Episode 1 MasterChef: The Professionals

The hunt for the next professional MasterChef Champion is back on.

And these six chefs all believe they have what it takes to win the title.

Tonight, they face two challenges set by judge Gregg Wallace

and two of Britain's best chefs, Monica Galetti

and Michelin starred Marcus Wareing.

I'm going to do my best to stay in the competition as long

as possible because it's a great honour.

I do like to see myself as quite different.

It's whether different is wrong or right.

I'm expecting all these chefs to come in here,

to put up a good fight.

They're here because they want this title.

I'm really excited and looking forward to this amazing journey.

Start of the competition, good to see you two again.

First test is the skills test and you're going to split it.

-Three of the six are going to do your skills test...

-Yup.

..and three of them are going to do yours. What's it going to be?

It's a very old classic dessert,

which is floating island or ile flottante.

So make a meringue, make a custard

and make the meringue float on the custard.

-I think this is going to scare them.

-I think you're right.

At some point they would have seen a poached dessert,

they would have a made meringue.

How long are you going to give them for this?

-We're giving them 15 minutes.

-Right.

I'm poaching mine on sugar and water.

The syrup makes a firmer meringue.

The next thing I'm going to do is make my anglaise.

I just want equal amounts of milk and cream.

We have some vanilla.

I have my yolks, which I need for my anglaise. I need some sugar.

That's the quickest custard I've ever seen in my life.

You just read my mind.

Monica's being really clever here, Greg,

she's just making the right amount of custard for the dish itself.

So I'm just going to set the anglaise aside

to cool in the ice bath.

So next I'm going to make the meringue.

I have the egg whites in the machine and I want to bring them

up to a stiff peak before I add the sugar.

Normally you quenelle it but I'm going to use these moulds.

It's up to them what mould they choose to use.

-That just drops in.

-Wahey! I've never ever seen that.

I'm hoping the chefs have.

I'm just showing you another way that this can be done.

It's also trying to find out how the chef approaches it.

There is a classical way and there is their own interpretation.

-Do you know how I think they're going to approach it?

-How?

Like this - "Aaargh!"

-That's how I think they're going to approach it.

-Let's hope not.

These will take about three, four minutes.

How do you know when they're done?

When they're done, you can tell, they're quite firm.

-You can see them rising out of the mould.

-I love this.

That's amazing.

Yay!

So I've got some caramel here.

Ha-ha-ha!

There we have it, guys, our ile flottante en anglaise,

or our floating island on custard.

That's wonderful, I would be very impressed if our guys can do that.

I think the balance is lovely, I love the lightness of the island.

It's incredibly light.

That tastes of sugar and vanilla, that's perfect.

Any chef coming into this kitchen

should be able to make those two things.

-Shall we get the first one of them in?

-Absolutely.

-Let's go.

First up is junior sous chef Sam.

At the minute, I work in a four-star hotel in the centre of Newcastle.

It's one rosette.

We're a hotel,

so we're serving food constantly

from 9 in the morning till half past 11 at night.

Best thing about being a chef is you don't go to work

and you're sat in an office.

You're doing something that you love.

It goes through your veins, it does, every day.

I'm not going to say I'm going to win the competition

but I'm going to be very hard to beat.

I'm going to set the standard from the start.

-Hello, Sam. You all right, mate?

-I'm all right, you?

Yeah, yeah, yeah!

I'm fine, I don't have to do this!

What I would like you to do today is to make an ile flottante.

-OK.

-15 minutes, off you go.

Sam, do you do much pastry work at all?

I do when I can.

-Have you ever trained in pastry?

-No.

-Have you ever read about pastry?

-Yes.

-College?

-Yes.

Done me Level 2 and 3.

Of which a floating island, I'm sure, is part of.

I can't remember, it was that many years ago I was at college.

Mine was a long time ago and I remember.

Maybe he was off that day.

How are you going to cook the meringue, Sam?

Just quenelle the meringue into the custard

-and just slowly cook this.

-OK.

You've got five minutes left, Sam.

-All done?

-Yup.

A bit of errors along the way there with your cooking method.

You tried to make a caramel sauce but you actually need to make

-your normal caramel, not a sauce.

-All right, sorry.

Yes, you need to poach the meringues rather...in milk than in a custard.

Yeah.

-Ah!

-THEY CHUCKLE

The meringue is very light, it's only just cooked through.

You've got the sweetness coming through with the sugar.

The custard is very thick and rich.

-I actually quite like it with the caramel sauce.

-Thank you.

I think the dessert tastes great. I really do.

The presentation may be not quite what you wanted

but your custard tastes divine and I agree with Monica,

the toffee sauce is actually very good.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

It's nowhere near as elegant as Monica's was but it tastes great.

-Happy.

-Well done, off you go.

I thought that went better than I expected.

I was little bit fazed at first

but I was really pleased with what the judges said.

That went really well.

