Episode 18 MasterChef: The Professionals

It's the semifinals.

Over the last four weeks, these six chefs have proved themselves

to be amongst the best in the country.

They are being split into pairs.

Across the next three nights, each pair will be sent

to some of the UK's most acclaimed restaurants.

Concentrate, all right? Just take your time. Get it right.

Then they will return to cook for Michel Roux Jr and Monica Galetti.

Unless they can both prove they're strong enough,

only one will go through to the finals.

Tonight, it's the turn of 24-year-old Adam

and 26-year-old Steven.

I never really envisioned myself this far in the competition,

but now I'm here, I just want to get to the final.

It's been an experience! It's been an eye-opening experience,

but I have loved all of it. It's been tremendous.

It's early morning

and Adam and Steven are in London's Knightsbridge.

They'll be cooking at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal,

under Head Chef Ashley Palmer-Watts.

Ashley is that kind of chef who doesn't miss a beat.

-One quail, one celery, please.

-Yes, Chef.

I started cooking when I was about 13.

It's been a lot of hard work to get to where I am today.

Opened in 2011, Dinner earned a coveted second star in 2013

and ranks at number 7

in the San Pellegrino World's Best 50 Restaurants,

the highest ranking UK restaurant.

The menu at Dinner is inspired by old English recipes.

Ashley digs up these wonderful old medieval dishes

and revamps them, brings them back to life with style and panache.

The food in this restaurant is historically inspired.

Going back to 1300 in this country,

going over old documents, old books, talking to food historians,

believe it or not, they were pretty technical back in those days,

so some things are quite surprising

that are difficult by modern-day standards.

There's so much undiscovered literature and dishes

that we should be and can be very proud of in this country.

What is unusual about Dinner

is that it serves up to 170 diners each service,

an amount almost unheard of in a restaurant at this level.

By having two contestants in the kitchen during service today,

it's a massive risk.

On their first day, launching into a 170-cover service,

there's a lot of expectation.

I think what makes a great chef is that willingness to learn

and they want to work hard,

just totally immersed in food

and want to get better.

I feel very excited, very privileged.

I've always wanted to go in this restaurant to eat,

let alone be in the kitchen behind the scenes.

On that note, I'm still very nervous

because there's a crazy high standard.

Ashley's food really excites me. He looks to the past for inspiration

and looks to the future for technique.

I'm over the moon.

I just want to deliver the goods now. I want to impress him.

-Hi, there. Ashley. Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

-Hi. How are you?

Welcome to Dinner. You'll be working in the kitchen tonight

as one of the team.

One will be on the fish section and one will be on the hot starters.

We'll learn the dishes this afternoon and then we'll taste them,

really understand what they are,

and then we'll go through the process of you cooking them for me.

Tonight, we have 170 covers booked.

We've got an open kitchen, so everyone's going to be looking.

We've got to work to a really high standard tonight.

But nothing leaves this kitchen until it's perfect.

If it's not right, we'll just do it again and again until it is.

Follow me.

In service,

Adam will be cooking frumenty,

a medieval-inspired dish of grilled octopus,

served with samphire on spelt barley,

with smoked mussel broth, pickled dulse, pickled cedro lemon

and a lovage emulsion.

Frumenty is an old dish that you used to take to someone's house

as a gift to the host around Christmas and New Year.

We've got grilled octopus,

cooked sous-vide with olive oil for four hours

so it's really tender,

some cockles that have been flamed in a pan, a little bit smoky,

and the whole dish is brought together with smoked mussel stock.

The most important thing is getting the octopus on first.

A little bit of olive oil,

a little season.

Flat-side down.

That's kind of the maximum colour you want, OK? Like that.

This is garlic butter.

It helps keep it nice and moist, as well as the flavour.

Straight into the oven, on the shelf.

When the starter is called, get it straight on.

We like to have all our starters on the table within ten minutes,

so we have to be pretty quick.

This is the smoked mussel stock.

And then into there, 20g of cooked barley

and 5g of pickled dulse.

Every dish here has got a precise weight on everything.

That's really how we look to achieve consistency

as much as we possibly can.

I'm pretty stubborn and strict,

I know what I want and I know what I like.

A perfectionist through and through.

Probably a bit OCD as well, you know. But I think it's important,

it's attention to detail.

Without that, you're not going to achieve the standard.

We're just going to add the cockles, warm them through very gently.

And the pickle, which is 5g.

So, here's the octopus. Now we can see, it's actually really tender,

feel that...

It's really important that we don't disrupt these tentacles too much.

