Episode 8 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'd say that the other chefs might be more skilful.

But I just hope I can keep up.

SHE LAUGHS

I just want to get in and get in there and do it, you know?

I want to win it. I want to get it done.

A brand-new set of contestants who are going to be

walking into this kitchen, and we need to find one shining star.

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.

Right, we've got six chefs coming in here today.

-We are going to kick them off with a skills test.

-Yep.

There's a lot of stuff on this bench, Marcus.

What are you going to get them to do?

I would like the cooks to make a lobster, salmon ravioli served with

-a lobster sauce.

-How long is that going to take?

-20 minutes.

-No way.

The pasta's already made, so really it is about the sauce,

the filling of the ravioli and then the making of it. Three steps.

Our chefs need to judge everything, from the thickness of that pasta,

to how to get the best flavour out of this lobster shell as possible.

So the first thing I want to do is to get the sauce going.

What I don't want to see is them smashing the tail itself to pieces.

Put some butter into our pan. Going to chop up a shallot.

Every chef should know how to do lobster.

-It is on every quality menu, isn't it, a lobster?

-Yes.

-In one way another.

It is such a beautiful, sweet meat.

Head of garlic...into there.

One fresh bay leaf.

Sprigs of thyme.

Seasoning.

That's underway. That's taken about a minute to get that on.

Now what we're going to do is start to make the filling of the ravioli.

Half of the salmon fillet...we are going to quickly dice up.

So I'm just dicing up the lobster.

We are going to blitz this bit of salmon,

because this will bind those ingredients together.

OK.

Splash of cream.

Why don't you just put all the lobster and salmon

-and cream in together?

-MONICA GASPS

Because, to put a lobster into a blender with the salmon,

-blitz it up...

-You want the texture and to taste the lobster.

And I'm just going to add some chopped chervil.

This is beautifully caramelising now. I'm going to take some sherry.

Put a splash of fish stock.

Put a splash of cream.

Take the ravioli. Just very gently, just roll them.

We are going to pop these into the fridge.

-And that will what, firm them up a little bit?

-Just a little bit, yes.

They've got to be all-rounders...

at making pasta. It's just got to be one of the little

tricks that they should have up their sleeves.

So, pasta done.

Sauce off the stove. And we just leave it draining through.

Now we are ready to make our ravioli.

So...

Ravioli. Egg yolk around the outside.

What we are looking for is that ravioli that sort of sits

like a little flying saucer. Look.

And into your water. Cooks for four minutes.

That's just been dripping through.

OK, so we've had four minutes on the ravioli now.

Into the centre of the plate.

Chopped chervil.

-GREGG:

-Oh, mate!

-Little bit of olive oil.

And there we have it.

A lobster, salmon ravioli served with a lobster sauce,

finished with a touch of chervil.

That simple. 20 minutes.

Our chefs have got to move it.

They've really got to move quick on this one.

It's decadent. It is a dish that makes you feel spoilt.

I love, love that dish.

I'll be very, very impressed if our chefs can make a dish of that calibre.

-I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do.

-Let's give it a go.

First up is Joey,

who's travelled the world as a private chef.

I love working with my hands.

I think there's huge satisfaction in working with your hands

and actually physically creating something.

Subsequently, my hands are now completely ruined.

And I love the concept of people coming together with food, I find

it so satisfying, kind of feeding people and bringing people together.

-Hello, Josephine.

-Hello.

-What do you like to be called, Josephine, Joe...

-Joey.

-Joey?!

-Yeah.

OK, Joey, I would like you to make us a lobster, salmon ravioli.

-OK.

-And serve that with a lobster sauce.

-20 minutes.

-20 minutes?

-20.

-Oh, God.

-Off you go.

Where did you train?

I went to a cooking school in Ireland after school.

And then I did a culinary arts degree, here in London.

Halfway. Ten minutes left.

-GREGG:

-You want one, yeah?

-Just one?

-Yeah.

Four minutes left.

-You all done?

-Yes, I'm done, thank you.

I really commend you for your working methods.

I thought you approached it incredibly professionally.

Your chopping, your cutting, your organisation was very good.

And you did everything in the right order. You did a very good job.

