Episode 6 MasterChef: The Professionals

These eight chefs all want to become professional MasterChef champions.

They've been split into two teams.

Today, the first group of four have to prove they're good enough to make it to the next level.

I don't feel as if I've performed at my peak so far. I really need to come out and nail it.

I'm going in with a solid mind-set. I'm very determined. I want everything to be perfect

Everyone has got the chance to go through. Who will do it on the day is the question.

I want to be judged. I've got nobody judging me at the moment. I want to see how good I am.

First, they will face Monica's infamous skills test.

You're one messy guy and I don't want to see that.

You've got one really happy customer here

Then they finally get the chance to cook for Michel Roux Junior in his classics challenge.

Whoa, my word! I tell you what that far away, yeah?

At the end of today, one of them will be sent home.

Up next is the skills test, a really tough challenge for the chefs.

What are you going to get them to do?

Today, Gregg, I'd like them to skin this Dover sole and cook us a portion on the bone.

Show me how it's done. I'm fascinated with this one.

I just put the knife through and pull that away, so it loosens a bit.

It gives me something to hold on to.

You can cut the sides here off immediately or you can leave them on and remove them afterwards.

Hold this part down without damaging the flesh and you're just going to pull the skin away,

so pressure on there and just pull it away.

That looked remarkably easy.

The same again on the other side. Pull that away.

Yeah, I see.

Wahey! Yay! OK...

This is how we normally see a lovely Dover sole when you get it whole.

I love a whole fish like this, but we want our chefs to have a bit of a challenge.

Just go straight through there You're not using the head.

OK? And you can portion from about that. That would give you enough for one portion. OK?

You then have these little bones here which you see. Make sure you take them all off

Right, and now I'm ready to cook. Good, good, good.

Cooking the fish on the bone lets the heat travel through the fish evenly.

It keeps the fish more moist.

It's got that flavour that I find you lose when you remove the fillets of fish.

They can use any of these ingredients, but I want them to do this fish justice.

There you have it, Gregg - pan-fried sole on the bone, caper butter and samphire.

Beautiful.

Yeah!

Soft, delicate piece of fish,

slippery saltiness from the butter,

slight sharp tang from the capers. Beautiful.

I don't see why they can't cook a piece of fish beautifully.

I just worry about a portion on the bone.

I think I'll get some decent plates today from our chefs, otherwise I'll be a very unhappy Monica.

Shall we get 'em in? Yeah, let's do it.

First up is Kit who runs his own restaurant in Cornwall

In the first round, Monica and Gregg were confused by his decision to combine sardines,

gnocchi and an endive salad.

I've been cooking for 20 years

If it's fish or meat prep, that's fine.

I think if they catch me out, they'll catch us all out.

This is obviously a Dover sole We would like you to skin that

and then prepare and cook a portion on the bone

And serve it using anything on the table.

Right oh, Kit, 12 minutes. It's just you and that fish. Off you go.

There you are.

Yay!

Halfway, Kit. Six minutes left

You've got three minutes left.

30 seconds left.

All done?

Yeah, I think so.

Kit, you've always removed the skin from the top? Yeah, it's how I was taught.

Oh, I'd like to meet who taught you. We normally start from the tail of the fish.

Should you slip with the knife and cause any damage, it's on the tail.

It's not an important part of the fish. OK.

You've roasted it in the oven which is fine. It's a nice, tidy plate.

My only issue as a diner is the bones sticking out. I want that work done for me in the kitchen

Sure.

Kit, your Dover sole has been cooked really well. It comes off the bone quite easily.

Your beurre noisette was getting very dark, but you added enough butter back in there to rescue it.

You showed skill in being able to fix the situation.

Not bad, Kit. Not bad at all.

Trim the bones off. Yeah, sure

Thank you very much. Thank you

I feel OK. It could have been worse.

The way I've got to look at it is if these three boys get it perfect, I'm out of here. So we'll see.

26-year-old Steven was Sussex Young Chef of the Year in 2010

He got off to a good start with a dish of sardines served three ways.

