Episode 4 MasterChef: The Professionals

The hunt for the next professional MasterChef champion continues

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 really competitive. I don't want to go home.

I'm going to go in all guns blazing

and try and get through to the next stage.

I am really excited to be in this competition

and I hope I can make myself proud.

Our chefs have got to be at the top of their game.

They need to be focused.

They need to want this more than anything.

It's going to be a roller-coaster ride,

but it's going to be one they will never, ever forget.

Marcus, what are you going to get your chefs to do?

I'm going to ask my chefs to cook a buck rarebit.

It's a Welsh rarebit with a fried egg.

Is that a commonly known thing or is that a Marcus invention?

-No, it's a classic.

-Do you know buck rarebit?

I've not had a buck rarebit in a long time.

-Can you show me how to do it?

-Mm. OK.

We take our loaf of bread. I'm using a sourdough.

So, good virgin olive oil.

A head of garlic.

I'm just going to put the bread onto the griddle pan.

So, I'm making a classic roux sauce.

The milk has to be up to temperature.

It just helps it all work and come together much quicker.

Equal quantities of butter to flour and just start to melt that.

And then we drop in the flour.

Then we slowly start to add our warm milk.

I don't know about you, Monica,

but this is one of the first things I learned.

This is one of your basic sauces

and so they've got to know if that flour and butter's not cooked out

before the milk goes in, it will be lumpy.

I'll be amazed if they don't know how to do this.

They may just sprinkle the cheese on the top.

-No.

-No.

You don't think so? All right, let's see.

Now it starts to come together as a lump.

You just keep cooking and adding.

Now you see it's started to turn into a sauce now.

What I am looking for

is the chef that then tastes to see whether the flour's cooked.

It's beautifully smooth. It needs seasoning.

-Oh, yeah.

-HE CHUCKLES

-Now we're going to put in our cheese.

-Mm!

Now we're going to take two egg yolks

and add that into the cheese sauce.

Worcester sauce.

English mustard.

And this is Madeira.

Classically, you'd use an ale or a stout.

I just love the sweetness in the background.

And now for the fried egg.

One of the most passionate things I've ever seen done on television

when it comes to cookery

and it was Albert Roux cooking a fried egg

with so much passion and enjoyment, it was extraordinary.

And you can say it's just a fried egg,

but it's what you do with it and how you treat it.

I want to get the butter foaming

cos I'm going to use a little bit of the butter around the plate.

The reason why I'm doing it in this little pan is

I want the egg - the fried egg - to stay nice and round.

Just leave that on a low heat.

This is the cheese sauce with all the other bits and pieces.

It's a bit more than my mum's cheese on toast.

-SHE LAUGHS

-Under the grill.

Again, it's very quick.

Here he comes.

To finish, the fried egg.

Hey!

And here we have our buck rarebit.

You can have the one without the egg.

I knew you'd say that!

Mm!

This is my new luxury breakfast at the weekends.

This is an amazing dish on its own.

I hope our chefs can do it some justice.

It'll be an interesting challenge for them.

It'll be a fantastic eating challenge if they manage this

cos this is cracking, Marcus.

You could do this professionally if you set your mind to it.

-Shall we get the chefs in, see what they can do?

-Let's get them in.

First up is Darren, who works in development for a global food brand.

This is my first development chef job.

I develop new recipes

from everything from soup through chutneys

to sauces and salad dressings.

I work closely with a team of food technologists

who take my recipes and then turn them into factory recipes.

Some days, I could be making a budget soup

and the next day, I could be cooking a fine dining meal

for really important guests.

The reason I took the job was to spend more time with my family

and it's Monday to Friday, nine to five,

so it's probably a perfect balance.

Being a chef, it's just fantastic.

Sticking on your whites in the morning

and walking past the rest of the people into the kitchen

with a big swagger on, it's fantastic.

I just love it.

I think Marcus, Monica and Gregg can expect

a couple of little surprises from me yet.

OK, Darren, I would like you to make us a buck rarebit.

OK.

-Do you know what that is?

-No.

-HE CHUCKLES

-It's a Welsh rarebit...

-Welsh rarebit.

-..with a fried egg on top.

-OK.

-Are you all right with that?

-I'll be OK with that, I think.

-OK.

One buck rarebit, 15 minutes. Off you go.

-MONICA:

-Make yourself comfortable.

-THEY CHUCKLE

-Do you work for a removals company?

-No, but I might after this.

Seven and a half minutes left.

-Is it warming up?

-It's taking forever.

It might be quicker under the salamander.

It's not my bread, I promise.

You've got five minutes left.

Stop throwing it about.

Get on for a painter and decorator as well as a removal van.

-And a comedian.

-Oh, I don't know about that.

It's far too hot. I need to start that again.

You're all right, though. You've got time. Just.

Is it against the rules

to ask Monica or Marcus to look after my egg?