-Thank you.

-Well done.

-You work like a real chef.

That's what I want to see from you.

-I think you are on to a good journey.

-Thank you.

-Right?

It's full of flavour, nicely seasoned. Lots of saffron.

-Really good. Really, really good, Joey.

-Thank you.

Under these circumstances, your first dish, in this kitchen...

-great job.

-Thank you so much.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

Looking forward to seeing you cook your own dish. Off you go.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-Yes!

-Great.

-GREGG:

-Get in!

Back of the net.

It was really enjoyable.

I definitely feel on a high, and I want to keep going.

Next is 21-year-old Sean,

who's been head chef of a gastro-pub for just over a year.

My favourite thing about being a chef is being able to be creative.

I'm no good at art, writing on paper and stuff,

but when it comes to food, that's my form of creativity and art,

and that's how I'd like to just showcase my knowledge.

I have an attention to detail that not many other chefs do have.

And I think that's what's going to set me apart.

Sean.

I would like you to make us one large lobster, salmon ravioli,

-and serve it with a lobster sauce. You've done pasta work before?

-Yes.

-Yeah? Made raviolis before?

-Yes.

-And you've made a sauce before?

-Yes.

-Good.

-Sounds straightforward enough for you?

-Yes.

-OK.

Great cooking is what we want to see, great skills at hand.

Sean, you've got 20 minutes. Off you go.

-How old are you, Sean?

-21.

-How old were you when you were first head chef, Marcus?

-25.

-25.

A long time ago.

-That's young, isn't it, 21, head chef?

-Yeah.

You must be talented

I do try my best.

-Have you cooked with lobster plenty of times?

-Not loads.

I've cooked it a few times, but not too much.

Sean, can I just stop you for a second? Can I just ask you,

just before you carry on, just to remove this from the board?

-Yeah.

-OK. You can't leave those on the board and work.

Right, so your pasta is rolled. Lobster's in the pan to make your sauce.

-And that's your mix there, yeah?

-Yeah.

You've got a spoon, chef?

Cheers.

Sean, you are halfway. Ten minutes left.

-What's the matter, Sean?

-The pasta is stuck to the table.

I should have used flour.

Sean, you've now got five minutes to go.

-We need that ravioli in the pan, we need the sauce made.

-Yeah.

Three minutes left.

That was the most nerve-racking thing I've ever done in my life.

-Without a doubt.

-Your pasta was stuck to the table.

You did it again, which was good.

It's not as thin as the first time around.

But it has not stuck together.

Why did you use water when you had an egg there?

Um, I've always just used water. I found that it normally sticks it better, but...

But it doesn't. And I think that is quite clear to see.

Your whole process with the sauce, not cutting the heads down,

leaving the guts of the head on the board and working around it,

-you can't work like that, Sean.

-Yeah.

-It is just not what you should be doing as a head chef.

-No.

You're cooking a piece of ravioli in water that's not even simmering.

It is still raw.

-GREGG:

-I really don't want to taste the fish in the middle.

In case it isn't cooked at all. And the sauce is just butter.

You know, we understand nerves, and no-one is going home at this stage.

But I really think you need to dust yourself down, start again.

-Off you go.

-Cheers.

I'm hoping there's a confidence there, that he can pull it back.

I'll give it 100% in the next round.

Obviously I need to, otherwise it is over for me, but...

The last chef to take on Marcus' skills test is 22-year-old Joe,

who works as a private chef.

The food that I cook is pretty much always fine dining.

I always want to push it up to a higher standard.

I don't want to cook pub food.

When I go to work for a private client, they want the best.

And that's what I aim to give them, always.

Right, Joe, one lobster, salmon ravioli,

with a lobster sauce, 20 minutes.

-Off you go.

-OK.

OK.

Tell me what it is you've got in mind there with that lobster head?

I want to cook the lobster heads

so I can get the flavour out of the head, so I can put it into the bisque.

Righto.

-Joe, you're halfway, you have ten minutes left.

-Thank you.

Sorry, chefs.

Too full, I think.

HE LAUGHS

(Tea towel.)

BLENDER STRUGGLES

There we go, chefs.

