It's the semifinals of MasterChef: The Professionals.
After five weeks of intense competition,
only the most talented eight chefs remain.
Tonight, they cook off against each other for a place in the final six.
Being here in the semifinals
is something that I'll remember for life.
That is a true accomplishment.
In your head, you're like, OK, I have to get to the next stage.
Now, more than ever, I just need to keep pushing.
It's showtime.
It's like fight night. I'm ready to get in the ring!
So exciting.
We've got some talent in our final eight.
Original, full of personality.
This is a huge challenge,
and our chefs once again are going to have to perform
at the highest level.
This is going to be electric.
Chefs, welcome to your semifinals.
I have to say, I absolutely love
the challenge that's in front of you right now.
This brief is about two ingredients
known throughout every kitchen worldwide.
Salt and pepper.
It is down to you to show us how clever, how creative,
how fantastic you are, in highlighting these two ingredients.
Savoury or sweet,
completely up to you.
We will, of course, be tasting all eight dishes.
The top four will go straight through to the next round.
The remaining four will have to stay here and cook again.
Word of warning - we will be losing two of you today.
One hour and 45 minutes.
Salt and pepper.
You need to push it.
Push it real good.
Chefs, it's down to you. Off you go.
The brief sounds simple.
Salt and pepper.
They can use salt and pepper.
They can use just salt or just pepper.
This could be in a crust.
It could be a marinade. It could be a cure.
There is a huge variety of peppers out there for our chefs to use,
from hot to spicy to even floral notes.
How are they going to make this ingredient sing?
We want salt to really shine through in the cooking today.
To bring salt and pepper to the forefront,
that takes knowledge and skill,
and to understand the balance of these spices.
29-year-old Kasae, originally from Australia,
is head chef in a Japanese restaurant in Bath.
She earned her place in the semifinals
with inventive and unique flavour pairings,
alongside modern techniques.
From the moment I started, my dishes always got, like,
a bit of risk in it.
It doesn't always work, but it kind of wouldn't be being true to myself
if I wasn't at least taking some risks.
I feel like salt and pepper is a great challenge.
There are so many different varieties of both,
but different ways that you can use them.
Kasae. Hi.
Here you are, semifinal. Yeah.
A lot of pressure, but in a good way.
What is this dish?
This is my take on a cheese course.
So it's got blue cheese, gorgonzola, spiced bread to have with it,
which has got a lot of timut pepper through it.
Candied apples with Calvados and batak pepper,
which is a very aromatic pepper from Indonesia.
I've got a chutney. It's got lots of white pepper through it.
And then the gorgonzola will bring out the saltiness.
Kasae, you do like to take a risk.
So this is another one of those, isn't it? Yeah.
I was a bit nervous to do it, to be honest.
I mean, the brief said savoury or sweet,
and I feel like I've gone somewhere in the middle.
For people like me, if you don't want to order a dessert,
you would order a cheese course.
Kasae say is doing something very unusual, a cheese course,
and I quite like the bravery of it.
In the caramelised apple we've got batak pepper,
so the sweetness and the sourness of the caramelised apple
with the pepper, I think that'll work really, really nicely.
Blue cheese mousse.
Gorgonzola. Big cheese. Big, big, big flavour.
Will the salt and pepper elements really come to the forefront?
Kasae is taking spiced bread,
she's got sweetness coming through, of pears and nectarines,
we've got candied walnuts,
and I'm hoping there's enough of the pepper element to really sing
through her cheese course and really bring it to life.
Head chef Tommy, from Somerset, has won over the judges
with his clean, precise, sophisticated cooking,
showcasing the best of British ingredients,
and a love of Thai flavours.
Today I'm going to just go all guns blazing.
After my last dish, I left and I was very disappointed.
I beat me down.
Were we supposed to have some crackling?
Unfortunately, it's not worked today, so I decided to take it off.
There's all sorts of amazing opportunities around the corner,
and I really want to be a part of that.
I want to keep my headspace strong, focused and sharp,
in order to keep going through.
Tommy, what's your dish, please, chef?
So today I'm doing a fish dish. I've got char.
I'm going to salt cure and con fit it in a Sichuan pepper butter.
Char is not a fish I see very often. Why have you chosen that?
Mainly for that reason, actually. I think it's a beautiful product,
very sustainable, and I want to showcase that today.
Serving that with salt baked turnip, caramelised turnip.
Got some black pepper brine turnip.
I've got a black pepper wonton pastry,
which is going to be filled with trimmings of the char.
And then I'm going to finish it all together
with, like, a lemongrass sauce,
and through that it's going to have some salmon roe,
caviar and green peppercorns.
So just like explosions of salt and pepper.
Bit of a wobble in the last round. Not like you.
Everybody has a wobble in this competition.
It's how you react, is the key, and how you come back fighting.
You've had an incredible career. Have you had it without a wobble?
I've had more wobbles than you can think about.
I've had more wobbles than I need to think about.
Tommy is using char.
It's like a mix between a salmon and a trout.
It's got quite an oily flavour, as well,
and I think this is a fabulous choice, because it will definitely
carry peppercorns in many, many different ways.
So we've got a black peppercorn dough,
and then he's making a fish mousse
that he's going to then put inside the dough and then steam them.
That's going to be interesting.
And we have the salt part in the baked turnips.
You know, it's all got to be the right amount of salt,
because too much of it will kill the flavours of this dish.
Chefs, 35 minutes have gone.
35 minutes gone, thank you.
I'm candying peppercorns, Tommy.
22-year-old head chef Charlie, from Cornwall,
has excelled in the competition so far,
showing particular mastery in his fish cookery.
Being the youngest chef in the competition,
I feel like I've got a lot to prove.
This isn't just a competition.
This is learning who I am, cooking food that I want to cook,
and not living under somebody else's umbrella.
Charlie, salt and pepper. Two big ingredients.
By the look of your bench, you're doing a pudding.
Yeah, definitely. So I'm going for a dessert.
I'm definitely trying to push myself and get as many peppercorns
into a dessert as I can, and make it work.
So I've got trifle.
A pink peppercorn and strawberry jelly at the bottom,
with pink peppercorn sponge fingers in there,
and then I've got a Sichuan peppercorn custard,
a black pepper cheesecake,
kampot peppercorn pop rocks,
and then brown butter hazelnuts on top, as well.
What was the...
Kampot wockapop clock clops?
What was that? Kampot peppercorn pop rocks.
What's kampot? It's a peppercorn.
Slightly floral, slightly smoky.
Obviously pop rock, being a candy bar,
it's like a hard candy made similar to honeycomb.
So I'm making my own of those, and that's going to be
the texture on top with the hazelnuts.
The more you progress in the competition,
the more you're away from home.
Yeah, definitely missing home a lot,
but it's all going to be for something.
I'm going to keep pushing.
Lovely trifle, with pepper and pop, pop, pop rock. I don't know.
Good luck, chef. Thank you.
The strawberries and pepper work very well.
Sichuan pepper can have that numbing effect on the tongue,
and I'm really curious about this in the custard.
It sounds delightful.
Black peppercorns in a cheesecake -
be very careful with them, they can be incredibly hot.
So I do want to taste the cheesecake.
That's going to be the creamy element of this trifle.
You've got a pink peppercorn sponge.
Pink peppercorns look pretty, but they don't half pack a punch.
What's going to be interesting is when you eat a trifle,
you go through every single layer and have a little bit of everything.
The question is, will you be able to identify
the different flavours in the peppercorns?
The very early inspiration for this dish came from a restaurant
that I used to work for in Cornwall.
A key part of their personality was how homely and humble
their desserts could be.
So for me, I took the inspiration from that,
and then put my own personality in it, my own twists.
I made it my own.
Originally from Newcastle, sous-chef Kyle's risky dishes
have consistently impressed the judges throughout,
pairing modern European cooking with Japanese flavours.
There's a running joke at work
where they think I've went out after the skill test
and I'm just down here having a party every week,
which is obviously not the case.
I'm just amazed I'm here, like...
I feel I deserve it, though. I have put a lot into it,
and a lot of hours outside of the MasterChef kitchen, as well.
So I feel I've definitely earned my place.
Kyle. I see a little bit of mackerel curing over there. Yes.
So I'm doing a cured and blowtorched mackerel,
with cantaloupe melon, yuzu kosho, sea herbs.
To finish the dish, I'm going to flood it with juice from the melon,
seasoned with sansho pepper.
How do you feel about putting salt and pepper at the forefront
of your dish?
For me, I use a lot of salt in various ways.
You know, I use miso, I use soy.
So when looking at the brief, I didn't want to overcomplicate it
and start doing five, six, ten different flavours.
What about final eight - what does that say about you
as a chef and your quality, do you think?
I definitely had an expectation to be in the eight.
The eight was my benchmark.
Now I've hit the benchmark, like, I've got nothing to lose,
I just want to push on.
Kyle's cooking a mackerel dish.
He's curing the mackerel, torching it.
We've got compressed melon.
I've had beautiful dishes of melon and fish before,
and it's needed the salt element.
He's using sansho pepper in the sauce,
sort of a little bit citrusy,
can have a tingly effect on the tongue, a bit like Sichuan.
It has to be a star.
It cannot be lost in this dish.
We've got gooseberries, we've got melon.
We've got a couple of variations of pepper.
Out of all of the salts and peppers around the world
that he could have included into this dish,
I just think he could be working a bit harder with this.
Now based in London, after growing up in France,
private chef Philippe has lit up the competition
with his dishes, marrying daring flavour combinations
with nods to his West African heritage.
I've learned through this competition that
I can create my own cuisine,
and I have to follow my voice as a chef.
It helped me also to develop my creativity,
and be confident of what I like to do.
Good to see you in the semifinals. What's your dish?
Oeuf parfait. It's an egg cooked at 64 degrees during 45 minutes.
I choose for the eggs, alligator pepper.
It's called the grain of paradise also.
It's served with roasted carrots, with honey and timut pepper.
It's almost citrusy. Yeah.
And a Parmesan biscuit.
I choose the Penja pepper. It's from Cameroon.
It's quite unusual. Whoa!
It's like a stable.
Whoa, it's... It's like a blue cheese.
Three quite unusual peppers,
with quite unique aroma.
I can't wait to taste these.
I've never had them before.
I don't like doing the same recipe.
I like to explore. I want to learn. I want to learn.
Wow. What an exciting dish.
Philippe is taking some hay and he's smoking it,
and then he's going to take the flavours of the smoked hay,
putting it through a veg stock, which is then setting as a jelly.
I put the broth on top of the hay just to have the smoky flavour.
I think he's going to cut it out like a thin layer,
that's going to drape over his poached egg dish.
This sounds really exciting.
We've got a coconut cream,
which he's putting an essence of curry flavour through it.
Spicy.
We've got spinach coulis with the brown butter.
I'm really intrigued with the ingredients.
An egg, carrots and a variety of peppercorns,
with a cream that's seasoned with coconut
and a different type of pepper. Interesting.
Chefs, you're halfway.
Time flies in a semifinal.
So far in the competition,
sous-chef Tom, from West Sussex,
has excelled with his unashamedly classical dishes
with a modern touch.
I felt like the most recent round I might have been going home.
To get through, I'm sure you'll see by my face -
I was very shocked.
I think every night I have a little dream about lifting the trophy,
but you just got to make sure you focus on each round coming up,
so it's good not to get too ahead of yourself.
What's your dish, Tom?
I'm doing a chocolate pink peppercorn tart,
with blood orange and pink peppercorn pate de fruits.
It's like set fruit.
Tellicherry ice cream,
fresh orange, and then a bit of orange gel.
Salt and pepper popcorn, trying to rectify for my skills challenge,
where I didn't do it very well.
There was a pepper in there I didn't understand.
Tellicherry. It's like black pepper, but more flora.
I've actually got some here. It's ground up.
You've ground it. Careful with your nose.
Yeah, that's - that's quite sharp.
Yeah. That's big. That's like pepper with muscles.
You gave us a tart before,
that caused a bit of controversy amongst the judges, as I remember.
I did, and you two weren't the biggest fans,
but Marcus quite liked it, so hopefully this time
I can get all three of you on board.
Tom is making a chocolate tart in a pastry case.
Through the chocolate mix, we've got a Tellicherry pepper.
Bitter chocolate will always be able to carry pepper and salt.
Orange segments, to bring a bit of freshness to the dish.
We've got pink peppercorn and orange pate de fruits,
almost like a pet it four, a little jelly.
It's going to be sweet,
hot peppercorns sitting on top of the chocolate tarts.
This sounds delicious.
Loving the sound of caramel salt and pepper popcorn, too.
There are strong hints of pepper everywhere on his dessert.
Tom wants to highlight that he has the skill to deliver pepper
at the forefront of his dessert.
LOUD BANG
Oh!
What's actually happened?
I was vaccing the air out of it and the bowl exploded.
So you've got - what is that?
It's my - well, it was my chocolate tart filling.
I didn't think glass would explode.
I've done it at work so many times.
Right. A, you're going to have to get another one on.
But, B, you need to clear that up. Yeah.
Can I get the tart on first and then do it after?
You need to get a move on. I know, but I'm going to be well over now.
29-year-old James manages a street-food business in London.
He has stood out with a combination of strong technique
and use of Asian flavours,
but his over ambition can sometimes let him down.
There's so many flavours clashing.
I just feel very confused in what I'm eating.
What did you think when you were told the brief?
It's a challenging brief, cos you always use them as kind of...
...not backup dancers, but supporters.
I love pepper, so I've tried to kind of put a few different
sorts of peppercorns in there, and hopefully it'll shine through.
It's pretty oomphy. Pretty pepper-heavy.
What's the dish?
Pink peppercorn and Sichuan peppercorn rolled cod loin.
Got some salt cod croquettes,
a little potato nest with some parsley powder,
salt cod espuma,
and then I've got a green peppercorn ketchup, which is quite funky.
You seem to have hit form lately.
How determined are you to go straight through?
I would absolutely love to go through.
Hopefully, I've kind of taken what you guys have said on board
and kind of stripped back the dish to kind of the main elements.
Hopefully I've harmonised as well.
Everything's got a place.
James, let's hope you can keep that streak going, yeah?
Thank you very much. Cheers. Good luck.
He's using pink and Sichuan pepper as a crust around his cod loin,
and then he's going to sear the pepper.
So it's going to then release the aromas
and the flavours of the pepper throughout.
I've had this done around tuna and it works a treat.
Doing salt cod croquettes - cod, shallot, garlic, the potato,
and, like, a very light roux.
I'm just going to fry them off. Just like a little
kind of delicious, crunchy ball of goodness.
I'm concerned about the balance of the salt
because the cod is cured in salt.
We've got a salt cod croquette as well.
This is all about harmony and balance.
So the inspiration is basically pink peppercorn curry.
I've been to a few very cool countries where I've eaten
a lot of fresh peppercorn curries with whitefish in.
Green peppercorn ketchup is just a weird thing
that I kind of thought might be cool to do,
and I struggled to make it until literally the day before yesterday,
and isn't kind of like... kick you in the face with pepper -
too hard, anyway.
Chefs, we have just 25 minutes left, please.
25 minutes.
Catering sous-chef Lauren has wowed with her dishes,
which have drawn inspiration from her classical French training
and Caribbean heritage.
When I saw that salt and pepper was the challenge, I straight away
leant towards the sea. There's a lot of elements that
are based on the sea that are naturally salty,
but once balanced well,
they can work to really elevate a dish.
I wanted to use scallops, as well,
as in my skills test, I didn't show my full potential,
so I wanted to bring that back to the semifinals and say,
"Do you know what, judges? I can do this."
What's your dish, please?
Chilli lime coriander salt scallops.
On the side I've got a coral taco bass ceviche
and I've got Himalayan salt through my ceviche mix
with my passion fruit orange juice.
So there's little bursts of salt
coming through in different elements.
Last day is a great achievement.
How do you think you are developing?
I'm putting my personality more into my dishes,
which sometimes is quite difficult in the workplace,
so I'm being quite creative and allowing myself to do things
that maybe I naturally wouldn't do.
I like the idea of yourself in your dish.
Where is the Lauren in the plate?
I like bursts of flavour, I like colour.
I like to do things that are out of the box,
maybe combine cuisines and fusions.
This is Sichuan pepper, so I've toasted it,
released the flavours and now I'm going to grind it up
and put it in my puree.
MONICA: Sichuan pepper is quite distinctive in the sweetcorn puree,
so we will be able to taste that if she has enough through it,
and it will work beautifully well
with that chilli and lime and coriander salt
that the scallop has been rubbed in.
MARCUS: Scallops, I want perfectly cooked, beautifully seasoned
and beautifully caramelised on the outside.
So for the coral taco, I will be frying a batter.
And once it cooks, it creates these little holes
and it looks like a coral reef in the sea.
And then that will be for my ceviche.
So it will Literally look like it's come from the sea.
Lauren has got a sea bass ceviche.
The sea bass needs to be cut down beautifully
and marinated at the last minute with the Himalayan pink salt,
with the tequila and the lime. You don't want to do that too soon
cos it will just over cure the sea bass.
So it's delicate, it's gentle.
But I hope that the flavours of the pepper and the salt
come through in this dish.
Chefs, we have 15 minutes left, please.
15 minutes.
I have a little bit of spare time.
The trifle set really well, which is good.
So I've got candied peppercorns here.
I just boiled them down in, like, a stock syrup,
and then when they went nice and sticky, I deep-fried them.
And now they're, like, sweet, peppery and crunchy.
It's worked out, so I'm going to put them on.
The last ten minutes is always a push, getting it all together.
Fish is cooked. Dumplings are ready.
So I'm just wilting my last ingredients,
just to finish it off. Last touches.
The eggs are very delicate.
So I'm going to break the eggs,
drain the egg whites
and just try to put it on the plate.
Chefs, five minutes, please.
Everybody hear me? Oui.
That's it. Your time's up.
Thank you. Well done.
You good? Yeah, mate. That looks class, man.
Sick.
Everyone's looks wicked.
Yeah, you good? Yeah.
Freelance chef James
has made roasted pink peppercorn and Sichuan pepper rolled cod loin
topped with a potato nest
and served with green peppercorn and onion ketchup,
a salt cod croquette,
creamed leek,
with a salt cod, potato and white pepper espuma.
Your croquette is stunning.
Just the right texture with that lovely salt cod inside.
Beautifully cooked cod. It's flaking away. It's lovely.
But all that pepper around the outside is a little too much.
The onion ketchup, I really love that.
You know, the sharpness it has works so well with the cod.
Espuma, I love the use with the salted cod,
but possibly too much of it on here.
I think the balance of the dish is spectacular
because you've got two fabulous peppers around the cod -
a thick piece of cod, it can take the heat.
The salty side, again, it adds more seasoning into the cod itself.
So working the two together. I love that playful aspect.
But what I think is genius is the ketchup,
because it's the neutral element,
it's the vinegar that just balances the dish beautifully.
James, there's some good cooking here.
As always, it causes a bit of controversy.
Thank you very much indeed. Thank you. Cheers. Thank you.
So many mixed emotions!
HE LAUGHS
Very happy I didn't get just completely ripped apart.
So I'm feeling good. Not confident, but happy.
Sous-chef Kyle has made blowtorched and salt cured mackerel
brushed with kosho yuzu - a Japanese chilli paste -
creme fraiche,
compressed melon with sansho pepper,
compressed cucumber in dill oil,
sea vegetables,
pickled gooseberries
and a melon and sansho pepper sauce.
The mackerel has got a nice warmth of pepper to it.
The texture is fantastic.
Beautifully cured. Got the salt right.
But the melon and the gooseberries
and the little bit of salad on the side,
it's flat, it's underwhelming
and I think you're actually just playing it too safe.
I hate it when I disagree with Marcus,
but I'm really enjoying this.
The salt is over the mackerel.
The mackerel is oily and strong.
I can't remember ever having sansho pepper.
It's making my tongue tingle, it's so peppery.
I find myself enjoying it and intrigued by it.
You've definitely got the salt in there.
You have got the pepper running through it,
but it's a dish that's not surprising me
cos I have had melon many times with fish.
I've done nothing but take risks, so that was no exception.
HE EXHALES
If that's my fate to cook again today, then so be it.
Head chef Kasae has served a cheese course.
A blue cheese Gorgonzola mousse
topped with nasturtium gel,
caramelised Batak pepper apple,
candied walnuts,
salty sea fingers,
pear and nectarine chutney,
served with a ginger and timut pepper bread.
Making a mousse out of that strong blue cheese is very clever
cos it's lightened it, but it's kept its natural saltiness.
The bread is sweet
with a real floral spice running through it
that does tickle your tongue.
I think it's a very, very clever cheese course.
Gorgonzola with the apple,
you've got the notes of the pepper through that.
The pear and nectarine chutney has got a sharpness to it.
And it is a delight to eat together.
I've got a confession to make.
I hate Gorgonzola.
But I absolutely love this.
The whole dish is just singing pepper in a beautiful way.
In floral notes, in warmth, in heat.
This bread on the side is a touch bitter,
but you're getting away with it
because you've got a fabulous strength in the Gorgonzola.
I love it. Thank you. Well done.
I nearly died when Marcus came out with, "I hate Gorgonzola!”
I was like...
...ho!
But then he turned around and said he absolutely loved it,
which is pretty cool!
I feel like I might have a chance of going straight through,
which would be amazing.
Sous-chef Lauren has served chilli, lime and coriander sea salt scallops
with a Sichuan pepper sweetcorn puree,
sea vegetables in a tequila, lime and Himalayan pink salt dressing
with passion fruit marinated sea bass ceviche
and green pickled tomatoes
in a coral taco.
Very neat presentation there, Lauren.
The scallop is nicely cooked.
I'd like a bit more of the salt on there.
The ceviche, the sea bass is nicely cured.
It's very sharp.
The sweetcorn puree has Sichuan pepper in it,
but it's quite subtle.
I just think you could have been braver in the use
of the salt and pepper.
I find your taco delightful.
There's a little bit of sharpness to it,
and real chilli power at the end.
But I don't pick up salt and pepper at all.
Love the flavour of the scallop. Perfectly cooked.
Love the little garnish that you've got on top.
This sweetcorn puree at the bottom,
where there was the perfect carrier for the Sichuan pepper,
it's not there. It's almost invisible.
Don't get me wrong, you've cooked some great food,
but I don't think you've hit the brief.
That was brutal. The judges aren't holding back at this stage.
I actually want to cook again
cos I think I need to show them that I can do it.
And we've got a second chance,
so I can't be mad at having a second chance.
Head chef Tommy has made a salt-cured Arctic char
with a pink peppercorn and coriander seed crust,
fish mousse,
filled black pepper dumplings,
salt baked turnips,
caramelised turnip puree,
mangetout, and sea vegetables,
served with a lemongrass sauce split with dill oil.
This char's delicious. Beautifully brined, melts in the mouth,
lovely and oily, but I love that crunch on the top
of the peppercorns and the coriander.
But what is really glaringly obvious to me
is that your wonton is not cooked.
This is dry. It's not been in long enough at all.
Such a shame.
I like the idea, though.
In terms of the brief, Tommy, I think that
is a great use of salt and pepper.
Your salt baked turnip,
it hasn't lost the flavour of the turnip
so it's a bit peppery as well.
And there's that caramelised turnip puree down the bottom there.
That was delicious.
Love the sauce.
It's like a Thai sauce - it's coconut-milk creamy,
it's got lemongrass running through it,
it's got that tingle of pepper
and it's also been seasoned quite heavily with salt.
TOMMY: Yeah, it was good as a whole. They enjoyed the dish.
I just made an error with my dumplings.
Marcus picked it up and, like,
"Yes, it's such a shame we can't eat it," you know. And, like,
do you know how much work I put into that bloody wonton pastry?
Oh, so annoying.
Private chef Philippe has cooked oeuf parfait -
a slow-cooked egg topped with alligator pepper
in a hay-infused smoked pepper jelly,
roasted carrot with honey and timut pepper,
Penja pepper Parmesan biscuit,
kumquats,
curried coconut cream,
and a spinach coulis with brown butter.
Philippe, I look at your presentation
and I'm just full of wonder.
I'm curious. I can't wait to see what this dish is all about.
Your egg with this jelly over the top,
when you cut into it, it's perfectly cooked under there.
I love the hints of the pepper through that jelly.
And then I take your salty Parmesan biscuit
and I'm just swiping it on there. It's rich, it's indulgent.
I've got crazy flavours going off,
but I know that I'm enjoying it.
This puree is stunning.
It starts almost like a coconut mousse
and finishes tasting like pepper AND a curry.
But then I've got cheese, honey,
kumquat, salt, pepper, egg yolk.
And I'm struggling. It's too much for me.
I just think you're trying too hard.
I think your cookery is excellent. I think your ideas are brilliant.
You've got some amazing spice pepper used in this dish,
but when you're putting them all together on one plate,
it's really hard to identify what it is you're eating.
It's so unusual.
Challenging.
PHILIPPE: I think it's interesting.
I don't like doing something that I know.
I take some risk.
It's OK.
Head chef Charlie has made a strawberry trifle
with pink peppercorn jelly and sponge fingers,
Sichuan pepper custard
and black pepper cheesecake mix,
topped with brown butter hazelnuts,
Kampot popping candy,
and candy pink peppercorns.
I've got intense strawberry flavour below,
I'm coming up into custard, I'm moving into cream,
I've got the salty nut on the top.
But throughout I've got a little hint of pepper -
enough to notice, not enough to ruin a trifle.
What I particularly love
is the crunch I get from candied peppercorns.
Charlie, that's a cute-looking trifle.
What I really, really like is your pop rock,
cos it's sharp citrus
and that's leaving peppery notes on the tongue afterwards.
I think in the execution of your dish,
there's, you know, parts there to keep an eye on -
the texture of the custard, a bit too set.
And again, the cheese mix, slightly over whipped.
I admire your bravery, bringing peppercorns into an English custard.
I think it's very clever.
But I think you've just been a little bit on the timid side.
You could have really elevated the pink peppercorns in the sponge
because it's an explosion in the sweetness of the strawberry
that I'm waiting for. And it's not quite there.
Allin all, I don't think it went that bad, if I'm honest.
I think they liked the bravery.
They just wanted a touch more pepper.
If it is enough to get me through, I'll be super happy.
Bottom line is, none of us want to cook again today,
but what will be will be.
Sous-chef Tom has made a pink peppercorn chocolate tart
with black pepper pastry,
pink peppercorn and blood orange pate de fruits,
orange segments,
orange gel,
with a caramel salt and pepper popcorn
and a Tellicherry pepper ice cream.
Tom, what a delightful presentation,
from the decoration on top of the ice cream
to the little tartlet here.
Really good pastry and dark, rich, sweet chocolate
that finishes with quite a bit of pepper.
Your popcorn, delightful!
Like, bit of, like, toffee across the top of it,
but a little bit of salt, as well. Fantastic.
Even when you get the ice cream with jelly
and it's sort of chewy at the same time,
that's really a bit of sense of childhood fun, having that there.
I'm really enjoying this. Thank you.
Dark chocolate carries pink peppercorns beautifully well.
But you put a bit of popcorn and some of that ice cream
on that plate with that dark chocolate, it's fabulous.
And, of course, then you've got the pate de fruits,
which brings sweetness into the dish, too.
You practically blew up the vacuum-pack machine -
that had to be thrown away, you started again.
Yet you still come to the table with a dessert
that absolutely nails the brief.
When I blew up the vac-pack machine, it was like a turning point.
Like, |1 felt like 1'd either crash and burn or sort myself out.
So I just stood by my bench, just breathed
and then got back to it. But I'm glad I did
because it was a great result and I'm glad I got there in the end.
GREGG: Chefs, fantastic. We've got to make a decision.
Four of you are going straight through to the next round.
Four of you are staying here to cook again.
Thank you, chefs. Off you go.
That was an amazing start to the semifinals.
There was excitement and definitely skills in this kitchen.
Do you have a standout chef?
Tom, with the chocolate tart, the popcorn and the ice cream.
All of that with salt and pepper, I thought was literally outstanding.
Beautiful dessert from Tom.
This chef deserves to go through.
I've got another favourite, I think,
which proves it's good to be different.
And that's Kasae with the cheese.
I like the bravery of it.
It's a cheese I detest, but today I actually loved it.
Inventive, creative, different.
She did a good job.
Right. That in many ways is the easier bit.
Who didn't reach their own high standards today?
Kyle's dish today for me was one of his weakest dishes.
He's excited me so much through this competition
and today I just felt his mackerel dish was a bit flat.
There was nothing wrong with Lauren's cooking,
but she's normally so much more creative,
so much more inventive.
Yeah, I'd have to agree.
Though the scallop was beautifully cooked from Lauren,
she really could have gone to town and enjoyed it
with lots of pepper and more use of the salt.
We have four chefs that we haven't discussed.
Tommy...
...Charlie...
...Philippe...
...and James.
Which two go straight through?
Which two remain and cook again?
We thought, particularly challenging brief.
Well done, all of you.
Four of you are going straight through.
Four of you will remain here to cook again.
We think there are two chefs that really did show great creativity,
great style and really did smash that brief.
And of course, they are going straight through to the next round.
Tom,
Kasae,
congratulations. Very, very well done.
One other chef we feel has done more than enough
to secure their place.
Tommy, well done. Thank you.
The fourth chef going straight through...
...well done, James.
Congratulations.
James, Tommy, Tom, Kasae,
off you go, chefs.
Your work for now is done.
Good luck, guys. Good luck. Thank you. Thank you.
Well done, chefs.
Nice one!
Well done.
Wahey!
You hear them celebrating?
That's tough.
But that's what this competition is all about.
This is the semifinals.
This is going to be difficult - there's no two ways about it.
At the end of this, two of you will be going home.
What we would like you to do
is to create one plant-based dish.
Behind us is an array of amazing ingredients.
Bring that fire and that energy, creativeness, be bold,
and you will cement your place in the next round.
You know what's at stake.
You know what is expected of you.
70 minutes, chefs. Come on. Up you come.
KYLE: I was expecting it.
Fully deserve to be in this position, so...
I'm ready for it, though.
PHILIPPE: These are nice ingredients.
I have to find the right combination.
I don't cook every time with meat and fish or protein,
so I find this interesting, yeah.
CHARLIE: I love mushrooms. I know it's a go-to staple
for vegan plant-based food. That's what I'm going with.
The last time Kyle made a plant-based dish,
it really blew us away.
It was a wonderful celeriac dish.
If he can do something similar again,
for sure, he will keep his place in the competition.
I'm going to do a mushroom veloute.
Just using a mixture of mushrooms - shiitake, hen-of-the-woods, and cep.
And I'm going to do some pickled shiitake mushrooms,
black truffle, some roasted hazelnuts.
And it's all about balance. Just keeping it simple.
You kept it simple last time. Yeah, I did.
It's always a risk, but if something works, don't change it.
I feel like this dish works. What's going to make this special?
Are you going to add anything more into it?
Are you going to put anything on the side?
You know, this just sounds like a bowl of soup to me.
I'm not quite sure. Obviously, now I'm asking questions. Um...
Yeah, I am going to do something on the side, yeah.
Right, over to you. I suggest maybe
you go and have a look at that table again. Oui, Chef.
Kyle is making a dish of mushrooms.
Oyster mushroom doesn't have a massive flavour,
so he's going to have to really maximise
the flavour of the mushrooms that he's got.
I'm going to do a brown butter,
vegan cheese and truffle cheese to as tie
to go on the side of me mushroom veloute.
I think it was good for Kyle to go back to the bench
because I was questioning whether or not he was going to
give us enough this round,
and I feel that he needs to get that energy back into his cookery
and deliver us some great food.
Philippe, how are you feeling?
It's a competition, so
I have to prove that I have earned my place,
if I want to go as far as I can.
Plant-based cuisine, is it something that you've done quite a bit of?
I have to do as a chef, and I think it's really interesting, cos...
...even in my country, people sometimes don't have the money
to buy meat or fish. So we need to eat plant-based.
So what are you doing?
Asparagus.
The sauce is called dja sauce, it's from Benin,
and it's a fried tomato sauce
served with cassava, coconut milk,
lemongrass and plantain puree.
I'm really curious about this dish.
I've never had white asparagus with plantain puree before,
but now I'm thinking about it, I mean, the sweetness.
So it could work with the asparagus,
and of course, a tomato sauce.
And then, I don't know, the cassava fries.
Is it going on top or on the side?
Definitely another interesting-sounding
dish from Philippe.
Whoa, you're halfway!
35 minutes left. Let's go!
Charlie, you are a powerhouse!
There's some serious energy coming from here. What's going on?
I've got quite a lot going on.
To find out we're halfway through, I'm a little bit in the mix.
Have you given yourself loads and loads to do?
Yeah, quite a lot, actually. So the plan is, at the moment,
I'm going to roast off some hen-of-the-woods
and some king oyster mushrooms.
And then I've got a jus that I've made from the artichoke peels,
the artichoke trim, and then I've got dusted pastry
with seaweed and dried mushrooms, as well,
And I'm going to roll that up
and then build it as a millefeuille, hopefully. Whoa.
Cos, actually, you do eat veggie at home, right?
Yeah, but it's not really my strong point of cooking.
I was a chef before I was plant-based,
so it's just kind of something I've taught myself along the way.
