Episode 13 MasterChef: The Professionals

These eight chefs all want to become professional MasterChef champion.

Service, please.

I hope that Gregg and Monica can see an aspiring young chef.

I wouldn't enter it if I didn't think I could go all the way.

I felt nervous, but now I'm here and I'm doing it,

I feel a lot more confident.

I love cooking. My life's always revolved around food of some sort.

If I died in my kitchen, people would know I'd be happy.

'I'm a very competitive person.'

It helps, being a chef, if you're competitive. You'll get further.

But, over the next three nights,

they'll have to pass the tests set for them by chef Monica Galetti,

diner Gregg Wallace, and Michelin-starred Michel Roux Jr,

before some of them are sent home.

We got a new bunch of chefs. We need to put 'em through their paces.

We need to see what they're made of.

I want to see chefs that are going to stand out from the beginning.

Monica's first challenge is designed to test the chefs' creativity.

They have seven ingredients to make one dish.

We have some baby spinach,

some apples, gorgonzola cheese,

butternut squash, whole almonds,

walnuts, and some pork sausages.

-We're gonna give them one hour. We're gonna give you one hour.

-Yeah.

-Design your dish and off you go.

-Brilliant. Let's do it.

There is no room on MasterChef for sausage and mash,

no matter how good the sausage and mash is.

I'm going to make a ravioli, using the sausage meat

with some of the cheese rolled in the middle of it.

Interesting.

It is knowing how thin to get the pasta.

It's delicate. It needs to be treated with a lot of care.

I am really intrigued by this.

So, I'm just making sure that the edges are sealed tight.

That's not going to open up when it hits the water.

-And they're ready to go in.

-You've only got half an hour left.

-Thank you(!)

-You OK?

-Yeah.

Next I am going to prepare my butternut squash.

-You are making a veloute, a velvety sauce.

-Yes.

Veloute's on. It's being blitzed.

-Raviolis cooked?

-Raviolis are cooked,

-and now it's a matter of assembly.

-Yeah!

-Looking forward to this, Monica.

-And I've just wilted the spinach

and saute'd off some butternut cubes to go on the side.

Stunning colour. Look at that.

-Oh, look at that!

-And there we have it, Gregg.

My raviolo stuffed with the sausage meat and the gorgonzola.

I've used the butternut squash to make a very light veloute sauce,

saute'd spinach and butternut-squash dice.

That is a work of art!

Lovely contrast, with the almost bitterness of that cheese

against the fluffy sweetness of your veloute.

Very nice. Pasta is as thin as you like.

That's a lovely dish. Very inventive, very creative.

We want the quality chefs,

who want to do more than sausage and mash.

We want the sort of chefs who cook like you cook.

-Shall we get them in?

-Oh, yes, please. Come on!

Welcome to professional MasterChef.

What we want from you right now is to prove you deserve to be here.

Make us one dish, incorporating some of the ingredients on that board.

Chefs, uncover your ingredients.

In front of you you have some spinach,

a butternut squash,

gorgonzola cheese, almonds,

walnuts, some apples,

and some pork sausages.

As well as your seven key ingredients,

you have, to the side of the bench, a basic larder.

I want to see from you as many skills as possible.

We're going to give you five minutes to plan your recipe,

and one hour to cook us one great dish.

Best of luck. Off you go.

When you look at these ingredients, the very obvious match

would be the gorgonzola with the apples and a bit of salad.

We've given them pork sausage today,

and some of them are looking a bit flustered, I think.

'I'm a bit worried that we might get deconstructed bangers and mash.'

SHE LAUGHS

This is a tough challenge for them, but they need to control those nerves

and think like a chef.

I started out as a waiter, and I wasn't really very good at it,

so I got into cooking. And I just loved the creativity,

and the whole attitude of the kitchen completed changed my life,

and that's what made me so passionate about what I do today.

-Adam, what sort of chef are you?

-I can be molecular,

-messing around with my sciencey sort of things.

-Whoa!

I work in a fine-dining kitchen, so I like to be nice and precise

-and clean and fast.

-What are you going to make for us?

I'm going to make a sausage- and-butternut-squash tortellini

-and an apple-and-ginger puree.

-What position do you hold?

-I'm a chef de partie.

-Do you get to put any of your dishes on the menu?