The suckers. They will fall off.

So now we're going to plate the dish.

We'll start with the emulsion.

And what you want to do is hold this not quite down,

let it kind of fall out, yeah, nice little point.

One.

Two.

Three. So with plating, just take your time.

This is where we can undo all the good work we've done so far.

Little bit of texture left in the samphire.

It's just got that slight bend in it, not completely soft.

So we'll take two pieces of the fresh, pickled dulse,

just lay them on.

Then strain the stock out.

And then one last thing,

just a piece of ice plant on the top.

-And there we have it.

-I think it's beautiful.

It's delicious.

I think with this dish, cooking octopus - it sounds easy,

it isn't as easy as it seems.

If we overcolour it on the plancha, it won't have that texture,

so it's really, really important

that everything is done really precisely.

I think if I practise it once or twice, then I should be OK.

-It will be... pretty full-on.

-Yep.

I don't want to embarrass myself in front of these chefs.

I look up to Ashley. He's a tremendous chef,

so if I make myself look stupid in front of him,

that's not what I want.

Steven will be cooking the roast turbot during service,

which is served with leaf chicory, sea vegetables and a cockle ketchup.

This dish is inspired

by the preserving and pickling methods used in the 18th century.

We're going to cook the turbot sous-vide

in just a tiny amount of olive oil in a water bath.

It will be around 37 degrees, depending on size.

After it goes on the plancha, we give it a slight flash

under the salamander just before it goes on the plate and drained.

It'll be at 42 degrees and we do use a probe and it has to be right.

So, first things first, in the water bath.

Eight minutes, start the timer.

Attention to detail in the kitchen, it's about precision

and using equipment to measure those precisions, so, using probes,

using water baths, it's... there's no guesswork.

25g of something is 25g, it's not 20.

We're going to get the chicory on, about two and a half, three minutes

out from going on the table. Lid off. This is garlic butter emulsion.

The leaf chicory goes in. And lid on.

Our other garnishes are the siesta and the purslane,

both cooked in plain emulsion. Just going to soften that slightly.

It takes one minute and about one minute on the siesta as well.

Have you used these vegetables before?

I haven't used sea vegetables before.

Little bit of olive oil on the plancha

and then be very, very gentle...

Just a very light press. Just to make sure everything is in contact.

When it's ready, it won't stick.

If it's sticking, it's not ready to be turned.

Nice, even colour.

So, that's the fish cooked. You've got a minute now

when we're going to flash it just before it goes on the plate.

Right, now we plate.

So, the chicory, onto the flat.

This on its own has quite a bitterness.

Tasting the food all night long is what we need to do.

There's a right way of doing it, there's obviously...

we're on show as well, but we must taste throughout the evening.

Just to finish, a few drops of lemon juice.

Everything we do has got to be even.

Always choose the nice side to the customer,

so I always dress the plate as I'm the customer.

Next is the cockle ketchup, which is a mussel stock.

Then into that, we chop some pickled shallots, gherkins, capers,

parsley, coriander and chives.

We'll then just warm through these plain cockles.

The historical element to this dish is the ketchup.

We discovered that there was cockle ketchup, cucumber ketchup,

mushroom ketchup. It was a way of not only preserving,

but that condiment style of sweet, sour, salty and savoury.

We have the sea purslane.

Just a little bit of this really great olive oil,

just a little bit and then to finish, just a raw sea rosemary.

And that's it.

So, there's the finished dish, what do you think?

-I think it looks great.

-Can you do it?

-I can do that.

-Good.

I think it's a great dish.

I love the flavours, some very subtle background flavours.

It's pretty sunny out there right now,

-so it could be a busy night on the fish, we'll see. Ready?

-I'm ready.

What struck me about the food is how precise everything is

and there's not much room for error.

I'm going to be under pressure tonight.

These are new dishes for me and I just hope I can, er,

hit the nail on the head.

It is a huge ask. It would be terrifying,

170 covers at this level

with an open kitchen with everybody watching...

it's not easy.

170 covers, yes. That's the scary part.

I don't think I've ever been in a restaurant with that many covers,

to be honest, so we'll see how that one goes.

I'd love to impress Ashley.

I'd love him to say "That's exactly how I want it."

That would mean the world to me.

He's a great chef and I look up to him.

Service at dinner is about to kick off

and will run for the next five hours.

If they pay attention

and concentrate and don't get too nervous,

then I think they'll be fine. Who knows?

It's a service, you never know how it's going to go.