I would love to have another good round

and to be able to do a skills test I'm happy with

would give me a good foundation for the rest of the competition It could make or break me.

Steven, skin the sole and cook us one portion on the bone.

12 minutes. Off you go, chef.

That's one bit gone.

You're halfway. Six minutes left.

You know we want you to serve a portion on the bone

Yeah.

Do you? I'm going to serve the whole fish as a portion.

Right.

60 seconds. Come on, mate.

30 seconds. Right, 30 seconds. Come on, come on.

Done?

Done.

Phew!

What we wanted you to do was to skin the sole

and cook us a portion.

What you've given us is a half-skinned Dover sole and a whole fish on here.

Wahey!

Hmm!

Beautifully cooked piece of fish. You really kept your eye on that, took care over that.

It's just got that soft springiness, the capers giving it sharpness and the samphire giving it salt - great.

Make sure you get all those little bones off. You can cook you have skill, but listen.

Cheers, mate. Thank you. Off you go.

It's easy to hear what you want to hear, rather than listen to what she's saying,

so schoolboy errors, really, but there are some positives in there, I think.

29-year-old Vinny has seven years' professional experience.

His first dish of grilled sardines with endive and pomegranate salad scored well on taste,

but fell short on refinement.

Following on from last time, Monica will be looking for the basic skills,

but also maybe a little bit of improvisational skills possibly.

Who knows how her mind works?

OK, Vinny, I want to see a professional chef here.

OK, a portion on the bone. Off you go, Vinny.

I've got the shakes. It's terrible.

Hmm...

I love that. I've never seen that done like that. That's fantastic.

Really? Yeah, yeah. Well done.

You've had three minutes. OK.

I've still got the shakes. Stop shaking. You're doing well

Last 60 seconds there, chef.

I think that's it. All done? I think so, yeah.

You obviously are a chef with skills because you managed to skin that sole like a pro.

However, you're one messy guy and I don't want to see that.

For me, one side of that fish is slightly underdone.

I can understand that from a customer's point of view As a chef, I'd happily eat that

Listen, you've done what I've asked you to do, but I'm not happy with the process it took you to get there

because I told you from the beginning that I wanted to see a professional chef working here.

Off you go. Thank you.

I think I showed the skills that I thought they were looking for,

but a massive part of being a professional chef is working like a professional

Yeah, if you can go back in, it'll be so much different.

Last up is 25-year-old Tom,

junior sous-chef in a one Michelin-starred restaurant in Wiltshire.

Last round, his sardines, cucumber and caramelised endive showed definite potential.

For my age, I've got a lot of knowledge,

but it's out of my hands. I'm either going to know what I'm doing or I'm not.

If I don't make a good impression, I'll be disappointed in myself

Right oh, 12 minutes. Off you go, young man.

I haven't done this in quite a while, this process.

You've had three minutes.

Yeah, I think so, chef. Well done.

Monica was ready to scream then

You've got six minutes left.

Three minutes left, chef.

Aagh! Sorry.

Sorry, I forgot it was in the oven.

Come on.

There you go. All done?

Yes.

How was that for you, Tom? It was OK.

There's a couple of things that, looking back, I'd have done a bit differently. Such as?

I'd have trimmed the frills off the fish and I wouldn't have put as many capers on the plate. Exactly.

I asked you to work like a professional chef and you did

Wahey!

Look at the way it comes off of here. It's just perfect.

Absolutely lovely. Really, really lovely.

You've got one really happy customer here

That is soft, beautiful fish. Really lovely, salty tang of the capers.

The butter's going brown, leaving a bit of nuttiness. I tell you what, I'm really happy.

That's enveloping me in yum, that is, mate.

There's a lot of capers, but because you rinsed them off, they're fine.

And I love it with the samphire as well that's been put through the butter.

It's all really well done. I'm happy you enjoyed it.

Enjoyed it?

That's gone beyond tasting, mate.

Thank you very much. Off you go

Good lad.

I feel like Monica was impressed with what I cooked today for her.

Gregg also seemed quite happy, so it's a thumbs-up for me.

