It's the Celebrity MasterChef semifinals,
and only the eight best cooks remain.
This competition has taken over every single nook
and cranny of my life.
It's bananas.
Bananas. Look, see? I'm even talking food.
I am in the semifinal of MasterChef.
I still cannot believe it.
Honestly, I'm buzzing.
Tonight...
..the battle intensifies.
The Vikings are coming!
Yeah! Get in there!
Ra-ar!
Go on, then, have it!
And one more celebrity will be sent home.
The real talent is through now, so it's very tense.
I'm a natural born competitor.
I flex my muscles.
And I'm here to make it work.
I 110% think I can win this competition.
The gloves are off.
I'm taking no prisoners.
We are going to start to push them.
They're about to discover pressure like never before.
Let the semifinals begin.
It's early morning.
And the semifinalists have been transported to South Downs
National Park, in Hampshire...
..at the start of the 10th century.
Hang on.
It's a farm.
Oh. It's a farm.
I see tents in a field in the rain.
This is not going to be fun.
This is going to be horrible.
Welcome to the Celebrity MasterChef semifinals.
Congratulations. Well done.
And welcome to the incredible Butser Ancient Farm.
This place is an open air museum that tells the story
of ancient Britain from the Stone Age, all the way through
to the Anglo-Saxons.
There are 70 volunteers coming from all over the country
here today to recreate a proper Anglo-Saxon village,
with a Viking invasion.
Now...
CELEBRITIES LAUGH
You have the honour of preparing lunch for those volunteers.
This is about big and hearty.
It's got to be good food.
Rochenda, Jake, H, Dom -
you are the blue team.
None of us can cook.
Craig, Vito, Tamer, Harry - you are the red team.
Should we hug? Let's do this.
Outside there are two tents with your ingredients waiting for you.
You need to choose a team leader, and you need to make a plan.
You have two-and-a-half hours.
Now, off you go.
Woohoo!
All right, here we go.
Oh, yeah! Wow!
Oh, yes.
For me now to cook for so many people - not one, not two,
but many people - I mean, I don't know how I'm going to do this.
Time management is not the issue here.
It's portion management.
Because none of us have done this many before.
You're leader.
Well... Yes, you are!
Yeah, but you're all leaders of your areas. Yes.
So, it's like... It's a democracy.
Yes, let's do it. Let's get it.
Who are we going to go with for team leader?
I'm happy to do it.
Yeah? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, I'm totally happy.
You tell me to do something, I'll do it. Yes.
With leaders chosen, each team now have two-and-a-half hours to prepare
a meat, fish and veg main and dessert
from an array of ingredients, some of which were commonly used
during the Anglo-Saxon period.
We tried to make this challenge as authentic as we could.
So, no tomatoes, no potatoes, no chillies.
Why? Because they're from the Americas.
They didn't exist in this era.
They've got to make a plan and work hard.
I mean hard.
The blue team selection includes pork loin, bacon, cider...
So, the meat dish, what are we going to do? Meat dish.
We're going to do roasted pork with a cider sauce.
..trout, root veg, lentils...
We could do lentils with fish.
..butternut squash, spelt - an ancient whole grain -
nettles...
I'm happy to do a nettle risotto.
All right, Nigella, go on!
Nigella!
We also give them a roasted butternut squash.
..apple, figs and mead - fermented honey.
The only thing that we haven't fully worked out is a dessert.
We could do an apple pie with fig.
OK, let's get on with it. Are we ready, team?
Let's do it. Wahey!
We're going in, we're going in.
Who's your team leader?
Team leader!
What qualities do you think you have for this role?
You can always hear me in a room.
Rochenda as team leader is a great choice.
Not only is she a great cook, she's a presence.
They will listen. She will make herself heard.
Being head chef, feels like I'm in the right place.
We've got a great leader and we've got a plan.
I think we're going to smash it.
Let's just go from the top.
The red team's options include venison...
So, I'm going to butcher that.
I want to chop it all down, cover it with pastry and make a pie.
Does that work? That's brilliant.
..plaice...
Fillet this plaice here. Keep it simple.
..mushrooms, pearl barley...
Vegetarian dish, we're going to make a mushroom rice.
..pears and plums.
Do you want to do a lovely big, tasty, beefy crumble?
Cool, cool, cool, cool.
Who's team leader?
Me, but as I said, it's a democracy.
So, we've got a venison pie, is that right? Yes.
You're making mushroom risotto? I will make it. Yeah.
What's being served with the fish?
The fish is going to go with, uh, the, erm...
I don't know. I haven't checked yet.
Why don't you do a little team meeting? All right. OK?
There needs to be something with that fish, and he doesn't know
what it is just yet.
Probably could be more adventurous.
But lashing rain, hungry people - safety first.
With firmer plans in place in the blue tent...
You're absolutely smashing it, guys.
..make-up artist Dom...
Yesterday it was Fashion Week.
Today I'm putting my hands on pork.
..is preparing two whole pork loins for the team's meat main course.
The plan is to roast the pork with loads of veg.
They're roasting the pork, which is a nice idea.
However, that is kilos and kilos of raw meat.
Fingers crossed there.
That could go right up to the wire.
Hopefully we're going to get some crackling.
Going with the pork, they've got a mushroom cider sauce.
Yeah, baby!
Spelt, which is a type of grain,
and nettle risotto.
This is big, this is hearty. This will fill you up.
You go back ninth century, you could be eating this.
I think that's a lovely, lovely dish.
Having made a start on the mushroom and cider sauce for the pork...
Mate, that's banging.
..TV personality Jake...
It's the first time I've ever filleted a trout in my life.
