Episode 8 MasterChef: The Professionals

'These six talented chefs have made it through to today's quarterfinal.'

I worked hard to get here

but Monica and Michel haven't seen the best of me yet.

It's time to fight and put your sleeves up and head down

and just show your best.

I don't want to go home at this stage. I want to progress.

I want to get to the final and I want to win it.

'First, they must prove to Michel Roux Jnr and Monica Galetti,

'they've got what it takes with a dish of their own invention.'

I expected a lot from you and you've nailed it.

I like what I see and I like where you are going.

'Only the best will get to put their dishes up for scrutiny

'before some of the country's harshest food critics.'

It's an unbelievable misfire, isn't it?

'Just two of them will become semifinalists.'

This is it. Quarterfinal time.

Invention test.

It could be sweet or savoury.

A main course or the most stunning dessert.

You want to show off today.

We're going to give you 10 minutes

to get your head around the ingredients.

Then you will have one hour.

10 minutes will start from now.

'Their ingredients include salmon, cuttlefish,

'pearl barley, salsify,

'chocolate, samphire,

'beetroot, aubergine,

'and a selection of fruit.'

A lot there is confusing me so I'll get rid of a lot of it.

There's quite a few dishes jumping out at me but I'll go with what I thought of straight away.

I think.

I don't want to use too many things like a kid in a candy shop.

I want to really focus on getting the best dishes.

It's a bit confusing but I've got an idea what's happening.

OK, that's it. 10 minutes up.

Cooking time.

Make this plate of food count,

because after this, two of you will be leaving.

Off you go.

Daniel has so much potential.

He makes the odd mistake, but I can see something in him.

I just hope he nails it today.

I'm one of the youngest here, but it doesn't bother me.

Michel obviously sees something in me or he would've said "Go home."

You could be the best chef in the world, but you could muck it up on the day.

Daniel, what are you going to cook up for us?

I'm doing salmon with some coriander and orange to the pearl barley.

-Why salmon?

-I'm not going to cook something I haven't cooked before.

-So the safer option?

-Maybe it is.

But what I cook today will be the best plate of food I can give you.

-Feeling confident?

-So-so.

Yeah, he's got a smile on his face.

Daniel is making aubergine caviar,

as well as pearl barley flavoured with orange, and some salsify.

Hm. Interesting how this is going to turn out.

He's hoping that his knowledge of how to cook salmon is enough to take him through to the next round.

It's going to have to be a perfect dish for that to happen.

Tom can cook. He's delivered some great plates of food.

This young chef has something about him which makes me want to see more of him today.

Since being in the competition, I've discovered my style of food.

I'm seeing a pattern, and this is letting me come out as myself and show my style.

-Tom, what are you preparing for us?

-We're having cured salmon.

I'm going to mi-cuit that, with a soy honey glaze

and toasted sesame seeds on top.

-Mi-cuit, so...

-Half-cooked.

-Raw in the middle.

I'll cook it at 40 degrees for half an hour, so the proteins holding the flesh together will cook,

but the fish won't - it'll taste like raw salmon in its beauty.

But it'll fall apart in the mouth like a cooked piece of fish.

My only worry is that he's vacuum-packing and water-bathing the salmon.

The texture for me is never quite right, so I hope he pulls this off,

because I love salmon with Asian flavours.

You've had 20 minutes.

Maria's an interesting chef. I like the way she presents her food.

Sometimes, she's a bit too bold with the flavours.

I want her to rein that in and focus on the right choice of ingredients.

I really expect good things from her today, nothing less.

I think I can just stand out by being me.

I believe in myself. I believe in my food. I believe in my cooking skill.

I think that's good enough. Good enough for me, at least.

Maria, what are you making for us?

I'm making chocolate mousse infused with chilli, sesame-seed brittle,

and we'll see what else.

-We haven't seen you cook pastry as yet, have we?

-No.

I worked before for a year as a pastry chef, so I've got the pastry training.

-Good.

-Looking forward to it.

-Yes, so do me.

I love the fact Maria's gone for a dessert.

She's the only one that's standing out from the crowd.

Dark chocolate mousse with chilli.

That's already got me hungry.

She has experience in pastry. This should be a faultless dessert from Maria.

Halfway. Halfway. 30 minutes gone.

Watching Vinny work, he showed a lot of skill.

