This week's five celebrities have taken on the challenge
to become MasterChef champion.
Curry is about to hit the fan.
Last time, TV and radio personality Richie Anderson went home.
See you later. Bye-bye.
Now the remaining four are back to continue their quest.
Tonight, they will experience the intense heat
of a professional kitchen...
Me terrine's gone upside down!
Oh, no!
Oh, God.
My fish is on fire.
Ugh...!
This is a nightmare.
..before cooking for a place in the quarterfinal.
Oh!
I find your dish completely and utterly addictive.
I'm dreaming about recipes.
I feel like I'm putting on weight in my sleep.
But I'm ready. I'm ready.
Now I've gone through, can't help but think...
..it'd be really cool if I won this!
I really don't like competition.
Why would I put myself through this?
The intensity is like...
..cook, cook, cook, cook. Here we go. Clock's ticking.
I need two more sets of arms to be like...
We've now got a glimpse of what they might be capable of.
It's about time we started to turn up the heat a little bit more.
Who's going to leave celebrity behind and just become a great cook?
Hello.
Morning.
Oh...
Welcome back.
This challenge, we call the pairs challenge,
and it's all about teamwork AND communication.
We have split you into two teams.
Dani, James, you are the red team.
Marcus, Mica, you are the blue team.
Each team is going to be tasked with cooking a dish,
two portions of it,
and those dishes need to look exactly the same,
and they need to taste exactly the same as each other.
However, only one person in the team has the recipe.
That means it's only through communication and teamwork
you're going to get exactly the same plate of food.
Teams, reveal your ingredients.
I've already knocked something over.
This looks interesting.
Oh...
Oh, I'm loving the excitement in the room right now!
Look at that, eh?
Teams, you have just one hour.
We wish you the very best of luck.
Let's cook.
NARRATOR: Each team leader has been given
basic instructions for a different dish,
with separate trays of ingredients for every element.
There's literally nothing ingredient-wise on how much you use.
I think we're just going to mix it all together?
These instructions are much more vague than I was hoping for.
Really?
As leader of the blue team, it's up to comedian Marcus to guide
TV personality Mica through their tempura prawn and avocado
sushi cut-roll recipe, that's served with soy and wasabi dipping sauce.
JOHN: What the team leader has to do is, firstly, read that recipe
and try and visualise the dish.
So, what it is, is on the outside is the rice...
If they don't understand the recipe, the pair's going to collapse.
So, it's in a long roll, and then it's sliced.
Oh, God. You might have to say that all again. Yeah.
But let's get this rice going. Yeah.
They've got to be able to cook the sushi rice,
and then be able to roll it, shape it,
and make it into rolls that can be cut.
If the rice is too soggy, it's going to fall apart.
If it's too dry, it won't hold together.
Mica, is your rice boiling?
Yeah.
It's OK being team leader.
But if it goes wrong, I feel like it'll be my fault.
Reality star Dani...
Right, what are we doing, Dani?
..is in charge of the red team.
She and actor James must make two identical portions
of a Vietnamese savoury pancake,
filled with pork and prawns, bean shoots, carrots and spring onions,
and served with a chilli and lime dipping sauce.
So, it basically looks like a soft taco with stuff inside it.
Right, OK.
Like an open omelette. How big are we talking?
It's a nice size.
Right, make a thin pancake batter and add spring onions.
Is that what you want me to crack on with? Yeah. Both of us.
I'm just chucking it all in. Right.
Now, a Vietnamese savoury pancake.
Batter, rich with turmeric
and all the spring onions.
It's got to be paper thin, but it's also got to have
the filling across the top of it as it cooks.
Then they've got to fold it up like an omelette, in half,
and it shouldn't crack.
Yeah, I'm scared. I don't know what I'm doing.
That is way too thick.
There's just literally no method, really, at all,
so you've just sort of got to go with it.
I'm not going to cook the spring onions in the batter?
No... No? No!
OK. No?
You sure?
I actually think Dani as team leader with James is a great combination.
We've seen Dani be really confident in the last two rounds.
Would you put a spring onion in a pancake?
I wouldn't. No. It sounds weird to me.
And James, I think, is very happy to learn and listen.
I'm good at being told what to do.
I'm a married man.
You have to be good at that.
You've had 15 minutes, teams!
Peel and devein the prawns...
With their rice under way, the blue team are now tackling the prawns
that will be rolled up inside the sushi.
So, heads off... Yeah.
And leave the tail.
When you cook a prawn, it automatically curls.
They've got to make sure that prawn is completely straight
when they cook it in the tempura batter,
otherwise the whole thing won't be able to be rolled up.
Cut slits into the underside,
turn over and press down until straight.
I think Marcus understands exactly what he's doing.
Five slits, a third of the way into the prawn.
Right.
Oh, gosh.
Show me again what you're doing.
So, I'm cutting... Oh, you're making slits going along it?
Ah, OK.
And Mica right now is stumbling around in the dark.
I'm doing them little slits, like you said.
Yeah. Taking these feet off.
All the shells off.
I normally keep the shell on.
But this is a first for me.
Got to move ASAP with this.
With the pancake batter made...
That thin enough?
Why are you asking?
Is it cos you think it might not be?
..Dani and James are now working on the pork and prawn fillings.
Have you ever poached a pork belly before?
No. Is it the same as boiling?
Is it like an egg?
The cooking of the pork belly, I think, is the tricky one here.
First of all, they've got to boil it, cut it into little bits.
Then let that dry, and then fry it so it goes nice and crispy.
And I think when we're poaching that... Right.
..peel the prawns. Yes.
Remember to take the poo out.
Yeah.
JAMES LAUGHS
Cos that is minging.
