Episode 20 MasterChef: The Professionals

It's the last of the semi-finals.

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

to be amongst the best in the country.

They've all been split into pairs

and sent to some of the UK's most acclaimed restaurants.

-Why are you putting all that stock in your mushrooms? You're boiling them.

-Sorry, Chef.

You've got to concentrate, all right? Take your time, get it right.

Then they've returned to cook for Michel Roux Jr and Monica Galetti.

It was too close to call

between 24-year-old Adam and 26-year-old Steven,

who both went through to the finals.

Last night, 25-year-old Tom joined them.

Tonight, the final pair have their chance to prove they're good enough -

23-year-old Luke

and 27-year-old Scott.

I would be absolutely delighted to get through to the finals.

As you get on in the competition, more and more you want it.

To get a place in the final would just be electric.

It's sending shivers down my spine at the moment thinking about it.

It's midday

and Scott and Luke have arrived in Nottingham,

home of the self-titled restaurant

run by the acclaimed chef Sat Bains.

Opened in 2002,

it was the first restaurant in Nottingham to earn a Michelin star...

..and went on to achieve a coveted second star in 2011.

I worked as a head chef from a very early age. I was 24.

I wasn't ready. I was teaching myself how to cook.

I was reading all the classics - Nico, Koffmann, Roux.

It's this incredible journey

of drive, ambition, passion

and the desire to give you something completely unique.

His style of food is modern, but very much based on the classics.

He's taken it to another level.

For me, flavour dictates every single aspect

of every single thing we do in our kitchen.

Yes, we use techniques, sometimes we use very modern techniques,

but they should never outshine flavour.

If these guys are coming in today, the pressure's on them,

but I'm not going to be a tyrant, bullying them in the corner.

I want them to do well.

I want them to be nurtured.

I want them to walk away going, "Wow! I've been inspired."

Sat Bains is a genius.

He's been reinventing food for the last I don't know how many years.

It's going to be an absolute honour to cook at his restaurant.

I've never actually worked in a Michelin-starred place.

As long as we cook well and do what he asks,

I think we should be all right.

-Hi, Scott. Nice to see you.

-Nice to meet you.

-Luke.

-Hi, Chef.

-How are you both?

-Good. Feeling good.

-Fantastic. Welcome to the kitchen.

Very excited to have you here.

The standards are of the highest.

We expect the chefs to work very clean and very efficient. They're two things I'm obsessed with.

This is a great opportunity and I want to wish you the best of luck.

Follow me.

In service, Luke and Scott will each be responsible for a dish

from the restaurant tasting menus.

You get a ten-minute window.

From the course being cleared before, we normally allow ten minutes for this dish to be prepared.

Caramelisation is crucial

to get as much flavour back out of it, yeah?

Scott will be in charge of the roe deer, prepared three ways,

sous-vide loin, grilled sausage and tartar,

served with roast cepes, dried reindeer lichen,

dots of mushroom ketchup and pine mayonnaise,

accompanied by a deer and blackberry sauce,

powdered juniper and the scent of smoking pine.

I'm trying to surround the roe deer with everything that it's surrounded with in the wild.

I want to really showcase the cooking of it,

but also what it tastes like naturally.

There's lots of components that have to be done a la minute.

They're going to go under the grill.

You've got to cook the sausage perfectly so it's still moist.

The tartar has to be beaten and seasoned last minute,

the loin has to be perfectly cooked and seasoned last minute.

Everything's then got to be presented.

Don't forget, things like game, they're very lean so you don't want to overcook them.

There's got to be lots of hand-eye co-ordination,

work quickly because the temperature's crucial.

You work in a sequence.

From a chef of a calibre coming in, they should already have these things

and that's the things I'll be looking at.

This is juniper.

It's just been blitzed. Just a little dusting of that,

not too much because it's quite strong.

Put the mushroom here. The sausage just goes there.

Nice piece of that...

We can put it on the plate, it doesn't matter where it goes,

as long as it looks half-decent.

I'm interested in every component of the dish cooked well.

I like everything.

That's salty, that's sweet. It's really nice.

You know the score - if it's not acceptable on the pass, we have to start again.

-We're going to have a good service, don't worry.

-Yes, Chef.

-I've got your back, Chef.

-Cheers, Chef!

The food's totally different.

