It's finals week on MasterChef: The Professionals.
Only the four most exceptional chefs remain.
The journey of this competition has been just amazing.
Really, really tough, but it's just the best thing you could put
yourself in, I believe. You know, I've learnt so much.
Every part of me wants to be here and win, and hopefully that's enough
to give me the edge over everybody else.
Tonight they cook for a dining room of culinary legends...
Get that oven up hotter.
This is killing me.
This entire dish just eats like a dream.
...before battling it out for a place in the final three.
It's like touching distance now.
It's sort of scary to think about, but I'm ready to go.
I'm so amazed that I got through this far.
Being able to get through to the final three,
that would just be the cherry on top of the cake.
These final four chefs have come so far already, but they can't afford
to stop pushing now.
Our chefs have got to cook beyond their wildest dreams.
Dream big, and deliver even bigger.
For 15 years,
MasterChef: The Professionals' Chef's Table
has been one of the most celebrated events
in the British culinary calendar.
This year, it's being held at London's
St Pancras Renaissance Hotel,
in the legendary Midland Grand Dining Room.
Opened in 1873,
tonight, it will host a dinner for 24 of the most respected chefs
in the industry.
And for the finalists, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
to showcase their talents to their professional heroes.
Oh, my God, Chef's Table is the big one.
You know, like, this is the part where we all want to get to.
There's no other chance where we would really get to do this.
So it's a big boy today.
I've been watching this show since I was 16, you know,
and, like, in awe every year, how amazing it is, the opportunity,
and to be here is just really surreal.
So I'm really excited.
If I sit here and dwell on the fact
that it's some of the biggest names in the industry that I'm cooking
for, then, yeah, it's a big thing,
but I've just got to pull everything together and hope it goes well.
I think today is probably one of the biggest days of my life,
I'd say. I know it sounds a bit dramatic, but hopefully
I do myself proud.
The finalists have four hours to prepare one course each
for tonight's prestigious dinner.
We have chefs dining here today that have seen it all, experienced
it all - they want to be wowed.
This is when they have to impress.
This is a huge occasion.
And can our four chefs cook the food to match it?
It's scary in here. I thought I'd have the shakes, but I don't right
now, which is nice.
24-year-old sous-chef Tom from West Sussex has impressed
since day one, with his skilfully executed plates
and attention to detail.
I'm just going to get started on the gazpacho, because it's nice
for it to sort of infuse for a little bit.
Tonight, he will open the dinner with a cold starter, based
on some Spanish favourites.
Main flavours is obviously tomatoes, peppers,
sort of cucumber. It's sort of a mix of stuff, isn't it?
It's like a sort of cold soup.
Tom, first course, Chef's Table. What's your dish?
So it's poached Gambero Rosso prawns, gazpacho, tomato fondue
and celery sorbet.
I'm also doing little baby croutons that will be on the table for them
to sort of tuck into when the dish comes out.
It sounds good. Sounds delicious. Thank you. Why this dish?
I love going to Spain. I just...
I love all the flavours there, so I'm just trying to make something
creative and nice for today.
What's your biggest concern with your dish?
Probably peeling 90 prawns.
That's going to take a bit of time cos obviously
I don't want to send out any intestines to any chefs -
that would be very embarrassing. Tom, I wish you luck.
Thank you. Good luck.
I think there's a lot of familiarity with the dish,
because there's tomato gazpacho,
we've got croutons and, of course, those prawns.
It is all going to be about the execution and making those things
sing and dance to our guests.
So, right now, I'm just making a start on my celery sorbet.
Tom has juiced the celeries down and used that as the base
of the sorbet. So it's full of that flavours of celery.
I like that there's something different on this.
At 22,
Cornish head chef Charlie may be the youngest in the competition,
but his talent has shone through
in some standout, classic fish dishes.
Today, he has decided to showcase some different skills
with his second course of smoked duck breast, roast duck consomme
and pumpkin and sage ravioli.
So I've got the pumpkin and the squash here.
So I want to get this on roasted now
so it's nice and soft.
I'm going to make 100 raviolis, so they're getting three a portion.
Yeah, that's definitely my biggest job.
Yeah, just got to get my head down.
Where's the inspiration come from on this one?
I think with cooking for the best chefs in the country, a lot of them
being classically trained, I feel like I wanted to show
a classical element there.
What's going to make this dish stand out?
There's so many things I've got to get right.
Getting a real, clear consomme, a nice thickness on the pasts,
the cooking on the duck breast.
And if I get all that right in the time frame, that'll be enough.
It's going to take this dish to be something special,
because the classics are classics for a reason.
There's no room for error. 100%.
With the pumpkin for his pasta filling roasting,
Charlie needs to quickly make - and then rest - enough dough
for 90 ravioli.
Pasta is something I usually enjoy.
But then again, I'm not usually making it for 30 people all at once.
Time is not my friend today, so let's get on with it.
Ravioli. These chefs are going to be watching this pasta with eagle eyes.
It's got to be the right thickness.
Can they taste the filling?
Is it grainy? Is it well-seasoned?
Is it overpowering the consomme?
In total, I've got 50 eggs in here so far.
I'm doing it by hand because I haven't got a machine big enough!
The main course for tonight's dinner is in the hands of Somerset
head chef Tommy.
I've got a lot of onions going on.
I think 60 onions plus, I'll be looking at today, so just try not
to cry when I'm prepping them all down, I think.
Tommy earned his place in finals week with his sophisticated
and highly ambitious dishes, often echoing his love of Asian flavours.
And tonight's main course is no different.