There were some interesting methods to your work that I have to

question, such as forcing a whole ball of pasta through the machine.

You don't do that.

Blanching the lobster head before you make into a sauce.

Normally you'd cut a lobster head down raw and put it into

the sauce, so that the flavour goes on the sauce and not into the pot.

The other thing that was quite interesting, and I've never seen

in a kitchen ever, is the intestines of a lobster in a sauce before.

Oh!

Those are the last things you want, from any animal, in any dish,

in any sauce.

You have given us a dish, but it's

your methods and how you got here which concerns me.

-GREGG:

-The water has got in there.

Sauce is slightly bitter.

Hasn't got a great deal of depth,

but the biggest problem is that your ravioli has got a hole in it,

the water has flooded in and the whole thing is now waterlogged,

it has washed the flavour away.

-You do have some work to do in the next round.

-I understand that.

-All right, Joe.

-Thank you.

It's just so silly. I mean, I've done that a million times over,

and I can make ravioli.

I can make a lobster bisque. It's...

silly mistakes.

We've seen three of the chefs already perform your skills test,

Marcus. This is the skills test from you, Monica.

What are you going to get them to do?

I would like our chefs to bone out the pig's trotter

and to stuff it with the chicken mousse, ready for cooking.

There's not a lot on the bench.

But that is a very, very difficult thing to do.

-How long are you going to give them to do this?

-MONICA:

-15 minutes.

Show us how you do a pig's trotter in 15 minutes.

Right.

First, I'm going to completely remove the hair. Just singe it.

To start with the butchery,

just make an incision all the way down to open it up.

I'm following the bone with the knife,

trying not to cut through the skin,

because if you're going to stuff it, it will leak everywhere.

All you want to leave on this are the little knuckles.

You want to have as much as possible that you can eat.

You can see we've hit the first knuckle.

We want to go over that.

It's pretty straightforward.

If they can stay calm and look at it, it will come off.

As long as they don't lose a finger, they should be all right.

When did you first bone a pig's trotter?

I was actually in the industry

so I was at La Tante Claire, Pierre Koffmann's,

the man that invented this dish.

But this isn't something that a trainee chef would do, is it?

No, but I think a trainee chef is taught how to bone out

a chicken thigh, bone out a leg of lamb,

and this is another way of boning.

Now you can see it's starting to reveal where the joint is

on the second lot of knuckles, OK?

You want to just get in there.

Separate it at the joint.

What you should have...

is that.

It's just the ends left on it.

It's all hollow, ready to be stuffed.

That's not easy. That's ready hard.

So, I'm going to make up a quick chicken mousse to stuff it with.

Here we just have some chicken that has been blitzed up.

I'm going to use some cream.

You should season any mousse.

Just a little bit first because you want to remove any lumps first.

I'm doing this over ice because at the same time,

it's cooling it and the cream is whipping into the mix

and making it lighter.

So it's up to them.

If you want to fold some mushrooms through it.

I've tasted these mushrooms

and I believe they do need a pinch of salt.

They have been cooked and we are just adding those in.

All you would then do is just fill the cavity with your mousse.

So you're now recreating the natural shape of the trotter?

Absolutely.

Look much you're going to have to eat. That's a lot.

I think I'd struggle to finish that.

-I wouldn't.

-You wouldn't?

I'd eat it.

To make sure it's completely

pressed up, you've got the form and you want to hold this shape.

You'll see when I trim it there.

There we have it, guys,

our pig's trotter completely boned out

and stuffed with chicken mousse.

This is a serious, serious challenge.

It's going to be interesting to watch these three chefs

get through this one.

First up is 38-year-old Gavin who's been a head chef for 13 years.

I operate the business for the owners.

Costing menus, coming up with new ideas, creating new dishes.

It's hard work.

I have three young children so, a very demanding family life.

I do a school run before coming to work every day.

Working in a professional kitchen doesn't come without constraints.

We have to operate to please the customers

so that relates in the style of food that we do.

Going on a competition like this gives me an opportunity

to showcase what I am about and what I am able to achieve.

Gavin, I would like you to bone out the pig's trotter,

-keeping the skin as whole as possible.

-Sure.