I never even thought

of putting raw tartar with a hot thing, mayonnaises and stuff.

I've seen it, but I never thought I'd be doing it or cooking it,

so it's a great opportunity and I can't wait to do it tonight.

This is the actual kid. Erm, it's the leg.

What we do, we salt it for 12 hours.

And when it's cooked, after 36 hours, you twist the bone out and you press it

and you end up with this beautiful piece of meat

that's got incredible flavour.

Just smell that.

-It's beautiful.

-Yeah, really meaty. Really meaty.

Luke is responsible for the Somerset kid, topped with asparagus shavings,

resting on a potato terrine and layers of pickled radish,

shallots and baby gem lettuce,

with droplets of goats' cheese and lemon puree

and a kid goat consomme.

To maximise the flavour,

the vegetables are pickled instantly using a vacuum pack.

These vegetables can't be pre-made

and will have to be pickled-to-order during service.

As you can see, they've both gone translucent.

They open the pores and suck in all that pickle liquor

so they become instantaneously pickled.

-In that short amount of time, the lettuce pickles?

-Yeah.

You can see it's kind of going translucent.

Same with the radish.

Have a taste of that.

-You'd think that's been pickled for hours.

-Yeah. Definitely.

But it's still sweet and it still tastes of radish.

Once it's in the pan, you don't touch it.

That's going to create that caramelisation

-and that's going to go in the oven to heat through, yeah?

-Yes, Chef.

This one, you're almost thinking as you're dressing.

You're layering the dish up as if you're eating it.

It should be exciting to go back for the next mouthful, and that's the key.

While that's in the oven,

you start off with some goats' cheese.

Nothing's on the plate for no reason.

Every single part of the component of the dish

is built to give you maximum effect in terms of flavour.

There you go.

Simple?

-Easy!

-That's what I like to hear - easy!

I've never cooked a dish like that. The whole dish is a challenge.

There's pitfalls around every corner -

making sure the goat's caramelised,

not being clumsy at presentation,

it's going to be tough but I'll give it my best shot.

Hello, good evening, welcome!

Sat Bains offers the diners a choice of two tasting menus.

Luke's kid dish is the sixth course on one of them

and Scott's roe deer is the fourth course on the other.

It's not a typical three-course menu.

You're constantly on edge, because you're part of the team and it's ten dishes.

It's not like it's one and you've finished.

The sequences all kind of connect.

If we get the first dish up and I get it right,

I'll be happy and I'll get through service not too bad.

If I make a couple of mistakes on the first dishes, I'll be in for a hard night.

Everything's ready. I've checked, double-checked, triple-checked.

Now I'm starting to doubt myself, overthinking things,

but I think I'm ready.

Well, the bottom line is, they've got to deliver.

Let's not mess around.

There's guests that are paying very good money to eat here.

I cannot allow anything mediocre to go out of that kitchen.

-Good luck, boss.

-All the best.

-OK, an order, one egg.

-CHEFS: Oui!

Service begins,

and the first courses from the tasting menus are being prepared.

Table two, go on.

Scott and Luke must wait their turn.

-How are you feeling?

-Good. I want to get the first two sent out.

-I know!

-That's what I want to do.

-It's just waiting.

Because, obviously, your dish is part of a ten-course menu, I do empathise,

-but make sure you don't leave this too long out.

-Yes, Chef.

Otherwise, if it gets too warm,

-it'll break down in the pan.

-Yes, Chef.

-Cool.

-Thanks, Chef.

Finally, the guests sitting at the chef's table are ready for Scott's course.

-Four roe deer. Ten minutes, please, Scott.

-Yes, Chef.

28...

I want it to be spot on because it's for the chef's table.

I want you to explain the dish to them, yeah?

Cool.

He starts by preparing the roe deer tartar

and the all-important cepe mushrooms.

Seven minutes,

-four roe deer away, yeah?

-Oui.

Good colour on the sausages. Turn, sear, turn, then off.

You don't want the middle to be overcooked.

While the sausage and roe fillet are cooking,

he only has minutes to plate the ketchup and mayonnaise to Sat's exacting standards.

Keep going, keep going. That's it. Next plate.

It's 28 now, Scott.

-You should've already gone.

-Yes, Chef.

Think how much you're putting on, to what we put on.

You want a nice mouthful, not too big.

Yeah.

