't matter.

They absolutely loved my dish and I can go home happy.

That guy can cook.

I'm happy to let Morten go through.

That leaves us now with Matt or Stefani.

Wow!

When Stefani cooked my classic recipe, she kept one of the claws

of the lobster to present on top, which did finish off the dish well.

But the sauce was just a tomato cream sauce

and the actual breadcrumb had burnt a bit on the sole.

It was far from being perfect.

Stefani's bouillabaisse - she managed to prepare all that fish.

It was a lot of work, cooked it very, very well.

She showed off a lot of skills there, it looked pretty in the bowl.

But...

it was bland, it was such a shame, it really did need a kick of seasoning.

I'd love to keep cooking for Michel.

Just hearing his comments, you can relate to them

and just see your weaknesses and try and work on them

and that's just going to make you a better chef.

Stefani's bowl was tasteless...

Matt had several cookery issues.

His tortellini were a little thick.

We had the foam but it didn't taste of the orange liqueur,

the duck fat wasn't rendered down.

When Matt cooked my classic,

he struggled with the filleting of the sole.

The sole was slightly underdone.

His sauce was over-reduced and just pure tomato - they were errors.

To get it wrong today was a shame,

especially with Michel Roux Jr there.

I mean, I wanted to give him my best.

Hopefully I've done enough to go through...

If not, I'll be gutted. Absolutely gutted.

We're deciding between one chef whose palate we're beginning to

question and another one who may be lacking in a few skills.

Where do you go with that?

I think I know which one of the two chefs I would like to see in the next round.

You had a lot to prove with your classic recipe.

I think you can hold your heads up high.

This is the tough bit.

We can't put all of you through to a quarter-final.

The chef leaving the competition...

is...

..Matt.

Sorry, mate.

I think the nerves got to me in the end but the good feedback

that I did have was brilliant and I loved it and...

I'll take that away from here and have that forever.

Congratulations, you three, well done.

I had to step up and I did today.

Absolutely delighted to get through to the next round, yeah.

I'm really going to have pull my finger out

and start showing them what I can really do but I'm hugely relieved.

I'm through to the quarter-finals - chuffed, chuffed to bits.

Don't know what's going to come but bring it on!

Tomorrow night...

Morten, Stefani and James

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

MICHEL: At this stage of the competition,

we want to see our chefs giving us something exciting,

something that we haven't seen before.

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

This is an ill-conceived experiment that's gone horribly wrong.

This tastes fantastic.

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