OK, lamb broth, octopus, salmon, pork, duck, pigeon, please.

ALL CHEFS: Yes, Chef.

-Let's go. Six minutes, please, Adam.

-Oui.

On the hot starter section, orders come in almost immediately

for Adam's octopus dish.

-Adam, nearly there?

-Octopus in 30 seconds.

-Great.

That's it.

Bit of height, Adam, where you can.

Just a little bit more attention on the height, OK?

That one's pretty good, that's going to go.

Yeah, very good. Lots to do on the plating.

I'm still trying to remember how to do it.

I ordered the grilled octopus. Yeah, first class.

The presentation is something that's very important in...

in restaurants of this calibre.

-OK, two octopus, please.

-Yes, Chef.

Steven has to wait for the rush of main orders to begin.

I just want to get into the swing of things now. Get that first order on

and under my belt and carry on from there.

-Adam?

-Yes, Chef.

-The next one's two and a half behind, OK?

Think about height, there, Adam, OK?

Yeah, it's getting there.

That's good, very good. Nice one, well done.

Excellent.

So far, so good. Dishes are looking good, neat and tidy.

Just working on a little bit of natural height but, no,

everything's right, haven't had to send one back yet,

so, very good, I'm impressed.

Three meat fruit, one porridge, one turbot, one cod.

ALL: Yes, Chef.

30 minutes in, and Steven has got his first order for the turbot main.

Steven, six minutes on the turbot.

Before presenting his dish to Ashley,

Steven must check each piece of fish is exactly 42 degrees Centigrade.

Yeah, this is bang on.

-Fish ready?

-Yeah.

-Put the fish on.

-Yeah.

-Ketchup on and then the sea purslane, all right?

-Chef.

Right, yeah, that's it.

Yeah, ketchup on.

You grab the olive oil.

OK, yep. Not bad, not bad. Little bit of neatness to work on here.

Not bad effort.

Just got to work on the plating, a little bit of finesse,

but everything's cooked right at the moment

so that's the most important thing.

-Steven, four minutes, next turbot.

-Yes, Chef.

That's a little bit better, Steven.

-Getting there. A little bit neater. Two minutes, next one up.

-Yes, Chef.

I ordered the turbot.

I've cleared my plate so, er, it was lovely.

Service has now been running for 90 minutes and the restaurant is full.

Go, one meat fruit, one octopus,

one salmon, one turbot, cod, pork, please.

ALL: Yes, Chef.

With the service in full swing,

orders for both Adam and Steven's dishes

are coming in thick and fast.

But for Ashley, there is no let-up on his Michelin-starred standards.

There's a black end on the leaf,

just need to keep your eye out for everything.

-New one, in the bin.

-Yep.

-New one.

Let's go. Quick, quick.

Look at everything, all the time, OK?

This is definitely different to my normal work.

Ashley is the most precise chef I've ever come across.

There you go, good, go.

Everything about it is all precise, this is a military machine here.

OK, meat fruit, octopus, two pork, please.

Yes, Chef.

Sometimes it comes at a quite high intensity

and that's when it really is going to start to,

start to wobble a little bit

but the main thing is, we've got to get it right.

We can go now, Adam.

Mind your back, coming through.

Let's do another one. They're to be all the same.

Take your time.

Always be your own worst critic, you know? Ask yourself -

"Is it right?"

Yep, good.

Good. Broth, please.

Good, happy with that? Yes, Chef.

This is the type of cooking that I love doing.

That I want to do more of, definitely.

OK, two meat fruit, one turbot,

one fillet medium rare, please.

ALL: Yes, Chef.

Turbot sales are picking up. This is quite unique,

because we've been thrown in the deep end straight away.

So it's quite a challenge.

-Two minutes, Steven.

-Oui, chef.

Just left the fish on the plancha too long.

Slightly overcooked, got to do another one.

Should be on 42. That was on 52, so it was ten over there.

Steven, make sure this next one's right, OK?

OK, ready on the turbot?

What it is...

after you've put it on the plancha,

-it just continues to cook.

-I understand.

Over three or four minutes while waiting for the next one,

that's when it just carries on, carries on...

They're OK.

Need to just work a little bit more on the finesse,

but it's practice, just needs practice.

Really intense. What I'm finding difficult

is just keeping up with the pace of the kitchen.

It's a very fast kitchen.

OK, next one up... we need it ready, done in two, OK?

They're coming in now.

I've not worked in a kitchen this busy before, not at all.

-Especially at this level.

-Let's go, quick, quick.

We need to move a bit faster on these two octopus, please.

