Original subtitles

It's the last of the MasterChef quarterfinals,

and this week's six best cooks are back.

I didn't come here to go home after the quarterfinals,

so I'm very nervous today.

I want to keep showing that I could get to the finals.

Maybe I have that little spark that could win it.

I feel very determined.

Each round that I get through, I just want it more and more.

I will stay quietly competitive.

Inside, I'm really wanting to be in that knockout week.

I've had, I guess, quite a good streak,

so I don't want to nosedive at this stage.

It's too soon to say I could win the competition,

so I have to eliminate...

How many people is it?

Tonight - they face just one challenge -

to cook an exceptional dish from a brief

set by renowned restaurant critic Leyla Kazim.

It's quarterfinal day.

This is where the best cooks have to stand out.

What they've got to do now is fight for their place.

Welcome to your MasterChef quarterfinal.

You've been set a brief.

I want to introduce you to the person that set that brief,

and who is going to taste your food and help us judge your food.

One of the sharpest

and best-travelled food writers I've ever met.

Ladies and gentlemen, Leyla Kazim.

Welcome back, Leyla. Hi!

Contestants, my brief today is to make a dish

that really showcases the humble bean.

Knock me out, guys. Give me some beautiful beans.

There are just three places in knockout week.

That does mean, at the end of this, three of you will be going home.

Ladies and gentlemen, one hour, 30 minutes.

Let's cook.

I'm really excited to cook for Leyla.

This brief is ideal.

I love using beans in dishes

because you can pack so much flavour into them.

I think the bean has a reputation for creating really wonderful,

simple dishes, but actually they are versatile,

and they're a great vehicle for flavour.

I do use a lot of beans at home,

but I don't use them as a stand-alone ingredient.

People often assume they're only for savoury dishes,

but actually beans are used in desserts.

Aduki beans - often used in Japanese desserts.

I make brownies with black beans.

Feeling stressed but also excited.

And I think the contestants have

a real opportunity to showcase their cultures and cuisines,

because beans can be found across the world

and there are so many ways to interpret them.

Possibilities are almost endless.

Things are smelling good already.

It's a promising start.

Olivia is a perfect illustration

of the passion of Italians for their food.

I think your flavours are wonderful.

A little bit of inventive,

a little bit of classic,

bringing the two together, and making it delicious.

We've had lots of risottos.

That's one of the best we've ever had on MasterChef.

Beans. It's something that I was raised eating.

But beans in 90 minutes can be a problem

because we're not speaking about making some beans on toast

here today, right?

Olivia, what's your dish, please?

I'm making gnocchi out of beans.

There's a cacio e pepe sauce, so pecorino and black pepper,

crispy guanciale,

and I'm going to garnish the dish with asparagus and Parmesan tuile.

I've never had gnocchi made out of beans.

It's something that I made up, so it's not something traditional,

so I need someone from up there to look at me very well today, huh?

What a great idea, making the gnocchi out of beans,

gnocchi usually being made from potatoes.

That is something I have never encountered.

Olivia's using cannellini beans, which have been slightly cooked,

then blended, mixed with eggs and Parmesan cheese to make a dough.

So a bean dough. That's going to be dropped into boiling hot water

to make a dumpling.

Oh!

If those bean dumplings don't actually work,

we don't have a dish.

Cacio e pepe is just cheese and pepper.

But she's going to have to use the water

she's making her white bean gnocchi in to actually make the sauce.

Oh, my God, I'm scared!

Yay!

I'm really fascinated by this.

Oh, God! Why is it not going through?

Paddy's young, he's daring, he's inventive.

He likes classics, and he likes to make them slightly different.

Paddy, I think that's delicious. Thank you. I really like it.

Pinch of chilli powder in there.

The bean brief is actually really,

really good for me, because I was vegetarian.

Beans were a really good source of protein for me.

It's still a big part of my life.

Paddy, please tell me what you're cooking today.

So I'm doing an open refried bean quesadilla.

I'm making the tortilla out of black beans,

a little bit of flour, and some water, with crispy black beans,

a guacamole, sour cream,

and a Mexican tomato chilli sauce thickened with a black bean hummus.

What made you decide on that? As a uni student,

quesadillas were sort of the go-to thing to go and do,

so I thought I'd MasterChef it up today and hope for the best.

They look all right.

The quesadilla, the actual tortilla, is not made from flour,

it's made from black beans, which is fascinating.

What he's going to have to do is put the bean mixture in the pan

and cover the whole thing like a crepe, quite thin.

I just hope they don't break apart.

These breads are doing my head in.

If they're too thick,

it's not going to end up in the way that I think he wanted it to.

OK, fine. That'll do.

15 minutes gone, everybody.

No pressure, no pressure, no pressure.

Fareeda has travelled and worked all over the world,

and she draws on those experiences.

We've had food from Bangladesh,

we've had Persian cuisine, and we have had Turkish cuisine.

I'll have a bucket of those, please, for my lunch.

She gives big, bold flavours and she takes a bit of a risk.

This is tremendous cooking.

What are you making? I'm going to make black chickpea hummus

with masala lamb chops, a Lebanese style hot tomato salsa,

and some crispy chickpeas, and a broad bean fritter,

or an Egyptian falafel.

And maybe some bread, if I can get it in there.

If you've got time. Yeah.

What did you think when you got the brief of "showcase beans"?

I grew up eating chickpeas all the time.

I've lived in Beirut, in Lebanon, so everything is chickpea-based,

so it's really, like, right up my street.

Fabulous.

Fareeda is using black chickpeas,

white chickpeas, and frozen broad beans,

and her dish is a mixture of many different things.

I'm super hot and bothered because I run around.

I don't know why I make so many dishes.

We're having masala spiced lamb chops,

which have also got a really lovely thick coating of spice

with chickpeas.

I know what, I'll whack them in.

Egyptian falafel usually uses a dried fava bean, a broad bean.

All right, please fry. Please fry.

But she's using frozen broad beans.

Frozen broad beans have got water in them.

That's really dangerous, because the more water in something,

the more chance of it exploding in a deep fryer.

Oh!

She says she might even make bread if she has time.

I just hope she hasn't given herself too much to do.

Multitask like crazy.

I think so far I have shown

that I do a lot of components.

Come on!

And so to stay in the competition,

I think I really need to nail each item.

All right, let's go for it.

So hopefully it goes really well.

I'm so sorry.

Kaylee loves how colourful food really is.

Everything I can see and taste here

makes me think you're a quality cook.

It's full of flavour, it's full of technique,

and she knows how to fight back.

She had a dessert going wrong but managed to save it,

serve it as deconstructed. Impressed everybody.

It's perfectly delicious.

I think it's quite a hard brief,

but this is completely my own brainchild,

so it's really important that they like it, and I hope they do.

I really like it.

I am making a za'atar spiced chicken lollipop

glazed with honey and lemon,

a falafel-inspired Scotch egg, a beetroot hummus,

tomato and feta salad, and a garlic mayonnaise.

Oh! So explain to me a falafel-inspired Scotch egg.

You're getting a Scotch egg. Rather than sausage around it,

it's got falafel flavoured... I see. ..chickpea mix around it.

So what did you think when you saw the brief? Beans!

I was horrified, actually.

Scotch eggs are difficult. How is that yolk going to be?

That's going to be key.

I guess you can't have too much falafel mix.

We've also got a spiced chicken lollipop.

We've got a beetroot hummus.

My concern right now is it's a little bit bitty,

and I'm not quite sure what's going to hold it together.

40 minutes to go.

Molly is excitingly different.

We've had two main courses from her that feature vegetables -

cauliflower three ways, celeriac pasta.

This is absolutely banging.

This, with beans, I think Molly is going to absolutely love.

I've chosen this dish because this is something

that I cook for my husband probably once a week.

Given how much my husband loves it,

this means a lot to really nail it.

What beans have you decided to go with?

Butter beans. So you're having beans in herby sauce,

but also with cashews, anchovies, and some capers through it as well.

With that you're having a flatbread, some grilled courgette on top,

pickled shallots, and toasted pumpkin seeds.

From a nutritional point of view, what do you think of beans?

