Episode 9 MasterChef: The Professionals

It's the Professional MasterChef quarterfinal.

These six talented chefs stood out in their heats.

Tonight, they will face two more challenges

to test them even further.

Going into the next round, yeah.

I'm pretty nervous.

It's the not knowing again.

Getting to the quarterfinals is always a great start

and this just the start of me.

Yeah, just want to get in and do it. I want to get in and cook.

First they will have to face an invention test.

That could sit in any three-star Michelin restaurant.

Those that get through will then cook for the country's

most discerning food critics.

And it's just perfect.

Only the best will earn a place in knockout week.

Our chefs have really got to show us what they are made of.

And it's going to start here today.

This is the part of the competition

where we need to see our chefs shine.

Chefs, welcome to your quarterfinal.

Please uncover your ingredients.

Marcus and I have not seen one of you make a dessert.

You have white chocolate, rum,

some ginger and syrup,

a whole fresh coconut, hazelnuts,

two passion fruits, a banana,

pineapple, nutmeg and mint.

This, guys, is for a place in the next round.

Four of you are going through.

And two of you are going to be going home.

Ten minutes to plan your dish.

And 90 minutes to cook and serve.

Off you go.

You and I need to know who can cook pastry,

who can create pastry, who can think on their feet.

Pastry, you can't just wing it.

You have to think about it, you've got to be precise

and be spot on, because there's nowhere to hide.

I've done about two days on pastry

in the last four years.

I know what I want to do, it's just...

I'm going to struggle with the recipes.

I need to dig deep and try and remember.

It could have been a lot worse, yeah.

So its... I'm OK.

Just.

I've got a plan.

Hopefully, when it's plated,

it's as good as it sounds in my head, but...

Chefs, your ten minutes are up.

Your time starts now.

MIXER WHIRS

Joe is our 22-year-old private chef in Edinburgh.

Joe had some issues with the skills test, but, boy,

did he come back fighting on the signature round.

I thought, this chef has got something in him.

Obviously, there's pressure every time

you go into the kitchen and cook.

You always want to put up the best dish

and that's exactly what I'm going to be trying to do.

Let's go for it.

Joe, happy to be in the quarterfinal?

-I certainly am, yeah.

-Pastry, is it your strength?

I'm not trained in it, but I've been sort of working in private kitchens.

I have to do everything.

So you're a self-taught pastry chef?

Yeah. Yeah, I guess that's it.

OK, tell us what you're cooking.

A white chocolate sponge with caramelised pineapple,

toasted hazelnuts, a passion fruit cream,

mint creme anglaise and a pineapple jelly.

Ignore her face.

I'm sorry. Well, you just said you've not done much pastry before

and then you just ramble off a whole lot of...

-He's underplaying it.

-Yeah.

-He's keeping it low key.

Joe is making us a caramelised pineapple

with white chocolate sponge.

The rest is pretty straightforward.

There's some cream, anglaise,

there's some roasting of the pineapple, with some hazelnut.

White chocolate sponge should be light and airy.

He has to be careful of the additional white chocolate.

This will make that a bit more dense.

Joey, our 27-year-old chef here in London.

Wow. Her skills test, for me,

was probably one of the best we've seen so far.

I think this chef has got something about her

and that's why she's here.

I'm a planner by nature, so I do really like...

I don't like the unknown. And I don't like surprises.

All I'm going to do is try to keep calm, as best I can,

and try and forget about the reality that someone

is leaving at the end of the day.

-Hi, Joey.

-Hi.

So pastry is within your comfort zone, you say?

It is, yeah. The first restaurant I worked in,

-I was put into pastry.

-OK.

-A French one-star.

So I have a bit of experience, but it's been a long time

since I dusted off those recipes and those skills.

And I assume you are drawing that down right now.

What are you making for us?

A passion fruit curd tart and sweet shortcrust,

with a white chocolate ice cream and pineapple and mint salsa.

I like the sound of this.

I love passion fruit tart.

I suppose the skill here is getting the tart case beautifully lined

and cooked perfectly well

and, of course, the setting of the passion fruit.

In great hands, if it's done as simply as it sounds,

it could be stunning as it is.

But I want to see something amazing from Joey here today.

Chefs, you've had 30 minutes.

Gavin, our 38-year-old head chef in Hampshire,

has got the right approach,

he's got the maturity that you're looking for from a head chef.

The signature dish, there was so much potential

and great techniques at hand.

You can see the chef in Gavin.

I've got many years of experience.

To a degree, it could give me the edge over some of the younger guys,

but...it's on the day, isn't it?

Anything can go wrong.

Gavin, quarterfinals. Relieved or surprised?

-Er, a bit of both, really.

-What are you making for us?

I'm going to go with a light ginger panna cotta,

a nice passion fruit curd. I've roasted off some hazelnuts

with a bit of sugar. And now I'm going to finish it

with some pineapple, slowly roasted with a little bit of rum.

Does this faze you at all, the test?

Erm, a little bit.

-You know how this works in the MasterChef kitchen.

-Yeah.

You know you're going to get hit with pastry

-somewhere down the line.

-Course.

-Have you prepared for that?

