It's the Professional MasterChef semifinals.
This week, the final six contestants have been split into two groups
and sent to cook under some of Britain's finest chefs.
We have, like, two minutes. We need to go.
Last time, Charlie and Tom earned themselves a place
in Finals Week.
Now, the last three chefs battle to secure their place
in the competition.
Just make sure they're the best you can do, yeah?
27-year-old head chef Tommy,
29-year-old freelance chef James,
and 29-year-old head chef Kasae.
This competition has been so, so tough.
Blood, sweat and tears, you know?
But getting into that final four is all I want.
Semifinals is pretty big.
I think it's where the competition starts getting real tough.
I can't mess up at all. So, yeah, pressure's on.
Every time you get through a round, you're so happy.
But maybe I could just get through one more.
So it's always one more, one more, one more.
These three chefs are talented.
Not one of them is willing to go home.
I want to see a fight.
Well, who's going to crack under the pressure?
It's early morning in Lichfield, Staffordshire,
and Kasae, James and Tommy are en route to a restaurant
uniquely housed above a jeweller's in the heart of the city.
Upstairs by Tom Shepherd, one of the UK's
most respected culinary stars.
I'm from Birmingham, Sutton Coldfield.
My dad is third-generation jeweller.
At the age of 13, 14,
I started as a Saturday lad at my dad's jewellers.
I found out very early on that jewellery wasn't really my bag.
It didn't ignite a fire,
it didn't ignite an interest, an overriding interest in me at all.
Aged 18, it was Tom's first job as a pot wash
at a hotel in Lichfield that sparked his interest in cooking.
I was just mesmerised by how it worked.
To that day, I've never set foot out of a kitchen.
Tom left the hotel after three years, to hone his skills
working for Michael Wignall at the two Michelin-starred
Latymer in Surrey...
It was a real step up.
What he showed me at The Latymer was something I'd never seen before.
...and then as development chef for culinary legend Sat Bains.
Those significant figures who I've worked for
and wanted to work for as well, they have definitely shaped
who I am today, for sure.
Having been away for nearly ten years,
Tom returned to the Midlands to become head chef
at the Michelin-starred Adam's in Birmingham.
But the course of his culinary career would change when his dad
acquired a jewellery shop in Lichfield.
So we came to the opening and my dad just said,
"Tom, can I just take you upstairs?” And I said, "Yeah, what's upstairs?"”
And he said, "The offices." And so my dad said,
"What do you what do you think? Give me some idea."
And I said, "I can see a restaurant up here.”
And he just looked at me and said,
"Are you all right, mate? Have you had a drink?"
I said, "No, honestly, Dad, I think if we can knock down these walls,
"there can be a restaurant here."
He couldn't believe the whole romance behind the fact
that there could actually be another family business upstairs,
which is just, well, it's just amazing.
After two years of hard graft,
and with the help of numerous friends and local tradesmen,
Tom opened his modern British restaurant in 2021.
Our main philosophy is one where we allow the ingredient
to lead us. Using one ingredient three or four different ways,
it's celebrating the main ingredient.
The better the ingredient, the better your dish will be.
We are a flavour-packed restaurant.
So every single dish I want every single ingredient really pushed in.
Within just four months of opening,
it became Staffordshire's first Michelin star restaurant.
It is a realisation of a dream, but at the same point,
I don't know where that dream ends.
So I'm just going to keep dreaming, I think.
And just see where it takes us.
Morning, guys. Welcome to Upstairs.
Are you excited? Nervous?
All of the above. All of the above. Yeah, well, I am as well,
to be fair. The old man's downstairs,
selling loads of jewellery to all the people out in Litchfield,
and we're upstairs feeding them.
So it's an amazing family connection,
which we're really proud of as well.
Listen, guys, I've got a bit of a bombshell to tell you.
We've got service today and you're going to be a part of it.
OK. You up for it?
Wahey! Come on. Let's do it.
Being able to work alongside Tom and just have him mentor us
is such a big opportunity.
So I'm going to give it my everything today.
I've followed Tom's career for a while now,
and this is like a dream for me, and something I really aspire
to do myself one day. So Tom's living my dream, basically.
Tom's food is the sort of food I love to cook, I love to eat.
I'm really excited to cook some of the food and hopefully
get some inspiration from it.
The semifinalists will each be responsible for cooking a course
from Tom's tasting menu for today's lunch service.
Head chef Kasae, whose food has so far being driven
by unique flavour combinations, will have the first course.
A turbot dish that was born out of one humble vegetable.
This dish actually started off as a carrot dish,
and we absolutely loved it.
We did a vegetarian dish early last year,
where it was, we took a sand carrot, so much flavour,
and we actually made, like, a vegetarian dish out of that.
What are sand carrots? It's an old preservation. Yeah.
When they're in the sand, it withdraws a lot of the moisture
from the carrot, so it almost intensifies the flavour.
Concentrated? Yeah. That's cool.
We want that sort of smoky barbecue sort of flavour.
We don't want it sort of really burnt.
I think this is the colour that we're sort of looking for
on that char. And this is when we can start to
introduce a bit of the curry butter as well.
So we're just sort of glazing those carrots up now.
We wanted to create a bigger dish from it.
I just thought, if we're going to make it into a fish dish,
I think it just has to be turbot.
Bought this beautiful Cornish turbot, four-and-a-half kilos,
came in this morning.
So obviously need to get a portion out of that.
So, cooking the turbot, make sure whole entire surface area
of that fish to hit the pan.
What we don't want is it curling up at all.
