Episode 18 The Chef's Protege

Over the past three weeks,

Theo Randall, Tom Kitchin and Michel Roux Jr

have been searching for a young protege

they can take under their wing.

If you can find people who have the same feeling as you do about food,

that's the sort of magic you want.

I have to see that sparkle. I've got to see something

that means they will be able to take on board my DNA almost.

Their challenge has been to spot their potential.

Scrambled eggs. That's what I want you to cook.

Normally, I use a microwave.

And pass on their knowledge.

You're a young man. Just try and learn gastronomy before you change gastronomy, OK?

What kind of chefs are you? What's going on?

It's a pig sty!

I know you're hurting. So am I.

Each has had a week to select their two strongest candidates from their catering colleges.

It has to be more than just the cooking.

It has to be about the relationship.

I have to thrive on seeing them to the next level.

I'm giving you another chance, OK?

This week, they must choose just one apprentice to bring to London.

Where the young chefs will compete to show what they've learnt from their mentors.

This is quite simply the biggest moment of your cooking career.

And their food will be judged by the people who have guided their mentors' own careers.

I can't put a limit on how much Pierre Koffmann has influenced me as a chef.

You need to have someone who can really push you and get the best out of you.

My father is an incredibly hard task master.

But he's a huge inspiration.

Just how good do you have to be to create a legacy?

Today, Michel will finally decide who his protege will be.

From an original group of seven,

he is resting his hopes on 18-year-old Sophie

and 21-year-old Alex,

both from Birmingham College.

It's been great to work with students.

I love teaching and I love seeing them progress.

I do think that Sophie and Alex have given their all

and today is really the big day. Today I'm going to have to choose one

and that one student is going to be very special.

I'm learning so much.

I've learnt so much already.

I just want to carry on learning.

Sophie's had a very strong competition.

She's always impressed me with her palate.

My only worry with Sophie

is that she still has that giggly kind of attitude.

I wasn't wrong.

-Simple!

-Pardon?

Was I wrong? Was I wrong? I was wrong.

-What's all that?

-I was wrong by a little bit.

-What's all that?

I've just averted a disaster.

I think Sophie doesn't realise how good she is, or could be.

'I thought the essence of the dish felt real.'

-It had a soul, didn't it?

-It had a soul. Exactly. It had a soul.

If she really does set her mind to this,

she could excel.

I feel quite privileged to get into the final two.

I think now I'm having more belief in myself

that maybe I do have what it takes to be Michel's protege.

So I'm trying to seize this opportunity with both hands.

Alex is great. He's obviously got the skills, and he's a hard worker.

That was tight, wasn't it? That was very tight.

I was so out of my comfort zone!

If you don't enjoy the kitchen life,

then you're not going to cook properly.

One thing for sure is that Alex just loves being in the kitchen.

Seasoning, cooking, very good.

It would be quite bad, after six years, if I can't cook an omelette! In a catering college.

-Morning, Chefs!

-Morning.

-Morning, Chef.

Special day, today. At the end of today, I have to make my final decision.

One of you will be my protege.

-Excited.

-Excited, yeah.

-Excited, nervous.

-A bit of both.

-A bit of both is good.

Let's go.

One of you over there. One on this side.

Michel only wants a protege who understands the Roux' classic French roots.

And so he's asked the students to begin

by cooking two of his father Albert's iconic recipes.

There is a direct link between my father's style of food and my style of food.

That link is French gastronomy.

So I want them to cook the Souffle Suissesse and the Mousseline de Volaille.

The Souffle Suissesse has been on the menu of our restaurant now since 1967.

It's become a signature dish.

It's a cheese souffle

floating on a wonderful pool of double cream.

The chicken mousse is one of my father's favourite recipes.

It mustn't be bouncy.

I remember my father in the kitchen, and he still does it now

if there's a chicken or fish mousse,

he'll come around with his spoon and just go, "Bing, bing", like this.

If it's rubbery and bouncy, he'll frown, and, "Look at this! No!

"We're not playing squash today!"

The secret of this dish

is to make a chicken mousse

then stuff it with walnut and Roquefort

and serve with a classic sauce Mousseline

which is a Hollandaise with whipped cream added.

I'm loving it. It's amazing.

I'm so delighted to have got this opportunity to do this.

This is where you need muscles, which I don't possess!

The key for this chicken mousse is that it should be really light.

A classic method of making a mousse.

A little bit of cream, beat, beat, beat.

