Episode 10 MasterChef: The Professionals

It's the last week of the professional MasterChef heats.

And these six chefs believe they have what it takes

to earn the last few quarterfinal places.

Tonight, they face two challenges set by judge Gregg Wallace

and two of Britain's best chefs,

Monica Galetti and Michelin-starred Marcus Wareing.

Being up against all these other top chefs in the country

is quite daunting. It's all unknown.

I believe in my food so let's hope the judges do as well.

I'm excited to meet our chefs

and see what talent we're going to uncover.

I hope they can enjoy it, relax and serve some fantastic food.

This is the skills test. We're going to see your skill test in a moment.

Marcus, we start with you.

Lovely looking fish - what do you want them to do with it?

I would like them to fillet a whole plaice, steam one portion

-and serve it with a mushroom cream sauce.

-Why steam it?

Monica, I don't know if you'd agree,

but I've never had a cream sauce

-with a pan-fried piece of fish before.

-Very rarely.

It's a wonderful way to cook a fish

and it's going to keep it very moist.

-Oh, if this goes well, this is going to be a cracking lunch for me.

-Mmm!

-Can you show me how to do it?

-Sure.

In this steaming pot,

we have our already made fish stock cos this is going to be

used for the base of our sauce, but I want to add into it,

though, half a lemon, a couple of bay leaves, a sprig of thyme,

shallot...

..lemon grass, fennel.

Obviously the chefs are going to come in,

they're going to see the steaming basket. I wonder, though,

if they are going to use those ingredients to enhance the stock.

Well, that's the test. The ingredients are there.

It's up to them. So, now I'm going to start to fillet the plaice.

The most important thing is here we're looking for knife skills,

making sure that they cut around the head

and that they're filleting the fish properly.

I think you two are going to get really upset

if they start to hack about with this fish.

That's not going to happen.

That they're not going to hack about with it

-or you're not going to get upset?

-Both!

When we come to the fillets, take your knife,

gently angling your knife along the skin.

There's no pressure on my knife at all. The knife's doing all the work.

-Seems relatively simple.

-Mmm.

-For a trained chef.

So, let's put them into our steamer.

These we'll steam for probably about three minutes.

So, now that they're steaming away,

I'm going to start to make the sauce.

So, a little chopped shallot.

Just a few mushrooms.

I'm just going to put a little bit of white wine.

-My stock, again, that's got added flavour now.

-Oh, that's incredible!

That's incredible!

I'm going to watch very closely how they make this sauce

because they could approach this in loads of different ways.

You've got to use common sense, really.

You don't want to see them fill that pan up with lots of stock,

it's going to take 15 minutes to reduce down.

Take this liquid and pass it out.

A drop of cream.

-You've reduced that right down.

-Yep. So, the mushrooms in.

While that's just slightly cooking down,

I'm going to bring over my steamed plaice. How do you know it's cooked?

Well, that's just down to the chef's experience.

You just have to touch it.

There we have our steamed plaice with a white wine mushroom sauce.

-Would you like to taste?

-You try stopping me!

The fish is so delicate, but it's not being overpowered

by the cream sauce and the cream sauce has got so much flavour in it.

I'm hoping for their sake and my sake that they can accomplish this.

-Shall we get them in and have a look?

-Definitely, let's get them in.

First up is sous chef Scott.

I'm currently working in a three-rosette fine dining restaurant

and hotel in Hertfordshire.

I've been working here seven and a half years now.

I've worked my way up slowly over the years.

It's the best job I've ever had.

And the food's really good.

I've become a chef because of my mum.

She thinks she's a better cook than she is.

So I wanted to cook for her.

I'm going to give it my best shot

and hopefully the judges will like my food.

-Hello, Scott.

-Hello.

-Welcome to MasterChef.

-Thank you very much.

-Right, this is the skills test.

-Yep.

What I'd like you to do for us is fillet the whole plaice

-and steam me one portion.

-Yeah.

-And serve that with a mushroom white wine cream sauce.

-Right.

Have you done that before?

-Yes, it's been a while, but, yeah.

-You've got 20 minutes.

-OK.

Off you go.

-You've got those fillets off in just over 60 seconds, chef.

-Thank you.

You feeling less nervous now?

I'm still shaking a bit and my heart's going so, yeah,

I am nervous.

Would you let us in on your plan, please, Scott?

So, yeah, I'm going to make a sauce

with the mushrooms, shallots, a little bit of white wine.