-Don't forget your pot.

-Yeah.

OK, Scott, we need to go.

-We're four-and-a-half minutes over.

-Sorry, Chef.

You're coming with me.

You're going to explain the dish.

So, guys, this is Scott. He's going to explain the dish to you.

So, it's, er, erm,

venison, poached in, erm, pine butter,

venison sausages

and, erm, a little venison tartar, as well.

-Enjoy.

-Thank you very much.

The timing was a bit late on it. Obviously, you know,

I'm not used to dressing it.

When you work in brigades, you get food given to you.

I'll know for next time and just start plating a lot earlier.

-It's fast how time goes, huh?

-Yes, Chef.

He was very disciplined. In sequence, he did it the correct way.

You're not going to get a chef walk in here and just roll with it,

it's almost nigh impossible.

So very good attempt, actually.

It's an hour into service

and Luke is still waiting for his dish to be called.

He's very nervous and on edge

and you can see him getting more and more worried

as the time's getting closer

for his to start, er, serving his dish up.

I have to play the waiting game

and stop thinking too much and overthinking things and...

I'm ready.

I've just got to wait for the... wait for the go.

-OK, Luke, two kid away in ten minutes.

-Oui, Chef.

-Time it. I don't want it overcooked. You know the drill.

-OK, Chef.

Finally, Luke gets his chance to prove he can cook

to Sat's two Michelin-star standard,

but he only has a ten-minute window to deliver his dish.

He starts by pickling the veg whilst caramelising the kid steak.

-Keep an eye on this, Luke.

-Yes, Chef.

-Straight in the oven. Let's go.

-Yeah.

Next, he has to cook the potato terrine.

While all the main elements are cooking,

he needs to get on with the plating

and the final veg prep.

-You've got five minutes, Luke.

-Yes, Chef.

-You can't use that. There's half missing.

-Yes, Chef.

That's that.

-OK, start building the plate up now. You've got a three-minute notice.

-Yes, Chef.

Luke, when we did it, there was around a teaspoon of...

-Do you remember?

-Shall I take it off?

-Take 30, 40 percent off each one.

Watch your fingers. They're dripping water all over the plate.

Just the tip. You're pinching it.

-One-and-a-half minutes and they start moving.

-Yes, Chef.

That's good.

-You need to move now.

-Yes, Chef.

A tiny drizzle of oil and let's go.

-OK. Now we've got to learn from that.

-Yes.

-It takes longer than you thought?

-Yes.

-You need to crisp up the kid more so it stays in the oven longer.

-Yes, Chef.

They're the things you should get on first while you prep your vegetables, so they're boxed off.

-I'm going to do it much better next time.

-Good.

The pressure's on to get that out in that ten-minute slot.

It runs away with you.

You saw him, he was so in the zone of doing what he thought was right,

he's missing things, things weren't correct, and I think that's where he suffered.

He's bounced back by saying the next one's going to be better.

That's what you want - a fighting attitude.

The next tables are ready for Scott's roe deer

and he needs to deliver it on time.

-You've got one minute, Chef.

-Oui.

The time's up now. Stop and get out the next.

30 seconds, we're laughing, yes?

A tiny amount. That's it. Perfect.

OK, table three away, please.

Let's go.

The only thing that he's done slightly different

is presentation.

I can't criticise someone for that because all the components were there -

the cooking of the meat, beautifully caramelised, pink, seasoned all over,

the sauce was the right temperature, right amount of vinegar in. Spot on.

Across the kitchen, Luke is nearing the end of his ten-minute window

with the next orders of kid.

-Luke, start moving it now!

-Yes, Chef.

Faster! You've got to work faster, cleaner!

That one's over, so you need to do another one.

That's no good, either. Get another pan on, get rid of that.

We've got to send this out. They've been waiting 16 minutes.

I'm going to have to start giving free drinks out and, trust me,

-I don't like giving free drinks out.

-Oui, Chef.

But Luke's pickled radish have gone missing.

-What are you after?

-Radish. I left the bowl here.

-I...

-No?

Come on, let's do some more. If it's not here, let's crack on.

You work out in your head how many you need,

that's how many you do.

-Have you cut yourself?

-A touch.

-Yes?

-A little one, yeah.

You need to sort that cut out before you do anything.

-I'll just get a first-aider. John!

-Yes?

