Original subtitles

It's the battle for the ultimate culinary prize.

Hmm!

60 of the country's best home cooks...

I need to stop shaking.

..all with their hearts set...

Not really sure what I'm doing.

Flaming brilliant.

..on the coveted MasterChef trophy.

This is the sort of stuff that dreams are made of.

That is a cracker of a job.

This is absolutely banging.

Yay!

Each week, 12 extraordinary amateur talents...

SHE GASPS

..battle for a place...

Yum, yum, yum.

Oh, wow. That's hot.

..in the quarterfinal.

I think it's delicious.

This is a revelation. Congratulations.

But only the best can earn their passports

to the ultimate cookery showdown.

A British culinary icon is just about to enter

the MasterChef kitchen.

Are we ready for this?

Concentrate.

I cannot stand it.

I like it. I love it.

21 years of MasterChef,

and every year, expectations get higher and higher.

Light the stoves. Get yourself a clean apron.

Let's find some talent.

It's the first week of the MasterChef competition,

and the next six passionate home cooks are arriving

to take on the kitchen.

But at the end of today,

only three will make it through

to this week's quarterfinal.

I decided to do a bucket list of things to do before 50.

MasterChef was on there, and it's a great one to be ticking off first.

I've been practising every night

putting edible flowers all over beans on toast, jacket potato,

even on the side of a sandwich.

I'm so excited to cook and get going.

I belong in a kitchen.

Welcome to the MasterChef kitchen.

You have one job here,

and that is to fill up me and John

with THE most delicious food.

Your first task we call Basic To Brilliant.

It's to cook for us in everyday ingredients

and turn it into something truly delicious.

But what's important in this round is the basic ingredients

need to be the centrepiece, the star.

And at the end of this,

Gregg and I will choose our two favourite dishes,

and the people who cooked those will get themselves

a MasterChef apron,

and they will go straight through to the next round.

The remaining four of you will have to stay and cook again.

So don't hold back, guys.

One hour and 20 minutes to show just how good you really are

in the kitchen. Off you go.

We're cooking now. We're cooking.

Nerves are still there a little bit, but feeling good.

Landscape gardener Charlie has been transforming outdoor spaces

for over 17 years,

and dreams of showcasing his love of nature

in his own kitchen garden restaurant.

I've done a lot of vegetable patches for people.

People want to have sustainable gardens and grow their own food,

so I always use fresh ingredients when I can.

I've got ADHD, so after a hard day's work,

cooking is just one thing that really grounds me.

Where did you learn to cook?

Through my mum, really.

My mum's always done really good dinners.

Has Mum given you any advice?

Tidy up as you go,

because ADHD, your brain's just like a box of frogs is in it sometimes.

It can look like carnage otherwise.

What's your basic ingredient, please?

Carrot, I'm using.

I'm making a spiced coriander carrot puree with lamb cutlets,

an orange and carrot sauce, honey-roasted carrots,

and star anise carrots as well.

It's a lot of carrot.

I love lamb.

Do you? Do you like carrots?

Yeah, yeah, we all like carrots.

Charlie is going for it,

and he's doing carrots in four different ways.

But the boiled carrots with star anise concerns me.

Carrots are solid.

They need something on the outside or need to be pureed,

but just boiling them with the star anise,

I don't see how that flavour is going to work.

Learning support assistant Gifty was born in Ghana

and moved to the UK when she was five.

She loves cooking with her 21-year-old daughter

and hosting dinner parties for family and friends.

What I'd like to show on MasterChef is West African cooking.

It reflects my culture.

It reflects my diversity.

So, looking forward to where this journey is going to take me.

Gifty, welcome to MasterChef.

Hello, Gregg. What's your basic ingredient?

Rice. We eat rice a lot in our family,

so I've chosen to make roasted vegetable jollof

with fried chicken thigh

and avocado slaw on the side.

What makes a good jollof?

The rice has to be perfect.

And try not to burn the bottom.

Gifty's got peppers and carrots and onions roasting in the oven.

She's making her rice with the base of tomatoes,

and in there, a big whack of Scotch bonnet chilli,

so it should be fiery and hot.

I hope that Gifty doesn't hold back on the spice.

Just hope everything... comes together.

30 minutes gone. Half an hour gone.

Yorkshire-born mum of two Claire has been cooking since the age

of nine, and is passionate about using local produce

to create vibrant and colourful dishes.

I'm playing music in my head

so that it's like cooking at home.

Growing up in Yorkshire,

we had a decent garden.

My dad grew food every year.

We had melons on the windowsills.

There was always onions hanging up.

We didn't have tons of money,

and so we made food go a long way as interestingly as possible.

Claire, what's your basic ingredient, please?

Peas, PEAS, peas.

What is it you like about peas?

I always have loved peas. Growing them, podding them.

It's the first thing I made for my kids when they were weaning,

learning to eat. So I think peas are a really important basic

for families. So what is your dish, please?

I am doing pea and ham hock croquettes, pea custard with mint,

and a lemon mayo.

The mayo brings the brightness against the saltiness of the ham.

You sound like a pretty knowledgeable cook to me.

I cook every day. Every single day.

Yeah, the problem when you can cook is that there's nothing you can get

in takeout that you can't make cheaper and better yourself,

so you end up making it.

I think this is great. Good luck. Thank you.

Claire's loving the pea,

and I'm admiring how she's using it.

She's going to strip that ham hock

and then mix that with the tinned

marrowfat peas to make a croquette flavoured with horseradish.

And she's using frozen peas to make a pea custard with eggs and cream,

and she's steaming on top of the stove.

It should taste like peas and mint.

Goes in the fridge, and then it'll cool down.

She's bringing lots of different classic flavours and ideas together,

but it still needs to taste of peas.

31-year-old Glaswegian accountant Jordan discovered an obsession

with cooking programmes aged 13,

and aspires to swap his career

for one that puts his homely, hearty dishes in the spotlight.

Growing up, I wanted a restaurant, and then I wanted a bakery,

and then I wanted a coffee shop,

so maybe if all goes well, it could lead to something like that.

But I'm hoping to show John and Gregg just a grasp

for, like, technique.

Jordan, you've got a lot of spices.

What's your basic ingredient, please?

Cod.

It's my take on a fish and chips.

So we're having pan-roasted cod,

batter scraps, shoestring fries,

and then a curry sauce,

because it wouldn't be a Scottish chippy without a curry.

Why are you doing fish and chips?

My mum and dad have a fish and chip shop in Glasgow,

and always have since I was in a pram.

So, yeah, it's a bit of an homage to them.

As a man who grew up in a fish and chip shop,

if he gets this wrong,

his parents are going to go absolutely ballistic.

We've all had great fish and chips.

He's got to make sure it's incredible.

You are halfway, everybody. Halfway.

Smells good in here.

Born in the Philippines, nurse Ruth moved to the UK six years ago,

and lives in Wigan with her husband and two children.

My basic ingredient is chicken.

I've basically butchered the chicken and made all my elements

from every single part of the chicken. Wow. Yeah.

So what is your dish, Ruth?

So my dish is a national dish of the Philippines,

which is chicken adobo.

So I'm going to make pan-fried chicken breast,

and then you're going to get a chicken soy vinegar gravy,

and crispy chicken skin. Beautiful.

And rice, of course. Do you do chicken adobo at home?

Yeah, it's my comfort food.

Chicken adobo is a stew,

and the meat is usually cooked for a long time

so it falls off the bone.

What Ruth has done is she's taken her chicken apart,

and she's marinating the breast with ginger and soy sauce.

Soy sauce is salty.

I hope that soy doesn't dry out that chicken breast.

But fantastic that Ruth is using the whole chicken.

She's showing great skill.

Filipino food is very special,

and it's delicious.

So that is my game plan - to elevate the dishes that I used to eat

when I was a child, and then showcase it to the world.

22-year-old Welsh-born Finley

is a law graduate from Newport,

and likes to show off his recipes,

creating food content online.

I'd say I've got a lot less experience

than the other contestants,

but social media, as a whole, has taught me a lot.

Little tricks and tips here and there from consuming videos.

That could be a string to my bow that the other contestants

might not have.

Finley, what do you want from the MasterChef experience?

I'm not too sure the intensity of a professional kitchen

is ready for me yet, so hopefully this journey and experience

will teach me a lot, and I'll be able to do something in the future.

What are you doing now?

I actually work as a logistics manager currently for a company

that run afterschool clubs for children.

I also model as well on the side.

That's what you want.

A modelling lawyer who looks after kids and cooks. Exactly!

What's your chosen basic ingredient, please?

I'm going to be doing a carrot,

and that's going to be the hero of my dish.

It's a curried carrot, a garam masala carrot.

That's going to then sit on top of a cashew nut puree.

On top of that is going to sit an onion bhaji

with a chickpea dukkah. Whoa!

And pickled mangoes. Almost forgot.

I really like what Finley is doing.

It should taste like your best ever Indian takeaway,

but just with vegetables.

Very clever indeed.

It's a bit more caramelised than I'd have liked,

but still look OK.

You have four minutes, everybody.

Just four minutes. Yeah.

Need to stop shaking.

Final 60 seconds.

What am I forgetting? Anything?

That's it. Time's up. Stop.

HE EXHALES

SHE EXHALES

Claire, if you wouldn't mind.

Copywriter Claire chose peas as her basic ingredient,

and has served pea and ham hock croquettes with horseradish

on a lemon mayonnaise with a pea and mint custard,

pickled radishes, and pea shoots.

Your croquettes - crispy and salty on the outside.

The lovely richness of the ham.

The marrowfat peas starting to explode inside.

And then sharp lemon mayonnaise, creamy, sitting underneath.

It's a joy to eat, and does taste like peas.

Your pea custard's lovely.

The sweetness of peas throughout, smooth. Well done.

You've got technique. You've got a good eye for detail.

I'm really impressed.

Over the moon.

To hear that they liked what I did and they could

appreciate the technique,

it was more than I could have hoped for.

Learning support assistant Gifty is showcasing rice

in a Ghanaian-inspired dish of roasted vegetable jollof

with pan-fried lemon and garlic chicken thighs,

avocado and egg slaw, and a sweet tomato and chilli sauce.

Your rice is nicely cooked.

You roasted the vegetables,

which enhance the natural sweetness of the veg throughout there,

and it's got a really lovely peppery finish. Yeah.

I'm not sure about the egg on the slaw... Mm-hm.

..but I do like the jollof.

This is really, really well done.

The chicken with that garlic on the outside but crispy skin,

fired with garlic. Tomato through the rice with that carrot

and all the spice, sweet tomato sauce on the side

with a little bit more Scotch bonnet,

I think it's really, really tasty.

Thank you.

So proud of myself.

Yeah. Really, really want that apron first time round.

SHE EXHALES

Wow.

Landscape gardener Charlie has served carrot four ways -

star anise-boiled carrots, spiced carrot and coriander puree,

honey-roasted carrots on a pistachio crumb,

and an orange, mint, and carrot sauce,

with a herby rack of lamb and buttered lemon cabbage.

As an overall showcase of the carrot,

I think you've done a great job.

Carrot sauce is delicious.

It's slightly sweet, like mint sauce,

and the coriander through the carrot puree is fantastic.

But the star anise carrots,

I don't get the star anise coming through them,

and need to be cooked a bit more.

The honey-roasted carrot - I'd like to see more of them.

Lamb, you've got really nice, crispy fat on the outside

that's nicely seasoned, but the cabbage is burnt. Mm.

I think I done the carrots justice,

but I'm just kicking myself about the cabbage.

There's such good people in that room,

so I'm really nervous now.

Accountant Jordan chose to highlight cod,

and has cooked his take on fish and chips -

pan-roasted cod topped with batter scraps, shoestring fries,

crushed pea puree, tartar sauce,

and a side of curry sauce.

What I'm really impressed with is the quality of that fish.

I watched you basting it in 27 kilos of butter

like a professional chef, and you can taste the glossiness of it.

Your peas - they're sweet.

Your tartar sauce is sharp, as it should be.

That is a cracking plate of fish and chips, Jordan.

Thank you.

My favourite bit of the whole thing are the scraps.

They're really good because you've got lovely bits of batter.

They're like bits of popcorn with your curry sauce.

Just great.

Really good, Jordan.

Hopefully I've done my mum and dad proud.

I didn't expect that kind of feedback.

They can't all be good. We've got a big problem here.

That's really good.

Using a whole chicken,

nurse Ruth has made chicken adobo

and served pan-fried chicken breasts with crispy chicken skin,

steamed jasmine rice,

pickled shallots,

onions filled with chicken and chilli oil,

and a chicken sauce.

If you make it at home, you don't have this sort of appearance,

do you? This is... No. It's literally a one-pan dish.

Adobo, you cook long and slow with the sauce,

and the sauce and the meat become one.

And what you've tried to do here is to marinate that chicken,

and it's gone dry.

But I appreciate all the hard work,

salty chicken skin,

and the sharpness coming from those pickled onions.

Your sauce is fantastic.

Slightly sweet, slightly salty, flavour of chicken, it's great.

My only issue is you've changed how you would normally cook it

to make it look smart.

I think it may have been better with some chicken thigh in there,

because it's got more fat and it would have been more moist.

I said to myself, when I first came here,

I wouldn't want to be in the cook-off, but hey-ho.

The chicken was slightly dry.

Part-time model Finley has cooked his carrots in a garam masala

and honey glaze on a cashew nut puree with pickled mangoes,

chickpea dukkah, and a mint and coriander sauce

topped with an onion bhaji.

This fascinates me because,

when I've first eaten it,

it's a bit bland,

as if it needed more seasoning.

But as I go into this dish, it grabs hold of you and says,

"Actually, you know what? Don't underestimate me.

"I'm better than the average carrot."

The spice across the top is great,

but saying that, I do wish you had peeled those carrots.

They look like they've been shrivelled up. OK.

You've got a kind of chickpea thick sauce over there

that's slightly nutty.

But on top of that, those little green dollops of mint and coriander.

Really refreshing.

Bhaji - crispy, well done.

That's great, mate.

Thank you.

Super happy with that.

If I had to rate it out of ten, it's probably a nine.

Peeling the carrots maybe would give me that one extra little point,

but I think I've done my best.

There is some serious talent in here.

Well done, all six of you.

Two MasterChef aprons up for grabs

in a room full of great cooks.

Tough decision.

The first apron is going to...

..Claire.

Clare, congratulations. It was great.

Oh, mate, that was top drawer.

The second apron goes to...

..Jordan.

Great skill on show. Thank you.

Jordan, Claire, up you come.

Come and get your aprons, please.

Well done.

Brilliant.

Oh! Congratulations.

I'm exhausted. Well done.

I'm so thrilled.

First name to be called out was mine.

I thought they were joking.

That's what dreams are made of.

The apron feels amazing.

I'd be lying to myself if I say I didn't aim to get that

straight away. I'm very relieved I don't have to cook again.

There are two aprons here up for grabs.

Your job now is to secure your place in the competition.

In front of you all, there is a mystery box,

and inside that box there are three common ingredients.

Could you please reveal your ingredients?

Bacon, cauliflower, and pears.

We would like you to create, for us, two portions of a dish

using any one, two, or even three of those ingredients,

and anything you like from that larder over there.

45 minutes to grab yourself a MasterChef apron.

Off you go.

I think thinking on my feet, I hope, is going to play to my strengths.

But, you know, obviously the pressure of the kitchen

can get to everyone.

I'm just hoping it doesn't get to me.

If they can take any one of these ingredients

and they've got a recipe to hand,

that means they cook a lot.

If they start inventing something,

the chances of it working are very slim.

Now I see all these lovely ingredients,

I think I'm going to do all right.

Fingers crossed.

It's just a matter of trying to not think of too many things

and zone in on one thing,

and just give it your best shot.

The pressure is on.

Gifty, how do you feel about an invention test?

I don't like working under pressure.

My mind's been going everywhere.

What's your dish?

I'm making chickpea and cauliflower coconut curry

served with pilau bulgur wheat.

Why not rice?

I eat rice a lot, so it's nice to experiment with different grains.

Bulgur wheat's really nutty.

Great as a salad,

but as an accompaniment to curry, it's quite unusual.

Right now, we're relying on Gifty

having a really heavily flavoured, delicious curry,

because there's not a great deal of technique anywhere else.

I'm going to try and do a bang bang cauliflower

with a pear, carrot, mint, and lime slaw.

And then I'm going to dress that with crispy bacon and sesame seeds.

So using all three ingredients.

Yes, I'm using all three. Good on you.

Bang bang is a sauce,

usually with mayonnaise and some sort of chilli sauce mixed together.

What he's doing is actually cauliflower, which he's first

going to blanch, then make a batter and deep fry it so it's crispy.

He's going to make a sticky glaze with some chilli sauce.

He's taking bacon and sesame seeds.

He's going to make a crumb to go across the top of it.

It sounds pretty good, actually.

That is proper creativity from the young fella.

You are halfway, people. Halfway, please.

Not really sure what I'm doing, but giving it a go.

Charlie, you've got some nice ingredients on your bench.

A bit of toast and some cheese in case you get hungry.

I love bread, so I saw the bread, I was like, "I've got to put that in."

So basically I'm going to do a potato and cauliflower puree

with a mushroom sauce.

So with the bread, are you going to flavour that with bacon

or something, are you?

Maybe mushrooms on that, with a bit of cheese. I'm not sure.

Would you prefer that bread to be a piece of beef?

Yeah. Bit of beef or nice bit of chicken.

Look, I'm a fan of stuff on toast.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

But there's too much going on on toast.

There's cauliflower, there's potato, there's mushroom, there's cheese.

I can't see this working.

Ruth, what are you making?

Cauliflower curry with some turmeric basmati rice,

and an onion bhaji with the leaves of the cauliflower.

That's clever. I want to cook something that I really like,

and hopefully you and John will also love it.

Ruth is doing a cauliflower curry.

Gifty's doing a cauliflower curry.

We've got a bit of a curry-off here.

I'm just roasting the cauliflower just to give it extra flavour.

Ruth's using cauliflower leaves to make a bhaji.

That's fantastic.

One thing I really get sad about is when people throw the leaves away

from the cauliflower. I hope that it's lovely and crispy

on the outside and really well spiced.

You have four minutes, everybody.

I'm cutting it fine with timing, but we'll soon find out, yeah?

Final 60 seconds.

Just trying to multitask everything.

That's it! Your time is up. Everybody, stop.

HE EXHALES

Yeah, happy with that. Happy with that.

Showcasing the cauliflower,

Gifty has served a chickpea and cauliflower coconut curry

with pilau bulgur wheat and a cauliflower and tomato salad.

The cauliflower with the tomatoes -

when did you decide on that?

When I realised I had a bit more time left,

so I wanted to showcase the cauliflower in another way.

Your cauliflower and chickpea curry -

lovely sweetness coming from coconut,

making it very, very rich.

And a good hint of chilli on the back of my throat.

The bulgur is an unusual thing to serve instead of rice,

but I like the way you've cooked your cauliflower.

The bitter cauliflower, tomato, and bulgur together is great.

Your curry on the other side is great.

I just can't marry them together.

Tougher than I thought, because I'm quite an indecisive person,

but as long as they liked the flavours,

I'm quite happy with those comments.

Highlighting all three ingredients,

Finley has cooked his take on

bang bang cauliflower in a chilli, honey, and paprika glaze,

topped with a bacon and sesame seed crumb

on a pear, mint, and lime slaw.

Crispy coated cauliflower cooked really well,

sweet chilli on the outside giving it heat,

saltiness coming from that bacon,

and the sesame seeds tasting almost like peanuts.

It works.

Thank you.

The slaw, sweetness of pear slivers, it's sharp in there.

Vinegar sharp, little bit of freshness of mint in there,

and again, more chilli.

I'm really quite impressed.

For John and Gregg to give you that seal of approval,

oh, it was so good.

Everything and more I could have wanted.

Choosing to use bacon and cauliflower,

Charlie has served mushrooms and bacon on fried bread

with a cauliflower and potato puree, cavolo nero,

and a brandy and cream sauce.

Your flavours on this piece of toast are fantastic.

Almost hot with garlic and salty bacon.

Woodiness and mushrooms.

But you're trying to do too much.

Yeah.

You have done me really nice fried bread.

You've given me a really nice mash of cauliflower and potatoes

that I'm enjoying with a brandy sauce,

but I don't see how it's one dish.

No, I know. It's like Charlie's ideas.

Thinking on my feet, I'm normally quite good at,

but it's so different being in there in front of the judges.