These are quite fiddly, to be fair, getting the poo pipe out.
Is that what it's called? That's the medical term, I think, poo pipe.
You are halfway. 30 minutes left.
Marcus, help me!
We've got loads to do.
Back on the blue team, Marcus and Mica are making a start
on their tempura batter to coat the prawns.
All the dry ingredients, just give them a little mix.
Yeah.
And then we're going to add sparkling water.
I thought that was for us to drink. No.
This is so exciting. Look at this.
The bubbles in the sparkling water are supposed to keep it
really light. OK.
Mix it delicately. OK.
How slow have you got to be moving with this?
Cos this ain't looking like batter over here.
There's a little whisk.
Is that what you want me to use?
Yeah.
Just hold it up so I can see.
Mine's like that.
OK. Mine's...lumpy.
Keep using the whisk.
Sir, yes, sir.
Where are you up to, James?
I've just pulled me pork out.
Lovely...
THEY LAUGH I like that.
I'd say just put your prawns in the poachy pan.
Oh, really?
There is an order to this pancake.
You've got to poach the pork and the prawns,
then fry the pork and the prawns together in the pan.
And then in goes that batter.
And then across the top goes the bean shoots and the carrot.
So, we're boiling the prawns in the broth?
Yeah, that's what I've done.
Cos you've got to fry with them with the pork,
so I'm sure this is correct.
Dani is trusting the plan in front of her.
James, he's second-guessing everything.
You definitely do not need to boil the prawns in it.
No, it says peel the prawns and cook in the same pan.
Is this a pot or a pan?
What is it, a pot?
What would YOU call it?
James is going very, very slowly.
He needs to trust in his leader.
If this carries on like this, Dani is going to have a pancake,
and James is still going to be prepping a prawn.
You have 20 minutes.
What do you want me to do?
OK, keep hold of the tip of the tail.
Going to lower it in, right?
And once it's started to fry, then let go of the tail.
Ooh. It's slipping.
All right, here we go.
Mine looks like that. Fish it out.
How does yours look?
Looks good. Yeah, mine too.
Yeah.
This is fun.
These guys need to get a move on.
They can't run out of time.
The assembly and the presentation is as important as the preparation.
Yeah, I can't wait to go home and make some of these.
I'm going home to show off.
DANI SIGHS
Just chopping up me pork.
Dani is motoring ahead because she's got the instructions.
James, you need to hurry up. Yeah, I do.
I'm a little bit behind, but I think that's absolutely fine
cos I'm following her. I'm literally following her.
How are we looking on your sauce?
This dipping sauce, I've started.
Yeah? But only just.
Half a chilli, three garlic cloves I've used. Right.
Urgh, it doesn't smell that great.
I don't know if I like the smell of that. Urgh!
I hope my instructions are all right.
You've been brilliant, Dan.
Can you start frying, James?
PAN SIZZLES Oh, Christ! Stand back.
Do it until golden. Crisp? Like crispy.
No-one wants a fatty bit of pork.
Just ten minutes left, guys. Ten minutes left.
I'm really struggling here! So much to do.
There's no sushi rolled yet, there's no pancakes on yet.
Come on!
Next thing we need to do is mix this stuff into the rice. Mm-hm.
Bit of rice vinegar.
Is my rice meant to be sticky?
I'm used to my rice falling off the spoon.
Yeah, this should be really sticky. Oh, is it?
Because we're trying to make like a hot dog almost, you know?
Sushi is on its way,
but they've also got to make a dressing yet.
I put one capful of mirin.
Mirin, what's mirin? Put all the wasabi in.
You want to be able to taste the wasabi,
but, John, you and I do not want our ears blown off.
Whoa!
SHE LAUGHS
Yours is very different from mine.
I haven't tasted it.
I'm scared to taste it, but really I should, innit?
That ain't nice. So, Mica. Mm?
Mica? Yeah? We've got to start rolling.
Definitely running out of time.
James, I'm adding my pancake batter now.
Let's just hope for the best.
Oh, God!
Have you gone for it, Dan? I did it. Right, I'm following.
It could be a bit too thick. OK.
As long as it cooks in time.
Dani and James both have a pancake batter that is far too thick,
but they've also poured too much into the pan.
I don't think it looks like a pancake.
I think it looks like an omelette. I think we're likely to get
a cross between an omelette and a sponge cake.
I've just covered it with a lid. Let it cook through.
I don't really know about this, I've got to be honest.
Guys, you've got just six minutes. No!
You're going to have to really move.
OK. Mica,
get a sheet of seaweed and stick it on the mat.
How thick are you doing this rice?
That much. OK. Across the top.
This is amazing to me.
The biggest challenge for Marcus and Mica is going to be actually
making the roll.
This green caviar just wants to be like a thin layer.
Not enough rice, you won't have a proper roll.
Turn this over, so that the nori side is face-up.
Come on, Meesh. Flip the thing, girl.
This ain't amateur work.
I'm going from the prawn end.
We ain't got long, Marcus.
DANI:James, how's your pancake looking? Cos I made mine
way too thick. I think mine probably is as well.
I think I'm going to add the bean sprouts. To cook in it? Yeah.
And then you fold it at the end.
HE LAUGHS
Did you flip it? Did I flip it?! I folded it.
I can't fold it!
That is so bad. I would not pay a fiver for that.
Whatever you're doing, both teams, you've got two minutes.
MARCUS:Going to cut it into six pieces.
Quick, quick, quick. Go.
That can't be right.
The size of it! It looks terrible, don't it?
Your time is up.
Uh-uh. I'm giving myself my P45.
Everything else looks great. It's just the pancake batter.
Red team, please bring us your pancakes.