Not at all.

I have to cover pastry in my job at work.

I do have a pastry chef I work with,

so she tends to take the brunt of it.

-Yeah.

-Right.

-She's a little bit more organised than I am.

Gavin is making us a ginger panna cotta,

which he is serving with a passion fruit curd.

He's roasting some pineapples

and he has some candied hazelnuts to go with it.

Everything about this dish sounds right,

apart from the panna cotta.

On the basis that he's not 100% sure of the setting agent,

the balance of the mix.

Panna cotta is all about the wobble.

The other flavour that concerns me a little bit is the ginger.

Ginger, when it's not used correctly,

it's hot, it's quite heated.

It's going to have to be the right balance with this flavour.

Dean, our 25-year-old junior sous-chef from Wiltshire.

Kept himself very calm, together. Very focused, I think.

When it came to the signature dish,

good chef, great dish, good job.

I got a bit of an Achilles on pastry,

but hopefully I know enough just to get me through and by.

There's so much I can do

and I just want to show people what I'm made of.

All right? How are you? You look a bit scared there.

I'm just...pastry isn't my strongest point,

so I'm just trying to make sure I deliver a nice, simple dish.

OK. What are you doing for us?

I'm just going to do a really light set custard,

with a bit of chargrilled pineapple,

pineapple and passion fruit salsa and just like a hazelnut crumb.

-OK.

-Hopefully.

So, Dean, you look a little bit unsure.

-I'm...

-Just a bit of advice both Monica and I can give you -

-put some confidence into it.

-Yes.

Cos if you don't have confidence,

then the dish doesn't have confidence.

-Yeah.

-Give the dish some energy.

-I will do.

-Yeah?

-I want to keep going. I've got a lot more to bring

and more to give and I'm going to give it to you.

-Good. That's more like it.

-That's what we want to see.

Dean is making us a set custard,

serving it with a chargrilled pineapple and a hazelnut crumb.

That's pretty much it.

This has got to be outstanding and fork-free.

There is nowhere to hide on this dessert.

Chefs, you've got 35 minutes left.

35.

Alex, our 28-year-old senior chef de partie,

is a bag of nerves.

It's costing him here.

In the signature round, his timing was a big issue.

But, overall, what he put on the plate was really good

and very well executed.

Don't worry about me. You keep your head down.

'I've just got to relax for the next round.'

Erm, concentrate and just chill out, I think.

Not too much, but...

Alex, you look almost complete and finished.

Yeah, no, I'm...

I've finished it, but I might...

I might go back and kind of improve it a little bit.

Well, I'd hope so, cos you've still got half an hour, at least, left!

Yeah, I might go back and try and salvage it a little bit.

-What is the dessert?

-I'm kind of doing a sort of trifle, I guess.

I'm doing a passion fruit jelly on the bottom,

a white chocolate creme pat, a ginger sponge

and I'm going to do a pineapple salsa and some caramelised banana.

My knowledge of pastry is really limited, so I'm, you know, just...

-OK.

-..making it up as I'm going along a little bit.

We would like to see some fight from you.

-Yep, let me try and fix it.

-So work them out. Work them out.

-Come on!

-Come on.

-Let's go, Alex.

Alex has got a passion fruit jelly in the bottom,

a creme pat to go in between the layers

and then, oddly, he's set that lovely sponge that he's made,

the ginger sponge, on top.

Oh, dear.

I think this chef just needs to seriously step back from the bench

just for a minute.

Alex has got time on his hands, he could still save this.

Josh is a 23-year-old chef de partie in Cheshire.

He has started to really carve his way out of this competition.

And, wow, what a wonderful lamb dish that was.

This is the one chef that I think will have touched some pastry

somewhere down the line.

I'm nervous. I'm definitely nervous. I just don't want to mess up.

But, as soon as I'm in there, you're just head down,

crack on and it should be OK.

-Josh.

-Hi.

So are you quite comfortable in pastry?

Yeah, I like to think so. I'm on the pastry at work.

I do pastry and starters. I've been there a year and a half.

-So you've spent a year and a half on pastry?

-Yeah.

-That's what you've been doing?

-And starters, doing both, but...

You just don't know how high you set the bar.

Oh-ho-ho!

-I said I wasn't going to mention it, but...

-No, no, no.

It's a good thing it's come out, because it's always good to know.

-Yeah.

-So what are you cooking for us?

-I'm basically doing bananas and custard.

-OK.

So it's poached banana, with creme pat,

a crumble, banana biscuit and baked white chocolate.

Why the water bath?

-It just...

-Is that to tenderise the banana?

-Yes, yeah.

-Tenderise it.

-Tenderise the banana.

-So it's not mush.

-You look very calm, Josh.

-Yes.

Tell me you're really nervous inside

-and you're dancing around in there.

-OK.

My heart's beating really fast.

I've been in this country 15 years.

My child loves custard and bananas.

It's my horror. I've had to learn how to make it.

But I want more from Josh.

He's tenderising the banana by putting it into the sous vide bag.

He's going to elevate it to a bigger flavour, which is a nice thing.

I hope he can deliver this dish today.

Chefs, you have only ten minutes left.