However, he was one messy chef

and I did tell him he had to clean his act up before he came to cook for you.

I like his food. His lemon sole dish was absolutely sensational.

I've got high hopes for him. I think this boy can cook.

I've got everything to prove to both of them still.

I don't think I can rely on anything that's gone before.

Today is a new day.

If I don't do well today, that'll be it.

-Vinny, what are you cooking?

-Salmon, and I'll do it three ways.

Pan-sear it, I've hot-smoked it and I'll confit it in the water bath.

It's going to be with apple and pancetta pearl barley.

And there's a beetroot relish.

-Monica wasn't best pleased with you in the first round.

-She wasn't.

Getting covered in cuttlefish ink probably didn't help.

-Go for it, Vinny.

-Thank you, chefs.

Vinny is preparing a salmon three ways. I actually quite like that.

A little worried about the smoke, though. It could be bitter and acrid.

Curious how this turns out.

Vinny's got a point to prove to me here today.

So far, I like what I'm seeing.

I like the way Steven dresses his food. It's got elegance and style.

But I don't want to see another vanilla-flavoured pomme fondant.

I'm looking forward to seeing if he's paid attention

and see what he can deliver today.

So far, it's been going good.

But, you know, I'm striving to get that dish up where Michel can't fault it.

That's what I'm aiming towards.

I've chosen to use the salmon, garnishing it with beetroot,

apple, raspberry... I'm going to use raspberry as well.

-Raspberry you're using as a condiment?

-More as a dressing.

-There'll be little bits of raspberry to give that hit.

-What will make your dish stand out?

Using the beetroot, raspberry and apple to garnish it I think is a little bit unusual, but...

Get to it.

I'm a little bit worried about Steven's mixture of ingredients.

Raspberries, oranges and apple all on the same plate?

It's got a warning sign going up for me.

I hope he gets this balance right or there will be issues with Steven's fish.

15 minutes to go, guys. That's it, yeah.

I like Liam. His last plate of food I saw

was high-end fine dining if ever I've seen it.

He can cook.

When I first saw him, he had a way to go yet.

If this chef is improving at such a rapid pace that you are bowled over,

I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do today.

Definitely progressing as the competition goes on.

I think I've still got to win Monica over a little bit.

But I think I deserve to be here.

-Liam, what are you making for us?

-Pan-fried salmon,

I'm going to do butter-poached cuttlefish, roast salsify.

-Liam, you've a point to prove, haven't you?

-Definitely, yes.

I want to see a really well-balanced plate, treated with a lot of care when you plate it up.

-I'll deliver it this time for you.

-Excellent. Looking forward to it.

I like the sound of this dish, honestly.

It's something I'd order in a restaurant, if I read that.

Salmon is a fish that I can't have too well cooked.

Let's hope he keeps it pink.

Five minutes, chefs.

Five minutes. Presentation is the be-all and end-all.

You can hear the hearts beating, the feet pounding and knives chopping.

They are going for it.

60 seconds.

Time's up. That's it. Finished.

'23-year-old Daniel has made pan-fried salmon,

'ginger and onion pearl barley,

'with roasted beetroot,

'concasse tomato, braised salsify,

'and aubergine caviar.'

It's very well seasoned throughout,

but I especially like the flavourings through your aubergine.

Your salmon is not pink.

I wouldn't eat salmon like this.

The salsify is too crunchy, it's not cooked enough.

The beetroot could do with a little bit more cooking.

And I don't get what the concasse has to add to this.

It's not a plate I'd be happy to serve, Daniel. I'm sorry.

It is predominantly dry and it's lacking a real zing.

There should be more sauce or dressing.

Absolutely gutted. It's just not good enough. It's quarterfinals...

Inexperience has probably showed here today.

'Tom has made a parfait of mi-cuit salmon, which is partially cooked

'and glazed in honey and soy,

'with toasted sesame seeds on a bed of spiced aubergine caviar,

'samphire, cuttlefish cooked two ways, braised and chargrilled,

'a coriander-and-lime salad and a tomato Thai broth.'

I like the look of that plate, Tom.

Very nice.

I really like the cuttlefish in there,

both the braised and the seared.

One thing that I really do not like... And that's the salmon.

It's been cooked at a low temperature in the water bath

and it has absolutely no texture.

It is baby food.

I get what Michel is talking about but I'd say there's more positives than negatives.