Next is 25-year-old Aaron from Pembrokeshire.

I'm currently working onboard HMS Torbay, a submarine.

I cook underwater for 130 people, four meals a day.

I'm the equivalent of a head chef.

Nothing goes out that galley without me,

one, authorising it and, second of all,

checking it to make sure it's up to standard.

When we are at sea, we do roughly between 18 to 20 hours a day,

no breaks, no weekends off, no holidays.

The food that I usually cook in the galley is home cooking.

We also do functions as well, high ranking VIPs that

come down the boat where we do more a-la-carte food.

I'm really excited for the competition.

Not many people know a chef that's a mariner.

We are a very limited few.

So what I'd like you to do today is to make an ile flottante.

-You OK with that?

-I've never heard of that, chef.

It's a floating island.

-OK.

-Does that ring a bell?

-I'm going to guess for a floating meringue.

-Yes.

-Do you do any pastry? Have you done any?

Not really, no.

-Has all your training been done on a submarine?

-Yeah.

-Have you ever cooked on land before?

-No.

-Your first time cooking on land?

-Pretty much.

-How exciting.

I'm here for a challenge, to learn things, so...

Off you go, chef.

It's something I've not done before, so I'm giving it my best shot.

-Have you made a custard before?

-Er, no, chef.

-What are you looking for?

I'm looking for a good sweetness, the right consistency

so it coats the back of a spoon.

Obviously, the flavour of not only the cream

-but of the vanilla comes through as well.

-OK.

My caramel's not reducing back down with the heat.

You're making your caramel again?

Yes, Gregg, I'd rather make it again than present something

that I'm not happy with.

You've got just 90 seconds to get the caramel on.

Come on, this is coming to an end now.

-Is the caramel starting to colour?

-Yeah, slowly.

Right.

All done. Time's up.

Making the anglaise,

the egg yolk has scrambled in there.

The cream you've used to poach your meringue in is burnt on the bottom.

And your caramel -

yes, it happens, it burns and you start again.

-Yep.

-Quite surprised you've actually put a dessert up to be honest,

just watching some of the things you were doing.

Yeah. You got through by the skin of your teeth, I think.

I agree, Chef.

I'm sure you've faced many fights before in your time, Aaron.

-Going to have to push in the next round.

-Yeah, I will improve.

-I'm sure you will.

-Thank you.

Having three people there, especially two chefs so high up -

being in that situation it was so, so daunting,

and I made simple mistakes I shouldn't have made.

And obviously it's things that I won't do again.

The final chef to face Monica's test is sous-chef Mark.

'I've been a sous-chef for about three years now.'

I work in North London, it's a gastro-pub.

My style is modern British,

but I like to branch out

and do different styles - French, Italian, Spanish...

My experience in a Michelin kitchen

was four years in a restaurant in Ilkley.

Well established, had a Michelin star for many years.

Very good head chef. It taught me a lot.

I'm very competitive, yeah.

As soon as I get into a situation where I have to compete,

I do get really, really into it and want to win.

-How you feeling? Nervous?

-Very nervous, yeah.

Why?

Obviously cooking for you guys is a real honour and privilege,

so I'm just looking forward to getting on with it.

So what I would like you to do today is to make an ile flottante,

and a caramel to decorate it with.

-OK.

-All right? You have 15 minutes.

Mark, you've had five minutes.

It's not whipping up enough. Need more sugar.

-You need more sugar?

-Maybe.

-No.

-What's the biggest enemy of a meringue?

Egg yolk water.

-And what was in there?

-Egg yolk.

Mark, you're not going to use this at all?

No.

No. So make it the best damn custard you've ever made.

Yeah, sure.

Whoa...!

You've got five minutes. You OK?

-Yeah, sure.

-Take a breath.

What were you going to do with the caramel?

It's firmed up too much.

-That's it?

-Yeah, sorry.

How you feeling?

Terrible.

Just really let myself down.

No caramel, no meringue.

It's a shame.

For me, it all went wrong when you cracked your eggs,

-and you knew it cos you TRIED to take some of that yolk out...

-Yeah.

Right, come on, let's try your custard.

It's got a great texture to it, it's slightly warm.

-Sweetness is good, and the vanilla's good as well.

-Yeah.

I'm glad we have a good bowl of custard.

I'm expecting a whole lot more in the next plate of food from you.

-Definitely.

-There is one thing though, Mark. The only way is up.

-It doesn't get any worse than this right now.

-Yeah.

So you HAVE got something to build on.

Mark - off you go. Thank you.

There were so many errors in there.

Whether he can get it together or not we'll see in the next round, but that was not great.

He really did lose it. He really did lose it.

HE SIGHS

I'm so gutted.

It's completely out of your comfort zone.

You just don't think clearly when it's like that.

Anyway...

Marcus... Your skills test now. What are you going to get them to do?

I'm going to ask them to cook us

a blue steak, with a green peppercorn sauce.