Chefs, you got 60 seconds left.

60 seconds.

That's it. Time's up.

CLINKING

Step back.

-That looks nice.

-Got it out.

It was literally like a pancake that had just...

-HE LAUGHS

-..got air under it or something.

How did you get on, Joey?

Sorry, I changed my tart at the last second.

-It looks so naked.

-SHE LAUGHS

How did you guys get on?

-Disaster.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Did what I could.

From the ten ingredients they were given,

head chef Gavin has made a ginger panna cotta with passion fruit curd,

crushed candied hazelnuts and slow-roasted pineapple,

with a caramelised white chocolate and rum sauce.

You can see the wobble on the panna cotta.

-The proof's always going to be in the eating, though.

-Yeah.

There's some really great flavour combinations going on here.

I like everything on this plate...

..except the pana cotta.

It's like you just sort of...

couldn't afford the cream.

I tried lightening it a little bit too much.

You've lightened it, but you've lost that "wow".

Gavin, it was never going to be easy

when you're guessing the measurements of the panna cotta,

But you're lucky, though, it's got a wobble.

Cos, if it didn't wobble, he'd be wobbling.

LAUGHTER

MONICA LAUGHS

Just that little bit more and I think it could have taken it

to a whole new level, but just a touch under, really.

Joey's dessert is a passion fruit curd

and sweet shortcrust pastry tart,

with white chocolate ice cream

and a pineapple and mint salsa.

Wow!

Phwoar!

That is good.

Mm.

That's my half!

Joey, that is absolutely delicious.

Fantastic.

How you did that with no recipe, I've no idea.

Thank you.

-Joey, you know, when you...

-That pastry just melts in the mouth.

Ah, just so flaky.

-Wow!

-I'm just really happy.

I'm a silly, happy chef at the moment

-and that's because of you.

-Mm.

This is so simple.

It takes such skill to make it this amazing, you know.

That tart on its own with the ice cream, that's sold.

Thank you.

That could sit in any three-star Michelin restaurant.

-No!

-Yes.

Oh! Wow!

Wow! Woo!

-Nailed it.

-Yeah, well done.

-You nailed it.

-Cheers.

-Told you it tasted amazing.

-Thank you.

-So good.

-I've got to go next!

-LAUGHTER

I feel a bit in shock. It's...

Wow, it's amazing. I mean...

I don't know.

I don't think it's sunk in.

I don't think it ever will.

It just seems too unreal, in a way.

22-year-old private chef Joe

has made a white chocolate and ginger sponge,

with caramelised pineapple,

pineapple jelly and passion fruit cream,

dressed with toasted hazelnuts and a mint and lime creme anglaise.

Your eye for presentation has always been spot on

and then that doesn't let us down again here.

Thank you.

HE BREATHES DEEPLY

They are flavours that do go together.

The cake does have some white chocolate coming through it.

I just find that it's gone a bit dense for my liking.

I think this dish HAD potential.

What I think has gone wrong here is the execution.

If you'd have tasted that cake blindfolded,

you would think you just got something dry in your mouth,

with not a lot of flavour.

In fact, for me, almost no flavour at all.

The reason why I'm saying this is because I think you are capable

-of taking this dish elsewhere.

-Mm.

Up, up, up.

I sort of want to sort of shake you right now.

Thank you.

Hindsight is brilliant, but...

Yeah, there's probably a lot of things

I would have done differently.

However, that's what I did, that's what I put up and...

23-year-old chef Josh's dish is his interpretation

of bananas and custard,

with sous vide poached banana and crumbled banana biscuit,

served with baked white chocolate,

creme patissiere and banana tuiles.

Josh?

Why are there burnt tuiles on this dessert?

It's just a bit dark around the edges.

The main event of your dish is the peeled banana.

Nothing's gelling together in my palate. Nothing.

There's no marriage going on at all.

It's just sort of individual little bitty things

-that aren't quite done very well, unfortunately.

-OK.

OK.

We've been in this for a while and a burnt tuile is a burnt tuile.

-OK.

-All right, chef?

-Yeah.

-There's just no getting around it.

And if you know it's burnt, leave it off.

The bananas, I love the fact that you had the rum and the syrup,

but it was so clear, when that banana came out of the water bath,

it hadn't really cooked through, OK?

Yeah, not feeling too great.

I feel I've let myself down a little bit.

Erm, because I really liked that dessert

and it just didn't play out as well as I hoped.

Senior chef de partie Alex

has made a tropical trifle

with layers of passion fruit jelly, creme patissiere

and a ginger sponge,

topped with pineapple and mint salsa and caramelised banana.

-That's the only way to look at a trifle, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Well, it looks much better than the first one you attempted, doesn't it?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

It's a lot better than I thought it was going to be.

We can certainly taste the passion fruit.

I can taste the sponge and the bananas on top.

I feel like I just want to wash my mouth out right now,

because I just... I'm just tingling with sugar.

I think there are some great elements that you've made here.

For a tropical trifle, it's nice,

but it shouldn't feel as heavy.

I'm not a pastry chef,

so I was really winging it the whole way through, you know?

Sort of not really measuring anything out, just chucking

it together and hoping it would work and it did sort of work.

