Original subtitles

NARRATOR: It's the MasterChef quarterfinal,

and this week's six best cooks are back.

HANNAH: I can't believe I'm in the quarterfinal.

I feel like someone's going to wake me up in a minute

and I'll have to start the whole thing all over again.

NAOMI: It is relentless.

From the moment you start cooking, it is just go, go, go.

I have to step up my game even more

to go further in the competition.

SOPHIE: I feel like I'm coping with the pressure.

I'm trying to stay positive.

I'm trying to, like, boogie through it.

MICHAEL: I'm an all-or-nothing kind of person,

so it's just nice to be in a scenario where I can go all in.

I actually don't know what I'm capable of

when I'm put under pressure, so to me, yeah, bring it on.

Tonight, they face just one challenge -

to cook an exceptional dish from a brief

set by top restaurant critic Jimi Famurewa.

GREGG: Quarterfinalists, all impressed us before.

Will they impress us again?

JOHN: They have to be brilliant. They've got to be great.

Everyday, ordinary is just not good enough from here on in.

Welcome to our MasterChef quarterfinal.

You have been set a brief by a very special guest -

food writer, journalist and incredible restaurant critic

Jimi Famurewa.

Ah, welcome back, Jimi.

I would really love you all

to make me a dish inspired by modern American cuisine.

It's a big, broad brief.

It's a big country.

And I really, really want you to deliver

in terms of unbelievable flavours.

JOHN: At the end of this, three of you will go through Knockout Week,

three of you will be going home.

You've got 90 minutes.

Bring on America.

Let's cook.

Uh-oh.

It's really exciting cooking for Jimi,

to see what he thinks about my food today.

I just love American food

and it's been a lifelong love of mine.

I've got family in the States. I'd go out there.

It really sparked my imagination.

We all feel like we know American food,

but I think there's a world beyond junk food,

whether that's kind of Deep South barbecue and soul food

or maybe a bit of Tex-Mex.

I love American puddings as well.

There's such boldness of flavour, there's indulgence.

It's just a real tantalising prospect.

SOPHIE: I feel like I look way more serious this time.

I'm like this.

Sophie, we know as a plant-based cook,

some great food so far.

Everything is full of flavour.

GREGG: Really well made pasta

and it's showing a fair amount of process and skill.

Plant-based? USA?

I'm fascinated to see what she's going to come up with.

I think I'm certainly pushing myself with this dish.

I'm going all out, cooking with something

that I'm not used to cooking or eating.

It's going to be fine.

Sophie, it's smelling good.

What are you making for us?

So, I am making a cola-braised short rib taco.

Wow. But I am a plant-based cook.

I'm vegetarian, but for my friends and family, I cook meat.

I mean, people are going to eat meat either way.

I might as well cook it nicely for them.

That's quite a bold call, right?

A little bit. I've got to get it right and I can't taste it, so...

Yeah. ..hopefully you can taste it and enjoy it.

We've got a really interesting taco from Sophie.

A cola and bourbon flavoured beef short rib taco

with crispy bits of corn, whipped avocado,

and then we've got a chard salsa verde.

She's cooking that short rib in a pressure cooker.

That should then fall apart, come off the bone,

almost be shredded like pulled pork.

Hopefully we're going to get a lovely dipping sauce

from all the juices out of that pressure cooker.

I love the idea of cooking meat and cola.

It screams Americana.

But the fact that she cannot taste the dish

that she's making is a little concerning.

It's fine. It's cool. It's all good.

Hannah's food has been really tasty

and she got her apron straight off.

I'm really, really enjoying this.

She really understands flavours. She's got a great palate.

Really nice, with every element executed perfectly.

The inspiration behind this dish is my favourite American snacks.

When I was at school, a friend of mine used to go to America

and brought back once chocolate-covered pretzels,

and they just blew my mind.

Hannah's making us a chocolate and caramel tart

inside a salted pretzel buttery base,

served with popcorn ice cream.

She's taking the pretzels, she's grinding them down,

adding butter to it.

She's going to line a tart case with that.

Then she's making a caramel.

And then that's got to set inside the tart case.

Across the top of that tart case,

then she's making a chocolate ganache,

which she's going to get those tarts out.

And those tarts are going to be really fragile.

I want it to be like, you know when you go to an American diner

and they have all the pies in the fridge?

I love that, cos America doesn't really have tarts.

They call them pies.

So it's just like an American pie, really.