..now has the tricky task of prepping 25 portions of trout...
It's a bit weird. I used to have a pet goldfish.
..which will be served with lentils, broccoli,
and a creamy white wine dill sauce.
I did that bit, which was looking absolutely peng. Look.
But it's harder to do it the other side, for some reason.
What happened to this fish?
Is there a reason it's sitting here like a trophy?
Yeah, because I'm actually going to carry it out in my mouth
when I give them their food,
just to tell them that I am also a Viking.
Team leader and actor Rochenda...
I'm really excited, actually.
I've never done anything like this before.
..is taking charge of the team's vegetarian course.
She plans to roast butternut squash wedges with rosemary and garlic,
and serve them with the nettle spelt risotto
that's also going with the pork.
Wahey!
I've spilt the spelt!
Spelt is an interesting grain.
It's got a lovely little sort of nutty flavour to it.
Lots of seasoning is needed in that spelt,
otherwise it's going to be really bland.
And then, in here we're boiling off the nettles.
Nettle is like a strong spinachy flavour, but it's from this era.
What to do, pour boiling hot water across the top of them.
That gets rid of the sting.
Then she's going to fold that through the spelt
at the last minute, which is fantastic.
Fingers crossed it tastes delicious.
With the pork in the oven, Dom has joined forces with pop star, H...
You tell me when to stop peeling, all right?
I'm just going to crack on. I think just peel all those.
OK, I'm a peeling machine.
..to tackle an apple and fig pie dessert.
Like, that's plenty. Whee!
Oh, I don't know. No, it's lovely. OK.
JOHN:Are you not cooking the apples at all?
Uh, cooking it all together.
I would put something which is going to make it moist.
Like mead or...?
Delicious!
Yes, H! Is that true?
Yeah! Oh, OK, right. Go, H!
Where has the mead gone?
Mead is a fermented alcoholic drink.
It's from this era.
And it's fermented honey.
It's nice.
Handle it with care.
But to use that as a flavouring on the pie,
I think it's a brilliant idea.
I'll tell you what I love about this tent -
it's really organised, and you're working together as a team.
In the red tent, teamwork is less apparent.
Although Craig's team leader, he's being fairly quiet.
And, actually, each person seems to be doing their own thing.
Listen, you don't need a team leader, cos everyone's
leading everyone else. It's awesome.
Craig's taken the fish, plaice - that's a flat fish -
and he's going to roast it.
So, head off, tail off, trim fins,
and we're going to do them like that.
But I don't think Craig and that team know yet
what's going with that fish.
The plan is to get it in the oven and get it cooked,
and then we'll figure it out.
Actor Tamer...
Let's cook.
..is taking sole responsibility of preparing over three kilos
of venison for the team's meat main course.
Tamer's making venison pie.
With the pie, there's going to be a celeriac and parsnip mash.
Just going to take all this fat off, or whatever you call it,
and try and get the best parts of the meat.
He's got a lot of meat, and he's going to do three massive trays.
But he's got to be able to get it all cooked.
Tamer. Yes. What makes a good pie?
Cos you're a pie man. What makes a good pie?
Good gravy.
Right? It's got to be. The gravy and the pastry.
You're not scared of a bunch of Vikings, are you?
Nah. Can't wait to go to war with them.
And if they don't like it, they got problems, I'm telling you.
Professional dancer Vito...
Boom.
..is taking on the vegetarian dish.
Vito wants to do a veg risotto.
I have to make sure that, you know, it's going to be
a good Italian mushroom risotto.
Ha-ha!
But you haven't got risotto rice in there.
You've got pearl barley in there.
That barley is going to take a lot of cooking.
Vito, I hope, will work it out.
Gladiator Harry is under way peeling a mountain of pears...
I'm not really comfortable making this dessert.
I don't like pears.
It's a little bit annoying, to be honest.
..for a pear, plum and blackcurrant crumble, served with custard.
Harry, have you ever made crumble before?
No, I'm a crumble virgin.
And you're making a crumble for 40 people,
having never made a crumble before?
Sounds exciting, doesn't it?
Harry doesn't like pears. We know that from the first challenge.
Custard is quite possibly one of the worst things to my palate.
And he doesn't like custard.
And he doesn't actually do desserts.
Why is Harry doing the dessert?
I'm making a mess.
HARRY LAUGHS
You've got an hour and a half left.
Over on Rochenda's team...
How are we all doing? You all right?
Yes, Chef! Yes, Chef!
LAUGHING:Yes, Chef!
..Jake's still hard at work prepping the trout for the fish course.
I just need to make sure there's enough portions for everyone.
Are you feeding Vikings, or are you feeding children?
OK, bigger bits.
They're Vikings, mate. All right.
They'll eat a whole side themselves, raw.
Rochenda's nettle spelt risotto well under way,
she's moved on to the lentils to go with the trout.
Lentils and fish, lovely idea - as long as the lentils are moist.
But if they're just dry, they're dry.
And fish and dry doesn't work.
What we've got in there, we've got, like, beer, mushrooms.
It's really hearty. Lots of butter.
So, yeah, hopefully it should be all right.
But the pressure is on.
On dessert, Dom and H are making good progress.
With the fruit filling for their pie in the oven,
H makes a start on the pastry lid.
I'm going to get creative.
While Dom has the challenge of making enough custard...
That's a lot of egg.
It's making me gag a little.
..for 40 portions.
When I normally make custard, I make it for, like, four people.
I'm multiplying it by ten.
Am I making 80 portions or 40? Oh, no.
Mate, it's better to have more than not enough.