But it just didn't have the wow factor.

Finally, it's 25-year-old junior sous-chef Dean.

He's made a light, set custard with caramel jelly,

chargrilled pineapple, pineapple, passion fruit and mint salsa,

garnished with shortbread biscuit and a hazelnut crumb.

That set custard, it's rich, it's smooth, it's oozing,

it's got custard written all over it. I like it a lot.

It's really good. I think the pineapple adds freshness to it.

It's not too sweet

and the little shortbread adds a nice little texture to the plate.

-Yeah, I like it.

-Thank you.

I think you need a big dose of confidence

in the pastry section there, Dean, because in eating this plate,

-there's some great skills at hand.

-Thank you, Chef.

If this is you without confidence,

I can't wait for you to get your confidence back.

It wasn't a complete disaster, but hopefully it's enough.

I just don't want to go home. I've got so much more to give.

Invention tests are tough, but put into a pastry invention test

and we almost push our chefs to the breaking point.

There is one chef that has just blown the competition apart.

The dessert by Joey, it was just exquisite. It was amazing.

-Joey goes through, for me.

-Absolutely.

Dean lacks confidence,

but I don't think his dessert lacked confidence at all.

Josh, for me,

has had some issues and has thrown up red flags with his cooking.

Josh is not going to make it through to the critics.

He's not got enough experience.

He's got a great career ahead of him,

but I think he's run his race for us.

That leaves us Joe, Alex and Gavin.

I think Joe's a very talented chef

and he has a great eye for detail on presenting his food.

Today, I just didn't think

he quite got some of the elements right on his cooking.

I know I can do better than that,

it just didn't really go all that well for me on the day.

What can you do?

Gavin is a one that puts pressure on himself because he's a head chef.

If he can just relax, forget that he's a head chef

and just come and enjoy the competition,

I think we'll get the best out of him.

I think I may edge it, I don't know.

Alex had issues with his first trifle,

but he went back fighting and started again.

He put up a really nice-looking trifle

and it's very hard for a trifle

because, at the end of the day, it's a trifle.

It goes in a glass - that is it.

I don't know, I really don't know what made me think of trifle.

I really should probably have learned some more dessert recipes!

I think, deep down, you know who you'd like to go through

and I know who I'd like to go through.

It has to be the best of the three.

Chefs, welcome back.

Pastry can and always will be the Achilles heel of a lot of chefs

and we need to find out which chefs stumble

because we cannot take a chef through

who doesn't understand some part of pastry.

The first chef that is going to leave us is...

-..Josh. Thank you, Josh.

-Thank you, Josh.

The second chef that's going to leave us is...

-..Alex. Sorry, Alex.

-Thank you.

-Thank you, Alex.

Yeah, I'm gutted. I don't know why I made a trifle!

It just came to me, I thought the trifle would be a good idea.

Yeah, it's horrible to leave at this stage,

but it's not going to stop me.

It's just going to push me, push me further.

-Well done, guys!

-High-five!

Yeah!

Today, you four get to cook for our critics...and us.

Do not let this opportunity slip by.

There's only three places in knockout week

and one of you's going home at the end of today.

You have one hour and 15 minutes. Off you go.

Here it is - four chefs coming in today to cook for our critics.

What an amazing opportunity for them!

But, in saying that, we've seen many chefs crumble at this stage.

This is where this competition gets very, very hot.

Yeah, I know one or two of the critics

have been in restaurants that I've cooked in.

I know how they can be - a hard, select committee.

Tough, tough call, really.

-How are you, Gavin?

-Very nervous today.

-Nervous?

-Yeah, a lot of pressure today.

-What are you cooking for us, Gavin?

Some John Dory, oysters cooked in a lovely beer batter,

some white beans cooked in chicken stock,

I'll do some pearls made out of a Chardonnay vinegar.

Dessert, I'm going to do a caramelised white chocolate mousse,

but I'm going to set it in a white chocolate dome.

I'm going to serve it with some braised apricots

cooked in some vanilla.

I may have done a little bit too much today,

but it's a competition, we've got to give it our all.

Do you see yourself going further in this competition with these dishes?

I'd love to say yes, but there's some good competition out there.

I may have a bit more experience, I don't know,

but everyone's on an even keel.

It's going to be tough.

There's quite a lot of things can go wrong with this main course.

You don't want the kohlrabi crunchy,

you don't want the beans overcooked

and you certainly don't want that fish overcooked

cos when it is, the critics are going to hate it.

Beans are bland.

They need something to really elevate them

and I hope Gavin is going to do that.

Gavin's dessert today,

you've got to get the white chocolate beautifully caramelised.

This is all about the control and cooking of the white chocolate.

Done well, the caramelised white chocolate is sensational.

Nah, nah, I don't want to go home today.

I want to get in there, cook the food that I know I can do

and cook it well.

For the main course, I'm doing duck breast, cauliflower puree,

mascarpone and goat's cheese pearl barley

and salsify with a blackberry sauce and for dessert,

I'm doing a salted chocolate ganache with ginger nut biscuit base,

fresh mango, orange reduction.