Get that consistency going.

It's quite a daunting prospect, cooking Albert Roux's recipes,

but at the same time exciting, because if I can pull it off

then it'll be a huge testament to what we've managed to learn over such a short space of time.

Once the mousse mixture is ready,

the real skill is to shape the walnut stuffing

and then place it perfectly inside the mousse, ready to poach.

This is the tricky bit. OK.

Stuffing in.

It's got to be completely encased in there

otherwise it's going to leak.

As near as possible a nice shape.

-That's it. In there, quick.

-It is so hard.

Give that a little tap and it should come off.

Gently. That's it. Gently.

That's it. Make sure this doesn't boil.

I've never done that before, so that's new to me.

Considering I've done it, I'm quite pleased with myself.

We've learned something new today.

Yeah. As we do every time.

Whilst Sophie is already poaching her mousse,

Alex is running into problems with his sauce Mousseline.

Oh, dear! What happened here?

I just split the Hollandaise.

Why do you think it split?

I hadn't cooked the egg yolks out long enough and added too much butter too quickly.

-Over the heat too long.

-So you've made another one?

-Yes, Chef.

-OK.

Easy on the butter. Not too much.

Still behind, Alex moves on to stuff and poach his chicken mousse.

Give it a little tap.

Careful, careful.

Just try and coax it off.

-What happened was...

-Too slow.

-Too slow.

Too slow. And the mousse has stuck to your spoon.

-Yep.

-Yep?

I think you've got a leak there.

-Be very careful. When you flip it over, there might be a hole.

-OK.

The pressure for the two students is unbelievable.

But I'm feeling the pressure, too,

because I have to make that right choice.

Now the students move on to the tricky Souffle Suissesse.

Right. Quick explanation.

It's the souffle that's twice cooked.

Cooked the first time in the oven.

About halfway through cooking, when it's set,

you tip it out onto the hot cream.

Cheese on top. Under the grill.

-OK?

-Uh-huh.

-Yep.

-Happy?

Yep.

The key to a good souffle. What is it?

-That it rises.

-That it rises.

What could go wrong with a souffle, Alex?

Too vigorous when whisking the egg whites so you lose the air from the egg whites.

-So over-whisked egg whites, yes?

-Yep.

Equally, under-whisked egg whites.

-Whisked enough?

-Yep.

It's firm, not slippy.

Is it holding?

-No.

-Not really. Come on. A bit more.

Sophie is already mixing her egg whites into the souffle's Bechamel base.

Oh, you've raced ahead.

OK. Right.

A little bit more in them. That's it. Get them in the oven quickly.

-Come on. You've got to work quickly, otherwise they'll collapse.

-Chef.

Quick. In the oven.

Put them in there. Top shelf. That's all right.

That's it.

Alex and Sophie start plating up their chicken mousse.

That's smashing.

Sophie.

Look at yours.

I reckon we can give it a go.

They're not even set.

They'll be barely set, but they should hold.

-Hopefully.

-OK. Let's go.

Oh, this is scary.

Please, lord!

-Cheese on top.

-I'm on it.

Yours out. OK. Quick!

Right.

OK. Come on, then.

Whoa! Well done.

Perfect. Get it under the grill.

Look at that!

This dish has got to be nothing more than perfection.

I can't do anything wrong with this dish.

It's got to be absolutely beautiful.

I think Sophie's got her nose in front slightly

but I still think it's a really close race between the two of us.

Let me taste Sophie's first.

Michel is starting with the complicated Mousseline de Volaille,

the walnut-stuffed chicken mousse.

A beautiful quenelle. Very good chicken mousse. Nice and light, not bouncy.

Well cooked. My only issue

is that your Hollandaise wasn't cooked enough.

It's more like melted butter.

Alex.

Texture is good and it's cooked all the way through.

You can see the Roquefort in the middle.

Mm. Actually...

the texture is better than good.

The texture is very good. It's really light. A very light mousse.

Your Mousseline sauce cooked to perfection.

This one hasn't split.

It's holding beautifully. It's light, it's fluffy.

My old man would be pleased with that, I tell you.

He'd give you a rollicking for the shape of it.

He'd say that doesn't look like a quenelle.

But he'd be impressed with your sauce.

The chicken mousse is a tricky dish.

As for the cheese souffle, some chefs just never grasp it, full stop.

This I insist on you tasting.

Dive in.

-Look at that. My word!

-Mmm.