Great. OK. Double portion everyone. So, if you do two portions, sound.
You are halfway through your prep time, blue team.
I love your spirit. Love the spirit.
In the red tent,
the menu is still not complete.
The ongoing issue, and it's not resolving itself, is the fish dish.
The hard bit is trying to piece it all together.
Nobody has any idea what it's going to be served with.
Like, no idea.
Somebody make a decision.
So, lads, we're going to do a lemon butter fish sauce.
My fear is we need something else.
It DOES need something else. Oh, I know what we got.
Look what we got!
Oh, finally.
I'll do a cream, uh, creamed kind of kale-y business to go with the fish.
And then we can do a tray of roast vegetables
that can go with everything. There you go.
Decisions finally made, Craig gets on with the veg sides.
It's not fine dining, is it? It's medieval.
While Tamer's battling to cook enough venison and mushroom
pie filling to feed 40 people.
We're searing it off with some onions and some oil.
The pie is coming together.
He's floured the meat, he's seasoned it really well.
And then, now we're adding the mushrooms.
The problem is, when you're making a pie, is the filling should be cold
before the pastry goes across the top. Because, otherwise, the pastry
can melt, and then it actually will become soggy.
Your pies are going to take about 35, 40 minutes in the oven.
The timing is everything here.
Meanwhile, Vito's mushroom pearl barley risotto seems to be on track.
It looks very good. It looks delicious.
It smells good. It's going to taste good, I know.
But team-mate Harry is still finding the dessert a challenge.
Mm. So good, right?
I hate pears.
You've nailed that, buddy.
You've nailed that.
I've never eaten a pear before.
It just got put in my mouth! Ah!
I'm getting cramp. I'm getting cramp.
Harry's stuck in a corner making his crumble.
It's hard work, this.
He's never made a crumble before in his life.
Oh, my gosh.
Let's see what happens.
Let's make a bit of noise, rattle them up a bit. After three.
One, two, three.
Yeah! Yeah! Get in there!
I think they're, like, releasing their inner Viking.
BLUE TEAM YELL
Yeah! Get in there!
Woohoo! Woohoo!
That'll rattle them up, won't it?
I'm really happy that they're singing and dancing.
Let's see if they're still singing and dancing
in an hour's time, shall we?
I somehow doubt it very much.
While both teams battle on,
the Anglo-Saxon village is a hive of activity.
Today we are setting up an example of what a West Saxon village
would have looked like.
With the trades and crafts that they would have been doing as part of
their ordinary daily life.
We are also going to show a snapshot of what might happen
if a Viking raid occurred, and how a Saxon village would defend itself.
The kind of food that Saxons would be eating,
you'd have a lot of grains, wheat.
A fair amount of greens, stinging nettles, wild cabbage.
Mutton, lamb, beef and pork.
You didn't have sugar, potatoes, tomatoes.
So, the contestants have got a bit of a job on trying to
create something tasty for us.
You are serving at one o' clock. It's ten past 12.
50 minutes left.
Lunch fast approaching, the blue team check in on their pork.
All right, then, let's have a look at this.
You want to go from the middle. Do you reckon?
Yeah, cos that'll be where it's...
That's coming in at 48. That's not cooked.
Between you and me, and a gang of Vikings,
I'm a little bit concerned about that pork.
That seems like that's cooked. Let's put that in the bottom.
Put it in the bottom, put that on top.
That's an enormous, big piece of pork.
If that is ready on time, I'll be surprised.
Something's burning. Is there something in the oven burning?
It was the pork, but we've just moved them around.
We're not worried. We're not panicked.
Jake's finally prepped all of his trout...
I've got 25 fillets of fish for you here, Chef-a-rooni.
..that will be pan-fried just before service.
We're all right. We're happy.
We're doing well. We're loving life.
All the way over. All the way over, all the way over. There we go.
With the complete apple and fig pies in the oven...
..H has come up with an extra element to serve alongside them.
So, we're going to do shields covering the apple and fig tart.
We had some Saxons walk past, and I stopped them,
and they let me take a picture.
So, I'm going to try and do something Saxon-y.
But we do have 40 to do, so watch this space.
DOM:I mean, if I'm honest...
Looks like a nipple? I feel like that looks like something...
A nipple. ..that neither you and I know much about.
There's little bits of detail from the blue team.
It's looking really, really good.
But in the red tent, it's a different story,
as they're running well behind.
And Tamer...
Going all right. It smells good.
..is racing to get his venison pies assembled.
Just getting the pastry on.
And then we're going to get it in the oven.
Straight in the oven once you've got the pastry on. Go.
In the oven. Go.
I've got some beef stock, I've got some red wine.
And hopefully there's a nice little gravy to go on top of the pie.
Meanwhile...
Do you think we're OK on three trays of vegetables?
..Craig is struggling to get all the veg prepped,
which will be roasted and served with both mains.
There's a couple of things that are
taking longer cos of the scale of it.
So, you make mashed parsnip at home, it takes 20 minutes.
When you make it for all these people,
it just seems to take forever.
With Craig feeling the pressure...
..Vito is having to step away from his risotto to help.
Craig is busy, so I'm taking the place to look after the spinach.
We're going to make creamed spinach, which is going on the fish.
Teamwork is massive here.
You can't for a minute think that you've just got your dish
and ignore what's going on around you.
Jump in where it's needed.
I'm confident, I'm positive.
I like to see the glass half full, you know?
It's going to be very good.
On dessert, with his first-ever attempt at a crumble in the oven,
Harry now has to master the custard.
Do you know what you're doing here?
Milk, cream, egg yolks, sugar.