It should be quite fruity and flavourful.

This is all off the top of my head. I love putting dishes together.

Off the top of your head, but have you practised these dishes?

I've spent a long time putting them together,

I've thought about all the elements,

how they work together and I'm confident that they work.

And under the time restriction?

It's going to be a push, but if you're not pushing yourself

against the time, then you're not working hard enough.

You're 22, the youngest in our kitchen today.

-That doesn't worry you, does it?

-Age is but a number.

-That's what we say!

Joe's serving a duck breast with a blackberry sauce.

It's all about a balance here.

We don't want too much of that sweetness through this dish.

Joe's dessert - chocolate ganache, ginger nut and cardamom -

wow, this dish sounds delicious!

Joe is really pushing himself against the clock.

30 minutes.

The dessert caught me out a little, obviously my Achilles heel,

and I've got to show I'm confident in my food and that I can deliver.

I will prove to Monica and Marcus

that I know what I'm doing and I will achieve it.

-Dean, how are you feeling today?

-Yeah, better, more confident today.

-I hope so.

-It's all your menu. The taste, the timings -

you know what you've got to do. It should be plain sailing.

Yeah, hopefully, as long as I get it all done.

I've got quite a bit to do.

Lamb, mint and peas, I'm going

to do a little fricassee with Israeli couscous, peas and pancetta

and then finish it with a little bit of morel mushrooms and a mint jelly.

For dessert, I've got a white chocolate cheesecake,

a burnt butter crumble, macerated strawberries and yuzu.

-Right, so what's the ambition?

-To go all the way.

This means everything to me and I don't want to go home

knowing that I haven't done my best.

-Have you cooked for these critics before?

-I have no idea.

Have you cooked for any critics before?

I've cooked for critics, but it's never been my food

so it means a lot cos obviously I'm cooking my food

and there's nothing to fall back on. It's me on a plate.

-Well, now, stop talking and get on with the job.

-Thanks, chef.

Lamb, mint, peas - what could go wrong here?

He's got a twist -

-adding a mint jelly to it.

-The mint is crucial in this recipe

and that's what brings the freshness of summer spring to this plate.

I love cheesecake. With the addition of white chocolate - ooh!

He's using yuzu - very, very powerful.

He's going to have to make sure

he judges the balance to the white chocolate.

Chefs, you've got 15 minutes left!

Joey today is cooking us a crab salad.

Inside the crab, she's going to have some apple and some chilli,

perhaps a little bit of shallot.

She's serving some crab and potato cake.

The cake has got the brown meat through it

so I love that Joey's using this in her dish.

On the side, she's going to be

serving it with a pea and mint soup, chilled.

What's intriguing about this dish is it's a salad,

which is quite a brave thing to come to the table with

at this stage in the competition.

Joey's dessert today is a yoghurt

and coconut panna cotta with cherries

that have been soaked in white rum, sable biscuit and a lime granita.

Beautiful sounding dessert - fresh, light.

What I do love about Joey's food is that her simplicity

has a lot of skill behind it and I want to see this.

-Right.

-Joey, you look happy to be here.

-I'm really happy.

It's really fun, it's mad and stressful, but good!

This type of food seems incredibly summery.

It sounds like food that's always got a smile to it.

You've always got a smile on your face, which is a nice thing.

A nervous smile!

Yeah, exactly, I love to cook really clean flavours, refreshing flavours.

-Did you think you'd ever get this far?

-No.

So, anything from this point on is a bonus?

-Yeah, it's a bonus, absolutely.

-Do you think you can win it?

I don't know. I'm just trying to freeze the granita,

that's all I can think about.

-Do you want to win it?

-I do. Each round, you want it more.

Initially, I thought it was ridiculous that I was even here

and I'm like, "Oh, OK, I CAN keep up and I want to stay."

That's the spirit!

Chefs, you have only ten minutes left.

The pressure's on today.

To get through these judging sessions, I always miss breakfast,

which means, at the point I sit down, I'm really, really hungry.

So what I'm hoping is I'm going to meet a bunch of chefs

who REALLY know what they're doing

and want to make my hunger worthwhile.

We are looking for people who can combine originality

with a bit of flair with good technique.

Eating here is very different from reviewing a restaurant.

We can't give extra points for great service.

We can't give extra points for a lovely atmosphere.

It's all about the food - they cannot mess up.

The food has to be great.

Gavin, you've got five minutes before the plates are due.

How are we looking?

-Er, a little bit behind.

-A little behind?

Yeah, not where I wanted to be.

The thing that strikes me looking at Gavin's menu

across both courses is he's given himself a huge amount of work to do.

Fillet of John Dory, white bean emulsion,

oyster, Chardonnay pearls,

oyster veloute and kohlrabi.

I would feel more encouraged if there were fewer things.

-Gavin, you've got three minutes left.

-All right.

GAVIN MUTTERS TO HIMSELF

Don't lose it. Keep it together. How behind are we?

-Erm, a couple of minutes, really.

-OK.

Gentle. Easy, tiger.

Gavin, your time's up now, OK,

so ideally we'd like to start plating up.

What else have we got to go, Gavin?