"Bye-bye, Miss American tart" would never have worked, would it?

THEY LAUGH

JIMI: Yeah.

Hannah absolutely had me at chocolate pretzels.

I was that kid waiting for, you know,

relatives to smuggle over those snacks from the US

and just loving them.

I think it's a really appealing idea.

35 minutes gone. 55 minutes left.

Just under an hour.

Still dead nerve-racking.

Victoria's ambition is quite extraordinary.

She gives herself a huge amount of work to do.

I am gobsmacked that she's managed to get all this done.

She does really big flavours.

The jus is fantastic.

It's got great flavour, great body.

American food is not something

that I would traditionally cook.

Who-oa!

That said, I'm always on the lookout for new recipes,

different way to present things,

and I'm not afraid of a challenge.

Right, Victoria, what are you making us?

So, I'm making a smoked duck taco

with tempura spring onions,

a miso and lime mayonnaise

and an umeboshi plum sauce with skinny fries.

This seems to be coming from a lot of places.

I like the Chinese duck and spring onion wraps,

and I thought to try and kind of fusion that

into an American dish would just make it a bit more fun.

JOHN: Victoria is making us a flour-based tortilla shell

for a taco, but she's using flavours from all around the world.

She's cooking the duck in a pressure cooker

with five-spice, lots and lots of stock

so the duck legs become lovely and tender

and she can pull them off the bun.

Umeboshi, dried plums, quietly salty,

and she's turning that into a sauce to imitate

the Chinese plum sauce or hoisin sauce.

There needs to be some good spice in that.

And then she's making Japanese-style tempura spring onions,

little bits of spring onions which are being fried with

a really crystal light batter across the outside.

With that, we're getting skinny fries.

I wonder if it's slightly a bit too kitchen sink,

like she's thrown everything at that's it.

But, look, I think in spirit, there's a freeness,

there's a fusion that does feel very much like

what I associate with modern American cuisine.

JOHN: Elisha's really surprised us.

I mean, we have seen combinations that maybe not quite work together,

but his skills are incredible.

An egg yolk raviolo, we had a deconstructed cheesecake.

GREGG: He was the dining room cook of the day in the last round.

This guy is not scared of flavour and I am a fan.

ELISHA: I love American cuisine. They love gluttony, so...

I like to be gluttonous myself sometimes.

I've got a sweet tooth, so it's right in my wheelhouse.

Elisha, what are you making?

I'm making for you guys a cheesecake mound.

I don't know what that is.

It's just a big dollop and then little dots around.

This is the second time you've given us a theme on a cheesecake.

Mate, you like your cheesecakes, don't you?

I love it. I love it. But they love cheesecake in America.

Elisha is making for us mounds of things.

We've got a cream cheese, which is flavoured with vanilla,

he's making blondies,

which are a white chocolate version of a brownie.

So we want it crispy on the outside and fudge-y in the centre.

We've got a white chocolate biscuit crumb,

passion fruit creme patissiere.

With that, we've got a mango, passion fruit and lime sorbet.

This is, like, one of the main elements of my dish.

So hopefully it churns on time.

It sounds really fun.

But he will have a battle, I think, with just making it look impressive.

30 minutes to go. 30 minutes!

MICHAEL EXHALES FORCEFULLY Should be OK.

Michael fascinates me.

He's drawing on his love of Asian food.

I'm really enjoying this kind of omelette overcoat

to the sticky rice.

He has got an exciting style.

That butter miso sauce over the beef is really, really lovely.

MICHAEL: I go to America quite often to see my close friends.

Every time I go,

I always gorge myself on tacos

and it's just something that we always share together,

and they've kind of opened my eyes up to that world.

Michael, you're the third contestant, so far,

that's doing tacos. What have you got going?

So, I'm making you two types of tacos.

I'm making you a fish taco and a chicken taco.

And the chicken taco will be a super taco,

with the chicken and the pickled radishes and chicken skin on top.

What's a super taco?

So, I'm making corn tortillas

and one of them will have, like, cheese melted into the taco.

Mmm. So you get, like, a nice little crust to make it more American

and, you know, just chubby.

CHUCKLING: Mmm, yeah. Chubby? Yeah.

JOHN: Michael is making a fish taco with coleslaw and garlic mayonnaise.

He's taking his fish, then he's making a batter from beer,

cornflour and plain flour.

The great thing about battered fish?