Yeah, I should be good.
I don't like custard.
If you know me, custard is my worst nightmare.
With 20 minutes to go, the singing's gone,
the dancing's gone, the smiling's gone.
Ooh...!
Replaced by stress.
It's a minefield!
Pure and utter stress.
Oh, God, please don't scramble. Please don't scramble.
Do you know what's difficult, is that everything takes
a long time, right?
The Vikings are coming!
Ra-ar!
Oh, they're here! Guys, look!
What we're putting on today would be fairly typical of something
that would have happened during what's called the Anglo-Dane Wars.
RE-ENACTORS YELL
Where the Saxon settlements did occasionally get attacked
by Viking raiders.
Go on, then, have it! Who's Millwall, who's Chelsea?
That's what we're going to show.
Just how a Saxon village would defend itself.
My God.
I believe our Saxon army is going to be victorious.
After we've beaten back the Danes, everyone's going to be
pretty hungry, so we're hoping for something very tasty,
and a lot of it.
With service imminent...
Ow, ow, ow...
DOM WHIMPERS
Well done, well done.
..the blue team are completing their final jobs.
ROCHENDA:64, you're allowed to do it to.
That says 56.
This one's done. We can start carving up this one.
This one, I'm going to whack it back in. Fine.
We've got 25 pieces of fish to get through.
I think it just needs a little bit longer.
It needs to be a bit more crispy. On the other side, yeah, yeah.
If team leader ain't worried, I ain't worried,
and she's not worried.
In the red tent, things are far less under control.
They're burning. They're burning.
These ovens are notorious.
They have different hot spots and cold spots.
I don't think these vegetables are doing as well on the bottom of this
oven, so I'm thinking of swapping them over. What do you think?
And the more you look at it, and the more you open the door,
the more you're going to get rid of the heat.
So, our fish is our issue.
We have three trays of fish.
JOHN:Haven't even started cooking the fish.
And that could be an issue.
Fish has got to get in the oven!
Fish in!
Outside, hungry Saxons and Vikings have started to gather for lunch.
Yeah, it's interesting, different varieties on both.
One's catching my eye more than the other.
I don't want to say which one yet.
Final push! Come on, guys!
Whoa! What's happening here? There's a sauce bubbling over, guys.
It looks like hearty food that, you know, on a cold, wet day...
Risotto is ready.
..going to fill me up and keep me warm.
Five minutes, please. Five minutes.
I am starving, I haven't eaten all day.
And I'm looking forward to whatever is put in front of me.
They look hungry and angry, don't they?
In the blue tent...
Oh, honey! Looks amazing! Yeah, baby!
Woohoo!
..everything now rests on the pork being cooked.
Is it cooked? Yeah, that's definitely cooked.
Yee-ha!
I'm so proud of this team!
For the red team...
Pie's done. Vegetarian's done.
I'm amazed.
..it now all comes down to whether Craig's fish has had enough time
to roast in the oven.
Yes, it's there.
Mm... Stop it...!
Oh! Mamma mia! Oh, my, my, my, my...
Mamma mia!
Honestly, it's amazing.
We've done it.
Lunch is finally ready to be served...
Hungry people, hungry people.
..and the crowds march straight towards the blue team.
Hello! Come in, come in.
What are we having, sir?
Oh, can I get the axe-cut?
The axe-cut pork. Of course you can.
What can I get you, darling?
And their meat main...
You want the axe-cut pork. This is a Viking size.
..served with a nettle spelt risotto...
And this is a mushroom and cider sauce. Very nice.
..is flying out the door.
Thank you very much. Cheers. Have a good one.
There you are, darling.
I had the pork.
It was cooked very well, it tasted amazing.
I was surprised the risotto went so well with it.
Cos, of course, potatoes weren't around in these days,
so you had to have some rice.
Yeah, it was really perfect, yeah.
The sauce is great.
Yeah, it's really nice.
Pork's cooked really, really well.
Salty crackling on the outside.
That cider sauce, a little bit of sharp sweetness.
I think that is a brilliant dish.
Would anyone like any trout? Because we have got quite a bit.
And I cooked it, and it is delicious. Oh, it's beautiful.
You want trout? Do you know, for that, you can come to the front.
Oh! Come on. Can I help?
Let's warm you up, shall we?
Jake's powers of persuasion has got his trout - served with mushroom,
lentils and a creamy dill sauce - noticed.
There you go.
Please come and tell me how it is. OK.
I feel like I've found what I'm good at in life.
It's not necessarily cooking.
But it's just talking pure waffle to people.
Flavour of the fish was lovely.
The texture was fine.
And the sauce that they put on it as well, that was very flavoursome.
This is a perfect Anglo-Saxon meal.
Whoever made this one - ooh.
Jake's done a brilliant job with that fish.
And a load of green veg.
I tell you what, that is really good.
Lentils are great, and good dill sauce.
Pie? Team red.
Venison pie.
Oh, it smells good.
On the red section...
I appreciate you guys coming to us.
..Tamer's hearty venison pie,
served with celeriac and parsnip mash, roasted root vegetables,
and a venison and red wine gravy...
Hammer Tamer sauce, this is.
..is bringing in the crowds.
You are going to die when you have that gravy, I'm telling you.
I've got the venison pie.
The meat was cooked to perfection. Absolutely gorgeous.
It's very, very, very tasty.
Pastry was delicious. Nice gravy.
Had lovely parsnip mash.
So, yeah, it was a really lovely meal.
It's really nice.
It is, for the most part, accurate to the time period, as well.
Although carrot at that time was purple or white, not orange,
but nonetheless they were carrots, and they are very, very tasty.