THEY LAUGH
The state of 'em!
Wow.
They are incredibly similar.
Come on, John, you feeling brave?
I'll start with yours, Dani.
Whoa!
It's not cooked in here.
Yeah, it's raw.
Try and get a crispy bit without getting a load of raw batter.
No!
Your pork is crispy. It's not overcooked. It's lovely.
Your prawns are cooked nicely. They're sweet.
Your dipping sauce,
I like the lime and the palm sugar and the amount of chilli.
The issue here is your pancake.
Silly, silly.
You've got so much batter in there.
You can see the bottom is lovely and crisp and cooked,
and the top is like a raw cake.
OK. Right. James.
Good luck, gents.
The prawns are really juicy, cos you poached them first.
The pork's going nice and crispy, which is great.
The dipping sauce is really ferocious with garlic.
A good amount of chilli.
But it's just too raw.
It's a shame, actually.
The cooking of the prawn, the pork, even the dressing of the salad here,
they are virtually identical.
But of course, that meant whatever mistake was going on on one bench
was being copied on the second bench.
Thanks, guys.
THEY CHUCKLE
I'm chuffed.
Are you chuffed?! I am. I'm really pleased.
I just feel like it could've gone so much worse. Mm.
The only thing that got us was the pancake batter.
Yeah.
Blue team, show us your sushi.
Er...mm.
You know... Mine looks nothing like yours.
GREGG LAUGHS
They're massive!
They're huge!
And why have we got one in a straight line and one in a circle?
I was busy panicking. Sorry, mate. That's all right.
Let's have a quick look at Mica's, shall we?
I'm actually really enjoying this.
SHE CHUCKLES
Your prawn is cooked all the way through.
Your rice is nice and sticky.
It's not dainty, but it's tastes good
and it's the right textures. Mm-hm.
OK, thank you.
The batter's really thin, really nicely made.
I like your sauce.
A bit of sweet mirin in there and ferocious with wasabi.
I think that's great.
Mica, I think you've done a really good job.
Right, Marcus, we're going to move over to you.
Your prawns are lovely and crispy. Batter lovely and thin.
I'm really impressed. But your sushi rolls,
they're just a bit big.Yeah.
You didn't have enough time to roll it properly.
They just need to be a lot tighter. They're just starting to fall apart.
Your dips are different.
You've both used the same amount of wasabi.
You've used a load more mirin than Mica's.
Yours is much sharper and slightly sweeter. Mm-hm.
We wanted two identical plates, and they're not identical.No.
But actually, I think the flavours are great.
BOTH:Thank you. Thank you.
Pretty good. I'm happy. Yeah.
I made sushi.
Like, I'm from the ends. We don't make sushi in the ends.
People are going to stop talking to you now.
Yeah, they're going to think I've gone up in the world. Yeah, yeah.
"Oh, here she comes,
"Sushi Mica." Innit!
That portion's for Godzilla.
Thank you very much indeed, all four of you. Great teamwork.
But you're going to need those skills for what comes up next,
because we are going to test you like you've never
been tested before.
Thanks very much. Off you go.
Need a rest, cos in the next round you have to wrestle
a live pig.
It's early morning, and still in their teams,
the four celebrities are about to enter the world
of the professional chef.
JAMES:This is torture, innit?
Whatever this is, it looks nice, eh? Yeah, it does.
Marcus and Mica will be taking on the fierce heat of the kitchen
at BiBi, a modern Indian restaurant in London's Mayfair,
where dishes are cooked over an open flame.
Running the pass is chef-patron Chet Sharma.
We're very much Indian flavours
because of my childhood and upbringing,
but with the best of British produce and techniques.
Morning, guys. BOTH:Hi.
We've got a full dining room today for lunch.
As you can see, this is not a normal kitchen.
It's open to all the guests to see every single
movement, every mistake.
So there's that added little bit of pressure today. Ah!
There's a lot of prep to do, a lot to get done,
so let's crack on. OK. All right.
I think it's quite important that they can multitask.
If 50% of the plates don't have to go back, that'd be good.
Marcus will be in charge of one of Chet's signature dishes.
It's based on a very, very old recipe from Pakistan.
Sharmaji's Lahori chicken.
A very, very dear dish to me, named after my grandfather.
Basically, marinated chicken.
The chicken is marinated in garlic, ginger and lemon
and must be grilled over a 400-degree open flame to order.
So, your biggest challenge is going to be controlling your fire,
making sure that you colour the chicken evenly on the outside.
So, Chef, how do you know when that's done? By the way it bounces.
Uh-huh. Got to use a bit of intuition.
So I'm just going to move it up a level and let it rest.
Anyone who's tried to do a barbecue knows the outside goes black,
middle's raw, and it never kind of comes together,
so it's nerve-racking.
As well as cooking the chicken to perfection,
Marcus will have to roll out a roomali roti bread,
without it tearing.
Roomal means handkerchief in Hindi. Yeah.
So we're trying to get it nice and thin.
You should be able to see your fingers through there.
Yeah.
The roti cooks in just seconds on an upside-down wok over a burner.
Ten seconds on this side.
Is it one of those per portion?
It's one of those per dish. Yes. Gotcha.
Most of my chefs take about two months to get it right for service.
OK. Yeah. I have, I think, about two minutes.
The dish is finished with a cashew and whey sauce and a masala butter.
Wow.
Please may I eat that?
Absolutely.
Oh, that is sensational.
I do pretty well as a comedian, but these people have not
come here for jokes.
They've come here for delicious food
so I REALLY want to get this right.
While Marcus gets to work butchering four whole chickens...
I've done this a few times, but I'm not very good at it.
You're taking the mick!