Gregg, there's the skill test done. A couple, I think, will go on and impress Michel.

A couple, I think, are highly doubtful. I don't know.

We might be surprised. Really. We could well be surprised.

This classic recipe is a selle de lievre rotie a la moutarde

a saddle of hare roasted with mustard veloute sauce.

Not all chefs are experienced in cooking game and this is a true test of their craft.

The first job is to prepare the saddle.

We need to remove all the sinew

And all this sinew and trimming is going to go to make a wonderful stock,

a base for our sauce.

So the hare saddle is prepped

and we now need to colour off all these trimmings.

I'm going to add to that some onion.

A little bit of garlic.

Some juniper berries.

Juniper berries are very strong so you only want a few in there

They give a lovely fragrant flavour which works perfectly with game

A bay leaf and some thyme.

Again it's about layers of flavours.

A little bit of brown sugar, just a tiny bit...

..to add sweetness to this dish

The red wine goes in.

And simmer for about ten, fifteen minutes

A reduction will happen, so it will intensify the flavours.

As a garnish for the hare, I'm going to prepare a classic pomme fondante.

I'm going to make the classic bar of soap shape.

Butter, a little bay leaf.

You could put some thyme in there, another flavouring, seasoning and a touch of water.

We have to roast the saddle of hare now.

And in it goes.

The pan should be hot, hot enough to sear the outside of this lovely hare saddle.

It mustn't burn.

Now the hare has got that lovely colour,

it goes in the oven for about six minutes, no more because we want this to rest.

That's what I want to see in a fondant,

beautiful, golden,

and truly, truly soaked in butter.

In the roasting pan, we have got lots of beautiful, natural, caramelised flavour.

To that, I add brandy...

..and port.

And for sweetness, a little bit of blackcurrant liqueur.

Then I add our hare stock that we made with the red wine

We're gradually building layers of flavour to this sauce.

Just a touch of cream.

Bring that back to the boil and reduce it down a tiny bit.

To finish it off, add a little bit of spice and sharpness -

some Dijon mustard.

The sauce has got that almost chocolatey look.

It's absolutely divine.

Time to plate up.

Oh, that is perfect,

lovely and pink, just as it should be.

And there we have it,

selle de lievre rotie and veloute de moutarde -

a saddle of hare roast on the bone with a red wine and mustard veloute sauce.

This is exactly what I want to see.

This will really test our chefs skills, knowledge and palate.

Welcome back to the MasterChef kitchen. You've had your chance to cook and impress Monica.

Now's your chance to impress me -

first, to cook my classic recipe,

and then to cook your interpretation of a classic dish.

For my dish, I want you to cook un rable de lievre au vin rouge et moutarde.

That's a saddle of hare in a red wine and mustard sauce

You have a basic recipe, but without any weights or measures.

Trust your judgment as chefs.

One hour to nail this dish. Do yourselves proud. Off you go

I think I've got what it takes to impress Michel. I hope so anyway.

It's tricky because he knows what he wants, what the dish is supposed to be like and how it's always been.

Are you classically trained, Tom?

Not overly classically trained Obviously, I had a bit of classic training at college

But places that I've worked, it's more been modern-style food.

Where are you working now? At a country house in Wiltshire

What position? Junior sous-chef How old are you, Tom? 25. 25?

That's a good position to have at your age. Thank you.

What's your background? I've worked in Michelin-star restaurants for the past three years.

Prior to that, one and two rosette restaurants

I look forward to tasting this Thank you. Thank you, Tom.

Tom has got really good experience in high-end restaurants and I think I can see that in him.

He's roasting off the trimmings and the bones to get caramelisation to add flavour to the sauce.

I like the way Tom is working.

I think Michel will be looking for professional standards in all aspects of the challenge

It's something I've probably taken from the last one, so I've taken my earrings out

and hopefully, I'll be smarter, cleaner.

My whole approach would be as you would expect in a two-star kitchen.

All right, Vinny?

Chef.

Have you worked with hare before?

Never, but I've worked with rabbit, so I'm taking that as a similar principle.

Are you classically trained? No, I'm not.