-Luke's cut himself! Can you sort it out, please?

-Yes.

With Luke out of action and customers waiting,

Sat brings in his brigade to help.

OK, let Luke come through, guys.

Pickled onions...

-Terrine on. Let's go. Potato.

-Yes, Chef.

OK. Let's go.

-How are you doing, Luke?

-Oh... Disappointing.

-You've got another couple of chances, so let's not get disheartened.

-Yes, Chef.

He's cut the end of his finger,

he's not going to die from it, hopefully, but he's just...

I think, obviously, he's finding it very difficult.

I've got three tables left. I'm going to make every table better than the last one.

Thank you.

-OK, Scott, two roe deer away in ten minutes.

-Oui, Chef.

-This is your last table.

-Yeah.

Make it perfect, yeah?

He's worked at a higher level and that's come across straight away.

He's got a lot of discipline, his seasoning's spot on,

and that's experience.

Slowly start bringing it together, Scott.

-Perfect timing, yeah?

-Yeah.

Place the mushroom. Beautiful! Let's go.

-Are you happy with that, Chef?

-Yes, Chef.

-Beautiful.

OK. Table five.

-Well done, Scott. How did it go?

-It went well.

-Enjoying it?

-Yeah, I enjoyed it.

-OK, so now, as in every kitchen, we've got to start clearing up!

-Yeah!

I think I pretty much got it bang on for the last one, so I'm happy.

Scott has impressed,

and it's now down to Luke to prove he can make the grade.

Even if it's the last table, I want him to feel that he's really done something

and he's been challenged, but he overcame it in a very short period of time

and the last dish he goes, "Yes, I've mastered it.

"I've nailed it, Chef."

This is the last one of the night for you.

-Make it absolutely beautiful.

-Yes, Chef.

-As you're dressing it, you're eating it, do you get me? You can't wait to eat it!

-Yes, Chef.

-You don't want the customer to eat it! You want to eat it!

-Yes, Chef!

-Start with this.

-Oui.

-The sauce is here.

OK. Let's go. Out.

Hm. That was nine minutes out.

-OK, start clearing up, please. Everything...

-Yes, Chef.

..stripped.

That was really intense. Er...

Definitely as hard as I thought it would be and harder.

The last plate, I thought, was very good and I was very happy with that,

but I'm a little bit disappointed.

Scott was very strong. He picked it up quicker.

He learnt from his first table

and got more and more efficient as it went on.

I think Luke has been a little bit unfortunate.

He's frustrated with himself,

and that just adds more pressure.

So if you wanted a stressful night,

I think he got it!

It's early morning

and the contestants are back for one final challenge.

Luke has a lot to prove,

while Scott needs to maintain his standing.

They will have to recreate one of Sat Bains's signature dishes,

which celebrates the girolles.

The pickled and sauteed mushrooms

are covering a small disc of braised oxtail

and served with watercress panna cotta,

crouton

and a chive beurre noisette.

Scott and Luke have only been given a basic recipe,

with no guide on presentation.

The heart of Sat's dish

is a Wagyu oxtail disc

and the girolle mushrooms.

If you have too much oxtail and too much of the roasted girolles, it's over-facing.

You need the acidity.

There's elements that we do, by spreading the ketchup on the base,

every mouthful will have some acidity in there.

These are little things that we've worked on

to make sure that it's a complete dish.

The intense flavoured liquor produced from cooking the mushrooms

is an essential part of this dish.

I want them to be accomplished in their palate

as well as their hands.

I've got to keep flavours very pure, I've got to get the balance

and make sure that every mouthful, they get a bite of everything.

Hopefully, I'll put a really good dish on.

I think the biggest thing is taste.

You've got to really concentrate on the seasoning.

One thing I'm really excited about is,

are these guys going to be tasting as they go along?

You want to make sure there's layers of seasoning.

You don't just season at the end. You almost season throughout the whole process.

When you finish, you get this really balanced,

very highly-seasoned dish.

That's your skill as a chef, it's seasoning,

it's to pull out flavour.

Normally, what a lot of people do is think the protein is the star.

We've made the girolles the star,

so when you ate it, you got this meat at the bottom that was just a hit.

You weren't to know, because when you see Wagyu oxtail,

the natural procedure for any chef is to think that's the star.

Because it's a tasting menu,

this would be probably a little bit too heavy.