It's a cheesy pillow.

-Like it?

-It could do with a touch more salt.

I thought the cheese might be a bit saltier and I was concerned that I'd get...

It's lovely and light, yet rich as well, and indulgent.

-It's a really good effort.

-Thank you, Chef.

Right. Let's taste yours. Come on.

Dive in!

-Mmm.

-I liked it.

-Not enough cheese.

-Not enough cheese.

-It's a cheese souffle.

-Lots of cheese.

-If I was a customer, I'd feel robbed!

"Where's my cheese?"

The seasoning is bang on.

-Right.

-As usual.

Well done, both of you.

A very, very good effort.

Every chef that comes to work for me

wants to cook this iconic dish.

Only a few ever get to do it.

And I'm impressed because you've done a very good job of it.

'They are, literally, neck and neck.'

They're two very good young chefs.

And I really don't know how I'm going to be able to split them.

'I don't know what he sees in me.

'I'd like to know. Wish I could ask him!

'Maybe he sees something in me that I don't see.'

Maybe I've got to start believing in myself a little bit more.

'I do feel I've progressed from the start of this to now.

'I feel I can relate to this cooking.'

I'm learning more about myself as a chef.

Throughout generations,

the Roux family has taken mentoring very seriously

and hundreds of great chefs have served apprenticeships in their kitchens.

The teaching part, for me, is easy,

because I really do enjoy that

and I enjoy watching students progress and learn.

Their eyes light up when they've learned something and got it right.

My father has always done it, my uncle has.

We've always encouraged young chefs.

But there is only so much a mentor can teach.

The students still need to have their own creative flair.

Before he finally chooses who will represent him,

Michel wants to test them

by opening up the kitchen larder to the two young cooks.

They've got to cook one more dish. It's the dish that will separate them,

the dish that will make my mind up of who will be my protege.

I want to see a touch of imagination, but not too much.

Not out of my style.

Everything I've learnt off Michel,

through this whole competition,

I'm going to put into this last dish.

It's exciting. There's loads of different ingredients.

Looking forward to getting stuck in now.

They've got to prove to me that they can cook on their own.

And stand on their own two feet.

I want to see that they can actually work with pressure

and deliver the goods without me jumping in.

Right. "Fillet of fish, or cod, with a potato scale crust,

"rosemary and lobster butter sauce

"wilted baby gem lettuce,

"tempura batter lobster claw."

If I see that on a menu, I would order it.

-Oh, thank God!

-I would. I'd order it.

Tempura batter. Made that before?

Yeah? Confident? Good.

Explain how you're going to make the sauce.

Basically as an original, but a sauce, with shallots and everything.

But I'll put the rosemary sprig and the lobster in right at the end

so it doesn't overpower it.

So it's like a beurre blanc, a butter sauce,

-with lobster in it.

-With lobster and rosemary in it.

-OK. I'm with you.

I'd still order it. Good.

It's a rich, indulgent dish.

In that sense, it's very much a Roux dish.

And a good butter sauce, yes, that's real French classics.

So I'm expecting great things from Sophie.

Right, what have we got here, sir?

"Pheasant breast on bed of Savoy cabbage, roasted potatoes and jus."

Doesn't sound inspiring to me.

-No, but...

-"No, but, Chef."

Go on. Sell it to me!

In the cabbage I'm going to have some nice carrot, onion,

some smoked bacon, so I'll nicely chiffonade the cabbage up there.

-Yes.

-The potatoes, I was thinking I can turn the potatoes.

-You're using purple potatoes, Vitelotte.

-Yes.

-Have you cooked with them before?

-No, not before.

-They're very, very floury.

-OK.

When you cook them, especially boil, they fall apart.

-OK.

-You're roasting the pheasant whole?

-I was going to roast the breast...

-The crown.

-Crown.

And then nicely get the breast off

but make sure my skin is really crispy, seasoned up very nicely.

What about the legs. Using the legs?

Um...

-I haven't... Hmm.

-Think of using the legs somewhere.

-It would be great if you can use the legs.

-Yes.

-Braise them,

-and remember that makes the basis of your sauce.

-Yep.

Because if I read this as a diner, I'm not really inspired.

-You still haven't sold this to me.

-OK.

As you're prepping, just think, yeah?

A little think. Think, think, think.

It does sound very reminiscent of the pigeon dish and the duck dish

that he's cooked previously.

But he got it right.