A little bit of the kohlrabi, oyster beignet then just jug the sauce up

and I'm done.

-I don't really need to do that.

-Yeah?

-Yeah, done.

Thanks, Gavin.

OK, so we've got fillets of John Dory,

white beans cooked in a chicken emulsion,

oysters cooked in lager batter, kohlrabi

and some white wine vinegar pearls.

-And the sauce?

-The sauce, sorry, is a light oyster veloute.

OK, thank you.

This is quite pretty, but I am concerned about the

spherified white wine vinegar pearls on the top. It's obvious, isn't it?

-They look like frogspawn.

-A very small frog.

This is an almost, but not quite.

The fish is just slightly overcooked,

the beans are just slightly undercooked

and there are outbursts of acidity, like people

shouting in a church service when you're least expecting it.

I can kind of see where he's going.

There's two brilliant things about this, I think.

I love that oyster beignet, it's like a dreamy fish and chips.

But the really amazing thing is this oyster veloute. It's just perfect.

I love the sauce. Nice piece of fish - job done.

The sauce is really good, the fish is cooked well.

I just think, given another ten minutes,

this dish could have been at another level.

It is a couple of minutes away from perfection.

How was that, then?

-Yeah, very nervous.

-When you take a breath,

you have now 15 minutes for your dessert.

Gavin's dessert - caramelised white chocolate dome,

apricots cooked with vanilla, apricot puree and roasted oats -

that white chocolate dome slightly concerns me.

How has he made the dome? What happens to the dome?

Does he have enough time? Is he blowing up balloons back there?

I am full of questions.

You're a bit more calm, less rushed?

I spent too much time on my dessert

when I should have been doing my main course.

I made a bit of a mess-up.

You look like a chef at the moment that's in service

rather than in a competition.

-It feels like service.

-It looks like it.

-Are you done?

-I think I'm going to try blowtorching one of them.

-Not too much, that'll do.

-Yeah.

Excuse me.

Thank you.

So we've got caramelised white chocolate truffle, braised apricot,

roasted oats and syrup just from the cooking liquor.

Maybe a little too adventurous, but fingers crossed! Thank you.

That was bizarre. It was so tough.

In service, you've got a group of guys behind you assisting you.

It's a team effort. Out here, it's solo,

you're one-on-one and it's hard, really hard.

It's a lovely looking thing, isn't it?

Take the taste of salted caramel and turn it up to 11.

It's absolutely full-on, isn't it, and I can't quite decide

-whether it's too full-on.

-No, it's delicious.

The saltiness of the caramelised inside is just delicious.

Sharp apricot on the outside, that's pretty delicious too.

Erm, it's a very good pudding.

Too often in this round, the dessert is the afterthought

and he's put a lot of thought into this upfront.

That's a skilful thing to do - white chocolate caramelised mousse

and garnish it and make it look that good?

I knew he'd come good!

You've got four minutes left, Joe. Yes, Chef.

Joe's main - seared duck breast, goat's cheese pearl barley,

salsify, cauliflower puree, pak choi, blackberry jus -

sounds like two different main courses

trying to get out from underneath each other.

I can't see how they're all going to go together.

It's a long day in the office, isn't it? It really is.

-Is everything ready to go, Joe?

-Yes.

Joe, you have two minutes left.

How are you supposed to plate up when...?

-Why are you shaking?

-I don't know.

-Come on, keep it together.

-Why am I shaking? Come on, Joe!

Joe, your time is now up. Yes, Chef. The critics are waiting.

-That's everything ready to go now, Joe?

-I think that's me, chef.

-OK!

Good afternoon.

OK, so for main course, you have seared duck breast

with cauliflower puree, mascarpone and goat's cheese pearl barley,

pak choi, fondant salsify, a herb crumb and blackberry jus.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

SHARP INTAKE OF BREATH

It looks like it's been put together for the eye,

rather than saying, "Come on and eat me."

-And I just don't know where this blackcurrant jus fits in.

-No, don't.

-Don't do it, OK.

-I'm not going to cripple this dish by pouring it on.

A high point - a little sort of creamy pearl barley sort of number.

The duck is as tough as a duck could ever be.

It's a puzzling plateful, really,

because I love that pearl barley and I really enjoyed that crumb,

but the duck doesn't have any flavour

and nor does the goat's cheese, really.

They're both very, very mild.

None of it is really speaking to each other.

The risotto-like pearl barley with the goat's cheese is lovely.

However, my issue is the sauce, it's just so sharp.

I actually really like the sauce - it's big and it's bold

and it's fruity and I think that will always work with duck.

You've got 15 minutes for your dessert. Yes, Chef.

-Is that going to work?

-Yes.

Salted chocolate ganache with a ginger biscuit base, mango,

creme fraiche, confit orange peel and orange reduction.

I'm looking at it, thinking, "There's so much going on there!"

But if it said "salted chocolate ganache with ginger and orange",

that actually sounds rather enticing.

-Joe, you've got a couple of minutes left.

-Yep.

-Are we on track?

-We are, chef.

Have you stopped shaking?

-Not quite.

-No, you haven't.

-Not quite, I'm getting better.

Joe, your time is up now. The critics are waiting. Yes, Chef.