So I'm doing miso-glaze sirloin of beef.
It's going to be cooked on the barbecue.
There'll be some, like, mini jacket potatoes, essentially.
I'm going to stuff those with, like, a caramelised onion,
anchovy, caper mix. I have, like, a smoked broccoli puree,
some ponzu-roasted Tenderstem.
And there'll be a little beef and onion dashi on the side as well,
so they can sip it as they're eating away, basically.
Sounds delicious. Sounds like a lot of work. Yeah.
We certainly don't envy you cooking 25 steaks for our chefs upstairs,
and also on one of the smallest barbecues I've seen in the kitchen!
Yeah, I'm scared. I'm feeling it.
Wow. You're doing them all individually?
I think so, yes.
Do you recommend otherwise?
It's your call.
The menu's finale has fallen to 29-year-old Australian
head chef Kasae.
It feels a bit weird to have my own little room.
I feel a bit isolated from everyone.
So far, she has delighted the judges with her quirky and original
flavour combinations.
And today, she is hoping to impress
with a highly technical and creative take on a classic confectionery.
So what is your dessert, then?
So, today, the dessert is inspired by Ferrero Rocher, something
we always used to have at Christmas-time as kids.
The main element of it is going to be a chocolate mousse.
It's going to have a cognac, caramel centre.
So a chocolate mousse, which you're setting in a sphere.
Then it's going to be dipped in chocolate cocoa nibs
and hazelnuts as well.
Just to kind of have a bit of reprieve from the sweetness,
it's going to have a creme fraiche sorbet with some shiso gel
on the side.
So, basically, it's going to like a larger version of the real thing.
More of it. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
More of a plated dessert version of it.
And a little bit more adult because of the cognac.
This dessert is showing amazing amount of skill.
So I'm just going to get my caramel into these little domes.
So you've got to make the caramel and cognac centre
You've got to get that frozen.
Then you've got to put that into your chocolate mousse,
get that bit frozen,
dip it into the tempered chocolate,
and then you've got to allow it to defrost inside
so it's nice and soft.
I want it to be not like a toffee,
I want it to be a little bit gooey and runny when you open
up the chocolate dome.
Every single point of it has to be perfect and just right.
Otherwise, it doesn't work.
Chefs, you're halfway through your prep time.
Tom, that's two hours gone. Two hours left to go before first dish
leaves the kitchen, OK? Oui.
With the clock ticking, Tom pre-balls his celery sorbet for
service and gets the tomatoes roasting down for his fondue.
How are you doing?
I'm just making sure I've got all my bits sort of on,
cos the prawns take me a bit of time.
But he's just beginning the time-consuming job of preparing
a mountain of Gambaro Rosso - red prawns.
There's 90 to 100 prawns.
He's taking the head and the shells. He's going to make
a beautiful prawn oil.
Your prawn head oil is going to be going into your tomato fondue?
Yeah. And then I'm going to sort of drip it around the plate
as well. Then he's taken the body and he's using those as the
main elements of the dish.
Peeling those, it's a monotonous job.
One prawn at a time,
it's all you can do.
I'll feel a lot better when these prawns are out the way.
Across the kitchen, Charlie has finished the prep for his pumpkin
ravioli, but he too is behind on the main element of his dish,
butchering the duck, which he plans to use three different ways.
So the breasts, I'm going to render them skin-side down in a pan, once
I've cleaned it up, and then carve it to order, nice and pink
on the inside.
He also has 30 duck hearts to prepare...
...and the duck carcasses to roast down for a crystal-clear consomme.
Is it not about time you got those ducks on for your stock?
Yeah, that's going in now. That's my next job.
Why have you not got them in now? I wanted to get everything done
with my pasta so I wasn't waiting around for them to cool down.
Yeah, but your stock is going to take hours.
Yeah, oui. Why don't you just get them in the oven? Get a move on.
Oui, Chef. I just went past Charlie.
His duck bones have just gone into the oven, and they're roasting.
He's then got to get the mirepoix cooked off, the bones in there,
then some water on top and let it simmer for the flavour to come
out of the bones.
That's before you even get to any point of reducing
it down before you can clarify it.
Schoolboy error. Put a knife through them.
The smaller they are, the quicker they're going to colour.
Yeah? And get that oven up hotter.
Yeah. Hotter oven.
Right now, he's under a huge amount of pressure.
On the main course, with the cooking of his steaks a last-minute job,
Tommy is working hard to maximise flavour in the seven accompaniments.
Just got my beef in the pan, caramelising it off for my sauce.
And that'll be taken off till the end, basically.
Got my dashi, just here, which I'm going to infuse
all my mushrooms and Japanese ingredients.
Then finish with my alcohol, sort of make sure it tastes good.
And to elevate his broccoli puree, he's adding smoked butter.
I want to get this done,
I want to start cooking my steaks, sort of bring everything together.
So things are happening.
Just not quite where I'd like to be yet.
In the pastry kitchen, Kasae has moved onto the second stage
of her technical dessert, making a milk chocolate mousse that will
encase the frozen caramel centres.
It is very hot in this little pastry kitchen.
I don't have any room or any time to slow down, otherwise everything's
just going to melt and it won't be as light and fluffy
as I need it to be.
So caramel inserts going to go on.
Yeah, exactly. I'll put the tops on, fill the rest of them
up so they're perfect little domes. Yeah.
Get them straight in the freezer.
As soon as they're frozen, dip them. Let them temper in the fridge.
I like that. Keep it going. Thank you, Chef.
With her moulds filled and in the freezer, Kasae begins
the delicate job of making 30 chocolate and olive oil pastry cups
for them to sit in.