Lovely, crispy outside, the fish steams in the centre,

keeping the fish lovely and moist.

Oh, yeah.

JIMI: And then on the other end of the spectrum,

he's giving us a super taco,

which feels so American, you know,

foot to the floor, real, real indulgence.

And I'm very excited.

OK. Ah! NAOMI INHALES SHARPLY

Naomi, schoolteacher from up in the Highlands.

She loves Scottish produce, but she also loves puddings.

Mate, get in there. That's delicious.

She gives us crowd pleasers.

I can't remember eating a sticky toffee pudding,

honestly, as good as that.

Today, I'm making you a lime tart with

a sweet shortcrust pastry and Italian meringue on top,

some coffee ice cream and a wee honey tuile to finish off.

Wow. So, I was actually really excited when I saw the brief

because I just had a holiday to Miami last summer,

and one day, we made a stop at the Key Lime Pie Factory.

So that's what's inspired this dish today.

Key lime pie, classically, is a biscuit base,

almost like cheesecake,

but Naomi's making a pastry tart base

which is flavoured with ginger,

filled with a lime set custard mixture.

With that, we've got Italian meringue -

egg whites first whipped up and then sugar poured in

very, very slowly, so the actual egg whites are cooked there and then.

Coffee ice cream is an interesting accompaniment.

Coffee and lime feels like quite a combative pairing,

on the face of it.

Let's hope that it's one that works.

I'm used to doing this at home.

I have a few cups of tea in between each different element.

It's very relaxed,

whereas, here, I've got no time to breathe today.

I really need to get everything perfect.

QUIETLY: Stressed.

GREGG: Eight minutes, everybody. You got eight minutes.

I think we're all right. I think we're all right.

Oh, if this comes out of the tin,

we could be golden.

Oh. Oh, Jesus. I can't watch. No.

SOPHIE: Oh, God, I'm so nervous about this.

ELISHA: Didn't all go quite to plan, but we'll see.

HANNAH: It's all right.

EXHALES SHAKILY

I wanted it to fall off the bone

and it's fallen off the bone.

VICTORIA WHISPERING: Look at that, look at that, look at that.

Happy, yep, happy, happy, happy.

Guys, listen, you have three minutes.

NAOMI INHALES SHARPLY

No stress!

One minute left.

Just 60 seconds, please.

Get it on a plate now.

Oh!

Time's up! That's it, stop!

Lots of hard work. Well done, you lot.

Oh, I hope that's enough.

HANNAH SIGHS

NAOMI CHUCKLES

Sophie, please?

NARRATOR: First up is assistant film colourist Sophie...

SOPHIE EXHALES SHARPLY Hello.

..whose take on modern American cuisine

is beef short rib tacos,

flour tortillas filled with cola and bourbon braised beef,

salsa verde, whipped avocado,

pickled red onions with chillies and charred corn,

and a dipping sauce made from the braising liquors.

You don't eat meat...

..but you've cooked this short rib absolutely perfectly.

It falls apart, it's lovely, slightly gelatinous.

I could probably ask for a little bit more seasoning.

Your sauce, you get a little bit of sweetness from

that bourbon in there, you get a little sweetness from the cola,

and I think it's a really lovely consistency.

You have got well-made tacos.

I love your whipped avocado, giving it a real creaminess,

but I particularly like the bits of red onion

because they are hot and they are sharp.

The only slight wrinkle for me

is you couldn't sort of test the seasoning,

so that's slightly lacking.

Everything else around it, dynamite.

SOPHIE: I knew that it needed more seasoning.

I knew it.

So I'm a little bit gutted on that front.

But everything else was good

and they were happy with how the meat was cooked,

so I am... Relieved is definitely the word.

And breathe!

Inspired by his love of tacos,

web developer Michael is serving two different kinds,

fish tacos - paprika and beer battered cod

with garlic aioli in a corn tortilla -

and super tacos -

melted cheese-topped corn tortillas with marinated chilli chicken,

pickled red onion and radishes

and crispy chicken skin, with coleslaw on the side.

JIMI: Ooh!

I think your chicken taco is great.

Your chicken's cooked really nicely,

there's a really lovely bit of spice in there,

the pickle coming from those radishes,

which are really lovely,

the actual tortilla itself made nicely,

it's still lovely and flexible.

It's my first time having a super taco.

Love the fried cheese.

It's kind of indulgent, it's playful,

but it does add texture and flavour.

The only thing that I do have issues with is that piece of fish.