Yeah. The pan can't be too hot,
so you don't want to scorch any of the flesh.
We roast it, not too aggressively.
That's the sort of colour we want, a nice sort of caramelisation,
that golden brown colour.
Yeah. And we'll introduce some butter.
It's a beautiful foam, that's exactly what you want.
So just basting that fish all the time.
I'm just going to allow that to rest now
with a little bit of that butter.
The turbot and carrots are served with a tandoori emulsion.
Growing up in Birmingham, naturally I was surrounded
by some great Indian restaurants and takeaways.
Any menu that I've produced has always some sort
of curried element in it.
It's a bit nostalgic, from my sort of upbringing.
What's in the curry emulsion?
We make our own oil, so we do lime leaf, lemongrass, ginger,
chilli and coriander seed. OK.
It gives the most delicious texture and flavour and fragrance
to this dish. So that's the base there.
We just split that a little bit with pumpkin oil.
Then we go in with our fish.
Coming to the finishing touches.
We've got these heritage carrots that we've very lightly pickled.
And then the other side of that is our fish skin cracker,
which is just dusted very lightly with some tandoori salt. OK.
That finishes the whole dish off.
That is sick! That is a really sick dish.
It's so complex and has so many layers to it.
It's really cool.
I'm a little bit nervous to do turbot since I haven't done it
before, but, yeah, I'll give it a go.
Head chef Tommy loves to incorporate Asian flavours
in his ambitious, sophisticated plates.
He'll be in charge of a dish based on another of Tom's
childhood food memories -
a Sunday roast.
Lamb and mint sauce for me is just a pairing
that never, ever, ever, doesn't work.
I remember, as a kid, the mint jelly. Oh, it was delicious!
That as a partnership, it literally goes hand-in-hand for me.
This one is the hogget dish. So it's actually
from the Lake District, so it's Herdwick hogget.
So the hogget dish, which is the main course,
which is basically lamb, but a little bit older,
just between one and two years.
In my opinion, it's the best lamb in the world.
To make the most of the prized hogget lamb,
it's served multiple ways.
Tommy will have to slowly roast the loin to render the fat...
With the loin, we just want to serve that lamb nice and pink.
Medium-rare to medium sort of cuisson,
essential that we serve that.
...while simultaneously barbecuing a lamb belly element.
We do just want to make sure that those flames
aren't taking over it. We don't want it to be sort of black.
On the barbecue, it gets this beautiful, sweet smoke added to it.
But again, if it's too harsh, it's going to turn into
like an acrid flavour.
Beautifully caramelised fat, both sides.
Right, are we ready to plate? Yes. OK.
That fat is nice and rendered.
Among the nine elements Tommy will have to perfect and plate
are garnishes to enhance the lamb flavours.
First, a caramelised onion compote which is cooked in lamb fat.
And then on top of that, we go Caesar mayonnaise.
The Caesar mayonnaise is there because the Parmesan
and the anchovies work really, really well with lamb.
Onion shells are also cooked in lamb fat and added.
Beautiful gem lettuce, but this has being compressed in the cold oil.
Yeah.
The last elements to plate are a broccoli puree
and the hogget sauce split with mint oil.
It's a law that you have to have mint with the lamb.
It's essential.
My mum always used to do a lamb roast,
but then, one Sunday lunch, we literally had, like,
chopped mint and, like, malt vinegar,
and it was probably one of the most disgusting things we've eaten!
But listen, I said to my mum it was delicious.
And there's your hogget dish.
Confident? Nervous but, yeah, I'm excited. You'll smash it.
I think the barbecue is going to be a challenge.
Like, the temperature control, getting the lamb rendered down,
nice and crispy. Every single element, you know,
elevated to the best it can be. I'm really excited.
Really excited.
Classically trained James runs a hash brown street food business,
and today will be working in the pastry section.
So the inspiration behind the dessert -
actually, I ate it at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay.
They do a dessert there, which was this delicious sort of
set sort of chocolate mousse with a cocoa nib ice cream
and Pedro Ximenez gel.
And it was just the most amazing end to a meal.
The central part of the indulgent and technically challenging dessert
IS a mousse dome of Venezuelan chocolate,
made from rare cocoa beans,
which is sprayed with more chocolate.
Yeah, it's lovely that.
I'm not going to hide away from admitting this,
my sous-chef, Mike, is a lot better at plating this dish than I am.
Before plating, the mousse domes need to be decorated
with chocolate cremeux...
Pipe a little zigzag on the top.
...and a sherry gel,
at speed and with precision, before the domes melt
and become difficult to move.
It requires a steady hand.
It also requires you to be quite elegant as well.
So this is pecan crumble. So we actually roast
the caramel chocolate in the oven with the pecans.
Then we let it cool and we blend it together.
Once the mousse is perfectly decorated, it can be plated.
James then has just one chance to form a perfect rocher
of creme fraiche ice cream on top of the crumble.
It can all come tumbling down with this.
It has to just sit on it first time.
If that rolls off the side, we have to start that again.
How are your rocher skills?
They'll be getting better after a few of them, I'm sure, yeah!
The plate is finished with dehydrated hot chocolate foam crisps
dusted in malted milk powder.
And you have to ensure that every single element is done
as best it can possibly be.
Beautiful. It's my sort of dessert.
I'm really excited about cooking it.
The rocher is going to be the main thing, just getting that right
on top and not falling off.
Because if the rocher falls off, you ruin the dish.
It's midday, and the morning prep is almost over.