Beans are amazing. Absolutely powerhouse for nutrition.

And the fact that they're so affordable as well.

Ooh, yeah!

Molly's using butter beans. They've wonderful flavour.

She's going to make the mixture of herbs and peas

and onions all together, blend it up with anchovy.

This green salsa verde mixture

is going to be folded through the beans,

and the whole thing served on a flatbread.

This is green beans on toast, which could be absolutely delicious...

..but there's not a lot of cooking going on here.

This is going to have to really deliver.

Ooh! Too hot.

It's all lovely,

but it's also possibly something

that many of us might make in a weekday at home.

You have just ten minutes left.

I've got to say, I really admire Gabriel.

I absolutely love that pudding.

He wants people to know about Brazilian food,

and I just hope in this round he does something truly delicious,

and something with a bit of passion.

That was perfectly executed.

Beans. Wow!

I'm Brazilian.

Our national dish is called feijoada,

and it's a black bean stew,

so it was the perfect moment to showcase this dish.

It couldn't be any more beany and delicious, honestly.

The black beans here stewing away.

I've used four different cuts of pork,

like bacon, chorizo. I put in some pork ears and trotters.

It's going to be served with a Brazilian farofa,

which is kind of cassava flour mixture with

all the pork juices that I've fried.

And lastly,

a little orange sliced up on the side to break all that fat up.

I'm so pleased we have

got Brazil's national dish in the kitchen today.

I can't mess it up.

There's 250 million people watching me right now,

and judging!

This is a dish that is usually cooked over hours.

He has 90 minutes.

He's got black beans in a pressure cooker,

and I worry about that because he can't see inside it.

The beans have to be cooked so they're still soft,

but they haven't exploded.

The pork has to be cooked all the way through.

He's got pig's ears and trotters,

which will give a gelatinous feel to the sauce,

so it should stick to our lips.

And it sounds and smells like it should be delicious.

Everybody, just five minutes.

Oh, no!

Careful, careful, careful, careful.

It's mayhem over here, darling. Let the mayhem rule!

That's what we need.

Oh, come on, pally.

They're very much student quesadillas.

That's green. It's so green.

Last 60 seconds.

You've got to cut those in half, and you've got to get them on a plate.

Yeah. Go, go, go! Quick, quick, quick!

Oh, God!

That's it. Stop! Your time is up.

Presentation, at this stage, could let me down.

I think they'll like it.

Olivia, if you wouldn't mind.

NARRATOR: Talent acquisitions manager Olivia

has used cannellini beans to make gnocchi,

served with a cacio e pepe sauce of pecorino and black pepper,

asparagus, and asparagus puree,

and crispy guanciale, or salt-cured pork cheek.

I think this is a little bit of genius.

Gnocchi can be quite light.

This is heavy, but I don't mind because it works.

The flavour of the beans with the cacio e pepe flavours,

and then you've got the freshness from

that little bit of asparagus and the puree.

I just actually want to finish it.

I've never seen anything like it, 21 years of MasterChef,

somebody taking a bean and turning it into pasta.

I mean, that's really, really clever.

The creamy sauce made just from pecorino, salt,

pepper, and the water you've cooked the gnocchi in.

I would buy that in a restaurant and I'd be very, very happy.

Thanks very much indeed. I'd eat the whole lot.

SHE MOUTHS

That gnocchi, it's smooth.

You've completely changed the texture of the beans.

I mean, that is really, really clever.

Your smoky extra seasoning comes from that pig cheek, that guanciale.

It's really great.

Olivia, can I have the recipe?

Of course! Of course.

Thank you very much. Grazie mille.

I'm so happy!

I can't believe what my ears heard.

I'm going to write that recipe and give it to her.

Professional bassoonist Paddy has used black beans

three ways to make an open quesadilla,

black bean tortilla topped with crispy refried black beans,

guacamole and sour cream,

and a tomato chilli sauce thickened with the black bean hummus.

Your use of the bean, I think, is actually inspired.

We've got a bean tortilla,

which is slightly chewy and a little bit firm,

but still bendable. We've got a sauce that's sitting underneath,

which has been thickened with that bean hummus,

and then it's loaded with more refried beans.