Nom.
I think that pie is really good.
Pastry's flaky and the venison is cooked.
He's done well here, Tamer, I think.
But the carrots aren't cooked enough, they're really quite hard.
Anyone for a plaice? A whole plaice.
You're going for pie.
Any fish eaters out there?
Full plaice, roasted in the oven. Very delicious.
Craig's plaice - served with roasted root vegetables,
creamed spinach and a lemon and dill sauce - is also proving popular.
I think it's actually cooked perfect, cos it scrapes off
the bone like butter.
It had a bit of a sweet taste to it, as well,
so it made it really nice.
That fish is really well cooked, and it's buttery.
They had no plan, whatsoever, but it's come out quite well.
Out of the two teams' vegetarian options...
Thank you very much. Enjoy. Thank you.
..Rochenda's butternut squash, also served with the spelt
nettle risotto, has plenty of takers.
Butternut squash is a little bit on the hard side.
But the risotto was beautiful, so...
The risotto, the flavour in it was fantastic.
Putting things like nettle and spelt in was a big tick
for me, from an authenticity side of things.
So, yeah, really, really enjoyed it.
I like that risotto, I do.
That's well seasoned, there's a nuttiness to it.
I think it's a shame that butternut squash isn't cooked enough.
With service in full swing, Vito's mushroom pearl barley risotto
is yet to have a single order.
Ladies and gentlemen. Hello.
I've got a very upset Italian.
There's plenty of risotto, it's really good.
If you need more, make your way over. Enjoy.
Are you all enjoying it?
The risotto comes straight from the Strictly dance floor!
It's got glitter ball in there!
It'll make you tango like you've never tangoed before!
Thank you. Thank you.
I got just five or six risotto.
You know what I mean?
They love me so much.
I really enjoyed the risotto.
I wasn't expecting so many flavours.
It's my first time having risotto, so...
..I'd explore it again.
That is a nutty-flavoured grain.
He's seasoned it well.
It's meaty with mushrooms.
It tastes like it's got meat in it, but that's completely vegetarian.
I tell you what, the boy can cook.
With mains over...
Ah!
..both teams need to race to get their desserts out.
THEY EXCLAIM
So, we've got the Saxons,
and the Vikings.
And also served...
..with a pastry shield.
I'm chuffed!
On the red team...
Oh...
Beautiful!
..Harry's first attempt at a crumble is also on track.
Trust yourself, Harry. Come on!
His last job is to make sure his custard is free of any lumps.
How would I feel if there was a bunch of Vikings
with lumpy custard?
I'd probably have to fight them.
Harry's never made custard before, and, miraculously, he's made it.
Where the recipe came from, I have no idea.
Queues very quickly form...
You made shields?
Yes! That's wicked. Viking shields! That's fantastic.
Yes!
..for H and Dom's apple, fig and honey mead pie, served with custard.
Honestly, I'm chuffed with this.
Chuffed. Thank you. I really am.
Spiced apple and fig, it was fantastic.
I like the way the mead was incorporated into the dish.
Fruit was deliciously soft, and beautiful custard.
Really delicious custard.
The shield pastry was a lovely accompaniment.
So, ten out of ten. Beautiful.
Love the flavour. There's a little bit of sweetness in the background,
and that's probably the honey mead.
Crispy pastry across the top.
Really good creamy custard.
That's a really good dish.
The crowds are also lining up...
I'm giving the people what they want,
and clearly it's a day for crumble.
..for Harry's pear, plum and blackcurrant crumble.
Amazing. Thank you.
The crumble had a good crunch.
The flavours together worked really, really well.
The texture of the pear, along with kind of the tang
of the blackcurrant, just worked really nicely together.
Super homely, super comforting.
Exactly what we need when we've been soaked.
The custard, I tell you, it's absolutely divine.
It's gorgeous.
Sharp blackcurrants, sweet pears.
On top, lots and lots of oats and soft brown sugar.
The custard is great.
Harry has done an absolutely fantastic job here.
Well done, guys!
Well done. Seriously. Mwah! Mwah!
Well done, my boys.
MasterChef winners.
THEY CHEER
When you consider the weather and the conditions they had to
work in today, I think this is nothing short of remarkable.
I can't believe four people who don't really know each other
cooked for that number of people.
I'll be honest with you, when we came in here, I said, no chance.
I'm relieved it's over.
And I'm sweating and I'm tired and I'm hot,
and I need a cup of tea and a biscuit.
My team did absolutely amazing.
It was all go, go, go.
But in the end, absolutely smashed it.
There was a really good team spirit.
You know what, if I did this, I feel like I can do anything.
So, yeah, bring on the semifinals.
Welcome back here to the dry and warm MasterChef kitchen.
Never have a bunch of wet, cold Anglo-Saxons and Vikings
been so well fed, let me tell you.
Today you're cooking to a brief,
and that brief is to cook for Gregg and I a dish
with an ingredient that you do not like.
Ladies and gentlemen, one hour, 30 minutes.
And at the end of this, one of you will be going home.
Let's cook.
This is tricky, to work with something that you don't
particularly like.
But they have got a job to do.
Overcome your natural prejudices and deliver us something delicious.
Today I am a bit anxious.
I'm not going to lie.
I don't like spinach.
My mum tried all the way possible to give me the spinach.
When she just turned around, I just went out from the balcony
and sort of like...out.
And after two minutes, our neighbour came up with the white bedsheet,
just clean, all green.
And she said, like, "You throw the spinach from the balcony!"
You're a bad boy.
My mum really told me off.
But that was the last time that she offered me spinach as a meal.