The size of it is a real challenge,

and I don't think the seasoning has really penetrated.

You want a little bit more.

That fish is cooked wonderfully - nice and flaky inside.

I'd like some more garlic in that aioli,

but I think this is a good job.

MICHAEL: It's not every day that you get to see

a famous food critic come and eat your food,

so, you know, it was really great to hear the positive feedback.

And, yeah, I'll definitely work on my portion sizing.

I mean, that's

a Michael-sized portion.

MICHAEL CHUCKLES QUIETLY

Lawyer Victoria's American fusion tacos

are flour tortillas with smoked duck,

Japanese umeboshi plum sauce

and tempura spring onions with French fries

and miso lime mayonnaise with grated ginger.

You've really thrown everything at it, Victoria.

Like, the flavours are big, they're enticing.

The sweetness of that umeboshi plum sauce works so well with the duck.

I like the touch of the stars and stripes.

It's a real fun dish to eat. Thank you.

I've got a really nice, almost flatbread taco -

bouncy flatbread taco.

I like your fries. They are crispy.

I also like your miso mayo with the bits of ginger.

I think it's great. Thank you.

You have taken the classic idea of a Chinese duck pancake,

and you've turned it into a Tex-Mex-cum-bar-food

before the baseball feast.

I think it's a really good example of what's happening with fusion,

and I really like it. Thank you for your comments.

Thank you.

I feel really good.

The feedback from the duck was absolutely brilliant.

The judges really got what I was trying to do.

QUIETLY: I'm really happy with that.

NARRATOR: Delivery dispatcher Elisha's take

on the American cheesecake is a vanilla cheesecake mound

with mango and passion fruit,

white chocolate blondie pieces,

a white chocolate crumb,

passion fruit creme pat custard

and a mango and lime sorbet.

JOHN: I do like your passion fruit creme pat.

That's really lovely.

Your mango sorbet is creamy and rich.

The rest of it, I've got issue with. I'm really sorry.

The actual cheesecake mixture is split.

The blondie doesn't have the texture you need for a blondie.

That's a white chocolate sponge, and it doesn't have that sweetness.

You have shown you can make a creme pat,

a white chocolate crumb

and a sorbet all to a pretty decent standard.

It needs a much smarter appearance than this.

I'm so, so impressed by your flavours.

It just feels an enormous shame that you couldn't

quite bring it together how you wanted.

ELISHA: A little bit deflated.

I promised them a cheesecake mound

and it kind of became like a sandpit,

which isn't exactly what I planned for.

Based on her favourite American chocolate-covered pretzel snack,

mortgage broker Hannah has made a caramel chocolate ganache tart

in a pretzel base

served with toffee popcorn,

popcorn ice cream and caramel sauce.

You've got chocolate going down into a really, really sweet,

sticky caramel inside that pretzel base.

It's very sweet. It's very rich.

You couldn't eat much of it.

The sweetness is quite full-on.

It just is unrelenting.

But that popcorn ice cream is amazing,

taking a traditional taste that's associated with America

and turning it into something else,

and I really enjoyed it. Thank you.

I love the thought of using pretzels as a base,

but I've got a soggy bottom.

What's happened is the caramel has oozed

and soaked into your pretzel,

and then we don't have a clear biscuit base

to give us any respite from that sweet of chocolate

and the sweeter caramel.

But I like what you've done. I like the work you've done.

HANNAH: The feedback was fair.

I mean, it IS very sweet and I knew that going into it.

But I just... It's, like, my favourite dessert.

And I'm really proud of everything that I've put on a plate.

NARRATOR: Finally, inspired by the classic key lime pie,

teacher Naomi's dessert is a shortcrust ginger pastry case

with a set lime filling,

topped with Italian meringue,

served with a coffee ice cream

and a honey tuile.

JOHN: The key lime filling inside of there

is slightly sweet, but sharp with lime.

It's set absolutely perfectly.

Across the top your Italian meringue has got the bounce of marshmallow.

That's really very, very nicely done indeed.

I love the fact the pastry is completely short,

it's crumbly and breaks apart.

You've done a great job here.

That coffee ice cream is an absolute knockout.

Really, really creamy.

And that's got a proper hit of coffee.

Thank you. Well done.

I just love your balance with flavours.

I was quite sceptical about the kind of coffee on the side.

It's almost like some other dessert has wandered in

and is intruding on the key lime pie party.

But it totally works.