If he can cook that pheasant just right

and make a magnificent sauce,

then I can't have any complaints.

Some people can look at it as meat and two veg,

but then you could say some of Michel's dishes could be like that as well.

But there's so much more complicated things involved in it

just to get to that stage, really.

What have you decided to do with the legs?

Instead of doing the roast potatoes with the purple ones,

-I've decided to make a pomme boulangere.

-Like a little potato stack?

-Yeah.

-Sounds very nice.

-Thank you, Chef.

-Very nice. Good.

Looking forward to that.

I've put clarified butter on to set the scales onto the fish.

So when I fry it, the scales won't fall off.

I just hope they'll stick. If they don't, I'm in trouble!

I'm quietly confident I can get all this done and if I manage to pull it all off, it should be a great dish.

I'm making my jus from the braising liquor, and roasting the crown off, all techniques that he's taught me,

the classical French, are going into this dish at the same time.

Sophie's lobster claws are prepped.

20 minutes to go, guys, yeah?

That's your 20-minute warning.

I'm just about to pick my meat down,

and my sauce is on the go,

so I'm quite confident at the moment

that I'm on time.

I'm where I want to be at this point.

After Michel's encouragement,

Alex has decided to use the braised leg to stuff his potato stack.

Ten minutes to go, and I think I'm going to see two great plates of food.

They really want this. They really do.

Come on, guys. Last few minutes.

Make it a dish that my dad would be proud of.

It's a little bit under. If I just seal it in the pan,

I should get it really nice. Ready by the time I plate up.

-Done?

-Yep.

-Good. Well done.

Alex, two minutes late.

On a busy service, it wouldn't be acceptable.

My pheasant came out a bit under-done.

I managed to get that right. That's why I'm two minutes late.

I wouldn't serve something wrong. I'd rather serve good food late

than wrong food on time.

You were bang on time. Well done for your effort.

I'm cleaning up to take my mind off it!

Do you want to watch his facial reactions?

Oh, man. Oh, no! No!

Michel starts with Sophie's cod

covered in potato scales with tempura lobster.

The fish is absolutely cooked to perfection.

It really is spot on.

The sauce is a really good beurre blanc butter sauce.

A classic French sauce.

I like the concept of the dish.

It's simple, but good straightforward cooking.

Alex ended up serving his pheasant crown and potato stack

with a game jus.

The sauce is well reduced.

It's thickened as it should be.

It is a very good sauce. The seasoning is good.

A lot of thought has gone into this dish.

It's not as simple as the heading was on the menu.

Hmm.

Not an easy decision. It really isn't.

Because I can see that both of these students

have learned so much and taken so much on board.

I really enjoyed Sophie's fish dish.

There was a lot of attention to detail.

Precise cooking, and great seasoning again.

When I think back to the first sauce that Alex put in front of me,

and this one, I mean, wow!

What a difference. That's amazing.

It's great to see the progress like that.

But I've got to think now...

..which one of these two students,

Alex or Sophie,

can reproduce this kind of cooking

and more.

All right, chefs. Come on. Up you come.

My word, you've come a long way.

Well done.

That was tough.

But I've got to make a decision.

One of you two has got to represent me.

So my protege will be...

..Sophie.

Alex, that was so, so close.

So, so, close.

Thank you, Chef.

You have got an immense future in front of you.

-And I mean that.

-Thank you, Chef.

-When you've finished college, come and see me.

-Thank you, Chef.

From where I started to now,

it's been a great journey.

Both of us really wanted it,

so I hope Sophie does really well.

She has the capability to win this

so it's a great achievement for her at the same time.

So I'm definitely rooting for her in the final.

-Well done.

-Thank you!

You're going to knock their socks off, right? You are.

That was brilliant.

-Thank you.

-It was!

Good.

'I feel like I'm doing something with my life.'

I could never have imagined me

going to college, going to uni.

This opportunity has opened so many doors for me.

And now I know I can actually do it.

So, yeah, I've got a lot more confidence in myself now.

A lot, lot more.

'From now on, I'm going to give it everything I've got to win this thing.

'Not just for me, but for him,

'for my college, for myself.'

I'm going to do it. Knock 'em dead, hopefully!

Team Roux! Yes!

Well done!

Over the next two nights,

the mentors bring their proteges to London

to compete in the final...

This is quite simply the biggest moment of your cooking career!

Come on!

Concept, good. Execution, we can do better.

..to be judged by the three legends

who guided their own careers.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd