MasterChef is back... Boom!
...with 45 of the country's most ambitious home cooks.
Ah!
I'm stressing.
Each week, nine will battle for a coveted place
in the quarterfinal.
Oh! Oh, my God.
Stress. Stress.
Oh.
I can't believe it!
Chronic.
I absolutely...
love it.
Hey.
Dib dab, that's fab.
Only the strongest will make it to the final challenges
and the culinary adventure of a lifetime...
It's all about the speed now, OK?
It's a piece of art.
Cheers!
Oh.
We need to pick up the pace, please.
...as they compete for the title of MasterChef Champion 2023.
We want passion, drive, ambition.
We want beautiful food.
Let the culinary battle commence.
It's the last week of the MasterChef heats...
...and nine more home cooks are arriving for their audition.
I don't know how I will handle the pressure,
so I will try my best to, like, enjoy every second of it.
Coming to MasterChef is like my ultimate dream of life,
so I feel great and honoured, to be honest.
I'm nervous, but I'm a realist.
I can only do my best and like anything else in life,
give it a go, you know, don't hold back.
Go for it and see what happens.
Welcome to the MasterChef kitchen.
You are our last batch of contestants in this year's competition.
How about that?
And who knows, we may well have saved the best for last.
We've asked you to bring in your own ingredients,
and we would like you to cook for us, please,
a family favourite with a bit of MasterChef style.
We're not going to be here in the MasterChef kitchen with you watching what's going on.
We're going to be next door in our tasting room.
We will, of course, taste everybody's dish
and at the end of it, John and I will choose our favourite three.
And the cooks that made those dishes will grab themselves an apron straight through to the next round.
That will leave six of you,
who will have to cook again for four remaining aprons.
Sam, our floor manager, will be looking after you
and making sure you stay to time.
We'll see you soon.
That's a bit stressful!
Pressure. Pressure on.
Oh, my God.
Now it feels real.
We aren't going to be concerned about the process.
What we're going to be concerned about is the plate of food that appears in front of us.
I want to taste something
that somebody really does cook regularly for their family.
People have always said that I should go and MasterChef.
So now I'm here, it's down to me to get the job done, yeah.
I am a bit nervous, but then I'm trying to, like, smile a lot
so it doesn't show too much, my nervous face!
I need to blow the judges away, basically,
and cook to the best of my ability
and hopefully get one of those delicious aprons.
The contestants will audition in groups of three
and have one hour and 20 minutes to create their family favourite.
Now, this will be interesting.
OK.
First up is 63-year-old retired tour guide Cristina,
who loves to entertain at family gatherings
and has recently become a grandmother.
My style of cooking is sharing, family cooking, gutsy flavours.
It's a bit haphazard, a little bit erratic sometimes.
I've left my potatoes in the hotel.
I just need two potatoes of any description.
But it's always made with love.
Main ingredient, I leave it at home.
Cristina's got what sounds like a classic dish.
Pan-fried sea bass with a lemongrass veloute,
served with potato and celeriac dauphinoise.
It's my posh dish when I'm trying to impress new people in my life.
Dauphinoise, we know, layered potatoes and celeriac,
usually a little bit of cream.
Normally, I've got my hands in here,
but you guys will have a go at me if I do that.
Let's keep going. Keep building.
Sea bass has to be cooked nicely, falling apart.
The skin needs to be crispy and really well seasoned.
Whoops, that was a mistake.
Ah, you got nervous.
Lemongrass veloute.
Veloute is a stock-based sauce, thickened with a roux.
It's got to be smooth and silky.
This is the star of the show.
Big flavours here, aren't there?
Celeriac, lemongrass.
Is that going to overpower the gentle fish?
You want to try? It's good!
How are you doing over there?
Very good. Good. On time. What about you?
I'm all right. I'm OK. Yeah? Yeah. Nobody died yet!
30-year-old IT consultant Jeff was born in France
to an Italian father and a Greek mother.
As well as cooking, he enjoys playing ice hockey in north London,
where he now lives.
So I'm very competitive in real life.
Like, I do a lot of sports.
I always try to push the boundaries, get out of my comfort zone.
So I'm here on MasterChef to challenge myself.
Jeff is making us a carbonara ravioli.
So my family's from south of Rome
and carbonara is the emblematic dish of the city of Rome.
So that's why I'm hoping this will bring me luck today.
Carbonara sauce, which is egg yolk and cheese and bits of bacon.
Jeff is going to put all of that inside a ravioli.
He's definitely showing some skill because ravioli is not easy to make.
I spent all my holidays in Italy
and I was following my grandma everywhere -
in the garden, in the kitchen.
She was always making me play with dough,
so maybe that's why I'm doing pasta today.
Good pasta, as we know in Italian families,
is full of heart and love and it's generous.