Yes, Chef.

Watch your legs, please.

This one's 53, this one's 80. One of them, I need another 30 seconds.

OK, get it back quick, quick. Don't do it too much.

Your legs, please, again. Legs, please, legs.

Behind you, very hot, Behind you, very hot.

OK, one broth in, ice plant and we can go on this table.

Good, right. Two more up next, Adam, after this one, yeah?

-Yes, Chef.

-Got to be perfect.

He has been busy. The more you do, the better you get at it.

Yeah, this one's much better,

got a little bit more kind of height going on, a bit more open.

That's a lot better there, Adam.

Just need to work on the speed here, OK? These two, nice and quick.

I ordered frumenty. It was grilled and it was cooked to perfection.

-Getting better, getting used to it?

-Yeah, it's like...

You've got to remember stuff...

Get this timing right, Steven, OK?

-Wait.

-Make sure we don't go over on that turbot, OK?

-Yes, Chef.

-OK, coming down with the turbot?

-Yes, Chef.

That's it, good.

A better colour on that one, Steven.

-They look great, turbot looks really nice, Steven.

-Thanks, Chef.

It's almost 11pm and the long service continues.

-One fillet medium, one duck, please.

-Yes, Chef.

Despite their exhaustion, Adam and Steven must up the momentum.

Good.

Yeah, it's looking good. Doing well. Good, well done. OK, go, 31.

I'm happy, you know, I'm working with the guys

and they've made me feel so welcome as well.

I am buzzing, this why I became a chef.

-Steven?

-Yeah.

Make sure these four turbot all look the same sort of shape, OK?

So look for that similarity in those four.

Yes, Chef.

Need to be there in three minutes, OK?

Chef.

These are all bang on, mate, all between 41 and 42.

That was great, Steven, four turbot, brilliant. Nice one, well done.

Yes, Chef.

OK, that's the last cheque, thank you.

ALL: Yes, Chef!

I really did enjoy the grilled turbot.

The cockle ketchup was sweet and salty

and it was actually quite exciting all put together.

Really happy about those last plates of food, it's been a long,

long service. It's been tough, lots of emotions, but...

..overall, good.

I think coming into this kitchen

doing this number of covers on new equipment,

I think they should be very proud, I thought it was very good.

Adam on the octopus, he had a little wobble

when it got a little bit busy

but he took on board the constructive criticism.

I saw him get stronger and stronger through the night.

I thought he did very well.

It was very nerve-racking coming in not knowing absolutely anything

and only being shown the dish once.

It's a lot of work for one plate but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Steven, a little bit slow to get going

but you never know how much of a certain dish you're going to sell.

He had a lot of turbot on order in the end

and it got a little bit busy for him

and I'm sure he felt it, but he did very well.

I feel exhausted and, you know, emotional, but at the end of it

I feel really happy.

I feel like I've done a good job

and I've done what I've come here to do...

I feel great.

It's early morning of day two

and Adam and Steven return to dinner for their final challenge,

to cook salmagundi - one of Ashley's signature dishes.

Based on an 18th-century salad recipe,

the dish is made up with chicken oysters,

roasted salsify, bone marrow,

a horseradish cream, grated fresh horseradish, foraged leaves,

served with a chicken vinaigrette and pickled walnuts.

Salmagundi is one of the signature dishes at Dinner

and it's been on the menu since day one.

It's light, yet rich, yet full of flavour, and just...

just great to eat.

In terms of the execution of the dish, it's actually quite tricky.

There's a lot of different elements and each one has a specific method.

You've got the chicken oysters, which are cooked sous-vide

in smoked duck fat

and just roasted until they're lightly golden.

We then roast salsify on the plancha.

You can overdo it quite quickly.

Pop the bone marrow in just to warm it through,

very, very gently. If it's too hot, it'll just disappear, just melt.

Read that recipe, understand it, read it again.

It'll be their interpretation.

They haven't seen the dish,

so it will be very interesting to see how they take that information

and transfer it onto the plate.

The recipe is basic.

There are no details on how the dish should be presented.

The thing for me is getting all the elements right

and plating it up nicely, making it look fresh.

It's hard enough cooking your own dish for a chef like Ashley,

but to cook his dish...

his expectations are going to be through the roof.

The thing I'm most worried about

is just making sure that each element that's had a lot of work put into it

is executed to the standard which, actually, he's used to.

OK.

Pretty good effort.

Pretty good effort on presentation.

Let's see what it tastes like.