You're a good cook, I like what you're achieving. Keep it up.

Thank you.

If I'd executed the salmon to Michel and Monica's liking,

I would be very surprised if I was to leave today.

But... Yeah, I'll be pretty gutted if that sees me home today.

'Maria's dessert is a dark chocolate and chilli mousse,

'with raspberry compote, orange syrup,

'crispy coriander leaf and a sesame-seed brittle.'

I think it's a good choice of ingredients.

-Your chocolate mousse looks a bit small, though. I would have preferred it a bit taller.

-OK.

Nice colours on there, Maria. Very vibrant.

Nice plate.

To me, that is not a chocolate mousse. It's more of a ganache.

A chocolate mousse should have the egg whites in it to lighten it up.

You said it's got chilli in it. It's not pronounced enough. There's got to be a bit of a kick.

Your flavour matching of the raspberry, orange, works very well,

the brittle adds texture to this.

It's a nice dessert but it's not really knocking me out.

I tried to do my best to stay in the competition but maybe I made one little mistake too many.

But no, I feel quite good about my dish.

So, yeah, I'm good.

'Vinny has served salmon three ways -

'pan-roasted fillet, hot-smoked salmon flakes,

'and confit salmon,

'with a beetroot relish, samphire, pearl barley,

'apple puree,

'and a butter sauce.'

I like that your fried salmon is lovely and pink.

And the crispy skin. That's what I want to see.

Your confit salmon needs seasoning.

The apple puree, for me, is too sweet

and I don't like the addition of the pearl barley with that.

The hot-smoked salmon is bordering on acrid.

I will say, however, that the smoked fish, however strong it is,

if you pick it up with the apple and some samphire which is very salty,

you get away with it, it works.

There are some good elements here. Cooking of the seared salmon -

very good.

I'm a harsh critic of myself and I wouldn't be happy with it served to me.

But there were some positives in there. Who knows? It could be enough

or it could not, so...

'Steven has cured and roasted the salmon

'and served it with pickled beetroot, fresh apple,

'apple puree, coriander, samphire,

'raspberries and a raspberry vinaigrette.'

Steven, I like the way you've dressed it. It's a good-looking plate.

I love the pickled beetroot. It's got a crunch to it, sweet, sour.

Really goes perfectly with the salmon. Really well.

The raspberry, if you get it with the beetroot and the salmon, works really well.

The apple is one step too far.

Little bit too fruity for me, this plate. Good seasoning, though.

There's a lot on this plate I really like.

The marinade of your salmon just comes through.

You retain the flavour in the salmon which is good to see.

I'm trying not to play it too safe.

Maybe I should take a step back and refine what I do,

but I want to show my personality and do something different.

Overall, I'm happy.

'Liam's dish is pan-fried salmon with marinated beetroot carpaccio,

'butter-poached cuttlefish, samphire,

'roast salsify, crystallised coriander,

'and an Asian-flavoured master stock sauce.'

There's not a lot in this plate, but what you do have looks stunning.

It works really well.

Thank you.

First off, the salmon is well cooked, it is pink.

The skin isn't quite crispy enough for me. I like it a bit more colourful with more crunch to it.

Salsify - oh, fabulous! It's cooked bang on.

It's got that natural nuttiness. It's beautiful.

There are a couple of errors. I would've loved the skin crispier.

And the beetroot I find a bit too crunchy.

But...

I like what I see and I like where you are going.

Liam, your cuttlefish - I really like it.

The salsify - oh, I love that. Well done, Liam.

I expected a lot from you.

And you've nailed it.

All right, us two here are going to fight over the last piece of salsify.

-I'm getting out the way, then.

-Well done.

I'm starting to relax now, so, being relaxed, you don't put as much pressure on yourself.

It's starting to show in my cooking, I think.

Thank you, chefs. Good cooking. Well done.

Good plates of food.

Couple of errors here and there.

We have to make a decision.

Two of you will be leaving us.

Thank you.

We both had very high expectations of our chefs today.

And I think, for the most part, they did well.

For me, Tom's dish looked beautiful. The presentation was... Ah.

I didn't like the salmon, but I'm prepared to forgive him, because the cuttlefish was outstanding.

What he's achieving is impressing us for the right reasons.

The other stand-out plate for me was actually Liam's.

It looked beautiful. It had elegance, it had class. That was good.