Then stuff it with a chicken mousse

-and any of the other ingredients you have here.

-OK, no worries.

-Does it sound straightforward enough?

-Yes, it does.

-You've boned a trotter before?

-A long time ago. 15 years ago.

A trotter hasn't changed, it's still the same.

-Same as it was 15 years ago, Gavin!

-It's been a long time.

-Gavin, you have 15 minutes.

-OK.

-Off you go.

-I'm probably doing it completely wrong.

-Well, you are doing it, Chef.

It's trying to get it off with the skin intact, isn't it?

You are halfway. You have got seven and a half minutes left.

What's up?

I'm just lost on the toes.

There we go.

I was a bit concerned I was going backwards on myself.

Health and safety, chopping fingers off!

-No, keep your fingers! Lose the...

-That's what's worrying me!

This is so tough.

Now you've got it off, you've still got five minutes to stuff it.

I should have done this first, actually.

You're going to have to be a bit lively. You've got three minutes.

I'm just glad no-one's eating it!

Rum and raisin ice cream, you've got in there. My favourite!

I'll have to roll it because I'm running out of time.

There you go.

-Can you unroll it for us so we can see how it looks?

-Yes, of course.

I have just split it down the back, haven't I?

You identify all the problems after you've done them, don't you?

What you have done is that you have removed the trotter,

but you have left a lot of the meat on here

and when you channel bone it like that

at certain points the knife is going to go through the skin.

If this was to be cooked, that would leach out everywhere, OK?

It wouldn't hold together. You have torched it afterwards.

Again, torch it before you take it off the bone.

You started off OK. You started the tunnelling,

but as you get further down the line your knife is going to go through

and that's very evident to see. And you struggled.

You give me confidence but I don't want you to make a fool of me now.

-I want you to prove it in the next round.

-Thank you.

You drum into your guys at work all the time about the classics

and then you get presented with something you haven't done

for a very long period of time and it comes back to get you.

Next is sous-chef John,

who works in a fine dining restaurant in Wiltshire.

Where I see myself in the next one to two years

is taking on my first head chef role and then the overall goal

is to set up my own place eventually,

pushing for a Michelin star.

I want to prove to myself that I can compete

with the top professional chefs in the country.

I believe in myself and what I do and I believe that I can.

It's all about what I produce on the day.

John, what I would like you to do today

is to bone out the trotter here

and then stuff it with a chicken fast using the mushrooms

or the black pudding if you feel like it, all right?

I've never prepped one before so it could be interesting.

Don't be intimidated. It's only a trotter.

-All you've got to do is bone it.

-You have 15 minutes.

-John?

-Yes.

-You've had five minutes.

-OK, thank you.

What's the struggle now, John? What's the issue?

I can feel the bone there where...

..it comes off, I just can't quite get there.

-Don't stab yourself.

-No, I won't.

Five minutes left.

Whoa!

-You're almost there, aren't you? You're almost there.

-Yeah.

-You're getting a bit frustrated with that last bit.

-Yeah.

Ten seconds. I think that's it, isn't it?

-I think we've done as much as we're going to do, John?

-Yeah. Sorry.

-Don't apologise.

-I just couldn't quite get to that joint bit there.

So...

HE SIGHS

-That was tiring, watching you do that.

-I know.

I'm exhausted!

What I do like is the fact that you didn't damage it.

You've kept it on as much as possible.

But I reckon I could come back tomorrow morning and you'd still be here.

I think you have a point to prove to the judges,

because I don't think we saw very much of you.

He really wasn't getting anywhere.

No, he wasn't.

He needed to step back a bit and rethink it.

In my head, I kind of knew how to do it, but I didn't use my common sense

and I let the moment get the better of me.

So...

Last up is 31-year-old Scott, who is head chef of a hotel restaurant.

I decided to be a chef because I always like to be creative.

I like working with my hands.

I never felt like I could work on a computer all day.

And I felt like catering was maybe my outlet.

All my catering training was on the job

and through just buying books and reading as much...

And eating out, as well, when I can.

I'm looking forward to playing my part in the competition,

and hopefully I can play it well.

-What do you make of that beastie?