-MONICA:

-Yeah, it is.

Why wouldn't you ask me?

You've got 60 seconds to cook that egg and get it on the toast.

Ooh. Come on.

30 seconds.

Is this the most stressful egg you've encountered?

-I must say it probably is, yes.

-Right, five seconds.

I'd get it on the toast if I were you.

-Get it on. Yeah. Ooh! Oy-oy!

-How about an upside down egg?

-Time's up.

-Time's up.

You've delivered a buck rarebit. That, you have.

But the big error for me was the dry toast.

There was some oil there and some garlic to moisten the bread.

You've most certainly got the tang of Cheddar.

I can get a hint of mustard.

Unfortunately, I can't pick up any Worcestershire sauce at all.

And it's pleasant, without being wonderful.

Great attempt, but we want fantastic.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you, Darren.

-Thank you.

I was really quite surprised to see Marcus

and it set me back a little bit

cos I'd mentally prepared for Monica.

Um, so, it was just sort of like a snowball effect, I guess.

Next into the kitchen is sous chef Alex.

I'm sous chef in a five-star country house hotel in Perthshire.

I've worked in varied one-Michelin-star restaurants,

three-Michelin-star in Paris, Singapore.

Working in Michelin-starred restaurants

is very demanding, but I enjoy it

and that's the kind of level I want to be at.

I want to see if I can pit my wits

against the best chefs that are out there.

In the future, I would love to have a family restaurant -

me and my wife and our four kids.

Just me and my little team in the kitchen.

That would be perfect, yeah.

-Alex, I'd like you to cook us a buck rarebit.

-OK.

-Do you know what that is?

-It's like Welsh rarebit, yeah?

-It's a Welsh rarebit with a fried egg on top.

-Ah, right. OK.

-This is my breakfast, all right?

-OK.

-Don't mess it up, chef.

-15 minutes, Alex. Off you go.

-OK.

You don't seem nervous either.

No, I just find it easy to switch off.

I suppose with four kids, five dogs and a wife,

you've had a lot of practice,

-I should imagine.

-HE LAUGHS

You're halfway, Alex.

You've changed your mind. What are you going to do?

Just going to glaze the rarebit first.

I didn't want the egg to overcook.

You've got five minutes left, all right?

There's enough time, but just.

You've got two minutes to go, Alex.

What have you done to my egg?

-All done, chef?

-Done.

Alex, I thought it was going really well at first.

It tastes like egg on toast. It really does.

There's not enough sauce there.

What I'm looking for is a big, bold flavour

underneath the fried eggs.

So, for me, yes, you delivered the buck rarebit,

but it's not been delivered to the standard that I was looking for.

I think we'd all like to see a bit of love and passion in you, Alex.

-All right?

-Yeah.

-Another round to show it.

-Thank you very much.

-MONICA:

-Thanks, Alex.

-HE SIGHS

-I'm feeling a bit...

..annoyed.

I know I should have presented it a bit better.

I didn't do it as good as I could have, you know.

In the next round, I'm just going to give it my all.

Last to face Marcus is 28-year-old London chef de partie Anthony.

I work in a one-Michelin-star establishment in London.

I work on the fish section.

The food I personally like to cook

is a mixture between sweet and savoury,

combinations that you wouldn't necessarily think of -

a cucumber sorbet or a red onion ice cream.

That's what really excites me about cooking.

I'm ready for the competition

because I enjoy working in high-pressure situations

and I enjoy the pressure in the kitchen.

The standards in the competitions that I've seen before are very high,

-but I think I could do better.

-Have a look at this lot.

This doesn't look bad for a skills test.

No. Cheese on toast.

Anthony, I would like you to make us a buck rarebit.

-OK.

-15 minutes. Off you go.

-Lovely.

Anthony, have you made a Welsh rarebit before?

Quite a while ago when I was working in a pub.

-Do you remember how it's done?

-Um, I hope so.

You're halfway.

-What happened there, Anthony?

-Just cracked the yolk.

-Have you got another small pan?

-No.

-You've got five minutes left.

I've never seen that in my life.

-GREGG:

-You have three minutes.

-What's happened?

-I just burnt the toast.

-Burnt the toast?

-It's all happening, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-You've got a minute left.

-Yes.

You've got 30 seconds. Get it on a plate.

-Yeah, it's not going to be ready.

-Sure?

-I wouldn't like to serve that.

-No.

-You've still got 30 seconds.

Ten seconds. Is that ready to get out?

Just get it on.

OK. Right, time's up.

The egg, for me, was the big surprise.

-I've never seen an egg fried in a pan before.

-No.

I mean, that's a first for me and I've seen a lot in the kitchen.

Your cheese sauce has got a lovely tang to it.

There's a slight sweetness to it and sharpness and it's well seasoned.

However, that's not toast.