Vito is making for us a raviolo,
which has got a pasta made with spinach,
filled with a ricotta filling with spinach.
Come on, V.
Oh... Go on, that's sick. Oh, thank you.
With an egg yolk in the centre.
He needs to boil that so that the egg yolk itself still stays runny,
but the pasta is cooked on the outside.
Please don't break.
Come on, babies.
We've also got the sauce made from spinach, served with guanciale,
which is a cured pork cheek.
I just hope that it will taste good, because I'm not going to try that.
Vito is so adverse to spinach,
so he's asking Jake to taste his sauce for him.
Mate, that tastes delicious. I'm not even lying.
It's fine? That is delicious.
That's dangerous.
It's a competition - he can stitch him up.
Sabotage. It tasted horrible!
No, it didn't.
This is a real challenge, because I'm using an ingredient
that I have literally tried to steer away from all my life.
It's the aubergine. It's really boring, it's really dull.
If you eat it raw, it's bitter.
If you cook it up, it just goes bleurgh.
So, yeah, it's not my favourite vegetable.
But it's domelike and shiny, very much like us.
I know!
Little perfect highlighter.
My plan to make aubergine tasty is to actually just mix it
with as many different things as possible.
He is going to use it three different ways.
We've got a meatball - half beef mince and half roasted aubergine
which has been pureed.
He needs to seal the meatballs really well, so he gets
a lovely crust on the outside of them.
With that we've also got an aubergine puree.
But on the side we've got this Japanese pickled aubergine mixture.
And I just hope that these two different ideas,
of sort of Middle Eastern meatballs and with a Japanese pickle,
aren't too unusual.
I think I got it. I think I know what I'm doing.
Good energy. Good energy!
What are you making for us, Tamer?
I'm making you a truffle beef Wellington.
I can't stand truffle.
I'm that bad, if truffle goes inside me,
within three minutes, I'm throwing up.
See that thing over there?
It's my biggest nightmare.
When you cut it, it's that, and them...
Literally. It's that bad, Gregg.
Tamer's taking a fillet of beef, which is going to be sealed
very, very well, nice and dark on the outside.
Then he's going to make pancakes.
Then he's laying ham, spreading his mushroom duxelle
across the top of that.
Oh, here it is.
The dreaded truffle's going on.
Oh, mate, that smell's killing me.
Then he's putting his beef fillet on top,
and then wrapping the whole thing up in puff pastry.
Once I get this in the oven, I can relax.
It will take between 30 and 35 minutes
for that beef Wellington to cook.
But he's got to give it enough time to roast it, then rest it,
and then to serve it.
Cook for me, baby. Cook for me.
You've had 35 minutes. 35 minutes are gone.
Liver is the enemy.
I cannot bear it.
Brings back childhood horrors.
My dad, God love him, God rest his soul.
He passed away three years ago.
He'd cook it to within an inch of its life,
and it'd be, like, kind of grainy and disgusting.
But I thought, you know something, for the old fella,
I'm going to learn to cook liver and like it.
Craig's using lamb's liver,
one of the strongest livers known to man.
Look at it. Do you know what that does in the body?
So disgusting. I actually...
I just can't cope with it.
It needs to be crispy on the outside, slightly pink
on the inside.
And if it's not cooked enough, it's really, really tough and chewy.
And then he's making a sauce using onions and bacon.
But he's also going to put some cranberries in there.
Cranberries are sharp,
but that sharpness actually might complement the liver.
My ingredient today that I'm cooking that I avoid/hate...
..is fish.
I've got a bit of trauma with fish.
My dad and my brothers, we all used to go fishing every weekend.
And we caught fish, and my gran would always make a fish pie,
and I really disliked it.
Just way too fishy.
So, I have challenged myself to make a pie with fish...
..with a twist. What's the twist?
It's a fish and chip pie.
We have got a classic fish pie base - cod poached in white wine.
That's... It's really good.
He's thickened that sauce with a roux.
The only "roux" I knew a week ago was a drag queen.
On top of that, he's doing chips.
So, underneath, that sauce and potatoes are going to come together.
So, you get the texture of a fish pie.
Really very ingenious.
Ow, hot.
Carefully.
With that he's going to do his mushy peas.
And we've got one of my boy's favourite things in the world,
home-made ketchup.
So weird having so many people in the kitchen. Oh.
It's busy. Busy!
Rochenda, what's the ingredient you don't like?
Marmalade.
My friend, Esther, is always trying to send me home
with jars of marmalade, and they're huge.
And I absolutely can't stand it.
So, when the brief came through, I rang her up straight away
and went, "I've got a job for your marmalade.
"I'm going to take it in."
Marmalade is definitely an acquired taste.
Sweet orange, but also bitter rind together,
so it's sweet and bitter.
I got packed up to school with marmalade and jam sandwiches
for many years, and I think that was the beginning of the hatred.
She's going to make us a marmalade cake.
If she doesn't mix the cake batter properly, the almond meal could
make it very short, and it could be crumbly and fall apart.
Alongside that, she's also making frozen marmalade yoghurt.
It should be delicious.
I am the only person making a dessert this round.
Gregg has got a very sweet tooth.
So, you know my thinking.
I'm feeling about this challenge, like I feel about every challenge,
I'm going in the unknown.
I hate gnocchi. It tastes like rubber Wellington boots.
It might be because you haven't had good gnocchi.
That's maybe what it is.
I think it maybe was a bit overdone.
That's why I've made quite a strong sauce.
So, I'm hoping, if that's not cooked right, you won't be able to tell,
cos the sauce is so strong.