-Pig's trotter. I've done a few.

I've taken the skin off. Stuffed them once or twice, so...

fingers crossed.

-You will have 15 minutes, OK?

-Sure.

-So, focus on the task - it goes past very quickly.

-Mm-hm.

-Good luck.

Thank you.

Do you ever put trotter on the menu?

It's never been something that is on the menu.

In the past. I've never eaten it yet.

So what's happening now, instinct?

Instinct and a bit of what I can remember from last time

-I did it.

-How long ago was that?

Seven or eight years ago.

-It's going all right so far, though.

-Thank you, Chef.

Ta-da!

You're just halfway, so you've got 7.5 minutes left to stuff this.

Thanks!

Why the indecision? What's happening?

Well, the black pudding...

Chicken and pig didn't go well together. I'm not sure.

-I need to add the mushrooms to it and...

-Add them, then!

You're looking at Marcus to see if he's going to give you

an indication of what he'd like, aren't you?

I don't think he's going to give any indication.

-Finished?

-I think so, yeah.

-Well done.

-Completed that with 2.5 minutes to spare.

-Thanks very much, chef.

-Scott, you've left a lot of the foot on the bone at the end.

-Yeah.

However, you kept your cool and concentrated on the task here.

You didn't cause too much damage to the trotter

and just took your time chipping away at it.

-I think what a great attempt.

-Thanks very much.

Just one thing - I've never seen a pig's trotter that's been

wrapped down like a piping bag and then stuffed. That's a first.

I've never seen that before. That's a new technique.

-That was a very, very good skills test.

-Thank you.

Well done, Scott. Very, very good start to the MasterChef competition.

Cheers, thank you.

Now I feel I've got a bit of pressure off my shoulders.

There's still a lot to go.

I'm not out of the woods yet, so I want to stay focused and carry on.

This is just the start.

Two fantastic challenges

and we really do get a taste of what these chefs are about.

Scott, from your skills test, and Joey,

they look like the leaders at the moment.

They are. Let's hope they keep the momentum going.

No matter what happened in that skills test, that is

only half the story.

The rest is going to unfold here right now with your own dish.

We have three quarterfinal places to offer.

It's your signature dish. You've chosen it.

I hope it's your best one.

At the end of this, three of you will be going home.

Focus on your cooking today. I wish you luck.

One hour and 15 minutes. Off you go.

For my signature dish I am doing some pan-fried sea trout with

crispy skin and almond puree, asparagus spears

and some raw pickled fennel and raw radish.

It might not be the most technical, in fact I'm sure it won't be

the most technical, but hopefully it will be tasty.

Simplicity is one of the hardest things to achieve.

To get it right she needs to maximise on all those

fantastic ingredients and bring the best flavour out of them.

-What's this thing about... fish on a nut puree?

-Yeah!

-Why?

I like cooking things that are quite light,

so replacing what might have been a potato or a starch puree with

a protein puree, I think is quite interesting.

-For me, it works, so hopefully...

-MONICA:

-It works for me too.

-OK.

Almond puree, yeah.

As long as you get it right,

you've got caramelisation through it, why not?

Think you very much.

15 minutes gone already, guys. 15 minutes gone.

I think, after the first round, I feel myself more competitive now.

I'm hungry for it.

-Scott, what's your signature dish?

-Quail breasts sous vide.

I'm going to make a Scotch egg with the rest of the meat

and some of the offal that's inside, as well.

I'm doing a roast celeriac puree, some chanterelle al la Grecque

and some just as they come.

I think it shows my understanding of flavour and technique and,

hopefully, that's what you are looking for in the competition.

For me, the key here is the cooking of the quail.

You don't want to overcook it.

There's not a lot of meat on there and there's certainly not

a lot of fat.

THe Scotch egg has to be beautifully cooked.

The egg in the centre has to be beautiful and runny. It's got

to be beautiful and round, it's got to be panned correctly.

Sounds easy, but actually it's quite a difficult thing to do.

Gavin is cooking rack of lamb.

You're serving it with pommes Maxim, broad beans and some artichokes.

Fantastic flavours. These are great combinations. They work.

Pommes Maxim, they've got to be made properly.