So a blue steak, from what I understand, is barely cooked.

It's practically raw. It's just sealed around the outside.

I've never, ever had a blue steak, ever.

-Really?

-Yeah. So I'm looking forward to this.

Right, 15 minutes.

Blue steak, peppercorn sauce -

please, show me how it's done.

We're just going to trim up the beef fillet,

so we're going to take off the fat and sinew around the outside.

All we're looking for is just the meat itself.

It's very important that we

try and keep the centre of the steak as red as possible.

Season your meat...

You want to get your pan nice and hot, a touch of vegetable oil.

I'm going to put in the little fat trimmings.

Cos we're going to be making the sauce from the pan.

I'm looking for the maximum flavour

out of all the ingredients that you're using.

The flavour of the sauce is coming from the extra flavour.

The most important thing is, when do you stop the cooking process,

when do you take it out of the pan and leave it on the side?

It's just basically till it's sealed.

As you can see already, a short period of time in the pan - it's already cooking.

And that's literally our blue steak cooked.

But the chef has to make sure that the meat in the centre is not cold.

It HAS to be warm.

There's nothing like eating meat that's already raw, but it's cold.

For the sauce, the shallots have to be cut beautifully.

I'm just looking for really nice knife skills.

So we take out our trimmings, pour off the excess fat.

Pan back on the stove. Crush that.

Sprigs of thyme. Rosemary...

They're going in whole, cos they're going to be lifted out later.

Same for the garlic as well.

A little bit of meat stock here, and I would like to see them

reduce it down so you get a good depth of flavour as well.

In with the shallots...

And some red wine vinegar to deglaze the pan.

There must be many different ways of making a peppercorn sauce.

There are - but it's making a GOOD peppercorn sauce.

It's being able to use everything, like Marcus has here.

I'd hate to see a chef come and just use the base reduction there.

I've got some green peppercorns.

The key to this is how much does the chef put in?

What they need to do is just put a little bit at a time

and just check it as they go along.

-The reduction's coming down to a nice glaze.

-That has really reduced.

How do they know when they've reduced it enough?

He, or she, has to be able to judge by sight.

Splash of cream....

Mmm...

But one of the things I'm looking for here is a beautiful rich, brown colour.

You can see the shine on the top is incredibly rich.

-And I like to finish my sauce with just a splash of brandy.

-Mmm...

See how many times I've been back to this pan?

Add a little bit, taste a little bit -

that's what I'm looking for in the chef.

Add, taste, add, taste.

It's actually got a blue tint to it.

That is exactly it. And that's why it's called blue steak.

That's so shiny, that sauce, I can see my face in it.

There's your blue steak on a green peppercorn sauce.

Yes!

Blue as it can be.

This is my first ever blue steak.

Delicious. Delicious.

The steak is the texture, that's it.

Little firmness on the outside, soft in the middle.

The flavour IS the sauce.

That is spot on.

The meat... It's still warm.

This is about care and attention.

I'm happy with it from YOU -

let's see how the contestants get on with it.

Yep, let's get 'em in.

- First up is 29-year-old Rebecca... - Hello!

who became a chef four years ago

after being spotted catering her mother-in-law's birthday.

I'm a head chef of

a village pub on the outskirts of York.

It's the only pub in the village.

I know the regulars really, really well.

I'm completely self-taught.

I've never had to work up the ranks of a brigade.

So I've come in at head chef.

So I'd like to know if I stand up as a head chef,

on my own, or whether or not I should go back and do some training!

This is the skills test.

How are you feeling?

Scared! Very scared.

I'm good, though.

This particular test was set by my friend Marcus.

OK..

I would like you to cook for us a blue steak...

-..and serve it with a peppercorn sauce.

-Have you done that before?

-I have.

-Great. Happy days.

Bad news is, I watched Marcus do this and I tasted it.

It was fantastic. You've got 15 minutes to recreate it. Off you go.

-Forgive me, what are the gloves for?

-I have a sensitivity to raw meat.

Any kind of meat juices can give me a rash on my hands,

-so I just have to be careful.

-OK.

Do you have a steak on your menu at the moment

and do people ask for it blue?

Blue is not that common, really, to be honest.

I would say medium rare is the favourite.

Blue always frightens me because someone who orders blue tends

to really know how they like their steaks, so...

-A bit like us, then.

-Yeah, pretty much.

-You've had five minutes, chef.

-How long do I have in total?

-Another ten.

Another ten?

What am I missing?

I think there's an important component I'm missing

-if I've got ten minutes left.

-You don't have to take 15 minutes.

OK, all right.

-And I don't have to use everything on the bench?

-No.

Right, OK, that makes me feel less scared, then.

-Stop shaking.

-I'm trying really hard to.

-Done.

-Five minutes to go, you're done?

-Yeah.

-OK.