The bean tortilla is the flavour of a rosti dripping in gravy.

It's, like, really nice.

You've seasoned the bean sauce,

and it's going from peppery to bitter.

I can't stop nibbling it.

This dish is actually a masterclass in the textures of bean,

because it's such a great example of how creative

you really can be with this deceptively simple ingredient.

Just well done!

The comments were amazing.

Bit shocked, to be honest.

But, no, I'm delighted.

Pleased with that? Yeah, yeah. No, pretty happy. Pretty happy.

Fareeda, it is your turn, please.

Humanitarian aid worker Fareeda has served masala lamb chops

coated with crispy chickpeas and masala onions,

black bean chickpea hummus,

Egyptian falafel-inspired broad bean fritters

with a tomato, mint and chilli salsa, and flatbread.

There's some little errors, but your flavours are unbelievable.

We haven't properly cooked down the lamb.

The bread's a little floury.

Some of these falafels are slightly caught,

a little bit burnt, but so much work.

Well done.

There are little things that maybe could be better,

but it tastes great. It dances with a little bit of spice,

and then your whole thing is calmed down very, very nicely

by the silky smooth black hummus that sits underneath it.

What I love is that you are showing that beans can elevate meats,

and they work so well with meats. I think it's really good.

I'm feeling a bunch of emotions right now.

Happy. Also a bit gutted, too, about a few things I delivered.

But, yeah, overall good.

Oh, my God.

Kaylee, if you would, please.

Semi-permanent make-up artist Kaylee

has served a falafel-inspired chickpea Scotch egg,

honey and lemon glazed chicken lollipops, beetroot hummus,

tomato and feta salad, and a garlic mayonnaise.

It totally works. Falafel-inspired Scotch egg.

It's beautifully crispy. Then you break through that crunch

into the kind of soft chickpea falafel,

and then you've got a lovely egg in the middle.

I could have maybe had it a little bit runnier, but it's fine.

I'm happy with that.

The chicken's cooked OK.

There's a little bit of pink in there.

It's all right. I wouldn't send it back.

You've got honey on there,

you've got some really sweet beetroot, and it is quite sweet.

I'm not convinced it's a dish as a whole.

It's lots of different things that people might like to eat.

I'm feeling a little bit mixed.

There was a couple of things I knew weren't quite right...

..so that's a bit deflating.

Assistant psychologist Molly has made butter bean stew

with a Parmesan, cashew nut, and anchovy green herb sauce,

topped with crispy butter beans,

courgette, toasted pumpkin seeds,

and pickled shallots served with flatbread.

That top bit, I really like, all the little bits of crispiness

with all the crunchy beans and the pumpkin seeds,

the shallots and the courgette.

Underneath, the rest of it, it's quite samey.

It's that sort of richness of herbs and sweetness of peas,

and I couldn't eat all of that.

Everything in there is made really, really well.

But there is something sweet, slightly too sweet,

and I think it might be the pickling liquor on the onion.

There's a bit of sugar in the pickling vinegar. Yeah.

It's giving each mouthful that sweet finish.

Yeah.

Those fried butter beans are really well-seasoned,

so I'm getting those pops of seasoning in there.

But the rest of it is kind of a little bit one-dimensional,

but this is a really good for the soul bowl of food.

I was trying to hear the positives...

..but I knew that there were flaws with that dish.

But, yeah, we'll see.

Gabriel, come on, please.

Last up, head of fashion e-commerce Gabriel

has served the Brazilian national dish feijoada,

a black bean stew with smoked bacon and sausage,

pig's ears and trotters, white rice, collard greens,

farofa, or toasted cassava with bacon fat,

and a tomato, onion, and orange rind salsa.

What a fantastic dish!

Your beans are like the stew,

they're keeping it all wet. And it's that lovely smoky sausage giving

all of that stew its flavour. But you've used the beans once,

and you're featuring the pork maybe as much as the beans.

The beans have been cooked really nicely.

They've taken on the flavour of the pork,

and the farofa is an inspiration.

Cassava flour in flakes with bacon fat and onions,

wonderful across the top,

and then the tomatoes, onions, and orange rind.