He's got a lot of skill and he's starting to show in the right way.

Steven can cook, but he has a tendency of going a little too far.

I can see the huge potential in this chef.

We agree we've got stand-out chefs.

But... Daniel's dish for me was a bit of a disappointment.

Lacking in flavour and a bit of sauce to bring it all together.

Daniel is a young chef and he does have a lot of potential, but...

He's not ready for this.

Maybe I am lacking experience and maybe that is against me,

but my standard's done it, so...

Young Daniel, I think his time is up.

But then, after that, I don't know, Monica. I really do not know.

You know, Vinny, he had a point to prove to me,

that he can work like a professional chef. And he did that.

There were errors. His hot-smoked salmon was far too smoked.

It was bordering on acrid and bitter.

That little piece of salmon, beautifully seared, crispy skin,

beautiful and pink, and I think it went well with the beetroot.

My gut says I'm going to go home.

But I don't think it's a total disaster, either.

There's... There's a bit of hope.

Maria's an interesting one. The only chef to attempt a dessert.

But that wasn't the best chocolate mousse. There was nothing that really stood out.

I'm scared a little bit that all these silly small mistakes

kind of could add up together and I can go home today.

When you get to this stage of Masterchef,

you know that we have very high expectations.

The first chef that is leaving us today is...

..Daniel.

It was right that I heard my name because I didn't do enough today, so it's fair.

I'll never lose the passion for cooking

but it's time to step away from it and go for what I want in life now.

The second chef leaving us today

..is...

..Maria.

It's a shame I left now but it's not the end for me, it's the beginning.

I think, work on what I've learned from here and move on from there.

Don't relax too much, because next round is the critics.

You have one hour for your main course.

And then 15 minutes to serve your desserts.

You cannot falter here.

Right! One hour. Good luck. Get going.

I love this challenge. It's the critics.

And they pile on the pressure.

One hour to bring up four plates. They know who they're cooking for.

And we've seen many a chef crumble under this pressure.

Some people do work for money.

As a chef, all you really want is for someone to be happy with what you produce.

That's worth more than anything.

-Steven, what's on the menu?

-Fillet of beef, garnished with onions,

bacon and a red-wine sauce.

Then I'm doing a vanilla pannacotta garnished with pear, some pecan nuts and caramelised flavour.

After your comments, I'm going with flavours guaranteed to work together

-but try and showcase my skills.

-Good.

Steven is cooking a fillet of beef with the flavours of bacon, onion and red-wine sauce.

Classic combination. I'm salivating just at the thought of that.

Sounds very simple, but don't be fooled.

This chef always has one or two tricks up his sleeve.

Steven is preparing the onions in about five different ways.

He's flavouring quinoa with a bacon stock -

quite unusual, something different.

If he gets the cooking of the beef and the sauce nice and rich,

the critics will love it.

His dessert sounds divine. Vanilla pannacotta and pears.

I hope he pulls it off, because we've got a very talented chef here.

I've impressed in the last couple of rounds.

But I'm not going to take my foot off the pedal,

I'm going to keep on going, keep trying to impress everybody.

I'm going to do the judges proud today.

For the main course, I'm doing pan-fried sea bream,

I'm doing some braised wild rice, salsify and roast scallop as well.

-For my dessert, orange sponge cake with a chocolate mousse.

-Ooh, yum.

-Olive oil powder, honeycomb.

-You confident?

I will be as soon as I get past a few big stages.

-Like getting that mousse in the fridge.

-Getting this in the fridge.

-Go on, quick!

Liam's cooking some wonderful seafood today.

He's got sea bream, scallops - serving it with salsify,

some wild rice, chorizo as well in his dish.

Got some robust flavours in there.

I like the sound of Liam's dessert.

Orange sponge cake? Ooh!

Beautiful. For texture, he's going to do a bit of honeycomb.

He's got a lot of work to do, Liam. Heck of a lot of work to do.

20 minutes, chefs. 20 minutes gone.

I couldn't see myself getting as much satisfaction from any other job

Obviously, you have bad days, but on a good day, you ask yourself "Why isn't everybody a chef?"

Because it's such a good feeling. It's such a buzz.

-Tom, what are you cooking?

-Halibut,

with a parsley, caper, beurre noisette crust, on a bed of crushed celeriac.