The execution on the cooking - the chicken oysters,

the bone marrow, it's not too soft. It's soft enough.

The glazing of the salsify...

Was all really good. Absolutely spot-on.

There was enough dressing, good flavour, good balance.

The only negative thing I would say

is just the condition of one of these red leaves.

You should spot these things as you're plating.

We MUST look at every single thing that goes on the plate.

But to come into the kitchen,

learn a dish in the afternoon, from just the recipe,

half an hour in the kitchen, totally blind -

I think you should be proud of that.

-Thank you very much.

-I enjoyed it a lot.

I'd like to think I did myself proud.

There's only so much you can do

when you know nothing about a restaurant.

I used my head, I used my chef's instinct,

and I think I did well.

First things first, presentation.

A pretty good effort. Looks good.

It's laid in a nice way that you're going to eat your way through.

Yeah, it's pretty good.

OK, so in terms of execution here,

cooking of the chicken oysters is great. The bone marrow is perfect.

Enough dressing. Absolutely perfect.

Just a little bit more of the onion and horseradish gel on the bottom

would have been good, and a little bit more grated horseradish.

-Yeah.

-But this is being really pernickety.

The two things that concerned me was the gel on the bottom

-and the horseradish on the top cos it's a tricky flavour to get.

-It is.

I think I probably went under on this occasion.

I probably played it a bit safe

just because I was nervous about doing that.

The thing that really impresses me is that you thought about that,

and you thought about that as part of building the dish

and you thought about it and played it safe,

but safe is better than being way over the top,

so I would say you made the right choice.

It's a very, very good attempt.

I'd be pretty happy with that

if one of the chefs attempted that for the first time in the kitchen.

Thank you for this opportunity.

This experience means so much to me.

Ashley is one of my favourite chefs, and to have the privilege,

not only to cook for him,

but to sit down with him and doing one of his dishes,

I don't think many chefs can say that,

so I feel really, really happy.

At this stage, with what I've seen, it's very hard to split them.

To handle this kind of pressure, and learning at this rate,

you've got to be 100% focused and committed.

I think they've both got bright futures ahead.

I think the next round is going to be the hardest because, well,

there's a lot of pressure, that's the last chance.

If I take everything that I've been taught...

I think I should be all right.

I believe this experience will help me to move forward.

Ashley's got the highest of standards,

and even if I've just taken that 1% of that away with me today,

I think it could do a great job with me in this competition.

I can't wait! I can't wait to see them in here, Monica.

Bring them in and unleash them!

Good to see you again, chefs.

I don't know about you, but I'm excited to see what you've learnt.

Today you've got to go all out.

We know how talented you two are.

Make us some amazing plates of food. We expect nothing less.

This is it, guys.

Your chance to grab that place in the final.

Two hours.

Two plates of food.

Off you go.

I must say, Ashley was impressed by our two chefs. Very impressed.

But they have to now prove it to us.

We are going to get beautiful food, that is for sure.

Adam's food and his style combinations

are always based on classics, which is great, I love that style.

He is a talented chef who delivers amazing tasting food.

Everything he's plated so far has been stunning.

I picked these dishes because it's things that I love to eat.

I've been getting into work at five in the morning to practise for this.

I've literally tried to pick out every fault

that could possibly happen and fix it.

Then bang on with a 16-hour shift, and then again the same day.

Yeah, I'm pretty exhausted. My missus is getting annoyed.

How are you feeling about today?

I feel good.

So what are you cooking?

I am cooking wild sea trout with mussels that have been flamed,

and then just put into a fragrant curry sauce, not spicy,

and that's going to be done with a quenelle of crab on the top.

Seaweed done in two different ways -

a crispy one and a jasmine poached one.

And then the dessert is pistachios, chocolate and cream cheese.

It's also going with something which I love is,

apple and parsley puree.

-With the dessert?

-Mm-hm.

-Apple and parsley puree with pistachio?

-Mm-hm.

-New one on me.

-New one for me too.

You want your place in the final, don't you?

It's been a hard ride, I'm not going to lie,

it's been definitely stressful, but I would love to, absolutely love to.

My dishes are the only ones standing in the way.

-If I fail, it's my own fault.

-Absolutely right.

Adam, really excited by your menu.

I can't wait to try some new combinations as well.

Thank you very much.

Adam is looking supremely confident with his recipes.

They are his style of cooking, 100%.

Adam is making us a seafood dish today, which for me is a first,

I've only ever seen him use meat.

I have mussels, trout and crab on one plate of food,

all three things take completely different times to cook

and completely different methods.