The girolles are very well-seasoned.

You can definitely differentiate between the pickled and the sauteed.

It just needs something to bring it all together,

-and that's normally the emulsion from the cooking liquor from the mushrooms.

-OK.

Overall, good cooking, the seasoning is spot on,

-so well done.

-Thank you, Chef.

It wasn't the way he played it about his signature dish. He celebrated the mushrooms.

But I got the balance of flavours, everything was right and seasoned,

so I'm pretty happy with that.

Size-wise, I think it's spot on, in terms of a dish on a tasting menu.

It's not over-facing.

It looks very clean and enticing, so you want to get in there.

The flavours are definitely there. You can see the difference between the pickled

and the girolles that have been sauteed.

The seasoning's spot on.

There's a good amount of ketchup,

so again, it's a good dish

for lubrication and giving you that moisture.

But just, I would suggest more sauce.

Yes, Chef.

Once girolles are sauteed, they release liquid.

It's almost a travesty not to have that.

But I think, overall, you got the brief of

"you're going to follow that with another dish"

and I think that's a good size. Well done.

-Thank you very much, Chef.

-See you soon.

I'm feeling good. Some good feedback. I think I did the dish well.

I'm a touch disappointed that I didn't put enough sauce on,

but the seasoning was good

and I think I got the ethos of the restaurant.

They've done well. Walk into any kitchen, at any level,

and it's going to be hard for the first time.

If one of my boys went to another kitchen, they would've struggled,

so you've got to take your hat off.

It's a very courageous thing for them to do.

Scott obviously has got the maturity,

he's been cooking at a certain level for a period of time,

and that comes across.

He's confident in the kitchen and I think he can hold his own.

Last night, he did very well.

This task, the delivery wasn't there as compared to Luke.

It's been fantastic working with Sat Bains,

you know, two Michelin stars.

I never thought I'd have that opportunity. It's opened my mind.

I'll take a lot away with me today.

Yesterday, Luke suffered.

I think it's a case of, one, nerves, two, new kitchen

and three, he cut his finger. That's always going to be hard.

It's just like anything - he's got to learn from this.

But then today, Luke's dish was... was very good.

Overall, I'm leaving slightly disappointed.

I wanted to nail service because that is where the chef earns his keep,

but I've cooked well today,

I've shown I'm a fighter, I've shown I'm not going to give up,

I've shown that I want this competition.

I see them both with big potential. They're very passionate.

I think they're great assets for the industry.

Having that chance working with Sat Bains,

that's what kind of food I want to do,

and the whole philosophy of it is absolutely fantastic

so I'm going to take that on board.

I want to go in there determined, steely-eyed,

and I'm going to cook from the pit of my heart and give it everything I've got.

Welcome back, chefs.

You have had a chance to cook with one of the finest chefs in Britain.

We want to see how you have been inspired by Sat Bains.

Cook exceptional food today

and you are through to the final.

It's very clear.

If you don't impress today, you are going home.

You have two hours.

We want two great plates of food and nothing less.

Off you go.

Two talented chefs.

Two very different chefs.

Two very individual styles of cooking.

Scott is what I would call a solid chef,

someone you can depend on.

He's impressed us all the way through the competition with good food.

However, today, good food won't be enough.

We want outstanding food.

We want him to deliver something really special.

Luke, our youngest chef, is impressive, isn't he?

His food is exciting because it's different.

He's taken Asian cooking to a different level.

His food is just aromatic,

a little kick maybe here and there, but well judged.

I'm expecting great things from our two chefs today.

If they can reach our standard, they can have a place in the final.

It's as simple as that.

I think they know I can deliver interesting flavours and seasoning and balance.

I think they want me to show them

that I can show all the classic techniques.

Saying that, I've got to stay true to myself. I will stay true to myself.

I won't veer off.

But I've got to produce two plates of Michelin-standard food.

-What are you cooking, Luke?

-I'm going to do guinea fowl.

I'm going to cumin and coriander-roast the breast.

I'm going to make a pastilla from the leg,

with smoked aubergine.

I'm going to make imam biyaldi, a sort of Turkish relish.

And my dessert is baklava

with three different textures of apricot.

-Have you travelled yourself to Asia?

-I've never been to these countries. I've never left Europe.

-You've never left Europe?

-Never.