How long you going to cook that fish for?

I'm going to give it about four or five minutes.

What are you doing there? Are you just reducing down the stock?

Yeah, reducing the fish stock

-just to intensify the flavour of it.

-Yeah.

-What's going to happen next?

-I'm going to add the cream.

-Scott, you've got three minutes left, please.

-Perfect.

-All done with a couple of minutes to spare.

-Yeah.

You do know that Gregg eats quite a lot and that's a small portion?

That's a mouthful for him!

Anyway, you approached the fish with a huge amount of competence,

which was really good to see.

Very well filleted with speed and then skimmed and trimmed.

With your sauce, I'm looking for layers of flavour

so for your steaming, you used the fish stock

and you used that as your sauce

-because I personally wouldn't waste all those ingredients in water.

-Yep.

Guys, you try and I'll just smell it.

THEY LAUGH

Scott, not a bad effort.

The fish, surprisingly, has not overcooked

cos it was there for a hell of a long time

and it's a great attempt from you.

-I look forward to seeing a bit more from you, Scott.

-Thank you.

It's a very nice, light-flavoured fish dish,

but I, just as a chef, am looking for more layers

and I'd like you to incorporate more flavours within your food.

I really like it, I love the textures.

However, that sauce has nowhere near the depth of flavour

that Marcus's dish had, I have to say.

-But that's a pretty good start, chef.

-Thank you.

We cook tasting menus, though.

We're having ten courses and I guess that was just my thought,

that I just want to give them

a nice square piece of fish with a bit of sauce on top.

I'm going to get hammered for that, aren't I?

Next is senior sous chef Jamie.

My career started in London and I moved up when I was 18

and worked in a Michelin-starred kitchen for two years,

then I moved back down to Devon

and gained the knowledge I know now today.

Being a professional chef means everything to me.

I work on my days off, I work all hours under the sun

and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I've just moved into a new property with my girlfriend

and I have to have my own room due to the amount of cookbooks

and cooking stuff I actually have.

I feel MasterChef is the best competition out there for chefs

so I thought it was time to take on this challenge

and see if I could do well in this one.

-You all right, Jamie?

-Good, thanks.

-This is a skills test.

-Done any fish work before?

-Yep.

-Sauce making?

-Yep.

Well, you should be all right, then. 20 minutes - off you go.

That's working, chef, isn't it?

How many fish do you fillet in the course of a day?

On an average day, we do ten types of fish to prep.

You've stumbled on the right skills test, my friend.

Hopefully!

You've got ten minutes left to steam the fish and make the sauce.

-Cooked?

-Yep.

-Come on, then.

-You done?

-Yep.

For a chef who deals with a lot of fish on a day to day basis,

your filleting surprises me.

There's just too much waste on the bone

and too much waste in the bowl from the fish itself.

This is the attention to detail we're looking for, OK?

The sauce, for me, is a very strong reduction,

but the mushrooms that you used in the base,

there just wasn't enough of it to impart any mushroom flavour.

It's a mushroom sauce - you want to taste mushroom.

-The fish is lovely, but this sauce is far too liquid.

-Yep.

The good thing about it is the fish is nicely cooked,

-but, for me, that's all.

-Yep.

I know he made mistakes, but I actually think he's competent.

The pressure was immense in there.

At the start, I did some little rookie mistakes,

leaving too much fish on there. Can't we just do it all again?

Just cut it and start again?

The final chef to face Marcus's test is Iain from Scotland.

I'm currently working in a family-run restaurant in Linlithgow.

It's my first head chef job

and it is very different from anything that I've done before.

It's a lot more challenging. I've got a lot more responsibility.

I used to get up to a little bit of mischief when I was at school

so I left school, became a chef and I learned respect.

I think, for most chefs,

I think the skills test kind of puts the fear into them.

My dream scenario would probably be fish prep.

I'm fairly confident

that I'd be able to overcome something like that.

-Welcome to MasterChef.

-Thank you.

-How does that look?

-Good.

-Good?

Iain, you've got 20 minutes - off you go.

Tell us your plan.

Well, I'm going to put some aromats into the water

while I'm steaming it and I'm going to cook a portion of the fish

and then I'm going to go into

-making the mushroom sauce straight after.

-Righto.

-Iain, you've got just four minutes left.

-Right.

That's enough, isn't it?

Should be, yeah.

-Done?

-Chef.

Filleting a fish from tail to head is completely the wrong way.