Charlie's got a lot of work to do. He's got to do the pastry.
He's got to make sure that that artichoke puree is thick enough
cos I think he wants to pipe it to decorate the millefeuille.
If all the ingredients don't cool down in time, then Charlie
will have to rethink how he presents this millefeuille,
especially if he's got sauce he's going to pour into it.
MARCUS: Some of the best food that Lauren's cooked for us
has been in an invention test,
so I'm expecting her to really rise to this challenge,
just give us a fabulous dish
that's going to keep her in this competition.
Plant-based food, is that your thing?
It's not. One of my brothers is plant-based,
so we did try and adapt as a family
to make sure that he had food to eat at the gatherings,
so it is something that I can work with and makes you think.
And you have to also intensify the flavours.
You can't rely on maybe chicken or prawns for their natural flavouring.
What's your dish, please? It's going to be like a curry.
So we're going to have tandoori oyster mushrooms.
The mushroom is going to give that meatiness to it.
I'm going to create, like, a curry fondant potato
and some flatbreads as well.
And then I might add a carrot salad to it for some freshness.
You have given us some cracking dishes -
I see no reason why you shouldn't give us another one. Thank you.
I'm liking the sound of Lauren's curry dish.
I'm curious about how she's going to present this.
I hope Lauren has given some thought about really pushing this dish,
to bring a point of difference to it.
Trying to replicate
as if the mushrooms are being, like, cooked in a tandoori pan,
trying to get some char in it.
And I've got some coconut yoghurt, some spices,
so this will be, like, my main protein in my curry, basically.
MARCUS: I think using curry spices in a plant-based dish
is a great idea. It does elevate the flavours of the ingredients.
It's going to be about the balance.
Chefs, you have 15 minutes left.
15 minutes to keep yourselves in this competition.
Come on.
Kyle, what you got there? A cheese sandwich?
Yeah, a little vegan cheese and black truffle to as tie.
I've gone back to Nan's house, so...
Cheese and truffle to as tie?
Yeah. Come on!
I've toned down a little bit.
I've decided not to do a millefeuille in the end.
Still gone with the pastry idea,
I'm just not doing three layers. I'm going to build everything up
almost like... like a deconstructed tart, | suppose.
Final five minutes.
Final five.
PHILIPPE: I did what I have to do.
I try to do my plating properly
and be ready.
I think I'm happy with the dish.
To do it in an hour with no recipe for the bread,
I'm happy with it. Nice textures.
Flavour's really good in the sauce.
I hope it's enough.
That's it, chefs.
Time's up. Fabulous.
That was carnage.
I literally felt like ten minutes ago, we started.
When they were like, "You're halfway through," I was like... Yeah...
For Philippe's plant-based invention dish,
he has made cassava fries,
coconut milk, lemongrass and plantain puree,
dja sauce -
a tomato-based sauce from Benin in West Africa -
and white asparagus with a tahini dressing.
I like the asparagus.
Asparagus is cooked well, still got a little bit of give.
Like your cassava fries.
The panko on the outside makes them crispy.
I think you've got some delightful flavours,
but I'm putting it into different compartments.
I've got cassava and tomato sauce one side.
I've got asparagus and tahini the other side.
I wouldn't want to mix these two together.
Tahini vinaigrette, I'm really enjoying that.
Nice sharpness to it. The tahini's coming through.
I'm enjoying the tomato sauce,
the spice, the heat, the warmth that goes through that.
But I don't think it works together as a plate of food.
The tomato sauce has developed this fondue-like texture,
but it's got a heat from the spices you've got into it.
I've taken the cassava crisp
and just dipped it into the spicy tomato sauce
and took some of that plantain with it and loved it.
For a plant-based dish, I've enjoyed it.
Today, it's been the most stressful day
since the beginning of the competition.
I had different feedbacks about my dishes.
I did my best.
I hope that's enough.
Kyle has served a wild mushroom veloute -
pan-roasted king oyster mushroom
topped with grated vegan cheese and black truffle,
roasted hazelnuts,
pickled shiitake mushroom
and chive oil,
served with a vegan bechamel cheese and black truffle to as tie.
I think you got some really good flavour out of these mushrooms
for this veloute. It's creamy.
I love the additions of the roasted hazelnuts on the plate.
The toastie's beautifully cooked. A little bit of garlic over there.
Vegan cheese, the truffle...
The dish itself is full of flavour.
I particularly like the sweet acidity across that mushroom.
What I will say is it's quite heavily seasoned.
It's a little bit salty for me.
Great presentation there, Kyle.
I'm loving the green oil over the beige veloute.
The king oyster is cooked nicely.
The to as tie has a hint of truffle through it.
But the bechamel is a bit dense.
I just find together with cheese on a thick soup,
it's really rich but tasty.
Veloute was a little bit thick.
I probably could have added a bit of water to it.
It would probably have toned the seasoning down a touch,
but I think it would've lost acidity, so... It's one of them.
I'm happy with what I gave.
Really good review from Marcus,
so that was the most important one for me, to rectify that first round.
Lauren has made tandoori oyster mushrooms
in a cumin, garam masala and chilli curry sauce,
crispy chickpeas,
tamarind fondant potatoes,
and pickled carrots,
served with a roti.
Your dish needs work in presentation
cos you've kind of got beigey, orangey, beigey,
like, everywhere. You need some work on that.
But I love your flavours.
You've got a lovely, creamy, coconut-based sauce
that comes up like a mild curry, like a madras.
The tamarind potatoes are a joy.
Nicely seasoned, soft.
And then that unique tamarind sharpness
that you get across them. Very good.
The mushrooms have got a lovely flavour to them. Nicely seasoned.
I love your roti on the side.