This is the wrapper of my dessert, really.
So it's there, really, to act, obviously, as a visual element,
but to add a little bit of crunchy texture to the dish as well.
I'm getting quicker. These are only my first few.
So, hopefully by the 15th, I'll be twice as quick.
The guests arriving for tonight's dinner are some of the UK's most
highly acclaimed chefs, who hold
an incredible 22 Michelin stars between them.
For me, this is the pinnacle of MasterChef.
It's the young talent coming through our industry.
I look around the room and it's filled with friends of mine,
but if I was to cook for them, I'D be nervous!
But ultimately, it's the best criticism that you can ever get,
because it will only make you better.
Today is about bringing those big, bold flavours and blowing
us all away.
The diners also include three chefs who took part in the competition,
and have gone on to have stars of their own.
What I remember about my Chef's Table?
I remember running around frantically for five hours,
and I know exactly what those chefs downstairs are feeling right now.
So, you know, best of luck to all of them.
Chefs, you have one hour left before the first course needs
to be served.
Are you still going with these prawns?!
Yeah. Is there anything else to do on this dish? Yes.
HE LAUGHS This is killing me.
It's just, like, the pinching.
Like, I'm actually getting fatigued on my fingers.
I think I've given myself a little too much to do, if I'm being honest.
But just got to pull my finger out and get it done.
Tom is not the only one struggling.
Charlie finally has his duck stock base for the consomme under way.
But with the clock against him, he tries to make up time
by juggling pasta making...
with pan-searing his duck breasts.
How many have you got left to do? I'm a third of the way.
So now I'm going for big sheets, doing big batches at one time.
SIZZLING
I really hope this is the last ravioli I ever make.
On the main, Tommy is still battling to perfect the other elements
of the dish so he can begin to sear his sirloin steaks.
Just tasted my broccoli puree.
Brought it all together. It's not quite as smoky as I like it to be.
You know, these sort of details,
the chefs are definitely going to pick up on.
On pastry, at last Kasae moves on to the third and final stage
of the spheres, dipping them into chocolate, hazelnut
and cocoa nib coating.
But if they're not set, they could fall apart in the mix.
They're just not all frozen solid, which is not ideal.
Hopefully it's just this tray.
Hopefully the rest of them are frozen enough.
These are kind of my main element, so if these aren't very good,
then...I won't be happy.
With service about to begin...
...Tom's prawns are finally poached and are ready to serve.
And after infusing the ingredients for over three hours,
it's the moment of truth for his gazpacho.
What's the one thing that's not? Er, cold.
And you're just about to serve it into jugs?
Yeah, I'm flapping is what I'm doing.
Why are you flapping? Because it means a lot to me.
So let's get it in the fridge.
When you read, "Gambero Rosso Red Prawns," sweetest prawns
you can get in the Mediterranean. With the gazpacho,
and then you got the prawn oil to lift that intensity of the prawns.
Celery sorbet. I love celery.
This is music for my ears.
Your balloon is not deflating, is it? No, no, I'm good.
I'm good. I'm just stressed.
Welcome to Chef's Table, Tom.
Good to be here.
So, tomatoes, fondue - is that all right? Yeah.
Right, Tom, you've got five minutes left, right? Oui.
Tom, are you happy with how your dish is turning out? Yeah.
I mean, if I had a bit more time, I'd make sure
they're really perfect.
You did spend two hours on your prawns. Yeah.
I didn't expect them to take so long, if I'm being honest.
Celery sorbet sounds a little challenging to me.
But then having said that, celery and seafood goes incredibly well.
Your time is up. Oui.
They are now waiting. For me, in the gazpacho,
I'm looking for a little bit of sweetness, but also that beautiful
level of acidity, that really clean, fresh flavour, but be able to taste
all the elements that have gone in there.
Service, please.
Super-clean presentation. Smells great.
Two tables have got food. Now you've got to start speeding up.
Yeah. Looks good, Tom.
Thank you.
The dish is very vibrant, very fresh.
Can't wait to dig in.
Service, please.
Today was stressful from the beginning to the end,
to be honest. Probably aged a few years after today.
I just hope they enjoy it.
That was absolutely on point.
You could really taste the flavour of the prawns.
It wasn't overpowered by the gazpacho, and it just was exciting
to eat.
The gazpacho was absolutely beautiful.
Celery sorbet - a real pungent flavour of celery coming through.
As I'm shovelling it in
my gob, I'm really enjoying it, and I think the balance
of flavour is lovely.
I found the dish really fresh, really interesting,
and it was a delicious plate of food to eat, in my opinion.
The gazpacho has got loads of flavour.
The prawns are beautiful.
I really like the celery sorbet, and actually eating it together
with the dish, it does lift it.
This is an accomplished dish that's got great flavours.
He's done a good job.
APPLAUSE
Hi, Tom. As a Spanish,
I think you make the most delicious gazpacho.
I thought it was a very, very delicious dish,
so congratulations.
Tom, it really did not disappoint.
I think the texture was amazing and the flavour really came through.
So I thought it was a very, very strong first dish.
Thank you.
APPLAUSE
Standing up there felt a bit strange.
You don't really expect to see all those amazing chefs in one room,
you know?
I think it was really an amazing experience.
Next up to the pass is Charlie.
How's your consomme going? Yeah, stock's looking good.
I'm going to go in with my egg whites.
I'm literally waiting on my consomme to clarify.
Once that's passed off, should be in a good place.
We'll see.
So the second course... I love duck. You know, smoked duck especially.