Rebecca, there are a few things on your bench that you should've

been using. All the herbs, you've got the garlic,

but also the vinegar and the brandy.

-Brandy being a very important part of peppercorn sauce.

-Yeah.

-You know that.

-It's just the nerves, I think, yeah.

-I'm just a bit concerned that it may lack depth of flavour.

-Yeah.

Yep, that's not bad.

HE COUGHS

The heat that's in my mouth now is burning the back of my throat

and that's not a good thing.

When we're using a peppercorn, we really need to chop it down to

disperse the flavour gently through the sauce, rather than having

the bite of the peppercorn in the mouth, that's just pure heat

that sets your throat on fire.

The steak was lovely.

You did take it out in time, so it was still blue, however

you can see all the sinew where it should've been trimmed off.

The sauce, it is a real letdown.

I wanted the sauce that Marcus gave me when he made it.

-It's nothing like it.

-Thank you.

That was so infuriating.

It was possibly the best skill test I could've been given

and I completely fluffed it. I can't believe it.

Next up is 25-year-old Bobby from Billericay.

At the moment, I'm working as a sous-chef in a modern

international fine dining restaurant in Colchester.

We do, like, modern takes on Great British classics like modern

French classic dishes.

The buzz of the kitchen is just what keeps you in it.

You know, your heart is pounding every five minutes

you're in service.

A year and a half ago, I was cooking egg and bacon in a cafe

and now I'm presenting food that is probably AAA rosette standards.

It'll be a massive journey.

I am looking forward to showing off my skills, 100%.

It's just the right time, I just feel it's the right time.

Yeah, just going to go in big, big, big. Go big or you go home.

Bobby, the skills test I'd like you to do is cook us a blue steak

with a peppercorn sauce.

-Lovely.

-You've got 15 minutes. Off you go.

Because I'm cooking it blue,

I'm not going to have enough time to render down the fat, so I just want

to remove some of it so you're not going to get a high taste of fat.

-Where shall I put the...?

-There's bowls underneath.

Under there.

Where are you from, Bobby?

Essex, Essex boy, as you can tell by the tan. It's not real.

-Bobby, you're halfway. We've got seven and a half minutes left.

-Yep.

-I've just got to finish this steak off.

-Sauce done?

-Yep.

-All done?

-Yes.

Bit disappointed that you threw all the trimmings of the beef away.

You could've probably used them to make the sauce.

It's very blue. OK, and the sauce...

I've got a funny feeling I'm reading your mind right now.

Yeah, you definitely are, 100%. I think I'm reading yours, as well.

-What are you both saying? Oops?

-Yes.

I like the fact that you used the shallots,

the garlic and tried to impart more flavour into it, however,

I think the reduction stage was taken too far.

The meat, yes, it's lovely and blue

but it's lacking some seasoning from some salt and pepper on there.

It really does need it. It's so thick.

You were going the right way, you were doing the things

I watched Marcus doing, just not perfectly.

-Off you go.

-Thank you very much.

-Thanks, Bobby.

He has the swagger of a chef.

It would have been nice to have gone into the next round,

thinking I'd got all thumbs up, but these things happen.

Nerves got to me a little bit, I think,

but, yeah, just hope for the next round, good things.

The final chef to face Marcus's test is Lewis from Dundee.

I'm currently working as a chef lecturer

in a local college up in Arbroath.

We do everything from meats, fish, garnish, desserts -

quite an all-round package.

Currently my dream in the cooking world

is to be the best that I can be.

I would like the students that I'm teaching to have a good role model

so the better I can be, the better they learn.

Lewis, I'm going to give you 15 minutes to cook us

a blue steak with a peppercorn sauce.

-Done it before?

-Er, yeah.

-Go for it.

Where do you work, Lewis?

I actually teach the younger generation - chef lecturer.

I went to university and didn't complete the full year,

just left that and decided to go where my heart lies

and work with my hands.

-What were you doing at university?

-Psychology.

-Did you not question yourself?

-I did, yeah!

-You're halfway.

-Yes, Chef.

Very calm and collected there, Lewis.

-Measured approach.

-It's a front!

Not on the inside, definitely not.

-All done?

-All done.

-How did that go?

-Could have gone worse, it could have gone better.

-Well, that's sitting on the fence.

-Sitting on the fence, yeah.

I think you just lacked a little bit of energy in your cookery,

which, I think, shows here because I'm looking at a steak

that you've cut in half that would have been better served whole.

Not only that, it needed searing. It's a little bit bland looking.

Hmm.

Yep, that's good. It's nice. The sauce...

There's a lot of peppercorns there.

Lewis, the steak is cooked blue,

but the disappointing part about this is the lack of flavour

round the outside, the caramelisation,

and maybe even utilising this fat

into the pan to incorporate more flavour.

Yep.

The sauce is a real shame because once you take

the peppercorn into your mouth, you cannot taste anything else.