It's just excites me, spicing and... balance...

The balance of flavour in all Asian food

is just a skill that...

..maybe I'll never be able to master

but I'm going to give it a damn good go.

-Luke, the spice king!

-I'm not king yet!

-All right. Prince.

-I'm still a student!

Luke is preparing a menu

that absolutely sounds divine.

Guinea fowl is one of my favourite birds to eat,

a little bit gamey and can take strong flavours.

Luke has chosen that, I'm sure,

because he wants to marry it with some fragrant spice.

Luke is making a pastilla,

which is like a crispy North African pancake,

normally made with pigeon, but always sweetened and flavoured with cinnamon.

He's making it with the legs of the guinea fowl

that he's braising down in the pressure cooker.

This should be lovely and sweet.

For Luke's dessert, he's giving us different textures of apricot

which is going in his baklava, which normally is too sweet for me.

I hope the sharpness of the apricot is enough to offset the sweetness.

Luke has got a nut allergy.

That's why he's wearing surgical gloves in the kitchen today.

He won't be able to taste this baklava. He's going by sight.

It's going to be a big balancing act to get the strong flavours right.

I'm not going to be able to taste the main element of my dessert.

But saying that, if I can't make sugar and nuts taste nice,

I'm in the wrong job.

Right, chefs, one hour gone already. That's halfway.

-What are you making for us?

-I'm doing stuffed saddle of rabbit

with girolles, tarragon and chicken mousse wrapped in pancetta.

The rabbit leg, I've got them in the pressure boiler,

I'm going to flake them down, wrap them in pastry,

spaghetti the potato and deep-fry it so it's a bit crispy and a bit more starch, as well,

with artichoke barigoule, parmesan and parsley puree

and a little sherry vinegar and madeira sauce.

And that's it. Keep it very simple but be true to the flavours.

-What have you got for a dessert?

-I've got a tonka bean panna cotta with a dark chocolate mousse,

praline tuile, cocoa soil

and an amaretto sour jelly.

-Why tonka bean?

-I just absolutely love the flavour.

It goes really well with coffee and chocolate.

It's like a burnt almond, vanilla kind of flavour.

It's really unique, I think. Really exciting on the palate.

-Are you enjoying the competition?

-Yeah, I'm really enjoying it.

It's great to cook my food. It's not often I get the opportunity to do what I really want to do.

It's great to get feedback off some really good chefs.

Hopefully, I'm on the right track.

If not, you can guide me, hopefully, on the right one.

Scott is stuffing the saddle of rabbit,

girolles, he's made a mousse from the chicken breast to fill it,

then he's going to wrap it in ham, vac-pack it, put it in a water bath

and crispy it up.

Let's hope that the filling he's got is enough to keep that centre moist.

We don't want to over-dry this.

The rabbit legs, he's braising off in the pressure cooker so it's lovely and succulent,

and wrapping in a feuilles de brick, which is like a pancake,

and then wrapping the pancake in some shoestring potato

and deep-frying it.

But if it's not fried properly,

the pancake could go very soggy and then it won't be nice to eat.

He's serving artichokes barigoule, which I personally love!

Artichokes peeled down and then cooked in white wine,

white wine vinegar, touch of saffron, sometimes even tomato,

but it has to be almost like a pickle.

Sometimes they can be a bit too sour.

I just hope it's not too sour to go with the rabbit.

Scott is making a dessert of panna cotta

flavoured with tonka bean,

chocolate soil,

a salted caramel foam...

..amaretto sour gel

and a chocolate mousse!

I like the sound of his dish.

I'm not that keen on really strong tonka bean flavour.

Too much of it and then I feel like I'm eating a bottle of perfume.

The timing's always going to be a bit tight,

especially if there's a mistake, it doesn't give you much time to fix it.

I'll just work really fast, really clean,

and make sure there's plenty of time for the plate-up, just to make sure I'm happy.

But anything could happen. Hopefully it won't!

Half an hour left.

TIMER BEEPS

-Everything going well, Luke?

-Everything's going too well so far.

-Too well?

-Something's bound to go wrong soon, Chef.

The timing's are good,

everything's cooked nicely, seasoned, I've tasted everything.

I've given myself enough time to make it look beautiful, as well,

but I've got to stay focused for the last 15.

-Good. Don't taste those nuts, though.