We'll be able to tell. You'll be able to tell? Yeah!
Gnocchi, a lovely, fluffy potato dumpling.
I don't know what he's been eating.
He said they're tough like a Wellington boot.
Whose idea was it to put fancy grooves on every single
bit of gnocchi?
What a turnip.
He's got to cook them well in boiling water.
And if they boil too ferociously, they smash into each other
and turn back into mash.
How long do you cook gnocchi for? Like, five minutes, isn't it?
G-gnocchi!
Jake's sauce is made from olives, tomatoes and aubergines.
But he's got to make sure that sauce is really strong
and full of flavour, because those gnocchi are bland.
Oh, my God, it's so good. Good?
Mm! Really?
It's very rich, you know. I like it. Yeah.
I think they like rich.
With that we're getting prawns running through it.
The textures could be a little bit unusual.
I'm going to do everything in my power to make a really de-nish...
..delicious gnocchi dish.
Try saying that with these teeth.
Carbs on carbs on carbs.
All the carbs.
What's the ingredient you don't like, Harry? Double cream.
It's the look of it, it's the taste of it, it's the smell.
So, I'm making a sauce from double cream with wine, which I wouldn't
drink either. With cod, which I wouldn't eat either.
With pasta, which I wouldn't eat out, as well.
We asked you for one ingredient you didn't like,
and you're giving us five? Yes!
Double cream just gives me the ick.
If my wife was to drink it, I wouldn't kiss her for, like
some time after. I'm like, "I'm sorry."
He's going to make his own pasta and turn it to linguine.
I learned how to make pasta in the restaurant,
so I'm quite excited to see what I can do with that, you know?
He's then going to pan-fry a piece of cod and place it on top
of his pasta.
That cod needs to have a nice little brown colour on the outside,
and it should be slippery and falls apart
when you put your fork into it.
Then on the side of that, we're getting a flatbread
filled with mozzarella.
Does a piece of flatbread filled with mozzarella
go with a piece of fish stuck on a piece of pasta?
I'm not quite sure.
Be confident, mate. Be confident.
How many minutes left?
You've got just five minutes, please, everybody.
Oh, my gosh. These things scare me.
Three minutes, guys.
You have 90 seconds, please, everybody.
90 seconds.
Oh, oh, oi...!
Oh, no.
We haven't finished yet.
Where's the...?
That's it, time's up! Everybody stop.
Vito, up you come, please.
Go on, my boy. Go on!
First up is Vito.
He doesn't like spinach, and he's used it to make
a ricotta, spinach and egg yolk ravioli,
served with a creamy spinach sauce and guanciale pork cheek lardons.
Inside here, we should have a runny egg yolk.
Yes!
That rich egg yolk against the iron richness of that spinach.
That is very good.
Guanciale is also salty, those little bits of pig cheek.
But that's OK because you haven't particularly seasoned the puree.
So, that's absolutely fine.
Well done.
Thank you.
Very rich. It's very moreish.
The spinach is definitely the star of the show.
Thank you so much.
The egg yolk was runny.
Thank you.
Yeah, I'm happy.
Based on his disapproval of double cream,
Harry has cooked cod fillets spiced with paprika,
along with linguine in a creamy mushroom and white wine sauce,
served with mozzarella-stuffed flatbreads.
That fish is perfect.
It is literally coming away in page-like flakes.
Your pasta is well cooked.
I really like your bread with the creaminess
and saltiness of mozzarella.
I just don't think bread, pasta, with a big lump of cod
on the top is well designed.
The sauce, which is creamy and thick.
Mushrooms, shallots, white wine.
Really, really nicely done.
Doesn't work as a dish.
But the cooking of everything is great.
I'm feeling very proud. I'm just so relieved.
Ooh...! Go, on, Nitro! N-N-Nitro!
At the end of the day, I made a dish that I didn't like.
Although it didn't mix match together,
they saw that I've got some... some skills.
Inspired by his dislike of aubergines,
Dom has cooked spicy aubergine and beef meatballs,
aubergine and lemon puree,
and a pickled aubergine cucumber and radish salad in a miso vinaigrette,
served with flatbreads.
I like your meatballs, I think they're great.
They stayed nice and moist, and really, really well seasoned.
The aubergine puree, it's a lot of lemon in there.
Yeah. And it's a bit too sharp.
Really well made bread.
I like the flavour of your salad.
There is a sweet pickling to it.
It's just those pieces of aubergines, I think,
need more cooking. The skin is very bitter.
The only thing that I really feel annoyed about is the puree.
I just wish I had thought about that lemon a bit more.
Tamer's unloved ingredient was truffle,
that he's used to flavour his beef and mushroom Wellington,
served with honey, roasted carrots
and a sherry and red wine jus.
There you go. Perfect.
Whoa! Look at that!
Really good.
It looks great. Thank you.
Looks really, really good. Good on you. Thank you.
Your Wellington is made really, really nicely.
You've got crispy pastry on the top.
You made a duxelle, you seared your beef really well.
It's got good flavours to it.
The flavour I don't really pick up is truffle.
Do you know, I put so much in there as well.
But I'm really impressed with your work today, Tamer.
Thank you, John.
Nice sweetened carrots. Your sauce has all the flavour.
It's herby, it's rosemary.
It needs more reducing.
But that's just a well-made Wellington. Wow.
Wow.
I never want to cook a beef Wellington again as long as I live.
It was brutal.
Yes! Get in there!
But I'm quietly confident.
Craig's ingredient was lamb livers,
that he's pan-fried and served in a cranberry, bacon and onion sauce,
with parsnip and garlic puree and charred hispi cabbage,
topped with chilli butter and roasted hazelnuts.
