This programme contains some strong language
GORDON: I'm back on the hunt for the UK's next top food and drink entrepreneur,
so have hand-picked 12 amazing contenders,
each with an incredible up-and-coming business.
I want to invest £150,000 of my own cash into one of them
and catapult their business to the next level.
But I'm not giving the money away easily.
They'll need to earn it...
SCREAMS
It's on fire.
BLEEP. Oh!
..so I'm setting my contenders a series
of food and drink-related challenges...
Are you ready? Yep. Action.
I really need help.
That is foul. No.
..which will test them on every element of the industry.
You are really right. I like that.
And the crowd went wild.
Yeah!
Only one of them will make the grade.
Who'll be my future food star?
Previously...
It's all about quality. It's a little bit hard.
Out you come.
I want to see all of you running a lunch service
at one of my top London restaurants.
Sorry to keep you waiting, guys. It won't be too much longer.
Table nine. That - nowhere near, mate. Sh.
That is not how I'd like to operate a service.
I deserve to be here.
I was trying and literally being told to shut up.
I pushed and I didn't crumble.
The person I will not be investing in is Craig.
It wasn't only service where we had issues,
which means I'll also not be investing in Kier.
We're done.
ELECTRONIC MUSIC PLAYS
We are in the semifinals.
Why are we walking so fast, guys?
I don't know. Cos we're going for war!
There's only four of us.
That's a one in four chance of winning.
I'm getting to that final.
No questions. No doubt about it.
How small does it feel, though?
So small!
I keep looking for people, like... Oh, no, it's only us now.
Obviously, the spotlight is a bit brighter
when there's only four of you.
But you don't want to go out now,
because you're so close to that end goal.
Oh, it's like a food market.
This week is all about visuals and being forward-thinking.
Who can catch consumers' attention and move with the times?
It's the semifinals
and I'm just one week away from crowning my future food star,
but I'll only invest in someone who's one step ahead of the game.
Today is all about social media,
an essential tool in promoting any food and drink business.
And it's an area I have a fair bit of experience in,
having amassed over 100 million-plus followers across all my channels.
Shit, I'm getting good.
So the contenders are going to have to work extra hard
to impress me.
Good morning. ALL: Morning!
I've brought you all here to the stunning Shelter Hall,
Brighton's first and only food market,
because today I'm going to pair you up with two incredible vendors.
I'd like you to create social media videos.
Flo?
I'm really not into the social media.
So, for me... Oh, la, la, la, la. Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu!
I know! I will do my best. I know, I know I can nail it.
Well, we need to be into the social media platforms,
because every business depends on it.
Andy and Flo, you'll be the Red Team...
OK.
..which means Sam and Amy,
you will be the Blue Team.
Now, you've got seconds to engage your audience,
so your video should be unique, exciting, captivating,
but, more importantly, do the brands justice.
OK? Yes.
Semifinal. Yeah.
There is no room for error.
Good luck. Off you go.
Thank you. Let's go, girl. Let's go, let's go, let's go.
Come on, girl. We've got it.
My business, we stay with the times.
42,000 followers on Instagram.
We've got the largest social following
of seafood boil companies in the UK.
Yeah, my experience in this field is a big bonus.
Let's go. Let's go.
Come on, come on.
Social media for me is something that I don't really enjoy,
but I'm really creative. Let's do it.
I just want to nail it.
So we are your social media marketing team. Amazing.
For the Blue Team...
We're going to create magic for you today. We absolutely are. I hope so.
..they'll be promoting Sussex-based hamburger brand Patty Guy.
We smash our burgers American-style,
done simply but done really, really well.
And that's...that's, for me, the most important thing.
Just your classic cheeseburger.
Oh, my God.
That is unbelievable.
If you eat one of them, you're coming back. Yeah.
People need to see what it is that we're feeling...
I know. Yes. ..and that's what we're going to do.
Morning, guys. Morning. Morning. How are we?
The Red Team's client -
a Brighton-based chicken brand...
Chicken wings is probably our speciality.
..Chick Chick Crew.
Our main thing, we're saucy, saucy, saucy.
And they range from, like, medium hot,
and then we go to super hot.
Have you we had people come in and do, like, the challenge-esque things?
Yeah, absolutely.
Have a little try. Thank you.
Get messy, right? Yeah. Yeah. Get in there.
It's got to be fun.
Outrageous. Get... Get people going, "Wow, what is that?"
Ooh-la-la.
It's hot.
See you soon. Good luck.
Briefs from the clients acquired...
Good luck, guys. Thank you. Bye. Alle, alle. Thank you.
..now to come up with a catchy concept for the videos.
These are just one of my mental ideas.
Like, almost like letting the general public choose your meal.
Excuse me, madam, this hand or this hand?
Double cheeseburger.
Do you know, I love the idea... Mm-hm.
..pick this or this, and then it's like chips or tater tots.
I know that Sam does a lot of content,
she's like the marketing manager for her business.
I didn't want to be overshadowed,
so straight away I was like,
"No, no, no, like, we need to get my personality into this."
Are we vibes-ing right now? We are vibing. We're vibes-ing!
Emphasis on the sauce
and then the reaction.
I think, sort of challenge-y, review-based...
Yes. Can we play on something like Blindfolded Buffalo Challenge?
Wings...? Yeah, yeah, that is a good one.
Even though Flo initially might not have been the happiest
with the social media challenge,
I love working with her.
I know she works real hard.
She's great at adapting, creative.
And I think what we're thinking of doing is unique
and I think it's going to impress Gordon, hopefully.
We can be, like, funny and we've almost got that chemistry
in front of a camera, so I think that would work. Yeah, yeah.
I think this could be good. Yeah, yeah.
While the teams crack on with the videos,
I'm meeting comedian and social media legend Nigel Ng.
Nigel, good to see you. Good to see you, Gordon.
With over 22.6 million followers,
Nigel is best known as his alter ego,
Malaysian food critic Uncle Roger.
Three tablespoons of soy sauce...
Three tablespoon, three tablespoon
and then he pour half the bottle...
Hi-yah...
Notorious for his no holds barred approach,
even the world's most
famous chef isn't safe from his devastating reviews.
Remember, niece and nephew,
Gordon nail his egg fried rice -
he get called Uncle Gordon.
But then he fucked up ramen -
so Uncle Roger take that title away from him.
Uncle Roger has become a worldwide phenomenon,
with millions and millions of followers on social media.
Take me back to the start.
How did it kick off?
Well, I was a stand-up comedian.
I still am, I guess.
And then when the pandemic hit,
no, no jobs at all. Right? So I had to figure something out.
I was already doing social media at the time,
so I just doubled down and came out with this character
and then it just took off.
Online, it is off the charts.
Everybody hates shit cooking.
Yes. So I need to call it out.
Now, the contenders are here devising a social media post.
Mm-hm. What should they consider,
getting something dynamic out there online?
You want it to have the potential to go viral,
so if someone sees it, they want to share it.
How many seconds at the top of that video do you need to draw them in?
Because it's got to be quick, right?
Instant. Two seconds. One second.
Just start with the food, mate. Grab people's attention.
Yeah. Tell us what we can get from watching this 20-second video.
About a year ago, I was crowned Uncle Ramsay.
You then kicked me in the nuts and took my crown away from me.
What do I need to do to get my crown back?
You know, make a good Asian dish.
You messed up ramen. Come on, man.
The amount of time you've spent in the UK now,
I've spent more time in Indonesia than you ever have done.
LAUGHS
See how many woks I've got?
How many? 73.
Then why didn't you use them in your ramen video?
THEY LAUGH
Grab that phone out. Let's start trying to set up
what we're going to be doing here.
With Uncle Roger and myself eagerly awaiting the videos...
Maybe we should run. Yeah.
..I've given the teams 90 minutes to shoot
and then edit their one-minute post.
We need a lot of shots. It's better to have more video than not enough.
AMY: Ladies, I'm going to run up to you holding two things.
I need you to choose this one.
This or that?
This one. This one?
No, that one. No, we need to do it again!
Gordon said, you've got to captivate them.
You've got to bring in personality. Funny.
We're going to take the viewer on this game of 'This or That?'
The idea being that it doesn't matter what you get from the vendor,
because it's going to be delicious. So it could be anything.
Ooh, the lifeguards.
Lifeguard? Excuse me.
Just look lifeguard-y, yeah.
And action.
Take a break from saving lives.
This or that?
We're here at Chick Chick Crew
doing the Blindfold Buffalo Challenge.
Mine is good.
Hot?
A little bit hot.
But it's fine.
Our video is going to be organic,
our natural reactions to the sauces
that the guys provide.
They're going to be at different heat levels...
Ah! So hot!
..which is going to hopefully entice some brand engagement,
what the guys wanted from the video.
Oh!
COUGHS
Keep cooking.
Just keep cooking, yeah? Just keep cooking.
Oh, no, don't start that yet.
So happy to be in a team with Amy,
but are we hitting the points that you need
in a marketing campaign?
Can we do it one more time?
I think we can cut it.
OK. Don't worry.
It's all right, don't worry about it.
Yes, the idea is great, but I feel like she's very...
.."Ch-ch-ch" and then I, like, bring things together.
We only get, like, one shot at this... OK.
..so really, like, exaggerated.
Oh, my God.
That's so good.
FLO: You know, you can film like that.
Rather than stop, start, stop, start, stop, start,
I think we need emphasis on the challenge, you know what I mean?
It's a challenge. I know.
It's better to have more video than not enough.
Collaborate. Let's not... I want to collaborate,
but you are not listening. I'm listening, but the thing is...
No, you are taking over, and you are not listening.
It was intense. I wanted to focus on the heart and belly of the reviewing
and trying the food and, you know, Flo
wanted to shoot as much as possible so we could trim it,
but under time constraint, I didn't think it was the best idea.
We don't know... Relax, man.
Just... You don't have to react like that with me. Talk with me.
Andy, you take my nerves right now.
You really take my nerves. Just work with me.
Don't... You're being reactive. Work with me also.
We had a little argument, because he was focused on one idea.
You need to think of the global video.
Don't be stuck on one point.
Just take the shot,
if we don't use it, we don't use it,
but at least we got it.
Yay, I've never edited this fast.
Filming done.
FLO: We are too long. We want to keep the dynamic of the video.
The teams now need to cut their footage down to a one-minute video.
AMY: Oh, my God.
I've never seen myself run before.
It's not attractive.
I'd have that on my Instagram.
Yeah, so would I.
Well, maybe without my face and my voice.
God.
Intro first.
Let's see what the better clip of the two is.
This one, I'm not sure. Not now.
We just want a toss. We don't want the guy pouring all the sauce.
We only need one toss. Do you want to pick the best toss?
No, we don't. Don't even need this one? We don't need this one.
All the things, we can cut it. Cut, yeah. Cut, cut, cut.
I do understand Flo's sentiment of wanting to get as many
clips as possible.
We don't need that.
Yeah, cos there's a lot there.
When we got to the edit, you know,
it did turn out that we shot a bit too much.
We deleted probably three quarters of what we had
and only ended up using about four or five videos.
Are you happy with the job? I think so.
Yeah... I think we've... Considering, yeah.
Not considering. Are you happy?
If you're not happy now... Considering...
You know, we have time, you know.
Social media videos complete...
Oh, my God.
..time for them to face the critics.
Right. How are we feeling?
ALL: Good, good.
Good. Two great brands. Happy with the videos?
ALL: Yes.
Good. I've got a very special treat for you all.
Helping me judge your videos today,
please welcome the internet sensation Uncle Roger.
Oh, my God!
LAUGHTER, CHEERS AND APPLAUSE
Oh, hello, hello, Gordon. We meet again.
So many empty seats here,
remind me of your restaurant.
Eh...
As you can see, not the best of friends,
but he knows his stuff.
First up to face Uncle Roger's wrath...
..the Blue Team.
OK.
Let's play a Patty Guys 'This or That?'
Let's go.
This or that?
That.
Saving lives. This or that?
Guys, this or that?
What... what happening?
Are you playing some game or something?
If you want to play game, you need to explain what the game is,
otherwise you just look like some mad woman
running on beach bothering people. Haiyaa.
I need this, this and this.
Ah, I like the creative camera angle,
the top down thing you do.
Ah! Oh, no.
What that face?
Don't pause it there!
You can't do another take?
This not food video any more. This like horror movie.
It doesn't matter what you order from Patty Guys,
cos it's going to be absolutely delicious.
OK. Not bad.
I see the food, it look good.
OK, shall we look at the Red Team's effort?
We're doing the Blindfold Buffalo Challenge.
Are you ready? Don't know. Me neither.
We will do it for you guys.
All right, Flo, blindfold on.
Take, what, 20 seconds before the food show up?
And then it just look so unappetizing. Haiyaa.
That is not really showcasing the food.
Our hottest sauce. Fermented Carolina Reapers.
Hot? A little bit hot.
Rufio. Our second hottest sauce. Fermented Scotch Bonnets.
COUGHS
How was that?
Woman choking and blindfolded.
Is this chicken wing or 50 Shades of Grey?
You're supposed to be enjoying the food.
GORDON: Videos critiqued.
Now to decide on a winner.
Uncle Roger, you've just witnessed both teams' videos.
Do you have a winner?
Uncle Roger definitely think...
..Blue Team better.
The video, they showcase the food, the food looked appetising
and I feel like I want to eat it,
I want to check out the restaurant afterwards.
So, good job, Blue Team.
It had pace, it was engaging, and it looked like you were having fun.
And the Red Team didn't live up to your standards. Why?
You don't even see close-up of the chicken wing,
the same angle throughout whole video.
And then, the editing a bit dated.
It's almost like we're focused on you, as opposed to the food.
Feedback's been amazing. As always, continued success...
Thank you. ..and stay away from my restaurants. Thank you.
THEY LAUGH
Take care.
APPLAUSE
Blue Team, congrats.
Amy and Sam, I think you really did the brand justice.
Well done, both of you.
I'm so happy with the video.
I'm not happy about the still...
..in the video,
but I'm happy about the video.
If we'd have had five more minutes,
we could have polished that little bit up.
Red Team, it was somewhat lacklustre, OK?
The food was in the background and you were in the foreground,
so just be mindful of that.
I wanted the room to swallow me up, you know what I mean?
It was just embarrassing.
I think maybe we were just too focused on
trying to make something too unique.
Yeah, it was kind of hard to watch it.
But what else can you do, you know what I mean?
That was one small challenge today, but let me tell you...
..an even bigger challenge tomorrow.
And I really do need all of you bringing your A-game.
There's a lot more to show, a lot more to prove.
But off the back of this, it's given me, you know, the push,
the confidence going into the next challenge.
There's a place in the finale at stake.
It's my last chance tomorrow to nail this challenge
and get my place in the final.
So, yeah, I need to... I need to fight.
How do you feel going into this?
We're backed into a corner.
We're going to fight. We are fighters. We're fighters.
Now, it's all about visuals this week.
Who knows how to capture a market, sell a brand,
and hook people in immediately?
Trust me, the pressure's on, because after this challenge,
I'll choose my three finalists and I'll be sending somebody home.
And, honestly, no-one wants to fall at the last hurdle.
Good morning.
Good morning. Morning. Morning.
Right, for your next challenge, I want you to create
a stunning, delicious, eye-catching meat-free recipe.
Then I'd like you to style and photograph it.
Because if it's good enough, it's going to feature
on the front cover of Waitrose in-house magazine -
read by half a million people a week,
two million people a month.
That's big.
After you've done that, tomorrow, you'll be demoing your dish
live in front of experts, who will then decide
which one is worthy of hitting the front cover.
It's a big challenge,
and a big brand is risking everything on you four.
Now, you'll be in the same teams for this.
It's the semifinal.
Only three of you are going to make it into the finale.
Do not be that person leaving this week.
All four of you, good luck. Off you go.
Thank you. Thank you.
I just feel like I've got a lot of ideas running through my head. Same.
This is the semifinals.
Every week I put 110% in, and it's not failed me yet,
and that's exactly what I'm going to do today.
I feel confident.
This is your thing, you've got a cookery school. Yeah.
You've done recipe cards, right? This is your strength.
I'm just going to facilitate you, but we'll do it together.
I can't fail in this challenge - it's just my daily life,
teaching how to make a recipe -
and the fact that I failed the previous challenge.
I have to be successful today, it's just no choice.
A modern food customer is absolutely bombarded with choices these days,
so only something that's appealing and of the highest quality
is going to make the grade.
People want something easy.
If it's too complicated, they will be like, "Ugh!"
They'll be unengaged, yeah.
I would say, let's go on a cold dish, like a salad,
but you also have to use your pan.
To secure the front cover, the teams' dishes
will need to be visually exciting...
An upside down strawberry shortcake cheesecake.
Something that the family can do. I like that concept.
..highlighting a hero vegetarian ingredient.
I quite like the asparagus.
British asparagus.
You can fry them, and then you pour with a little bit of balsamic glaze.
Ooh. You pour it on the top. Mm!
I'm someone that probably wouldn't be the biggest salad eater,
it's not something that I'm the hugest fan of.
But, yeah, I'm here to help Flo out.
And then, come tomorrow in the demo, I'm showing my personality.
I'm putting myself out there.
Let's go over, like, exactly what we're doing,
so that we can be on the same page.
When you write a recipe, you need to be just... Yeah.
..efficient.
Need to think about how we're going to add colour to the top,
because when I look at food magazines, the more colourful it is,
the more it draws me in.
So, we can add some lemon to it.
Typically, I don't really cook food like this,
but I'm a very visual person.
So, for me, the part of the brief that I want to hit is, you know,
making it eye-catching, making it a beautiful piece of food,
that when people see the cover, they want to cook it.
Lemon changes the flavour.
A bit of lemon zest on top.
But then, they're going to come in and go, "So where's the lemon in this?"
And I'll be like, "It's white chocolate..." Do you know what?
Then we just add a little bit of lemon. No. I hate lemon.
But it's not just about our personal preferences.
As well as nailing the recipes, they'll need their dishes
to be visually stunning to secure that front cover.
So, I'm meeting with world-renowned photographer and vegetarian cookery
book writer Mary McCartney.
You've been part of this huge movement of incredible
vegetarian food and eating meatless.
How important is that on a cover?
Well, my mum, I think most people would agree,
was, like, the vegetarian pioneer - Linda McCartney. -
and my dad was really there backing her.
So, I'm more aiming towards not vegetarian and vegans,
I'm more aiming towards meat reducers who say,
"Look, I want to do one day a week."
Less. "Less meat, Meat Free Monday.
"It helps me reduce my carbon footprint
"and it's something I can really do at home."
You know the art of demonstrating,
taking pictures and keeping the audience alight.
What's the secret behind that?
The secret is thinking of the audience.
Make it accessible.
So, it's like, "That's something I could cook."
Not too intimidating.
A cover is a big deal.
What do you focus on when you shoot a cover?
The cover shot has to just immediately be like, "Buy me."
You want that image to pop out at you.
Some of your foods, I'm surprised how easy it is.
Is there a sort of cut-off in terms of steps?
I think with vegetarian, meat-free cooking, people think it's going
to be loads of ingredients and really a faff to make.
The pitfalls are having too many different things to do.
Like, you don't want to have to boil one thing, fry another thing,
bake another thing. Just keep it as simple as possible.
Love that.
We need colour. I'm going to tell you like I do with my kids. Yeah.
You need to eat the rainbow every day.
We need to have something red.
Pomegranate will work well.
Oh, I love pomegranate, yeah.
In the next one we make, can we try using less white chocolate?
Just cos it tastes really sweet.
Try it. Try it.
It's lovely.
That's way too sweet.
So, if we could try less white chocolate, please.
Do you have a separate section for, like, say,
the salad, and then the marinade, or are they in the same...? Yeah.
You always have a little... Separate them? Yeah. OK.
LAUGHING: Andy knows basically nothing about food,
so it's on me.
I've got eight steps on the cooking instructions, four on the marinade.
Four steps sounds a lot. Yeah? Yeah, yeah.
We can refine that together.
With the teams' recipes nearly finished...
Are you doing basil or mint?
I just did basil and lemon.
..it's time for me to see if either of them feel front-cover-worthy.
Hello. Right. How are we?
How are we feeling? We're doing good. Yeah, good, thank you.
What is the dish and what's the hero product?
So, the hero product is strawberry.
The concept was, basically, we wanted to go down
this whole family route, a family favourite,
with, like, an upside down strawberry and white chocolate cheesecake.
I thought that was a trifle. I had no idea it was a cheesecake.
OK. Don't forget, it's a cover we're trying to win.
The cover.
OK? OK.
Let's have a taste.
My mouth is just obliterated with sugar.
Do you honestly think this is family-friendly,
with the amount of sugar in it?
The amount of... No, yeah, you're right.
It's too sugary.
And the whole thing about cheesecake,
when you think about it growing up, is the layers -
but it doesn't strike me as an upside down cheesecake.
That does not feel like a semifinal attempt
at getting yourself into the finale,
Have a think, ladies.
Man...
OK, what can I do?
Blue Team. That's so frustrating.
They're going for this upside down cheesecake.
Amy wants to bring this sort of family style.
But that's not family style.
That's just a family sugar high, because it's sweet on sweet on sweet.
And secondly, it looks like a trifle.
They're upside down in there right now.
How are we?
Good. Hello.
We good? Yeah. Yeah. Excellent.
Right, tell me about the dish.
What's the hero ingredient first, please? Smells good.
The asparagus. Yeah.
What's the dish?
Balsamic glazed asparagus on a bed of seasonal veg.
So, we've got some sweetness in there with our pomegranate tomatoes,
also egg and radish.
I think you've got a really smart choice with asparagus. Yeah.
I think what I'm going to ask you both now,
is this dish interesting enough for semifinalists?
We wanted something colourful,
because we want to bring the summer vibes with the asparagus.
So we have some sweetcorn.
We have a lot of easy slicing with the tomatoes.
This demo almost is like a chopping demo,
as opposed to a dish that's going to blow their socks off.
I don't know if it's captivating enough for a cover.
OK. OK?
Semifinal. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
No, we're with you. We get what you're saying. Thank you. Thank you.
OK, we need to rethink. All right.
He wants the people in front of us saying, "Wow."
Frustrating, that Red Team, Flo and Andy.
It's almost like there's style over substance,
because there's no actual dish.
It's just like a cold chop salad.
The asparagus is supposed to be the hero.
So, there's another nine or ten ingredients mixed in with that.
The asparagus is lost in translation.
We need to do something else with the asparagus.
I'm going to cook them, I'm going to blend it,
and I will make a sauce.
The teams have only got one hour left to refine their dishes...
Maybe fill in cheesecake with strawberries,
and then build it up like that.
..as well as taking their cover photos and writing up the recipes...
Would you like a method? I would love a method. OK.
..I provided the teams with some of the magazine's in-house
copywriters and photographers.
Boil another pan of water.
Is this one a separate...? Yeah, this is number two. Sorry.
Yeah, that's OK.
Do you want to see it up high or down low?
Is it possible to see what it looks like as a tight shot?
Yeah.
See if we can capture any of the layers.
This cheesecake incorporates silky smooth white chocolate
and a zesty strawberry compote, meaning every single spoonful...
I'm thinking that...
Should we include the fact that it's really quick to make?
Yeah. Really quick and it looks amazing.
Trust me. I'm getting there.
Not only is this dessert going to...
..impress friends and family,
once brought to... It's quick and easy to make. Yeah.
So, it's super-quick...and easy to make.
I've worked with Sam on a few challenges,
but I feel like this has been the hardest one.
And don't forget the lemon zest that goes on the top, yeah?
OK, I know, but lemon zest and mint are literally the...
..the least of my worries at the moment.
I've taken on 80% of the workload, and...
..she's took three photos.
We've got limited time. I'm not having an argument about it.
All I can do is put 110% into what I'm doing.
But it's three photos.
Flo, I've gone with Two Way British Asparagus Salad.
I think we want to highlight it's British.
Move on from that, yeah?
More asparagus.
Do I have to say deshell egg, or is that obvious, Flo?
No, it's obvious. Cool.
Did that delete something?
Flo, when you made this thing... Yeah. ..what is it?
You boil the asparagus bottom until soft... OK.
..and then you blend it.
That's it.
But I've already got, like, eight points.
Add salt. Add salt in the water.
Cook for 12 minutes. All right, I've got it.
Have you got it? So, now we're just going to do it simple...
Easy wording. Cool.
Add two tablespoons... I've still got so much to do.
First, it was a glazed something.
Now it's not. It's a two-way, and it's...
We've added this and we've taken this away.
The ingredients changed.
Obviously, I'm writing down the ingredients,
and as I'm writing them, they're different to what it is.
I mean, it's... What can I do, innit?
It's up to you which one you want to pick for the cover.
Time's almost up...
This is definitely the front page,
cos I love the details on the front of that.
..and the teams need to sign off on their magazine content.
I like this one.
It's good, huh? Looks lovely.
Delicious Summer Strawberry Surprise.
Yeah. Delicious Summer Strawberry Surprise.
Where would you like it?
That's not bad.
You can see a lot of the cheesecake, you can see all the top.
Beautiful. Love it.
Yeah, happy? Yeah. Cool.
Happy. All right. Thank you so much. Thank you.
I'm not a baker, but I did my best to give my opinion
where it's needed and to uplift the product.
I'm feeling confident.
Yeah, I can literally taste the final. I'm not going home.
Place your asparagus on top and dress with your..
OK.
Wait. Dress.... Place your asparagus on the salad bed.
Oh, no. On top, and then take out... Yeah.
Uh... Sorry.
So, we really need to send this across now, so when you're ready.
Andy, recipe? OK.
How is it going? I've done what I can.
Are you happy with the instruction? Is it clear?
We've made it as clear as possible. Cool.
And tried to refine every step.
I struggled to try and get the changes into the stuff
I'd already written, cos I thought it was set in stone, you know?
I think Andy had a little bit of tricky time with the instruction.
I don't really know, because I was so focused on making a recipe.
We still have the demo tomorrow to go together, as a team,
strong and smash the challenge.
I'm confident with him.
We had a hard day today. We get on with it. Yeah.
Do the same tomorrow. Cos we can't go home. No.
Well done, though, you smashed it. Well done.
Today I've arranged for the teams to demo their front cover recipes
at Season Cookery School.
Are you ready? Do you know what? I am.
How do you feel? Yeah, I feel good, actually.
I think this is where we actually excel. Yeah.
Dun-dun-dun! Do you want to turn them over?
Oh, wow.
Before the teams get started, a chance to check out
their potential magazine covers and recipes.
Nice.
Delicious Summer Strawberry Surprise!
I'm proud of the photographs. It's beautifully captured...
..the lemon zest that you were fighting with me...!
Are you happy with it now, Amy?
I'll tolerate the lemon zest, yeah.
That page looks colourful and beautiful.
OK. What about the recipe?
Uh...
What's wrong with that?
It's a lot of wording.
I think some steps on the recipes are missing.
Yeah... I mean, it was hard for me to get that down.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know? It's fine. It's fine.
It's easy to, like, say, "Right, this should have been done.
"This should have been done."
I think there's an element of saving face on Flo's part.
"I really love the pictures. You missed this. You missed that."
"You missed this."
But there was no comms during it to tell me that.
Prep-wise, let's do as much as we can of it.
Really thin, the radishes, if you can. Yeah.
The teams now need to prep their ingredients
and rehearse their demos.
So, Andy, beautiful British asparagus.
Do you eat asparagus?
All the time. All the time.
Are you a big fan of asparagus? A huge fan.
Their demos will offer the opportunity to showcase the dish
and prove that their recipe works and is easy to follow.
Do you have any tips when they're whisking it?
What should they be looking for?
It's probably going to be quite liquid to start with, but you'll
find that, especially in this heat, it comes together quite quickly. OK.
Which we're looking for before we start to add the cream cheese.
Obviously, if you're at home, you can do this with a stand mixer.
But for the purposes of today, we are going to...
OK. So, basically, when I ask you questions, don't go on for too long.
Cos, otherwise, I'll be stood there doing nothing.
Try and be straight to the point.
Do you know what it is?
I don't want to feel the dish that I've literally put everything into
over the last couple of days... You haven't done it alone, Amy.
You've done it as a team.
I know it's a team effort... This isn't about ego.
It's not about ego.
I don't want to feel like I'm being sidelined.
I'm not going to let somebody stand there and be
at the forefront of selling a product that I've created.
I'll make myself involved, basically.
The purpose of this challenge is for us to present it.
Don't try and sabotage it by doing all the talking,
and I'm just stood there. Don't do that.
It did feel like I was trying to rein in a child.
We need to work as a team.
I'm just praying that when we go up
that Amy doesn't try to take the whole stand,
when the purpose of this challenge is to work together.
The winning team's recipe will feature on the front cover
of Waitrose in-house magazine.
The teams will not only have to demo in front of
a live cookery school audience,
but they will also have to impress some top industry experts.
Joining me again, Mary McCartney,
food author and broadcaster Yasmin Khan,
and Waitrose food and drink editor Alison Oakervee.
What you expecting today, Yas? What are you hoping to see?
What I really want is a clear guide to how they're making these recipes.
Sure. I want clear, step by step, so if I'm at home and I'm busy,
I can just whack it together.
When that copy becomes a favourite, and we're talking about hundreds
and hundreds of thousands of people, it becomes a... Kind of a...
..a classic. One of the classics that people go to,
and that's what we want every recipe to do. Sure.
And can we get something that dynamic across in 20 minutes?
You should be able to.
I think they can, yeah.
But it's not easy, even for professionals.
The chemistry between them is quite important,
and that will reflect in the actual finished recipe, I think.
First to demo will be the Blue Team
with their family-friendly strawberry cheesecake.
Blue Team, first impressions visually.
Does it scream cheesecake?
It does look delicious, but it looks like a trifle,
so you kind of need to read what it is.
Sort of targeting this towards the family, kids.
If it's a family, then you want four or five of those.
Are they individual? Are they for two?
It always feels weird with just one. Yeah.
Cos when you think family, you think serving, style,
a big thing you can all tuck into.
Look, it is looking bright and summery, isn't it?
It's all down to the demo. Yes!
They're up first. Shall we? Yeah. Looking forward to it.
Hello. Hi, everyone. Hello, everyone.
Welcome. My name is Sam and this is... Amy.
And today we're going to demonstrate for you how to make this
delicious summer strawberry layered cheesecake.
So, first, we're going to start with melting the chocolate.
That gets whipped into the cheesecake layers.
So, Amy, what are you doing here?
So, what I'm going to do now is, use the stand mixer to create
some soft peaks within the cream,
ready to incorporate our cream cheese into it.
OK, so... We've got some beautiful as well...
some beautiful vanilla bean, as well, to go through that mixture.
We're going to fold in the melted white chocolate,
and then just layer everything up.
We've got a gorgeous shortcake crust.
So... It's delicious.
It's... Yeah.
How are we doing with that chocolate?
Yeah. So, the chocolate's almost done.
Fantastic. That's ready... Is that ready to go in?
This is ready to be incorporated. Lovely.
There we go. Thank you.
So, Amy, you have a family, you have a son. Yes.
So I guess, like, this dish is perfect for your family
to make together.
My son's four.
So, he can mash things together, he can smash the biscuit.
So this is great for your kids to get involved
if you have any children.
And, I have to say, that strawberries are definitely
arguably one of Britain's best produce.
They really are. Fresh strawberries.
I love taking Alby strawberry picking, as well.
I don't like it when he's wearing white,
but I definitely enjoy taking him there.
So, what we can do is start to layer the glasses.
And then what I'm doing here is, I'm just thinly chopping
the strawberries, which we'll add to the layers as well.
This is the perfect summertime dessert.
How are you getting on with the compote?
It smells amazing. It's almost done.
Can you smell it from where you are?
Yeah, we can smell it. We can smell it. Looking good.
Just dress this last one here with the compote,
the zest and the mint.
And then we put the strawberry on to end it.
And then we've got a little bit of the lemon zest.
Last little sprigs of mint.
And, voila.
And we would absolutely love to take some questions
from you now, as well.
Well, well done. You did a great job.
I loved your chemistry, and it was really, really engaging.
Thank you.
Tell us, on the front cover,
you call it a Delicious Summer Strawberry Surprise. Yes.
What's the surprise?
When you take the, like, the mouthful of it... Yeah.
..the flavours in your mouth is like, "Wow!" OK.
And that's the surprise.
And by putting that on the front page, it's to invite people in.
Look at it, though.
Array of glasses there, they look beautiful.
This looks way more attractive.
Why not a cluster for the potential cover, as opposed to sticking one
on there and covering it with a big, bold text?
I mean, the text can be taken off.
The glass looked quite lonely, and I was like, "Oh, it's a family dish,"
but that doesn't scream family to me, you know. No.
It's individual portion.
Because it's for children, and there's some really strict
guidelines about fat and salt and sugar levels,
is there any way we can lighten it up, so that it can say
it's for children with kind of a clear conscience? Yeah.
Well, like I say, it wasn't aimed specifically at children.
It was aimed at more the family. OK. As a mother....
So, it was something that, I would enjoy this,
I would let my little boy have it.
But obviously, it's a balanced diet with...with children.
No way would he eat a full one.
But what I would do is, get a separate bowl, a bit of crumb,
fresh strawberries, and a little bit on there.
Ladies and gentlemen, please give it up for Amy and Sam.
Great job. Thank you. Thank you.
That couldn't have gone better. It couldn't have gone better.
We bounced off each other.
And the questions, we had answers to.
Wasn't even good. That was great!
It was clear, it was concise.
I would find that a very easy recipe to follow. Yeah.
I need more strawberries in there, though. I agree.
Cos that was the hero, right?
That's the point of this, a strawberry layered cheesecake.
I embraced the challenge.
I reined Amy in, I made sure that we were on the same page.
The panel said that they loved our chemistry.
If I hadn't reined it in, it would have been a different outcome.
So, child-friendly or not?
It's good for children to cook, but not to eat. Yeah.
But it would be so easy to lighten it, wouldn't it?
Instead of using double cream, use creme fraiche, use yoghurt.
Exactly. Give it that kind of lovely kind of summer freshness.
Yeah.
All I can control is my contribution,
and I feel I've definitely done enough to justify
why I should be a finalist.
Next up is the Red Team,
showcasing their Two Way British Asparagus Salad.
First impressions. Asparagus being the hero, what do you think?
Well, you can tell it is asparagus, I think.
There's a lot of ingredients, though, wouldn't you say?
Yeah, I have to say, I'm a little bit surprised, for something
that should be ready in 20 minutes, there is coming on...
..ooh, 13 steps.
I would say that it looks good, but it's far too complex a recipe. Yeah.
Well, it's all going to be down to the demo. Yeah.
Shall we? Let's do it. Great job.
Welcome, everyone. Hello!
My name is Andy, I'm here with... Flo.
Today we're going to be doing for you a Two Way British Asparagus Salad.
You can do it in 20 minutes.
Are you ready to do it in 20 minutes, guy?
Yeah?
We'll have a pan for the bulgur quinoa.
We will have a pan for the eggs,
because we're going to boil the eggs.
And we will have another pan to boil the end of the asparagus.
We're going to use some of the water from the asparagus, and we're going
to use that to give it a nice texture, something that's going to
be a bit creamier to add at the end to our salad.
Am I right? You are really right.
Thank you. I like that.
With our dressing and our marinade what we're going to do is,
we're going to start with two tablespoons of our olive oil.
Yeah.
Apple cider vinegar.
We're going to go in with one teaspoon.
Next step, the courgettes. Courgettes, yes.
So, rather than just chopping the courgette, we wanted to add a bit
of, you know, zhoosh to our courgette.
So, basically, we are making little ribbons.
Cos we are not cooking the courgette.
We're going to marinate the courgette with our dressing.
Pour a bit of that marinade in. Et voila.
Are you turning French? Oh, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, cool.
Everything's a bit better in French.
Oui, Gordon?
Yes. Here we go.
There we go.
You take your little tomatoes, play with the colours,
put them how you want.
We're going to go in with our asparagus.
You take the ribbon. If you want to play with the ribbon,
you can roll it like that with your finger and you can drop it.
Be creative. It's fine. It's your recipe now, right?
So, you take your asparagus, you put them on the top.
Voila.
And the final touch. May I?
Yeah, go. Please.
And voila! There you are.
QUIETLY: Huh? Egg...
And before we finish... Oh, the egg, yeah.
Rather than just taking the egg and splitting it,
we're going to shave it. Exactly.
Coming out just like that.
How good is it? Ready to try it?
We'd love to take some questions.
Really well done.
I know it's not easy to cook and talk at the same time. Thank you.
I guess my first question is maybe about the title of the recipe -
the Two Way British Asparagus Salad. Yeah.
I guess what confused me about that is, we've got pomegranates
from the Middle East, we've got bulgur wheat from the Middle East,
quinoa from Latin America,
we've got balsamic glaze from Italy.
I just wondered how the title fitted with the recipe.
So, with the "British", we were more so referring to the asparagus itself.
But we didn't want to just have a generic salad.
We tried to add different inspirations.
So, there is a bit of, you know, a difference to this dish.
It looks delicious and colourful.
Thank you.
How would you simplify the recipe? Cos it did feel like a lot of steps.
OK.
In terms of courgette, if you don't want to spend time
doing the ribbons, you can just chop it. It's quicker.
And, uh...and then you put them in the salad dressing. Mix it.
Interesting.
So, on the beautiful picture... Yeah.
..you've got whole asparagus, and the dish has got tips of asparagus.
So it's just a little bit inconsistent.
Which is the right one to follow?
We would definitely say to do it this method, mainly because you do
want to make your sauce out of the hard ends itself.
Right.
Excellent, Flo and Andy. Well done, good job.
Oh, alors. Good. Alors.
Happy with that? Yeah, I'm happy.
We couldn't do better.
Their enthusiasm came through for it, actually,
and I think that's really important when you're trying to sell a dish.
It was an entertaining demo. There was bits of humour.
Could you follow it easily?
No. No.
Today has been quite emotional.
I wanted to show that, OK, I can do it.
I'm here, this is my job, and I'm good at that.
I think I'm happy with the result.
I just think it's a really nice salad, and they overcomplicate it,
cos the asparagus is great.
It took 2 of them 20 minutes, so that's 40 minutes cooking time.
It could be simplified. Yeah.
And there's a lot of washing-up.
Yeah, I'm happy with it.
There's definitely some things that I'd have liked
to have done a bit different.
I'm worried that the steps were complicated.
You know, I struggled to try and get all of the steps in there,
and still have a small amount of them.
But I'm just praying it's enough for...to get us through.
Two really good demos. I mean, potential cover?
I think they're both...they both could be a potential cover.
I think there's some title changes
and I think there's some simplification of both recipes.
Got a lot to think about here, because it's the semifinal stage.
Yeah, it's going to be tough.
You've been amazing, all three of you.
Thank you so much. Thank you.
The contenders have given their all.
Tomorrow, I will decide who will make it into the final.
How are you guys feeling?
It's all in the balance now. We don't really know.
We have no idea.
Good morning. Good morning.
Semifinals.
We are literally within touching distance of the finale.
This week was all about creating visually-engaging content.
It's an area that is essential to any food and drink business.
I set you all a massive task, trying to create a recipe
to feature on the front cover of the weekend supplement
for one of the largest supermarkets in the country,
and then present it to a panel of experts.
Red Team, Two Way British Asparagus Salad.
Andy, what does that mean?
So, firstly, we started with the Two Way because we wanted to
put emphasis on the fact that it wasn't just one way of doing
the asparagus and, you know, make use of the hard ends.
The "British" mainly came from the asparagus being British.
I took the feedback about, you know, it had the, sort of, almost
a Middle Eastern feel with pomegranate and stuff.
It was to have all of the elements of a summery vibe,
but also have that sweetness... Sure.
I'm glad you stopped at Two Way, because I don't think any magazine
would feature a Three Way on the cover. Yeah!
I'll talk about the elephant in the room here.
How did we end up with 13 steps for a salad?
It was a bit of a lack of communication, shall I say,
just between myself and Flo.
I was doing the photos.
I jumped on Andy's work at the beginning to correct the recipe
and tell him, "OK, we have to be more punchy, short words."
I did it, and I didn't do it at the end of the recipe.
I didn't have enough time. So, my bad.
Talking, cooking, demoing at the same time
is bloody difficult.
I just think you made such hard work of something
that could have been a lot more simpler.
Right, Blue Team.
The visuals.
Why go for one single glass, which is very hard to shoot,
covered by text?
In the image, like, ideally we would have had multiple glasses. Yeah.
But we only had the one, so I just had to get right in close
with the dish that we had and make it shine.
It needs napkins, spoon.
You know, texture. OK.
This was a kid-friendly recipe.
White chocolate. Yeah. Double cream.
Shortbread. Yeah.
Sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar.
It was never aimed at children, at all.
It was something that as a family of four, five, six,
you could make it, and there's elements in there
that every single member of the family can enjoy.
So, they can make it, but the kids can only eat the strawberry,
because there's too much sugar underneath. No. God, no.
If you're going to say family-friendly, then you need to be careful.
OK, on to the results.
I consulted at length with the panel.
They were unanimous in their decision.
The winning team this week and going through to the finale...
Congratulations...
..Blue Team.
Well done.
A couple of changes to the images,
they would be happy to feature your recipe on the cover.
Congratulations.
That means you're in the final, both of you.
Right, unfortunately, Red Team.
Gallant effort.
The panel felt, overall, the recipe was just too complicated.
13 steps for a salad would never make it into the magazine.
Which means, Andy and Flo, I'd like to see both you in the restaurant
to grill you on your performances.
One of you will be making it into the final.
Sadly, one of you will be going home.
AMY: Thank you.
The recipe had a lot in it.
But, you know, what do... I don't know about cooking.
I haven't done a demo before and I looked to Flo for guidance at times.
I can't put the right copy in if I'm not told.
Yeah, I'm ready to get in there, explain my point.
And if Gordon, you know, picks me or doesn't, then that's what it is.
Well done. Thank you.
I'm upset. I'm really upset.
It was my fear to be in the grilling.
In we go. I'm here.
I just need to fight now to get my place in the final.
So, yeah, I'm going to fight for my business.
Flo, sit down, please.
Andy, take a seat, please.
We're agonisingly close to the finale.
The outstanding performances you've put in
over these last couple of weeks.
Uh, this is painful.
Let's talk about the social media performance.
I failed the challenge. Now I learnt from the challenge.
I know that I have to focus on the social media.
If we're going into business, social media is huge,
and I have to depend on those platforms on a daily basis. Yeah.
Why are you so anti it?
Social media takes a lot of time if you want to be good at it.
So that is one of the reasons.
So, it's not the fact you don't like it. You just haven't got time to do it.
I don't have time to do it. Right.
That social media challenge, how could it go so wrong?
I think I was just trying to find a balance between my idea
and how Flo wanted to execute it.
With what you're saying, I completely agree.
I was not happy with how it went.
I know that I am that target market,
and how I should have performed on it.
I think I show in my own business how powerful I can be in that realm.
Let's talk about the potential cover, and then the demo.
Mm-hm.
You must have realised that 13 steps across this salad
was way too many. Yes.
I think my mistake has been that I didn't explain properly to Andy
how to combine all the steps together.
And so, then you have less steps in your recipes.
I've got 3,500 dishes on my website.
There's one dish with 11 steps, and it's a beef Wellington.
A masterpiece, a showpiece... A beef Wellington! Yeah, yeah.
Your salad had 13 steps.
I was involved in the copywriting, but I was going off what I was told
of what was in the recipe, cos I didn't write the recipe.
I don't know what it's like to cook.
Flo is the expert in that challenge when it comes to taste and recipes.
When you've got Great British salad in your title,
and barely none of those ingredients were from Great Britain,
what does that say about that whole demo?
I agreed with the title at the beginning, to be honest.
It was British asparagus.
And I wanted to bring a little bit of his culture, a little bit of mine,
and that has been my mistake, I think.
If I asked you to do that demo again in half the time,
in ten minutes, what would you do?
I would simplify it, I wouldn't have as many cooking elements in there
and I would remove some of the complexities that was contradicting
to the fact that it was British.
There's one spot left in this finale.
I know how much this means to you, I can see how much effort
you've put into this competition on a weekly basis.
Why should you gain that spot?
I've got eight years of experience.
Where I started, in Belgravia, in the most competitive area in London,
my clients put pressure on me every, every single day.
I know how to deal with that.
I'm the cool head of the competition.
In six months' time, I will have another kitchen open,
and in one year time I will have three kitchens running.
And we can go everywhere in the world.
The business is capable.
What would I see from you if I put you in the finale next week
that I haven't seen already in this competition?
I'm here to grow. I'm not here to be heard all the time
just because I want to say something.
Across the whole seven weeks, I have been, you know, investable
by just the fact that I want to learn. That's my dying need here.
I had a goal to be in this final,
and I don't think I can go home, because I feel like I've showed
throughout this seven weeks that I am adaptable.
I evolve every single time.
I think it's not just going to be a loss for myself
if you don't invest in me, I think it will also be for you.
I think with this industry that I'm in, albeit innovative,
I'm a maverick in this industry, and I feel I'm going from strength
to strength every week, but daily as well.
Thank you, Andy. Thank you, Gordon.
Flo, thank you. Thank you.
Flo, Andy, thank you for your time in the restaurant.
Being this close to the finale and having it within reach,
I can understand how much this means to both of you.
Flo, honestly, it was your area of expertise,
but I don't think you quite delivered across that demonstration.
Andy, I felt if you'd just communicated more with Flo,
we wouldn't have ended up in the mess we did.
This has been a very difficult decision to make.
The person I will not be investing in...
..is Flo.
Flo, you've been an incredibly strong contender,
and what you've already achieved across your own business
is incredible.
With your determination, I know it's going to be a success.
Andy, Sam, Amy, congratulations.
You've all proved to me that you are investable as individuals,
but now it's going to be about your businesses.
And, trust me, I will not leave any stone unturned.
Understood?
I'm fine...
Both Andy and Flo had very similar records across this competition,
and Flo was very unlucky not to make it into the finale.
I just think when it came down to it,
I saw a bit more potential in Andy.
I'm really excited to see what Andy, Amy and Sam will bring
to the finale next week.
This will be the hardest challenge they've ever faced.
I lost. Obviously disappointed.
I took a risk, it didn't pay off.
But I'm leaving this competition with my head up,
and I'm really happy for the other contestants,
because they have good businesses, too, so it's good.
It's not nice. It's not. It's fucking horrible.
I'm just overwhelmed.
I'm so proud of myself.
I'm really looking forward to the final and showcasing
my business to Gordon.
It's all to play for now, isn't it?
I'm still not content. Still not content.
I have to win this thing.
Proud of myself, all of the goodness.
but, yeah, I need to... I need to win this.
Next time...
Congratulations for making it into the finale.
I'm going to take that 150 grand home!
Are you sure it's good? Cos you don't look like you're enjoying it.
Would you like to try some CBD?
This investment would absolutely change my life.
There's nothing to lose by trying to be great.
In less than five years' time, this could go global.
I am the best option, and I won't let you down.
I've made my mind up.