Yeah. A lot of my dishes go on taster menus and lunch menus,

-and they go down pretty well.

-I hope you cook the food

as well as you talk about it. Your passion's coming through.

Well, me, too.

15 minutes gone.

Obviously, if you're working 70, 80, 90 hours a week,

you have to be extremely passionate. The mindset for today is,

remain confident, remain headstrong,

and don't let anything else get in the way.

Patrick, what are you making for us today?

A roast butternut-squash puree with pickled walnuts,

candied apples and grilled sausage, with some crispy sage on top.

-Why are you a chef?

-It's the only thing I'm crazily passionate about.

That makes sense to me. And why MasterChef?

Because I'm a very competitive person,

and it's a good gauge to see where you are and where you want to go.

-How competitive are you, chef?

-Extremely.

The more competitive, the further you'll push yourself forward.

I rate myself quite well. I don't think I know everything.

I'm 24 years old. Give it ten years, and I'll be fantastic.

Until then, I'll learn.

-How you feeling, Adam?

-Very nervous.

-What position do you hold right now?

-I'm a head chef.

-Are you? How old are you?

-24.

-You're 24?

-Young as a head chef.

-Yeah.

What are you making for us?

A ginger-and-butternut panna cotta, with roasted apples.

I've never seen a butternut panna cotta.

-That sounds devilishly tricky to me.

-Funny story is, nor have I,

-but I'm sure it'll taste fantastic.

-I didn't think you had!

-What style do you like?

-Well, I'm all for the classics,

even though this is far from anything classic.

-Michel will be pleased to hear that.

-HE CHUCKLES

I've never had a butternut-squash- and-ginger panna cotta.

That's a twist, isn't it? I'm curious to see how this turns out.

You're halfway. You got 30 minutes left.

'I would describe myself as being quite ballsy.'

It's taken guts and a lot of courage to be where I am today.

Alex, you look like one seriously focussed individual to me.

-Yes, I am. Very focussed.

-What do you want from the competition?

Er, I want to win it. Going to be a lot of hard work,

-and I'm going to make it happen.

-Go, Alex!

-What are you going to make?

-Butternut-and-sage veloute

-with a little pork-and-apple dumpling.

-I like the sound of that.

I see myself as a little pork-and-apple dumpling.

In my food, I do take risks, and I do try combinations

that perhaps haven't been seen before,

but that's the only way to keep people entertained and surprise them.

Nick, what are you making for us?

I'm going to use the sausage meat in three different styles.

I'll do the sausage as is, a second one as a patty,

and the third as a little boudin-style thing,

and just some different textures of squash.

What is it you think you have as a chef?

I think I've got a playful touch, which brings a bit of fun into food.

I'm looking forward seeing what's so different about the sausages.

Nick says he's doing them three ways.

'I trained chef for ten years.'

I knew I was going to work with my hands, got good at washing dishes,

good at peeling vegetables, making soups and so on,

and then that was it. I became a chef and loved it.

-What are you going to cook for us?

-A wee kind of...

spicy butternut-squash tart with a sage pastry,

a wee poached egg, a wee spinach-and-apple salad.

-I'm just kind of out the box here.

-Love it, David!

-See how we get on.

-What position do you hold now?

-I'm a head chef in my current place,

-so it's a bit full-on.

-You're tough, aren't you?

We've got to be. That's how we kept the Romans out, so...

Let's see how we get on with MasterChef.

David, I can feel the passion. Absolutely love it.

-No worries. Thank you.

-Best of luck, chef.

David has opted not to use the sausage.

He wants to be creative

and use the other ingredients in a different way,

so he's caught my attention.

'I work for a prestigious London bank.'

I cook for the clients and bankers on a day-to-day basis.

I like to be quite imaginative, especially with plating up.

I like seeing someone think, "Oh, wow, look at that!"

before they've even tasted it.

-Jack, you look like you're actually enjoying yourself.

-I am.

I looked forward to doing this competition, and I'm having fun.

I feel in control.

I'm making pickled-butternut lasagnes

with, like, a sage-walnut stuffing

on top of some wilted spinach and pommes Maxim.

I like the imagination. I like the chef's brain.

-Are you a good chef, Jack?

-I like to think so.

I wouldn't have entered the competition

if I didn't think I could go all the way.