I agree with Gregg, reference to presentation.
It really doesn't help that you've chosen a plate
that's almost identical to the colour of your curry sauce.
Don't get me wrong, there's a lot about this dish I like.
The crispy chickpeas are delightful.
You've got the meaty king oyster there,
which you've covered in the yoghurt and then charred it,
and the flatbread. I can eat all of this.
One more flatbread, please, and I will finish it - happily.
LAUREN: So it was quite difficult to present a curry.
But I'm just hoping, again, that my flavours and different textures
is enough to put me through,
and for them to see that I have got it in me to go forward.
Charlie has cooked roasted king oyster mushroom
topped with grated almonds,
hen-of-the-woods mushroom glazed in sherry vinegar gastrique,
artichoke puree,
seaweed cracker,
red onion jam,
asparagus and courgettes,
finished with a seaweed and artichoke jus.
Charlie, I really like
the way you've presented your plant-based dish.
It just looks so precise.
The hen-of-the-woods has beautiful texture,
and the king oyster mushroom, as well.
Beautifully cooked.
It's got the nuttiness from what you've grated over the top,
which is wonderful.
All together, it works very well.
I am so here for it. This is fire.
Your artichoke puree is really smooth, creamy.
Your red onion jam,
thick, sweet across that savoury little biscuit that you've made.
I'm into it, my friend.
I'm really enjoying this sauce.
It's excellent.
It's almost molasses, meaty flavour.
It wraps everything together.
It brings the dish together.
I love the little asparagus and the courgettes.
You've delivered a very interesting plate of food.
Beautifully presented, texturally delicious.
I'm very happy with this. Well done.
CHARLIE: Feedback like that is amazing.
That was my toughest cook yet.
I really, really felt that my place in the competition was in jeopardy.
I said to myself before I went in, I was like, "Not today.”
I gave it everything I had,
and I think it paid off.
Oh!
We've got four chefs here and it's a bit sad,
because we have followed them every step of the way,
and now we're going to say goodbye to two of them.
Do you have a favourite in this round?
Definitely have a favourite and that's our young Charlie,
his mushroom dish.
It looked really elegant
and it tasted even better.
I agree. It was delicious.
The mushroom cookery, everything about it was just great.
Great flavours, great finish, great presentation.
Fabulous cook.
The final three chefs, we need to discuss.
They all divided us in one way or another.
Yeah, that's true.
That's very, very true.
Philippe gave me some nice things. He did.
But I can't see Philippe's dish as a coherent finished plate.
I loved the tomato sauce. That was delicious.
Asparagus was cooked well, but...
...I was just slightly underwhelmed, if I'm really honest with you.
I thought it was tasty. I really loved the cassava crisp
and dipping that into that spicy tomato sauce.
I guess they were delicious.
I wasn't overthinking it.
I was enjoying what was on the plate.
Kyle gave us a veloute. It looked good -
it had a green oil.
So it was good ideas.
I found it over seasoned.
The cheese to as tie was also heavily seasoned
and together, for me, I couldn't eat all that.
I enjoyed it, but I hear you.
But it did have flavour. It had...
...you know, packed flavour, which was delicious.
With Lauren, I think we all agree that the flavours were good,
but presentation was not good at all.
I agree about the presentation.
The roti was good. It was a good idea.
Curry sauce was well made.
The mushrooms are beautifully cooked.
The potatoes with the tamarind, now, they were delicious.
I would have finished that plate of food.
We are talking about big decisions
over small margins.
It's detail, detail, detail.
That's what you guys have always been telling me.
Detail, detail, detail.
PHILIPPE: I want to stay cos I want to learn and see
what happens for the next challenge.
LAUREN: I've got more fight in me.
I'm ready. If I hear that I'm through to the next round,
that fight is coming out stronger than ever.
KYLE: I do want to be in that top six now.
I'm looking forward to the next brief and the next task
and being a part of that.
I just hope it continues and I can get through this round.
Well done, all four of you, putting so much effort in,
battling hard. We can see it.
We have made a decision.
The first chef going through...
...is Charlie.
Charlie, congratulations. Great dish. well done, you.
Thank you. Quality.
Philippe, Lauren, Kyle,
we have, after much deliberation, made a decision.
Our second chef going through...
...is Lauren.
Congratulations.
MONICA: Congratulations, Lauren.
Philippe, Kyle,
from the first 32 chefs to the final eight standing.
You should be proud of that.
It's been a pleasure eating your food.
It's been a pleasure talking to you.
Thank you to you both.
Bit overwhelmed, to be fair. I thought I did enough there.
I'm definitely proud of my journey, at the same time.
I did have more to give,
but I've got to respect the choices that they make.
I'm OK. Yeah.
HE LAUGHS
It's not easy to cook and be judged.
I think it was a great competition.
I did my best, so...
...I'm proud, Yeah.
Congratulations! Back for more!
LAUREN: Well done. CHARLIE: Well done.
I'm proud of you. Well done. Oh, my gosh!
You weren't expecting that, were you? Not at all. No?
Oh, well done.
I'm exhausted,
emotionally, physically, like, everything.
And in shock. Absolute shock.
I'm so proud of myself.
I thought last ten was good, but last six...
It's... Yeah. Massive.
When you think that there was 32 of us to start with,
being in the last six is a pretty mega feeling.
I really put my heart and soul into cooking today.
I really pushed myself.
And I'm just relieved that paid off.
Next time...
After being split into groups,
the first three semifinalists
take on one of the country's most exciting Michelin-starred kitchens.
It's like day one all over again.
I feel like I should be over there washing pots, but here I am.
We have, like, two minutes, Lauren. We need to go.
Only the best will go through to finals week.
I'm struggling to stop eating this.
For me, it's delicious.