Guests from all over the country travel to sample Tom's unique
tasting menu, but one has also come from closer to home -
his mother, Sara.
Today, the three semifinalists will be on the front line,
delivering to his Michelin star standard.
So much pressure to get it right. There's a lot of eyes around!
A lot of expectation.
It's starting to feel real, you know? Very nervous.
Just, hopefully, it all goes OK.
Just want to make sure that when service comes up,
get them all out on time and do them justice, hopefully.
Guys, stay cool, stay calm, stay collected,
and get that energy in there, yeah?
Yes, Chef. Let's have a good service. Oui.
First up to the pass will be Kasae.
OK, guys, two turbot away. Yes, Chef.
Just make sure the first two are absolutely perfect.
Oui, Chef.
And she'll have just four minutes to juggle pan-roasting her turbot
and barbecuing the sand carrots to perfection.
Now, this one, do exactly the same.
Kasae, just make sure we just check those carrots as well,
they're just starting to colour a little bit on this one.
Beautiful. Beautiful. Caught that just in time.
How are we looking? Oh, wow! That's it, monte, monte, monte,
monte, monte.
They look absolutely superb. Pour your butter over the top.
Oui. That's beautiful.
With her elements cooked, it's now down to Kasae
to master the presentation, starting with a chicken curry sauce,
which is split with spiced carrot and pumpkin oil.
That turbot looks absolutely perfect. Thank you, Chef.
It's a little bit concerning because it may look a little bit
better than mine!
Happy? Oui, Chef.
Let's have them. Well done, Kasae. Thank you.
I have something to tell you. Two more now. Yes, Chef. Let's go.
Service, please.
That was really good.
It was a little bit nerve-racking, the first ones, to be sure.
I think Chef seems happy. I'm still here.
He hasn't kicked me out!
Tommy? Yeah? Your first two hogget away.
Yes, Chef. Yeah? Make it your best, yeah? Oui. Let's go.
Tommy is next up with his hogget served two ways.
He needs to ensure the lamb loin is cooked to medium-rare
while perfectly charring the belly on the barbecue.
There's a lot of elements with this dish, making sure we're right,
so hopefully he's going to do it justice.
Flip it back over. Beautiful. That's good. That's good too.
By concentrating on the cuisson of the loin,
Tommy has taken his eye off the barbecued belly.
Tommy? Yes? Oh!
That's getting a lick on there, isn't it?
Just flip this one over.
Maybe a little bit too dark.
No, we're good. OK. Just watch that on the other side, OK?
Just make sure we just don't caramelise that any more.
This belly, obviously, as it starts to cook,
a lot of the fat renders down and hits it.
So you really need to keep your eyes on it.
Don't want it to get black from the fire.
Something that can catch me out, I think.
With the belly of the lamb rescued just in time,
Tommy must now perfectly plate all nine elements of the dish.
Tommy! Look at the cooking on that, Chef!
Look at that!
Incredible. Well done. OK, sauce.
Service, please.
OK, table one, please.
Tommy, well done. Thank you, Chef.
Tommy? Two more. Oui, Chef. Let's go. Oui.
I'm really enjoying it. So I'm just getting the temperature controls,
blah, blah, and it's a lot of little things I need to bring together.
So this belly is definitely a challenge.
On dessert, James is also under pressure with his first order.
He needs to combine speed with precision to top
his chocolate domes with chocolate cremeux,
sherry gel and pecan crumble,
before they soften and become difficult to plate.
That's fallen apart, mate. Chef, we can't use that one.
So let's get another one dressed straight away.
Yeah, oui, Chef.
If it's out for more than a couple of minutes, it gets really soft.
So...make sure I'm plating faster than I am at the moment.
Having already lost one mousse,
if James doesn't master the perfect rocher of creme fraiche ice cream
first time, a second dome will be ruined.
That's good, yeah. Delicate hand.
That's all right, it's all right.
Whoooaah! You now know, for next time,
let's move it in a little bit more. Yeah, that's absolutely fine.
Probably just drop off a tiny bit. That's it, let it go, let it go.
That's it. Perfect. It's a delicate, delicate dessert.
We can't make it easy for you, mate!
That is... That looks absolutely spot-on.
Service, please.
Had a bit of a wobble at the start.
They're quite delicate once they've been defrosted,
but might get to eat it later, so...
It's one o'clock, and lunch service is at its peak.
So upping the pace, Kasae. We've gone from two to three now,
table three, yeah? Yes, Chef.
And the pressure is now on Kasae to keep up with the orders
coming in.
Without wanting to turn the pressure up too much,
after three turbot, which is now, we're going straight
into another three turbot. Another three. Yes, Chef.
Keep that pace going, please, Kasae, yeah? Oui.
But the barbecue carrots need constant attention.
Give them a brush. Yeah. You never want to see them
look this sort of flat. We always want to be introducing that butter,
yeah? All the time.
The barbecue is a bit stronger than what I thought it might be.
And she's struggling to keep control of the heat in the pan
for the turbot.
We don't want to go any dark, so just watch that.
Always keep control of that pan, yeah? Yes, Chef.
The turbot needs to rest,
but Kasae has forgotten to add the butter from the pan
to keep it moist.
Butter on the fish. Sorry, Chef. Yes, Chef.
It needs to be resting in that butter, yeah? Oui.
It would be easier if my hands weren't shaking, Chef!
Service, please. Well done.
Kasae's roasting on that fish is literally perfect.
It couldn't be any better. We just need to make sure
we concentrate and we're resting out those turbot in the butter.
It's remembering that.