Knowing chefs as I do,

I think you're probably going to be disappointed with yourself.

Be nice to see you kick it up in the next round.

-Definitely.

-Off you go!

-Thank you.

-Thanks, Lewis.

Nearly got there. I don't reckon he was as calm as he made out.

'The impression I made on the judges was probably a wee bit too calm.'

I think they're needing to see a bit more get up and go

and oomph from me, which I definitely have.

That was our first skills test, our first six chefs

and, actually, I think the standard wasn't bad.

It's never easy to walk into here and a few of them,

-the nerves have affected them today.

-But it's the start.

There's still another round to go.

Who knows what these guys can come up with next?

Absolutely and I'm looking forward to it.

You've now got a taste of what the MasterChef competition is like.

Now what we want from you is a signature dish.

I'd like to think the nerves are out of the way.

You're familiar with the kitchen.

The ingredients in front of you are your choice.

It's your dish and it's all about you now.

At the end of this, three of you are going home.

One hour 15 minutes - off you go, chefs.

'I don't think I did very well in the skills test.'

I just can't wait to get my dishes on and show what I'm all about.

'It means a lot to impress them because this is my life.'

I couldn't do anything else cos I'm rubbish at DIY and that

and the only thing I can do is cooking.

-Why are you a chef?

-By fluke.

When I was 16, my mum applied for me to be a florist

so I went in to be a florist

and got the CVs mixed up so I ended up being a chef.

Sam, what are you cooking for us today?

So I'm cooking stone bass, textures of cauliflower and pickled grapes.

It's not over-complicated, but it's a nice tasting dish and it's fresh.

Is it a dish that's on your menu at work or have you made it

-especially for us?

-Especially for you.

-Are you confident?

-Yes, very confident.

-You had a good first round.

-Let's hope you keep up the good work.

-Thank you.

Sam's cooking a stone bass...

..that he's going to fill with a scallop mousse.

He's also going to be layering the top of the fish with some potato.

He's got to keep an eye on the potato.

He can't afford to burn it cos when it's burnt,

it's a disaster and I'd like to see it nice and crisp.

He's serving his dish with three textures of cauliflower,

which sounds wonderful.

He's doing roasted...

..caramelised...

..and shaved...

..and it's all about getting the textures right on this plate.

My signature dish is a crowd-pleaser.

It's sticky, sweet, yummy - it's good traditional cooking

so I need to execute it in a way that shows my skill and technique

and get it perfect

because there's no room to hide behind such a simple dish.

-What are you doing for us?

-I am making a sticky toffee pudding.

Between Gregg and I, we have had amazing sticky toffee puddings.

This has got to be absolutely amazing.

It's going to have a molten centre with some tuiles

-and Calvados apples as well.

-Calvados apples?

I'm trying to make it a bit more grown up

so they're poached in a Calvados and apple juice.

Why would you choose to do a sticky toffee pudding in a round like this?

Because pastry's what I love

and also it's my little boys' favourite pudding.

-How old's your little boy?

-My boys are three and 17 months.

-This is his favourite dessert?

-Well, not with the Calvados apples!

Right, right. Nothing wrong with that, start 'em young!

Rebecca's talking about a molten centre

inside the sticky toffee pudding

so as you cut into it, there should be a caramel centre.

This sounds wonderful.

She's really going to have to pull off a fantastic dessert

to get herself through to the quarterfinal.

55 minutes left.

The judges have definitely not seen me at my best yet.

'I know what I need to do.'

Head down, move fast, produce a good plate of food

that hopefully they'll all like and bring myself back up.

So, what are you making for us, Lewis?

The dish I'm going to do today is squab pigeon.

I'm serving it with some morel mushrooms, asparagus,

some crispy potatoes in duck fat

and mixed mushroom sauce to go over the top and an asparagus puree.

-It's a very expensive dish.

-It's an expensive dish.

I only get the one opportunity to come here.

-What would it feel like to go through?

-Absolutely amazing.

-A dream, an absolute dream.

-Would you swagger into the classroom?

Certainly not, no.

I'd tell everybody to be quiet and let's get on with the lesson.

Lewis has got a point to prove.

He's making it a pigeon dish, which he's going to pan fry,

pan roast into the oven...

..serving it with asparagus puree.

He's got morels, which he's going to mix through with the fresh peas.

We know all those flavours will work together,

but I suppose it's all down to the skill of the chef.

I'm going to do my best to claw it back after my first round.

I have to change the judges' opinions, otherwise I'm going home.

Mark, it's fair to say you didn't have the best of starts

-to this competition, did you, mate?

-I certainly didn't, no.

Absolute shocker! I wished a hole would have swallowed me up,

it was horrific. I need to prove to you guys

that I can actually cook some food.

-Signature dish time.

-Yep.

-What is the title of your dish?

I'm going to do a roast lamb rump with braised lamb breast

and then I'm going to do that with some Jerusalem artichoke puree

with baby artichokes and then I'm going to do some peas

-and broad beans just to sort of liven it up.