There is this wonderful relief that comes from that

with sweet, sharp, and sour all together. It tastes great.

The trotters and the pig's ear have brought such an incredible texture

to this feijoada that you've achieved in such a short amount of

time, which is amazing. You've just showed that, with beans,

you can create something as wonderful as Brazil's national dish.

I'm feeling exhausted.

It was a tough, tough challenge,

but I put my heart and soul on that dish.

I was absolutely blown away, to be honest,

by the creativity, because I eat a lot of beans at home,

and today I had beans in ways that I haven't had before.

I honestly don't know how you're going to work this one out.

Thank you very much. Pleasure. See you guys. Bye.

I'm really impressed. They are growing in stature,

these cooks. They are strong.

The person who I'm the most impressed with is Paddy.

Paddy took black beans and used them in four different ways

with a dish that was just delicious.

The star of the show was actually

to make the tortilla out of the beans themselves.

Has he got himself a place in Knockout Week? I think he has.

Olivia took cannellini beans and made gnocchi.

You and I and Leyla were all absolutely gobsmacked.

It looked so simple, but it was really technically extraordinary.

And if that's not enough,

it actually resulted in a delicious dish.

There is no reason why Olivia shouldn't go straight through

to Knockout Week. In a room full of great cooks,

there was somebody who didn't quite live up to expectation...

..and that was Molly. That was a big bowl of beans.

Very little else. And it was sweet. It was just pesto and beans.

I think Molly's competition, sadly, is finished.

I think you're absolutely right.

Kaylee's dish wasn't a plate of food,

it was just things. It didn't come together as a dish.

Honey sweet chicken leg and a very, very sweet beetroot puree,

and it was too sweet for me.

So Kaylee's going home.

We've got one place left in Knockout Week,

and that's now a conversation about Fareeda and Gabriel.

We had from Gabriel

black bean stew with pork, all cooked beautifully.

But he gave us the beans in the stew.

It didn't feature anywhere else.

Fareeda is really very ambitious,

making hummus, making crispy bits,

even making falafels. Technically, a huge amount of work.

My lamb needed some more heat.

My bread was still a little bit too powdery.

Those falafels were overdone. She gave herself

too much to do. But her flavours, John, her flavours are heavenly.

Who's going to go through to Knockout Week?

Is it going to be Gabriel or is it going to be Fareeda?

And who can keep up with the rest of the competition?

I definitely don't want to go home.

I feel like I'm just getting started.

I'm competing against some really top cooks,

but you never know, so I'll wait and see.

At the start of this,

we did say we've only got three places in Knockout Week.

That does mean, sadly, three of you are leaving us.

We think there were two contestants here,

two cooks, that really did stand out.

Olivia, Paddy, congratulations, the two of you.

You are going through to Knockout Week.

We can't take everybody through.

Kaylee, Molly, ladies, I'm afraid you're leaving the competition.

Thank you so much. Good luck, guys. Good luck, everyone.

Our third and final contestant going through is...

..Gabriel.

Fareeda, you've had a great competition.

Thank you so, so much.

I'm feeling a bit sad.

It is a bit bittersweet in terms of going out this round

but, at the same time,

I feel really proud of what I've achieved.

I'm feeling gutted.

I'll look back on it with good memories,

but, yeah, it's, erm, it's how the cookie crumbles sometimes.

I didn't think I could love food any more than I already do,

and I definitely do.

And I've just had a really, really, really, really good time.

You are through to Knockout Week. We will see you then.

Yay!

Wow! My confidence is just going up and up.

I don't want to get too ahead of myself, but I'm delighted.

I'm so, so happy.

I have so much more to show, and I will go until the end.

Let's give them a little samba.

No. Nao sei sambar aqui.

There's a lot more to come, a lot more tough challenges,

but I hope to send everyone home.

NARRATOR: Next time, it's Knockout Week.

The best 16 from the heats fight to stay in the competition...

Absolutely delightful!

It's wonderful.

I'd pay for this.

..and experience the pressure of their first professional kitchen.

Watch your grill, watch your grill, watch your grill.