-OK, Chef.

-A fish is filleted from head to tail.

There are a few other points - the garnishes on the left-hand side

were there for the steaming, including the fish stock

of which I would like you to have used that fish stock

in the steamer for your sauce. Yes, Chef.

And then the stock and white wine wasn't reduced far enough.

The fish is overcooked. There's no depth in the sauce.

It is just wet and quite boring, really.

Yes, Chef.

Yeah, Iain, I think we've covered it.

The processes and the way this was gone about

is clearly reflected in the dish. It's not great.

-Let's hope you do better in the next round.

-I will, promise.

I think he knows his mistakes.

-Gahhhh!

-I think he'll come back, I do.

Er, not so good.

What I'm dreading is looking back on the TV

and having Monica look at me like that.

Monica, your turn. What are you going to get the chefs to do?

-I would like the chefs to make a crepe suzette.

-Yes!

A crepe suzette is a crepe or pancake that's served

with an orange caramel sauce. It's normally served flambeed at the end.

Sounds simple, but, as we know, nothing's simple in this kitchen.

-How long have they got to do this?

-15 minutes.

Right, crepe suzette, one of my favourites. Off you go, Monica.

So the first thing that I'm going to do is make my crepe batter up.

I have some plain flour

and they have to make this recipe up on their own

just by judging the amount of flour to liquid.

Everyone makes pancakes at home,

we don't necessarily need a recipe with it.

Some sugar.

These recipes are the sort of thing your mum used to do.

-She used to throw it together.

-Mums do, don't they?

-They just throw it together.

-I guess I picked it up from my mum, then.

What consistency do you want?

You want it quite runny, the mix,

because you're not wanting very thick pancakes here.

Right, so now my mix is made, I'm going to cook my crepes up.

It'd be really interesting to see the chefs

that actually come in here on their first dish and flip the pancake.

Are you going to flip, Monica?

No, it's too much pressure for me to flick.

I flick with my daughter, though.

So, now I'm just making sure it's a lovely, light,

golden colour on the pancakes.

And now I'm going to make the sauce. I've got some sugar.

I'm going to turn this up to a high heat

and I want to caramelise this sugar.

So, to this, I'm going to add a knob of butter.

Let that emulsify and, being very careful, in goes the orange juice.

So you can see the sauce consistency

is coming really lovely there, Gregg.

The juice has reduced down

so, at this point, I'm going to add my liqueur.

Just flambe, burn off the alcohol

and now I'm adding the crepes back into the sauce

and I want it completely coated through in that sauce.

Mmm!

This is the classic way that it's served.

And then just finishing it off with the fresh oranges

that have just been dropped back into the sauce.

There you have it - crepes suzette.

-One!

-One each, Gregg, one each.

That was hell, waiting for these to be cooked.

That is SO satisfying.

With the balance of the sugar and the alcohol

and the orange juice, it makes the whole dish come together.

I think it's really good, a great challenge.

I now know what a perfect one should taste like.

Shall we get the chefs in, see what they make of it?

First up is cookery teacher Helen.

I currently work at a vegetarian cookery school

in the centre of Bath.

I turned vegetarian at ten,

but I always wanted to be a chef,

although I think I always considered myself an artist first.

So it's a great career because I can use that artistry.

I'm quite nervous about Marcus and Monica tasting my food.

With Gregg, I think it's going to be OK.

I'm completely obsessed by sweet things so I think we'll match there.

-Welcome to professional MasterChef.

-Thank you.

-This look good to you?

Yeah, so far.

-You have 15 minutes to make us crepes suzette.

-OK.

-Off you go.

So you were just having a quick test there with the first one?

Yeah, to make sure the thickness is right.

You've done this before.

It's more challenging while shaking, though.

-Are you shaking?

-A little bit.

I look up every now and then and remember where I am.

It's like, "Ooh!"

Look up again.

-ALL:

-Ooh!

What's not quite right with these pancakes, Helen?

Oh, too thick and just cooked too slowly.

You've got five minutes left.

-What's going on, Helen?

-Oh, I'm just not liking the way it's...

If you're going to keep this going,

we're not going to have much pancakes.

You've got to make the sauce as well and you're running out of time.

There, there!

Right, Helen, you've got just two minutes left now.

No, it's not going to work, sorry.

You've only got a minute left.

20 seconds left.

Go on, get it on, get it on, get it on.

-Right, OK?

-God!