He's filleted that fish really well.

Let's hope he cooks it, keeps it pink.

He has marinated it in salt and sugar

and a little bit of olive oil and lemon.

Which will extract the excess moisture

and make it a firmer texture.

Love the idea of mussels with a hint of curry.

Adam is flaming the mussels. Getting the pan so, so hot.

And that adds a bit of smoky flavour.

But if you over do it, then it will just be acrid and burnt.

He's also cooking seaweed in two different ways -

poaching it in jasmine tea...

..and then taking some to crisp up in the fryer, so all about textures.

Bringing that flavour of the sea to the plate using seaweed

I think is ingenious.

He's got the crab, which he says he's going to serve

the quenelle off on top.

And he's poaching his potatoes in kaffir lime leaves,

which is interesting.

I've just seen Adam making some potato strings.

He's going to deep fry those

and that's going to give texture and height to the dish,

which is so important.

All of that sounds really, really delicious.

Adam is making what he calls a celebration of pistachios.

So pistachios in five or six different ways.

I'm a nut man. I love pistachios.

It's a very beautiful dessert if I can get it done in time.

The base of this dessert is going to be a flourless pistachio cake.

The last time he made a cake, we were bowled over, it was delicious.

Just hope this one is as good.

And then some chocolate and praline.

I am in heaven.

But surprisingly,

he is serving it with a puree of green apple and parsley.

This is curious for me cos I've not had that mix before.

I hope it works.

If I like it then I'll give him two kisses cos he must be a genius.

I'm a humble person, there's no ego about me.

If somebody's better, fantastic.

I'll learn from them.

I'm going to give it my all.

Halfway, chefs.

Steven's style is very intricate.

Always with elegance.

This chef is just improving as he goes along

and getting better and better and stronger.

He's relaxed and you can see that wonderful passion

and that repertoire coming through now.

Work in a dinner has definitely inspired me doing world-class food.

What I want from today is to be happy with every element

that I stick on that plate.

There might not be as many ingredients,

but to get those ingredients perfect,

I think it's going to be key to this stage of the competition.

Steven, how does it feel to be in the semifinal?

Relishing the prospect of cooking for you both again,

and hopefully I'll do enough to get in the final now.

You're cooking with a big smile on your face and yet you seem...

dare I say it, confident.

I am still nervous underneath,

but I know I've got two good dishes for you today.

I just need to nail it.

Yeah, I like the new Steven we've seen.

You cook better when you're more relaxed, yes.

Tell us what you're cooking then?

My main course of duck with broccoli. That's how it's titled.

Quite simple, but there's a little bit more going on from that.

I've got broccoli ketchup, which I'm putting with the duck.

I think it really works well with this main course,

and I just hope you guys agree.

Broccoli ketchup!

-I'm looking forward to that.

-So am I, I'd like to try that.

And the dessert is cheesecake with strawberries.

It really wants to be like a wow when it's delivered.

Lots of variation of strawberry.

I'm expecting a wow when it's delivered.

-This obviously means a lot to you, doesn't it?

-It does.

Who else is supporting you here?

Do you have family and friends who are rooting for you?

The biggest support I've got is from my wife and my two children.

I've sacrificed a lot in my career so far to get to where I am today

and hopefully this will give them a slight insider into

what I do on a daily basis.

How old are your little ones?

I got a daughter who's two and a half

and baby boy who's nine weeks old.

I bet your wife hates you?

Yeah, they are supportive, but you know, it's not easy,

and I think that's even more important to concentrate on today

and to do the best I can to give me every chance to get into the final.

Brilliant. We're going to let you get on cos you've got a lot to do.

Thank you.

Steven is preparing a duck dish for us.

He's boned out the duck leg, wrapped it in ham...

..and put it in the water bath.

He's also using the duck breast which should be kept very pink.

I like mine pink with a crispy skin.

He's also making a red wine sauce.

Steve is serving variations of broccoli. A broccoli puree.

Some stalk that's been char-grilled.

And some tender stem broccoli.

After working with Ashley,

I have got an element that is quite similar to what he would do

by making a broccoli ketchup.

Duck can be a little bit fatty,

a ketchup that's got a bit of a kick can cut through that fattiness,

and it works beautifully well.

How interesting! I'm looking forward to trying this.

Steven is making a vanilla cheesecake with strawberries.

Cheesecake can be very simple,

but I think he's got a few tricks up his sleeve.

It's not just your bog-standard cheesecake.

There's lots of different elements to this dish.

That strawberry gel. Strawberry dried.