A lot of my early work was in high volume chain restaurants.

Why MasterChef? It's just a great opportunity to test myself against all the other guys

and put something in front of yourself that you hopefully won't hate.

This is a real classic and he has no classic background training

Has he got enough experience, really, to nail this dish?

Halfway. 30 minutes gone.

For Michel Roux Junior to love my dish would mean the world to me.

I think it would just give you the confidence

that you're on the right track in a way and that you can do it

Steven, do you understand this recipe?

I've never used hare before and I've never done a recipe like this,

so I'm not quite sure whether I should have taken it off the saddle, but that's the way I've gone with it.

It's too late now. You can't stick it back on. This is how I'd do a rabbit.

I'm just going with what I can work with and hope I do a good plate of food for you,

even if it's not the exact plate that you were looking for.

Where are you working now? I'm working in a five-star hotel in West Sussex.

I'm head chef of one of the restaurants. Well done.

It's not the top of the ladder I'm still trying to learn as much as I can.

Absolutely. I'm still learning Absolutely. I love your attitude.

Steven says he's cooking his interpretation of my dish which is fine,

as long as he's showing off the skills and technique that I want to see.

20 minutes. You should be thinking about the garnish now.

Have an idea of how you're going to plate it up.

My basics is French classic cooking.

It's the only way I was taught and I still think it's the right way.

Hi, Kit. Hi, chef. How's it going? I'm happy.

Am I going to be happy? I hope so.

Are you trained in the classics I did two years at a classic French restaurant in London as my grounding.

That was a long time ago, so, yeah, I'm getting it all back. But I still use it today in my own kitchen

In your own kitchen, so head chef?

Chef de patron. Chef patron? I know.

An owner of a restaurant.

I've done a lot of years in the lower ranks and just learned how to do it, how not to do it

then you get your own place and you apply all those things, so I'm happy with the direction I took.

I like the fact that Kit is using some of the offal of the hare.

He's using all of the animal as a little garnish. He's thinking outside of the box.

Ten minutes.

Everyone's focused, paying attention, looking at that little detail.

I think I'm in for a treat.

90 seconds. Everything should be falling into place now.

That's it. Time's up.

Finished.

I asked you to cook a rable de lievre, sauce vin rouge et moutarde -

a saddle of hare with a red wine and mustard sauce to be cooked on the bone,

served beautifully pink,

the sauce a perfect balance and harmony for the saddle of hare.

The potato fondant should be laden with butter

and the garnish has to be beautiful.

Tom, let's see what you've done

Tom, you've chosen to roast on the bone which is what I was looking for

but you've served it on the bone and that's quite tricky for the customer to take it off there.

It's neat, dainty. It's a really big pomme fondante, though. That's a lot to eat.

I can see your endives have gone slightly too far.

When they're black like that, they tend to be a bit bitter.

The seasoning of the whole dish is very good. Really good seasoning.

The hare itself is a little bit chewy

and that's because you've taken that part which is nearer the neck

and not the most tender part which is the saddle that I was looking for,

but it is pink and still moist

I love the fact that you've roasted the white asparagus. It just adds another dimension and adds flavour.

The sauce, which is very important, is a bit wishy-washy.

It hasn't got the depth of flavour I'm looking for, but not a bad effort.

Thank you, Tom. Thank you, chef

I could have just whipped that off the bone.

It would have taken me ten seconds. But I didn't.

It is quite annoying looking back on it now, but...hey-ho.

Vinny, your turn.

It's very neat, very tidy, very skilful.

For a big fella, you've got a light touch.

Hmm...

You took the saddle off the bone and roasted it in plenty of butter.

It's not what I was looking for

but...it's been well cooked.

It's lovely and pink and succulent.

The sauce is just right.

Right amount of mustard, cream. . Sweet and sour. Really good.

The pomme fondante and the endive are lacking in seasoning,

but you've used raw white asparagus, shaved really fine.

It adds a bit of freshness to this dish.

It shows to me, on a classic dish,

you can actually do your own little interpretation

and it works.

Well done, Vinny.