Sorry about that. Wow! A bit of a pancake crash, really.

-Yeah.

-Look, Helen, I think after the second attempt

where it went wrong, you then lost your cool.

-Yeah.

-Then burnt it, then the pan next to you started smoking.

Making the sauce, you had everything ready to go,

but then you threw it out in the last minute

and yet still managed to flambe some kind of sauce in the end, Helen.

Oh, Helen, because it was rushed,

the oranges are still quite under, you know. It's almost there.

It was so rushed, though, it's a real shame.

Helen, I think this is a rubbery pancake, an orange sauce

and some orange segments.

And that's all it is.

I don't think it's a write-off. I think you know how to do it.

I think if we let you have another go, you'd be absolutely fine.

I really do.

I'm really disappointed in myself, really gutted.

Out of all the skills tests it could have been, I was really

hoping for a sweet one and, yeah, I just completely screwed it up.

I didn't show what I could do at all.

Next up is 23-year-old Karl.

I'm head chef at a gastropub in Henlow.

Been a head chef for about 18 months.

Guys, check on - small mussel, pigeon, sea trout and venison.

ALL: Yes, Chef!

A lot of people do see me as quite young. I look quite young, as well,

but I think if you work hard enough, age doesn't really come into it.

There's loads of things I love about being a chef.

I just don't think you get the buzz from any other job.

I could never sit behind a desk because I fidget too much.

Service, please.

I was so looking forward to starting on MasterChef

and I'm hoping the excitement will overcome the fear, sort of thing!

Karl, what I would like you to make today is a crepe suzette.

-Yep.

-Do you know what that is?

Yeah... It's, um...orange and... pancakes.

You've got the gist of it.

-15 minutes.

-OK.

-Good luck.

What are you up to, Karl, with the orange juice?

I'm bringing it up to the boil and I going to get some

sugar in their and then I'm going to whisk the butter into it.

-You're halfway, all right? Seven and a half minutes left.

-Yep.

-What's happened?

-I've... I've burnt the pancake.

Hey!

Done?

-How was that, Karl?

-Um, it was a bit nerve wracking. Um...

I obviously burnt two crepes. I had to redo them.

It could have gone a lot better, I think.

I'm actually quite curious how it's going to taste.

There's so much egg in this mix. There was no sugar, as well, Chef.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

Then the pan-frying of the orange segments in oil, um...

Hm.

Right. Come on, let's...

-That's not a pancake, that's more like an omelette.

-Mm.

You were meant to make a caramel. You did not do that.

It's wishy-washy runny orange juice on a plate.

If it was served to me I'd send it back and I wouldn't come back again.

Best you can do is draw a line under this, forget about it,

make sure you come out and really fire into your own dish.

-Yeah.

-Lift that chin up, OK, and lift those shoulders.

-You're a chef, a head chef.

-Yep. Thank you.

Like, Sunday we did 500 covers and that felt easy compared to that.

Oh, it was a nightmare.

The final chef to face Monica's test is Mark,

who has spent six years working in Michelin-starred kitchens.

I'm currently the joint head chef

with my partner at a restaurant in Worcestershire.

The things I love about being a chef is being creative.

It's an art. The plate is your canvas.

All good chefs have to have a passion, drive, enthusiasm.

Service!

Because the hours are crazy, you lose your friends...

It's such a hard industry to come into,

but if you've got the drive, the passion and enthusiasm, I think...

you'll fly.

Welcome to MasterChef, Mark.

You have to make us some crepes and serve it with a suzette sauce.

Lovely.

Off you go, 15 minutes.

Good luck, mate.

Mark, tell me, what level of kitchen were you working in before?

I've worked in a few one-stars

-and I was also working in a two Michelin-star.

-OK.

SIZZLING

What are you doing now, Mark?

I'm just pouring my orange juice into my caramel,

to flavour the caramel.

You're half way. You've got seven and a half minutes left.

Yep, thank you.

-How many pancakes are you making?

-I'm making one for each of you.

Aww!

Happy, Gregg?

Do you want two?

-Are you done?

-Yes.

-Mark, the sauce, you tried to flambe it from cold. It doesn't work.

-OK.

-It needs that heat behind it.

-Yeah, OK.

But I love the fact that you added the zest into it, as well.

Thank you.

-I thought that was a good attempt, Mark.

-Thank you.

It would have been nice maybe to see the pancakes go

-back into the sauce to absorb it.

-OK.