-Is this your food?

Yeah, my creation. It's elements which I've used before.

How much do you want one of the people going through to be you?

More than anything. I would absolutely love it.

I just want to see this competition through as much as I can.

So, going home now after this dish would be pretty tough for you.

Heartbreaking, yeah. I'd be absolutely gutted.

And you'll never forget floating island

-ever again for the rest of your life, will you?

-Never again.

Mark's signature dish is going to be a roasted lamb rump...

.. with braised belly, Jerusalem artichoke puree

and some roasted artichokes.

I'm also looking for a good sauce as well,

getting the consistency correct.

This is a dish that's crying out for a good lamb sauce.

He can't afford to mess this up.

You have 25 minutes left, just 25.

My dish has sort of taken over my life for the past sort of month.

With all the elements that I'm doing, I'm pushing myself,

very much so. It's going to be a close one.

I really hope it works, I really hope it works.

-You in control?

-Calmer is probably the best word to say, yeah.

-The shaking's stopped, thank God.

-What's the dish?

I thought I would do my own take on a mixed grill.

I'm going to cook three meats three ways.

I'm going to do a quail, a stuffed pork tenderloin

-and a smoked beef fillet.

-OK, how is all this going to come together?

What's going to make this the one dish?

I'm serving it with a burnt shallot puree,

which goes with all three meats.

-I'm doing it with a smoked tomato chutney as well.

-Right.

I just want to show you something you haven't had before.

-Different for the right reasons.

-Hopefully.

This dish, have you tried it on customers or...

Girlfriend has tried it, she loves it.

She's going to love it, isn't she?

I'm happy with the dish. I just hope you guys are.

So he's going to give us a glazed quail,

a blue cheese-stuffed loin of pork...

..and a smoked fillet of beef.

That's a lot going on with Bobby's dish.

Blue cheese with the pork?

My goodness me, that is a very, very big flavour.

He says his girlfriend loves this dish - I hope we do too.

'It'll mean a lot to impress. They're at the top of their field.'

They are like God to me so it'd be really good to impress them.

Aaron, you didn't have the best of starts, did you?

I was completely out of my comfort zone,

but I'm here to improve on that and show you that I can cook.

Tell me, what are you cooking for us?

Pan-fried duck breast with textures of pearl barley,

peach, pickled red cabbage.

This is not a dish that you've cooked in your job

because you just can't do it for that many people.

We only get £2.86 per person for four meals per day

so the budget does not allow me to do that sort of thing.

If you go through to the quarterfinal, how will you feel?

Ecstatic. Over the moon.

But I do realise that I've got a lot of weaknesses

-that I do need to improve on.

-Aaron, good luck with this, mate.

-Looking forward to the duck.

-OK, thank you very much. Thank you.

'He's cooking for us a duck breast,'

serving it with pickled red cabbage...

..roasted peaches...

..and textures of pearl barley.

Of course, the most important part of cooking of the duck breast

is that he renders the fat down really well.

And, of course, the textures of pearl barley -

very important that they're cooked enough.

Aaron's got a lot to prove to us. His dish has got to be spot on.

Last five minutes.

We've got a great mix of dishes here.

We've got a dessert going on,

we've got three types of meat on another plate.

We've got the most expensive ingredient of the season on another.

All these dishes really are a true statement

of what these chefs are like.

Last 60 seconds.

Time's up.

-You all right?

-Yeah, good, yeah.

-I feel like a weight has just been lifted. Well done, mate.

-Thanks.

-Well done, mate.

-Mine collapsed. It's an absolute nightmare.

Right, you've all worked very hard.

We are now very, very keen to sample your dishes.

Sam, would you like to come and join us?

First up is Sam.

He's made a stone bass fillet layered with scallop puree

and crusted potato.

It's served with cauliflower three ways -

roasted, shavings and a puree -

crispy capers and pickled grapes.

Presentation is good.

You've got a really nice colour on top of the fish there.

-It's a very nicely presented dish.

-Thank you.

-I think you've done a really good job there.

-Thank you.

The fish has a huge amount of flavour,

more than actually I was expecting.

I've just realised you've got the scallop puree,

just underneath the potato, which is not an easy thing to do

and it's really enhanced the dish

and I can tell that you've seasoned during the cooking process,

which is what I really like.

And the potato on top is crunchy.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

The roasted cauliflower, for me,

has got that beautiful caramelisation

and it brings this dish together.

The puree is so well seasoned. It's so smooth, it's silky, it's lovely.

I think the grapes only just work

because there's not too many on the plate.

-I think you've done a strong round again.

-Thank you.

-It's gone rather swimmingly, isn't it, Sam?

-It is.

I think it's a lovely dish.

What I particularly like is how well you've cooked the fish.

We're not looking for perfection today, just some good cookery

and I think you've done it on both counts.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

-Well done.