Good boy! What do they call you in the kitchen, Jack?

They have a silly nickname for me - Rambo.

-Rambo?!

-Cos I'm the total opposite, as you can see by my physique.

-All right. But you can wield a knife, Jack.

-Indeed.

Jack is going to make a pommes Maxim.

They should be lovely and golden in colour.

If he gets it right, this could look quite stunning.

A lot of chefs can be extremely angry and fiery in the kitchen.

There's nothing wrong with passion, but I feel,

when you're dealing with high-pressure situations,

having a calm hand and a calm head is the best way forward.

-Hello, Chad. What are you making?

-Classically cooked sausages

with a lovely butternut-squash puree,

finish that with a sage-and-butter sauce.

I'm trying to keep it very simple.

My only worry is that it might be a bit TOO simple.

-Are you head chef now?

-I'm not, no.

I've just finished working as a junior sous chef.

I didn't start cooking until I was 30.

-What did you do before that?

-I worked in call centres

for a large bank, and then for a well known supermarket.

-Well done, son. I'm really proud of you.

-Thank you.

-Well done, Chad. Show us your passion in your plate.

-Will do.

Thank you.

You've got five minutes left.

That's it. Your time's up. Stop.

All eight chefs were given pork sausage,

butternut squash,

gorgonzola cheese, spinach, walnuts,

almonds and apples.

I now know what is possible with these ingredients,

because Monica took one hour and made an outstandingly brilliant dish with them.

So that's pretty much the benchmark.

Adam has used the pork-sausage meat in his butternut-squash tortellini,

and served it with spinach and apple-and-ginger puree

and caramelised almonds.

Adam, the pasta already looks too thick, OK,

and there's no sauce to go with it. It doesn't look complete.

Very good flavour combination, cos the spice of that pork sausage

is coming through with the sweetness of the butternut squash.

I really like the sharp-sweet apple that goes with it.

However, you're having to chew it,

and you don't want to be chewing pasta.

The sugared almonds, I don't like it at all.

That's sort of heading towards a dessert, almost. OK?

There are elements here which are very positive -

the fact that you can make pasta,

the fact that you can shape a tortellini,

yet you need to refine those skills.

Adam, thank you.

Nick has made sausage three ways -

a sausage patty,

a sausage-meat- and-gorgonzola boudin,

and a fried sausage.

He's also served butternut squash,

caramelised onion mash and spinach.

It's a first for me, sausage three ways.

I'd give it a try.

Nick, I like the flavouring

that you've put through the boudin sausage there.

The meat patty - yeah, it's seasoned.

Your mash with onion through it, it all goes very well.

It's not bad. It's just...

I think at this level of cooking,

I want to be knocked over by an amazing plate of food.

-I don't think this dish does you any credit.

-OK.

Monica seems disappointed, and, as a diner, I'm not.

I can't see a mistake on here.

The mash is really smooth and quite sweet.

The butternut squash is spicy and smooth.

I can see the mind and the skill of a chef in here.

Thank you, Nick.

Alex has made butternut-squash veloute

with pork-and-apple dumplings,

served with raw spinach and whole salted walnuts.

Alex, your dish - the soup has a lovely colour,

but the dumplings really don't look attractive at all.

Your veloute is seasoned very well.

Just raw spinach in there, I... Agh, don't get that, um, at all.

I really like your veloute. I just don't like the dumplings at all.

The texture reminds me of the inside of a sausage roll.

-SHE SIGHS

-I can do better next time.

-Good for you. That's the spirit.

-Yeah.

Thanks.

Jack has made open ravioli,

using slices of pickled butternut squash instead of pasta.

He's filled them with sausage meat and apple.

They're served with spinach-and-blue-cheese dressing,

on a pommes Maxim, a layered potato ring.

Jack, you told me you were going to be making a lasagne.

I was going to do layers of the butternut,

but in the end I just did the three different open raviolis.

I like that you've pickled the butternut,

but it's too sharp for me.

It's overpowered everything else on the plate.

The second thing is, it's a very dry plate.

The garnish inside the ravioli is dry,

and there's not enough of a dressing to give it a bit of moistness.

Definitely techniques here,

but it's not quite refined to what I'd like to see.

Jack, I think "almost". I really like the spinach,

and I really like the potato. I think that's crispy.

I think you've got some clever ideas.