For dessert, elderflower pannacotta, texture of strawberries.

Textures being dried strawberries, roasted strawberries.

-And a strawberry sorbet.

-Sure you've got enough time?

Tried and tested. 55 minutes, I had both courses up.

-But is it the style of food that will wow the critics?

-I hope so.

It wowed me when I tasted it, so, hopefully, all being well,

them and yourselves will like it.

I like the sound of Tom's menu. Halibut. He's got some salsify pickle to go in there as well.

Celeriac cooked in the bag intensifies that flavour.

He's got to mash it up to go underneath his fish.

Lots of little elements going on here.

If Tom gets the balance right on this dish, it's going to be stunning

Do like the sound of Tom's dessert.

Pannacotta, flavoured with elderflower, and textures of strawberries.

He says he's done this menu before in 55 minutes.

That's a lot to do.

I've cooked for critics at work,

but then, they're not judging you, they're judging the whole place.

I've definitely never done anything like this before.

-Vinny, what are you making for the critics?

-Roast fillet of cod,

with wild garlic, ceps, girolles, and sea vegetables.

-What's the pasta for?

-I've made a wild garlic pasta and cod mousse.

-I'll roll it in the pasta.

-So it's for cannelloni.

-Yes.

-What's your dessert?

-Strawberries with balsamic and white chocolate and black olive.

-I've got a coconut and poppy-seed cake for added texture.

-Get to it.

Vinny is cooking a roast cod with wild mushrooms

and cannelloni with a cod mousse.

Vinny's making a dessert that he's serving in a parfait jar.

And he says he's putting black olive on this to give it a savoury taste.

Black olive, white chocolate... Oh, when it is done well, it is heavenly

20 minutes to go, chefs. Come on, keep it going. Keep it going.

At this stage in the competition, we'd like to see commitment,

passion, skill

and just a little hint of inspiration.

I want to see a plate of food that's crying out to be eaten.

I don't want something that looks like an experiment from a laboratory

The people who enter Masterchef The Professionals clearly reckon

they have something good to offer.

If they think they're up to this competition, they need to feed me well.

-Steven, 10 minutes to go, yeah?

-Right.

-You a little bit flustered, Steven?

-I'm good, thank you.

Steven is offering us fillet of beef, onion, bacon and mushroom,

which sounds really, really old-fashioned

and thus, really, really good.

One minute left, Steven. Come on.

-Is that it?

-Yes, chef.

-Done.

'Steven's main course is fillet of beef with bacon quinoa,

'chargrilled spring onions,

'mushrooms, onion puree,

'and a red-wine sauce.'

It almost looks like one of those landscapes with a river running through it.

It's a country scene.

Eaten on its own, the beef is actually good.

Slightly under-seasoned, but very tender.

I'm generally of the view that almost any dish, including dessert,

can be improved by the addition of bacon.

I think it's the case here. The main strut to this is the bacon quinoa.

-It's fantastic.

-Everything individually is very well prepared.

I just slightly question the balance of flavours.

Good elements on this plate. He's done himself proud, I think.

I really like the quinoa, I like the onion puree. I do like the shallots.

The beef is really moist. It's a shame he didn't get a crisp exterior.

OK, Steven, you've got 10 minutes. 10 minutes for the dessert.

-You going to be all right with that?

-That's what I'm hoping.

-Good.

For his dessert, Steven is doing a vanilla pannacotta,

which sets alarm bells ringing, because it's very, very dull.

Unless he's come up with an absolutely terrifying twist on it.

Who knows? Maybe we will be surprised.

-Steven, have you checked your pannacottas?

-Hi, Monica.

-Would you like to check them?

-Yep, yep.

You're running out of time. Quick, quick.

Steven's put the pannacottas in the blast chiller, as the fridge wasn't cold enough,

so hopefully, they will be set on time.

Yes! Long live the blast chiller, eh? Yeah.

-That's it. Lovely.

-Nice.

Come on, let's go.

'Steven's dessert is vanilla pannacotta with poached pear,

'roasted pear puree, crystallised pecan nuts,

'and celery cress.'

Hm. The little green thing tastes vaguely of lawn.

I don't know what it's doing there. It upsets me.

This dish tastes exactly as it looks when it lands on the table.

A perfectly nice pannacotta with a couple of things on top.

It's sweet to the power of sweet, isn't it?

