Episode 9 MasterChef: The Professionals

These eight chefs all want to become Professional MasterChef champion.

Service, please.

To win MasterChef would be the highlight of my career,

possibly the highlight of my life.

The only thing I really know in my life is how to cook.

I'm really competitive. I just want so see how far I can go.

Hopefully, I can go all the way.

Yes, there's fear and yes, there's nerves,

but I'm definitely going to give it my all.

But over the next three nights,

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

diner Gregg Wallace

and Michelin-starred Michel Roux Jr,

before some of them are sent home.

We've got some of the best professional talent in the country.

These professional chefs have got to deliver at the highest level.

They need to stand out from the beginning.

I ask what I ask of any chef when I go out for dinner -

feed me with beautiful food!

Today it's Monica's first challenge.

She wants to test the chefs' creativity

by giving them seven ingredients,

from which she wants them to create one dish.

So today we have for them an aubergine,

mango, coconut,

fennel, ricotta,

sea purslane

and some brown crabmeat.

-Mmm!

-And they have the limited larder here.

They need to be creative,

and they really need to dig into their repertoire as a chef.

We're going to give the chefs one hour.

Let's give you one hour, see what you'd make.

Right, I've got the griddle pan on. I want it nice and hot.

-What are you going to make?

-I'm going to use crabmeat

to make a flan or a set custard.

-Ooh!

-The aubergine, I am going to use

to make a smoked aubergine puree. And some flatbread.

Wow!

Why have we got a whole aubergine on a griddle?

It's cooking and burning the skin, which then becomes caramelised,

-and it's giving that smoky flavour through the aubergine.

-Gotcha!

I don't think people use brown crabmeat enough.

It's got a really lovely flavour.

It hasn't got the same texture, but it's a lovely flavour.

Coconut water in that mix.

Ready to go into my mould.

You've actually used the coconut two ways -

you've toasted it and you've used the milk from inside

to go in your crab.

I'd also like to use the actual milk to make my flatbread as well.

The aubergine is completely cooked through.

That does smell smoky.

Some ricotta and a touch of soy sauce.

Crisp up the aubergine.

Very carefully turn these out.

Such an elegant plate.

And there you have it, Gregg.

Tell you what, no-one makes food look pretty like you do.

Look at that!

I've taken the brown crabmeat to make a flan, or set custard.

I also used the aubergine,

which was griddled to give it a very smoky flavour

and some flatbread.

-Can I?

-Please do.

You get that crisp texture of that thin aubergine

and then the creaminess and strong crab flavour.

That's delightful.

Lots of craft here, lots of invention.

Let's get our chefs in, see what they've got to offer.

Let's do it.

Welcome to Professional MasterChef.

What we want from you right now

is one good dish that demonstrates your skill and knowledge.

Chefs, uncover your ingredients.

One hour you've got to make this dish. Plenty of time.

Off you go.

I think our chefs today were a bit panicked,

not seeing a solid protein of some kind on their bench.

Kind of thrown them, I think, with the brown crabmeat only.

They do have ricotta,

so I think there'll be a bit of pasta, the odd dessert.

They've got to show us enough skill to really warrant being here

and to show us what they can do.

I would consider myself very good at thinking on my feet.

There's very little would stump me.

I have enough in my repertoire

to always be able to pull something out of my hat.

Hello, James. How are you feeling?

I got stumped there for the first five minutes.

I had no idea what to do. But I think I'm going to do some little canapes,

just using the crab mainly,

making some crisps with the aubergine and the potato.

Hopefully, it'll do the business.

-Have you done any competitions?

-Yeah.

Last year I done the Northern Ireland Chef of the Year and I won it.

I've always tried to do something at least once a year

that pushes me or scares me.

-And what do you do right now?

-I'm lecturing at Belfast College,

so I'm a full-time lecturer.

End of this month, I'm moving on together with two other friends,

we're opening a restaurant, so I'm going in as head chef.

-How good are you?

-I'm going to leave that for you to decide!

-Good luck, mate.

-Thank you.

I love canapes,

but they've got to be stunning to really wow us here today.

Currently I'm a sergeant

in the British Army, the Reserves,

working predominantly as a head chef.

Everything really from two covers up to mass catering,

where we've fed up to 6,000, 6,500 during the Olympics.