It's gorgeous. Well done. Thank you.

I feel tired, but I feel really good.

It's like the adrenaline wears off and it's, like...

MAKES WHOOSHING SOUND

..hits you.

But... Yeah, I'm proud of what I did today.

I am.

Jimi, as always, a fantastic brief.

You bring out the best of our contestants.

I love setting these briefs, but they really delivered.

Thanks, Jimi. Good luck, guys.

We did have one half of the room doing tacos,

the other half of the room doing desserts.

Lots of conversations to be had here

because we've only got three places in Knockout Week.

Goodness. Well done, everyone.

The standard today was insane.

Someone's dish I thought was really, really yummy.

That was Victoria's.

That was me going to a bar in America,

getting this sort of fusion food of tacos from Mexico,

the Asian influence from China and fries.

I think Victoria deserves a place in Knockout Week.

Naomi made for us a key lime pie

with Italian meringue across the top.

Her pastry was lovely and short,

and it crumbled very, very nicely.

Brilliant coffee ice cream. John, Naomi's got to go through.

I think Elisha, his cheesecake,

presentation was nonexistent

and the cream was splitting.

It didn't all work out.

Sadly, Elisha goes home.

Hannah made for us a chocolate and caramel tart

with a salty pretzel base.

But that tart ended up with a soggy bottom.

It's very rich, very sweet.

Jimi thought that Hannah's tart was unrelenting.

I think Hannah's competition's over.

OK. That now leaves us Michael and Sophie.

Oh, mate, there's two really good cooks there.

Michael made his own corn tortillas.

The chicken was just fabulous.

The fish one, there wasn't very much garlic in the aioli,

and the fish was massive

and didn't have very much seasoning on it.

Sophie's tacos, I thought she cooked that beef really well

for someone that doesn't actually eat meat.

And it had a bit of cola sweetness going through it.

But the beef itself could have done with a bit more seasoning.

SOPHIE: I'm feeling very nervous about the decision ahead.

I feel like I've done everything I can.

I went all out.

Hopefully the judges see that.

MICHAEL: Absolutely don't want to go home.

I'd like to keep going, get more satisfying moments

of getting food on the table, watching them eat it and enjoy it.

And that's what I... That's what my life is about.

Good luck.

Well done, all six of you.

We expect a lot from you and you didn't disappoint.

Three places in Knockout Week.

That does mean that three of you are leaving the competition.

There were two people who really impressed today,

and they are going through to Knockout Week.

Victoria...

..Naomi, congratulations.

It doesn't always go to plan.

And sometimes the detail just doesn't quite happen.

Elisha...

..Hannah...

..sorry, guys. You're leaving us.

Thank you very much indeed.

Thank you.

HANNAH CLEARS THROAT

HANNAH: I'm a bit gutted.

Part of me is a bit relieved that I don't

ever have to do it again.

HANNAH LAUGHS

It's very, very stressful.

But it's been the most amazing experience I've ever had.

This competition has definitely increased my love

for food and my passion.

It's put a fire under my belly,

so it's just about getting back in the kitchen,

sharpening my skills and getting better.

Sophie, Michael, one place left in Knockout Week,

which does mean that one of you is leaving the competition.

And this decision really did come down to the finest of details.

The final person going through to Knockout Week is...

..Sophie.

Sophie, congratulations.

Michael, thank you very much indeed.

It's been a fantastic journey. We've loved your food.

Well done, guys. Thank you. Well done.

I'm feeling disappointed, but proud.

I couldn't have done anything different,

so it's just the way it is.

But I'm happy to have been able to experience it.

I don't think my food career ends here.

Ladies, congratulations. You three are through to Knockout Week.

Yay! Oh... Oh, gosh.

That is unbelievable. Oh, my gosh.

I can't... I can't believe it.

When I heard my name, my soul left my body.

SOPHIE LAUGHS

I still don't think I've come back yet.

Yeah, I'm so proud of myself.

I never thought I was capable of doing this.

Everybody is amazing,

so it just comes down to who's the best on the day, I think.

I'm absolutely terrified of Knockout Week.

CHUCKLING: I just don't know what's going to happen next.

I just don't know. I've got no idea.

I'd better pull something out of the bag.

Next time...

SIGHS

..six more contestants compete

for the right to wear a MasterChef apron...

And I'm already burning something.

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

..before battling for a place in the quarterfinal.

I love it!

The flavours are absolutely amazing.