Fresh strawberries.

Steve is a clever chef. I'm expecting a piece of art from him.

What I need to do, just a case of go through it in my head.

Making sure that I'm not going to make a mistake.

I think it's going to be a close one today.

Lads, you've got 15 minutes left.

How you doing, Adam, nearly there?

The last couple of stuff to do then that's me.

-I can see all the stuff all prepared.

-I look OK.

Brilliant. Excellent.

How's it going, Steven?

Good. Just getting the finishing touches.

Just checking everything, making sure it's ready.

-Going to start plating up.

-Stay focused. Give us some great plates,

You can feel the tension.

It's palpable, you can cut it with a knife.

These plates are going to be amazing

and we are going to have a hard time judging.

These two are focused.

They know how serious this is.

90 seconds, chefs. Come on.

Time's up, guys. Well done.

For his main course,

Adam has made slow-cooked wild trout on mussels and kaffir lime potatoes

in a cream curry sauce.

A smoked mussel gel,

pickled red and crispy green seaweed

topped with a quenelle of white crab mayonnaise

and a crispy potato ring.

First off, Adam, presentation, beautiful.

It's got height, it's got volume. Absolutely stunning.

I expect nothing less from you.

I hope it's going to taste as good as it looks.

I love the trout, it's cooked really well.

Lovely and soft and delicate.

The curried mussels in a kind of warm mayonnaise, absolutely bang on.

Fruity, spicy, fragrant, really, really good.

Potatoes as well, I was a bit dubious of cooking them in kaffir lime,

actually that lime comes through quite well and it works.

The crab is lovely and delicious.

Seaweed, adding a bit of texture and saltiness to it.

It's the flavour of the sea,

but with that really fruity curry, and it works, it does work.

For me, the fact that you've cooked your trout, vac-packed,

normally it doesn't have much texture to it,

it sort of melts in your mouth,

but because you marinated it in the sugar and salt,

it's drawn that extra moisture out of it,

so it does have texture.

If you had rinsed that trout out a bit more,

I think it would have been much better.

It is too salty.

But it's a good dish.

The mussels go well with those potatoes.

The crispiness from your garnish of the seaweed is all very clever.

For dessert, Adam is serving pistachio cake

topped with a quenelle of pistachio cream cheese,

pistachio crumb,

served on an apple and parsley gel with chocolate praline ganache.

It's a Adam plate.

It's very precise, it's very tidy and artistic.

I am curious what your apple

and parsley match with chocolate will taste like.

You make great cakes!

It's light and it's flavoursome, and it's not doughy.

The apple with the parsley, because it's not so much on here,

it's not overpowering, and it's OK, you've just got away with it.

Yeah, you learn something every day. A little bit of parsley and apple...

..can work.

Adam, if you were to give up your day job,

just go and make cakes.

My uncle would be bowled over by this cake.

And we know what he's like as a patissier.

Heavenly. Absolutely divine.

It's one of the lightest cakes I've ever tasted. Amazing.

Pistachio crumb as well adds another texture and a bit of height.

The cream cheese adds a hint of acidity, which works perfectly

with that very rich chocolate and the pistachio cake.

It is a very, very fine dessert.

99 out of 100 customers would be more than happy.

In fact, we know one particular customer

who would be bowled over by this dessert.

The cake thing, that was amazing.

Even his uncle would be impressed with it.

That's amazing to hear something like that.

I did myself proud.

For his main course,

Steven has cooked breast of Gressingham duck

and made a ballotine of the leg wrapped in duck ham.

Served with girolles and broccoli four ways.

Char-grilled tender stem broccoli.

A broccoli Parmesan puree on braised broccoli stalk.

And a broccoli and caper ketchup.

His dish is finished with a red wine sauce.

I like your presentation.

Very similar to what you have done in the past for us.

In a line across the plate.

You've spaced it out enough that we can see into your dish.

The only problem is, it's very clear that your duck is overcooked.

The duck leg, beautiful and moist.

Absolutely tender, succulent, cooked to perfection.

And that duck ham on the outside,

adds even more duck flavour into it and a hint of saltiness.

Really, really good.

The grilled stemmed broccoli is really smoky and tender and sweet.

The actual stalk that you've braised

has got a little bite to it and is full of flavour.

That broccoli ketchup, absolutely bang on.

Sweet, sour, salty, perfect foil for the duck.

You know what? You're about a minute away from perfection.

That duck is slightly overcooked,

but otherwise for me, you had a beautiful plate.

Great complex flavours in there. Well done.