-But I think overall it's a very, very good attempt.

-Thank you.

The caramel, the orange, has come together very well.

It's a very good sauce.

-I love the flavour. I find the sauce a little too thick.

-OK.

But, hey, for a skills test, first challenge on MasterChef, I think

you can be quietly pleased with yourself.

Thank you.

-Nervous when he came in, but very competent.

-Yeah.

I am pleased that...that this first challenge is out of the way.

It is a good start to the competition,

so just see what happens in the next round.

We put these skills tests together to get an idea of what

level our chefs are cooking at.

Sometimes you think that the difficult tests

are going to trip them over

and some of them come running through and shine through it,

and the simple tasks seem to trip some people over.

But there's still another round to go.

There's a number of chefs here that really, really interest me,

that I really want to see what their signature dish is made of.

This round is where it really counts.

This is your food, the dish you've been planning.

It's all to play for.

After this, we will lose three of you.

It's that plain and simple.

You've got one hour and 15 minutes

to serve up your best dish for a place in the next round.

Off you go.

I don't think the judges have a very high opinion of me at the moment.

It's really embarrassing. I burnt the pancakes. It's ridiculous.

So I know I've really got to make sure I impress them,

otherwise, you know, I'll be going home.

Um...

-What are you cooking for us?

-I've got some venison loin,

coated it in cocoa powder with a salt-baked parsnip.

Some morel mushrooms and a redcurrant jus.

I've run it on the specials board over a few weekends to get feedback.

That's a good place to trial it, as well. I like that.

It's also quite a dangerous place to trial it, as well.

-Karl, you need a big round.

-Yes.

-Chin up!

-Thank you.

Chocolate, venison - chocolate in game works.

But...coating a loin of venison in cocoa powder is not something I've

personally come across before.

One of the things that concerns me

with cocoa powder is that it's already bitter.

And if you burn it in that pan it could become even more bitter.

He's tried this dish on his customers. They like it.

I just hope you and I like it too.

-Scott?

-Yes?

-I think I might be falling in love with you.

You said I was a bit tight on the last one, so...

-Hopefully you'll enjoy it.

-What are you going to do with that?

I'm going to pan roast a rib of beef, served with onions,

-mushrooms, English ricotta and truffle.

-Where does the ricotta go?

It's just going to be dotted over the dish to give it a bit of creaminess.

-Where did you learn that?

-It's just something what I've tried out and I just feel it works.

-Good luck, son!

-Thank you.

With a piece of beef like this, the ribeye, you and I want a big,

big sauce to go with it. It's just what it's crying out for.

He's trimmed down the beef cheek, sweated it off on a high heat

and he's going to make his sauce in the pressure cooker.

The other key thing for Scott is the timing.

That's a seriously big piece of meat

and he needs to get that off pretty soon.

The main thing for this dish is that I cook the beef the best I can.

I've practised this a few times now - I'm surprised

I don't look like a piece of beef!

But, yeah, I'm happy with that.

-Helen.

-Hello.

-What are you cooking for us today?

I'm cooking a Japanese-flavoured dish.

The main part is tofu, so I'm seasoning it up,

making a marinade that will also be served on the side as a dip.

-I'm serving some aubergine. There's an egg roll in there as well.

-OK.

I turned vegetarian and my parents didn't know what to do with me,

so to show what can be done with vegetarian food means so much

and I would just love to get that out there.

-Looking forward to it.

-Thank you.

Tofu is a very, very bland ingredient to use.

But if she can get me excited about tofu, happy days, I'd be delighted.

This dish really pushes me. It goes right up to the wire with timing.

There's lots of elements to bring together,

so if one element goes wrong, then I'm really out of time,

so I've really challenged myself with this.

20 minutes have gone already.

To have chefs like Marcus and Monica taste my food,

it's an honour, but it's also fairly scary, as well,

especially after the first round I had.

I really didn't show what I can do.

My nerves got the better of me

and I need to prove to them that that's not going to happen again.

Iain, tell me about your dish today.

It's roast breast of guinea fowl, with a fondant potato,

some carrots and navew and toast puree.

The outcome I want is for all three of you to enjoy my dish,

just to enjoy the flavours I've put together and hopefully it'll

look nice and taste nice and I'm confident that it will.

-You're feeling brave?

-Definitely.

-Didn't get dressed up for nothing, then?

-No, go big or go home.

Iain is making us guinea fowl with toast puree.

What I think this is going to be is more of a bread sauce.

Iain is also making fondant potatoes.

I know how much you love your fondant potatoes, but I do too.

So I hope he's cooked those potatoes for long enough

and absorb all that fantastic butter.

I've practised my dish.

I've stayed late every night pretty much this week after work to

get it nailed down.

I hope the flavours and the technique I use

just blows them away.

Jamie, what are you making for us?

I'm doing a blade of beef with nasturtium puree,

smoked champ and onions.

It's a dish that brings back bits of home and stuff like that

because I'm a Devon boy.

So I'm using the flowers from the countryside and stuff,

just a nice taste of what I like to cook.

-Good luck, Jamie.

-Thank you.

Beef blade is a piece of meat that many, many years ago

was always a stewing piece of meat. Almost a second-class joint.

It can be tough. You've got to be very careful.

You want to make sure you break those fibres down

and you want to keep it lovely and medium rare.

Jamie is smoking the champ, the mashed potato with the spring onion.

He's got to get that smoking right,

because if it's too strong it can overpower the whole dish.

Guys, 20 minutes left, that's all.

I think every chef is competitive, every chef tries to be the best.

When you're on competitions you also learn from other people

and see different techniques.

I am competitive, so I'm really looking forward to

cooking my own food just to kind of showcase what I can do.

-Mark, what are you up to?

-I'm cooking a pigeon.

I've also got some artichoke puree, a few pak choi leaves

and some pickled cherries.

-Wow!

-I'm guessing this dish is completely your own invention.

-Yeah.

It's lots of elements I've taken from where I've worked

and brought them all to create my sort of style.

If your fiancee is a chef,

why didn't she enter?

My fiancee's done Great British Menu.

Did Marcus beat her in any of the rounds?

-THEY CHUCKLE

-I don't think Marcus...

So you're a competition pair, really, aren't you?

Yeah, we've done a few and it's nice to kind of change your environment,

get out the kitchen and kind of do something a little bit different.

Mark's dish sounds confident.

He's cooking a squab pigeon.

He's going to be serving the legs that he's confited

and then rolled them in breadcrumbs and pistachios

and then deep-frying them.

The breasts have been sous-vided in a water bath

and then they're going to be roasted in the pan.

The most important thing about this technique

is getting the timing absolutely right.

Chefs, you have just ten minutes left.

Monica, we've got vegetarian, we've got guinea fowl,

we've got rib of beef, we've got venison, we've got pigeon.

Wow, what a selection.

I'm looking forward to seeing what all these chefs

are going to give us, because I think they're all very individual.

That's why I love signature round -

because we get to see something very, very different.

You've got just four minutes left to produce a masterpiece.

Time's up!

Stop.

SHE SIGHS

Are you OK?

-Your plate looks beautiful.

-No, it doesn't.

It really looks... It really does look beautiful.

-Well done.

-Well done, man, well done.

Brave.

Scott, bring your dish up here for us, please, Chef.

First up is Scott,

who has made roast ribeye of dry aged beef,

served with burnt onion,

mushrooms, ricotta cheese,

truffle and a port and red wine sauce.

Scott, I don't know why you're looking so miserable.

That looks like a really good-looking plate of food.

-It's got "eat me" written all over it.

-Thank you.

I love ribeye beef and I think if you had ruined this

and overcooked it, I'd be really upset,

so I appreciate the fact that you have cooked it properly.

I absolutely love the sauce.

It's rich, it's heavy - I want that with my ribeye beef.

The ricotta doesn't really have any place on this plate whatsoever,

I don't understand why it's there.

The truffle as well - they don't add anything to the dish itself.

I find the shallots undercooked,

I don't understand what the ricotta's doing on there.

-You look disappointed, you wanted a knockout dish.

-I did, yeah.

I'm disappointed for you that it isn't as wow

as it possibly could be.

Thank you, Chef.

I'm feeling a little bit deflated, actually.

I was hoping they were going to like the dish a little bit more.

I think next time it's just got to be right, if there is a next time.

Helen, would you bring your dish up, please?

Helen has served a sesame-crusted tofu and aubergine stack

with an egg roll, ginger and lime, pickled cucumber and carrot,

shiitake mushrooms,

a broccoli, broad bean and pea garnish

and a sesame dipping sauce.

I find it not quite right in its presentation,

because you try to take Japanese food

and turn it into fine dining food

and that doesn't work for me from the dressing point of view.

OK.