Have you ever dealt with a fish this big before?
No, I haven't.
..Mica is facing prepping a whole halibut for her fish main.
Like Marcus, she will also have to master the barbecue.
So hot that we're going to burn the skin,
so we use this fan to keep the coals going.
The halibut is served with pumpkin puree,
grilled marinated courgettes,
and a pickled green chilli sauce.
We're going to grill some courgette as well.
We're looking for quite intense colour.
We're trying to get it nice and charred.
We're going to take our fish and we're just going to rest it
in salted butter. Mm-hm.
We don't want to leave it in the butter for too long
cos it will carry on cooking.
The difficulty was getting the cooking of the fish just right
and then actually presenting it nicely.
Take the skin off. It should come off quite easily
if it's cooked properly. Mm-hm.
Got to be super careful, because what we don't want to do
is tear the fish.
Oh, nice work, Chef.
So here we have pumpkin puree.
Mica's biggest plating challenge
will be a perfect pumpkin puree quenelle.
Come on.
Quite a complex dish to pick up.
It's pretty hard for professionals to get right.
The green chilli sauce is served table-side.
At least that's one thing taken off your plate. OK.
That looks wicked.
That's nice! Thumbs up?
This is double thumbs up. Can I finish this?
Perfect. I'm ready to make that.
Who's hungry?
Slimy!
Don't be scared of it. It's not going to come back to life.
You sure about that?
It's not the cheapest fish in the world,
so make sure we're not wasting any of that.
Like that, Chef? Are you impressed?
Wa-ay...!
Yes. I've only got two more to do now.
We want another fish as well.
Oh, yes. It's a lot of guests. Chef, man!
In Central London's Westminster,
Dani and James are arriving at The Pem, an award-winning
restaurant at the five-star luxury Conrad Hotel.
This is nice, isn't it? Yeah. Very classy.
They will be working with executive chef Sally Abe.
So, the cuisine we do here is British.
We focus on nostalgia and old British dishes that we bring
into the 21st century and give them a little bit
of refinement and elegance.
I'm going to be doing a lot of washing up, I think.
I'm really excited to have these celebrities come and cook
in my kitchen.
But celebrities or not, it's my reputation on the line.
It all has to be perfect.
So here we are. Yeah.
James will be responsible for a complex fish main
that has nine different elements.
Have you ever cooked with monkfish before? No.
Fish fingers. Oh, fish fingers, OK, yeah.
I've cooked a lot of fish fingers in my time.
So we start it off like this for about 20 seconds
to get that lovely golden colour on there.
That's to sear it, to lock everything in? Exactly, yeah.
So we're going to roast a piece of monkfish on the bone,
so almost in the same way that you cook a piece of meat.
So we baste the fish so you get all this lovely butter flavour
all the way around.
Once seared, the monkfish goes into the oven to roast -
and James will have just four minutes to bring together
eight garnishes, starting with a pumpkin terrine.
Keep this up and get this gratinated under the salamander.
Why is this called a salamander, out of interest?
It's just what it's called. Nothing to do with lizards?
Not lizards, no.
This is only going to take sort of 45 seconds to a minute.
Right. So, easy to burn. Yeah, exactly. Right.
OK. So you can see that's nice and golden brown.
So that is ready to go.
The pumpkin terrine is then dressed with pickled pumpkin, parsley leaves
and deep-fried sage.
You do need a delicate touch for the plating of this,
so they need to have steady hands and careful fingers.
Onto the right-hand side of the plate. Yeah.
I'm not very neat or tidy. And quite clumsy.
And then we've got a couple of sauces to finish it off.
Pumpkin seed, raw pumpkin
and pumpkin seed oil vinaigrette.
And then this is a sage pesto.
And that's it. Simple.
LAUGHING:Simple!
All right.
There's a lot of elements.
I'm more of a whack-it-on-the-plate kind of guy.
Well, the pressure's on.
This is going to be a disaster.
While James makes a start on prepping the monkfish tail...
There's a membrane on the back of these fish.
It's a very thin bit of skin.
It's almost impossible to get off.
I've got about a dozen or so.
I'm going to be here for hours.
..Dani is busy butchering sirloin steak for her dish,
which is a take on a classic stew -
beef bourguignon.
You're looking at £80 to £100 for that piece of beef.
So they need to be really, really careful when prepping that
and make sure they do it with real precision.
So I've just got to cut the fat off the meat, and they use it
as like a stock.
You have to really like scrape it.
There's such an art to it.
That's a bit more intense, innit?
I feel like I'm cutting up a body. Well, you are. Yeah.
And I've still got one more to go.
We're going to brown it on all sides. 20 to 30 seconds,
just to get that nice caramelisation on there.
I feel like, with me, with beef, I always like overcook it.
If this beef doesn't get cooked right, it will not be going out
to the guests. If I have to stop service, I have to stop service.
So we're looking for that really perfect medium-rare.
Then we'll finish it in the oven.
That's going to be accompanied by some braised short rib.
So you've got your beef, root vegetables and some lovely
bacon in there. So that needs to be boiling hot, cos this is going
to be what is saucing the dish. Yes.
Lovely.
The beef is served with creamy kale,
roasted celeriac...
Nice.
..and honey and ale roasted onions.
Carve that straight down the middle.
Oh, wow! Like that.
You chopped that just so confidently.
I stab the life out of it.
So there you have it, our beef bourguignon.
Wow. That is a beautiful meal.
Feel a bit like John and Gregg doing this!
They're a lot of money - I can't be messing it up.
I'm just hoping that I can do it,
plate it, and the customers love it.
It's midday, and service in both restaurants is about to begin.
There's actual people out there, Marcus. Yeah.