It's fiddly sliced potatoes. They're crispy.

Cut them in circles, line them up,

they can actually look quite stunning if done properly.

-Gavin, why are you here?

-When you're a head chef you kind of become

pigeonholed in what you do.

It gives me another dimension, it gives me

another string to my bow, something to challenge myself.

As opposed to challenging myself in a restaurant,

it's challenging myself on a personal level.

Gregg, he's obviously expressed that he likes what he sees in me,

but it's getting Monica

and Marcus on board now by just giving them good food.

It's what they want. It's what we do as industry professionals.

And so long as I do that, I think I've got a good chance.

You guys are halfway. OK?

-Yeah.

-Good, good, good.

The judges probably don't think of me as much of a chef, to be honest.

I plan on proving them wrong by giving them

a dish that they're going to remember

and it's just going to completely outwipe the skills test.

I see you're making a dessert for us. So are you strong in pastry?

Um... I do a bit of everything. Um...

Me, eating dishes, I like to have something sweet,

so I thought why not?

I'm making a caramelised white chocolate mousse

and I'm serving it with white chocolate truffles.

How do you caramelise a mousse?

You have to basically have a controlled temperature,

so it can't go too hot.

But if it's not hot enough it just won't caramelise

and then you have to watch it like a hawk.

You have to be on top of it.

If you don't get your timing right,

-we're going to have a caramelised puddle!

-Yeah.

It's really hot in here.

Chocolate work is normally made in pastry sections where it's

chilled and cool, where you can control the temperature.

The problem Sean is going to have is that the ROOM is going to

control the temperature.

After the skills test, I feel like, well,

I have to think that I'm on the bottom of the pile, and I know

I need to knock it out of the park

with my signature to rise up the ranks again.

Joe, you looked disappointed after the skills test.

What do you want to do now?

I want to get back on track and show you that I can cook good food,

-and hopefully this plate's going to do that.

-What is this plate, Joe?

What are you making for us?

I've got a pork fillet.

It's going to be served with some maple glazed carrots, butternut

squash puree, asparagus, radish and a white wine and tarragon sauce.

-Wow! You've got a lot going on here.

-Yeah.

I wanted to show that I can put a plate together that has good

textures, good flavour and just come off as a really nice dish.

Oh, yes, I love these combinations.

White wine, tarragon and pork is a beautiful marriage.

The question is always going to be, until we see the dishes,

can he bring all these flavours together?

There's quite a lot going on there. But that doesn't make it wrong.

If it's in good hands it can work.

Ten minutes left.

What is your signature dish?

Hake loin poached in a bit of pancetta butter. Pea puree.

Saute of broad beans, peas, Gem lettuce, pancetta.

A pancetta and caper croquette and pickled shallot rings.

And a pancetta foam, sorry.

-And a pancetta foam?

-Yeah, just to bring it all together.

I hope you've still got some energy, John,

after that workout with that trotter.

-I'm never going to live that down, am I?

-No, you're not.

As always, the concern for me, and I'm sure for you, Monica,

is the foam. Foam, foam, foam,

is something our chefs bring to the kitchen for a regular basis.

Unfortunately, they're always a hit or miss.

I want John's foam to taste of pancetta.

I wanted to have some body to it. I want it to sit there and be proud.

The judges haven't seen anything of me yet,

so this is my opportunity to show them what I can do and impress them.

Unless I produce a good signature dish, I'm going home.

Four minutes, right? And we mean it. Don't get caught short.

Get it on a plate!

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

-My mousse collapsed.

-Oh, no.

Sean, would you bring your plate over, please?

To stay in the competition, 21-year-old head chef Sean has made

caramelised white chocolate mousse topped with a pistachio crisps,

served with coconut rum truffles, freeze dried raspberries

and a raspberry salsa.

It clearly has melted.

Yeah.

I love the flavours of this and I think it's a crying shame.

I mean, I'm a big pud fan, it's a crying shame

because the texture there is non-existent.

However, the flavour of your bonbons are just magical.

You only just get the caramelisation at the end of the white chocolate

so it's not very strong.

The salsa that you have on the side is really sharp, really sharp.

It's not worked out well for you today.