-You all right, big fella? How long have you been a chef?

-24 years.

I've been in some random locations over those 24 years,

but this, I have to say, is kind of nerve-wracking.

What random places have you cooked in?

I've just come back from Antarctica.

Why would you do that, go and cook in Antarctica?!

Looking after a science base.

Just something different, completely different.

I was looking out of my kitchen window every morning

and watching the icebergs float past.

You really do love a challenge.

What are you going to make for us?

I'm going to do a kind of...

I'm going to do a pasta, anyway,

filled with crab, a bit of Thai spice, some chilli, some ginger.

-Looking forward to your food.

-Thank you very much.

I'm excited. I'm a bit nervous at the same time.

I'm going to try to keep cool

and, yeah, just focus.

You look like a chef, you work like a chef. What do you do right now?

I work in Reading, junior sous chef.

We do sort of French modern.

What would you really love to do?

Just have my own restaurant, my own business.

-What are you making now?

-Brown crab and mango salad

with charred mango

and just a nice little dressing.

-Cheers, mate. Looking forward to the salad.

-Thank you.

David has decided to make us a mango and crab salad.

I hope that our chefs that have chosen to use the brown crabmeat

remember to pass it,

because it will have bits of cartilage or bone through that.

You are halfway.

30 minutes left.

I really hate to follow recipes.

I improvise. I try to have fun, to be honest.

-Aline, you're Brazilian. You've got a mango on the bench.

-Yeah.

What are you going to make for us?

I'm trying to make a crab salad with mango.

-Can a salad be very good? How good can a salad be?

-Yes, of course.

Flavour, seasoning...

lemon juice, with a twist of Brazil style!

It's going to be good.

And what food do you cook at the moment?

British with modern French twist.

Aline is making a crab mango salad,

which sounds lovely,

but at this stage, it has to look amazing.

It has to wow us on the flavours.

I've got a partner who's vegetarian,

and I've got two very, very fussy children.

So I like to think that I'm quite creative

and can come up with a lot of things from very little.

David, forgive me - you look terribly nervous.

Yeah!

-Is it Monica who scares you?

-No.

-What are you making?

-I'm going to do a crab tortellini.

-Mmm!

-Using Asian influences,

with the chilli, ginger, lemon.

Is it Asian food that you love?

I love everything, really.

I don't really have a set style that I like.

I take influences from everywhere - books, restaurants, chefs.

-David, best of luck, son.

-Cheers.

David is making a crab tortellini,

but he's using Asian flavours to season it.

I hope he doesn't leave it too last-minute

to decide on the garnish, otherwise he'll rush it and it could ruin

what would be a wonderful pasta dish.

I was working front of the house,

but I wanted to get in the kitchen.

First time I actually cooked was four and a half years ago

in my own pub.

-Marcel.

-Hello, Gregg.

-Are you French?

-No, I'm not.

-French name, but not French. Slovakian.

-Slovakian?

-Yes.

-Were you a chef in Slovakia?

-No, I became chef in England.

-What position do you have now?

-As a chef in my own business.

Good man. Why MasterChef, Marcel?

Challenging myself, evolving as a cook.

-What are you making?

-I'm making a ricotta cheesecake,

a mango puree and a mango compote with a little bit of cardamom.

-Righto. Nice talking to you. Good luck.

-Thank you very much.

Marcel is making a dessert, which is a nice change.

He's not a classically trained chef.

But there are some amazing self-taught chefs out there,

so I'd like to see how well he's going to do on this dessert.

You've got less than ten minutes now.

I work seven days a week. Every day, I'm in the kitchen.

That's the beauty of being a chef - you can always develop yourself

and you're always learning.

-Where are you from, Oli?

-Leeds.

Currently living in York, running a gastropub as head chef.

And what ambitions do you have?

Hopefully, to get a couple of accolades there,

couple of rosettes, kind of get noticed.

You've come to the right place if you want to get noticed, Oli!

-What are you making?

-Fish kind of stew,

with soy, fish sauce, garlic, ginger

and then I'm going to finish it with grilled aubergines.

All right, Oli. Have you given thought

-to how this is going to look when it's finished?

-Yeah, yeah.

-OK. All right, mate. I'm looking forward to this.

-Excellent. Cheers.

It's intriguing.

Oli is attempting a fish stew

using brown crabmeat only.

I've never seen that done before,

so I'm very curious how this is going to turn out.

I would say I'm a competitive person.

In this industry, you've got to strive to be better

than everyone to get to the top.

Hopefully, I'm better than everyone.

-Hello, Ryan. Have you got pudding going on here?

-Yeah.

I'm going to do, like, a ginger biscuit-based mango cheesecake.

What style of food? What gets you going?

Sexy food. I like it to look good, taste good, pack a punch.

Bold flavours, good presentation.

-Are you ambitious?

-Definitely ambitious.

That's why I'm here today. Hopefully win this, go through to the final.

-And you're making us a cheesecake?!

-It doesn't showcase technical skill,

-but hopefully the flavour will be in there.

-Best of luck, mate.

Ryan is making a chilli and mango cheesecake.

I love the sound of that.

He's also using the coconut,

which he's taken a while to break into.

But he's gotten there in the end!

I hope there's going to be enough in there

to warrant the effort he's taken to break into it.

Last five minutes.

Stop. Stop.

The eight chefs were given brown crabmeat,

coconut, mango,

ricotta cheese,

aubergine,

fennel

and sea purslane.

With those ingredients, Monica cooked a dish.

In an hour, she did a crab and coconut flan,

smoked aubergine puree,

crispy aubergine pieces

and a coconut water and cardamom flatbread.

Don't want to make you feel bad, guys,

but I'm hoping that some of your dishes

will be as good as the one that I tasted from my mate here.

James has made crab, potato and aubergine crisp canapes

on top of mango puree with a soy reduction.

I like the creativity side of what you've attempted today.

It's different. I hope that it works.

Me too!

I find that the first flavours that hit my mouth is the mango,

the sweetness of the mango,

followed by the salty and the savoury tones.

However, the crab is completely lost in there.

There's a lot that I like in this dish,

but you need to plan properly what is the main flavour of this canape.

That was interesting.

Thanks.

Mango sweetness to start off with.

You've got crunch both from the aubergine

and the potato,

but it does tend to all get a little bit muddled

after it's been in your mouth for a second.

Inventive, highly unusual.

James, I don't know what sort of chef you are,

-but I'm looking forward to seeing you do more cooking.

-Thanks.

Cheers.

James is serving crab ravioli

on a bed of fennel and onion

with a creamy butter sauce and drops of rosemary oil,

topped with crispy aubergine skin.

I like your presentation.

Simplicity at its best. I really like the decoration on the top.

Really lovely ravioli.

Really nice. The fennel is a little too strong

for the crab ravioli.

Saying that, with a glass of wine, I'd happily smash through it.

-Good.

-I like the sharpness of the fennel.

It contradicts the creaminess of the sauce.

It's a really well-made ravioli

and the crispy dark skin of the aubergine...

I like that.

There's different elements to it. There's different textures in here.

You've managed to make a lovely dish.

-You've got to be chuffed with that, mate, haven't you?

-Yes.

Very pleased. First one.

-Thank you very much, James.

-Thank you, Chef.

Ah!

Aline has created a crab tian,

with a base of fennel topped with brown crabmeat,

then a layer of crab ricotta cream

and sliced mango.

Tian of crab - not a huge fan of it...this way.

OK.

Maybe if you had used smaller rings

and had, you know, three of those around the plate,

that would look quite pretty.

-Shall we have a taste?

-Let's do it.

I love the flavour of the crab with the mango.

Creamy, rich crab,

and it ends in nice fruit.

That I love. I don't like the crab with the fennel underneath.

It finishes in salty

and the mouthful before finished in fruit.

You've also got a texture issue here,

because the whole thing is just wet and creamy.

Yes.

The issue here is the tian of the crab.

The lumpiness of the crab that is in the middle

is unpleasant. It's not nice.

And I'm not a fan of the creamy stuff on top either.

There's parts here that work

and then there's a massive part of it,

the actual crab tian, that is not up to standard.

Aline, thank you.

David has made crab ravioli with a spiced cream sauce.

OK.

That's a pleasant dish.

I can taste the crab. There are notes of fennel, which is aniseed,

and there are sweet notes.

-There's a slight bit of like lime flavour to it as well.

-Yeah.

But I want to see more from you, David,

than one ravioli filled with cream and a bit of crab.