Right, guys. So the dining room's filling up.
We're going to get hit pretty hard. Lunches tend to be hard and fast.
Ready? Yeah. Yes, Chef. Ready.
Let's go.
I think you can probably see on my face I'm a tiny bit worried.
I'm just hoping everybody's nice out there.
Do you know what I mean?
OK. New check on. Three skewers of chicken.
Mica, you've got six pieces of fish. Yes, Chef. Yes, Chef.
Let's get this thing...
Make sure that your courgette garnish is going to be ready
at the same time. Oh, gosh, yeah.
I'm worried about that chicken breast, Chef.
It looks like it's going to fall off.
Goddamn, that's hot.
Right, guys. New check on. You've got a few more skewers of chicken.
Mica, four more pieces of fish, please. Yes, Chef. Yes, Chef.
Can I hear that a little bit louder, please? Yes, Chef!
I need to get more fish on.
So many people want to eat at the same time.
It's just minutes into service, and Mica is already having to juggle
ten halibut orders.
Don't know what I'm doing.
Mica, your fish is catching fire.
Oh, God.
Why are you misbehaving?
That's going to tarnish your fish. Is it?
Do you want a hand, Meesh?
I know I said we want them charred, but that's probably
going to be a step too far. Oh, God.
Right, let's get some fresh fish on. My fish is on fire!
This is a nightmare!
Marcus also has several checks on.
I've got to make bread now.
I'm just moving it about. I'm not actually managing to stretch it.
Oh, no!
Sh...!
That's bad. There's a big hole in it.
While trying to perfect the delicate roti, Marcus has taken his eye
off his first chicken skewer orders.
Have they gone over yet? What do you think?
Well, I think they're standard level of British barbecue charred.
Yeah, not so much for a Mayfair restaurant, I don't think. No.
Let's get some fresh ones on. Yes.
I wrecked some pieces of chicken.
Yeah, it's not good.
I think the pace of service hit them a bit hard, trying to get that much
cooked in one go.
Obviously, I hate wasting any food, but at the same time, guests
coming into this restaurant will be expecting a better standard.
While Marcus recooks his chicken...
Here we go.
..Mica needs to get her first halibut orders plated.
Smooth.
That looks nice, doesn't it?
It's looking great, but we really need to speed up.
Otherwise, we're never hitting these tables.
All right, let's go. Service, please.
Yes, Chef. Chef, that felt good, you know?
Yeah. Maybe next time we can do it a bit quicker, and then I'LL feel
good about it. OK.
Thank you very much.
With the chicken recooked,
Marcus is ready to plate.
We need to get these chicken out, yeah, Marcus?
Yes, Chef.
The carving definitely needs a bit of help.
Just make sure we're keeping an eye on those drips.
No-one wants a dirty bowl. OK.
Service, please. Yes, Chef.
It's exhausting and stressful.
Yeah. Yeah. It's so full-on.
Over in Westminster,
service is well under way.
OK. One mushroom souffle, one duck to follow,
two monkfish and one beef.
Two monkfish. One beef.
And James's monkfish is proving popular.
Nice! Christ. Look at that!
I'm trying to get it on its side!
Is it meant to set on fire like that?
James, keep an eye on that fish. Yeah.
OK, check on, two mushroom souffle, two monkfish.
Oh, there you go, James. Two monkfish, yeah?
So, how many monkfish?
So you've got six on order. I've got six?
It's just all go, innit? Straight away, off you go, bosh.
Right. Let's go. Let's go.
Dani's also feeling the pressure.
Listen, we're going to go one monkfish, three beef
on the next table, please. OK? Three beef.
And then we're going three beef, one monkfish straight behind, OK?
We're dressing two beef, one monkfish now? Yeah.
And then three...
Two beef... You got it. You got it. You got it. Aah...
The orders are really coming in now, so got to speed up a bit.
Get everything up to the pass and let's start plating, OK?
You've both got a dish on the same table.
You want this bubbling? Yeah.
Look at that! Little bit longer.
Little bit longer. Little bit longer?
While Dani starts to plate...
Dani's ready on her meat here, James.
Hang on, one sec.
..James is still cooking.
Right, James, let's go. We need this monkfish up to the pass now.
OK.
There's just so many different elements.
You've just got to memorise it in your brain.
James, let's go. We need to start getting this food on the plate.
He needs to catch up with Dani, but plate his eight garnishes perfectly.
I've got such shaky hands.
Oh, BLEEP!My terrine's gone upside down.
Oh, no! Just flip over.
They're not going to be happy with that.
Very carefully get this one on the plate here now, James.
There you go. OK, so we're in the thick
of service now, so I see you're getting a bit flushed? Yeah, yeah.
James is falling behind quite a bit on the monkfish,
so I've just had to have one of my sous chefs step in
and make sure we don't fall behind on the fish,
cos otherwise it will leave guests waiting, and we can't have that.
You can't make the thing cook faster.
So it's a bit frustrating.
OK, we've got a table 105 away as well.
That's one monkfish, one beef.
A lot of orders are coming in now.
And I can't... I can't remember. I can't remember them at all.
I'm just going to keep cooking.
Back at Bibi, the orders are still flooding in.
Marcus, we're going to need to come up on four portions of chicken soon,
yeah? Yes, Chef.
While hoping not to burn any more chicken,
Marcus is also still trying to master the roti.
That's no good, Chef.
With regret.
We need to get these chicken out, yeah, Marcus.
Yes, Chef. All right, let's get on with it.
Oh.
We're so close to being perfect.
Marcus.
Did you forget about something?
Sorry, Chef.
OK, let's get three more chicken on, please.
Yes, Chef.
Excuse me, Mica.