It's not cooked. It's a piece of bread.

It is a shame because that's possibly the nicest

-of the cheese sauces that I've tried so far.

-Thank you.

I can taste the mustard and the Worcester sauce through it,

but it's on soggy bread.

-It's not toasted, Anthony.

-Yes.

-All right, one more round to go yet.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

I found that a little bit horrible, to be honest.

Leading up to it, I wasn't very nervous,

but as soon as I got in there, nerves got the best of me.

Marcus, we've seen the chefs with your skills test.

Now it's your turn, Monica.

What are you going to get them to do?

I would like my guys to do

a very straightforward butchery skills test.

They have a whole rabbit.

I'd like it jointed into five, prepared for cooking.

The saddle, I'm going to bone out completely and stuff it

and the same with the back thigh.

Butchering a rabbit is not something they do every day.

It's the boning and stuffing that's going to be the interesting side.

Right, 15 minutes, you and the rabbit. Off you go.

First thing, you have the joint of the thigh, which is here.

It comes to the saddle. Very simply going to cut through that.

The legs. So, very simply cut through this.

We have the saddle here.

So, you can feel the ribs. Go, "One, two" and cut through.

So, repeat on the other side

and then you're just going to cut straight through. OK.

And there we have the saddle.

So, you'd have the two front legs here.

The problems we have nowadays

is a lot of what we can buy in is already prepared.

Then I would always expect a young chef

to find somewhere where he can learn that butchery.

I think it's almost wrong that a chef attempts to cook something

if he doesn't know how it's broken down.

We've removed the front legs, back legs and saddle

and now you're going to stuff a saddle, stuff a leg.

Start with boning out the back leg.

So, what you'll find is there's a bone down here

which is called the aitchbone, OK? So, you can see it's there.

You want to remove that.

You can't get to this thigh bone until you remove the aitchbone.

That's it. And then you want to go through.

We don't want them to cut through this side of the leg.

This may be a rabbit,

but the principle of what Monica's doing applies to a chicken,

-a leg of lamb.

-Leg of lamb.

The bone has broken off, but what happened is

there's a piece of knuckle there which you do want to remove.

We've got some mince here. Fill up that cavity.

OK, we've got some crepinette here.

What is the crepinette?

The crepinette is the lining of the stomach.

As soon as you cook that, this will melt away,

but it will hold it together.

Then you would just wrap that. That is ready to cook.

Lovely.

The next thing we're going to do is bone up the saddle of rabbit.

We want to remove the ribcage and the backbone,

leaving the whole piece of meat intact.

It's about following the natural seam

and where the meat meets the bone.

This is the real point now

where you want to see the chef taking their time,

making sure that they're not tearing the meat

and then it comes off in one piece without any holes.

-This is what you want.

-Yeah.

And you're going to overlap

and hold it with the belly here.

So, there we have it -

the stuffed saddle, the boned-out and stuffed thigh

and two legs and the back thigh.

That looks tricky to me.

I think, if they've never seen or worked on a whole rabbit before,

they need to look at it as breaking it down into five parts

and I think it's very self-explanatory.

Well, we've got three very nervous chefs.

Let's see what they can do with this rabbit.

They might be even more nervous when we get them in here.

Let's see what they can do.

First to face Monica's test is Angela,

an English teacher turned private chef.

I work for a variety of companies, private clients.

The scope of what I do can vary

from anything like A Midsummer Night's Dream-type party

with edible flowers

and beautiful pea shoots

to Indian banquets for 200,

so it really is very varied.

I think I've always been in a very foodie environment.

My family are beef and sheep farmers.

My dad makes wine.

I love my job and that's a really, really special thing to have.

-You've worked with rabbit before, Angela?

-Yes, I have. Yeah.

-Happy with butchery?

-Yes, I am.

-Good, good, good.

-What I would like you to do is to joint it into five.

-OK.

I then would like you to bone out one of the back legs and stuff it.

-OK.

-And also to bone out the saddle, roll and stuff.

-Brilliant.

-Right, Angela, you have 15 minutes.

-Excellent.

-Off you go.

-GREGG:

-Stop shaking.

-I know, right? It's terrible.

-Are you OK?

-Fine. Still shaking, but fine.

That would have been good for rolling.

That would really have helped, wouldn't it?

-GREGG:

-Mm.

-Sorry. Please give me a second.

-MONICA:

-That's all right.

Just remember, you are up against the clock,

-so don't take too much time.

-Sorry.

You OK, Angela?

Yeah, I think I've gone through the skin, which is unfortunate.

I'm shaking like a leaf as well.

Apart from those two catastrophic things...

Those two slightly catastrophic things.

-..it's OK.

-I'm OK.

SHE SIGHS

-We've got a leg to do yet.

-Get a move on, yeah.

-Yeah.

-Got you.

-Last minute.

-Last minute?

-I don't think you're going to get this done.

-I'll give it a go.

-Ten seconds.

-Oh!

-Say that again.

-I don't think I can!

Right, time's up. Stop. That's it.

-All done?

-Yeah.

-Angela, how was that?

-I was surprised how nervous I was.

I was surprised.

You removed the legs off without a problem.

Great to see that you retained the majority of the meat

around the side.

I think the saddle, though you took your time about it

and eventually got it off,

yes, there were a bit of nips along the middle,

but you still kept it as intact as possible.

But I am pleased that, because you ran out of time,

you left the joint of the top bit of the leg there,

which is what you want to see.

So, you do have five decent pieces here

and, I think, a really great effort.

Oh, thank you so much.

-Angela, thank you. Off you go. Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

That was unexpectedly nerve-racking.

Once you start questioning, like, one thing,

like, all the other questions start coming out,

so you kind of just question everything and your ability.

You're like, "Oh, my gosh. Am I doing this right?

"Do I remember how to do this right? Is this a leg? I don't know."

You know? I know it's a leg.

Next is Danilo, who is the head chef at the Italian Embassy in London.

I cook basically for the ambassador and his family,

but we do also organise lunch for five

or dinner for 100.

Well, the food in the Italian Embassy,

of course, is Italian food.

I always try to add a personal touch.

We can call it modern Italian.

I want to prove that

simple cooking can be impressive without too much showing off.

My mother and my father, they used to work in the restaurant business

and they were the first to tell me, "Don't do it."

When you say to a child, "Don't do that,"

he's going to do it.

It was either being a chef or being a rock star

and the rock star didn't work, so...here I am.

Danilo, you have 15 minutes. Off you go.

I'm not so sure how to proceed with the saddle.

I'll do the thigh first.

-What are you doing now?

-Trying to debone the thigh first.

-Watch what you're doing.

-Yeah.

The ambassador's family doesn't like rabbit.

What, this is all his fault if it goes wrong, then?

-HE CHUCKLES

-Maybe.

More or less, one is close.

This is the thing that's been worrying you.

-You've put it off till last, but you've got to do it.

-Yeah.

-Five minutes left.

-Thank you.

Cinque minuti.

Come on. I know I can do better than this.

No! It's broken.

-Finito?

-It doesn't look really great.

It was awful, really.

I do my own butchery and this is not how it's supposed to be.

-You do your own butchery?

-Yeah.

-Hmm.

The thigh, which you've boned out completely,

is just not right and it looks terrible.

The saddle, you eventually worked it out,

-but it had split down the middle.

-Yeah.

The crepinette could have saved that.

If you're going to use the string, you need to tie properly.

I mean, like, it's still going to seep out at the ends here.

This has been a struggle for you.

In the next round, you get a chance to cook your own food.

-Make sure it's good.

-Yeah, I'll do it.

-Squisito.

-Yeah, squisito. Thanks.

That was terrible. Awful. One of the worst experiences.

I can do better than that.

It's just I rushed into it and I did big mistakes.

Last to take on Monica's test

is Polish-born junior sous chef Bartosz.

I'm working in a conference centre in Buckinghamshire,

focusing on modern European cuisine

and sometimes, we would add some Asian influence as well.

I became a chef because of my grandma and my mum.

When I was a little guy, I almost had this, like, magnet

going to the kitchen and watching them

and putting my little fingers through, you know, bread dough.

I have this very rare talent where, once I see something,

I can develop it to different levels.

Once I touch something, the magic happens

and, you know, I can create some amazing things, so...

-Looking good? Happy with that?

-Never done a rabbit in my life.

-Oh.

I have never even eaten rabbit in my life.

-You've never eaten a rabbit?

-No.

Bartosz, you've done some butchery before, haven't you?

-I have in the past, yeah.

-It is straightforward.

It's got two back legs, two front legs and a saddle.

-Pretty much like a lot of other pieces of meat. OK?

-Yeah.

Right, 15 minutes. Off you go.

Are you feeling for the joint, are you?

Something like that, yeah.

I have never done a rabbit in my life, but...

You've got three minutes to bone and stuff that thigh.

-Time's up. You finished?

-Yeah.

Bartosz, you clearly did struggle at certain points with this challenge.

I wanted you to keep that beautiful saddle lovely and whole.

You went on to remove the actual loins.

The thigh, which you've boned out,

you've butterflied it to this long sort of faggot here.

Yeah, you could use this,

-but it's not prepared to the quality that I wanted.

-Yeah.

I really liked your approach.

You took your time, you were feeling your way around it,

you cared about it.

If you've never seen it, eaten it or butchered it before,

I think you've done a good job.

Are you making rabbit in the next round?

-HE LAUGHS

-No.

-I'm not, no.

-Off you go.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

It was hard.

Yeah, but I just kept going and, yeah, it is what it is.

But I should probably try and learn butchery a little bit more.

Well, now we've seen the six for the first time,

I think it's all to play for.

-There's nobody here I would write off.

-I agree.

There's not one you think,

"This one stands head and shoulders."

They've all delivered on a very similar level.

I think the three chefs that did Marcus' test

showed quite a bit of competence.

They all knew what a Welsh rarebit was.

It's interesting the fried egg and the toast

-is the bit that threw them.

-Yeah.

It's amazing. They all made a roux, a cheese sauce,

all struggled with a fried egg and a piece of toast.

That's amazing!

Monica, your skills test, the rabbit test,

all three of them had competent knife skills

and actually managed to do it, which I think is impressive.

I mean, everything now depends

on how well they cook their own signature dish.

Everything.

Welcome back to the MasterChef kitchen.

Right now, everything is up for grabs.

Skills test is done and dusted. Now this dish is about you.

This is your signature, something you've been thinking about.

I hope you've tested it and I hope it's a good one.

Chefs, we will lose three of you at the end of this.

An hour and 15 minutes to really showcase your talent.

I'm looking forward to this. Off you go.

I don't think the judges have seen me at the best yet,

but I'm hoping to change the judges' opinion

by getting my head down and just focusing on my dish

and wowing them with how good it is at the end.

Wow. You're putting more effort into this than the skills test.

What's going on?

I making sure I'm not making any silly mistakes

-like I did in the skills test.

-Good to hear.

Where does your love of food come from?

As a child, my dad was a fisherman,

so we were exposed to some really, really nice stuff.

So we were eating halibut and monkfish tails and things like that.

Darren, what are you making for us today?

It's Scottish langoustines with langoustine tortellini,

a bisque made from the shells,

and some nice summer vegetables and a bit of crisp ham as well.

Why this dish for us today?

It just really describes what my cooking is like, I think.

Good clean flavours.

Simple, but use nice local produce

and just let the produce do the talking, really.

Is there anything here you're worried about,

anything too technical?

No, I just need to crack on.

-MARCUS:

-Darren is using Scottish langoustines.

He's going to make them into a tortellini.

He's also going to pan-fry a couple of them as well.

And he's going to be serving those

with peas, broad beans and asparagus.

Very simple-sounding dish, but as Darren said,

this is about using top-quality Scottish ingredients.

I think Darren knows what he's doing.

If his bisque really gets intense flavour,

this could be a stunning dish from Darren.

I can't quite believe that I'm here.

I think that's probably why I had such a nervous breakdown

when I went into the skills test.

Hopefully I can put the nerves away and perform much better.

Angela, have your hands stopped shaking?

They have.

What's your signature dish?

A pan-seared cannon of lamb served with a burnt aubergine puree,

caramelised green onion and then a parsley and pomegranate sumac

and red onion salad.

You've got another bit of lamb as well as the cannon.

Yes. That's... Oh, yeah!

..some really delicious, crispy lamb bacon, essentially, I suppose.

-You've got a lot to do.

-I do have quite a lot to do, yeah.

-And have you done this dish in the time?

-I have, yeah.

I've time-checked it twice.

I love lamb.

The most important thing about lamb

is making sure it's served beautiful and pink.

She's also going to take the braise and deep-fry it

and she's going to turn it into lamb crackling, which is great.

The braising sauce, she's going to use that as her sauce for the dish.

I want some amazing cooking here.

It's all going to be in the detail on how well she cooks the lamb,

and of course the balance of the sumac,

aubergine and molasses.

There's an hour left. An hour.

After the skills test, I don't think I'm at the top position at all,

but I just have to push on and prove

that I'm a lot better chef than that.

If I get the dish right today, the judges are going to love it.

Anthony, what are you making for us today?

I'm going to be doing a smoked duck breast, bone marrow,

pickled vegetables, dandelion honey and honeycomb.

Whoa!

Where has this style come from, Anthony?

It's my sort of style.

I like someone ordering something they wouldn't usually order

and then really enjoying it.

Is it a style of food similar to what you work in

-or is this just you?

-No, this is me.

If you're different, you show out from the rest.

But different for the right reasons.

-For the right reasons, yeah.

-Anthony...

-Yes?

..I'm very intrigued, with a slight bit of concern.

Hopefully you'll enjoy it.

-MARCUS:

-Anthony is using duck breast.

He's going to render the fat down to get it nice and crispy

and he's going to be lightly smoking it in hickory.

And a first for me -

never, ever eaten honeycomb at all with a duck breast,

so this is going to be really interesting.

Anthony is also adding pan-fried bone marrow to a duck,

which really has a lot of fat on its own.

Taking a risk at this point sometimes is too dangerous.

We want to see solid cooking from him.

The judges think that probably I'm not fully trained.

I don't know. That scares me a lot.

I'm planning to change their mind showing what my food really is.