Before I tasted this dish, I didn't really like tofu at all,

but I actually really enjoyed that little stack there,

I thought it was very nice.

There's a freshness about the plate, with the broccoli and the peas,

but the big wow factor that I was hoping for wasn't there,

but I do understand and I do get the dish.

Sort of a bit mixed up for me.

It's not harmonious.

It's a plate where I'm sampling little bits at a time

and I'm not enjoying it as an actual dish.

I like your dish up to a point - it's light, it's fresh,

my God, it's healthy,

and you have captured flavours of sourness and heat and saltiness.

Unfortunately, to be frank, I just find it unremarkable.

That's the issue.

It was mixed, it was a mixed bag,

but on the good side, Marcus enjoyed the tofu,

so...yes!

SHE SIGHS

Jamie, would you come up here, please?

Jamie's blade of beef is served on smoked champ

with a nasturtium puree,

pickled onions, shallot rings,

burnt onion powder,

and an onion and beef jus.

Great colour coordination, Jamie.

-A nice-looking, balanced plate of food as well.

-Thank you.

Um...

-Simply outstanding.

-JAMIE EXHALES

I don't think...

..there's much I would add to that plate of food at all.

Very brave, using that cut of beef,

but then I know you know how good that beef is

and that's a chef that understands the product.

The nasturtium leaf, the pepperiness underneath,

with that champ that is just very, very delicately smoked.

A marriage made in heaven, great job.

The sauce - rich, velvety.

Shall I go on?

It's a great dish, Jamie.

-It's brilliant, I'm so, so pleased for you.

-Thank you.

-Great job.

I think it's a beautiful blend of unusual flavours.

I really, really like it.

This is some great cooking from you, Jamie.

-This is what I wanted to see from you.

-Thank you.

This means a lot to you, Jamie.

I've done every night this week practising that dish after work.

-You know what, Jamie? That shows.

-Yeah.

-That shows on the plate.

-Thank you.

-Well done.

-Cheers.

-Well done, Jamie.

-Phew!

-Woohoo!

What a super, super dish.

I'm feeling great.

I'm happy, I got good feedback,

no criticism,

couldn't have gone any better.

Iain, up you come, please.

Iain has made roast guinea fowl

served with a confit leg wrapped in potato,

a fondant potato,

baby carrots and navew, toast puree and a red wine sauce.

This dish seriously, seriously lacks the wow factor.

The guinea fowl breast is overcooked,

the leg itself seems dry as well

and the fondant is appalling.

There's no colour, there's no butteriness to it.

It is quite bland, it lacks seasoning.

Nothing has been done to it to really bring the best

out of these beautiful ingredients.

-GREGG:

-It is disappointing.

It does lack flavour, Iain.

There's no two ways about it.

I'm not feeling particularly good, to be honest.

I don't feel I did myself justice at all.

I think I underestimated how hard it is, to be honest.

Karl, come and join us, please.

Karl has served venison loin crusted with cocoa powder,

a salt-baked parsnip,

beetroot, morels and a redcurrant jus.

The presentation is simple, but nicely put on the plate.

I like it, however, I'm frightened of getting too close

in case I poke my eye out with a parsnip.

All right?

Karl, for me, the venison in the middle is lovely

and how I would like it.

However, if you didn't tell me there was cocoa powder, I wouldn't know.

I don't understand why you would need it

if it doesn't bring anything extra to the dish.

The vegetables are nicely cooked, there's a nice crunch

and sweetness to the parsnip, same for the beetroot and the morels.

What's not working is the sauce is not bringing the dish together.

It's just a fruit sauce, it's almost a fruit coulis on the plate.

However, I think you've proved that you can cook venison,

the vegetables are really nice.

I think you've proved that you've got a better touch

than you showed us in the last round.

Thank you.

Yeah, obviously, there was some nice comments,

but I felt like I could have done a lot better.

Mark, would you come and join us, please?

Mark has made breast and leg of pigeon,

with a pistachio crust served with an artichoke puree

and artichoke crisps,

pickled cherries, pak choi,

a port and red wine sauce

and a pistachio and nasturtium garnish.

Mark, I think this plate of food looks stunning.

Really, really lovely-looking plate of food.

Thank you.

GREGG CHORTLES

Very, very good indeed.

Beautifully cooked pigeon. In fact, perfectly cooked pigeon.