Marcus is struggling a little bit with his chicken.
It's getting overcooked pretty quickly, so we're going
to have to do more and more and more and more. Pretty slow.
Not really fit for a restaurant of this sort of pace.
Two more fish, please.
Yes, Chef.
The fast pace is also a problem for Mica.
All right, come on, Meesh. You need to get that out
as quickly as you can. All right.
Meesh, her plating is just too slow.
She's giving it the right level of love.
Just the time, it's the only problem.
We desperately need to get these out.
Service, please.
Yeah, we can wipe that jug.
Sorry, babes.
Babes!
What I'm struggling with is getting food out on time.
It's like, you just do a plate, and then it's like,
"We need another ten." Give me a break, you know?
Right, I need five more fish away, please.
You see what I mean?
Across town, there is no let up...
To follow, one monkfish, one beef, OK?
..and James is still trying to keep up.
James, you know how many orders you've got on now? Five?
You've got eight. What?! Eight monkfish on order now, OK?
Yeah, I thought I had five.
Eight. I've got eight.
You're going to have to tell them to wait.
Just hold their horses.
While James continues to struggle,
it's a different story for Dani.
I want to do this as a job.
It's only took me 26 years to find my feet.
I've got three beef now to go up.
So, yeah, I've just got to plate them all pretty quickly.
I'm actually enjoying it.
I love it.
Plate, let's go.
Yeah, lovely.
OK, service, please.
Whoo.
Right, let's get those terrines dressing now, James.
OK, so, super careful with this one, James.
Sweating.
OK, service, please.
Next time, exactly the same, twice as fast.
All right. Twice as fast? OK? Yes, Chef. Yes. Right, twice as.
Whoo.
The fish is obviously going down a storm - can't get enough of it.
It's difficult to keep up with, though.
In Mayfair, service is drawing to a close.
Right, Marcus, we've just got these last two,
and then we're done for lunch, yeah?
Yes, Chef. I've got... Wait, I've got to check the chicken.
Marcus has one last chance to perfect both his chicken
and the roti.
Chicken's all right, but only just.
And Mica needs to prove she can plate up at speed.
Right, Meesh, these are your last two.
Let's make them your best. Yes, Chef.
Some magic.
Right, Meesh, last one. Well done. All right.
Yeah. Feeling good? Feeling hungry!
Right, come on, Marcus. Last two now.
Let's make them count. Yes, Chef.
How are they? Best one you've so far.
All right.
Woo. That's looking better, Marcus.
Yes.
Service, please.
It's stressful, man.
Respect to all you and your crew.
It's amazing. It was a pleasure.
Thank you so much for having us. Thanks for coming down.
It was great.
Over at The Pem, the last checks are in...
Let's just keep up the momentum. We are almost there, OK?
Oui.
..and James is catching up with his monkfish orders.
So all those ones that were before, they were a bit unlucky.
These ones are going to really be good.
Yeah, you've got to save the best till last, haven't you?
Strong finish coming right up.
Now you've relaxed, you're getting a bit of artistic flair on the go now.
I like it. I like it. Cheers.
There we go.
That was so exciting. It was like an action movie.
It's now down to Dani to finish service on a high.
OK, nearly, nearly there. Yes. Let's get them perfect.
The last customer is as important as the first customer.
Remember that precision, deep breath.
I don't think I've breathed the whole time.
Ole!
Well done, Dani. How do you feel?
Would you hire me?
I would definitely hire you, yes.
I feel like I handled it pretty well.
I don't know if this could be a career for me in the future.
Why not?
You know, you can do anything in life.
What an experience.
This is going to be something that I'm going to remember
for the rest of my life. It was a bit stressful, sure.
It's difficult keeping up with everyone.
It's just giving you that spark and that excitement.
That was a lot.
But I reckon Chef liked me, you know?
Yeah, I think he'd have me back in there.
Maybe not to cook, but maybe just for the vibe.
I burned an unforgivable amount of chicken.
It's been a challenging day, but REALLY good.
Really exciting, frankly, to realise how difficult it is.
Like, it's mind-blowing to me.
All done. It was good, huh?
It was good. But I burnt up the man's expensive fish!
Yeah, I burnt a lot of chicken.
Well done, James. Good job. Loved it.
Nice doing business with ya.
I've been holding in a fart that whole time.
All right?
We call this the food truck challenge.
What we want from you is a dish that you would sell in a food market
from your own food truck.
One hour, two portions of your dish.
And it's got to be absolutely fantastic because we have just three
quarterfinal places to give.
One of you is going home.
Ladies and gentlemen, let's cook.
The thing about a food truck is you want your customers
to come back.
It's got to have something about it that makes it special.
It's takeaways.
It's a bit more me.
Yeah.
It's like easy grub.
It's not none of that fancy gear.
The dish I'm cooking is a bit fiery,
just to add that little twist.
Bring a little Jamaica into it.
What dish is coming out of Mica's truck?
A burger with cheese and my mango relish.
I'm just like a Jamaican South Londoner.
That's what you're getting on a plate.
What would a Meesh truck look like?
It's colourful. You can hear, like, the reggae playing,
we're serving rum.
Yeah, there's just a lot of vibes at my truck, and there's probably
a long queue as well.
Mica's burger is going to be big and bold.
Caramelised onions, sweet and sticky.
A mango relish, which has got four different chillies in it,
should have a really good punch.
And she's put vinegar and sugar in there as well to make it sharp
but sour and sweet.
There's a lot going on in here.
I hope it doesn't go too soggy.
Yeah, everything with a bit of extra grease, you know.
The perfect chip,
light and fluffy in the middle and then properly crisp
on the outside. Nothing else will do.