Your lamb's liver, a good amount of colour on the outside of it.
You've cooked it really, really well.
Onions and bacon together with a piece of liver,
combination made in heaven.
You get the chilli heat and the pepperiness coming from
your cabbage, and the nuts are really good.
I like the sweetness of the cranberry.
That's got depth, that sauce.
The sweetness of the parsnip puree on the side.
I'm really into that.
What was the deal today? Make liver taste nice.
Did liver taste nice? Liver tastes nice. Job done.
H... Where is he?
H!
Oh...! Oh, my...
Oh!
This is my little boy's idea.
ROCHENDA:Aw!
Fabulous.
That may be the most creative ketchup I've ever had.
H has served his dreaded fish pie, with a twist.
Creamed cod flavoured with cornichon and capers,
topped with chips, served with lemon and mint mushy peas,
tartare sauce and home-made ketchup.
I find the filling of the pie a little too thick
and a little too sharp.
However, really nice thick, flaky bits of cod.
Really well made chips, crispy on the outside and fluffy.
And maybe the best home-made ketchup I've ever tasted.
I'll tell you why. That tastes to me like it comes straight out
of a well-known bottle.
Great tartare sauce. You made wonderful mayonnaise,
loads and loads of dill going through that.
Mushy peas, and fantastic home-made ketchup.
I'm really impressed.
The feedback I've just had is immense.
I made my own ketchup, my own tartare sauce, my own chips,
my own fish pie, mushy peas.
Who am I?
Jake's not a fan of gnocchi, which he's served in an olive,
tomato and aubergine sauce, topped with prawns.
Your gnocchi, they are a bit tough, they are a little bit chewy.
What you have got is a really lovely, rich sauce.
Aubergines, olives, tomatoes.
I like the little bits of prawns going through the tomato.
It just needs more sauce.
Yeah, I know.
Because you've got a lot of gnocchi there.
Really, really good flavours.
There's big chunks of tomato in there.
Olives giving the saltiness.
That's really good.
However, your gnocchi are too dense.
Yeah.
I'm feeling all right, you know.
I didn't cook the gnocchi too great.
But they liked my sauce.
I did all right. I did quite a good job, I think.
Last up is Rochenda.
Her least favourite ingredient was marmalade,
that she's used to make an almond and marmalade sponge cake,
with a blood orange marmalade glaze, topped with spun sugar,
and served with frozen marmalade yoghurt.
You've definitely gone mad with the marmalade, haven't you?
Yeah.
I think it's a really good-looking plate. Thank you.
The cake, throughout that is the unmistakable flavour
of marmalade, which is very sweet, and then bitter.
I'm really into that.
That frozen yoghurt ice cream is fabulous.
It's sour with the sweet bitterness.
There's nothing that would stop me, with a pot of dark tea,
completely annihilating that dish. I think it's absolutely fabulous.
The blood orange across the top of your cake is the most
sour bitterness, then goes really nicely with the nuttiness
of the almonds, and then the sweetness of the marmalade,
which has a sort of sharp bitterness, as well.
And what's mad about this, you've taken the sugar to a stage
where it's just about to go bitter, and you get another bitterness.
I think it's great.
Oh, my gosh. I feel absolutely amazing.
The marmalade cake absolutely smashed it.
So, it's a little bit of a success. I can't believe it.
A great start to the semifinals, I have to say.
These eight are inspiring,
and I love how hard they're pushing themselves.
I'm so chuffed. Yeah. About us all.
We smashed that. Come on!
Really good.
For me, there are three who have been absolute superstars
in this round.
Then there's three who we feel have probably done enough.
But there are two people here in the shadow of a very big question mark.
We've got a decision to make. We're going to lose one of them.
I would be a little bit gutted if I go home, of course I will.
I don't think I've done enough.
But see what they think.
I'm nervous. I am nervous.
I just really hope John and Gregg can see the potential that I've got.
Sadly, one of you will be leaving us.
The contestant leaving the competition...
..is Jake.
I knew it. Come here. I knew it.
Well done. I knew it. Well done.
Jake, it's been an absolute delight to meet you, mate.
You bring a ton of energy and a really lovely smile
to the kitchen. Thank you very much indeed.
Peace. Win it. Love yous.
Love yous all.
Thank you so much for everything. Appreciate it.
It is disappointing that I'm leaving, cos I was having
such a good time.
It was much more challenging than I ever thought.
But I got to cook in a restaurant.
I got to feed some Vikings.
I've had a right laugh. So, I'm really happy.
Congratulations, all seven of you, you are through to the next round.
I think I got away with that one.
I really did...!
There is no more room for fashion or make-up, or...
Even my cats don't even get a look in.
Like, now, if it's not about food, I don't want to know.
Honestly, I cannot even realise that it's true.
My self-confidence is like, OK, so you are not that bad, actually.
You know, your food CAN be eaten.
You really do get the bug, it's true.
There's a MasterChef bug, everybody's got it.
I'm loving every minute.
I've got the need to achieve.
So, as long as I can keep getting some positive praise, I'm happy.
We're in a different level now, so it's going to be tough.
But I'm loving it, you know? I'm loving it.
Get serious now. Holding no punches back.
I'm going to let the fists throw.
And just keep moving forward and getting better and better.
The magnificent seven.
Come on! I'm over the moon.
Next time...
Ooh!
The pressure intensifies, as the celebrities take on
the recipes of one of the country's most iconic chefs...
Go on, Tamer!
..before battling for a place...
Oh, wow.
..in the final six.
I love, love, love your flavours.