The recipe had huge potential, but the execution wasn't very good.

In my kitchen at work, I could do that dish easy.

I have it on the menu at the minute.

But it just went so wrong.

Private chef Joe has made pork fillet coated in cep powder

and served with a garlic croquette, maple syrup-glazed carrots,

butternut squash puree, asparagus, radish,

pickled fennel and a white wine and tarragon sauce.

There is a lot of elements on your dish here,

but you can see that it's all been placed with thought.

It looks great.

Joe, the first thing that always concerns me personally as a judge

is when a chef reels off 12, 13, 14, 15 different elements

to a plate of food because sometimes it throws up the question

of when is enough enough.

Surprisingly, I think this dish works very, very well.

The pork is just a little bit underdone, but I can accept that.

The vegetables are all beautifully cooked.

They've been executed well,

whether it be a pickle or whether it be braised or pan fried or blanched.

I love the croquette. Fantastic job, Joe, well done. You've surprised me.

The sauce is wonderful and it does bring the whole dish together.

The slight pickling throughout as well,

there's a bit of freshness on the plate here.

I love the raw elements in this and the croquette -

wonderful and crispy and cooked properly on the inside.

You've pleased the two chefs beside me.

They like it, I like it. Well done, Joe.

You had some ground to make up and you've done pretty good.

Thanks.

Yeah, I feel brilliant about that. Those comments were just...

I'm on top of the world, you know. I can't believe it.

Yes!

(Joe...)

John, would you come and join us, please?

Sous-chef John's poached hake is served with pancetta

and caper croquettes, peas, broad beans, gem lettuce, pancetta,

pickled and crispy shallot rings, pea puree,

pea shoots and a pancetta foam.

It's a nicely presented plate of food.

The only thing that stands out is that the foam lasts for seconds

and it disappears,

-which creates the puddle which is what the customer sees.

-OK.

The fish, I expected more of that pancetta butter through this fish

cos I knew you put the butter over it and you poached it in it as well.

A bit more seasoning in the fish for me as well.

-It's a nice dish, but I'm not blown away by it.

-OK.

The foam, there's not really anything to taste.

It's sort of being let down a little bit by the puree on the plate.

So it's sort of missing these key things I was looking forward to.

I really, really like it, I honestly do.

The natural sweetness of pea, broad bean,

the crunch of the pea shoots,

I love the idea of the capers inside your croquette.

What is missing for me is pancetta smokiness.

It lacked a little bit of the pancetta flavour

I wanted to get through,

but it definitely went better than the pig trotter.

Head chef Gavin has made a rack of lamb,

which is accompanied by broad beans, baby artichokes,

roasted shallots, pommes Maxim and a lamb sauce.

I love the lamb on a cutlet like this

because I'm the kind of chef that will just pick up the bone

and eat it like that, but I can't do this with this

because of the amount of fat that hasn't rendered down.

Monica, you're right.

I just wish you'd have taken the chunk of fat off,

cooked that separately and then put that back on the dish

and you would have absolutely nailed that lamb.

The lamb's still lovely and pink in the middle, the broad beans lovely,

they've been cooked perfectly and the pommes Maxim is still crispy.

I'm perfectly satisfied with the dish without being in love with it.

Good up to a point,

but it is isn't good enough for you to be licking the plate clean.

Generally, I was happy.

They didn't completely write the dish off, which was good.

Joey's sea trout has been served with its crispy skin,

together with an almond puree, asparagus,

pickled fennel, shaved radish and watercress.

Joey, that's a very pretty looking plate of food.

-Yeah, I like it a lot, it looks great.

-Thank you.

As much as I like the nut and the fennel combo together,

I think it's a little too powerful for that very delicate fish.

The asparagus is cooked wonderfully.

I love the crispy skin you've got on here, it puffs up nicely

and brings a texture to the dish,

but I don't like the texture of the puree.

I know how hard it is to get dry nut puree to be smooth

and I actually quite like that texture.

As I was eating it, I was just thinking of holidays.

A nice glass of wine on a veranda somewhere

and I think that's pretty much where you've been working

and I can absolutely 100% see that on that plate

and I think that's your dish to a T.