I feel relieved that I haven't gone down in a blaze of disaster.

I think this is my strongest challenge so far.

Steven, let's have a look.

Yeah, I like that.

The one thing that really strikes me, though, that I don't like is the fondant.

It looks like there's a chunk missing.

I'd be annoyed if I had half a fondant on my plate.

That broke up, didn't it? It collapsed.

The saddle of hare you've roasted off the bone,

but in plenty of butter and it's kept nice and pink.

Medium-rare, pink, which is lovely. It's moist, succulent.

The sauce is very good. The right consistency, right amount of cream and mustard. Good judgment.

The whole dish is seasoned well Good palate and good attention to detail there.

A lot of positives here, but such a let-down, the fondant.

I wanted it to be perfect for him and I just let myself down a little bit,

but I'm confident that I've got his attention, hopefully for the right reasons

Kit, your turn.

I like your plate here, Kit. I think the presentation is really good You've got a bit of height on there.

Not only you've served it on the bone, but you've put it upside down.

This side is where the bone is and there's just the tiny little fillets there.

That side is where the loin is

Hmm... The saddle of hare is slightly overdone,

but because it was roasted on the bone, it has retained moisture and is not too dry.

The sauce is really good.

Very good indeed. Intense flavour.

And it's just got enough mustard in there to cut through the richness,

but then again, I expect that from you with your classical background and classical training.

For me, the star of the show, the star of this plate is something which I didn't ask for - the offal.

I could have a plate of just that and your sauce.

Thank you.

Today really was my cup of tea

There was a few little things wrong, but he was really happy and if he's happy, I'm happy.

Now it's your classic recipe.

I want to see fireworks.

After this round, one of you will be leaving us.

One hour. Off you go.

I couldn't do what I'm going to do today en masse. It's going to take me an hour to do one.

I timed it at 57 minutes in my own kitchen, so it will be hard today,

but it's worth it, I think. It's really, really good.

Right, Kit... Hi there. What's the classic recipe you've come up with?

The dish I'm doing today is tuna nicoise. Salade nicoise is a basic staple of the French Riviera.

Have you been there? I've been to France, but not to the Riviera.

I've done a nicoise at the classic restaurant I worked at and I've done it ever since.

This is my best interpretation of it. The ingredients need to sing because it is a salad.

It's not massively technically difficult, but I just want it to taste amazing.

Kit is cooking tuna two ways.

He's confiting and grilling, so serving some of it seared

and some of it cooked, like you would in a tin, in oil, which is delicious when it's done properly.

I hope Kit is going to deliver that.

I'm not taking it easy today. I m going to push myself to the limit.

Things have got to be right, but I'm confident that I can do that.

I haven't come here to do an average dish. I've come here to do a great dish.

Steven, what classic are you cooking?

Provencal lamb.

Provencal lamb? Yeah.

I thought it looked a bit Provencal with the peppers and these lovely Provencal ingredients.

What's that cooking? Chef, that's my fondant potatoes. That's your fondants? Hmm.

Take two. Is there something in there?

We've got butter topped up with water and then we've got vanilla in there as well, so that's a bit unusual.

A bit, yeah. I mean, vanilla is not Provencal. No, it's not. No.

This is where I'm adding my... That's your take... Of course. Your twist, yeah.

He has to prove to me that he knows how to cook a fondant properly now.

For me, potato and vanilla is not my favourite.

Halfway, guys. 30 minutes.

Vinny, what are you cooking for me?

I'm doing fillets of sole with a cucumber gazpacho and salsify.

Not a classic dish as such. I thought the gazpacho was classic,

but twisting it slightly to make it very light and summery to accompany the sole which is quite delicate.

I was really impressed with your presentation in the first round

and this sounds like it's a very light and delicate dish. That is the idea behind it.

Let the fish speak for itself, really. Yeah.

There's not massive amounts of technical skill, barring the fish prep,

so I've got to nail every single element and it'll be beautiful

but if one of them's off, it'll be average at best.

I'm quite nervous about cooking my classic dish because it is one of the big classics.