But everything else is absolutely perfect.
On the main, Tommy's almost ready to plate his next two hogget orders,
but also has multiple checks flying in...
Tommy, you have got three hoggets away, please.
Yes, Chef.
So we're working another two hogget.
Bear that in mind, Tommy, as well, yeah? Yes, Chef. Final four.
...and he's still struggling with the barbecue.
How are the other side looking? Do not lose this.
I fear the worst.
Yes. I don't think they're going to be the one. Yeah. OK.
Three more on straight away, please, OK?
I left my belly on the barbecue and they've got too dark,
so unfortunately we'll have to do some fresh.
Three more on should take two, three minutes, hopefully,
and then timing-wise should be OK.
Tommy, you looking OK? Great.
Good lad.
Keep it going.
That's it.
Tommy, lovely cuisson that lamb. Thanks, Chef.
Just got four more to go. Not away yet. Yeah.
Start getting your mind into that gear, yeah?
Great. Thank you. Perfect.
Over on dessert, James is still struggling to decorate
and plate his chocolate mousses fast enough.
Trying my best to plate this without tarnishing it slightly.
This is the hardest part of the whole thing.
Good lad.
Having managed to transfer the mousses, and with the orders backed
up, it's now crucial James tops them with perfect rochers of ice cream.
Even with the shakes, those rochers are still really good.
Thank you, Chef.
Let's get the crisps on it.
Service, please.
OK. Three more now, then, please, James.
The hardest part so far has been getting it all untarnished,
cos any sort of nick is going to be noticed.
It takes a delicate touch, which I don't always have.
HE LAUGHS
Guys, this is great pace. Really good pace.
Thank you, Chef.
Kasae, you have got four final turbot away.
Oui, Chef.
With service almost over,
Kasae is still impressing Chef Tom with her turbot cookery.
That's good. That's great. Yeah?
Kasae, the roasting masterclass continues.
Thank you, Chef.
Unbelievable.
How are you feeling?
Still shaking.
I think you're doing marvellous.
Kasae, I didn't want to tell you at the start, cos obviously I didn't
want you to shake too much,
this is actually for my mum's table. Oh, my God.
I'm scared of cooking for her.
Service, please.
Absolutely delicious.
Cooked to perfection.
The turbot today was up to Tom's standard,
yeah, for sure.
Kasae, well done.
Every single turbot was immaculate from start to finish.
You should be really, really proud of yourself. That was great.
Thank you. Cheers.
It was a little bit stressful.
There's some very high standards in this kitchen.
To be able to, you know, get some compliments from him
and say that the turbot cookery was great,
that was really cool.
OK, Tommy, we're away.
Final four. Yes, Chef. Yeah?
Make sure they're the best you can do, yeah? Oui.
For Tommy, it's vital he doesn't burn the barbecue lamb belly
a second time.
So, yeah, it's crisping up nice, right?
Perfect.
That's better. Good lad.
Well done, lad.
Tommy, well done. Thank you.
The loin was delicious.
The lamb belly had such intense flavour,
and the mint, just such a nice accompaniment.
You learnt every single time from the first to the very last.
You just got better and better. Thank you, Chef. Well done.
With mains finished,
all eyes are on James to complete service on a high.
Keep the speed going, yeah? Oui, Chef.
It's essential we finish this service off perfectly.
This is my mum's favourite dessert. Oh, yeah?
So if this isn't right, she'll know.
Yeah. Now you have to turn the fold off. That's good.
That's what I want.
Service, please.
Thank you.
Chocolate dessert was phenomenal.
Chocolate was really, really rich, but the creme fraiche kind of cut
through that really nicely.
Yeah, phenomenal.
You did really, really well. So, well done. Appreciate that.
Awesome stuff. Well done, lad. Thank you. Appreciate that. Cheers.
Definitely happy with how it went.
Yeah, it takes a bit of a delicate touch, but great fun,
thoroughly enjoyed it.
How are you doing, guys? Hiya. Yeah, good, thank you.
How was it? Absolutely fab.
Enjoy it? Yeah, I did, very much so.
It wasn't as good as normal, that, was it?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SHE LAUGHS
Service is over.
But the semifinalists face one more challenge -
to create their own dish
inspired by what they've learnt about Tom's food.
So for any dish that's created at Upstairs, it's flavour-led.
That is the priority of Upstairs.
It has to have a flavour impact first.
Everything else comes second.
They have just one hour to make a dish centred around one
of Tom's favourite ingredients -
hand-dived Orkney scallops.
Their larder includes top quality produce from around the UK,
including tomatoes, asparagus, courgettes, Jerusalem artichokes,
and an array of spices from tandoori to Thai lemongrass.
I'm feeling a bit nervous, but,
yeah, they look, the ingredients look really beautiful
and fresh, so I think we've been spoilt for choice.
Just want to show that I've learned a lot from Tom, sort of showcase one
ingredient and several different techniques and textures.
So that's something I want to try and do today.
Putting a bit of my own, my own personality in, but, yeah,
it hopefully should stay true to the ethos
of what these guys do here.
Obviously it would be a huge compliment if I can see Upstairs
on the plate.
I just can't wait.
To accompany her scallops,
Kasae is planning to highlight one other key ingredient.
I'm going to do some barbecued Jerusalem artichokes.
The ones that I've peeled, I'll be able to pickle,
and I'll try and make a powder out of the skin.
I'll roast it in the oven until they're dry.
Try and blend them with some tandoori powder and make, like,
a seasoning to go over the top.