I'll just pick some more of these lovely wood sorrel leaves

and shake like a madman.

Joe, the critics are waiting.

-OK, we've really got to go, Joe.

-Yeah, I'm good.

-Good?

-Yeah.

-Off you go.

Hello again.

So for dessert, you have salted chocolate ganache,

sat on a ginger nut biscuit base with fresh mango, wood sorrel,

lemon thyme, confit orange peel, orange reduction and creme fraiche.

-Thank you.

-Thanks.

Well, you have to take your hat off to the chef

because he has arranged 28 small spheres

of something white in a circle.

-Have you actually counted them?

-I counted them. How many did you get?

-27.

-27, you see, you've been cheated.

It's a huge, whacking, thick lump of indiscriminate chocolate.

It's the classic chocolate orange flavour.

The chocolate ganache is incredibly rich, as expected,

and is exactly what we're looking for.

What lets this down a little bit, for me, is you can hardly taste

the ginger biscuit crunch cos it's smothered by that chunk of ganache.

That was brutal.

I mean, it was very nerve-wracking and it's hard not to shake

when you're plating up, which makes a difference.

That is a completely new experience and a very daunting one at that.

Dean's lamb rump, peas, morels and mint jelly.

It's not going to be as simple as it sounds.

But it's going to be hard to mess up with that combination.

Dean, you've got three and a half minutes left.

Are we going to be all right?

-It's going to be very close.

-Very close. I like very close.

Dean, you're almost there. You're a little bit over.

Keep it going, keep control.

Dean, you're now five minutes over. What is left to go on?

I've got to just do the sauce, chef.

OK.

All right, ready to go? Yes, Chef. And apologise for the lateness.

-I do apologise, I'm sorry for the delay.

-Thanks, Dean.

Thank you.

Today, I've cooked for you a lamb rump with peas, mint,

finished with morel mushrooms and Israeli couscous,

burnt onions and mint jelly and the sauce is on the side.

-I hope you enjoy.

-Thank you.

I admire the instinct to simplicity because this is peas, mint,

morels, lamb and the mint jelly is terrific,

but it doesn't have the lusciousness it could have had

if it had been a little better seasoned.

Just that last moment which would have made it an absolute humdinger.

The lamb's quite nice,

but, if ever there was a crying need of a roast potato, this is it.

I think he's done well in coaxing big flavours

out of the pea puree, the mint jelly. I think the lamb tastes good.

I just miss crunch and texture.

I think there's promise, but it's not a slam dunk.

This is a really nice plate of food.

It's just not got the finish factor

that I was hoping for that Dean was going to deliver.

It's still a good dish.

There are some issues here with this plate, but, in saying that,

I would eat it all.

They didn't seem too angry, so hopefully it's not too bad.

15 minutes for your dessert. Are you going to be on time?

It's going to be close, but hopefully.

'Dean's dessert - cheesecake, burnt butter,

'macerated raspberries and yuzu gel.'

There's sweet things, there's not sweet things.

It's a very complicated thing.

We have to just wait and see what Dean can do with all this.

God bless all who sail in her.

The critics are ready when you are.

Are you a lot happier with this dessert, Dean?

I am a lot more happy with this dessert.

So it's just the cress on, then we're done. Yes, Chef.

Off you go.

-Thank you, thanks.

-Thank you.

I've given to you a white chocolate cheesecake,

burnt butter crumb, roasted white chocolate, raspberries

and a yuzu gel with a bit of pressed lemon.

Thank you.

It looks great. It's not a cheesecake.

It's a deconstructed cheesecake.

Hmm.

It looks very nice and the elements are quite distinguished,

but, hang on, shouldn't we just have a nice raspberry cheesecake?

It's not unpleasant and there's a lot of thought into the various

textures and flavours, but it's will-o'-the-wisp. It's barely there.

Yes, that yuzu gel absolutely shimmers with flavour,

doesn't it, but the rest of the plate,

it feels like it really needs that.

There's definitely something good there.

That looks fantastic, absolutely beautiful.

I think this dish is very, very, very good.

That beautiful, creamy,

light, white chocolate cheesecake is absolutely divine.

That was probably the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.

It's horrible.

Just time got away, it just caught up to me.

I think I've... I don't know, I just...

I very much like the sound of Joey's main course.

If she made a brilliant salad, great crab cake

and a very nice pea and mint soup and found a way to bring them

all together on the plate, I would be very, very happy.

I'd ask her to be my friend.

My watch has stopped!

I forgot to check that the fryer was on, which is such a rookie error.

The fryer is now on so my crab cakes will be imminent.

-Simple.

-Simple, hopefully delicious.

-Mmm.

-That's it.

-Olive oil?

-Yep.

-OK, Joey, your time is up.

-Yeah, done.

-Happy?

-Yeah.

Today, I've made a white crab and green apple salad,

a brown crab and chilli cake and a chilled pea and mint soup.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

It takes a lot, at the very end of a day's judging,

-to deliver a course that I really, really want to eat.

-Absolutely.

-It looks pretty.

-It looks really, really pretty.

What Joey's delivered here

is an absolute humdinger of a bistro dish.