I mean, that's what I'm here for.

Danilo, how are you feeling?

-Good. Bit nervous.

-This is your signature dish show.

-We're looking for confidence when it's your own food.

-Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, I know. But it's food for you, so...

Oh, don't worry about us.

So, what are you cooking for us?

I'm going to cook a plate of pasta.

They are burrata ravioli served with langoustine scallops

and an infusion made of asparagus and lemon grass,

which I'm going to smoke with some smoky Earl Grey tea.

-Has the stock got any consistency to it or is it...?

-No, no. It's...

-Just a broth?

-Yeah.

-It has to be really light.

-Oh, OK.

It sounds much more complicated to me than a bowl of pasta.

Well, yeah. I can't come here with a bowl of pasta.

He just took the words out of my mouth.

Do you cook this for the ambassador?

I do cook this for the ambassador. It was a little bit different.

This is like a new version of another dish.

-You want to test yourself, don't you?

-Yes.

-MONICA:

-Danilo is making us a pasta dish.

He's done a tricolour of squid ink, normal pasta and parsley.

He's filling it with a burrata filling,

which I personally love.

It's a bit like mozzarella.

Danilo is serving his pasta dish with an asparagus, lemon grass

and smoked Earl Grey tea broth.

Now I'm curious. He's got my attention.

But as you know as well as I do, Monica,

broth has to taste of what it says it is.

I want to taste all those things and I want to taste a great balance.

Guys, 20 minutes left.

-ALEX:

-I'm desperate to show the judges that I deserve to be here

and that I can cook amazing food.

Alex, you seem very calm.

Are you always calm like this?

Uh, yeah.

My wife would disagree, but...

usually I am, yeah.

We wanted love and passion from you, didn't we?

-Yeah.

-Are we going to get it?

-Yes, you are. Yeah.

Tell me how.

Sea trout with pea puree,

glazed asparagus and brown shrimp beurre noisette.

What are you trying to say in this dish?

Well, firstly, I can cook, and...

That's a good message to start.

And I'm good with flavours. Yeah.

How keen are you to get a quarterfinal place, Alex?

-Very keen, yeah.

-You up for a fight?

Yeah.

Alex is cooking sea trout.

This is a fish you want to keep lovely and pink -

you don't want to overcook it - and seasoned really well.

Alex is serving it with Jersey Royals, peas,

tomato concasse, asparagus -

all the garnishes that you don't expect would work

with sea trout.

What I'm looking for here is great fish cookery,

the most important part about it for me.

You have 15 minutes left. That's it.

I am very excited to cook my own food

and show how good I am, really.

As simple as that.

Bartosz, in the last ten minutes, you've had your hands on your hips.

It's not normal. What's happening?

I'm calm cos I'm cooking my own dish,

so, you know, I know what I'm doing.

I've got some nice plaice.

It's going to be coated in Greek yogurt and almonds,

and I've got some parsley and leek fricassee.

And I'm doing almond beurre noisette as well.

Have you had yogurt and nuts on fish?

-No, I've never had yogurt with fish.

-No. Neither have I.

It's really nice.

-Where does it come from? Is it your invention?

-It is, it is.

Greek yogurt doesn't dry the fish,

so it's nice and moist inside and crispy outside.

-Bartosz, I'm intrigued.

-OK.

-I can't wait.

-I can't wait too.

-Good luck.

I've never had yogurt fish before.

Saying it sounds wrong.

Bartosz is using plaice.

He's going to pane it in flour,

Greek yogurt in place of the eggs and almonds.

Bartosz, he's not pushing himself,

but if he's in time and he serves a great dish,

he can stand around as much as he likes for me.

If he puts up an average dish,

the question you and I are going to ask is,

"Why didn't he do more? Why didn't he push himself?

Five minutes.

That's it. Stop! Time's up.

My hand is shaking.

That's very pretty.

Thank you. Hope it tastes nice as well.

I'm sure it will.

I went for Scottish portions. His is a main course.

Mine's a main course as well but I've...

Yeah, mine is obviously a little main course.

Yeah, Scottish portions.

Danilo, up you come, please.

First up is Danilo.

He has made a tricolour tortellini filled with burrata,

accompanied by pan-fried langoustine, scallops and courgettes,

blanched asparagus, broad beans and a tomato concasse.

It is served with smoked asparagus, lemon grass

and Earl Grey infused broth.

Danilo, once you poured the stock onto the dish,

it really did bring it to life, and all the different colours,

it just looks like spring on a plate. It looks fantastic.

Thank you very much, Chef.

Right.

Let's get in there.

You've got some amazing ingredients in this dish.

A beautiful tortellini.

The scallop is beautifully cooked, the langoustine are well cooked.

The vegetables, they've got textures of soft tomato.

They've got the crunchiness of the beans and the asparagus.

So many things are right about this dish.

