Episode 15 MasterChef: The Professionals

It's knockout week on Professional MasterChef.

And these chefs are fighting to stay in the competition.

-Last night...

-Let's go. Talk to us.

..the first group of five triumphed and all of them went through.

Tonight, the second group of professionals

will be stepping up to the plate.

They are going to need to show us their skill,

their technique and attention to detail.

Come on, boys. Keep up.

At the end, only the best chefs can go through to the semifinals.

I feel like it has to be all or nothing or you're going to go home.

I've done really well to get this far,

but I think I've got a bit more in me

to take me over to the next stage.

For me to stay in, someone's got to go home

so, hopefully, it won't be me.

Today, nothing but the best is going to be good enough.

Chefs, welcome to Lord's, the home of cricket.

So far in the competition, you've worked brilliantly as individuals

but today, Monica and I want to see how you work together as a team.

We would like you to cook a three-course fine dining dinner

for ex-England cricket captain Mike Gatting and four of his guests.

Here comes the tricky bit.

You're going to be serving the meal here, in the pavilion,

but you're going to be cooking it over there.

So, I suggest you get a move on. Off you go.

You can't help but walk into this stadium, this view,

and think, "Wow, we are honoured to be here."

I want them to knock that dinner for six, right out into the boundaries.

I hope they do it.

I've never been here before and it's fantastic,

such an amazing place to be. What a great way to spend the day.

It's a beautiful venue, some good chefs in there,

so we're going to come together as a team and, hopefully, deliver.

The chefs now have 30 minutes to plan their lunch menu.

They've been given mackerel, rabbit, apples and pears,

a range of vegetables and herbs and spices.

-OK, cool. Starters - what is the option?

-We've got nice mackerel.

-Yeah. What is the garnishes?

-These are amazing.

-I reckon the radishes, yeah.

-Peas. Pea shoots.

I think we've just got to work together,

that's the idea of the task, so we've decided

we're going to take it in different teams,

but we're all going to decide the ingredients that we're using

and the dishes we're going to do before we do that.

What about a saddle of rabbit?

-Taking the rabbit's bone and saddles out, stuffing it?

-Leg confit?

I wouldn't mess about with confits

to make sure it's cooked in time and you've got to get it over as well.

Something a bit different, working together as a team.

It's something we've not done yet,

so I think it's going to create more pressure,

create more friction, cos everyone will want to do their own ideas.

-Calvados and apple sorbet.

-Going to do a granita.

We are five chefs

and everyone has five directions

but we need to put our heads together, work on the common goal.

So, who's going to do what?

I'm quite happy doing main course with someone.

Me and Danilo will do the starters, you guys do the mains

-and then we'll all help...

-We'll just laugh at Scott on the desserts.

Chefs, can you just give us a bit of an insight as to where you're at?

So, starters we've got Mark and Danilo,

Gavin and Bobby on the main course,

I'm going to start the desserts. Starter is...

-We're going to do a mackerel salad.

-Yeah.

We're going to use a pea puree with basil, which I love it.

We're going to use some pickled beetroots, broad beans as well.

Tell me about your main course.

We're going to take the rabbit, take the saddle off

and fill it with a black pudding mousseline.

The legs we're going to put into a pressure cooker

and pick it down through some white beans, some butter beans,

-almost sort of rustic...

-MONICA:

-Like a ragout?

-Yeah, like a ragout.

-And dessert?

This building's steeped in English history,

so apple crumble, for me, is one of the best British desserts there is,

so I'd feel quite confident serving them that.

-Apple crumble?

-A take on an apple crumble, yeah.

Listen, I'm hearing your menu,

but I'm not hearing anything that's shouting, "Wow".

I'd like you to stretch your imaginations.

I'd like you to really bounce some ideas off each other

and come up with a stunning meal,

maybe something you've not done before.

With only two hours until the mackerel starter is served,

Mark and Danilo are contemplating the judges' advice.

We have to play a little bit with the ingredients,

so I tell you what, we can do red pasta with the beetroot.

Do a beetroot tortellini or something?

Yeah, I don't know if we have to fill the tortellini

with beetroot as well, but the pasta should be pink.

Having decided to make pink pasta,

Danilo gets on with filleting the mackerel,

while Mark starts prepping the veg.

I love mackerel. It's one of my favourite things

and ravioli from an Italian chef as well, you can't go wrong, really.

-Guys, how are we doing?

-Good, Chef, yeah.

-Have we developed the menu?

I heard you mention some pasta earlier.

Yeah, we're going to do some beetroot ravioli.

-Classic pasta with the beetroot puree inside?

-Um, well...

You said you wanted to colour a light pink colour pasta, didn't you?

-Yeah.

-Pink?!

-Pink, yeah. Like a light, sort of...

Yeah, but putting the beetroot inside as well,

-we might need to go with...

-Pink?!

-No.

-No pink then, no pink.