Mmm!

-And it's just perfect.

-It is a straight sets victory.

I think the soup is worthy of having on its own somewhere.

It's brilliant.

But those little croquettes, the crab croquettes,

are amazing, aren't they?

Everything is wonderfully well done. Do you do doggie bags?

The potato and crab cakes are so delicious,

you'd have a bowl of them.

The crab is beautiful, it's fresh, the apple brings a freshness to it.

There's a little warmth, good seasoning

and the beignets are delicious.

-How are you?

-Good. I've sort of forgotten all about pudding.

-You thought you were finished?

-Yeah!

-No, Joey, you've still got dessert to go.

-I know, I know.

-You've got another 15 minutes.

-That's good.

Joey's dessert does raise the spectre of the panna cotta.

Yoghurt and coconut panna cotta, rum-poached cherries,

crumbled sable biscuit, lime granita -

I would have hoped for more at this stage of this competition.

If she's going to make one, it better be really, really good.

-Three minutes left, Joey.

-Yep.

-You going to be all right for time?

I think so, just.

Sorry, it's going everywhere.

-You're going to have to be quick now.

-Yeah.

Thank you very much.

For pudding, I've made a yoghurt and coconut panna cotta

with crumbled sable, lime granita

and rum and vanilla poached cherries.

-I hope you like it, thank you.

-Thanks.

It's funny someone can just put a few things on a plate,

almost without any particular artifice,

and they just look right, don't they?

This is good cooking, thoughtfully done, not overdressed.

This dish is as near to faultless as anything ever gets.

I've finished mine so I need some of yours.

I hope that this is not a flash in the pan,

that this is how Joey cooks - put plain flavours together,

show them off to their best because it's marvellous.

Joey's a star.

I love the crumble that she's made, together with the coconut

and the lime. I think that it's a lovely match.

It has a great flavour and this texture's nice and smooth

and velvety, but I'm just looking for a little bit more

of the big surprise, the big wow.

Flipping heck!

It was really tough.

It was enjoyable, but 75 minutes is absolutely nothing.

Even if I was cooking it for my family,

I think I would have been running around

bright red, probably swearing, so it was really tough, but, yeah.

Wow! Our chefs here really stepped up to the mark.

One of the things you and I really look for on this day

is have we put through the right chefs from the last round?

And today, we have got that right.

Gavin found cooking for our critics very difficult today,

but I thought he performed very well.

His John Dory dish,

the white chocolate caramel mousse was absolutely delicious.

If I went home today, I'd be disappointed,

of course I would, but I'm competing against some very good chefs.

It's difficult, very difficult.

Joe, without a doubt, is a good chef and the plate, for me, worked.

It was just that sauce overrode everything else.

Joe's ganache dish would have been a knockout dessert.

It just didn't quite get there today, but he's still a good cook

-and that's the dilemma we have with Joe.

-Yeah.

I want a place in the next round.

I want to be there and cook for the judges again.

I've got more to show, I've got more to prove

and I want to keep going, as far as I can.

Dean pulled himself together today, which was great.

I liked the little jelly on the side,

I thought that worked very well.

The dish did lack seasoning, for me, it lacked depth of flavour.

Dean's cheesecake looked stunning.

I thought he really upped his game on the presentation of this dessert.

It tasted great and it looked great.

If I went home today, I'd be devastated. I'd be distraught.

I don't think I'd...

I'd feel very annoyed with myself

cos I know I've got a lot more to give.

I know I can do it, I just hope I get the chance.

I thought Joey played it incredibly safe today.

Joey's crab dish didn't hit me

like it did with her dessert in the last round.

It had the complete wow factor of perfection.

Joey made us the coconut and yoghurt panna cotta, which I actually loved.

Everything about this dish is sort of right.

I have no idea if I've done enough. All I can say is I've done my best.

I would love to take all four of these chefs through.

But we need to take through the chefs that we know

can cope in the next round, will be able to focus - it's knockout week.

That's a lot of pressure.

I think I know who can cope with what's coming round the corner.

We know what we've got to do here.

Hey, chefs.

You had to make an effort today and you did more than that,

above and beyond.

Splitting one of you out of the pack has not been easy at all.

But we can only take three of you through.

The chef leaving the competition is...

..Joe.

-Thank you, chefs.

-Well done, Joe.

-Good luck, everyone.

-Very close.

Thank you.

It's disappointing, but there's some bloody good chefs in there.

I'm still a young chef, I've still got a lot to learn

and I'm going to use those comments to move onwards and upwards.

Congratulations, chefs. All three of you deserve to be here. Well done.

I feel gobsmacked, I feel relieved still to be here.

This is probably the greatest achievement so far of my career

and I don't want to stop there, I just want to keep pushing on.

The last few hours were pretty nerve-wracking.

Hard work, probably the hardest I've had to deal with.

To come through, yeah, pretty stoked, pretty happy with that.

An excellent day, it's been wonderful.

It's exciting and intense, but so much fun.

I'm so excited by it and I want to stick around.

Next time,

another six professionals fight for a place in the quarterfinal.

I think I might be falling in love with you.

Simply outstanding.