It's a north France, traditional peasant dish.

If it doesn't work, then Michel might take offence

I'm doing my interpretation of coq au vin.

I'm trying to get the depth of a classic coq au vin,

which is, as we both know, quite a time-consuming dish, a day marinading.

I've got to get those flavours on a plate in an hour. What got you into cooking?

When I was younger, my mum was a single parent.

She used to work late hours. I'd get home from school, see what was in the fridge and rustle something up.

There were some interesting towers of food, everything bound with rice because that's all we had in.

My mum suggested to me that I go into it, I went to college and I've never looked back.

I've just got to go up and up and up.

I love a coq au vin.

I mean, the classic tradition of braising an old cockerel in red wine and marinading it the day before,

it's a truly wonderful dish.

Can he get the real taste of a coq au vin in this dish in under an hour?

Five minutes. Woo-hoo! Five to go.

Come on, we're in the dying seconds. Get it on the plate now.

That's it, finished. Time is up

First up is Kit with his version of tuna nicoise -

seared tuna rolled in wild garlic,

tuna confit and a deep-fried poached egg,

served with potatoes topped with French beans, anchovy, tomato,

an olive tapenade, mustard aioli and charred flatbread.

I love the colours

and I love the fact that there's recognisable elements of the salade nicoise.

Hmm, lovely.

Hmm!

The egg is lovely.

It's crisp on the outside and beautiful and runny.

The yolk running into all those lovely flavours is delicious. It makes the salad and the dressing.

The seared tuna, rolled in the chopped-up wild garlic, is lovely. Really, really nice

The tuna confit, the one that's cooked in the oil, is a bit dry, unfortunately.

The flatbread didn't quite make it.

You could have done with another three or four minutes to cook it off completely. Not quite cooked enough.

It's not quite a balanced dish It's not as light as I was imagining you were going to make it.

He can see that I pushed myself and I did push myself,

but I want perfection for him and that wasn't perfect.

For his take on lamb Provencal Steven roasted his lamb in a thyme and rosemary crust

and served it on a bed of ratatouille with vanilla fondant potato,

courgette and basil puree,

a strip of black olive crumb, topped with capers, pine nuts

and a lamb sauce.

Beautiful colours.

Beautiful colours and I really do like your presentation.

I would have liked to see a little bit more of that black olive crumb.

If you had moved that slightly to the left and that slightly to the right

the customer would see that lovely black line which draws the eye

Hmm!

The pomme fondante cooked, buttery, seasoned properly,

did not need the vanilla.

Vanilla in Provence...? No.

Beautifully cooked lamb. Lovely

Good seasoning. Pink, moist, tender.

Lovely herb crust on top of the rack there as well.

The ratatouille is good, but it s too tomatoey. A classic ratatouille only has a bit of fresh tomato

The crumb of black olive going down the middle is really nice Lovely tones of tapenade almost

A delicious plate of food, singing of Provence. Such a shame about the fondant

Vanilla-flavoured potato? No.

Although there was a bit of controversy with the flavour

it was nice to prove to Michel that I can do a fondant.

Vinny's fillet of sole has been served on charred courgette ribbons

with pickled onion, salsify, garlic croutons, pea shoots

and a courgette and lettuce gazpacho.

First off, it is beautiful.

It looks lovely. It looks so elegant and light, exactly how you described it to me.

I love the fact that you've cooked it on one side only

and residual heat has carried on cooking the sole

It's not an easy way to cook fish, but it's very effective.

It's not easy to cook lemon sole

because if you overcook it by a matter of seconds, it becomes cotton wool and bland and horrible.

You've managed to cook it perfectly. It's lovely and moist.

It's delicate and it's got a lovely crisp edge to it as well.

Very good cooking. You've got texture with the croutons and the cucumber.

My only little criticism I can find is the gazpacho.

The cucumber gazpacho is a little bit too sharp,

but whoa, my word, I tell you what!

Hmm! That far away, yeah?

I'm a little bit in shock, really, but yeah, that was more than I could have hoped for him to say.

Last up is Tom.