-No.

Listen, it's your call, OK. Don't be swayed by me.

-All I'm doing is asking questions.

-Thank you.

-Thank you, Chef.

Over on the main course,

Bobby and Gavin are also trying to elevate their rabbit cassoulet.

Prune puree and morels.

Are you going to put some of the curry spice in as well?

-Yeah, yeah, I think I'll do that way the bean stew.

-Yeah.

-Bit of Asian touch.

-No worries.

I'm sort of, hopefully, a traditional English cook.

Bobby, in the last round, used a lot of his home country flairs

which was great and he got commended on it,

so let's put the two together and see what happens.

He's got ideas for the prune puree,

giving it a bit of spice, which will be nice,

so yeah, it should be good.

With pressure to lift their original ideas to fine dining standard,

Scott runs his apple crumble dessert idea by the rest of the team.

We're looking at a caramel panna cotta

with a calvados and apple granita.

Going to make an almond tuile and, like, a little vanilla crumble,

so it's a bit like an apple caramel crumble.

-Sounds lovely.

-Yeah?

-That's cool.

-MONICA:

-Scott, how are we doing with the desserts?

-Not too bad.

I'm making my vanilla crumble now.

I'm going to chop some roasted almonds to go through that

to give it a bit more of a texture and that's it.

Where does the panna cotta come into this?

Panna cotta, I just wanted to modernise it a little bit

with the caramel, give it a bit of creaminess as well,

cos I'm not making a custard to go with the crumble,

so the caramel panna cotta will give it that sort of custardy taste.

So, even though, visually, it looks nothing like a crumble,

-it's going to have, on the palate, the crumble flavour.

-Exactly.

If I've got time,

I might make a bit of apple puree as well, just to dot on the plate.

Scott is very much working alone - his take on a apple crumble.

I just hope that Scott has consulted Danilo

when it comes to the making of panna cottas, cos for me,

he's the MasterChef of panna cotta so far in the competition.

30 minutes have gone and all three courses are well under way.

I need to show one of you where we're going to plate up the food,

-so whoever can come across now.

-I will.

-I'll take you over?

-Please, yeah.

-All right.

The logistics of the dinner today is the journey,

from the kitchen here all the way over there to the pavilion.

APPLAUSE

Into the lift.

I believe they need to do as much as they possibly can

in the kitchen over here, get it down to the point of service,

transport it over and just finish it off over there.

In here, the food's going to go in here.

You've got hotboxes here and then they're going to drive you

down to the other end and I'll show you the kitchen at the other end.

It's never going to be easy for our chefs.

A bit quicker, guys.

They're going to have to really work hard as a team

to get it from A to B.

Come on, boys. Keep up.

Coming through here.

-And this is the kitchen, OK.

-OK.

-Oh, cool.

-You've got everything here.

There's ovens there. You might want to think if you need the ovens,

if you need them on at a certain temperature or something.

Have a look, see if there's places to put the plates

but just be aware that if you need to set stuff up here,

you're going to need a good few minutes

to get up here, 10 or 15 minutes before.

All right? You need to get back and help the other guys.

APPLAUSE

Back in the main kitchen,

Scott's asked Gavin for his panna cotta recipe.

I did 400 for 4, so I'd put 200, 200 -

-200 milk, 200 double cream.

-And 1.5 leaves?

Yeah, but Marcus said it was too light,

it was more like a blancmange, so maybe go 3 leaves on that.

Obviously, all the elements on my dish, I need to make sure I nail,

so the panna cotta needs to set, not too hard as well,

the granita needs to get frozen down.

The tuile could go completely wrong as well,

but, yeah, it should be all right, it should be all right.

Over on mains, Gavin's almost finished prepping the rabbit saddle.

Just stuffing the rabbit now with the black pudding.

He's also roasting the bones to make the sauce

and pressure-cooking the legs

to shred through the white bean cassoulet.

The main concern is that the rabbit's roasted right

and rested well, because if it doesn't rest well,

it's going to open up and it'll be a nightmare.

It just won't look pretty on the plate.

Bobby's made an excellent puree to go with it,

give it a bit of sweetness, so I think we're looking good.

I hope.

-Where's my wingman? Bobby?

-Yeah.

-We're looking good, yeah?

-Yeah.

If he says, it's got to be right.

Chefs, you have just one hour left

before, Mark and Danilo, the starters are ready.

-Should I be worried that you're still filleting the mackerel?

-No!

Come on, let's go, let's go!

Lord's Cricket Ground was founded by Thomas Lord,

a cricketer and businessman, in 1755,

and is regarded as the home of cricket.

This site, in London's St John's Wood, is actually its third,

with a stadium that seats nearly 30,000.

It's also the home of the MCC, the world's most famous club

and guardians of the laws of the game.

Last year, the venue celebrated its 200th anniversary.

We have fine dining at Lord's every day of the year.