I think it's really tasty.
Interesting to see that they're using the hearts as well.
I think they're either really delicious and very tender
and bags of flavour,
but if it doesn't go right, obviously that's the risk element
for me.
Right, Charlie, this is where we need to start to step it up a gear.
The roast duck consomme, making sure this is crystal clear,
full of flavour
is going to be a big, big challenge for this chef.
On top here is the egg white.
If I start smashing that up, that's going to turn the whole consomme
cloudy and destroy everything.
What's left to do?
Cook pasta, slice duck heart, Chef.
Duck's looking really nice. Little nervous about service.
Just got to get my head down, make sure I'm nice and organised.
There's so many pitfalls that you can make on this.
You know, the thickness of the pasta, how full your ravioli
is, what the texture of that is on the inside.
Kasae, can you do me a favour... Uh-huh. ..and carve these?
Uh-huh. Thank you.
Charlie, how long for this first table?
Because they are waiting.
First table, one minute until sending, Chef.
One minute? Yes, oui. Impressive.
How are the raviolis? Yeah, looking good.
That's the chestnut puree, yeah? Yes, oui.
I was optimistic on that minute, chef.
Sorry.
You need to speed up a bit.
Service, please.
Yeah, it looks great.
The consomme looks quite clear and very nice smell.
Could you put three broad beans and three pickles on each
plate, please? And then three radishes on each as well,
please, Chef?
Service, please.
The smell of the consomme is delicious.
You can really get that roasted duck.
Charlie, last two tables. Yes, oui. Six plates.
Service, please.
Are you pleased with the dish? I'm pleased with the flavours, yeah.
Good job. Good on, you. Well done. Well done.
Yeah, that was tough.
Maybe I underestimated the mountain I was about to climb,
but I'm really glad I'm through on the other side, so...
So I find the dish very interesting and very nice, actually.
The consomme, it was a proper consomme,
so it really meet the expectation.
Very high level of "technicity” behind. The cooking of the duck
was nice. The pasta, if anything, was a little bit thick.
But in this sort of setting,
with these people in the room, no mean feat.
I would say the thing that packed most of a punch
was the duck hearts.
They had big flavour, a little touch of livery flavour
going through there.
And I like the fact that a chef's using the offal.
Being somebody that cooks over fire a lot and kind of being my thing,
I would have loved a little bit more smoky element to it.
But all being said, it was a very beautiful dish, very pretty,
and I enjoyed it.
The consomme's got a beautiful colour to it.
You can taste the aromats through it.
It's wonderful.
The ravioli's got nice sweetness to it. I think the hearts are
beautifully cooked as well.
I'm happy with this.
APPLAUSE
Hey, Charlie, thank you very much for all what you did today.
The consomme was very, very good.
A lot of technique behind,
and you can really see that you know how to cook it.
Thank you. I think you didn't make life easy for yourself.
Three little ravioli there was not something I'd have chosen to do,
I don't think. Personally, possibly the pasta was a little bit thick,
but well done, great job.
Thank you.
Going through that experience is something that I'll never, ever
have the privilege or the stress of doing again,
so I'm really glad that I enjoyed what I could and I'm glad
it turned out all right.
It's almost time for the main course,
and Tommy is finally under way with the challenge of perfectly
cooking 25 steaks on a tiny barbecue grill.
Tommy, you don't want this.
Very careful.
It's the flame, you want to be careful with the flame,
control the flame. Yes, Chef.
Some of them are dripping a lot of fat and darkening up quite a lot,
which is not ideal.
It's very small, it's very difficult to get them all cooking.
What have you left to do?
I need to cook off my Tenderstem in ponzu really quickly,
slice my steaks, peel my potatoes,
so it's all kind of going on last-minute.
This dish, the beef sounds right up my street.
It's got a lovely mix of Asian elements
with classical French techniques.
Anchovy, big flavour. Smoked broccoli puree, big flavour.
Ponzu, big flavour. There's a lot going on, and to balance
all those flavours is going to be super-challenging.
So is that your caramelised onion and anchovy mix?
Yes. Nice.
Then I just top these with the crispy onion. Mm!
The restaurant is now ready, OK? So let's get this going.
Miso-glazed sirloin beef, smoky, medium-rare, nice, sticky,
kind of sweet-sour glaze on the outside.
Is everything cooked and tasting how you planned there, Tommy?
Things seem to be OK.
I'm hoping the steaks are nice and cooked and well-rested.
You need to start getting some of these out.
Yeah. Meat, sauce, we go, yeah?
I think beef and onion sauce and dashi, bring it on.
Service, please.
Let's pick up the pace, guys.
Right, so six portions of Tenderstem, stuffed my potatoes.
You need to find another gear.
Yes, Chef.
Service, please.
OK, Tommy, keep your focus.
I could smell this dish when it was coming in. Yeah. It looks banging.
It looks banging, it looks really inviting.
The beef looks like it's cooked just right.
I can see there's a bit of pink through it.
Last six. Oui.
Is this going to be a painful six? No, Chef.
Service, please. Thank you.
Thanks so much, Tom.
I think it's a great dish.
I think it's so tasty.
It's beautifully cooked.
This little glass of joy is incredible.
I love it.
For me, this is a wow dish.
When you think of beef and onion, it's quite a classic combination,
but there's an elegance in here that is beautiful.
Potato was delicious with the caramelised onion and just a nice
little hint of anchovy, like a seasoning.
It's wonderful.
The smokiness of that broccoli puree really adds to the beef.
I think it's a very accomplished plate of food.