'I feel ecstatic at the minute.'

Marcus Wareing, two Michelin star chef,

just gave us feedback like that.

It's just amazing. I couldn't be any happier.

Rebecca, it's pudding time. Up you come, please.

Rebecca has made sticky toffee pudding with Calvados apples,

a pecan brittle, a tuile, candied dates and a toffee sauce.

You were supposed to be giving us

a sticky toffee pudding with an oozy inside.

Yeah, but the oozy's now on the outside.

It's something that I've done so many times.

I thought, "Is it too simple? No, I'm going to do it cos I can do it."

And it's just sod's law, but, hey-ho...

The sticky toffee, I really like it. I really, really like it.

-Thank you.

-And I'd eat that all on my own, just that pudding.

-Presentation you can work on.

-Yeah.

I really quite like the sauce.

It's incredibly sweet, but we'd expect that.

The apple is there on the side,

it adds a nice little bit of tanginess to this dish.

It's almost good home cookery, isn't it?

It's what every boy would want his mum to make.

-However, it's a bit of a mess.

-Yeah.

-It just isn't very cheffy.

-Right, Rebecca, here you are.

-Thank you very much. Thank you.

'It was nowhere near where I wanted it to be.

'It wasn't at the standard I know I can do,'

but the feedback was surprisingly nice.

I thought they were going to refuse to eat it.

Lewis's squab pigeon is served with asparagus, morel mushrooms,

potato discs, broad beans, shavings of truffle,

fermented black garlic, an asparagus puree and a mushroom stock.

Lewis, the bird's raw. It really is raw.

I find the puree, it's very grainy. It's not a nice puree.

The sauce lacks a real depth of flavour.

I'm really disappointed with this dish.

It's not a good dish from you today, Lewis.

It lacks seasoning in areas, it lacks depth in areas.

I think, fundamentally, we need to focus on the main event,

which is the pigeon. It's raw

and you should have done something about that

before you put it onto the plate.

-OK.

-Do you think perhaps you did too much?

I agree, yeah, a wee bit off on timings.

I should have got the bird on a wee bit earlier.

Yeah, no, I agree.

-Righto, Lewis, thank you.

-Thank you.

Thank you.

'A lot of fatal errors, not even minor mistakes

'so I've let myself down.'

I feel like it's an excellent opportunity blown.

Mark has made roast rump of lamb with braised lamb belly.

It's accompanied by artichoke fondants, baby artichokes

and a Jerusalem artichoke puree served with a lamb sauce.

It looks like a hearty lamb dish. I would want to eat that.

-It looks nice.

-Thank you.

-Right, can we?

Mark...

..the rump of lamb is still lovely and pink.

It's nicely cooked, it's nicely seasoned.

The belly, for me, is delicious, absolutely delicious.

The puree is lovely and smooth. Some great skills here.

Mark, I think you've redeemed yourself from the skills test.

The braised belly is delicious and, without a doubt,

that has enhanced the sauce

in such a way that it's a nice, deep, big sauce.

If anything, I would have liked to have seen a few more beans.

I think we really are picking holes with this dish.

-Thank you.

-Good job, well done.

The belly is just superb.

It's just melting and it's the sort of stuff that you want

to pick up with your fingers. Not bad, mate.

'I'd like to think that I've shown as a chef'

that I can come back from being knocked down.

Yeah, absolutely brilliant.

Really, really happy, I feel completely relieved.

Bobby's version of a mixed grill is a smoked beef fillet,

honey-glazed quail and a pork loin stuffed with sage and blue cheese.

They're served with fondant potatoes, charred baby lettuce,

burnt shallot puree and a smoked tomato chutney.

Bobby, the mixed grill plate, it's a main course?

Yeah, it is a bit too small, I think.

But in saying that, it's very light presentation.

Bobby, this dish doesn't work at all.

All right.

And I think you're trying to be different

for the sake of being different and that's not a clever thing to do.

It's all confused.

Underseasoning of the vegetables, the potato, the lettuce,

the blue cheese doesn't work on this dish.

The slight smokiness on the beef is quite nice,

it's not overpowering, I thought it'd be a lot bigger.

But that's about it, Bobby, for me. I think you're just trying too hard.

Bobby, I really wanted to like this dish. I really wanted to.

You're a young, keen, eager chef.

But to be different, it's got to be outstanding.

The smoking of the beef is very light on there, it's not too strong.

I thought you balanced that really well.

Yes, you've got a lovely loin of pork there still pink,

but there's not a gram of seasoning on it.

-All you can taste is sage.

-No, I know.

You've let your cheffiness just run wild with you.

As a customer, I ain't going to order a dish

that's got beef, pork and quail on it.

'I don't feel great.

'It could have gone a lot better.

'I tried too hard to impress.

'Maybe I should have just stuck with something I knew,'

that I was confident in, that I knew I could deliver.

It just didn't work for me today.

Aaron's dish is pan-fried duck breast with pearl barley,

roasted peaches, carrot and peach puree

topped with pickled red cabbage.

It's very bright. Does it capture your eye for the right reasons?

For me, no.

The duck itself is raw.

It's not had enough time in the pan or in the oven.

The peaches don't really have a place on this dish

and there's not enough pickled cabbage.

I thought the cabbage was going to be a main event.

The dish doesn't work together, I'm sorry.

From a professional chef, it really does make me scratch my head.

-It gets me confused.

-Monica and Marcus are finding huge holes.

However, I like peach and duck. It's new to me.

You've got some nice ideas,

but I don't believe you have a great deal of cooking at high-end,

which is hardly surprising.

It's why I've come here - to take on your criticism,

show me where I'm going wrong and things I can improve in.

-Thank you, Aaron.

-Thank you very much.

'I feel disappointed in myself. I think the pressure got to me.'

It's been a steep learning curve.

Thank you very much, chefs, you've put a lot into these two tests.

Your work now is over. Our hard work is about to begin.

We have to decide which of you

are going through to the quarterfinal

and which of you are leaving us.

Thank you, chefs, off you go.

I think the standard is pretty high in parts.

Certainly the nerves that we expected,

but I'm quite excited about a couple of these.

There's been ups and downs, but I think, overall,

I feel very happy with this.

A few of them had a point to prove, a couple of them really did that

so I'm pleased that we've got a couple of good chefs here today.

I think Sam stands out head and shoulders above everyone else.

He did both challenges very, very well.

He delivered two fantastic dishes.

-This is the beginning of a great journey for him.

-Sam goes through?

A close runner-up on the signature dish, for me, was Mark.

He's completely and utterly messed up in the skills test,

but the quality of his lamb dish was impossible to ignore.

-It was great.

-Mark's lamb belly was fantastic.

That whole dish came together beautifully well.

I think he did a really good job.

We've got two in. I'd now like to talk about

contestants I think need to leave the competition.

I think Aaron was incredibly brave to come to the MasterChef kitchen

with his knowledge of cookery. It's just not his day.

-Aaron goes?

-I think so.

Now, I really don't know what to do about Bobby, Lewis and Rebecca.

The reason why we liked Rebecca's main element of the dessert

is cos it was comfort food. It's something you cook at home.

It's not fine dining, it's not cutting edge.

It is something very simple and even that wasn't done correctly.

If you're going to do something like a sticky toffee pudding,

it's got to be good. You can't afford to have mistakes

if that's what you're going to do and she did mess it up.

I would love to be a quarterfinalist,

but I do think that I'm probably a bit of a wild card

for the judges to put through. I have got something there.

Whether or not I get the chance to show it is up to the judges.

I think there's definitely an interesting point about Bobby.

He's keen, confident, probably a little bit overconfident,

but that's not bad.

What concerns me is his understanding of the ingredients

and I think sometimes more and more and more does not make a great dish.

Can he rein himself back? What more has he got?

I want to stay in the competition loads.

I'd be gutted to go out so early.

But I haven't delivered today so I can't act surprised if I do.

Lewis is a chef who chose possibly

the most expensive ingredients here today,

yet did not do it any justice.

He served a raw pigeon and an underwhelming sauce.

Yes, there was errors, but I think with Lewis,

there could be something to build on.

He seems to have more experience.

I wouldn't have believed the amount of pressure here today.

If I'd got to grips with the pressure,

I would have had a much better result.

What I would ask you is you've got three chefs there

that have made mistakes.

Who is likely to eradicate the mistakes going into the next round?

I never thought that, at this stage, this would be so tough.

Well done, all six of you.

We do admire the hard work you put into this.

We also understand how nerve-wracking it can be

coming into the MasterChef kitchen for the first time.

We have made our decision -

three of you are going through to the quarterfinal.

The first chef leaving the competition is...

-..Aaron.

-OK.

-Thank you, Aaron.

'Obviously, I'm gutted.

'I don't think I showed my best cooking today.'

Nerves got the better of me, unfortunately,

but it is what it is on the day.

Our second chef leaving the competition...

..Rebecca.

'Disappointing, but I'm not at all surprised.'

It's been amazing, completely, start to finish,

even though it's been short and sweet.

And the third chef that is leaving us is...

..Lewis.

I'm not happy with the performance today.

But I'll take away from it the experience

and the learning curve that we've had and I really enjoyed it.

Quarterfinalists!

'The day's been fantastic.

'I couldn't have pictured it any better.'

I'll have a couple of shandies tonight, yeah.

'I certainly did have to pull it out of the bag.'

I knew it was do or die, basically.

It's going to be all guns blazing now, it has to be.

So relieved. I'm so grateful to be given a second chance.

I don't think I've felt like this for a long, long while.

It's fantastic, absolutely fantastic.