-No, Chef. Not on your nelly!

-I don't fancy giving you mouth-to-mouth.

-I can imagine not!

One minute. One minute to go.

That's it, finished. Time is up.

'For his main course,

'Luke has prepared guinea fowl two ways,

'roasted breast in a cumin crust

'and braised leg pastilla,

'served with smoked aubergine puree,

'imam biyaldi, wilted spinach

'and a golden raisin and preserved lemon jus.'

I like the colour, I really do,

that lovely golden, warm, saffron, cumin, turmeric.

It's singing of Persia or North Africa.

It's what you love and I can see that on the plate.

The guinea fowl's lovely. Beautiful, crispy skin.

Seasoned perfectly and well cooked. Pink, moist, delicious.

The pastilla made from the legs, I think is lovely.

It could've even done with a bit more sweetness.

The imam biyaldi - my personal taste, it's a little bit too tomatoey,

but it's beautiful judged, with warm spices coming through.

The only issue I have, and it's quite a big issue

because it ruins it almost for me,

is the size of the preserved lemon.

When you crunch onto that, it really does take over

and it takes over the whole palate,

which is a shame.

For such a young chef,

who's not been cooking a hell of a long time,

you're judging the use of these strong spices very well,

very accurately.

Everything on this plate has a different hit sensation

with the spices that you've used.

Your aubergine puree is smoked and that's all you want from it,

yet your pastilla has a hint of chilli coming through,

and I like the sweetness from the raisins in there.

You're a talented chef, I've enjoyed the plate,

but that lemon...!

Be careful, because an error like that could cost you.

'Luke's dessert is a pistachio, pecan and walnut baklava,

'with apricot served three ways,

'caramelised, pureed,

'and a cepe gel served with orange blossom syllabub

'and a basil syrup.'

Beautiful.

Love the presentation, I really do.

Love it.

I love the criss-cross of the, er, apricot coulis,

a touch of green from the pistachio

and the little dots of the white syllabub.

It looks really elegant.

This is the style of plating up

that you would find in high-end restaurants.

The pastry on the baklava is not cooked enough.

It's, erm, cardboard texture-like,

when it should be crispy all the way through.

You can't taste the nut filling because you have an allergy.

I can tell you, your judgement works very well

because the nut filling is delicious.

The nuts work beautifully with the apricots,

the apricot coulis, the apricot gel,

and especially those roasted apricots.

Absolutely delicious.

I was a bit worried when I saw the size of it.

I thought, "Oh, gosh, I'd never be able to finish that!"

because it would be something very sickly-sweet on its own,

but with the apricot, it complements very well.

It's a good dessert,

but you've got to get that pastry cooked!

I wish I'd cooked the pastry for a bit longer.

But underneath, I'm very proud.

I've put up two excellent plates of food

that have shown off my personality, shown off my talent

and I'll just hope and pray that it's enough.

'For his main course, Scott has made rabbit three ways -

'ballotine of the saddle, filled with a chicken girolle and tarragon mousse

'and wrapped in pancetta,

'deep-fried legs wrapped in brick pastry and shoestring potato,

'and pan-fried kidneys.

'They're accompanied by artichoke barigoule, girolles,

'parsley and parmesan puree and a madeira sauce.'

Presentation - I really like it. I really do. I like it's lovely.

I love that little splash of green on the bottom there.

It's been placed on the plate with dexterity.

It's very nice.

It does look stunning.

I've had to put my cutlery down otherwise I would carry on eating.

Your ballotine is moist inside, the chicken mousse, as well,

has got that aniseed background taste of tarragon

and it's keeping that rabbit really moist.

The little cigar of leg meat, braised off and wrapped in potato, then deep-fried,

is not greasy.

It's lovely! It's really good!

The artichokes, the sweet, sour,

metallic almost taste that the artichoke has, it's lovely.

The sauce is marvellous. Reduced down properly, not too sticky, just right.

A little bit of butter in there, as well, to give it richness.

The parsley puree with parmesan, as well, is absolutely terrific.

Really, really good addition.

I don't know if you can tell, but I'm really happy!

This is a good dish! Accomplished dish.

Wow, Scott...!

We knew what we were expecting from you,

but the wow factor is how you've put it all together.

Everything on this plate

has been prepared with a lot of care and precision,

and this is what we wanted - a knockout plate.