The Asian kind of approach to the dish, I thought
was inspiring. It was super-tasty.
This entire dish just eats like a dream.
I would eat it again. If there's any going, I'll have it.
It's big, it's bold.
My steak is cooked beautifully.
The flavour of the dashi is rich in beef.
That's delicious.
Tommy, congratulations,
that's a wonderful dish. I thought the broth was great.
It was very moreish, got a huge amount of flavour.
Every element on the plate cooked to perfection.
Bravo, well done.
I thought the meat was nice and tender.
I thought your sauce on your beef was super-yummy.
That little potato, very tasty.
You should be super-proud of yourself. Thanks a lot, Chef.
Wow!
HE LAUGHS
Yeah, I mean, it was super-super-cool,
going up there, just looking
around and just constantly thinking like, "Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow,"
it's just all these amazing chefs.
Yeah, I feel like I'm on cloud nine now.
HE LAUGHS
I need a day off, I think, to be fair, after that.
Last to serve is Kasae, whose confectionery spheres have finally
set solid enough to finish.
Yeah, the first batch was not great.
I'm not sure what happened, if they just weren't
quite frozen enough. But these ones are OK.
Charlie is helping to make up time, but there's still a long list
of things to do before plating.
I haven't even started my caramel hazelnuts.
I need to blend up a shiso gel, cut some jelly and plate.
If we thought some of those courses before were complicated,
wow, there's a lot going on - the sphere,
there's the tart, there's the jelly.
Oh!
Is it set underneath? The candied hazelnuts...
I'm having some regrets on my choices of garnish.
...and the sorbet and the gel.
I mean, that really is quite daring, isn't it?
How are we for your dessert?
Erm, plating now, Chef.
What's the pastry?
Pastry is an olive oil and chocolate pastry.
Just, like a nice, crunchy element.
Yeah, I think there's a lot of, like, technical things
that need to come together here.
The milk chocolate and hazelnut sphere.
Is it a mousse? It's got to be perfectly round,
that can crunch on the outside.
They've given themselves a challenge, I think, on this one.
That jelly presentation is not how you expected it to be, is it?
No, Chef. It was a bit softer-set than what I expected.
The creme fraiche sorbet, that sounds really interesting.
And that her by shiso gel,
I'd love to see how that sort of gives a light relief
to all the rich elements that are on this dessert.
Kasae, you have to hurry up. Yes, Chef. Your sorbet's literally
melting right in front of you. Yes, Chef. Service, please!
I think this looks really great.
There's clearly a lot of work that's gone into this.
It looks very technical. It's quite refined.
That looks like a Ferrero Rocher.
Absolutely, yeah.
Service, please.
Go, the sorbet. Can you put hazelnuts on top, Chef?
Yes, oui.
What is this middle layer?
Last six, yeah? Yes, Chef!
Make it count. Oui.
Service, please.
To be honest, this is probably the first time in four hours
that I've thought about who's up there eating it.
I've tried to block it out of my mind for a minute just so I can
crack on with it and get it done.
But now I'm a little bit nervous.
I think there's a lot of technique shown in this plate of food,
you know, dip in and get that fine, absolutely fine
crack of the ball on the outside, the shell itself in the tart,
so it's not too thick.
The set-ness of the mousse so they complement each other.
What a dessert to finish on.
I love texture.
That dish was all about texture.
That's the crunch, a bit of chewiness as well,
the creaminess, the balance there was fantastic.
I thought this dessert was really delicious.
Lovely, refreshing creme fraiche sorbet.
I think they should be very proud of themselves.
I think this chef pushed a lot today.
It was very well-executed.
I'm very happy that I have ended with this beautiful dessert.
Crunchy chocolate on the outside,
chocolate mousse, nice and smooth, sorbet was melting, but
it's got a little bit of sharpness to it from the creme fraiche.
I think the idea of this is very, very good.
How was that? Terrifying. Terrifying?
I can imagine why. A lot of technical elements there to pull
off, all the different layers, the textures.
I think you should be very proud of what you've done today,
and, you know, a fantastic job.
Thank you.
What can I say? I mean, the technical ability that you showed
in that dish today,
you must have been really pushing yourself because chocolate is a real
rich flavour, but it was also quite light at the same time.
And that creme fraiche was a great addition to sorbet to really cut it,
so well done. Thank you.
Oh, my God, I feel happy!
If you told me when I first started my career that I would be cooking
for some of the chefs that I idolised the most,
I would probably laugh at you...
SHE LAUGHS
...especially if you told me they were all in one room together.
No, that was a very weird, surreal, amazing, scary experience.
Chef's Table is one of the toughest challenges that we get our
chefs to face. And it's our job to take them on this journey,
to bring the best out of them. There is no two ways about it,
they're going to sleep well tonight.
It's been a crazy day.
Such a whirlwind of emotions.
Yes! But super-grateful, really amazing opportunity.
I'll just never forget this day as a whole.
We've now got to go back and compete for our place in the final three,
so we've got to bring that same ambition and same drive
that we just bought to Chef's Table.
To think that one of us has to leave in the next
round is difficult to comprehend.
One thing for sure is that I don't want it to be me.
It would mean a lot to me to get through to the final three.
All the work I've put in to be here now, really done myself proud,
so hopefully, I can continue to do so. I'm not done fighting yet.
Chefs, here you are back in our kitchen,
ready to fight it out to be a part of our final three.
We want you to cook one amazing dish inspired by the place
that you consider home.
At the end of this, one of you will be leaving the competition.
Chefs, 1 hour and 45 minutes to give us your particular magic.
Off you go.