-I like the dish a lot.

-Thank you.

Finally, it's Scott,

whose quarterfinal place rests on his quail breasts

served with quail Scotch egg, chanterelle, radish,

celeriac puree and a hazelnut sauce.

I'm going to start with the Scotch egg.

Clearly it was undercooked,

but it's just screaming out for some love as well.

It needs some salt or pepper through that Scotch egg.

The quail is wonderfully cooked - nice and pink, the skin nice

and golden, but again, for me, it needs a bit more love on there.

That celeriac is so powerful and there's so much of it

that it's pretty much taking over the flavour of the whole dish.

The Scotch egg is a bit of a disaster.

I think we've pretty much covered that one.

And the sauce, it doesn't taste of hazelnut at all.

If you're going to put a nut flavour into something,

then you've got to make sure it's in there.

Overall, the dish has huge potential with the ingredients.

I just don't think it's worked today for you.

All the feedback from the judges is justified.

There were errors that aren't acceptable

in a competition of this standard.

What is obvious to me

is that we've got six very good chefs in front of us.

What's also obvious

is that we had some serious ups and downs throughout the two tests.

We can only take three of you through. Go and take a rest,

we'll get you back in when we've made our decision.

This is not going to be easy. Off you go.

It's been a good day

and the fact that we have a tough judging now, this is what we want.

Which dish or dishes do you think were outstanding

here in the signature round?

I think Joe's for me was the dish that stood out more than any other.

Joe ticked all the boxes for me today.

Joey for me was the outstanding contestant in the skills test.

Almost step by step identical to what I did.

I admired the way she worked here today.

I didn't like the puree, but that comes down to personal taste.

I don't think it's enough of a reason to leave this good chef out.

So, before we talk ourselves out of it,

do we have two chefs here who are going to go through?

We do, chef. We do.

However, there is one chef that has stood out for the wrong reasons.

Sean really did mess up.

If he had a strong skills test, he'd have an option here,

but that dessert he made was not good at all.

Sean's competition is over and I think Sean knows that as well.

Yeah, I think you're right.

We've got Scott who did the best skills test with the pig's trotter.

However, he had a really, really disappointing quail dish.

-I think there's enough points there to send Scott home.

-Right.

-But in this kitchen today, that's such a shame.

-Yeah, I agree.

-He's in a tough, tough arena.

-He is.

Now, we've got one place left to give

and that is a decision between John and Gavin.

Gavin - not a brilliant skills test, but not bad.

With his signature dish, real plus points.

I don't think I've done enough

cos there are some other good dishes in there.

The trouble is it's a fine line.

John, who made the hake dish with the pancetta,

we all said that we would eat that dish,

but it was just very underwhelming.

But then we also have to look at his skill set

-and how he struggled to bone out a trotter.

-Yes.

And was fighting for eight minutes with the knuckles.

Hopefully they can see some potential in me

and see that I've got what it takes going forward, but who knows?

I think this comes down to very, very tight margins.

You've trained enough chefs in your time. What do your hearts say?

That was tough and you guys really did push yourselves to the limit.

It is a real shame three of you have to leave this competition today,

a real shame.

But we can only take three of you through.

The first chef leaving the competition is...

-..Sean.

-Thank you, Sean.

-Cheers.

Our second chef leaving the competition is...

..Scott.

Thank you, Scott.

Thank you very much.

And our third chef leaving the competition is...

..John.

-Thank you, John.

-John, thank you, well done.

I'm a bit disappointed.

It was probably the most difficult thing I've ever done in my life.

I'm glad I applied to come and have this experience.

I just wish it went a bit better.

I'll take away what I can from it and keep pushing forward.

Yeah, I thought I was kind of done at the end of that,

but I must have done something right to please the judges.

It's awesome. I'm looking forward to it continuing.

MasterChef quarterfinalist - I can live with that!

I thought I was dead in the water.

Wow!

Tomorrow, it's the quarterfinal

and the chefs must prove themselves to Marcus and Monica.

Burnt tuile is a burnt tuile, all right, chef?

That could sit in any three-star Michelin restaurant.

Only the best of them will get to cook for the critics.

It's just perfect.