Kasae will also introduce apple, caviar, and a brown butter
and potato hollandaise with kombu dashi vinegar.
In service my turbot dish had a jus base that had a mayonnaise
blitzed through it at the end.
So I'm trying to kind of recreate that richness and that texture
and then put that with the scallop dish.
I don't think I've ever cooked a scallop this big.
I think with Kasae, she'll be very sort of intricate
with the ingredients that she uses
and they'll be on the plate for a reason.
And I'm hoping to see two or three variations of them.
And I think it'll be very concentrated and very refined.
I'm a bit nervous for him to taste it.
Hopefully he can see what I'm trying to do.
Hiya.
Kasae has pan-roasted her scallops and topped them with pickled
artichokes, julienne apple and caviar.
They're served with brown butter roasted artichokes finished
on the barbecue, brown butter and potato hollandaise, artichoke
skin and tandoori powder dust.
The first thing that came into my mind is that it looks like a sort
of a dish that I would sort of Create,
which is just such a compliment.
Absolutely delicious.
Can't give you any sort of negativity
at all on the whole entire dish.
The scallop is cooked absolutely perfectly, almost
like a char on there,
and then they are so soft inside as well.
So the hollandaise, it just adds that sort of rich creaminess.
The texture, it's buttery, it's delicious.
I can see the apple's there for freshness.
I can see that you've got the Jerusalem artichoke there
and you've quite heavily roasted it, which is a good thing, cos it's
going to add that real sort of nutty earthiness to the dish.
It feels like a personal dish.
It's got a bit of Upstairs in it. I really love that.
So really, really well done. Thank you.
I was loving the feedback, I'm not going to lie!
I just feel overwhelmed with a lot of different emotions.
Next up is Tommy, who is taking his inspiration from Tom's ethos
of making the most out of every ingredient.
His scallops will be served with a scallop roe emulsion,
fish sauce, and the same vegetable used multiple ways.
I've got courgette and coriander puree.
Some brined courgette, tempura.
I'll just finish some on the barbecue real quick.
So a few different textures and flavours.
He's also making a tomato fondue from a base paste of shallot, garlic
and coriander.
So, sort of, sweet and sour tomato.
With Tommy, I think he's got an overriding sense
of passion with his dishes.
I think he'll just, he'll try and really sort of push the boundaries
and try to really create something that's quite special.
I'm nervous for Chef Tom to try this, I'm not going to lie,
and hopefully it's OK.
Tommy's dish is pan-roasted scallops served with scallop roe emulsion,
courgette four ways - pureed, barbecued, tempura and brined -
tomato fondue made with white wine, garlic and shallots,
and a fish sauce.
It's just summer on a plate.
The colours on there are just so inviting. It's so bright,
it's lively. It is delicious.
And the scallops, cooked beautifully.
Courgettes are very nice.
Sort of tried two together,
cos I like that barbecue effect
and then you get the texture from the tempura.
Then you've got the puree.
You just get all these variations of the courgette, which, again,
I smile, cos you can sort of see that that's what we do here.
And then the fondue is, yeah, it's just delicious.
Three key ingredients on that plate, more than enough. Yeah.
And you've used them and highlighted them perfectly.
Just sitting there and watching him eat was a scary moment, you know.
But when he complimented the dish, it was,
it was just amazing, really overwhelming.
Inspired by Tom's nostalgic use of curry flavours,
James is basing his scallop dish on one of his own food memories.
As a kid, we used to get a lot of Chinese takeaways. Satay sauce
and then, like, char siu spareribs, man, were my two go-tos.
He's making a scallop roe satay sauce, which will be split
with coriander and lime oil, and plans to make the most
out of an onion.
Got a little onion crisp, onion puree, then a barbecued onion,
which I'm just going to brush with soy.
Flavours, which is the satay, the scallop and the onion,
and then hopefully they can all kind of harmonise.
I would eat it, yeah!
Hopefully it should be like a nice mix of kind
of charred, bitter, sweet onion,
a lovely, sexy scallop.
How you doing, Chef?
Cheers, Chef. Thank you.
James has served his pan-roasted scallops with a scallop roe satay
sauce, onion crisps, onion puree, barbecued shallots topped
with cashew crumb, and a coriander and Thai lime oil.
James, I think it looks, again, unbelievably inviting.
I can sort of see my style of plating in the dish as well.
It's absolutely perfect. It really, really is.
The scallops are fantastic. Onions, in general,
they're so versatile,
and you've shown that with this puree. The onion crisps are crispy.
The fact that you've used shallots. They're super nice and soft
and then on top of it it's the cashew nut.
And the satay sauce, you blended those scallop roes and it's added
that richness to it. And it's that richness to the sauce,
that you just want to keep almost, like, mopping it up.
You've used onions two, three, four different ways.
It just keeps that whole symmetry in the flavour as well.
It's a really, really refined plate of food.
And you've created something that's really harmonious.
So, honestly, really, really well done.
I wanted to showcase what I learnt with a few of my own little twists
and a little bit of my signature on, and I think I achieved that.
So, thumbs up all round.
The semifinalists' time with Tom has come to an end.
They've really understood and got on board with our ethos,
which is amazing.
Kasae, cookery was perfect and she really took on board every single
thing I said, and she went with it.
She just absolutely nailed it.
With Tommy, he just loves this industry.
He just wants to be the best version of himself.
I think he really... You can see he tries really hard to do that.
James has got a great personality, great attitude.
James, he really understood the simplicity of using an ingredient
three or four times. All three contestants,
I can see exactly why they're here.
They're very in touch with their own styles, and I can see all of them
sort of going as far as they want to be, because they're individual
chefs and they can take it as far as they want to.
Just spending one-on-one time with Tom was just a massive
opportunity that I really enjoyed.
So it makes me really want to just keep pushing, keep enjoying
the journey, and just see what else is to come.
No, it was exciting. I'd come back in a heartbeat.
Definitely take some stuff from this kitchen into the next
rounds of the competition.
Changed my whole dishes, probably.
Today was epic. I felt very invigorated and very energised.
So I think my hunger for getting through to the finals just builds
and builds and builds. Now it just feels like it's almost within reach.
So I'll be pushing for it, that's for sure.
Chefs, welcome back. Good to see you.
I hope you had a great time working with chef Tom Shepherd.
And I really hope that you've brought a little bit
of his flair back into the kitchen today.
So, chefs, two plates of food - mains and a dessert -
good enough to cement your place in our Finals Week.
You have an hour and 45 minutes.
At the end of today, one of you is going to be leaving the competition.
Good luck.
I'm putting everything into my cook today, trying to keep
it concise and flavourful.
Trying to bring nice flavours throughout the whole dish and do
something that I just want to see on a plate.
So what are you doing?
I'm doing a char-siu-style monkfish with a compressed
yuzu, romesco lettuce.
I've got a beetroot kimchi and kelp paste.
I've got an onion-top emulsion going on the side of that,
and then the char siu sauce.
Hopefully it will all work together really nicely.
Why char siu? It's something I absolutely love to eat
and it's like a lovely fermented bean, soy, honey, sugar, fermented
bean curd marinade.
Monkfish is an incredible fish to kind of put a lot of flavour into.
Followed by? Honey yoghurt and whisky parfait, with a honey
tuille and honeycomb, with a whisky and honey and lemon gel.
My dad keeps bees up in the north of Scotland.
So I'm using some of his honey. Good enough for a place
in the Finals Week? Yeah, let's hope so.
James is cooking the monkfish in a water bath with his
char siu marinade and then, finish it off on the barbecue.
He's also taking some lettuce, which he's compressed
with a yuzu butter.
That is also going to get charred on the barbecue.
This sounds delicious.
A great way, too, to add that extra flavour to his dishes.
But there's no rice, there's no dumplings,
there's no neutral flavour.
This is going to be a dish of heavy flavours.
The question is always going to be, does it work?
Yeah, it's getting there.
Barbecue takes patience and time.
Something I don't have in abundance at the moment.
James' dessert is a parfait
and we've got the flavours of honey that his dad produces.
The parfait's got to have like an ice-cream-like texture.
Beautifully set, not too hard.
And we want to taste the sweetness of the honey.
And, of course, there's yoghurt, so a bit of sharpness to cut
through it at the same time.
I hope that he gets it right.
Got a lot of stuff to do, as usual.
At this stage, it's got to be pretty flawless,
so I think it's a little bit nerve-racking.
How are you, Kasae?
Feeling a little bit stressed today, but I'm good. What's going on?
What's stressing you out? I just...
I want to get everything perfect, especially after spending a couple
of days with Tom. A bit more pressure.
Now, tell me, what is your menu?
We've got duck breast with a spiced duck glaze, a salted
carrot and coriander salad, sand carrot puree with some brown miso
and brown butter and thyme through it.
I discovered sand carrots in Tom's restaurant. A duck jus gras
that's been split with some pistachio oil, and a little duck leg
waffle on the side, with some con fit duck leg. Oh!
I had it in Australia, but this is kind of my take on it.
OK. Nice. For my dessert, I'm making an olive oil
and Sauternes cake.
Sauternes is a French dessert wine.
It's going to have some poaching-liquid-glazed figs,
some little cherries fresh on there,
and then a cherry ripple and fig leaf ice cream.
Where I grew up with my grandparents, we had a fig tree.
Nan would always make them, she'd always dehydrate them,
and I just hated them.
And it wasn't until I started cooking in my apprenticeship
that I really realised what you could do with them
and how they could taste. All right, Kasae, good luck.
I'm loving the sound of this menu.
Duck with a spiced glaze over the top of it, and then sear
it in the pan so it'll have a lovely, dark, crispy coating.
Kasae's got to make sure that the waffle mix is thick enough
so that when it cooks, the duck leg does not dry out even more.
We've got a carrot and miso, brown butter puree.
Three ingredients that do work together.
I think introducing these flavours into the carrot, I think,
will be delicious.
Kasae's cake, she is using olive oil as opposed to butter.
That is a wonderful way to enrich your cake.
I do love the sound of the cherry ripple ice cream.
She's also made a base of it with the fig leaf, which is a great idea
because you get a lovely, deep flavour of almond from a fig leaf.
Chefs, you have 35 minutes left.
I definitely think I've got a bad habit of giving myself
too much to do. But I like to keep busy, I like the chaos
and, you know, I feel like I cheat myself if I don't run.
So I've given myself so much to do today.
You know, if it pays off, fantastic.
And if it doesn't, it could be a disaster.
So, keep...keep sharp and focused.
So what are you doing, Tommy?
It's basically inspired by a deer in the woods, essentially.
So I'm doing roast saddle of venison, some baby globe artichoke
with some crispy artichokes as well.
A venison croquette on the side, pickled walnut ketchup.
Some crispy mushrooms there. Served with a venison sauce to finish.