That's what I want from this dish.
It's my favourite dish.
It was the dish I was eating on Wednesdays after school
or Sundays with family dinner
and I will try to elevate it to MasterChef level.
South Indian born Vijaya moved to Scotland
with her husband 12 years ago to pursue her career in IT.
She now lives in Dunfermline
and loves to cook for her two young children.
My cooking style is 99% Indian food.
I just want to keep the authentic flavours.
Especially when my children are born and brought up here,
I want to, like, introduce to them flavours which I have enjoyed.
Butter chicken curry. who doesn't love one of them?
That chicken needs to be beautifully tender and lots of luscious sauce.
My children love it because they don't want it to be, like,
overpowering with the chilli or curry.
So this is their favourite.
Deep-fried poori bread, nice and puffed up.
And that means they can't be greasy.
Let's go to the fire.
I hope this is really opulent and really rich.
An hour and 20 minutes. Can she get it all done?
I'm pretty confident because I normally make it all the time, so...
It's just I want to know how I do it under pressure.
How's it going, Cristina?
I've done all the hard work and I have to zone out,
try not to panic and try not to burn the last bit.
Breathe. You've got this.
Cristina, that's five minutes to go. Thank you very much.
That wasn't so good, but that's OK.
Chronic!
This is the lemongrass veloute.
It's come out as it does at home.
So that's, I suppose, a good thing.
Cristina, we're ready when you are. OK, let's do it.
Well done. It looks good. Well done. Let's have a look.
That crispy skin was just right.
Retired tour guide Cristina's family favourite
is pan fried sea bass with celeriac and potato dauphinoise,
broccoli and a lemongrass veloute.
Your fish is cooked really well.
It falls apart, the skin is crispy, nice colour around the outside.
You've got this wonderfully silky veloute,
really nicely made,
very, very heavily flavoured with lemongrass.
Your dauphinoise, really nice slices of potato and nutty celeriac
cooked very, very well.
We both really, really can clearly see
that you are a knowledgeable and skilful cook.
Clearly. That's very kind. That's lovely to hear. Thank you.
Cristina, see you soon. Thanks a lot. OK, bye-bye. Bye.
Shall I take the dishes with me and wash them up? No, we'll wash up!
See you later. I'm quite used to washing up!
I'm feeling happy. It was an amazingly positive experience.
I loved it. I feel quite emotional about how much I liked it.
I know that's a silly thing, but I really enjoyed every moment.
My Italian friends would be mad at me
because you don't put butter with carbonara, but I don't mind.
So I really hope they enjoy this dish.
Less fancy at home!
Are you happy with your dish, Jeff?
Yeah, pretty much, for a first challenge.
It looks good from here. Thank you.
Let's have a look at that. Well done. Look at that.
Hello, Gregg. Hello, John.
IT consultant Jeff has served his version
of a classic pasta carbonara.
Ravioli filled with egg yolk, pecorino and Parmesan cheese,
topped with pancetta and served with a Parmesan crisp,
parsley powder and a butter sauce.
You're trying to take a classic dish like carbonara
and turn it into something completely different.
I think your pasta is really beautifully thin and cut out, the perfect ravioli.
I really like those a lot.
Carbonara, we know, just has the coating of egg and cheese around the outside of it.
Great flavours in here, but it's dry.
I'm very impressed with your pasta making
and those little bits of pork give a real salty sweetness.
The issue, as I see, is inside is really firm
and I think it kind of needs to be wetter in there.
It was a tough first challenge,
but I will focus on the good feedback they gave me,
so hopefully I will make it through.
Next up, butter chicken curry.
They will just smell the spices. I can! It looks amazing. It smells great.
Presentation is really important.
It just... First, you eat with your eyes.
It looks absolutely fantastic. It's lovely. Lovely.
I would love a portion myself. Yes. Thank you.
Hey.
Wow.
IT consultant Vijaya has made a butter chicken curry,
rice with pomegranate, cashew nuts and curry leaves,
spiced potatoes served in a rice cracker and poori bread.
I really like the coating on the outside of those potatoes.
It's really nice and hot and smoky.
Your rice is joyous.
There's a lovely sweetness coming from cashew nuts.
Your poori, I'd like mine to be just a little bit crispier.
The whole thing is gloriously awash with butter.
The only problem I've got here is there's a couple of bits of chicken that are undercooked.
I think I gave myself too many items within the timeline,
but I have done my best and we'll just hope for the best.
Back in the kitchen, the next three competitors
have started preparing their audition dish.
50-year-old Richard works as a painter and decorator
and is a second dan black belt in Jujitsu.
He dreams of one day owning a small bistro by the coast.
Well, my day job is very mundane.
Decorating the empty properties.
It's the same every day.
So when I get home and I want to cook, it gives me a release.
It takes me to a place that I like to be in.
I'm fed up of crawling around on my hands and knees
painting skirting boards.
I'm 50 now. I can't be doing it much longer.
I don't think my knees could cope with it any longer!
Richard is making for us Asian glazed salmon,
served with pommes paolo and grilled asparagus tips.
Asian glazed salmon. What sort of marinade are we going to get?
It's got miso, yuzu, soy and a bit of maple syrup in it.
We're going to put that over the salmon,
sous vide it in the water bath.
Pomme paolo are little fried potatoes,
but all stacked up like roulette chips.
This is the tricky bit and one of the time-consuming bits.
Hopefully, we'll get it done.
Grilled asparagus tips.
Hopefully, get some nice little charring on it.
How are you doing, Richard? It's all under control.
Cheers.
38-year-old Diya lives in Leicester with her husband and two children.
She loves to cook the food of her Indian heritage,
which she's been doing since a young age.
My first memory of food and cooking
came from the age of four, actually,
when my mum taught me how to make poor is.
And I still remember actually putting a little stool
next to the hob and frying poor is at that age.
That's the moment I really fell in love with food and cooking.
She's taught me so much,
and she passed away about 12 years ago.
So I'm just paying a homage to my mum today
and I'm hoping I can do her proud.
Diya is giving us aloo Chana tokri chat.
So it's a Mumbai street food, sort of a snack.
Savoury, spicy, sweet, salty.
Cold, hot, crunchy. Everything.
It's literally me on a plate.
Spiced potatoes and chickpeas served in a tokri basket.
It's like a pastry that's deep-fried as a basket.
Cumin yoghurt chutney. Absolutely.
And a green chutney.
Tamarind and date chutney and home-made sevs.
It's made out of chickpea flour.
And it's like noodles, but crispy and deep-fried.
I think that is done.
That's good. I'm happy with that. I don't need to make another batch.
30-year-old Jack started cooking at the age of 11.
He now lives in north London and works as a sports journalist.
I learnt when I was about ten years old that I'd never be a footballer,
so I'm as close as I can get to it now.
When I'm not watching football, I'm cooking,
and when I'm not cooking, I watching football, so win-win.
Jack, listen to this for simplicity.
Beef and broccoli stir-fry with chow mein.
If I told you I'm making stir-fry, you'd just go, OK, it's a stir-fry.
But it's better than a normal stir-fry.
Nothing too fancy. It's just done properly.
Chow mein, a noodle dish usually flavoured with soy and ginger
and maybe some spring onions, even some oyster sauce.
Slightly sticky, a little bit sweet.
The beef needs to be thinly sliced and slightly pink and not dry
and the noodles cooked all the way through.
It doesn't sound very ambitious,
but it is something that I'd really like to eat.
Everyone in the country has probably had a stir-fry over the dinner table,
so my take on a stir-fry, trying to take it to another level.
Hopefully, it blows them away and I can get through and get an apron.
Richard, that's two minutes. OK.
That's good to go now.
So I'm going to blowtorch it,
lemon zest, a bit of sesame over the top and that's that done.
I put it in the water bath because I want it to keep its vibrancy.
Fingers crossed, when they touch it, it should just fall apart.
So these are the pommes paolo. They should be delicious.
I'm quite happy with that, really.
I just hope I don't drop it!
Hello.
Painter and decorator Richard has cooked his salmon in a water bath
and served it with an Asian glaze,
pommes paolo - stacked potato slices, roasted in butter,
and asparagus tips with sesame seeds.
That's not cooked. That's not cooked, Richard, I'm afraid.
How often do you cook with a water bath at home?
Never. I've not got one.
So it's a saucepan with a thermometer in it.
It's very sweet, that coating across the top of the salmon. For me, a little bit too sweet.
I love what you've done with those potatoes. I think they're excellent.
But they don't belong with the salmon.
But actually, I think you don't get anywhere in MasterChef without taking a risk.
And that's what I thought. Go big or go home. Wow.
Or both. Yeah. There's always that problem!
Bit deflated, I'm not going to lie.
My fish was undercooked.
So, big mistake.
I should have checked. It's my own stupid fault. I should have checked.
So...
This is the aloo Chana, which is the chickpea potato stuffing.
Yoghurt.
This is a sev that I made,
which is the crispy kind of chickpea noodle.
OK, Diya, let's go. Let's go.
Hello. Hello.
Travel consultant Diya has served a traditional
Indian street food dish - aloo Chana tokri chat.
Spiced potato and chickpeas served in a deep-fried basket called tokri,
topped with yoghurt, home-made sev and pomegranate,
with a cumin yoghurt chutney, green chilli chutney
and a tamarind and date chutney.
What's inside this little pastry cup is a bundle of brilliance.
I think it's really delicious.
Hot, spicy, cool, sweet, sharp.
I get all of that.
The sev across the top is really crunchy.
I could bury myself in that really happily and have it all afternoon.
Thank you. I'm really happy to hear that.
I think that's absolutely delicious.
I agree with John. It's a wonderful thing to eat.
And you literally are going through layers of texture
and layers of flavour as well.
I don't know whether you can tell, but we're delighted with this.
I'm hoping you guys really did like it.
We wouldn't... What? Do you think we're lying?!
Why would we lie?!
Thank you very much. Thank you. Bye-bye.
They like my food!
There's more to come if you give me a chance!
Coming together now. Everything's done.
Everything's prepared for when I have to plate.
So, yeah, I'm ready to go.
OK, Jack. Time to send it to John and Greg.
Sports journalist Jack has prepared a beef and broccoli stir-fry.
Onglet steak marinated in shaoxing rice wine,
garlic, ginger and sesame oil, with a vegetable chow main.
Jack, I'm really, really impressed with the flavours of your dish.
Your noodles taste really good.
The actual beef itself is super, super tender.
I think your beef could probably be more of strips rather than big bits.
That's not an easy piece of beef to cook and you've done it really, really well.
The sweet saltiness, I'm really enjoying.
Here's my issue.
Apart from the cooking of the beef, you've just boiled some noodles.
And it doesn't mean you can't cook, it's just very difficult to know
whether you can or not from this dish.
Yes. Thanks very much. Thank you very much. Cheers.
Off out, yeah? Yeah. Nice one. Thanks.
I would pay for that in a Chinese restaurant.
Well, it actually tastes like a Chinese takeaway.
I'm a little bit disappointed. Maybe I could have done more.
That was one of my fears heading in was, could I have done more?
And the judges mentioned that. But I'm pleased with the dish.
If I have to cook again, I'll cook again.
It's now down to the last three auditionees
to impress John and Gregg.
Indonesian-born Endang owns and runs a gift shop in Dumfries.
She came to Scotland 22 years ago
and has lived there ever since with her husband and two children.
My husband is Scottish,
so he brought me there and I'm enjoying it.
I know it's cold, windy, constant rain.
Because rain in Borneo, the rain stops!
And when it stops, it's sunny.
In Scotland, it stops and it's still grey.
I should make haggis.
I could cook Scottish. Next time.
Endang is making us beef rendang,
served with coconut and turmeric rice, peanut crackers,
crispy shallots and a cucumber and red onion pickle.
The good one should be creamy and spicy.
There is desiccated coconut and coconut milk.
Beef rendang, as we know, can actually cook for most of the day.
So how Endang is going to get this out in just over an hour, I don't know.
I mean, that beef has literally got to be falling apart.
Usually, it takes hours to cook rendang.
So I'm using the pressure cooker.
When my children... when they're coming home,
I always ask them, what do you want me to cook?
Could you make rendang, Mum? OK, it's fine.
Endang cooking rendang!
40-year-old painter and decorator John
lives in Bristol with his partner and four daughters
and is passionate about cooking sugar-free, low carb meals.
My daughter is a type one diabetic and she can't really have chocolate.
Which kid doesn't like a chocolate bar?
She doesn't get to get those,
so I decided that I was going to make my own.
John is giving us a chocolate tart with drunken raspberries. Bring it on.
What sort of chocolate filling have we got in there?
Have we got, like, a ganache, chocolate mousse mixture?
I'm making a refined, sugar-free chocolate tart.
Obviously, I'm using a sweetener because, you know,
it wouldn't be a chocolate tart without any sort of sweetness.
We are going to find out how good John's pastry work is.
Is he making his own pastry? You would hope so, wouldn't you?
This is made of hazelnuts and almonds and egg yolk
and a bit of sweetener.
Kind of like a shortcrust pastry.
It's a huge reduction in the carbs that you need to put in, you know,
which means less insulin.
That is gross!
I don't know exactly what I did.
I'm going to have to remake it really quickly.
I think I didn't add any sweetener.
I think that was my major downfall there.
I'm worried about the chocolate setting. Yeah, a little bit.
29-year-old Fannata has a degree in occupational health and safety.
She fell in love with food,
watching her grandfather cook in his native Ghana.
I take inspiration from all over the world, really.
Currently, I really am loving French cuisine,
you know, with bits of my Ghanian heritage
and other west African countries as well.
So it's pretty cool.
Fannata obviously is making a dish for Mr Gregg Wallace.
Pear frangipane tart.
Frangipane. Almonds mixed together with butter and sugar and eggs,
almost like a sponge in texture.
With a tamarind sauce.
Sharp, sour sauce with the sweet frangipane and pear. Lovely.
Tamarind drink, it's a very popular drink where I come from.
It's like the drink of my childhood, right.
Served with almond praline crumb and a honey thyme ice cream.
It looks good, actually. You know, I'm so relieved.
I thought I was going to have to serve, like,
soggy ice cream or something, but this is churning nicely.
Thank goodness. I'm actually sweating. Can you imagine?
Mate, this dish from Fannata fills me with absolute joy.
But it also scares me because this is a lot to pull off.
So a lot of things going on the tart. It needs time to cook and bake properly.
So that's my biggest challenge right now.
Rendang is doing OK.
This is the pickle.
Peanut crisp.
OK, that's me. Wish me luck, guys.
Good luck. Thank you. You don't need luck, it looks great.
Hello.
Gift shop owner Endang has made beef rendang.
A beef brisket curry made with desiccated coconut,
rice cooked in lemongrass, coconut and turmeric,
peanut crackers and a cucumber and red onion pickle.
I love the flavour that's sitting on the outside of that beef.
It's really spicy, hot with chilli, really nicely seasoned.
These peanut crackers, I think, are delightful.
The beef itself, the meat needs more cooking.
How long do you cook it at home for?
Five hours. It's too hard.
Your rendang sauce is thick, creamy,
almost sweet with coconut and then salty and then chilli.
What a fantastically flavoured dish.
Thank you. The beef is too chewy.
Oh.
I am happy the taste is there, the combination is... They love it.
It's just the beef.
I think it could have done with an extra ten minutes, maybe, chilling, but we'll see.
Hopefully, it comes out all right.
I want it to, like, be like a knife through soft butter.
Hopefully, Mr Sweet Tooth, Gregg Wallace, will like it.
That's the aim of the game, isn't it?
It looks delicious. It does look delicious. and that's from afar.
Brilliant. Good luck. Well done. Well done.
John's sugar-free chocolate tart has been artificially sweetened
and has a hazelnut and almond base,
topped with vanilla cream and toasted hazelnuts,
served with salted caramel, raspberries soaked in brandy
and a raspberry coulis.
Refined sugar free, so there's no real sugar in any of it.
My daughter is a type one diabetic.
You've got strong cocoa chocolate inside there.
I do like the amount of vanilla you've got across the cream
and I'm enjoying the odd boozy raspberry.
But in the middle there, it's a little wet.
Without any sugar, I'm really surprised because it's sweet enough for me.
I really love all the vanilla in that cream, that definitely doesn't need sugar in it.
Your pastry, I think, is a revelation.
Almost like a cheesecake base with those nuts going through it.
So thank you. I think it's a really, really good tart.
What's your daughter's name? Lee ya.
This is for Lee ya, right?
She's missing out on school dinners, desserts,
she's missing out on ice cream when everyone has ice cream.
We have a barbecue, all the kids get a lolly. She misses out on all of it.
It's all right. It's OK. You all right?
What you're trying to do is to give her what you want to give her and that's great.
I think it's admirable. So good on you.
I promised I wouldn't cry. I couldn't help myself.
It came over for me, the emotion, too much.
It just means so much, that's why.
Last to serve is Fannata.
The tarts look good.
I bit brown, but I don't mind brown.
Everyone knows brown food tastes better!
Health and safety specialist Fannata has served a pear frangipane tart,
an almond and ginger praline, sweet tamarind sauce
and a honey and thyme ice cream.
Your ice cream is lovely and creamy and silky and soft,
very strong with thyme.
And when you put that with the sour tamarind,
it becomes almost savoury in the flavours.
The tart case, you've cooked it just too much
and it's gone very, very dry and really, really hard, which is a real shame.
I admire the work you've done here, I really do.
It's not quite perfect.
Cooking in the kitchen for the first time was very challenging.
But you know what? Like, I know I can cook, right?
So if I get another chance, I will take it.
We've seen some good cooks come through this kitchen already this year.
We know how high the standard is.
There's a couple here on my list that have impressed.
Cristina is getting an apron, with Diya.
There's a couple of people who made mistakes they know they made
and probably understand they're going to have to come back
and just show us what they're made of.
That now means then we have one apron left
and we've got a conversation about three gentlemen.
Jeff with carbonara ravioli.
John with a chocolate tart.
And Jack with beef-broccoli stir-fry chow mein.
I can clearly see potential in all three,
but I've got doubts about all three.
Well done, all of you.
Some dishes that really put a smile on our face.
Some that really made us sit up and take notice.
We have three aprons to give out and of course, we have made a decision.
The first person getting a MasterChef apron...
...is Diya.
Congratulations.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Very good. Thank you.
Thanks.
The second person getting their MasterChef apron is...
...Cristina.
Well done, you, Cristina. Fabulous. Thank you.
The third person getting an apron is...
.John.
Congratulations.
Thanks.
Diya, Cristina, John, come and collect your aprons, please.
Thank you.
Well done!
Oh, my God! Well done!
Well done! You can hug the granny!
Well done! Well done! Really good, really good. Well done, guys!
Goodbye, blue. Hello, white.
Look at that. See if it fits. Does it fit?
I love it. I absolutely love it.
Made to measure. It suits us. I know. Perfect.
Brilliant, guys. Hello, we're done. Forward.
Six of you here and we have four aprons to hand out.
That means two of you today will sadly be leaving us.
Welcome to a MasterChef invention test.
We have laid out an amazing set of ingredients
and you can choose whatever you like and cook whatever you want.
Cook something which is wonderful. One hour and 15 minutes.
We're going to give you ten minutes to come up and collect your ingredients. Up you come.
There's always like bits and bobs in the fridge,
so I'm always having to sort of think up, put things together, etc.
So this is actually kind of great.
Lots of ideas coming in and it's very exciting, actually.
I haven't got a plan yet.
I'm just trying to see everything that's here and then trying to come up with something.
There's beautiful fish like brill and hake.
There's mussels if they want to do seafood.
And for those who are willing to take a risk, there's a pork tenderloin.
They've got the ability to make pastry, make a dessert.
It can be a vegetarian dish. They could make pasta.
There are so many things they could do.
I've got a few options.
I'm just looking around for what I need to make the dish tasty, so hopefully I can do that.
So no pressure!
Right, you've got your ingredients. We hope you've got a plan.
You've got an hour and 15 minutes. Come on. Off you go.
Oh, horrendous.
This is my worst nightmare.
I like a plan. When I ain't got a plan, I struggle.
I'm off again, mate. Sorry. Stay away from me!
I'm definitely a recipe follower. Definitely, yeah.
But I can think on my feet.
I like to think there's a decent enough breadth of recipes there
to set me in good stead this time round.
What are you making for us?
I'm doing, like, mustard and herb roasted pork loin
with a wild mushroom risotto.
What did you learn from the last round?
Don't leave anything to chance in this competition
and don't assume that you're doing enough.
My one fear going in was, was I doing enough?
Are you doing enough now? Absolutely, yeah.
That tenderloin is interesting
because you can actually serve it pink.
If it's cooked all the way through,
it can go dry because there is no fat whatsoever.
He's got to be careful he gets it absolutely right.
Underneath, we've got a risotto with mushrooms.
Pork, mustard, mushrooms. Wonderful combination.
With rice, it could be luscious.
I guess there's a slight fear of the unknown as usual.
But then I basically need to just prove to John and Gregg
that I know how to cook, really.
That's what it comes down to, isn't it?
I'm making a pan fried fish,
a Spanish romesco with a little tweak of Scotch bonnet,
balsamic reduction and some crispy fried potatoes.
Do you know what the fish is?
Erm... Do you know what, It doesn't look too familiar.
Say hake.
It's a hake. No, it's not. You've got that bad...
Yes, it is. Yes. Yes, it is.
We've got fish and chips, Spanish style with romesco sauce.
Wonderful.
If we get crispy bits of potatoes, a beautifully cooked piece of fish
which is well seasoned and a lovely, rich, peppery romesco sauce
with olive oil, lots and lots of garlic and almonds,
I'm going to be really happy.
25 minutes gone. 25 minutes gone.
I'm very, very excited for the invention test
because the way I cook sometimes like that, I just open the fridge,
the cupboard, what is available and just make up on the way.
Sometimes work, sometimes not.
So, see.
Endang, your bench smells good. What are you making for us?
I'm making vermicelli noodles,
served with the spicy coconut milk with mussel in it.
You don't seem as confident about this dish.
Yeah, because I just invent it today.
Why not do something that you know very well?
Well, that's why you call it invention dish.
If she can make a really lovely, rich, coconut broth,
which is fragrant and spicy with noodles
and those mussels work beautifully, it could be delicious.
Vijaya, what are you making for us?
I'm making a vegetarian thali. Ooh. What's a thali?
Thali is a collection of different elements
that you enjoy eating with rice or bread.
We've got little breads in a pan
with spiced potato running through them.
We've got paneer with lots and lots of different vegetables
and a sort of creamy, rich, chilli sauce around the outside.
A dhal, but using little, tiny, orange split peas.
She's made a cucumber and yoghurt raita,
a dip that goes with the whole thing.
I know that I can cook,
so I will try and be my best and I hope the best wins.
You've got 25 minutes left.
I start now. Are you going to make risotto? Yes.
You're going to do it in 25 minutes? Yes. Are you? Yes, I am. Wow. Good luck.
I usually cook my risotto in like 16, 17 minutes.
So I'm making a...
...risotto with blue cheese cream.
Figs. So it's going to be a little bit sweet.
And I've also prepared a piece of mushroom.
You've never seen fig and cheese mushroom risotto before, right? No.
So how have you dreamed this up?
I like both, so I guess combining will be good.
I know some people are doing risotto, so I just wanted to be a little bit different.
That is new to me. Yes. Good luck, Jeff. Thank you.
Figs and blue cheese baked together. Absolute classic.
Lovely.
However, figs and blue cheese and rice,
I think is one step too far.
I'm here for a reason, to go out of my comfort zone.
I'm not cooking for my friends any more, I'm cooking for John and Gregg.
So, yeah, I will do what it takes to try my best to get an apron.
You've got 13 minutes. It's unlucky for some.
I'm feeling very nervous, I won't lie. It's make or break today.
This time, I'll just try and cook everything properly!
If it's not good enough, then at least I did it and gave it my best shot.
I find it quite daunting, this. Not having a plan.
Did you kind of have what John Torode calls recipe blindness?
Oh, absolutely did, yeah.
What's your dish, please, Richard?
I'm doing a mushroom risotto,
and then I'm doing some oven-roasted fish,
to just to sit on the top of it as well.
Are you using a water bath in this round?
Absolutely not.
Richard has decided to make for us a mushroom risotto.
And then across the top of that, we're going to get a piece of hake.
Hate can go really dry and almost like cotton wool
if it's overcooked.
We can't have another undercooked fish.
I know, yeah.
If I do, I'll get my coat now, shall I?
Five minutes.
Fish is cooked this time.
That's it, your time's up, stop!
Fingers crossed.
IT consultant Vijaya
has made a vegetarian thali -
paneer curry,
lentil dhal,
cucumber raita,
onion pakoras
and cumin rice,
with spiced-potato-stuffed bread.
The breads... They're OK.
However, everything else is delicious.
Thank you, thank you so much.
Your dhal has got lots and lots of mustard seeds
running through it and all the flavours
of smoky cumin and coriander.
Your rice with all that cumin is delicious.
That's really, really lovely.
And the array of spices and flavours
that go through these dishes is amazing.
You've got paneer here, mild cheese,
and a really lovely, sweet, buttery
sauce clinging to it.
I've got these little bits of fried onion that are just delightful.
These are the dishes
of a confident cook who cooks like this regularly,
and you can taste it.
Thank you so much.
They loved it.
So many positives about each and every element.
I was, like, amazed.
Painter and decorator Richard
has served oven-roasted hake
on a wild mushroom and porcini risotto
flavoured with Parmesan.
Your rice is cooked well.
Your fish is slightly overcooked.
We had under in the last round,
now it's slightly over.
The overwhelming flavour there for me is white wine
that's not cooked off and it's permeating everything.
Hake is a really difficult fish to get right
and, unfortunately, yours is overcooked.
The risotto, saltiness of Parmesan,
I don't mind that, but it's all white wine.
From the start I just couldn't get my head around it,
so I didn't have a plan...
...and it showed at the end.
I've become a victim of the old invention test, I believe,
Health and safety specialist Fannata also chose the hake
and served it with romesco sauce
made with almonds, roasted peppers and yuzu,
fried potatoes,
chicory and a balsamic reduction.
I have to tell you, I really like the way this plate looks.
Oh, thank you.
Potatoes, crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside.
Fish has cooked really nicely, rich and salty from that butter.
That sauce underneath,
the smokiness coming from the peppers,
the nuttiness from the almonds
and it's rich and succulent.
You know what, in an invention test I think you've done pretty well.
I don't see a home for the reduced balsamic.
Your fish is cooked nicely.
Love your chips. Thank you.
Put out a dish I wanted to put out.
John and Gregg seem to be OK with it
so let's see how it goes.
Gift shop owner Endang has served
mussels in a coconut broth
flavoured with chilli, galangal and lemongrass
with vermicelli noodles,
samphire and fried potato dumplings.
Hoar!
Hwa!
You should squeeze the lime on it.
SQUEAKY VOICE: Squeeze the lime on it?
Inside that bowl, you have the fragrance and the flavours
of a Thai curry with a really hot scotch bonnet.
The little potato dumplings I really like.
The little bit of samphire add a bit of saltiness to it.
Your balance of flavours really are quite incredible.
Thank you.
My little mussels are cooked really well.
It's a good broth, it's a good dish,
it's got great flavours.
I bring my my Indonesian style of cooking with chilli,
with galangal, with lemongrass.
So...
So I'm happy, I'm happy, Yeah.
Next, it's sports journalist Jack.
His dish is pork tenderloin coated in mustard
on a wild mushroom risotto
topped with roasted hazelnuts and crispy sage.
You've cooked that pork well.
It's got...it's got a nice pink tinge to it, Well done.
Personally, I'D prefer this rice cooked a little bit more.
I like the crunch of the nuts.
I like the woodiness of the mushroom.
I like the sweetness of the wine in there
and it's really nicely seasoned.
Pork, mushroom, sage, nuts,
all cooked really well together.
That's delicious.
Jack, thanks very much.
Thank you very much. Thank you.
I'm relieved, I'm pleased.
I think I've made a good account of myself
considering how stressful it was at the start.
So I can leave with my head held high if I have to leave.
Finally, it's IT specialist Jeff.
He's also served a risotto
flavoured with a blue cheese cream and topped
with figs, walnuts
and a pan-fried king oyster mushroom.
I've never had rice with blue cheese,
figs, nuts and mushrooms.
Yeah, me neither.
The rice needs more cooking.
Your blue cheese cream
has a little bit of blue cheese in it, but not a huge amount.
Considering you've been really dangerous
with figs, blue cheese, walnuts,
it doesn't deliver
that flavour that I really want to get from those three things.
I actually think the idea of blue cheese
and fig in the risotto now I've tasted it
is a nice idea because, of course,
we have figs with cheese
on a cheese board.
But we do have a couple of big issues here.
The mushroom isn't cooked
and the rice is hard.
I'm happy with what I made.
I was bold on the flavours.
Of course, it's not a perfect dish,
but I'm not a pro chef either,
so that's fine by me.
We have four aprons to give,
the last remaining aprons
in this year's competition.
Vijaya's food was just great.
She made a dhal, raita,
a paneer dish, some bread, some pakoras,
all of them without a recipe
just went and did it.
Good work. She's got herself an apron.
She's in the competition, right? Absolutely.
Endang has made us a really spicy sauce,
really well flavoured and balanced.
It was a good looking dish, it was a really tasty dish.
I loved Endang's broth, absolutely loved it.
Endang has got an apron. Well done, Endang.
I'm going to put my hand up for Fannata.
Cooked a piece of hake and she cooked it really, really well.
She made a romesco without a recipe.
Very, very good chips.
I see no reason why she can't go through.
That now eaves us with a conversation about
Richard, Jeff and Jack.
Three boys who all cooked risotto.
Richard, the risotto itself
he made with lots and lots of white wine, which he hadn't cooked off.
And that fish was overcooked.
Jeff, he's inventing as he's going.
Blue cheese, figs and nuts.
That most certainly works.
But there wasn't enough of the blue cheese.
There wasn't enough of the figs.
Rice was undercooked.
Jack's food
the pork was flavoured well with the mustard across the outside.
Pork, nicely cooked.
Risotto, nicely flavoured, well seasoned,
but actually, I'd like the rice cooked a little more.
Oh, I'd be devastated if I had to go home.
Devastated. I don't feel like I've shown everything I can do yet.
I know I can do better.
It's just one of those things.
At home I could have done it standing on my head, probably,
but in the MasterChef kitchen,
it's a different ball game altogether.
I'm happy with what I've delivered.
Not perfect, of course, but
it's outside of my control, but it is what it is.
Thank you very much indeed.
Some of that food was absolutely delicious.
We have made a decision.
First person leaving us is...
Richard.
It's good to meet you, mate.
Yeah, you too, good luck, everyone. Very good to meet you.
Thanks, Richard.
Deflated, disappointed.
You just don't realise what the pressure environment it is
until you actually get in there.
Jeff, Jack, one of you unfortunately is leaving us.
The person getting this year's last apron...
Jack.
Jeff, thank you.
Thank you. I hope you enjoyed it. I did, thank you very much.
Thanks, Jeff.
Obviously not what I expected.
I took risks.
And when you're not a professional, of course, taking a risk,
you make mistakes.
But it's OK, it was all in all
like a good experience for me, so I'm quite happy.
Congratulations, all four of you.
You have got the last remaining aprons of this year's competition.
Please come up and get them.
Yes!
Bit snug, but, yeah, I'm pleased I'm in the competition.
I want to prove myself going forward.
I want to go on the MasterChef journey and this is the first step.
I'm super glad, super relieved.
There's so much more ahead
but, you know, it's good to just savour this moment right now, it's great.
Very happy.
I'll just take it one day at a time
and happy to be through this time then.
Really excited.
WWhoo! That's it.
Excellent day.
I hope I can sleep well tonight.
It's really good.
Next time,
this week's best cooks return to face
two demanding challenges.
Cream, cream, cream, cream, cream, cream, cream.
...as they fight for a place in the quarterfinal.
My mouth is on fire and I love this.
Bonza, beauty, bingo.