I'm trying to think of this as I'm cooking it for some mates,
but then you look up and it's Gregg and John.
They're not mates yet.
I felt pretty hassled in the restaurant.
My sense of "ugh, don't let anyone down" was big in there.
It's essential to get this right today.
I'm having the time of my life.
I just... I don't want to go.
What's the dish?
It's popcorn shrimp with three different dips and an Asian slaw.
Whoa. It's so irresistible that you just go at it like popcorn.
That's what I'm trying to create.
So why this dish? I just love seafood.
I've eaten a lot of prawns over the last week.
I've emptied the Pacific.
Check my fryers, good.
Popcorn shrimp. Prawns rolled in seasoned flour.
So you get a crust on the outside like you would get
with fried chicken.
Every single one of those should be really, really crispy.
This is the trickiest bit cos everything gets covered in goop.
Ah... OK.
And then three different dipping sauces.
Miso, mayonnaise and lime, which should be sharp but salty.
You've got a coriander dip.
Then we've got a sriracha mayonnaise, which is spicy chilli.
There's lots of work in there.
Each one of those dips has to really sing and each one of those prawns
has got to be cooked to perfection.
Anyone got an idea of how much time we've got left?
You are halfway. You have 30 minutes left, please.
I'm feeling OK.
I'm just trying to not let my nerves get the better of me.
I did try street food once in Thailand and did end up
a little bit poorly.
But, yeah, I think I'd love to have my own truck.
I really, really would. It'd be so much fun.
You've got a bundle of seafood over there.Mm-hm.
Prawns, squid, mussels.
I'm making a paella today. Why a paella?
So my grandad's Spanish and I love a paella.
On a Sunday we'd either have a paella or a roast dinner.
Dani, what's the secret to a great paella?
You've got to really make it with love, but then timing
it all correctly.
I wish I could give you a sangria, boys.
Ole!
A good paella is a small layer of rice, sometimes crispy
on the bottom, the seafood all popping out the top.
Just got to keep making sure it doesn't stick to the pan.
Chicken has to be cooked all the way through,
but still be nice and moist. The rice has to be free flowing,
but it can't be wet and soggy.
I hope she gets the flavour absolutely right.
A great paella can take half a day.
The rice just takes SO long.
She's got an hour.
Fingers crossed for her.
Guys, you have 20 minutes left, please.
Got customers queuing up.
LOVE food trucks.
So I'm hoping that the guys will enjoy this.
What will your food truck look like?
Will there be music outside? Will you have acrobats?
Will there be flames? Fireworks? What'd be going on?
What food truck have YOU ever been to?!
That's called the fair! That's called the circus.
It's not a food truck.
Definitely music. Some classic '90s Britpop.
Getting people all geed up and excited.
What are you serving from James' food truck?
Cheeseburger and fries for you.
Slightly...bit more sophisticated.
Wagyu beef burger and a baconnaise, where I'm going to cook up some
crispy bacon for your burger sauce.
Wagyu beef burger. How much is that going to cost me?
Well, you, nothing. You eat for free, John.
Don't you worry about that. You're well looked after.
I mean, that's a very rich burger.
Got a Wagyu patty, which is quite a fatty piece of meat,
and he's going to cook that well
so all the fat actually melts really slowly.
We've got a slice of cheese.
That is a Mexican cheese.
There's peppers and other stuff running through it.
Hopefully some good flavours.
We've got baconnaise, which is mayonnaise made
from oil and bacon.
Blimey.
We've got chips and truffle oil and Parmesan.
Cooked well, it could be great.
Right, haven't got a clue what I'm doing here.
Little wiggle.
Buckley's Burgers. I think that writes itself.
Who doesn't like burger and chips?
But we only have an hour.
I'm up against it.
It's taking a little bit longer than what I thought.
Not even got a burger on.
Time's just disappeared.
I'd be very disappointed if I don't cook my burger right.
Five minutes left, everybody.
How's it going, man? You all right? No, really badly.
Oh, God.
Ready. I'm ready.
They ain't got no salt on there yet. Come on.
Watch that bun. Oh, Christ.
Ooh!
OK.
James, is your burger cooked?
Not really, no.
How long have we got?
Just 30 seconds.
Oh, God.
James, come on.
30 seconds.
Aah.
Oh, no.
Oh, Christ.
That's it. Time's up.
Well done, everybody.
Smells great. Well done.
All right.
Mica, come on.
Mica's food truck treat is a cheeseburger with Meesh's mango,
Scotch bonnet and jalapeno relish, caramelised onions and home-made
chips, with a side of halloumi.
I like your burger. OK.
The relish is tropical, sweet, juicy mango with the heat of chilli
on a decently made burger.
It's very nice.
Your chips,
they're a bit soggy,
but the rest of it I really like.
The lovely sweet mango pickle.
Your caramelised onions, lots of them,
and still really wet and juicy.
The halloumi, which you dip into your mango relish,
it's bright, it's vibrant.
And with a food truck, that's what you've got to do.
They liked Meesh's mango relish.
Yeah, I'm happy with that.
My chips weren't crispy enough, but, you know, I gave it my best,
and I had fun.
Marcus has served deep-fried popcorn prawns seasoned with five-spice,
garlic and ginger with miso and lime mayonnaise, sriracha mayonnaise,
and a coriander and chilli dip, with a side of sesame, rice vinegar,
and honey-dressed Asian slaw.
JOHN: I hope you're going to charge a lot of money -
that's a lot of prawns!Yeah.
You're being really bold with your flavours.
The crust on the outside of those prawns, lots and lots
of white pepper and salt, a little bit of five-spice, prawns cooked
all the way through.
Then, when you dip them into sauces, the herby one with the coriander,
I REALLY like, it's slightly spicy from chilli.
That's definitely my favourite.
It's interesting, it's different and I think it's really well made.
I find your dish completely and utterly addictive.
The slaw is a great idea.
You've got crunch of fresh vegetables in there,
the bite of spring onion.
I love all the dips.
The one with the miso is really salty, almost kind of meaty.
I can't stay out of it.
I'm literally over the moon.
I was slightly welling up.
I really was, like, I was kind of blown away.
Inspired by her Spanish grandfather...
The scariest walk of my life.
..Dani has cooked a family favourite, paella,
with chicken, chorizo, mussels, prawn and squid.
The chicken thighs are cooked nicely.
I really like the rich paprika that comes from that chorizo.
The mussels are great across the top, giving it a little saltiness.
It's a good dish.Yeah? Oh, yeah.
Your rice is soft. It's well seasoned.
Then you get the sweet notes of shellfish. Prawns cooked well.
The squid also cooked really well.
With a squeeze of lemon
across the top of that, it just starts to sing.
Well done, mate. Thank you.
I'm so happy after that.
Smashed it.
I really had a lot of faith in that paella.
They kept going back for more.
I can breathe.
There could be a truck waiting for me.
James, you look a little bit nervous.
This is awful.
This isn't nice standing here, I've got to be honest.
James's food truck dish is a Wagyu beef burger with chilli Mexican
cheese, pickles and a baconnaise burger sauce,
served with truffle and Parmesan loaded fries.
They're not really crispy, these chips, are they?
They're not, unfortunately.
That is one absolutely delicious burger.
You have to cook that Wagyu to get the fat to melt through it.
And you've done that. It's great.
And there's also smokiness of bacon through that mayo and you get
a little bit of sharp pickle. I'm really into that.
I'm surprised at how good that burger is.
The baconnaise is a revelation because you get little chewy bits
of bacon amongst the creamy dressing of the mayonnaise and the salt
at the same time.
But you put spices in there, which makes it slightly chilli hot,
then chilli cheese across the top of that, which is wonderful.
I'm sad about the chips, but the burger is very,
very good indeed.Cheers, guys. Oh.
Pleased with the burger.
It's awful, that.
I was worried about that.
Barbecue James. Yeah, I can't make chips, can I?
I think the chips are going to send me home.
We'll see. We'll see what happens.
We are, of course, now looking for MasterChef quarterfinalists.
We had some absolutely brilliant food.
We're seeing how they're changing from celebrities into cooks.
I think there was a lot of love and care went into those dishes.
Dani just loves flavour.
That paella was great.
Really well seasoned.
Squeeze of lemon across the top of that.
Mate, I almost wanted to go and put a sombrero on.
Marcus gave us textures and flavours which were really quite exciting.
Crispy, crunchy prawns, loads of five-spice.Three types of dips,
some sharp, some hot, and that lovely slaw.
I found the whole thing delicious.
Is it fair to say that Dani and Marcus are safe?
We've got a decision now between Mica and James.
Being last to be judged... Yeah. ..is horrible.
If I'd had my phone on me, I'd have been calling a cab.
James's Wagyu burger, I thought, was absolutely yummy.
The baconnaise was absolutely delicious.
But his loaded truffle fries weren't great.
I'm worried about my chips.
They did not dig the chips at all.
It's interesting, isn't it, with Mica? The competition goes on,
you can see now she's really caring about what she's cooking.
That mango chutney was all-important because she wanted to show
off the flavours of the West Indies.
It was tasty. It was vibrant.
I just wish those chips would have been crispy.
Them chips was flopping like that.
It was a nightmare.
Mica and James both cooked great burgers, not very good chips.
What we have here, my friend, is a burger-off.
This is an incredibly tough decision.
I'd love to do it again, but you only get one shot
at this thing, so... Maybe I didn't bat my eyelashes enough at the boys.
Can I go back in there and give them a flutter?
SHE CHUCKLES
I'm enjoying this so much.
I'm so excited to be in the kitchen.
I'm going to be upset to go.
I've got my coat ready.
It's on standby.
When they say one of us has got to go, maybe we should rush them.
THEY LAUGH
You got my back? Course!
You four have cooked with your heart and your soul.
And you're showing so much skill.
The first celebrity going through to the quarterfinal is...
..Marcus.
Yay. Congratulations.
The second celebrity going through is...
..Dani.
Oh, wow. Thank you.
Brilliant. Thank you. Fantastic.
Mica and James...
..this decision has been extremely tough.
The decision is...
..that you're BOTH going through to the quarterfinal.
All right! What?!
It's too tough to call, guys.
Both of those burgers were just top, top quality.
We don't want to lose you.
Congratulations, all four of you.
You are MasterChef quarterfinalists.
Very lucky to still be here.
Definitely worth a celebration.
Can't wait to see what happens next.
Anything could happen.
The feeling you get is just incredible.
I ain't felt like this in ages, actually!
I love it. It's so much fun.
MARCUS:Yes. Come on. I hope I haven't peaked.
My poor wife, all I talk about is food and recipes.
It's nerve-racking, but it's really exciting.
I love it so much.
I got through!
I thought I was going to start crying and I'm like,
"No, girl, get gangsta quick." Like, "Put them tears away."
So happy.
I can't believe I'm a quarterfinalist on MasterChef.
Like, me!
Next time, it's the quarterfinal.
That stinks of coconut.
Smells like someone's trod in coconut and walked it all
through the house.
And Marcus, Dani, James and Mica
are back to fight for their place.
The chicken wings are delivering, ticking all the boxes for me.
And that mash is...
# Smoooooth. # LAUGHTER