If you ask any player in the world where the best catering is,

it's Lord's, number one.

Well, we are behind schedule, so we need to push it.

With only 35 minutes till service,

Danilo's still working on the pickling liquor for the mackerel.

Then we have to start doing the ravioli

and then finish all the garnishes.

And then get over there and plate it.

-Gav and Bobby, how are we doing?

-We're pushing on, Chef.

-Yeah, we're getting there.

-What's the garnish for the rabbit dish?

We're going to do the butter beans,

flake the leg through it as well, keep it almost ragout, cassoulet,

so it's going to be quite rustic,

finished with a lovely sweet puree, just to sweeten the dish.

Well, I'd like to see an amazing rabbit dish here.

I've had many a fantastic rabbit dish on MasterChef.

-What's going to be outstanding about YOUR dish?

-Hopefully, the flavours.

The flavours are beautiful.

Hopefully, they're not confusing either.

-No, well it sounds pretty straightforward.

-Yeah.

-Hopefully, you've not played it TOO safe.

-No.

-No.

-No.

-No.

-We'll wait and see then.

Thanks.

But the real pressure is on the starter.

Danilo's on the pasta, but he still has to fill and shape the tortellini.

Danilo, we need to start thinking about making a move soon, mate.

-We've got to allow 25 minutes.

-Only?!

-About that, yeah.

-Before we need to walk over.

-Are you sure?

-Yeah.

The time is also catching up with Gavin and Bobby.

The rabbit saddles have come out of the water bath,

but now need to be pan-fried.

We need to start thinking about roasting and resting

and stuff now, otherwise 20 minutes,

we're going to be in it and we're not going to be ready.

Time's catching up quick.

Gavin needs to be very careful of his timing

when it comes to cooking this meat.

There is no fat, there is nothing there to protect the meat at all.

He really has to be very delicate.

Mark, what are you doing now?

Just getting everything ready to take over to get started.

I'm going to get a boiling pan of water on for the ravioli

and I'll come back and me and Danilo...

So you're going to set up the kitchen, get it ready

-and then come back, grab Danilo and off you go?

-Yeah.

-Cool.

-Brilliant.

Over in the pavilion, the guests have started to arrive.

I'm very hungry.

I've had two little bits of toast this morning,

in expectation of what's to come today.

Having had lunch up here for about 30-odd years,

I'm really looking forward to this

and the boys have got some high standards to actually get up to.

I think it's an integral part of any cricketer's life, actually.

When you play a test match,

it's the only sport, probably, that feeds you so much,

so I hope it's something a bit different,

something that you wouldn't normally pick off a menu.

We're expecting a royal battle, I suppose,

in the kitchen, that is worthy of an Ashes battle

and we're really looking forward to it.

I have time to make enough to do four.

Danilo has finally started to fill the tortellini,

while Mark is trying to get the finishing kitchen set up.

I've done plenty of outside catering before,

but not in a timeframe and not with Marcus and Monica watching.

-I might need help closing these.

-Do you need a shove with the raviolis?

Yes, please. If you want to do the filling to all.

It's here. Be careful, it's runny.

-And the other one, with the brush, gently on the corner.

-OK.

-But just tiny, tiny bit of water.

-Yeah.

There's a bit too much water on them, guys.

-It's OK. I can close them.

-Yeah?

-Yeah, thank you.

Danilo, would you rather just do it on your own?

-No, Chef, I can't say that!

-You would, wouldn't you?

It's pasta and I kind of feel more weight on my shoulder

because it's pasta and I want it to look nice.

But I appreciate the help.

-Danilo, how are you doing?

-Good.

-Tortellini are ready.

-They're ready?

-Yeah.

-Brilliant.

Right, just double-check everything, make sure you've got everything

before you leave this kitchen cos I'm not running back.

-Sure.

-Get your notes, check your dish.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-Ciao, guys.

-See you in a bit, guys.

Right, for starter, we've got a lightly pickled mackerel,

radish, pea puree, basil and broad beans.

I quite like mackerel, actually, but I'm more used to having

a bit of horseradish sauce with it. Very nice.

OK, guys, there's a dumb waiter lift over there or you can walk it

-up three flights of stairs.

-We'll walk it.

-You want to walk it?

-Yeah.

OK, then. You don't want to let it go.

Interesting to see how it's plated,

in terms of look and colours,

cos there's some good ingredients there.

-Here's to lunch and may it be a good one.

-ALL: Cheers.

Right, chefs, you've got ten minutes left, so you've got time.

-Get yourselves organised.

-Yes, Chef.

-You've got just over three minutes.

-Yep.

-Thank you, Chef.

-Thank you.

-How are we going?

-Pretty good, Chef.

-What else is going on the plate?

-Pea shoots, borage flowers, some radishes.

-OK.

-Looking good, guys.

-Yes, Chef. I'm happy.

Thank you very much.

-Glad that's over?

-I really enjoyed that, actually.

-Yes!

-Clear down, cos your colleagues are going to be coming over

-any minute now.

-Yes, Chef.

Not having worked with Danilo before and just cooking dishes like that,

I think we should both be really proud.

I think they're going to be happy.

It's a simple dish, it's an easy dish,

but it's all about the flavour.

The flavour was good, the flavours were really good.

The lightly pickled mackerel is served with beetroot tortellini,

a pea and basil puree, radish

and garnished with broad beans, toasted pine nuts and borage flowers.

-Beautiful.

-Yeah, stunning.

-Absolutely.

Mackerel can be very fishy but, actually,

that lightly pickled has just taken out the fishiness,

and with the beetroot as well,

the beetroot really does set the flavour off and I like it.

I agree with Mike.

The presentation's fantastic, the balance of the different flavours

and the colours - really good, so a good start.

I love this dish. I love mackerel, so it was really spectacular.

It's all good. It all complements each other,

really delicate, it's tasty, it's light

and befitting of a sunny afternoon at Lord's, I think.

What a great effort. It looks lovely. The garnish is very light.

I'm really pleased that Mark and Danilo decided

to put the little tortellinis with the beetroot.

The pea puree's great. They've done a good job.

You need to start thinking about heading over in about ten minutes.

-Everything pretty much has got to be ready.

-Yep.

Despite time running out, Bobby and Gavin have decided to make

some last-minute additions to their dish.

I'm just going to make some little parcels with the leftover rabbit leg

that's got a bit of mustard and olives in it.

A last finishing touch, really.

Bobby, have we got any mustard seeds or something

-we can sprinkle over the top?

-There is mustard seeds, yeah.

We're getting down to the last ten minutes.

All of a sudden, there's a lot of extra elements

coming into this rabbit dish.

Gavin's wanted to cook some of the meat in a pastilla.

We've got fresh pears that are going into it,

olives have been included into the leg meat as well,

which wasn't originally there.

Maybe it's what's missing to really lift this dish up.

I hope so, but I also hope there's not a rush of oxygen to the brain.

-Bobby, Gavin, are we ready?

-Yes, Chef.

-OK, let's go.

-Yeah, wait.

For main course, we've got stuffed saddle of rabbit,

a black pudding, prunes, butter beans and morels.

-I'll get the lift.

-Thank you.

For me, that's a really complicated set of ingredients

that I would never think of combining.

Let's go. Straight into the car.

I'm not sure we've ever served rabbit at Lord's

in one of our events before, so really looking forward to that.

I always leave the black pudding when I'm having breakfast,

so, hopefully, I won't leave it today.

Morels, butter beans and prunes -

well, hopefully, I'm not rushing for the toilet.

-LAUGHTER

-You can't say that!

-What's in the oven?

-Filo pastry with some of the leg.

-We put some chopped olives, capers...

-Where's that come from?

Just a last-minute thing we thought of.

-It lacked a texture on the plate.

-I see some livers as well now.

Yeah, we've got some kidneys and livers as well,

-just a bit of offal to use the whole of the rabbit.

-And what's this?

Little bit of pear.

-All these have just come and I've only been missing ten minutes!

-Yeah.

This is Bobby's world. I'm new to it, so I'm along for the ride.

In Bobby's world.

-Are you both happy with how the rabbit looks?

-Yes, Chef.

Right, Chefs, your customers are now waiting.

Well done, mate. Yeah, it was good. Nice. I like that.

Prune puree is lovely, mate.

It was good. I enjoyed it.

Simple, rustic, but with a slight refinement, which is what we wanted.

All the chefs is different personalities

but end of the day, you work as a team.

It's not about me or Gavin, it's working together.

The saddle of rabbit is stuffed with black pudding

and served on a white bean cassoulet with rabbit liver and kidney,

a filo parcel stuffed with rabbit leg, olives and caper,

a rabbit sauce and a spiced prune puree.

It's topped with carrots, morels and fresh pears.

I think it's the polar opposite of the starter, really,

which was so neat and vibrant and fresh-looking.

This, for me, is quite a heavy-looking meal

and a little bit beige,

but happy to have that opinion changed by the taste.

It's almost a bit like a stew.

There's carrots in there, a bit of kidney, a bit of liver.

The black pudding goes really nicely with the rabbit.

I quite enjoyed it.

I think what this is is like a kind of French rabbit cassoulet,

definitely, and I think that's what they're trying to achieve,

so for them to put all these ingredients together

and achieve that is quite an incredible effort.

It's very filling but I'm managing to get through it well.

Bit more green in there, for me, would have been nice,

but it's certainly an adventure.

It looks confused, it looks amateur.

When you add all these other things onto a dish,

you then need to think about how to put it on the plate.

There's just too many ideas and it hasn't come together.

OK, for dessert, we've got caramel panna cotta,

apple granita, almond tuile,

vanilla crumble and thyme and compressed apples.

So, there's a lot going on there.

I've kept it quite simple. I just hope they all like it.

This is intriguing cos one thing I do like is a good apple crumble,

but there's other things that seem to be in this

and I am very intrigued to find out exactly how it comes out.

There's so much on the plate,

such an amazing array of ingredients and flavours,

that the presentation, I reckon, is going to be impressive.

That was MY recipe, so it better be good.

-Scott, are you happy?

-I'm fairly happy, Chef, yeah.

-Why fairly?

-Um...

-What's not quite right?

-Maybe the panna cotta's a little bit set,

but the proof is in the taste, I guess.

Did you, by any chance, consult with your Italian colleague?

I didn't know he'd done a brilliant panna cotta

in the rounds before, so I was a bit late on that one.

Well, he IS Italian.

-Am I ready to go like this?

-Yeah, that's ready to go, yeah.

-OK.

It's difficult to come up with recipes for pastry

off the top of your head, so hopefully, fingers crossed,

it's all right for them.

The dessert is a modern take on an apple crumble.

It's a caramel panna cotta with a vanilla crumble,

calvados and apple granita, an apple puree,

thyme-infused compressed apples and an almond tuile.

Very disappointing.

LAUGHTER

I didn't know what to expect, but I didn't expect THAT!

It might taste very nice though.

I think it's quite tasty,

but I didn't like the presentation very much.

Some of those tastes coming through are quite nice,

but when you put it all in one mouthful,

somehow it doesn't quite work for me.

I thought it was a bit of a letdown, which is a shame

because I love puddings, I've got a sweet tooth

and it's the thing I most look forward to in a meal.

-For me, sadly...

-Cheese and biscuits next time.

..cheese and biscuits, maybe, next time.

The dessert, for me, on the whole, hasn't worked,

because the panna cotta is too set.

It should be just melting ever so gently, but it's not.

There's too much gelatine in this panna cotta.

One of the things I wanted to taste from this dish was a crumble

and I'm really not getting the idea here.

APPLAUSE

I have to say, when we looked at the menu, we were all very excited.

Some of us hadn't had rabbit before

and we were all very intrigued about the dessert.

Can I say, when the starter came out,

we thought, "My goodness, this is very special."

We loved the main course -

the black pudding and the rabbit went very nicely together.

I suppose, at the end of the meal,

the panna cotta was lovely, the crumble was nice,

but we just didn't feel that it, sort of, went together.

Having said that, I had a clean plate,

so thank you very much indeed.

-Very fine, thank you.

-CHEFS: Thank you.

APPLAUSE

End of a long day and, boy, it's been a tough one.

Today has been a real experience,

completely out of our comfort zones, logistical nightmare,

but we managed to pull it off, which I'm really happy with.

Of course you want them to give you really good feedback on your food.

I'm glad they liked the panna cotta,

which is the main element to the dish.

Tomorrow, back to your own battlefield,

fighting against each other, but that's the competition.

-MARCUS:

-We've had some fabulous dishes from these chefs.

We didn't quite get that today.

I hope we can get it back in the MasterChef kitchen.

You cooked as a team at Lord's

but, today, you have to cook as an individual again...

..to make, for us, one outstanding showstopper of a dish.

This is for a place in the semifinals

and we can only take the best chefs through.

90 minutes. Off you go.

Scott's an interesting chef

and throughout his cooking in the competition,

he's always had a surprise factor which we've both enjoyed.

I like the different ideas that Scott brings to the kitchen.

I hope, today, he does that again,

cos when he does it, he does it so well.

The competition completely takes over your life.

I've not seen my daughter for days on end.

I've not had days off for quite a few weeks now,

so it's taking its toll on me but, hopefully,

I've still got a bit of steam left in me to carry on going.

-How are you doing, Scott?

-Very well, thank you.

-You're now fighting for a place in the semifinals.

-I am.

What does that mean to you?

It just means that I've got to give it that extra 10%, I guess.

I really believe in this dish. I just really hope you guys enjoy it.

What are you cooking for us?

I'm cooking salt marsh lamb with a Caesar dressing,

confit new season garlic, sourdough croutons

and I'm going to salt some fresh anchovies.

The question is, does a Caesar flavour of the fish

in the Caesar dressing work with the salt marsh lamb?

For me, I like that combination and I think it works, so...

-We'll soon see, won't we?

-We'll soon see.

-OK.

-Thanks, Scott.

-Cheers.

Scott is cooking us salt marsh rack of lamb.

He wants to do it the classic way -

render the fat down in the pan and finish the lamb in the oven.

It's always nice to see a chef

who still believes in those classical roots

and cooking of meat the old-fashioned way.

I just hope it's well-executed

and it is as good as Scott believes it to be.

Mark, when he cooks his food, can be very bold,

and when he gets it right, it's stunning.

I do like big, bold flavours.

Maybe it was too much in the last round, with my sauce -

it was too much for the delicate venison, which I should have known.

But I'm going to learn from that and, hopefully,

I'll do a sauce that Marcus will really enjoy.

-Mark, are you glad to be back in the kitchen?

-Yeah, really excited today.

-Really looking forward to this challenge.

-And what's the dish?

It's braised short rib.

I'm doing that with salt-baked celeriac, smoked bone marrow

and a piece of seared fillet with a gentleman's relish.

Every time I serve it to my friends and family,

-they always come back for more.

-Well, you know what's at risk here.

It's a place in the semifinal.

If I can produce the dish that I want to produce, today,

and make you guys happy, then I'd be over the moon.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Mark is cooking beef two different ways.

He's using the short rib, which he's braising,

and then the fillet of beef,

which he's going to put into a sous vide bag,

poach in the water bath and finish in the pan.

Mark is also serving his dish with a gentleman's relish,

which is prunes with anchovies and a selection of spices.

This is a very old English style of relish which I've never had,

so I'm really excited to try this.

But it cannot have a sauce that overpowers

all those beautiful flavours that he's putting on the plate.

I want to taste them all.

Guys, there's 40 minutes left.

Danilo is a fabulous chef. He has this amazing ability

to bring his Italian flavours with a Danilo modern twist.

And I think he does it very, very well.

Danilo, what is your showstopper dish for us?

I'm going to do mackerel again, but I'm going to present it in two ways.

One is in a balsamic vinegar marinade

and the other one is just pickled.

And I'm going to serve it with tortellini,

filled with tomato and aubergine puree,

with a fondue made of smoked buffalo mozzarella.

-Smoked buffalo mozzarella fondue?

-Yeah.

Are you confident in your dish today?

-I'm never confident about myself.

-No, you're not.

-Yeah, I know.

-You have to be.

-I know.

-You've come so far in the competition, Danilo,

because you're cooking well.

I'm happy with what I've done up until now,

but, you know, it's just me.

Danilo's doing mackerel two different ways.

He's also adding smoked mozzarella as a fondue.

That's really interesting,

because I'm quite surprised as to how a fondue -

a warm, melted cheese - is going to sit with this particular dish.

If you ask my mother about cooking fish with cheese,

she's is going to tell me that I'm crazy,

but it's starting to be a bit more common, especially in chefs.

But you need to get the balance right.

Bobby's food is so interesting. It's intriguing, it draws my attention

and when it works well, goodness me, the flavours

that this chef achieves on a plate of food has been stunning.

If you want to be in a competition, you have to be competitive.

You have to show you are better than the best.

Only the best win.

Bobby, you've cooked some fabulous food though the competition,

and you've taken that amazing Indian cuisine

and dressed it beautifully well on the plate.

-Are we going to get that again today?

-Yes, Chef.

What are you doing then?

OK, the title of the dish I want to call it,

-is English Beef by an Indian Chef.

-English Beef by an Indian Chef?

-Yeah.

-Is that what you're calling the dish?

-It's just an ingredient - the rest is...

-Explain it to me.

There is English beef fillet.

It's been slowly cooked and then I'll finish it on the pan.

Then there is a shin of beef that will be rolled in a pancake -

dosa, we call it. And langoustine.

-So, this is your take on a surf and turf, almost.

-Yes.

And what have you got here? What is this stock that you have?

That is a broth, actually, that gives to start up your palate.

When you drink it, you need to feel that freshness of the flavours.

-Crack on, Bob.

-Thanks, Chef.

Bobby has the fillet which he's cooking in the water bath.

He's then going to pan-fry it.

He's also got some braised beef that he's put into the pressure cooker

with onions and spices and herbs

and he's going to be putting that into a semolina pancake.

Bobby is also making a broth. A lot of spices in there,

the langoustine shells and pretty much everything else on the table.

There's so much going in this dish, for me,

it's another one of those surprises

where I have to wait and see what the eating is like.

Gavin has got a huge amount of experience

and we've seen some fabulous food from him.

But now and then, he tends to play it very safe,

almost to just get it through.

Today, safe is not going to be enough.

We want to see that fire back in Gavin

that shows he means business and he's here to win it.

-What is your dish?

-I'm going to use salt marsh lamb

with some sweetbreads, some lovely confit potatoes.

I've charred and then braised some gem lettuce.

It sounds very classical.

Listening to the other dishes, the guys have been adventurous,

but I've always said in the competition,

I want to remember a plate of good food,

as opposed to a plate of mumbled food that doesn't quite work.

-Best of luck.

-Thank you.

-Cheers.

There's nothing wrong with classical combinations.

We love fondants, we love baby gem lettuce,

we love a good lamb sauce, we like lamb and we love sweetbreads.

But there are so many other good dishes

in this kitchen at the moment.

I don't think he's really pushing the boundaries here.

Everything on this dish has got to be spot-on.

They know the difference between an over-elaborate plate

or a plate of good food that's been cooked to a very high standard.

Sometimes, you can go too far and, if you do go too far,

you can mess it all up.

It's knowing when to cut back and put the reins on a little bit.

-Chefs, you've got five minutes left.

-Yes, Chef.

It's getting a bit tight.

Some amazing aromas starting to come from this kitchen.

We are going to be challenged again

as to who's going to go through to the semifinal round.

The kitchen is heating up now.

I can't wait to get eating.

-Bobby, are you going to start plating soon?

-Yes, Chef.

-I hope so.

It's down to a couple of minutes.

That is it. Time's up.

I enjoyed that.

-How did you get on, mate?

-I really struggled today. I was flustered.

First up is Scott, who has made roast rack of lamb

with breaded sweetbreads, served with a Caesar dressing,

sourdough, new season garlic, anchovy and a lamb sauce.

Scott, lamb with garlic...

..sweetbreads - what could go wrong?

Oh, I know - let's add a Caesar dressing into it.

What is a chef thinking?

But I think you've done yourself a great dish

because it's so well-balanced.

It's got the saltiness, the right amount of pickling,

and then you've got the sweetness of the shallots as well.

I love the combination of the little salad on the side

with the sweetbread. It's fresh, it's light,

the croutons work very well

and I'm really pleased that you've actually been brave enough

to cook a rack of lamb the classic way.

For me, the anchovy lifts this dish and gives it some real bite

and energy and tang and zestiness. It's a lovely plate of food.

-Great job. Well done, Scott.

-Thank you.

Yeah, feeling good after that.

It's always nice when the judges like your food or like your dish,

so that's exactly how I wanted it to go.

-Well done, mate.

-Well done, Scott.

Mark's showstopper is braised short rib of beef

and seared fillet of beef with a smoked bone marrow,

served with salt-baked celeriac, celeriac puree

and buttered turnip tops, crispy shallots and a gentleman's relish.

Mark, the celeriac puree is so, so smooth, it's incredible.

It is velvety, it is creamy and ever so light.

The cooking of the short rib is just falling apart, it's lovely.

Now, the issue I have with this plate of food

is it lacks in seasoning to the point it's almost bland for me.

The gentleman's relish is really lovely

and I'm quite upset there's not more of it on the plate.

-This is the flavour that is missing.

-I thought it was quite strong,

so I thought it would be a good balance in smaller dots.

-But there's a dot on here, Mark.

-Sure.

This is the wow factor that is not evident in your dish.

Monica's summed this dish up 100% correct.

It lacks flavour, it lacks seasoning.

But there are good points.

The celeriac is smooth, the beef is beautifully cooked,

the bone marrow is fantastically presented

but, at this stage of the competition,

we are looking for the chef

who understands all aspects of the plate of food

and maximises in every area, but brings the dish together as one,

and I think you've slightly missed on a few little points here.

I was quite flustered today. It wasn't one of my best days.

And that's a fair point and you've owned up to that.

But the question is going to be, is it good enough?

Really gutted, really gutted.

I knew I didn't have a good day today.

I knew it as soon as I'd finished plating.

Bobby's made English Beef by an Indian Chef -

a filet of beef on a mushroom chutney,

topped with a spiced langoustine.

It's served with a beef shin wrapped in a dosa on a lentil puree

and spiced bone marrow sauce.

His lentil water broth has been served as a palate cleanser.

Starting with the little broth, the tea.

That, for me, did not bring anything to the table at all to this dish.

It just tastes like a chicken stock.

The beef is beautifully cooked and presented very, very well.

I like the lentil puree as well,

but I just found that your sauce is so hot and powerful,

it sort of ruins the beef a little bit

and the langoustine and the mushrooms. It's not your best dish.

I love the way the beef has been cooked.

However, your pancake is undercooked,

almost on the point where it's doughy.

The meat that's wrapped in it is bland.

The mushroom is bland but you have that sauce which I love,

but it takes over everything.

Do I enjoy the plate as a whole? No, I don't.

The first time where I say I don't, and it really disappoints me

because I've had such amazing plates of food from you.

Thanks, Chef.

It's not a great feeling. I could have done much better.

End of the day, it's their call. It's up to them.

Gavin's dish is loin of lamb, charred gem lettuce,

breaded sweetbreads, onion puree, potato fondants and pistachios.

It's served with a lamb sauce.

Gavin, you've cooked the lamb wonderfully.

The fondants are just melted, they've been cooked perfectly.

The sweetbread - it looks like there is a lot of breadcrumbs on there,

but it's actually still quite moist.

The whole dish has come together the way it should,

but there's nothing here that's screaming out, "Wow, showstopper".

I just find now, at this level, you've got to come here

and knock us out with a dish that we're not expecting.

Yes, the lamb is beautifully cooked, so are the sweetbreads,

but the sauce, for me, lacks lamb fat,

and I think the dish lacks the flavour of lamb

and I just find it just a little bit below par, below YOUR par,

and I'm a bit confused because you're cooking

for a place in the semifinal yet, I think, deep down inside you,

-you know that you can do better than this.

-Yeah, sure.

Marcus saying it was average dish, I think it was a bit tough to take.

Maybe as an old boy, I haven't got enough new tricks, so I don't know.

Finally, Danilo has made pickled mackerel

and a balsamic-marinated and pan-fried mackerel,

served with aubergine and tomato tortellini, basil pesto

and a smoked buffalo mozzarella fondue.

Danilo, very interesting plate of food.

A very unusual thing to put the cheese with this dish.

The cheese sauce, nevertheless, is an absolute delight.

It's a delicious flavour

and lovely hint of the smokiness coming through

and does work very, very well with this dish.

If anything, I thought you'd been not so generous with the sauce.

You almost need to pour all of this into here

and sort of just lap the whole thing up.

I was a bit scared

because I was just trying to be careful with the amount.

This is very clever.

I like that you push the boundaries with your Italian cooking, Danilo.

It's not just a bowl of pasta, it is not your typical mackerel dish,

and you've taken it to another level

and I really enjoy the way that your cooking is going.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

I'm quite happy with what I've done.

I can tell you, I'm more relaxed now.

It's not going to last long, but I'm relaxed.

Chefs, a very interesting day, so thank you for that.

We know it's not easy.

It's going to make for a difficult judging, for sure,

because we will only take the best chefs through.

Go and have a well-deserved break. We'll see you back here in a while.

That was one tough showstopper round for our chefs.

Some highs and some lows here today.

They want this, there's no doubt about it. They do want this.

Great cooking from Scott today.

The salt marsh lamb, the sweetbread, the sauce -

it all worked beautifully well,

and I thought it was incredibly clever to bring the Caesar dressing,

the fresh anchovies to the dish.

He cooked us a wonderful lamb dish and added Scott twist into it.

This is what we want to see from our chefs.

Danilo put his own twist into a classic Italian ingredient

and that was to add a smoked mozzarella sauce to his dish today.

-I thought it was a risk that he took, but it worked.

-Good dish.

Mark cooked us the beef dish - the short rib,

which was cooked down, it was falling apart.

He had gone through the whole effort of making this gentleman's relish

and it would have really lifted this plate of food.

Why didn't Mark have the confidence to put more on the plate?

He was just a bit unsure of how far he should push himself.

He really needs to get that bit of his cookery together.

I'd love to be a semifinalist.

It's all I've been thinking about and working for,

but I wouldn't be surprised if I got knocked out of that, so...

Gavin is clearly a competent chef. We can see that.

But the question is, is lamb, fondant potato

and braised gem lettuce enough?

The dish did taste good, but did it have the wow factor? No.

I think, on the whole, I cook well and I've stuck to my guns,

but if I'm lucky enough to stay in the competition,

I'm going to have to look at what I do

for the next couple of dishes, so...

Bobby's beef dish - I found the pancake wasn't cooked properly,

it was almost doughy.

The beef was cooked very well but once the sauce was added,

you couldn't taste it, and that was such a shame.

I pushed myself but it's their call.

They need to feel the guy has potential,

so I don't want to think anything negative, think positive.

We need to make a decision

as to who we're going to take through to the semifinals.

We know how tough the competition is going to get.

Chefs, we've seen you cook as a team.

Today you cooked as individuals.

But we can only take the best chefs through to the next round.

Two of you are going to be leaving the competition today.

Our first semifinalist is...

-..Scott.

-Thank you. Thank you very much.

Our second semifinalist is...

-..Danilo.

-Thank you. Thank you very much.

And that just leaves one more place.

Our last semifinalist is...

..Mark.

Bobby, Gavin, thank you so much.

Well done.

Well done.

Bit gutted, but I've enjoyed it.

I'd never have said I'd have come this far.

Down to the last ten's not bad at all, is it? Can't knock it.

Leaving the competition as a loser is a bit heart-breaking.

I know my potential.

Now I can build up on it, go for it and try different things.

Congratulations, guys. You are now semifinalists.

I'm lost for words, lost for words. I really didn't expect that.

As soon as I heard that two were out, I was sure I was gone today.

I thought to myself at the beginning of the competition,

"You'll be lucky if you get to critics round."

And now we are in the semifinals so...bravo, Danilo.

Over the moon with that. I've had a really good day today, I suppose.

I'm definitely going to go home and have a G & T tonight,

a well-deserved one, I think.

So, yeah, it's been a good day.

Next week, the semifinals begin...

..and the chefs are pushed to their limits

in some of the best restaurants in the country.

This is where it really hits. You need to knuckle down, yeah?

A good, solid start. I'm impressed.