You almost feel a salty element would've been an addition.

But as it is, it's just more sweetness on top of the pannacotta.

-Mm.

-There's a lot of work.

The pear puree, the pecans, the pears poached in syrup,

the vanilla pannacotta.

I think he's showing off some good skills here.

And it's a good dessert.

That was really intense. I tried to cram too much into the time limit.

But I wasn't going to relax. I was going out there all guns blazing to try and do the best I could,

so overall, I'm happy.

-How we doing, Liam?

-Good.

-10 minutes to go. You going to be on time?

-On time, yeah.

-Excellent.

So, Liam's course - pan-fried bream, braised wild rice, pepper, scallop and salsify.

It's a lot of ingredients in there.

It's all a bit troubling.

MONICA: Last minute, Liam.

That's it. Bringing it together.

-Almost there?

-Almost there.

-Everything nice and hot?

-Yeah.

Okey-dokey.

-Right?

-Yeah.

-You all right? Go.

'Liam's main is pan-fried sea bream

'on a bed of wild rice and red pepper,

'served with roasted salsify,

'scallop, crispy kale, and a chorizo foam.'

There is no chorizo foam on my plate.

There's some oil that's come from where the foam has collapsed and died.

Oh, my goodness. This is inedibly salty.

Every element of it. But the rice is way over-salted.

It's fashionable to be dismissive of foams.

Unless you know what you're doing, they will collapse instantly

and just become a skid mark across your plate

and that's what's happened here.

It's like having a mouthful of salt.

There's far, far too much wild rice and it's not cooked.

-This is inedible. You can't eat that.

-I'm not pleased with this.

If I'm not happy with it, Liam can't be happy with this.

I hope his dessert's going to be good enough to pull him through,

because if I was Liam, I'd start to be worried.

-15 minutes for your dessert, yeah?

-Yeah.

TRACEY: Liam's dessert - chocolate, orange and honeycomb.

It's a trip to the sweet shop, isn't it?

A few of my favourite things. I quite like the sound of that.

You're well on time. Well on time.

'For his dessert, Liam has made chocolate mousse,

'orange sponge, honeycomb,

'orange segments, olive oil powder,

'and a star anise syrup.'

Liam has put a lot of work in. There's a lot of process.

He's made honeycomb, the chocolate mousse, a sponge.

He's done something to olive oil which may or may not be a good idea.

But he gets credit for showing ambition at this level.

-Mm-hm.

-Mm.

-Mm-hm.

We won't be speaking, will we?

-Oh, my goodness!

-What a brilliant plan.

Cook a dish which renders the judges incapable of saying anything!

That's the worst honeycomb I've...

-It appears to...

-No, it's...

That is the dentist's friend.

It's very like those one-shot glues that you put a tiny blob on

and before you know it, you've stuck your fingers together.

That does that for the inside of your mouth.

-It's an unbelievable misfire, isn't it?

-Yes.

It's not a bad chocolate mousse.

If it had just stayed there, we would've been in much better shape.

Ah.

It's not right. The honeycomb - it's sticking to my teeth.

And the dried olive oil - it's not bringing anything to this dish.

Mm. It's not good.

I wanted him to really show he deserves to be here.

But he's got reason to worry.

I'm not 100 per cent happy with what I just did.

Could definitely cost me my place.

Ah, I don't know. We'll see.

-Tom, you've got four minutes left, OK?

-I hope so.

-You going to be on time?

-Er, maybe.

Tom's main - parsley-crusted halibut, crushed celeriac,

morels and wilted lettuce -

actually reads pretty well.

I like the sound of this.

-Right. Down to three minutes now, Tom.

-Absolutely.

-Good.

-That's it.

-They're getting annoyed now, Tom.

-Two seconds, please.

That's it. Well done, Tom.

Sorry about the wait.

'Tom's main is pan-fried fillet of halibut

'with a parsley beurre-noisette crust,

'on a bed of celeriac and wilted lettuce,

'pickled salsify, girolle mushrooms, wild sorrel,

'and a mushroom foam.'

Enjoy. Thank you.

There's a reassuring level of precision here.

It's an attractive plateful.

He's thought about the impact he wants to have on the diner.

This is a crying shame. There is an awful lot to recommend this dish.

Problem is, that piece of fish is overcooked.

There are some amazing flavours going on,

but it is such a shame that this fish has completely dried out.