There's definitely an atmosphere in here, you know,
it's an important day.
I think everyone's got a little bit of nerves,
so I'm glad I'm not the only one. I've got a lot of
things that need to be perfect today,
I don't think my dish really leaves anywhere to hide.
I come from a small town called Mildura in Victoria, Australia.
Farming town, very rural. It's, like, the next-biggest town away
from us is four and a half hours.
You kind of use all the produce and everything that's from your town
and everything's locally grown,
so that was really cool to grow up with.
What are you making, Kasae, what's your special dish?
Erm, I'm cooking kangaroo for you today.
I'm going to do a kangaroo-style tartare.
Have you had kangaroo before? I haven't, actually, no. Oh, really?
It's going to have a beef jus jelly,
some cured egg yolks, wattleseed and soy sauce.
I'm doing some new age damper as well to eat it with.
What's a damper?
So damper is what the bushmen used to cook out in the outback
when they didn't have anything, they would literally just have flour
and water and mix it together. It's a really kind of dense, heavy bread.
And what's wattle?
So wattle is a tree, a wattle tree,
and you harvest the seeds from it and they've almost
got a chocolaty, toasty, coconutty kind of flavour to them.
If you make final three, can you grab the trophy?
SHE LAUGHS
I'm going to try!
I'm going to fight for it, that's for sure.
I'm looking forward to try my first kangaroo dish.
Thank you very much. Shall we hop off?
Hey! Wahey!
The biggest risk for Kasae is going to be the tartare itself.
She's got it in to cure.
She's then going to put a rub around the kangaroo
and then she's going to just quickly char that over the barbecue
just to get a little bit of charring on the outside.
I'm not really looking to cook the meat.
I want it to just be, like, slightly seared just to give
that toasty flavour throughout.
Toast the spices on top of it as well.
The damper, which is a flour and water mix, she's adding some
yeast into it just to give it a bit
of aeration, just to lighten it up a little bit.
I'm really pleased that she's doing something that is really Australian,
it's great.
I think cooking's a lot about, like, emotion and stuff and, like, passion
and everything. So it's quite a personal dish.
It's nice memories, so that should hopefully help me get through it.
What's the inspiration for your dish, Tom?
I've got this lovely cherry tree in my garden. That cherry tree's
got a lot of good memories for me.
I was always climbing up it, attempting to build tree houses.
So you are going to try and produce the memory of the cherry tree
on a plate?
Yeah, absolutely. So at the bottom I've got frangipane.
Then I'm going to top that with a little bit of cherry pate de fruit,
chocolate ganache, fresh cherries around the edge.
I've made a chocolate choux pastry. I'm just going to pipe it
really thin so it resembles little branches. Then I've just got
the marzipan leaves, and then I'm
finishing it with a toasted almond ice cream on the side. You don't
want to miss out on a place in the final three, do you now, my friend?
No, absolutely not. I'm here for the long run, so hopefully, I can see it
through. You've already been on the long run,
we've only got a little bit to go. Exactly.
I don't want to fall at the last hurdle, it would be a real shame.
Tom, I like the sound of your dessert. Good luck. Thank you.
Tom is doing a frangipane and cherry dessert.
Cherries and almonds, they're flavours that work so well together.
Frangipane sponge, you'll want to taste
the almond essence running through it.
Soft, moist, like an oily texture.
You don't want it to be dry.
Overcooked, and it's just going to be game over.
And then he's making the pate de fruit of cherry,
which is like a pectin-set jelly.
And he's going to then layer it on.
Really curious about this presentation. It sounds fun!
I actually can't wait to see how it's going to look.
Chefs, we are halfway.
I want to execute this dish as best as I possibly can.
Definitely feeling it, so head down and go.
Tell us, what does home mean for you?
Home is somewhere where you feel at home, I believe.
So for me, what I've chose to do is actually my current workplace,
just purely because, you know, I'm there all the time.
We walk around the garden every day just before service, picking herbs,
looking for inspiration. You know, there's a rabbit in the garden.
Want you to feel like you're at my workplace.
Interesting for Tommy, he's bringing a dish from his workplace
where he feels he spends most of his time.
Or where, I suppose, for most chefs, the kitchen is home.
Tom is using rabbit.
It's a very tender meat and quite light in flavour as well.
He's got the loin, which is going to be the main element of the dish.
Be very careful, there's no fat on the loin of a rabbit,
so gently into the water bath,
and then just very, very quickly seal gently in a pan
with a little bit of butter.
So the trim, I use the sauce, the kidneys
I'll keep aside for a nice, crispy element on the dish.
I'm going to braise down the leg, combine it with some rabbit sauce
that's going to go in my little tart shell on the side, basically.
So everything's getting used.
I don't want any waste with this.
And now we've got, like, sort of courgette garnishes,
got courgette flower, which is stuffed with mushy peas.
Brined courgette, con fit courgette, got some broad beans.
There's peas which are podded with
lovage oil elderflower emulsion. You know, the list just goes
on and on and on.
Tommy's always doing more than sometimes is needed,
but he does push himself.
But what Tommy can't afford to do is give himself too much work.
At this stage of the competition, every element of the dish
has to be perfection on a plate.
Chefs, you have 35 minutes left, please.
The inspiration behind this dish is a hybrid of two things.
One is my absolute love of brunch,
it's my favourite meal of the day.
I'd rather go out for brunch with my wife
than maybe instead of going out for a fine-dine dinner.
And then also I wanted to tie that in with my love for Cornwall,
so all the ingredients I'm using are inspired by Cornwall.