For his interpretation of a classic coq au vin, he poached then roasted the crown

and served it with braised chicken wings, fondant potato, pancetta crisp

cep powder, a swipe of sweet onion puree

and a red wine sauce.

The chicken, poached and then roast, really works.

It's a shame you didn't have more time to leave it

in that red wine broth to pick up more red wine flavour.

But you've got that in the wings. Pomme fondante, slightly over.

The colour on there is too much

I love the dried mushroom or dried cep powder on there.

It really does intensify the mushroom flavour to this dish.

The sauce is heavenly. It really has got all the flavours of the classic coq au vin. Delicious.

This was a very ambitious dish

but I think you've pulled it off. Yeah.

I'm pleased with how I executed it.

It should be OK, but nothing's set in stone. There are three very good chefs that I'm working with.

It's a shame, really.

Well done, chefs. Truly, truly good cooking today

I'll have to sit down with Monica and go through everything she saw in the first round,

but remember, sadly, one of you will be leaving us.

Off you go.

I've had a great day, Monica.

Really, really great day. The food today was fantastic. You can tell.

I'm happy. I really am. And I'm happy you're here because you'll help me make a decision

Vinny was an interesting character, but I like Vinny the chef.

Every dish he plated up looked really, really elegant.

His lemon sole was cooked to perfection.

You look a little bit baffled.

I am because there was issues with Vinny's first plate.

It did look nice, yet it was very heavy. There was no finesse in it.

It's good to hear that when you say, "You need to refine your food," he is taking it on board. Good on him.

Today has given me confidence to take forward, should I go forward.

I just hope I haven't shown too little, too late for the judges.

Tom cooked the flavours of coq au vin. Under the time constraints of an hour

there was no way he was going to cook a proper one, but the sauce was the true essence of coq au vin.

On the skills test, he cooked a great piece of sole on the bone.

He made a great attempt at the first invention test.

Not without fault, a few issues there, but it was to do with age, I find, or maybe experience.

I'm quite nervous at the moment I don't feel comfortable.

I don't feel that I'm definitely through. I don't feel like I nailed it today at all.

Kit runs his own restaurant

and had classical training.

I was expecting him to deliver perfection.

For his classic recipe, he chose a tuna nicoise.

I was a bit disappointed because I found it too heavy.

He is a chef with a lot of experience, but when he came to skin the sole,

he started from the top, the head.

It does put doubts in my mind about where he's at with his cooking

If my MasterChef journey finished today, I'd be gutted, obviously

Yeah, there's definitely still more to show.

Steven really stood out in the first round for me. He made a lovely plate, great presentation.

On the day of the skills test, however, Steven did not listen to the instructions.

The mirrors what happened today as well. I wanted the hare roasted on the bone and he filleted the hare.

Steven's classic, I really enjoyed. It was a Provencal lamb.

But the one thing that really annoyed me,

he chose to cook his pomme fondante and flavour it with vanilla.

Vanilla?!

There's been a few setbacks, but I think the core of what I've done has been to a good standard.

All four of these guys can cook

I mean, we have to split them.

We have to find the tiniest mistake.

It's not easy.

It's not been easy.

It's not been easy at all, but we have made a decision.

The chef leaving us is...

..Kit.

There's so much more I wanted to do,

but the two judges are the best you could get,

so if they don't think that I'm good enough, I take that.

Well done, guys. Congratulations.

It's sad to see Kit go, but it would have been sad to see any of us go.

But I'm over the moon really.

I'm definitely happy and relieved. Definitely. Hopefully, the confidence can just keep growing and growing.

I'm proud of myself to get this far and, hopefully, I've done everyone back at work proud, so, yeah, happy.

Tomorrow night, the remaining four will battle to impress Monica and Gregg...

Maria... Yes? Breathe. No-one's going to hurt you.

..before facing Michel Roux Junior for the first time.

I think our chefs have realised they have got to pull their socks up They have got a point to prove

At the end, one of them will be going home

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

On the 8th of November, Typhoon Haiyan tore through the Philippines.

It was one of the most powerful storms ever recorded on land.