I think I may have a thicker piece of fish than the rest of you,

because mine seems to be pretty well perfect.

I think the crushed celeriac works terribly well.

It's a very thoughtful plate. It's got lots of different flavours

and it really seems to work together as a whole.

-Mm.

-Mm.

-The celeriac is delicious.

Wilted lettuce, lovely and fresh. Salsify, pickled - lovely.

The fish is overcooked, though. Such a shame.

There's a lot on here that I like

but the star of the dish has been cooked to death.

-You've still got a smile on your face, Tom. Well done.

-Always.

-15 minutes for dessert.

-Right.

-Sure?

-Yeah.

-Good. Well done.

Tom's dessert - elderflower pannacotta with textures of strawberries.

To hide the fact it's just a pannacotta,

he is torturing strawberries into many forms and varieties.

He'll have to have done something pretty dramatic to make a pannacotta sing.

Brilliant. You're doing well. You're on time.

-It's looking good, Tom.

-Very nice. Very nice indeed.

'Tom's dessert is elderflower pannacotta,

'strawberry sorbet, dehydrated strawberry,

'roasted strawberry and a strawberry jelly.'

All the various things he's done with strawberries are lovely.

His strawberry sorbet was bang on. It leapt with the flavour of strawberry.

The jelly slipped down the throat beautifully.

The dried strawberries had a big bash of flavour.

Together it all worked very nicely.

I think there's a real understanding of flavour on this plate,

because the pannacotta, it's not oversweet.

It allows the strawberries to dominate and it's a sort of love story to the strawberry.

-I think he's done really well. I like it.

-It's a good pud.

That's a good pannacotta. The texture's lovely, creamy.

The sorbet is lovely. Really good sorbet.

If anything, it's lacking a biscuit or something, a crunch. It's all too soft.

-I'm not 100 per cent convinced.

-I see what you're saying.

It's very creamy. But Tom can cook. He's got skills, this boy.

Exhausted. That was tough.

It all tasted good, I was happy with all the flavours.

Let's just hope that what I tried to do pays off,

cos it was hard work.

-OK, Vinny. 10 minutes to go, yeah?

-Yeah.

Good. I like what I'm seeing, Vinny.

Vinny's main course - cod, wild garlic, ceps and sea vegetables.

That's an interesting line-up of ingredients.

Seems very straightforward and all the better for that.

Oh! Fancy a bit of butter with your fish?

Yes.

OK, Vinny. Your time is up.

They're ready for you, so...

-Time to get plating up, yeah?

-Yes, chefs.

Brilliant. Come on.

That's looking really good, Vinny.

Keep it up.

-Come on, Vinny, let's go.

-Sorry.

Really must get it out. Come on.

OK, come on. Let's go, go, go.

Ooh!

All right. Go.

'Vinny's dish is fillet of cod,

'wild garlic cannelloni filled with cod, wild garlic and a tarragon mousse,

'ceps, sea vegetables and clams.'

Doesn't this look lovely?

The way the cannelloni is half-unrolled, as if everything is tumbling out of it.

It's just... beautiful.

It's straight 'A's at the moment.

Praise the Lord. He's got the fish just right.

There's a lot of talent on show here

The mousse is difficult, to make it so that it stays light

and making the pasta so that that stays light, that's difficult.

It's a very good, well-cooked plate of food.

In terms of execution, it's a cracking dish.

The fish is not seasoned, which is a shame, a real shame.

Sea vegetables are seasoned well, though.

Pasta's lovely and thin, cooked properly, really tasty.

The mousse inside is grainy, although I do like the taste.

With a little bit more thought, this could be a real high-end dish.

And I love the idea.

Come on, Vinny. Keep it going, mate.

Well done. 10 minutes.

10 minutes? Argh!

Vinny's dessert is English strawberries, white chocolate,

coconut and black olive.

OK, er...

Am I the messiest person here?

-Do you want a truthful answer to that?

-Yes, chefs.

BOTH: Yes.

-Is that it?

-That is everything.

-OK, lovely.

-PLATES RATTLE

-Ooh, the shakes.

Thank you very much.

'Vinny's dessert is a parfait jar,

'filled with white chocolate cream, coconut and poppy-seed cake,

'strawberries and a basil and olive powder.'

Thank you very much.

I have to say, this speaks to the greedy bit of me.

It's basically a bunch of mashed up stuff in a jar,

but it looks like good mashed up things in a jar.

I'm encouraged when people get large glass jars like this,

beacuase you get an extremely large portion.

It's almost, but not quite. The cake is very sweet.

And the olive gives a little, salty hit.

And the cream is quite full-on.

It needs a burst of lemon syrup or something, just to lift it up.

It's really swimming in this white chocolate cream,

which is quite cloying and sort of claggy, isn't it?

-There may be just too much of it.

-I think it's really nice.

It's the sort of love child of an Eton mess and a trifle.

A few more strawberries wouldn't have gone amiss.

Bit of custard wouldn't hurt either.

I really like his little sponge, made with coconut and poppy seed.

The strawberries go well with it. Could've had more balsamic vinegar.

I'd struggle to finish this because it is very rich.

-Very rich.

-I think he needs to rethink how he served it.

There are some great things in there, but it's all hidden.

You've got to find what you're eating and guess what's in there.

I'm not sure about this dessert.

Ah! I'm just feeling immense relief.

Just to get out of there. I think I lost about a stone.

I've never done anything like that before.

But yeah, I... It was good.

Some highs and lows for me. Some good food, great skills.

Then there's some disappointing ones as well.

Some of the chefs are going to be kicking themselves.

Definitely some great cooking, in parts, some great skills shown.

I'll tell you my least favourite was the bream with the black rice.

Oh, Liam! That rice was not cooked properly.

And then to go on and serve enough for six people on one plate,...

What was he thinking?

Liam's dessert sounded really nice,

but he overworked his chocolate mousse, it was a little too dense.

And his honeycomb was chewy and it was sticking to my teeth. I didn't like that at all.

On the evidence of today, we certainly can't put him through.

That leaves us between Steven, Tom and Vinny.

That really isn't an easy decision.

Let's talk about Tom.

Tom's dish looked very pretty. I really liked that celeriac.

I liked the pickled salsify. Crust on the fish was lovely and green.

But I'm really disappointed he overcooked that wonderful fish.

-What about his dessert? Did you enjoy it?

-I enjoyed elements of it.

-The elderflower pannacotta was quite nice.

-Mm.

I liked it, but I wasn't blown away by it.

If I went out today, I'd be gutted, but I'd understand,

cos there were mistakes and that's what's going to see people home.

What did you think of Vinny?

He's one of those chefs you keep sending out to change his jacket.

He is a messy chef, isn't he? But the critics really enjoyed his main course.

They said it showed a lot of talent. That fish was beautifully cooked.

That dessert - I loved parts of that. That cake was divine.

I'm not sure. I didn't like the presentation. Not enough black olive to make a difference.

He still needs refining. Is there enough time for that for Vinny?

There's always things you'd have changed to make it better.

But hopefully it all came together to be good enough

to take me through, but we shall see.

I really enjoyed Steven's main course.

There were faults, most definitely, yes.

His beef wasn't seared properly.

But it was juicy, it was moist, it was well seasoned,

and I actually really enjoyed that quinoa with bacon.

-I think it all worked.

-And his pannacotta was wonderful.

And I really liked the roasted pear puree.

I'm certain Steven is a good chef. He can cook.

I was always going to push myself to the limit.

Have I taken too big a risk? Only time will tell.

But I wasn't going to come here and relax. I came here to give it my all

I'm hoping they've seen something they like.

We only have two places in the semifinal.

One of these three chefs has got to go.

We have made a decision.

Two of you will be leaving us.

The first chef that is leaving us today is...

..Liam.

To get a place in the semifinal, it needs to be perfect.

If it's not perfect, you run the risk of not going through.

It wasn't perfect and I didn't go through.

The second chef leaving us today is...

..Vinny.

It is a bit sad that it's over.

But it's been really enjoyable while I've been here, so...

..I'm not that unhappy in any way.

I am proud of myself for getting this far.

It's one of those things that I always want more.

So I'm now looking into the next round. What can I do to get myself in that final?

I'm over the moon. There's definitely more to be shown from me.

In the semifinals, I can really start to show what I'm capable of.

'Next week,...

'it's the chance for eight new chefs

'to prove they have what it takes.'

I don't even know where you're going with this.

This is not what I want to see. Ever.

Cowabunga! That tastes great.

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