Unfortunately, your stock is so bland.

The thing I was really looking for was the tea.

-Is that in there?

-Yeah.

-Did you put it in?

-Yeah. Yeah.

You didn't put enough in.

So just put more in. Simple!

True.

For me, I can taste the tea and the lemon grass in there.

On its own, it's very, very light, but we don't want a light broth

because with everything in this bowl, it becomes washed out.

But I love the idea of this plate,

and I think there's some great, great techniques at hand here.

This, I think, is a work in progress,

although it does show a real degree of skill.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, my friend. Grazie mille.

Prego.

The broth is the easiest part of that dish,

and I should've done better.

I don't know if I've done enough to keep myself in the competition,

but I think I gave it a good try.

Angela, would you bring your food up here, please, Chef?

Angela's canon of lamb is served with lamb belly crackling,

a burnt aubergine puree,

a parsley puree with goat's curd,

a red onion salad dressed with pomegranate molasses

and sumac and a lamb sauce.

Angela, I do like the crispy lamb belly.

You've really intensified the flavour of the sauce.

The lamb, it's lovely and pink,

however I find it's lacking in seasoning.

It's a nice plate of food, but I don't want nice.

I want knockout "Wow, best lamb dish I've had," Angela.

OK.

I'm getting flavour from goat's cheese.

I'm getting flavour from your sauce. Not enough from the aubergine.

-Mm-hm.

-Not enough from the lamb.

I just want to see you chuck a bucket of flavour over this.

-OK.

-I actually like the dish.

The lamb's beautifully cooked. The crackling was delicious.

Parsley adds a bit of freshness to the dish that I like.

You've just let yourself down on the finer details of the sauce.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

The feedback was very mixed,

probably like a three-way split, to be honest.

Don't know how it's going to pan out.

Kind of in limbo. Nervous limbo.

Anthony has made smoked duck breast with pickled vegetables,

fried bone marrow and honeycomb.

It is garnished with nasturtium leaves,

carrot tops,

wood sorrel and dill,

and served with a drizzled dandelion honey.

There's a smack of Alice In Wonderland about your plate

I really like.

It's like a piece of art.

Yes, it's colourful, but there are certain things on there

I'm a little bit concerned about.

Um...

this dish does not work at all.

It is just a plate of honey.

I've got some textures in my mouth from the raw vegetables.

Can't taste the duck, but it's overcooked anyway.

And the bone marrow really is just a non-event.

It doesn't taste of anything.

This is possibly one of the sweetest

duck dishes I've had,

and this, for me, is style over substance.

The fat of rich bone marrow into honey, I can't...

It is uncomfortable for me.

You're trying here to rewrite the book.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

With the dish, I wanted to show how creative I could be

and how different I could be, but they didn't get it.

Darren has made langoustine tortellini,

pan-fried langoustines and pea puree,

with blanched peas, asparagus and broad beans,

dried pata negra ham served with a langoustine bisque.

Darren, it looks really lovely. You should be pleased with yourself.

Thank you very much.

Stunning.

Thank you very much.

Absolutely stunning.

I'm digging deep to try and find some fault in this dish, um,

and I can't.

Texture, great. Flavours, super.

Execution, seasoning, balance, fantastic.

-Do you want me to continue?

-Please do. Thank you very much.

-Very good.

-Thank you.

I'm very impressed with the amount of time

that you've had to get the flavours of the bisque into this sauce.

Wonderful. Really wonderful.

I think it's a delightful eating dish.

Thank you.

I'll tell you as I see it as a customer, OK?

I think it's absolutely delightful.

That is a Gregg, another guzzle of wine,

finishing the sauce with my finger-type dish.

I love that.

I hope you're not a one-dish wonder.

-So do I.

-Better not be.

-I won't.

-I'd get out of here while the going is good, if I was you.

-I'm going.

-Go on.

-Well done, mate.

-Thank you.

-Good lad.

-Beautiful, wasn't it?

-That's what you want to see.

I'm feeling fantastic.

So excited.

I felt much more comfortable cooking my own food for the judges,

so for them to really like it just makes me really proud.

Alex's dish is pan-fried sea trout with a pea puree,

glazed asparagus, capers, confit tomatoes,

a potato galette and Jersey Royals.

It's served with a brown shrimp beurre noisette.

The plate, for me, looks crowded

and a little greasy down the bottom there.

I'm worrying about my heart.

Hmm.

Alex, the fish - the skin is nice and crispy.

It's seasoned really well, but it's overdone for me...

..which is a crucial part of this dish.

I tell you what I love that you do, Alex, and that's flavour.

I mean, you are big and bold with your flavour.

Love the puree, love the asparagus, like the potatoes. Everything.

I just don't enjoy them all together.

Alex, it reminds me of a piece of fish

with about two, three, four side orders that have come with it.