There's a freshness with the pak choi on the plate as well

and the cherries are not too acidic,

they're delicious. The sauce is deep and rich,

the puree is beautiful and smooth and velvety.

I'm really, really struggling to find some fault with this dish.

I really am.

-Good job.

-Settles the nerves.

What I love about this dish is

the fact that it doesn't look like there's a lot on it,

but there's so many different elements and textures

and flavours coming through. It's so accomplished.

If I have to find something to complain about,

please don't let me share it with these two in future.

Thank you.

You're getting solid praise from the chefs at either side of me.

I'm looking at this, I'm looking at you -

I think this is a chef that's really learned his craft.

It's a stonking good dish.

-Mark, you've got to be chuffed, right?

-Yeah, I'm very happy.

He's playing it very cool and calm, I'll give him that much.

I was a bag of nerves before I came in.

-That's cracking. Well done, Mark.

-Thank you.

I'm feeling over the moon.

It's good that everything just kind of went all together

and shone for me today.

Two things are obvious to me.

One is we've got six chefs here who really care and are passionate,

the other thing that's obvious

is this isn't going to be an easy judging.

Three of you are leaving the competition.

We'll call you back in once we've made a decision.

I was really impressed with some of these dishes.

Well, we all were.

I mean, real, serious quality.

Look at us, grinning like three Cheshire cats!

There was two chefs in here today that absolutely stood out,

head and shoulders. We can't hide that fact.

Jamie and Mark, they absolutely led the way.

Took off from the pack, actually.

Jamie and his beef dish with the smoked champ,

Mark with his pigeon dish.

There's just nothing else to say.

I think you both agree - these two chefs straight through.

Absolutely, easy. You can't even split them apart, they're that good.

I don't want to sound cruel,

but it was as if Iain had somehow presented a dish

that he'd managed to suck all the flavour out of.

-Yeah.

-It was really bland.

-Yeah.

I don't feel like I've done enough to keep myself in the competition.

I feel I haven't done myself justice.

Karl, he had a stinking skills test.

The good thing about Karl was he picked himself up off the floor.

The garnishes were nice. I don't think the cocoa powder worked.

The sauce was a little bit fruity,

but I think the key message for Karl

is that he rose off the ground and delivered a dish.

-KARL:

-A bit up and down today.

I don't think I've really come here and shown off.

I think I've just come here and done mediocre.

Helen didn't show an enormous amount of cookery skill,

but she had some nice, fresh, tangy flavours on there.

It's a dish in a restaurant that you think, "I would eat all of that."

Would you remember it tomorrow? Probably not.

What a rollercoaster,

but I would love to go through

and just try to prove myself one more time.

And then we have Scott with the beef.

Good execution, good ideas,

but I just felt the dish could have gone to a new level,

new height and I'm not sure why he didn't do that today.

I didn't think the truffle and the ricotta was necessary,

but the beef was wonderful, it was medium rare,

the sauce was rich, it was heavenly.

I'd love to be a quarterfinalist.

I think I've done well to get as far as I have,

but if I can go a little bit further each time, that'd be grand.

We have one more quarterfinal place up for grabs.

Who do you want to see cook again?

I know exactly which one.

This was a good, strong round with good-quality chefs.

But we can only take three chefs through

to a quarterfinal.

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

..Iain.

-Cheers.

-Thank you, Iain.

The second chef that is going to leave us today is...

..Karl.

-Thank you.

-Thank you, Karl.

The third chef leaving us today is....

..Helen.

-GREGG:

-Thank you, Helen.

Really gutted to be going.

It takes a certain kind of person to work under this type of pressure

and it got to me, so yeah, there it is.

It's definitely disappointing to go.

I don't think I did myself justice, though.

It's my own fault, I tripped myself up, so...

I'm going to put it down to a bit of bad luck.

Um...

I just didn't...didn't produce what I was capable of

and they obviously saw that, so...

Congratulations, you three are quality

and you're MasterChef quarterfinalists, well done.

I'm really happy to be in the quarterfinals.

I think I just scraped through,

but hopefully they can see a bit of potential.

I'm happy.

I think it's a good start to the competition, but the bar's been set

and now I've just got to carry on cooking to that level.

Today's been intense, nerve-racking, a shock to the system,

but I'm happy with the result and happy it's over.

Tomorrow night is the last heat...

..and six more chefs will fight for the remaining quarterfinal places.

-You never know, we might invent a new type of mayonnaise.

-Hmm.

I cannot tell you how happy you've just made us three.