What about pudding? So I'm doing, like, an espresso martini,
essentially. It's my favourite cocktail. I'm doing a coffee sponge
with a vanilla ice cream, some candied walnuts, a whisky jelly,
and then it'll be finished with, like, an espresso martini foam.
So, Tommy, sounds like you've got a lot of work
in both your dishes. Yeah.
Have you tried these dishes? I have.
It's definitely down to the wire,
so I'm definitely busy today, for sure.
His menu starts off with a venison main course.
We have the loin.
Tommy's got to make sure he really rests that loin of venison
well before it goes on the plate.
Tommy has got some lovely hen of the woods, which he says
he's going to finish off in a birch sap syrup.
Hopefully not too sweet, because that will just sort of ruin
these lovely mushrooms.
Tommy's dessert based on an espresso martini,
his favourite drink. The sponge,
when you're going to soak it with coffee, just got to make
sure it doesn't just fall apart and get too soggy.
We've got an espresso martini foam.
We want to taste the foam.
You know, it can't just disappear once it hits the plate.
Hopefully it's more of a mousse texture.
We've got a vanilla ice cream, and that's sort of probably
the neutral element of the dish, which I'm really looking forward to.
I really enjoy vanilla ice cream, and I think it'll work
great with this dish.
But the coffee flavour is a flavour that I do want to taste
in this dish. I want to taste the alcohol as well.
Sounds like a great menu here from Tommy.
I hope he can deliver it all in time.
Five minutes. And I have to say,
you three are really pushing this to the wire.
And let's get some food on these plates.
Everything's ready. Just final touches.
I want to make sure everything is really nice.
Are you going to be on time, Kasae? Yes, Chef. Yeah?
Yes, Chef.
You have only 60 seconds left.
Chefs, stop cooking. Time's up.
For a place in Finals Week,
James has served char siu monkfish tail finished on the barbecue,
with a charred and yuzu-butter-compressed romesco lettuce,
topped with barbecued fish roe,
with beetroot, kelp and kimchi ketchup...
...and spring onion emulsion,
finished with a char siu sauce with monkfish liver,
split with spring onion oil.
The monkfish - that's cooked nicely.
The char siu marinade has got a bit of sweetness running through it,
and I think the monkfish can take it because it's such a meaty fish,
it works really well.
This beetroot ketchup, with the saltiness of the seaweed
that you've added to it, that I like.
The spring onion emulsion on the side is way too salty.
The lettuce, which you've compressed, and the yuzu butter,
I like that, and I like you've got the texture of the roe on the top,
but it's been finished on the barbecue, and I think
it needs more flavours of that barbecue to go through it.
And the same with the fish. Yeah.
You've got big flavours on your plate.
There's no two ways about that, James.
The char siu sauce, it's big, it's bold, but there's something missing.
I don't know whether that for me is a bit of steamed rice,
just to neutralise the dish,
cos it's the big flavours that you've got sitting
around the plate.
For dessert, James has made a honey, whisky and yoghurt parfait,
sat on a bed of honeycomb crumb,
honey, lemon and whisky gel,
served with a honey tuille.
The texture of the parfait, it's gone a little bit soft,
but it's got great flavour. It's smooth, it's light,
it's got the right amount of sweetness
and the flavour of the honey is just divine.
You know, you've got this honey from your dad's hives.
It's absolutely delicious.
So, your dad should be very proud.
I'll tell his bees, yeah. Thank you.
I love the whisky warmth I get from that jelly.
It's floral at the same time. It's not too sweet.
And then, because you've been very generous with the amount
of honeycomb underneath, it's got a texture to it,
and it's just a delight to eat.
Oh, so tough, man. Like, I've rarely had...
...just everyone loves my dish.
Tough to call.
Tommy's main course is roast saddle of venison, served with a crispy
venison croquette, pickled walnut puree,
hen of the woods mushroom crisps,
baby globe artichokes,
caramelised Jerusalem artichoke puree,
hen of the woods glazed with birch sap syrup,
finished with a venison sauce.
The venison is cooked beautifully.
It is so tender.
I really like the venison croquette on the side there.
Oh! Delicious.
So we've got the Jerusalem artichoke, which you've made into
a puree, but it's been caramelised in a way that's just rich and...
Mm!
And then you've got the baby artichokes, which have been cooked
off and then seared in the pan.
Just wonderful.
Thank you.
The stars of this dish is the tenderness of the venison.
The beautiful venison sauce is delicious, creamy, rich.
The pickled walnut puree on the plate just brings acidity
and a great depth of umami-style flavour.
I like that a lot.
I love the way you've prepped the hen of the woods.
This is a dish of detail and depth.
A lot of work.
If this is a walk through the forest for you and this is the inspiration,
then keep walking, because this is great.
Inspired by an espresso martini cocktail,
Tommy's dessert is a coffee sponge soaked in kombucha coffee syrup,
honey whisky jelly, candied walnuts,
buckwheat tuille,
served with vanilla ice cream and finished
with an espresso martini foam.
What a fun dessert to look at once you put the ice cream and the foam
over the top.
The flavours of it,
I sort of feel like I'm enjoying an espresso martini.
The sponge, which you've soaked in a coffee kombucha,
I like that you haven't soaked it all the way through,
so there's still texture there.
You then have a vanilla ice cream, which is very much needed, a point
of neutral flavour on this plate.
It's a great dessert. It's very clever. Thank you.
Love the little gel on top, so you get a little hit of whisky.
And then, of course, you've got the walnuts as well that I love
in any cake. The martini foam...