Yeah.

Your pasta's rolled really thin.

I like the filling.

However, the textures... The crab is quite grainy.

I do like the fennel and the light crunch that comes through that.

But you really need to show off at this stage.

You have skills, clearly. You can make a ravioli.

What's different about your ravioli? OK?

-Take it up to the next level.

-Yeah.

Thank you.

Self-taught Marcel has made a deconstructed mango cheesecake

with crumble,

mango compote

and a mango puree.

There's not a lot to cheer about

on this plate, Marcel, I'm afraid to say. What happened?

Uh...didn't set cheesecake properly

and I didn't leave myself enough time to present it properly.

Yeah...Monica's speechless moment.

Right.

Look, Marcel,

this is not what I want to see.

Ever.

There are elements here which are good.

Your biscuit, of course.

But you are a chef first and foremost.

So no matter how messed-up your plate is,

you must have something in you that could make you redress this.

Yes.

It's disappointing

that something as simple as a cheesecake has gone wrong.

It's a nice mango puree,

it's nice toasty biscuit. And that's it, Marcel.

-OK.

-No-one goes home on this round,

so, seriously pull your socks up and show us what you can do.

OK.

David's brown crab mousse is served with a mango chilli salsa,

charred mango, fennel

and a chilli coriander dressing.

Lovely colours, mate.

Bit of tropical sunshine on a plate here.

Cowabunga! That tastes great.

Thank you.

The mousse is pure, it is smooth, it is strong.

And then the notes you've got going on with that

is lovely fresh mango, little bit of chilli...

It is delightful.

The crab mousse is very smooth

and it's intense crab flavour.

I love the citrus that comes through this,

and the chilli notes that come with the mango.

Very well done. With the elements that you have,

damn good job.

-Thank you very much indeed.

-Thank you.

Oli's made a fish stew, using soy and fish sauce,

potato, ginger and chilli

and topped it with crab and ricotta

and grilled fennel.

-To be honest, Oli, it looks like a bowl of baby food.

-Yes.

It's not appetising.

-Are you happy with how it looks?

-No.

The crab, it was meant to quenelle, but it just collapsed.

Whoa!

GREGG COUGHS

Oh!

That's just horrible, really horrible.

The soy with the kick of chilli...

It's sharp. It's got funny textures in there.

It's smooth, then lumpy.

-Is there potato in there as well?

-Yeah, a little bit.

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

Oli, Oli, Oli, Oli, Oli!

The flavour is really strong soy and ginger.

So strong, it made me cough.

And your crab on the top is sweet.

These are not good flavour or texture combinations.

I can only think that you've got yourself into a bit of a panic.

You've got to put it behind you and move on.

Not a good dish at all.

-Oli, thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Phew!

I feel I was just a bit flustered

with the ingredients that I was given and, um...

the amount of time that I was given.

Finally, it's Ryan,

who's serving a ricotta cheesecake

with ginger-snap base and a chilli mango salsa,

topped with coconut and spun sugar.

That's a very neat plate. I love the colours coming off it.

There's a lot of skill in there.

You've got a bit of sugar, you've got pastry underneath.

-Not bad.

-Come on, then - the suspense is killing me!

Mmm.

That's a creamy, light, fruity cheesecake.

It's very good indeed. I like the addition of the coconut.

I think that brings another element.

I like also the little bit of chilli in there. Nice cheesecake.

Great technique here.

The biscuit with the ginger through it, I love it.

The mango with the chilli works very well

and the coconut, which took you a while to break into,

I'm glad you put quite a bit on there as well.

It's a great dish.

Ryan, you told me you were going to win the competition.

-Is that a good enough start?

-It's a warm-up.

-Not a bad start at all, Chef. Well done.

-Thank you.

There were some very good dishes here today.

And there were also some challenging ones.

Lot of competition to come yet.

Off you go.

Now the eight chefs will be split into two groups.

Tomorrow, the first four will be back

to face Monica's infamous skills test...

I can't eat that, I'm afraid. The scallop's raw.

You must know as a chef

that you could never send that out to the restaurant.

..before Chef Michel puts them through their paces

with his classic tests.

It's not what I was looking for.

It's bizarre!

You've given me a very beautiful plate of food.

At the end,

one of them will be going home.

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