Without more filling,

that butternut squash tastes a little too pickley.

Jack, thank you very much.

Patrick is serving the sausage with roast-squash puree,

pickled walnuts, caramelised apple and crispy sage leaves.

When you first look at it, you can see the time and effort

you've taken to make the puree, and then you look at your sausage,

and you kind of wonder...why. SHE CHUCKLES

It looks like you chewed the sausage and spat it on the plate.

The sausages aren't cooked. They're raw, which is a disaster.

You can't eat them. And it's a real shame,

because I really like the caramelisation on the apple,

really like the sage,

and I can't see how the chef that did those little bits and pieces

managed to not cook a sausage.

Patrick, it doesn't matter how much I like anything else on this plate

or what skill you've shown here. What's the point,

when you can't eat the dish, you know?

You've cut it up like my six year old putting together a jigsaw puzzle.

Yeah?

OK. There is more competition to come.

-You're going to have to put this behind you.

-Yeah.

Chad has fried the sausages

and served them with butternut-squash mash and puree,

spinach, apple sauce and a sage beurre noisette.

Sausages, apple puree - yes, of course they go nicely

with your butternut-squash puree. Am I blown away by it? No!

This is your opportunity to stand out

and showcase what you can do as a chef,

-and I don't see that here.

-There's nothing wrong with your dish.

If it was served up to me in a cafe, I'd happily have it for lunch,

but that's not the point of this round.

You need to be braver, Chad.

You can't win MasterChef by playing safe.

I just went for simplicity, and I've fallen.

I haven't done myself justice.

-Chad, thank you.

-Thank you.

David is the first chef not to use the sausages.

He has made a butternut-squash- and-gorgonzola tart,

topped with a poached egg

and served on a walnut-and-apple spinach salad.

It doesn't look right, does it? It's broken apart.

It looks a mess.

Yeah.

So, David, let's start with the tart. The base is very thin,

whereas the sides are so thick it won't hold together.

But if you try some of that pastry, it's lovely. It's crumbly.

OK? The filling, it's got a bit of gorgonzola coming through it

with the pumpkin, but very gluggy and heavy.

Um, I don't get the salad underneath it, the poached egg on top,

which is, "Agh, take it away from me. I don't want to see this."

You... You have skill, but...

what it's amounted to today does not work, David. OK?

I really like the flavour and texture of your pastry.

I think that is lovely. Your work is too big,

and it lacks refinement.

I tried to go away from the sausages,

but obviously there's bits and bobs that need to be sorted out.

-Cheers, David.

-Thank you.

Finally it's Adam, who's also chosen not to use the sausages.

Mmm!

He's made a butternut-squash- and-ginger panna cotta

topped with ginger-infused apples,

and served with a butternut Italian meringue

and salted roasted apples.

Adam, wow! That's a great looking plate.

Very, very impressive, chef. I want to get my spoon into this.

Mmm!

Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant. I'm absolutely blown away by you,

Adam. Butternut-squash panna cotta is genius,

because it's a sweet vegetable, and it just works brilliantly.

I've got real bitterness from what is basically a toffee apple there,

and I've got a hint of cinnamon coming from somewhere,

and then I picked up a little bit of salt as well!

I mean, it's just an Aladdin's cave of pudding delights.

I tell you what, that's one of the best invention tests

I've ever seen.

Yeah, Adam. That is very clever, and a great use of your skills,

to take an ingredient that you wouldn't normally see in a dessert,

and not use it in one but in two different elements.

That meringue along the bottom is very, very clever.

Hey, chef, you know, you made my day.

Adam, thank you very, very much. Well done. Congratulations.

Thank you.

'That was absolutely incredible.'

I'm speechless. It was fantastic. I'm very, very happy.

For some of you, you've done very well,

and you need to keep that going.

Those of you who didn't do so well,

you might think that I was hard with my critique,

but I have very high expectations from each and every one of you.

-Good luck on your next round.

-Off you go.

Now the eight chefs will be split into two groups.

Tomorrow, the first four will be back

to face Monica's infamous skills test...

This is something I've not done in a while.

I wouldn't take on the job of wrapping the Christmas presents.

..before Chef Michel puts their knowledge of the classics to the test.

One mistake, and you could be out of here.

It's as simple as that.

After that, one of them will be going home.

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