There's far, far too much going on.

-Thank you very much indeed.

-Thank you.

I feel absolutely gutted getting them sort of comments from Marcus.

It's...

It's really disappointing, yeah.

Bartosz has made pan-fried plaice

coated in Greek yoghurt and flaked almonds

with parsnip, pea and asparagus fricassee

and an almond beurre noisette.

The presentation's interesting.

It's, you know, unusual to see parsnip

on a dish that sings out spring, but not a bad job.

The yoghurt and nut fish...

..doesn't work for me.

What I have tasted is so much nut, the fish is no longer evident.

It's about the balance

and I think this is quite off for you today.

This isn't just about a dish. We - especially Monica and I -

we look at how the chefs work in the kitchen.

You had a lot of time, a lot of standing around, staring.

"What else is going on in the kitchen?"

And I think this dish really shows your...almost...

Do you know? It's almost like a lack of interest

because all I can taste is nuts.

I can't taste the plaice. I can't taste the yoghurt.

I can't taste any seasoning. I just have almonds in my mouth.

I think you're going to have to go back and rethink this one.

-Thank you, my friend.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-Nice talking to you.

I take a lot of positive from negative

because this is something I can build on.

So, yeah, I'm actually happy. Yeah.

-GREGG:

-We have got so much to talk about.

Can I ask you chefs to take a well-earned break?

Thank you. Off you go.

Now they've cooked their signature dish,

I think the errors are very obvious.

I think, at the same time,

one or two are starting to show their strengths here.

There was one chef who just got universal praise -

Darren's beautiful langoustine dish

with the bisque which was just sublime.

That dish, for me, was absolutely brilliant.

-He goes through to the quarterfinal?

-Absolutely.

-Unanimous?

-No doubt.

I think there's also one decision

that's going to be easy for all three of us to make

and that's Bartosz.

I mean, almond and yoghurt-coated plaice

is a mistake.

-Yeah.

-A big mistake.

-Bartosz's competition is over.

-Yes.

Danilo definitely shows a lot of potential here.

The concept and the idea of the dish, I think,

was a great beginning.

Yes, I said the stock was under for me.

Maybe I was being harsh.

All the individual elements were beautifully cooked,

fantastically executed and well seasoned.

Monica, do you want to see Danilo go through?

-Mm-hm.

-Yeah.

I really loved Anthony's presentation.

He did the duck with the little pickled vegetables all rolled

and little shaves of cauliflower.

No? You're...? No?

Gregg, there's so many things on this dish you don't do.

Nothing on that plate that made sense.

It was far too sweet.

The duck was overcooked.

-SHE BLOWS RASPBERRY

-Sorry.

When you start blowing raspberries,

I know it's the end of the line for the chef.

-Anthony's gone?

-Yeah.

This means we have one quarterfinal place

and that is going to go to either Angela or Alex.

I was disappointed with the flavours on Angela's dish,

but what was very clear was that the lamb was lovely and pink

and this is very important.

I liked the undercurrent of the dish.

She didn't overdo it. It was one of those dishes

that we all had a different opinion about.

If you actually look at the skill and what she delivered,

I think it was excellent.

It means a huge amount, I think, to stay in the competition. It's...

..emotional, yeah.

Unexpectedly so, I think.

Alex, I thought, got flavour through his seasoning,

but he overcooked that fish by quite a bit.

There's a great combination of ingredients here.

I just felt there was a little bit too much on the plate.

Has Alex just overthought the dish and just tried to do too much?

We'll see if I go through or not.

I don't know if I've done enough, but we'll see.

It's obvious to me after eating the food

and listening to your comments

that both Alex and Angela have a great deal of experience.

Who do you want to see cook again?

-I think I know.

-I know who I'd like to see again.

Thank you for today.

Whatever happens, whether you go or stay,

you have to take on board the comments

and learn and grow from them.

We are taking three of you through to the quarterfinal.

Unfortunately, for three of you, the competition ends here.

And the first chef leaving us is...

-..Bartosz.

-Thank you.

The second chef leaving the competition is...

-..Anthony.

-Thank you.

-GREGG:

-Thank you, Anthony.

And our third chef leaving the competition is...

-..Alex.

-Thank you.

I'm feeling a bit gutted, yeah.

I guess when you don't pay attention to detail,

that happens, you know, so...

I've learnt today to deal with pressure a lot better

and probably rethink my style of cooking maybe a little bit.

If I had one more chance,

I would do a lot of things differently.

This is how you learn.

If you don't make mistakes, you don't learn.

Cheers again.

Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic.

The feedback I got from the judges was amazing.

Better than I could have hoped for and I'm just made up.

Yeah, I'm feeling... I'm feeling great, yeah.

Really great experience. I'm feeling fantastic.

Today was an awesome day.

I suppose now, in hindsight of feeling quite nice,

it feels pretty good.