What does Cornwall mean to you there, Charlie?
It's just where I've grown up. For me, it's just a safe haven.
All my family are there.
Generations all the way up through are Cornish
through and through. Charlie, tell us the dish that's going to catapult
you to the final three.
So I've got sea bass,
and then on the side of that
I've got a crispy, soft-boiled hen's eqggq.
I've then got con fit and crispy potato, and then I've got a tomato
and seaweed hollandaise as well.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
So fish and boiled egg? Yes.
Go on, tell me about that combination, that is unusual.
I don't think it's too far-fetched at all.
It's all very brunchy.
So I've gone for that eqg, the potato representing a hash
brown, the hollandaise.
It's brave, but I'm going with it. Good luck. Thank you.
Charlie has taken two fillets of sea bass, and he's used
the remainder of the sea bass to make a mousse.
That mousse is being used like a glue to bind
the two fillets together,
and he's rolled it into a large cylinder and he's water-bathed it.
This is being served as a crispy, soft-boiled egg.
I've had fish with brunch before.
Smoked salmon, haddock, for example.
But I've never had a sea bass dish with a crispy egg on the side.
Chefs, I don't want to scare you, but you have ten minutes. Oui!
Yeah, the bread's looking good.
Once they go on the barbecue, they'll get a nice toasting to them
with the glaze.
Right, come on.
You've got about eight minutes to go.
There's lots of component parts to your dish. Are you OK?
I've got a lot to do now, so I need to just cook everything off
last minute, dress everything.
Plating up's going to be a little while, so...
Definitely up against it, I know.
This is ridiculous.
Oh, my God!
Fish has been portioned.
Yeah, looking good.
How are we doing? Yeah, good. I was having a bit of trouble
with the ganache, but I just sort of calmed down and put it in
the freezer, gave it a few minutes and then did it, and it's OK now.
Two minutes!
Come on, come on. Bit of push.
Very, very last touches, please.
Tommy? Yeah? You have to get this stuff on the plate. Yes, Chef.
You can't mess around with herbs now, you haven't got time.
That's it! Chefs, stop!
Well done.
That went so fast.
Like, ridiculously fast.
In tribute to her homeland of Australia,
Kasae has made a kangaroo tartare smoked with eucalyptus,
cured and seared kangaroo fillet in a spice rub
topped with a beef jus
and wattleseed jelly,
con fit egg yolk and pickled onions
served with mustard mayonnaise,
a sea vegetable sauce
and soy with wattleseed,
and damper and wattleseed bread with a Vegemite glaze.
You've got a really interesting spice rub here that you would
normally find on dried beef.
So it's tasting a little bit like a salty biltong.
Meaty. And it's good.
This bread is really light.
I can't remember having wattleseed before, and I'm not really picking
up anything that might be chocolaty or cocoa-y,
but I think your flavours and textures are lovely.
I think the kangaroo is delicious.
And the really big hit of the jelly.
Strength of flavour gives this dish body.
And then the luxury and the smoothness and the richness
of the beautiful confited egg is spectacular.
Little sauces that you've got around the outside bring sweet
and sour and more richness.
And I have to say, I think this is a very accomplished dish.
Thank you.
You couldn't make it any more Australian than serving us
a kangaroo tartare with eucalyptus smoke and a new age damper.
I mean, I think it's really delicious.
Massive relief. I was happy that I got an opportunity to show them some
of the flavours that I love and miss so much from Australia.
You smashed it. I didn't think I was going to.
It's really good.
I can't say that I'm unhappy with my feedback.
Not at all.
Inspired by both the produce of Cornwall and brunches
with his wife,
Charlie's dish is poached Cornish sea bass filled with a
sea bass and chervil mousse,
a crispy, soft-boiled egg with caviar,
crispy potato and seaweed fondant
topped with crispy fish skin and sea herbs,
and a Cornish seaweed and tomato hollandaise.
The sea bass, the way it's been cooked,
it's so lovely.
It's just flaking away.
Potato fondant, crispy.
The seaweed running through it.
Loving the egg with the caviar as well.
I'm loving them separately,
but I honestly... This boiled egg has no business being
on the sea bass for me. I actually didn't enjoy it at all.
Fish cookery, fantastic.
Your mousse in the centre,
a little bit on the grainy side.
Your hollandaise is rich, delicious.
It's classical in so many different ways,
it's beautifully executed
but, for me, the slightly grainy mousse is just taking my attention.
Technically very, very good indeed.
But I just don't want to put that rich, thick yolk
onto that delicate fish flesh.
Thank you, Chefs.
Tough judging session for me, I think.
Pros and cons.
I liked the egg and the sea bass, but...that's OK.
When I designed the dish, I could really get on board with it.
They didn't share the same enthusiasm.
That's fine.
For a place in the final three,
Tommy's garden-inspired dish is
poached rabbit loin with crispy rabbit kidney,
courgette flowers stuffed with mushy peas,
con fit and brined courgette,
compressed peas, broad beans, charred spring onions,
pea and lovage puree
and a rabbit sauce...
...with a croustade of rabbit leg and peas
in an elderflower emulsion.
You were rushed towards the end.
The flowers split open.
Also we've got little bits of onion that could do with trimming up.
Yeah.
There's some really good touches here.
Your rabbit loin is cooked really, really well.
Those little crispy kidneys. Paneed, crispy on the outside.
Very, very good indeed.
That sauce is lovely.
There's a slight acidity to it, there is body to it.
Really good touches. Can clearly see how good you are and also
can clearly see that you've run out of time.