Ruth roasted the cauliflower to make a curry with turmeric rice,

a cauliflower leaf and carrot bhaji,

and a yoghurt sauce.

I'd like that sauce to be a bit thicker,

but lots of turmeric and a little bit of chilli powder,

and the cauliflower flavour prevails, which I really like.

I think your bhaji's fantastic.

I really like the fact that you used not just the leaves

but the stem of the cauliflower.

You've got a crunch to it. It's not greasy.

I like this.

I went with my gut instincts.

Hopefully it will pay off.

We had some really good food.

A couple of odd combinations, don't get me wrong,

but there were no disasters.

Finley's cauliflower, pear, and bacon together on one plate -

I was blown away.

It was gorgeous. He's got to go through.

Finley's getting himself an apron.

OK, we've got one apron left to give.

Charlie's mushrooms and bacon on toast, I thought was lovely.

However, with mashed potato,

it didn't work.

Gifty's curry, chickpeas and cauliflower -

creamy and sweet with coconut.

That salad on the side I thought was good,

but I'm not convinced all those three things go together.

Ruth made, for us, a curry which was rich with chilli heat,

served with a little bhaji on the side

made from cauliflower leaves.

The sauce could have been a bit thicker, but it was a good dish.

I know that I can do more, and I've got so much more to show.

No-one wants to go home yet,

but there's some really good competition in there.

I'm hoping that they see something in me that they like

and want to see more of.

I want to be wearing the MasterChef white apron.

John and I really enjoyed both rounds,

and that is because of you.

Well done.

Two of you will be joining Claire and Jordan in the next round,

but sadly, two of you will be leaving us.

The first person getting an apron is...

..Finley.

That was bang bang.

Bang bang indeed!

The final person getting an apron is...

..Ruth.

Congratulations, Ruth. Thank you.

Gifty, Charlie, thank you so very much for all your hard work.

Unfortunately, you're leaving us. Thank you.

Take care.

I would have liked the journey to have gone a bit longer.

The whole experience has been totally mind-blowing.

My family and friends will be very proud of me.

Oh, I feel really gutted, to be honest,

but it's definitely given me a bit of oomph to just try and keep at it.

I still want to try and push for a career in the kitchen,

so fingers crossed.

Ruth, Finley, congratulations.

You've got yourselves MasterChef aprons. Come up and grab them.

Well done.

Well done.

THEY LAUGH

Everyone who comes in here, in the MasterChef kitchen,

wants an apron.

I'm so proud of myself.

It's a pressure cooker of a kitchen.

It's so intense. I hope I've got more in the locker,

so we'll soon find out.

Welcome back.

This is an incredibly tough challenge.

You are going to be serving your food, not just to John and I,

but to three past champions of MasterChef.

Jane Devonshire,

Shelina Permalloo,

and Irini Tzortzoglou.

There are just three quarterfinal places.

That does mean, at the end of this,

one of you will be going home.

Ladies and gentlemen, one hour and 15 minutes. Two courses.

Let's cook.

Getting through in the first round I think piles on the pressure

because I didn't get that extra cook.

I've really got to prove that I can cook something else...well.

Claire, we have really high expectations.

What are you making?

So, for my main, I'm going to make

roasted cod and cauliflower

with a prawn bisque

and chilli lemon courgette nests.

My dad's a keen fisherman

and he took us fishing when I was little.

If I could cook one thing forever, it would be fish and vegetables.

How do you make a courgette nest?

Deep fry them with lots of great flavours.

They come out like popcorn.

I'm a little bit concerned about the bisque.

She's got to do that in under an hour.

Cook the prawns with the heads, all the flavours,

put that in a blender with some stock.

It's got to be properly hearty.

My dessert is a bit of a love letter to my husband, I suppose,

because he grew up with a Danish-Canadian mum.

So I'm making aebleskiver,

which is a Danish pancake,

that I'm going to fill with rum sauce, and then serve

that with caramelised salted bananas and a bit of whipped cream.

Aebleskiver.

So, usually, a kind of special treat at Christmas

in Denmark, but it's just too delicious

and I'm far too greedy to leave it for once a year.

I've never had an aebleskiver.

Pancake batter, starts off flat, but as it cooks,

it turns to a perfect sphere.

What happens if they don't work?

I don't have a dessert and I go home.

I love what she's doing.

Finley, what are you cooking, please?

I'm going to be doing a steak, chips, and a chimichurri dressing,

with a sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Why are these two dishes especially,

of all the things you could have done?

Well, I've grown up loving going out for food at the pub,

and they're two pub favourites of mine.

We've all had steak and chips before.

We've all had sticky toffee pudding before.

Are you playing it a bit safe?

Potentially, but, you know, I just want to demonstrate that

I can cook classic dishes as well as be inventive and creative.

So this is hopefully going to showcase that I can do both.

He has got nowhere to hide.

A piece of sirloin steak -

he needs to let it cook so that fat actually melts all the way through

because he's only doing it medium rare.

Chimichurri sauce. Fantastic.

It needs to be fresh and vibrant.

The sticky toffee pudding, this is singing to me,

but make sure it's not too dense.

As long as his touch and his timing is on point,

it's a winner.

It is scary producing four mains and four desserts

in an hour and 15 minutes,

because it's a lot of food in a short amount of time,

so I hope I can get it all done,

because if I can't, then, you know, bye-bye me.

Just so pushed for time here.

I think, so far, the judges have seen

I've got a good grasp of technique.

I'd just like to keep going.

Hopefully they can see a sense of, you know, individuality

and a sense of I'm pushing myself.

I am making spinach and ricotta-filled agnolotti

with a spicy tomato nduja sauce, and then a pangrattato on the top.

So we've gone from fish and chips

to an Italian feast.

Yeah. Pasta is sort of my thing. I make pasta most of the time.

Agnolotti, little envelopes folded over with the filling

in the centre of it, lovely and puffed up like a pillow.

It's got to be as thin as you like without splitting.

That's quite a skilful dish.

The dessert? Peach crumble flavoured with cinnamon and ginger.

I was in Japan last month, and the peaches were really in season,

and I thought, "Let's have some peaches."

What were you doing in Japan?

Visiting my girlfriend.

She works out there for Disney.

What does she do?

Disney Princess.

Your girlfriend is a Disney princess?

Yeah. Yeah. It's a tough life, Gregg.

It's tough.

GREGG LAUGHS

I'm concerned about a peach crumble.

I am.

It's not the most skilful thing.

However, it is a delightful and delicious thing

if you do it properly.

Where I grew up, in the Philippines,

we had coconut trees and chilli plants in our garden,

so my main course is braised pork

in coconut milk with pineapple and chillies,

coconut sticky rice, crispy spring roll,

and pork crackling on the top.

Pork should go nice and tender,

as long as she doesn't boil it.

If she boils it, the coconut milk will split,

the fat will come to the top,

and it won't go into the meat.

I hope it's not dry.

That's going to be followed by mango panna cotta

with lime and mango gel on top.

Doesn't really help when you're shaking.

Served with pistachio nuts and raspberries.

Let's hope this all works together

and fills our palate with joy.

How are you doing? All right.

No, not really.

Oh!

Why?

Well, because I've still got a million things to do.

You're cooking for invited guests as well as Gregg and I.

Yes. How do you feel about cooking for them?

Nervous, because I don't know whether they're going to like

my cooking or not.

So I'm just going to have to cook my heart out and hope for the best.

Relax, Ruth.

I need to calm down.

I remember this challenge so clearly.

You have a chance to stamp your identity on the competition.

I just hope that they're not panicking,

because then we get to eat good food and get to judge them at their best,

which is what you want.

It's always wonderful being back.

Every year, it becomes more exciting, the food,

and more adventurous, so I can't wait for today.

My advice for the contestants is trust yourself,

know what you love, and cook that,

and put that on a plate.

Cheers, ladies! Amazing to see you all.

It's so nice to see you all.

Claire, 15 minutes. Thank you.

It's all going to plan at the moment.

So first off, we've got Claire.

For her main, it's roast cod served with roasted cauliflower.

If the skin will come away like that, it bodes well.

Crispy chilli courgette nests and a prawn bisque.

That sounds delicious.

Her roast cod, I really want that to be cooked perfectly,

lovely and flaky,

and moist on the inside.

Prawn bisque - you want it lovely and creamy,

and wrapping around the fish.

GREGG: Nice. Ooh! Looking good.

Good colour.

It looked good before. Now it's got a curly perm. Well done.

Well done, you. Thank you very much.

Well done, you.

Hi, Claire. Hello.

What an absolute joy!

So, I have made, for you, roasted cod with roasted cauliflower florets

with a prawn bisque and courgette, lemon, and chilli nest

just on the top. I hope you enjoy.

That looks really delicious.

The cooking of the fish is exemplary.

She could not have done that any better.

I think Claire has done a really good job

at getting some flavour into that bisque.

That is a really hard thing to do.

Beautiful little strands of courgette.

It's a very decent dish.

That cod's just coming away in thick, slippery slices.

Absolutely lovely.

She definitely has skill.

Claire's dessert -

a fluffy round pancake from Denmark.

They're like little Sydney Opera Houses, aren't they?

Oh, yeah!

Isn't that extraordinary?!

Rum sauce, which is very rich, very sweet.

Bananas, which are an incredibly sweet fruit.

Smells great, Claire.

It's a balancing act.

GREGG: Claire, breathe!

On time. Go, go, go.

Come on, you. Well done.

Come on, Claire. Oh!

Wow! Oh, wow.

For dessert, I have made you aebleskiver,

which is just a little Danish pancake filled with rum and

butterscotch sauce with some whipped cream

and caramelised salted bananas.

Thank you so much. Thank you so much.

These doughnuts - I'm going to call them doughnuts

because I don't think I can pronounce them properly -

they are fantastic!

They're so light.

I love the saltiness,

but also sweetness of the banana.

The whole thing is so beautifully balanced. Mm-hm.

My only thing would be,

I want more banana,

I want more sauce, because it's so delicious.

It's a pancake ball with a boozy rum sauce, cream, and nutmeg.

There's nothing not to like. It's delicious.

It was so much fun

and so stressful simultaneously.

I hope the guest judges could see how much love was in there.

Finley, you've only got about seven or eight minutes, young man.

Steaks are done? Steaks done.

SHELINA: Finley's got my heart.

A great steak, chips, and a sauce.

But as we all know, cooking a steak is actually quite hard.

If it's not cooked at a high enough temperature,

you're not going to get that wonderful caramelisation,

which helps to give all that flavour.

JOHN: How long are those sticky toffee pudding is going to take

to cook? 20, 25 minutes.

Right, well, you need to get them on,

because you've only got 15 minutes between courses. Let's go!

Really pushing it here.

You've got two minutes, Finley, please.

Chips cooked?

Well, we'll soon find out.

We are pushing it, but... hopefully, fingers crossed.

It's simple food on a plate,

which has the potential to be absolutely incredible.

You've got 30 seconds.

There we are. Great. You're done.

Got to go, mate. Got to go.

Well done.

Hi, Finley. Hi, guys.

Got a sirloin steak with chips seasoned with parsley and Parmesan,

and a chimichurri dressing.

I hope you enjoy. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Finley, this is bang on the money.

The steak cooking - fantastic.

Medium rare, just how I like it.

I love the chimichurri.

I love the garlickiness that is coming through and the chilli.

He's nailed the chips, they're wonderful.

They taste fabulous.

There's not a lot more you could ask for somebody, could you?

Mm! Come on.

I think that's a really good steak, really good chips,

and I love the sauce that goes with it.

Very, very good.

Oh!

That is not great.

Finley's dessert of sticky toffee pudding -

the actual sponge should be light, packed with dates.

JOHN: Do they usually rise like that and come over the top?

Er, no, they don't.

Maybe he's put too much bicarb of soda in there,

which makes them all fizz up.

You've got two minutes to have them cooked in the middle

and out to the dining room, Finley,

so we're going to have to start to serve.

I can't believe it's turned out like this.

My village is supposed to be the home of sticky toffee pudding...

You're there! Yay, we've got one.

..so good luck, Finley.

That's all I'm saying.

You're going to be tough, aren't you? You're going to be tough.

Hide it under the sauce.

Go on, hide it.

There we go. No, they'll know. Beautiful. Perfect.

Ice cream. Quick, quick, quick, go!

OK. We're going.

Hiya, Finley. Hi. Hey.

You've got a sticky toffee pudding,

which is slightly deconstructed, but nevertheless.

And a toffee caramel sauce

with an also slightly deconstructed vanilla ice cream.

Thank you, Finley. Thank you.

That's so nice. Oh, my gosh.

My sticky toffee pudding

has turned into sticky toffee volcanoes to be honest.

But if the flavours are there,

maybe they'll give me a bit of sympathy,

but who knows?

You know when your lips stick?

From gooey pleasure.

The sponge is really light,

and the caramel sauce, so glossy,

so rich, just tastes exceptional.

I don't really care how it looks.

This, for me, is hands down,

one of the best sticky toffee puddings

I've ever had.

Even with the unset ice cream.

It looks like a disaster.

However, great flavours of sticky toffee pudding,

you've got that real richness of the dates and the spices in there.

I mean, that's actually really quite tasty.

They look nice.

Thank you.

Jordan's main sounds absolutely fantastic,

but making pasta,

this is a technical challenge.

I've got about six minutes or so, I think.

I think we're all good.

He needs to be cooking this and doing the tomato sauce very slowly,

so that there is enough reduction and thickness

and concentration of flavour.

Got everything ready to go, Jordan? Ready to go, yeah.

Oh, I do like that, Jordan.

Off you go. Thank you.

Well done, Jordan. Thank you.

I've made, for you,

spinach and ricotta filled agnolotti in a spicy tomato nduja sauce.

Pangrattato, sort of crispy breadcrumb topping,

and then parsley and some extra virgin olive oil.

Thank you, Jordan.

I'm not eating the nduja tomato sauce, but...

Jordan, wow. Like, I'm so impressed.

This pasta is so thin.

The technique is excellent.

The spinach and ricotta filling is just beyond pillowy and light.

Incredible. Nduja tomato sauce,

a bit of spice. Wonderful.

The pasta is superb.

A lot of work and complexity.

We have a peach, ginger and cinnamon crumble with vanilla mascarpone.

Sounds delicious, but is it too simple?

You've just got to get that ratio right.

So many times, you get undercooked fruit or too much crumble.

And it has to come out looking good and tasting divine.

Oh, look at that! There's some skill.

Wow. You've practised that, haven't you?

Hello. Hey.

I've cooked for dessert a peach crumble with cinnamon and ginger,

and a mascarpone vanilla cream on the side.

Hope you enjoy. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I hope they think it's sort of homely flavours, comforting stuff,

but sort of just elevated a little bit.

I love the creaminess of the crumble.

It's so buttery. It's beautiful.

But I was looking for the ginger.

I haven't got it in the filling or the crumble.

Unfortunately, the peach gets a little lost.

It's too sweet, and I genuinely think a sharper fruit in there

would have worked much better.

It's nice,

but his pasta was so good,

the dessert is falling short.

Mmm! Mmm!

Tastes really good.

Really nice, buttery, crumbly top.

I would just like the inside of that to be more jamlike and less liquid.

A bit more.

Oh, my God.

Pork, coconut, pineapple, chilli,

they're all things I love to see and I love to eat.

But braised pork loin,

the danger is that it will dry.

However, all that fattiness from the coconut milk

will keep it really moist.

I need to stop shaking.

Two minutes, please, Ruth.

Really? Yep.

You're going well here. You're fine.

Are you happy with the rice, Ruth? Yes, I am.

I'm really hoping that Ruth is cooking from a style

that she knows well, because there are so many elements.

Lovely. I just need to cut my... Crackling. Yeah.

You've got about 30 seconds, Ruth. Yeah. OK.

You're done, right? Yeah. Let's go, let's go. Go, go, go.

Hi. Hi, Ruth.

Ruth's main course is braised pork loin

in coconut milk, pineapple, chilli and ginger

with coconut, sticky rice, pineapple, red onion

and tomato salad,

pork crackling, and a pork mince and ginger spring roll.

For me, I've got the rice and the salad.

The pineapple brings such a freshness to the dish.

I love the coconut flavour within the pork,

but I found the pork a little dry for me.

This spring roll, you're biting into it expecting

this explosion of flavours,

and it's a bit bland.

I didn't expect that lovely richness of the coconut milk

with the sourness from the pineapple.

Good amount of chilli in there, so it's nice and hot.

But some of that pork loin is going a little dry.

Love the flavour of the spring roll,

the pork with a little hint of ginger.

I just think it needs a little bit more cooking.

We want a little bit more crispy.

15 minutes for your panna cotta, right?

Panna cotta's in? Yes. Well done.

Mango panna cotta topped with lime and mango gel.

It's a technical desert.

I think the panna cotta is...hopefully OK.

I'm going to just leave it for as long as I can.

It's got to be bang full of flavour,

and it's got to have that perfect wobble.

A pistachio crumble. Raspberry coulis.

This seems like the perfect balance of sweet and savoury.

That's lovely. I love that.

Panna cotta now.

Ooh!

Are they OK?

Hey, look at that. Ruth, you're doing really well here.

You've got 30 seconds.

Perfect timing. Look at that! Beautiful.

You did it. You did it.

It's like a Tropicana.

For my dessert, I made you mango panna cotta

with mango and lime gel on top

and pistachio crumble,

raspberry coulis, some fresh raspberries and a mango flower.

Enjoy. Thank you.

This panna cotta is divine.

It's got a perfect wobble, and that gel on the top.

It's technically also very clever.

The pistachio crumble is just gorgeous, isn't it?

And together,

the textures work beautifully.

Wonderful floral notes of mango.

You've got sharpness of raspberry.

This dessert is stunning.

Wobble, wobble, wobble.

That is nothing short of fantastic.

Sharpness of lime. Yeah.

Sweet mango with a little bit of pistachio nut to give texture.

Very good.

I'm crying because I'm just really happy that the panna cotta

turned out really well.

I'm very relieved that it's over now.

I'm ready to have a drink!

I think you and I are in for a really tough decision.

The dining room's cook of the day is Finley.

Two classics.

Steak and chips and sticky toffee pudding and vanilla ice cream.

There were things that didn't quite work out for him,

but the flavours were great.

Finley's got himself a place in the quarterfinal.

Claire put a lot of work into her main course.

The cod was cooked absolutely beautifully,

the bisque was well made,

and we all loved that dessert.

Ruth cooked, for us, braised pork in a spiced coconut mixture.

The sauce around the pork I thought was wonderful.

The bits of pork inside it,

they were starting to go dry.

But the dessert,

I thought the panna cotta mango was just absolutely outstanding.

Now, Jordan, we've got Italian main course

and we've got a very, very classic British pud.

The agnolotti, those little parcels of pasta, absolutely perfect.

The dining room weren't as excited by the crumble as you and I.

Maybe could have demonstrated a little bit more skill.

The further you get in the competition,

it's definitely made me want it more.

But I'm against three other really strong cooks,

so it'll be a tough one again.

I think no-one understands how it feels...

..or what it feels to be in that kitchen,

so getting a place in the quarterfinals

will be a very special thing for me.

GREGG: That was incredibly impressive.

You four have got real skill.

We only have three quarterfinal places to give.

We have, with the help of the dining room, made a decision.

Our first quarterfinalist is...

..Finley.

Well done, Fin.

Fin, well done.

Our second quarterfinalist...

..is Claire.

Congratulations, Claire.

Our third and final quarterfinalist is...

..Jordan.

Jordan, congratulations.

Ruth, thank you very much for all your hard work.

Sadly, you're leaving us. Thanks very much, Ruth. Thank you.

I've managed to showcase some Filipino cuisines

and I've got an apron

so, yeah, I'm really proud.

Really, really proud.

Watch this space, because Ruth will be out there.

Claire, Finley, Jordan, please start breathing again.

You are MasterChef quarterfinalists. Congratulations.

Yippee!

Well done. Well done.

My ambition coming in was not to crash out on the first challenge.

So, we'll take everything we can from here.

Can I lie down?

MasterChef quarterfinalist.

That... That is wonderful.

It's such an achievement. I'm so proud of myself.

So, yeah, definitely will celebrate tonight.

Next time, it's the quarterfinal...

..and Finley, Claire and Jordan

will be joining Shaun, Beth and Gon...

I feel fine.

It's just a slightly bizarre situation.

..cooking for one of the country's top restaurant critics.

Four minutes. You've got to get it on a plate.

It's certainly nothing that I've ever seen before.

So, congratulations.