Steven, that ketchup is amazing, it goes so well with the duck.

The consistency and the shine and the taste of your sauce is spot on.

Every element on this plate besides the duck

has been cooked really well.

It is a good plate. Done yourself proud.

Steven's dessert is a baked vanilla cheesecake

rolled in strawberry crumb.

Served with a biscuit base, fresh strawberry balls,

macerated strawberries, strawberry gel and basil.

It's very neat. Very appealing to the eye.

And you can see all the elements there.

Nothing is too overcrowded.

Great colours on your dessert, Steven.

I'd be happy if I got this out on a restaurant.

Steven, the cheesecake is absolutely divine.

It's as light as a souffle.

To get that amount of flavour in a cheesecake, being that light,

it's quite incredible actually.

The strawberry gel, the macerated strawberries, the fresh strawberries,

the basil, all of that works wonderfully well,

adding freshness to this dessert. Wonderful.

I really like the fact that you've coated it in that dried strawberry.

Bit of texture.

I do like the strawberry that's been macerated

or soaked with a bit of vinegar.

It all goes very well together.

It's a really good dessert, Steven, it's really well made.

Steven, we know you can cook, and I think you've proved that again today.

Most definitely.

I definitely feel I'm cooking better as the competition goes on.

Today I felt they were the best two plates of food I've put up.

Really happy with the feedback I got off two great chefs.

We asked you to deliver and you did.

Both of you cooked outstanding food today.

It's going to be very difficult, very difficult to make a decision.

Thank you.

Oh, my word, that was exciting, Monica.

We knew we were in for a treat, but that was exceptional.

-That really was.

-They worked like true professionals.

They know how good each other are,

but they were focused on how they had to perform today.

These two chefs clearly are talented.

There's no real swagger or arrogance coming from them.

They don't need it. They really don't need it, do they?

-It's in the cooking.

-They're professionals.

Absolutely professionals on top of their game.

Which is what we're looking for.

First off let's talk about Adam.

His first dish, that trout that was marinated in salt and sugar

to extract moisture and then vacuum-packed and slow-cooked.

Ah! Just a few grams of seasoning away from being a perfect dish.

I liked the fact that he took on the firing technique from Ashley

and try to adapt it to his dish.

This is how we evolve as chefs.

That flourless pistachio cake was heavenly.

My word, was that good.

I LOVE Adam's cakes.

If someone can make a cake as good as he can

and serve it like that, I'm happy. Gregg would be happy.

As soon as the quarterfinals,

when me and Steven first met each other,

it's been neck and neck.

But they're my dishes, I did them,

I did myself proud and I'm actually really happy.

I really enjoyed Steven's food.

His duck dish, it's very clever indeed.

His broccoli ketchup, what a great idea.

And with duck as well, it had that sweet

and sour that you need to accompany a duck dish.

The leg meat I thought was superb.

It was wrapped in a duck ham, that was really, really good cooking.

Dessert, cheesecake.

Sounded very simple, didn't it?

That roll of cheesecake, I thought was very precise,

light as feather, yet packed a real punch.

I thought that was really delicious. Very, very good.

I like the way Steven has progressed.

When he first started he was very nervous

and he was wondering whether or not he deserved to be here.

Well, I'd just like to say to Steven,

you more than deserve your place here today right now

because that was cooking of the highest order.

I think we can both be really proud of what we've done today and...

it was a really good battle out there.

They've both achieved exceptional quality.

But they have both made a little mistake.

I think also because they've been strong throughout the competition...

..it makes it harder to decide.

Which one can you see winning the competition?

Hand on heart.

I think either one could win the competition.

They're that good.

When I see two chefs in front of me like you,

makes me proud to be a chef myself.

We have made a decision.

You're both going through to the finals!

Fantastic.

Well done.

Well done, mate.

That was simply amazing.

Amazing.

So shocked, so happy to actually be here.

It's amazing. My head's all over the place now.

Look.

She's happy.

I'm happy!

I'm ecstatic to be in the final. It feels great.

But it also means the hard work starts now.

Thank you very much.

Tomorrow night 25-year-olds Tom

and David have to prove they're worthy of a place in the final

when they're sent to cook for two Michelin-starred chef

Michael Wignall.

Remember what I said to you,

put everything nice and neat on your plate,

not thrown all over the place.

Why are you putting all that stock in your mushrooms?

-You're boiling them.

-Sorry, chef.

Then they will have to cook for Michel and Monica

to try and earn a place in the finals.

That is absolutely splendid.

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