Yeah. Thank you. There's no two ways about it -
you've certainly got the inspiration of the garden.
Love the little crushed peas inside the courgette flower.
That is absolutely delicious.
This little croustade on the side was your opportunity to really give
us some big rabbit flavour.
And I think it's just lacking, though. It's too small,
but it's still a very good dish.
Tommy, you're definitely driving and pushing when you're in the kitchen.
I admire that.
It is nicely cooked, but I find the vegetables,
if you had stopped at one or two things and focused
more of the attention on the other parts here,
it would make this plate really sing.
But I've enjoyed a lot of it.
Dove straight in, you know?
It's annoying because I had a real vision
and I knew what I wanted. I just couldn't get it done.
I literally needed, like, two more minutes, man. It would have...
I would have just had it nice.
It's tough.
Finally it's Tom, whose dessert is an homage
to the family cherry tree - an amaretto-soaked frangipane base
topped with cherry pate de fruits jelly,
dark chocolate ganache and cherries,
with chocolate choux pastry branches,
almond tuiles and marzipan leaves
and a toasted almond ice cream.
Your frangipane base, it is delicious.
Great texture, almond running through it
and also got a little bit of oiliness, too,
which is absolutely fantastic.
Your almond ice cream is sensational.
I could really taste the toasted almonds in it.
The ganache is such a rich flavour,
it's overpowering everything.
Tom, I really like dark, bitter chocolate desserts.
So the ganache, for me, I like it.
Your pate de fruits works so beautifully well with it.
This is a side I've not seen from you,
a dessert this complex,
and I like it. Thank you.
Your dessert here,
I've almost got it in two halves.
I'm going towards a Bakewell tart down the bottom here,
and at the top I'm going Black Forest gateau.
Luckily for you, two things that I really, really like.
I think that's really, really quite delicious.
Thank you.
Yeah, I'm glad I took the risk of doing a dessert.
It was nice to sort of showcase that I can do both.
I think it went, overall, went pretty well.
Hopefully I've done enough, you know?
We've tasted the dishes and we've had a little taste of home
from our four chefs.
However, we are looking for a final three.
Could you pick a favourite?
I've got one. Kasae did a great job today, I have to say.
I don't think I've ever thought my favourite dish
of the day would be a kangaroo dish.
Love the spicing, the richness, the egg, the smokiness.
Loved the bread on the side.
Well, if we all like her, then we know where she's going.
She's going to the final three.
If there's another chef that I think has done enough to go through,
I would say, Tom. I am actually inclined to agree.
That frangipane with that cherry jelly was just absolutely delicious.
Cherries on top of that as well, and chocolate.
I thought it was great.
You're happy with Tom? I'm happy with Tom.
We now need to make a decision between Charlie and Tommy. Mm.
See, this is when it gets hard.
Two very, very good chefs, one had a fish dish,
one had a rabbit dish.
Lots of skill, very demanding cookery,
but little errors on both plates.
What are we going to do?
Today, I'm proud of myself to execute the dish I did.
I did that dish to the best of my ability, I feel.
It's a shame that certain elements didn't come together
in their minds.
I've just got to take it on the chin.
Fingers crossed I can make it through to the final three.
I feel like the judging is going to be very tight.
It's just the smallest mistakes that's going to cost you,
so I'm definitely on the chopping block.
Well done, all four of you.
As I'm sure you can appreciate,
this was a very big decision for us to make.
You have come such a long way and have achieved so, so much.
We're looking for our final three - which, of course,
means that one of you is now leaving the competition.
The chef leaving the competition is...
It's Charlie.
Charlie, sorry to see you go.
Congratulations on everything you've achieved.
Can we shake your hand before you go? Come on.
MONICA: Yeah. I'd really love to. Cheers, my friend.
Thank you so much. Thanks for everything you guys taught me.
MONICA: Bring it in. Yeah. Yeah.
Take care. Thank you so much.
Something makes me feel we might be seeing you soon.
Charlie, thank you very much indeed.
I'm just happy to have got this far, if I'm honest.
I'm up against three other great chefs, you know,
it was never going to be easy.
Today, it didn't work out for me, and that's OK.
I've had a really good journey, I think.
I think I've found myself as a chef.
Yeah. A lot of things to be proud of.
Congratulations, Chefs,
you are the MasterChef final three.
Yay! Let's go! Let's go.
Chefs, we have got something rather special for you.
We are sending you
to Denmark, where you are going to be working
with undoubtedly one of the world's most visionary chefs.
You are going to be cooking with Rasmus Munk
at Alchemist in Copenhagen.
Oh, my God!
We will see you there.
You're going to have your minds blown.
That's quality.
Oh, my God! That's quality.
Yeah, I feel like I'm shaking a little bit.
Being here is incredible, yeah.
I don't even know how to put into words how I feel right now.
Not accurately.
This is definitely the biggest thing I've ever done,
and sort of just being in the top three is pretty crazy,
pretty unexpected. Excited to tell my mum and dad that
I got through now. They'll be chuffed to bits.
Final three!
I'm well chuffed, so happy.
I'm in shock. I'm actually in shock.
To go to Copenhagen, I can't wait.
Buzzing. I've wanted to go there for so long, so...
And also to get...a part of that kitchen of that, you know, calibre.
Yeah, it's just next level.
Next time...
Strap yourselves in, ladies.
...Tommy, Kasae and Tom...
...are taken on a culinary trip like no other...
...as they experience working...
CHEF GASPS
...at the world's most inventive, daring...
Oh! ..and provocative restaurant.
That's the most thought-provoking thing I've ever eaten in my life.