It's knockout week on MasterChef: The Professionals.
Last time, five of the remaining ten chefs
manned the MasterChef pop-up restaurant.
Oh, my God! Want a bit of space!
Dan, with his reinvented jacket potato and beans, came out on top.
Absolutely sensational!
In the final cook off, Jordan was sent home.
Now, the second group of five must fight for their place
in the semifinals.
The pressure is on today.
You have to be perfect. One little mistake and that's it.
The semifinals, they're so close.
Today it's be the best, or go home.
This competition is all of my life at the moment.
It's all I think about.
And if I got to go that one step further, that would be unbelievable.
Two huge challenges between these chefs and the semifinals.
This is an opportunity that they need to nail.
It's early morning...
..and Michael, Dani, Gaston, William and George...
..are arriving in central London for their first challenge
outside the MasterChef kitchen.
MONICA: We are now into the pop-up world and what an opportunity
for our chefs.
A chance for our chefs to show some of the leading lights
in the pop-up world how good they really are.
Chefs, good to see you. Welcome to Market Halls.
The MasterChef pop-up kitchen.
The last five chefs really did impress our guests.
They have set the bar very, very high.
We want you now to surpass that.
Show them what you're all about.
We have invited 22 of some of the top talent in the pop-up world
to try your food today.
We're asking our guests to vote for their favourite dish.
The chef with the most votes will go straight through to our semifinals.
You've got to impress.
You have three hours until lunch. I wish you the best of luck.
Off you go.
Sharing work space in tightly packed kitchens,
the chefs will have to adapt quickly to deliver their dishes
to the pop-up guests.
This is so foreign to me.
Kitchens are all about, like, having a team there and stuff.
This is a little bit solo, this.
I am nervous, I'm not going to lie.
Today it's an opportunity for my food to stand out.
As always, I want to show something different.
I've done a couple of pop-ups in my life, so I'm really looking
forward to it.
I haven't done a pop-up before, but chefs always have an instinct,
so this is the time to prove that I can cook to all of the guests.
If I'm going to shine, it's in this kind of scenario.
It's what I've been doing for the last few years.
This is an opportunity for me to really show what I can do.
I'm excited to be out of the MasterChef kitchen
and somewhere a bit new.
I think everybody's aiming for the same thing today,
to slide through with the best dish, but I'm up for it.
MONICA: I want to see our chefs push their creativity.
Step out of their comfort zone.
Pop-up food doesn't have to be complicated,
but it does have to stand out.
It has to pack a lot of flavour.
I'm very excited.
I can't wait to see what they're going to cook for our guests.
Right, then. We're off.
Yorkshire based George is a senior sous-chef
in a fine dining restaurant,
and has impressed the judges with some inventive takes
on the classics.
But he's stepping away from his usual style to create
a dish he struggled to execute in an earlier round.
George, what are you doing? Tacos. Tacos?
Yeah, I had tacos in the skills test, set by yourself.
I left that room absolutely broken, and then I needed to redeem myself!
George is making tacos. Not just one taco,
he's making three different types. I'm here to push myself.
If I can get this up, I'll be happy with what I've done.
The first taco is the citrus cured sea bass.
It's like the skills test all over again!
I'm just going to pin bone it, like I didn't do in my skills test
until after I'd cured it!
He says he's after redemption when my skills test
didn't go too well for him, so I hope he gets them right today.
The crispy skin. Properly, this time!
We've got chipotle pig cheek taco.
Pig cheek, beautiful when it's braised,
and the chipotle is a smoky heat,
I think that's going to be really quite nice.
Need to get these pig cheeks sealed off,
nice colour on them, into a pressure cooker
so they're lovely and soft when I come to get them ready for the taco.
And then we've also got a refried beans taco with red onions,
tomato salad, guacamole.
That's a lot of work! I need to impress.
You've got three different flavours, and you've got all the little
side dishes on the side as well. That, I have to say,
I'm slightly concerned.
Really excited about today.
Happy boy. Happy chef.
French born Gaston, with seven years of experience as a private chef,
secured his spot in the competition with a unique and thought provoking
food style, and plans to be no different in today's challenge.
Gaston is doing choux-ken.
That's the twist between choux pastry and chicken!
This is my impersonation of French Sunday roast
in a choux pastry.
Only Gaston would come up with the title for a dish like that!
So I'm making a gougere.
It's a savoury, cheesy choux pastry, like an eclair, but savoury,
with chicken, chicken thighs, mashed potato, crispy skin and asparagus.
All inside? All inside. Pick it up, eat it? Yes.
Any sauce? Yes. Serve on the side the morel sauce.
So we can dip the eclair into the morel sauce.
And have you tried this before? I tried yesterday night.
Mm. Interesting! Thank you, Chef.
I've never heard of a dish like that before.
To put potato and chicken into an eclair,
and then put it into your morel sauce,
it's the sort of dish, if you saw it on a menu, you've got to try it.
I need to roast my chicken, and then I need to confit the legs.
So I've got mustard, salt, pepper, lemon zest, thyme.
A bit like a nice roast at home with family.
Let's do this, Maman!
But this dish is all about the choux pastry.
That mix has got to be right, especially if he's going to fill it.
The last thing you want is a gougere that's going to sort of collapse
in on itself because it hasn't cooked properly.
If my mix goes wrong, I have nothing to serve,
so that's not an option.
Originally from Indonesia, junior sous-chef William
has shone with flavours from his Southeast Asian heritage.
Today he's taking inspiration from a popular street food
he enjoyed as a child.
I love to eat Indonesian street food.
This is one of the favourite dish from mine.
So I'm going to make a braised short rib.
I'm going to use lemongrass to skewer the beef.
So this is something you would have in Indonesia
on the street stalls? Yes. I like the sound of that.
He's got a beef rib and he's doing it an Indonesian style,
so he's going to be braising the rib.
For the braising liquid, there's a garlic, shallot,
lemongrass, red chilli. So it's going to be aromatic.
It will be good.
But it does take a long time to cook short ribs.
So he's got to put them into a pressure cooker,
cook down until it's almost falling apart.
Quite challenging I think is the short rib.
Yeah, I want to make sure the beef is tender enough.
He's going to take the trimmings of that short rib of beef,
chop it up and put it through a coconut rice croquette.
Yum!
You're serving it with satay sauce.
I love to eat satay.
And then you've got a little fresh slaw of pineapple,
chilli and cucumber.
The taste is very straightforward.
It's about big, bold flavours all working together in harmony.
Oh, wow.
Having grown up in Brazil, head chef Michael has made it
this far with hearty dishes packed with flavour.
Today, he's going all out with a daring dessert inspired
by his current place of work.
So I run a brewery restaurant,
and beer is the core of everything we do.
I really wanted to showcase that in one of my dishes
for the competition. And today is that day.
Michael is making rum baba.
Rum baba is almost like a brioche dough which is then soaked
in a rum syrup.
So in there I've got my baba mix. Yeast, eggs, flour,
a little bit of honey.
Michael, however, is putting a twist on his rum syrup
and he's using Citra hops.
I've got some English Citra hops, just crushed down
and made into pellets.
They have those citrus flavours like grapefruit running through it,
so that could work wonders with this rum baba.
It's got some lovely toasty malts here.
That's going to be the basis of my ice cream.
Michael's making malt ice cream.
A bit nutty, wheaty, but can be easily overpowered.
We've also got a chocolate salted caramel and we've also got chocolate
and pork crackling crumble.
I've never had a pork crumbs on top of a rum baba.
Why? For me, when I go to the pub, my favourite snack is a packet
of pork scratchings. So you've decided to put it on top
of your dessert? Precisely. Yeah.
You either fall in two camps.
Either this is sacrilege, or you're going to be willing
to try it and it'll be delicious. I'm willing to try it!
And praying it's going to be delicious!
Manchester restaurant owner Dani has shown creative flair,
pairing unusual flavour combinations,
and plans to shine with a unique tasting dessert.
So I'm making a brioche doughnut filled with a lemon and yuzu curd,
topped with a Thai basil glaze, Italian meringue and pistachios.
Oh! I wanted to kind of take something classic
like a lemon meringue, but do my own twist on it.
Why have you gone for doughnut?
Because I think in this type of setting, for pop-up,
or street food, you want something easy and fast,
but also you don't need any cutlery to eat it.
You can pick it up and walk it.
You can be having a few drinks at the bar,
or you can take it away and you can...
Everyone can enjoy it.
Dani's dish is a brioche doughnut influenced by a lemon meringue pie.
Not had that before! Have you tried this? Yeah. Too many times!
Have you? I've done nothing but eat doughnuts for, like, four days.
I never want to see one ever again!
Yes!
But the key to a good doughnut is the aeration of it.
It's activating the yeast. It's like bread making.
There's nowhere to hide.
You've got to follow the steps just right.
So the doughnuts need to prove twice. Once as a whole mix,
then portion them, roll them, and then they need a second prove
on them to make them as light and fluffy as I can.
She's got lemon and a yuzu curd filling to go with it.
I love citrus flavoured desserts, so this one is something
I'm looking forward to.
Italian meringue, you do not want this grainy,
and it has to be whipped up enough that it holds its form
once it's been piped onto those doughnuts.
Just whisking it until it chills down.
Leave it to keep going now as long as possible.
And then we've got a Thai basil glaze on top.
A little bit of warmth, a bit of heat running through that.
So, lovely twists.
Set myself quite a task for a kitchen that I'm not used to,
but, I mean, that's why I'm here, to push myself and to take a risk.
So I'm going to do the best.
I have to say, I'm really looking forward to trying these dishes.
They all sound really interesting.
I agree, they're all really exciting menus.
An hour of prep time has already gone,
but with unfamiliar equipment and a tight deadline
till lunch service, all the chefs are struggling
to get their prep done.
Got my work cut out today.
George has only just started the third filling for his tacos.
So refried beans, I'm going to blend them,
fry off some onions, smoked paprika, some cumin.
Add my beans, get it really fried.
And then that's going to be a little spoon inside the taco.
The fried beans will be served with a Mexican salsa Morita
made from dried chillies and roasted tomatillos.
They're like a firm green tomato,
used a lot in Mexican salsas as, like, a base.
And then you add the chilli to it.
So I just want to get them in, roasted,
and then they'll be good to go.
I don't know how long this is going to take!
He also has the time consuming task of making enough tacos
for all three of his fillings.
So I'm making about 100 tacos to serve three per person.
So, yeah, busy!
George has got a lot, a lot of work to do here.
It wouldn't be redemption tacos if I didn't push myself, so...!
Not only has he got to get the mix done,
he's got to get them all balled up into even portions.
Then you've got to get them flattened out and cooked
on the plancha grill.
My concern would be, has George got enough time?
A little bit behind from where I want to be.
Just got to get a move on with it now.
Gaston is having to make enough mash...
Mashed potato. We have nutmeg and herbs.
..and chicken filling...
Look at my baby!
..to fill 30 choux pastry buns.
What are you going to do? Break those down? Yes.
He's removing the breast meat from the carcase of the chicken.
The breast is perfectly cooked.
Taken the skin off the chicken.
He's going to crispen that up.
Crispy and tasty!
Then he's pulled the chicken legs and the thighs off the bone
that he's confiting in some butter with parsley, thyme, rosemary,
and garlic, just to infuse it with even more flavour.
Love that. Ten minutes.
His next job is to make a creamy morel mushroom sauce accompaniment.
Morels are a luxury mushroom.
Got to be perfectly washed, because they do come with a lot
of grit and a lot of dirt.
Look very nice. I'm really happy.
So far, so good.
William's short beef rib is only halfway through cooking.
But I need more time. Hopefully going to work.
He's racing to get his traditional Indonesian slaw...
This is going to be a very refreshing because there's
a bit of lime juice, cucumber, chilli, shallot and pineapple.
..and peanut satay sauce made.
MONICA: For me, satay sauce, it's all about the nuts.
And of course you want some chilli in there and, you know,
just enough that it just coats what you dip into.
I just finished my satay sauce.
But he's still got to make 30 coconut rice and beef croquettes.
He's got to make it into balls.
Pane it, so flour, egg wash and a type of breadcrumb.
Deep fry them. A lot of work to do here.
I need to go faster. I think I'm running out of time.
Across the kitchen, Michael is also up against it,
tackling the elements of his hop rum baba dessert.
Dough's doing its first proof.
I'm making my citrusy beer syrup here to soak the rum babas.
Excuse me, guys. Ice cream!
I'm a little concerned because they've been churning
for 30 minutes now and very little has happened.
Michael's very worried about his ice cream.
It doesn't seem to be freezing. Either it was too warm
when it went into the machine, or he's left it too late
to start churning.
I'm going to go get my temperature probe and make sure
it's actually cooling down. If not, we'll have to make a plan.
Ice cream is not just about the flavour.
It's about the smoothness, the silkiness, the richness.
It's got to be spot-on.
They're chilling. It's all right, they're chilling.
They're almost at freezing point.
Give it another 20 minutes, it'll be A-OK.
On the second dessert, Dani's Thai basil doughnut glaze is done.
But she now has to master the flavour of the lemon
and yuzu curd filling.
So yuzu is a Japanese citrus fruit,
like I suppose a Japanese version of, like, lemon juice.
But it's a lot more floral and a lot more fragrant.
Lemon and yuzu curd has going to be lovely and thick and set.
The last thing you want is to pipe this into your doughnut
and it just runs everywhere.
NARRATOR: But having had her brioche dough for the doughnuts
on the first two proves for nearly an hour,
Dani's run into difficulties.
Dani's having a bit of a problem with her oven at the moment.
She's proving them in the oven with the humidity,
and it's just not quite working at the right temperature.
Humidity's not right. Humidity is still on zero,
so I'm just trying to see if I can fiddle with it a bit.
Doughnuts not right, this dessert is dead in the water.
It's going up. It's just very, very, very slow.
Hopefully the doughnuts move, because at this point
they're not doing anything. So, yeah.
With 45 minutes of prep time remaining,
today's specially invited guests from across the pop-up industry
have started to arrive.
We specialise in Mexican-Korean fusion food and chicken wings.
The challenges of having pop-up is that you're setting up a kitchen
in a place that you shouldn't, whether it be a field or a car park,
and everything and anything will go wrong.
So it's about how you problem solve those issues and make sure
that your food is still top quality.
We specialise in huge layer cakes,
which are American style.
The main challenges of having a pop-up business is that generally,
you'll be in locations where there's quite a lot of competition,
so you really have to stand out and you have to have something
super unique to be able to get that crowd to you.
So if these guys are coming from a fine dining background,
then it'll be interesting to see how they deal with the kind of
volume that is expected from a pop-up.
I'm not expecting the world, but I'm expecting
something that's impressive.
I'm always an advocate for not overcomplicating things.
Everything should be there for a reason.
I don't want to see foam. For what?
I think the difference with a pop-up versus a restaurant
is that you get a chance to have a little bit more fun.
It's kind of like a safe space to kind of test concepts.
I am hungry, I am very ready for the pop-up challenge today,
and I'm excited to see what people are going to bring.
Chefs, you've got 40 minutes of prep time remaining.
With service fast approaching, all five chefs need to focus
in order to be ready for lunch.
I'm not going to lie, hating life right now!
But George is falling behind on his prep.
MONICA: George has got to make 100 tacos.
I'm worried for him.
George, how many have you made so far?
I'm over halfway now. And all the fillings?
Fillings, I've still got a few left to do.
Oh, George!
NARRATOR: Time against him, George has had to ask Michael
to step in to help.
Please shout at me if there's anything. No, man. Yeah.
I appreciate your help.
I'm just chopping and frying the onions for my refried beans in here.
And my tacos are just finishing off in there cooking, so, yeah.
Got to get on.
Nah. It's completely snapped.
It's completely snapped, I can... I'm really sorry, mate.
It's fine. Don't worry about it.
Uh, I need a rolling pin, then.
I'm behind now.
Arggh!
NARRATOR: George isn't the only one struggling.
William's also feeling the pressure.
My beef's still on. Still a lot of things to do.
He still hasn't finished making...
Come on, come on.
..his coconut rice and beef croquettes.
Flour, egg, crumbs. Let's go.
It's going to be tight. It's a lot of...
Gaston's choux-ken buns all need to be glazed before baking.
They also have to cool before he can fill them
with the roast chicken dinner.
You've got a lot to do. Yes, Chef.
Still the asparagus to finish, need to grill.
I think I'm in time, but who knows?
But with Michael's rum baba also ready for baking,
the ovens are in high demand.
When are you going with your choux buns?
Uh, I'll say in ten minutes. OK. What do you need?
I need to cook my babas. How long are you cooking for?
15 minutes. You go first. Thank you, Chef.
Pop-up kitchen, there's not an array of equipment
like we have back in our MasterChef kitchen.
They're having to share.
Do you need? Yeah, I need to... Yeah, go, go, go. OK. Thank you.
Mine can wait.
So it's proving a bit of a test for our chefs today.
Yes. How long for your choux?
12 minutes.
I come back. Thank you.
With Michael's rum babas on track...
They are rising perfectly!
..and his chocolate, caramel and malt ice cream made...
How is that ice cream?
Pretty spot-on, in the freezer now to set up.
And then we're ready to go. Come on, let's go.
..he's now onto the final element of his dish, the pork crackling.
The crackling is going to be mixed with some chocolate crumble.
And then it will kind of be the texture on the dish.
Really nice kind of savoury flavour on the dessert.
Everything's going swimmingly. Almost too well.
I'm waiting for something to go wrong.
You never know in this... in this competition,
you're only ever one mistake away from a breakdown.
Danny's brioche doughnuts have finally started to rise.
Swear to God, if I ever see another doughnut!
I don't even like them any more.
But with service looming, she's had to get them out early.
If I don't get the second prove going,
I'm not going to have any doughnuts, so...
Dani's going to cut her doughnuts out with a cutter
instead of rolling them into balls, which is a good way to do this.
Otherwise, the brioche dough can become very firm.
But it does need to rest, it needs to prove.
That doughnut's not right, you're in big, big trouble.
I know. Trying to be fast.
Service is moments away.
Our chefs have got 15 minutes left. That's not much time.
Especially when we can see the amount of work left to do.
They're going to have to push like never before to get this done.
Do you know what's worse?
It's actually hearing your guests in the dining room.
That makes any chef shiver with fear.
George will be the first to serve.
Why did I do three flavours of tacos?
But he still needs to finish cooking all 100 tacos.
You're under pressure. Damn right. I can feel it.
And make his garnishes.
So you've got the guacamole to do as well? Yeah. Wow!
Could you zest and juice with some of them? Yes, Chef.
Just the thought of filling three tacos with different fillings
per person, just sends shivers down my spine.
I just haven't got everything done. Keep it going. Yeah.
Come on. Don't give up.
George is giving us the trio of tacos.
Pretty outrageous. A lot of elements to it.
Pig cheek's got to be really sort of tender.
Super happy with that. Falling apart.
Got about seven minutes left. Yeah.
Are you going to start dressing up soon? I'm going to start, yeah.
Get on with it!
Citrus cured sea bass,
you go too early on that, you over cure it.
It's going to wreck.
The timing's got to be absolutely on point.
This is the refried bean.
The refried bean taco with a salsa Morita.
So salsa Morita, I'm assuming that's going to be spicy.
If it's not going to be spicy, I'm going to be disappointed.
And that's it? After?
I'm just going to chuck some crispy fish skin on the taco.
Of course. How could I forget?
I'm going to be looking for a perfectly executed
actual taco shell.
Also, the trio of tacos, it takes a long time.
He's got a lot of people to serve here,
so it'll be interesting to see how he gets on.
This is taking a little bit longer than it needs to.
So Dani's popped over to give you a bit of a hand.
OK? So give her some jobs to do. Yes, Chef.
Will you put two bits of crispy fish skin, which is over there,
on top of the seagrass? Yes, sure.
It's been a hard day!
I just hope people like what I've got here.
Right, George, you've got 30 seconds left.
Just a little bit of coriander. Let's go!
Service, please. And breathe!
You all right? Ooh! Don't worry. Cheers for that.
I'm absolutely shattered.
Time literally just got swept out from under my feet today.
I'm confident that they're going to taste good,
but good and excellent is two different things.
The cured sea bass taco could have done with a little bit
more acidity in there.
The kind of flavours that you're expecting from a ceviche,
especially a taco.
The pig cheeks had the strongest flavour, had moisture in it,
but the tacos were a bit dry and, like, quite small.
Refried beans. Great idea, but cold.
And the coating wasn't crispy.
It lacked texture. The salsa burritos,
unfortunately, they weren't spicy at all for me, and I wish
it had more of a kick to it.
The guac actually has quite a nice bit of a zing to it,
and it's got some nice flavour.
I would have probably done is just do one larger taco,
and just really focus on the flavour.
The pork is beautifully cooked. It's so tender, but we have issues.
The refried beans is too dry. Tacos, some of them
aren't cooked through, so it's just snapping like dough.
The sea bass just tastes like lemon juice.
Not really a great deal of seasoning.
I am not happy with this.
I'm a little bit disappointed, and I'm sure he is too.
Next up to the pass are William and Gaston,
who still hasn't finished baking all his choux buns.
Why have you not put them all in the same time?
Because they didn't fit in the oven, Chef. Ah.
Well, let's get the other ones in straight away.
They are not looking the prettiest they've ever been,
but we have to make it work. So...
With William's croquettes finally in the deep fryer...
You got them done? Done, Chef. Nice.
..it now comes down to whether his short rib beef
is perfectly tenderised.
I hope the time is enough for me.
Is it tender? Not really tender, but still OK, Chef.
Is it cooked? Yes, it's cooked.
For service, William is finishing the beef on the grill in a chilli
and soy glaze, then skewering them with lemongrass.
I'm still a bit worried, but let's see.
You two need to speed up, I think. Yes, Chef. Chef.
So Gaston has given us choux-ken, which is Gougere.
Are you happy with the cooking? They look a bit too large.
I would have preferred them a bit longer and thinner.
It doesn't sound like something I've seen before at a pop-up,
but, yeah, excited for it.
So this is my final job.
Opening, ready to put the mash and the chicken thighs inside.
If the chicken is cooked well, it'll be absolutely delicious.
But the chicken is actually one of those things that I think
people assume it's really easy to cook, and it's not.
Gaston, are you enjoying yourself?
Could be feeling a bit better, but overall,
I'm always happy to cook, Chef.
I'm really looking forward to the crispy chicken skin from Gaston.
For me, the morel sauce is going to really kind of bring
this dish together.
So it's how good that sauce is.
The dining room is waiting. Let's go.
Are you ready? Chef. Let's go. Service!
That was tough. But I'm happy with what I sent.
My whole heart is in it, so I hope that people will like it.
The choux-ken from Gaston was really good.
Really light. The chicken itself, really succulent.
Really well cooked, moist. The mash in between it was great,
really buttery.
The chicken skins were done really, really well.
There was a good seasoning on it. I liked the crunch to it as well.
The asparagus had a char-grilled mark, which really gave
a nice little smoky flavour to the dish.
Having that morel sauce go over the top is just fabulous.
I could definitely see this working in a pop-up.
It would be amazing. The flavours were banging.
I'd order three of them.
I love the choux pastry, or the Gougere.
I think it's a great carrier for the chicken.
I love the potato at the bottom and the beautiful morel sauce.
It's creative. That uniqueness that Gaston has is lovely.
I'm really enjoying this.
My one complaint is I've run out of sauce.
Do you mind? No. Thank you.
Sorry. Hot. Hot!
William? Yes, Chef? Start picking up the pace.
Gaston's first dish is gone. Yes, Chef.
William's Indonesian beef rib.
I'm a big fan of Indonesian foods.
We're looking to see if it comes out really tender.
You're going to have to be a bit quicker.
A good croquette's all in the crumb. Has to be in the pane,
well seasoned, crispy, and yet the flavours
have to be there inside as well.
The satay sauce, I'm not sure.
You've got fried elements. You've got something
probably stewed and quite heavy.
And then adding a satay sauce,
sounds rich to me, but we'll see.
The cucumber, pineapple and chilli slaw, he's got to cut through
all of that richness and the spiciness.
But it looks like a solid dish,
so I'm really looking forward to this one.
Service, please.
I think this is the most stressful time for me.
I'm not really confident on my food today, but I hope they like.
The texture of the rib was really great
and it was, like, nice and flavoursome.
Lovely and sticky on the outside. Nice little hint of spice on it.
So, really good.
The coconut rice croquette was good.
Kind of had like a crispy rice salad kind of vibe to it.
The chilli slaw, I think it has coriander, some pineapple,
which I thought was really fresh with the beef.
The satay sauce, I was really sceptical,
but the way he made it was really delicious.
Peanutty, and a chunky texture,
and really complimented the sweetness of the rib.
The beef, got so much flavour in it. He's glazed it
with the sweet soy mix in there, but then you get the satay
underneath with the cashew nuts and there's a heat.
Great flavours. Tastes great, you've got heat,
you've got sourness, you've got everything you want.
If I was a customer, I'd be asking for another one.
Last up with their desserts are Michael and Dani.
Guys, you've got about ten minutes left, OK?
So make sure you're ready to go. Everything's done, cleared up.
Michael's final job is to soak his rum babas
in the rum and hop flavoured syrup.
I've tasted this hoppy liquid so much,
I don't know if it's spot-on or way too much,
not nearly enough.
Dani is up against it.
Oh, la, la, la!
All 30 of her brioche doughnuts now need to be deep-fried.
But she's unhappy with the rise.
I've done them so wrong. They're edible, but, like,
they're nowhere near what I wanted to serve.
I have to glaze them first.
A hole in the side to fill it with the lemon and yuzu.
Then the Italian meringue over the top.
Torch last minute, and then pistachios.
Run, Michael, run!
So Michael's going to be doing the hoppy babas.
My favourite pudding is rum baba, so I'm on the test on this one.
Hop actually isn't a very strong flavour, so it's whether that
can really register.
Chocolate salted caramel with chocolate
and pork crackling crumble.
It'll be interesting to see how that, like, actually tastes.
I am all for experimenting with savoury and sweet things,
so I absolutely love that idea.
How's the ice cream looking, Michael?
It is absolutely perfect temperature right now.
You want that malt ice cream, you want the malt to really
come through on it.
Service, please.
Today I know that I presented the dish that I wanted to present.
And I really hope they're enjoying it as much as I enjoyed making it.
The baba is really soft, moist, but I do feel the hops
was missed out a bit.
The amount of rum for me, I really enjoyed it.
It was proper boozy.
The chocolate salted caramel underneath that, beautiful.
I really enjoyed the malt ice cream.
I thought it was very nice to cut through some of the sweetness.
One element I didn't like at all was the pork crackling.
It didn't fit the dish.
It wasn't like a complete no-no, but I think the chunks of pork
crackling were a bit too much.
If it was like a little dust on top,
then it probably would have given a better experience.
The rum baba is very, very light, beautifully soaked in the rum.
The pork scratching is an unusual flavour.
For me, I don't mind a little bit of it.
It is a bit odd and sometimes if I get too many,
it sort of overtakes the rest of the dessert.
Dani, you've been quite stressed about your doughnuts.
Are you feeling OK now? Yeah, I'm happy with them.
So Dani's making us a lemon meringue doughnut.
I really hope that the brioche is nice and buttery and soft.
Thai basil glaze.
Interesting to see how that herbal note comes across in the dessert.
The lemon and yuzu curd, is it going to feel cloying,
or is it going to be nice, sweet and refreshing, and come through?
Have you piped the curd inside, yeah? Curd's inside? Yeah.
Lots of it, I hope. Yeah.
How are we looking, Dani? Good. Once I've piped
all of these, I'm ready.
Here we've got yuzu from Japanese cuisine,
we've got Thai basil and Italian meringue and pistachio.
So there's a lot of different influences.
Is it going to sound very harmonious or is it going to be very jarring?
We'll have to see how it turns out.
Dant, is that finished? Yes, Chef. Good. Yeah.
Thank you.
Come on. Well done, mate.
It was quite stressful.
I knew I'd set myself quite a task with doing a double prove
on brioche doughnuts. I'm glad I got there.
I feel like Dani definitely got the doughnut right.
Really nice and fluffy. The yuzu filling was great.
I feel like could have just added a little bit more.
Unfortunately, mine just didn't have any curd in it.
There was about a smidgen of it,
which wasn't enough.
So overall it didn't quite hit the mark for me.
I really like the meringue.
I think the glaze, when you taste it on its own,
you can really taste the basil.
When it's together, you lose it.
I just felt that it was a little bit overcomplicated,
too much going on there.
And I personally would just always just simplify
and keep it considered.
The doughnut texture is lovely. It's light. It's buttery.
The lemon and yuzu lime curd, I do like the flavour.
I think you could do more of it.
There's two things here that I don't think are necessary -
the Italian meringue and the Thai green glaze.
I think Dani's just overthinking this and trying just a little
bit too hard.
After a challenging day in the pop-up kitchen,
it's time for the diners to vote on their favourite dishes.
DINERS APPLAUD
High expectations for our five chefs today.
And they delivered. They gave it everything in this kitchen.
Today is really stress time.
I'm very tired and I'm very exhausted,
but I hope that the guests will vote for me.
It was a push. I gave myself a lot of plating to do,
which I hadn't fully thought about.
It's been an experience, to say the least!
I had a fun day and it was such a fun experience.
If I have to cook again, I will fight,
because I want to be part of it all the way.
It was nerve-racking at times.
I had to do a lot of thinking on my feet.
But, yeah, all in all, it was a good day.
Now that the adrenaline has worn off,
there's definitely a sense of relief that it's over.
Time for a big beer and to bed now!
You know what's next. Back into our MasterChef kitchen.
One of them gets to go through.
All of them are going to have to cook again.
I can't wait to see who comes out on top.
Chefs, good to see you back.
First time out of the MasterChef kitchen,
and you did yourselves proud. Well done.
As you know, we asked our guests to vote for their favourite dish.
And the chef with the most votes will go straight through
to our semifinals.
The chef with the most votes is...
..William.
William, you stuck it out right to the wire with your dish.
That attitude of not giving up has paid off.
You so deserve your place in the semifinals.
See you there. Thank you, guys.
Phew!
Ah! Wow! I can't believe it.
It's like a dream.
I'm very proud of myself.
It's really, really, really amazing.
Right, Chefs, you've got a job to do.
You are cooking for a place in the semifinals.
One of you will be leaving the competition.
We set you a brief.
That is to create a dish, sweet or savoury,
inspired by your favourite drink.
One hour and 45 minutes.
Chefs, let's go.
I have yet to do a perfect cook in this kitchen,
and I want today to be the day.
Yeah, I don't know why, but I am really, really nervous today.
So my favourite drink is wine.
I'm from the wine area. I'm from Burgundy.
The wine is absolutely delicious. Drink of the gods!
So my dish is a cured and seared trout with a wine dressing,
a wine gel, pickled grapes with poached pear
and pickled kohlrabi and potato cooking in red wine and grape must.
What is must, please?
Grape must is when we are making wine,
we are collecting all the grapes and all of that goes to a big press.
We take off the grape must which is full of flavour of wine.
It's all the stuff left over from once you've got all the juice out?
Yes. That's the must? Yes, that's the must.
I have to say, I've never had potatoes cooked in wine before.
I study in Burgundy, so my whole culinary learning was with wine.
And I think this is very important, showcasing the wine in the recipe.
I love the sound of his dish.
Trout has got to be perfectly pin boned.
He's searing it on one side only.
So it's perfectly raw on one side and completely grilled
on the other side. That's how I want it.
We've got a dressing going with this dish.
It's lemon, verjus, which is a wine vinegar,
and a touch of cream. Interesting.
I certainly want to be able to taste the verjus.
The verjus will bring the alcoholic element into this dressing.
No grief, we don't stress.
Gaston is cooking his potatoes in red wine.
But he's also got the grape stalks.
And what you've got with the stem that the grapes are grown on
is bitterness. He needs to be very, very careful.
He's then making a layered millefeuille of kohlrabi.
He's pickling it so it has more vinegar essence to it.
And then a sweetness of pear in the red wine.
I think this sounds delicious. It sounds exciting.
Today's one of the most ambitious dishes of the competition so far.
It's all about the beef today.
It looks very simple, but if anything doesn't go right,
it'll be blatantly obvious.
Today my tipple is going to be a beef tea.
It brings me back to days stood next to a rugby field
in a cold December morning.
Just trying to warm the cockles a little bit.
I'm going to make a beef and bone marrow filled pasta,
some barbecued leeks, smoked raisin puree,
and a beef consomme with a little bit of Madeira.
Your preferred drink, it's quite intense in flavour.
That consomme is going to pack that. Absolutely.
So I've just got to make sure it's perfect.
Michael, I am loving the sound of these bone marrow
and beef tortellinis.
I can't even remember how to do it!
Pasta's got to be beautifully made.
I'm fine.
But I've forgotten how to do it!
I want to taste the bone marrow and the beef in there.
Consomme is a classic French soup.
His is going to have the flavour of beef and Madeira.
So, fortified wine, a little bit of sweetness.
Interesting. But it has to be crystal clear and full of flavour.
Making a consomme in this kind of pressure is a big ask.
If there's any cloudiness in there,
I know I will be pulled up and raked over the coals for it.
You've had 20 minutes.
I was half expecting to cook again.
But I quite like this dish,
so hopefully I can do it justice today.
Tell me, what is your tipple of choice?
My tipple of choice has definitely got to be a beer.
I mean, it's great after work. It's great in a beer garden.
It's great on the beach. So for my dessert,
I'm doing a frozen beer parfait with a honey tuile,
honeycomb and blackberry with a blackberry coulis.
And then I'm also making a malt and beer ice cream.
You're being terribly brave.
If you can manage the bitterness of beer with the sweetness
of a dessert, you're clever.
I hope so. That's the plan. We'll see!
Dani's making a beer parfait.
So you want to taste the beer.
I can taste the beer in it, yeah.
But also, the parfait needs to be set perfectly.
It's too frozen, it can be an ice block.
I'm just trying to fold through the last bits now.
Get it all smooth and then get it in the freezer.
Blackberries with beers I think can work very well.
A little bit of sweetness, and not too sweet.
The biggest concerns with this dish is that I mess up my honey tuile.
Because it's a very delicate thing.
For some reason they didn't come out in whole pieces.
It's kind of like they're breaking at the gaps.
And then we've got the malt and hops ice cream.
But you have to be very careful it's not too much.
We've got a lot of bitterness with this dish.
She needs to be very careful that she gets the balance of sugar
and bitterness just right.
I feel like I am taking a bit of a risk doing this,
but at this point in the competition, I'm going for it.
Fighting for a place in the semis is, like, serious pressure.
But just get done what I need to get done and then I'll be happy.
George, what's your favourite drink that you've chosen,
and what are you making? I really like cocktails.
And, like, outside of work, I try and teach myself
a little bit of mixology.
So I'm doing an amaretto sour dessert. Nice!
Because it's got almond and marzipan flavour, hasn't it?
You're not serving this in a cocktail glass?
No, it's almost like a slice of cake.
George is wanting us to sort of imagine the layers
that you would see in an amaretto sour.
It's a banging drink, so I wanted to see if I could make it
not only taste like it, but sort of look like it as well.
He's going to put the pastry on the base and then start to build,
almost like a millefeuille.
So he's going to have frangipane cake using almond flour.
I want to taste the almond.
Sponge is exactly how I wanted it.
Just making sure I'm getting it absolutely perfect portioning
because if this dish isn't completely sharp, it's not right.
We've got cherries, which he's cooking down.
I've sat them in some amaretto.
So it's super, super boozy.
They're going to run through the centre.
So then every mouthful that you get, you're going to get a hit
of boozy cherry in there as well.
There's also lemon gel.
So, you know, that's really going to help with the sourness
going through this dessert.
It won't be an amaretto sour if I don't get this bit right.
And a meringue, which is going to sort of sit on the top of it,
which, you know, will be like the foam that sits on top of this drink.
I want it quite dense so I can get a real nice, clean, sharp pipe
on it so it's not got loads of air in it.
He's got to make sure that the different textures
that he's layering are set and cooled
before the next one goes on.
Otherwise it can all blend into one.
This is not something we've had before.
He's creating something that is from a memory of a drink,
and it's fascinating. The key is, is it going to work?
Chefs, we have just three minutes.
The consomme, my raft has held nicely.
It looks pretty clear to me.
You got just 60 seconds. Come on, please, everybody.
Oh, my God! Please, Michael, just slow down.
Come on, come on, come on, come on.
George? Chef. Do not drop that now. Don't look at me!
That's it, Chefs. Time's up. Thank you.
Celebrating the wine of Burgundy where he grew up,
Gaston has served cured and seared trout
with a creamy white wine vinegar and lemon dressing
served with grape must mashed potato, pickled grapes,
pickled kohlrabi with poached pear
and red wine and fermented vine leaves.
It's not the smartest dish you've presented.
It's more rustic, I'd say. It's more rustic? Yes.
Presentation wise, not great.
From a flavour point of view, I'm really, really enjoying this.
The trout cookery is great.
The way you seared it on one side and just left the other side.
Technically, I think it's very clever.
I love the white sauce cream and the wine and the grape
that you've just slightly seared, and the pear and kohlrabi
in the red wine just is delicious.
I'm really pleased that Marcus likes it, because I'm really struggling.
Everything's cooked very well, but I'm not enjoying the flavours.
The potatoes have a sweet flavour to me.
The pears are sweet again,
so I've got a lot of sweetness going on here.
Too much for me.
I'm enjoying it. I don't find the pears sweet at all.
The vine leaves, there's a saltiness that goes through it.
I love those potatoes. First cooked off in the grape must,
which is right at the beginning when you start to make wine.
So it is quite floral. There is a bit of sweetness.
I really like it. I really do.
The chefs either side of me love your dish.
I've got some issues, Gaston.
Thank you. Thank you.
I am happy I've made that, I achieved what I want.
But at this point of the competition,
two out of three judges liking your dish might not be enough.
So I am really, really stressed right now.
Ahhh! I need a glass of wine!
In memory of beef tea on the sidelines of a rugby field,
Michael has made pasta filled with beef and bone marrow,
topped with a leek oil, served with barbecued leeks,
smoked golden raisin puree and finished with a smoked beef
and Madeira consomme.
MONICA: Michael, great plate.
Once you pour your consomme on, it looks wonderful.
Your pasta, the filling, the minced meat I find is too fine.
It's a bit coarse. Maybe a chunk of the bone marrow
in the middle would have really made a difference,
but I do love the flavours of it.
I think your consomme is beautifully made, nice and clear.
I like the sweetness of the Madeira.
I think you've used that very, very well.
The leeks, be very careful. A bit of grit in them.
What I really particularly love are the smoky, bitter notes
of that raisin puree.
And your beefy tea is far posher than the ones that I've got
at football stadiums!
It's working for me.
I'm feeling pretty elated, to be honest.
That was by far my best feedback of the competition.
A couple of issues, but all in all,
it was pretty universally positive feedback.
Based on her love of beer, Dani has made a frozen beer parfait
topped with a honey tuile and sorrel leaves,
served with honeycomb, fresh blackberries dressed
in a beer verjus syrup, blackberry coulis,
and a malt and beer ice cream.
You looked a little flustered towards the end.
Did it not turn out how you wanted?
It was supposed to be one cracker on top, but I just tried to get
at least something out of it so you got that crunch on the dish.
The parfait is just so great.
The texture is wonderful and it's only a light beer flavour
you're getting through that. And then, of course, blackberries,
the sweetness of it, delightful.
Shame about your tuile, but I'm glad you've kept it because it does need
a bit of that texture.
I love the slight bitterness of the parfait itself.
Love the honeycomb. Love the bitterness in that.
The blackberries, the sauce. It's really delicious.
I have to say, though, I am seriously struggling
with this ice cream. That's the hops.
Yeah. They're so strong. They're so raw.
It's medicinal. It's like a bad medicine in my palate.
I love the parfait. That's so ludicrously clever
with that beer flavour. With this ice cream, mate,
it's just like dunking your head in a pint of ale.
It's too bitter. It's too strong.
I wanted to do something that would be a bit of a risk
and push the boundaries.
The ice cream, the beer in it was just slightly too much.
But overall, I am happy with the feedback.
Last up is George.
Inspired by his favourite cocktail, he has made an amaretto sour,
frangipane and cherry cake on a pastry base
with lemon gel, topped with sour cherry gel
and torched Italian meringue,
served with a sour cherry sorbet and a feuilletine almond
and brown butter crumb.
It's really attractive.
I don't know whether to eat it or kiss it!
The amaretto flavour with the sour sweetness of the cherry
is just so lovely.
Your sorbet, deliberately, I feel, under sweetened.
Because you've got a little bit of a sweet bitter crunch
as its base. I'm really, really liking this.
I love the sponge because you've soaked it in a bit of booze,
you've got a bit of syrup in there, and then the really acidic gel
as well, that just brings a freshness to the plate.
Beautifully made meringue. More bitter sour cherries on top.
There's that lovely almond flavour that's just rippling
all the way through it. I think you've achieved your goal.
Well done.
Your take on amaretto sour.
Almonds, and of course, you've got the cherries,
the Italian meringue, like you would at the top of the drink,
the egg whites, is so great.
The brief was to create a dish based on your favourite drink.
Wow, you've done that. Well done.
Amazing feedback from every single judge.
I can't believe it.
Mind blown.
I thought the food in here was fantastic today.
They are really, really good.
My favourite dish was George and that cake.
Loved all the almond essences and flavours
and the sweet and sourness. He did a great job.
And it looked a picture, right? Great dessert.
Yeah, I'm happy to put George through. OK. George goes through.
You two love Gaston. I had some issues with it.
I found some of the notes a little too sweet.
I thought the taste was sensational.
The trout with that lovely white sauce underneath.
And I love the inventive creativity of his dish.
The pear, for me, wasn't too sweet.
And I loved it with the pickled kohlrabi.
It was delicious.
I did enjoy Michael's pasta dish today, I really did.
That meatiness of the filling of the ravioli with the sweetness
of the raisin. And he'd got smokiness in there.
I just thought it was really good.
Nicely made pasta.
But for me the texture of the filling was just a bit too grainy
and I wished there was a bigger bit of marrow inside.
But Michael is pushing himself.
He's really trying hard to be different.
Dani tried to bring beer into a dessert.
In the parfait, I think she nailed it.
In the ice cream, no, it didn't work.
That light lager that she had through the parfait,
I liked that.
But the ice cream was so powerful in hops and malts, it was too much.
Who joins William in the semifinal? Who goes home?
I hope I've done enough to go through today.
I'm finally showcasing who I am as a chef,
but we've got to wait and see now.
I really want to stay in the competition.
I have so much more to offer. Fingers crossed, MasterChef.
Pray with me.
I obviously want to go further.
That's the whole point of a competition,
but I have no idea. It's all in the judges' hands.
You four chefs, I have to say, well done.
Whatever happens today,
you should be proud of what you've achieved.
One of you, sadly, is leaving the competition.
The chef leaving us is...
..Dani.
Dani, you've been fabulous. Thank you so much.
Please. Thank you. We wish you the best of luck.
Thank you very much. Best of luck, Dani.
Obviously, it's sad to leave.
I would have loved to have kept going.
I've loved this experience.
I've loved being part of this competition.
I made it further than I thought I was going to.
So, yeah, happy overall.
Congratulations, you three.
You are Professional MasterChef semifinalists!
Right now I feel overwhelmed.
I need to see my friends, I need to have a drink,
and I'll be ready for the next challenge.
Being a semifinalist, it's definitely got
a good ring to it, yeah.
Amaretto sours are going to be in full swing tonight, for sure!
I'm chuffed. I feel like I've got momentum now.
I was a slow car at the beginning, struggling to get out of first gear,
but now I don't want to slow down.
Next time, it's the semifinals,
and the eight best chefs are back.
Cooking off against each other...
Super plate of food, I have to say.
..as they fight for their place in the competition.
Very enjoyable.
Really delicious.
You are seriously impressing me.