I don't like coffee, espresso martinis at all, but I'm actually
loving this. When I get to taste flavours that I don't normally enjoy
in their real form as a martini,
I think it's great.
Has your cooking stepped up to another level?
Yes, it has. Without a doubt.
Two outstanding plates of food.
Thank you.
To hear from those two,
the comments I've just had, you know, I'm just so overwhelmed,
super happy. I'm buzzing.
Super happy with that.
Last up is Kasae.
Her main course is juniper-glazed duck breast,
sand carrot, brown butter and miso puree,
salted carrot and coriander salad...
...served with a duck leg waffle and duck jus gras sauce
split with pistachio oil.
The textures, the flavour, the duck cookery is excellent.
I love the way you cooked it on the crown.
The spices that you've got on top, slightly sweet but delicious
at the same time. The juniper that's running through it is a delight.
I think it's great.
Lovely sauce on the plate, split with oil, which I really enjoy.
Kasae, this is delicious.
This type of dish would work in any top restaurant.
It's excellent.
We've got a carrot puree here with a brown rice miso
running through it, so it's enriching it, it's made it salty.
You've got salted carrot on the side with coriander running through them.
Delicious. I love the way you've made this waffle.
Putting the con fit duck leg meat through it.
It's genius. It's fun. It's delicious.
Get you, Kasae!
For dessert, Kasae has made a Sauternes wine and olive oil cake,
dusted with fig leaf powder and icing sugar,
served with glazed figs, fresh cherries
and a cherry ripple and fig leaf ice cream.
The cake is beautiful and soft, and the sweetness
of the Sauternes running through it is delightful.
Figs, which are meant to be glazed, I feel are underwhelming.
There's just not enough of glaze there.
Fig leaf is a colossal flavour, and it's absolutely fantastic
in this ice cream. With the cherry ripple running through,
it just brings a bit of sweetness and sourness to the ice cream.
It's just so smooth and texturally beautiful.
But I think what would have made this dish better is a bit
more attention to the fruit.
It's too bland. It's too natural.
We want a little bit more.
That was a really high high, and then a pretty low low.
I knew that I kind of rushed the dessert towards the end.
It was a choice between get something on a plate or don't get
something on a plate. So...
Just time got away from me.
That was a fabulous cook-off. Three chefs determined to get themselves
into our Finals Week.
I think we have one standout of the three chefs. Hmm.
Tommy, for me, gave us the venison dish.
I just loved the flavours of this dish and the textures.
The skill he took to push the dish further.
And a dessert that was just delicious.
A coffee espresso martini pudding.
He, for me, was the chef of the day.
James gave us the char siu monkfish dish, and the lettuce
that had flavours of the yuzu butter. I loved them.
I just thought it needed more barbecue flavour.
I found the spring onion emulsion on the side just too salty, though.
I found that every area of the plate was incredibly rich.
I wanted something that just had a bit of neutral flavour,
just to bring it all together.
I really enjoyed James' dessert.
Delicious, creamy parfait.
I loved the whisky jelly. You know, the heat of the whisky
coming through it.
But his parfait wasn't quite set enough.
It should have been a little bit colder.
Kasae, with her duck main course, the spices that were wrapped
around that duck breast - cooked beautifully.
And then you take that waffle with the con fit duck meat.
Great food done well.
Kasae's pudding. I did enjoy the Sauternes cake.
It was nice and sweet, but not too sweet. Great texture.
Beautiful ice cream on the side, fig leaf with cherry.
That was great.
But then we had fruits not beautifully...
...prepared in any way. At this level, I thought
Kasae could have done so much more.
There were issues,
but it's really difficult to kind of call
it at this stage. Everyone's good.
No-one puts bad food up now.
I still feel like I've got more to give.
I'm still pushing and I still want to be here.
I've still got more creativity to show them.
Kasae and James - which one of these chefs is going
through to Finals Week?
What a day. To come back in here after spending time with Tom
and be inspired, full of energy
is exactly what we wanted to see here today.
All three of you gave it absolutely everything.
And you made our judging incredibly difficult.
But we can only take two chefs through to Finals Week,
and we have made our decision.
The chef leaving the competition is...
...James.
James, you, I know, are going to be incredibly disappointed,
but I think your competition has been exceptional.
And I think you should be very proud of what you've done.
Thank you.
James, I think you have a great career ahead, and I can't wait
to keep following you and see how you do.
I wish you the best of luck. Thank you very much.
Well done, guys. Cheers.
I think unless you win it, you are always
going to be disappointed.
But, yeah, to get this far has been cool. It's been really fun.
The whole thing, I'm going to look back in fondness, I think.
It's definitely not the last, definitely not the last
you'll see of me.
HE LAUGHS
Well done.
You two are in our Finals Week.
Oh!
I think it's just hit me. That I'm in the final four.
Pffff!
This feels like the biggest achievement of my career so far.
I'm so happy to be here, and I'm really, really excited
for the next few rounds. No more shakiness, though.
Yes! Champagne! I think you've earned this. Amazing.
There we go. Thank you. Congratulations. Well done. Cheers.
Well-earned. Cheers. Well done.
I just feel super lucky, really. To be in the final four...
Wow, you know? I feel like I'm in a dream, so, buzzing.
Final four! What the hell?
LAUGHTER
Next time, it's Finals Week...
...and the four remaining chefs...
...cook for a dining room of culinary legends...
Get that oven up hotter.
This is killing me. ..at Chef's Table...
This entire dish just eats like a dream.
...before battling it out for a place in the final three.
I have to say, I think this is a very accomplished dish.