Thank you, Chef.

'Scott's dessert is a tonka bean panna cotta,

'served with dark chocolate mousse,

'cocoa soil, amaretto gel,

'salted caramel foam

'and a praline tuile.'

I'm not a great fan of panna cotta set in a bowl or in a plate.

I think it's bordering on cheating!

A panna cotta, traditionally and classically, is tipped out.

But, hm,

maybe I'm just old-fashioned!

But in saying that, you can't knock it!

It's tidy, it's lovely, you've got some height in there.

The fact that you've only got two or three colours and yet it still looks stunning

is quite an achievement.

The texture of the panna cotta is very light, very smooth

and you get that big hit of tonka bean in there.

If you like tonka bean, you'd be happy!

For me, I like a hint of it through a dessert.

I couldn't finish the whole bowl.

I do like the amaretto sour, which offsets the sweetness of your panna cotta.

I do like the crumble and texture that adds to your plate.

The salted caramel foam - there's not enough in there to actually enjoy what I'm eating.

I have to keep trying to get it before it melts, but there is hints of it.

For me, the highlight of this dessert is the chocolate mousse.

It's absolutely bang on. Really rich and very chocolaty.

But there's some very, very strong flavours going on -

the amaretto, the bitter chocolate and the tonka bean.

I find all of that just far too much.

I do like that chocolate mousse, though!

My main course was flawless, but my dessert wasn't to their taste,

so I'm totally 50-50, to be honest.

That was a great semi-final! Fantastic cooking. Thank you, chefs.

This isn't going to be easy.

Off you go.

That was terrific, Monica. That's what semi-finals are all about!

Two great chefs, two passionate chefs,

and it clearly showed in their plates of food today.

We had our youngest chef in the kitchens today -

Young Luke. He knows how to use his spices. He knows!

That roasted guinea fowl was cooked to perfection.

The one let-down for that plate, and it was a big let-down for me,

was the size of the preserved lemon.

For me, that was one step too far, one step that really did, er,

destroy the pleasure of that dish.

Luke's dessert...

Really surprising, yet again.

I thought the baklava was too big and it would be too sweet

but, boy, did he get the spices right with those nuts,

considering he couldn't taste them.

Such a shame that filo pastry wasn't cooked enough.

All it needed was probably another ten minutes in the oven!

Scott, for me, did the plate of the day.

Everything on his plate was absolutely bang on for me.

I mean, I couldn't find fault in it. I seriously couldn't.

The ingredients that he used were cooked to perfection,

but not only that, they were presented in a way that did it justice.

We wanted outstanding and he delivered it.

For me, that dessert was just too overpowering,

but I really did like the almond brittle

and the chocolate mousse. That was delicious.

I think I enjoyed everything but the actual panna cotta.

It was a good texture, very light, it was well-made and not too heavy,

but the tonka bean, for me, was too overpowering.

I couldn't eat that whole dessert.

I'd be really delighted to get through to the finals.

I think it'll give me confidence to do the food I want to do

and really push myself.

I-I feel sick at the moment. I can't...

I just want the decision now.

If I get told I'm through to the final,

it'll be the biggest achievement of my life.

UPLIFTING MUSIC

No matter what happens here,

both of you have got every reason

to be proud of what you achieved here today.

I want to thank you for giving me some great food throughout the competition,

food that makes you go away, remembering what you've just eaten.

Not many chefs can do that.

It is a competition.

We have made a decision and one of you will be leaving us.

The chef leaving us is...

..Luke.

I'm so proud of what I've achieved, it'll live with me forever,

but, er, I've just fallen at that last little hurdle,

which is disappointing.

But Scott's definitely a worthy finalist and I really hope he wins.

Well done, Scott. You're a finalist!

Words can't describe it.

I'm really excited now, a bit nervous to see what happens

but I'm really looking forward to it.

'Next time, the finals begin,

'and Scott, Steven,

'Adam and Tom

'face one extraordinary test

'to stay in the competition.'

They've had some amazing ingredients up to now,

but this is a reality check.

Show me what a real chef you are.

That's what this test is all about.

This is the hardest thing I think I've ever had to cook in my entire life.

I look at it, I want to eat it.

I'll push Michel to the side and have it to myself.

This isn't going to be easy for us, not easy at all.

The chef leaving us is...

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