Original subtitles

INDIA FISHER: It's knockout week on MasterChef.

After five weeks of intense competition...

We're cooking now. We're cooking. I need to stop shaking.

..60 home cooks... Mmmm!

..have been whittled down...

Yum, yum, yum! I'm in heaven.

..to the best 16.

Pressure's on,

so you've got to get better and better.

It feels like I'm back to ground zero.

The previous rounds don't count for anything.

I've got to prove myself all over again.

I feel really determined today.

I just want to get back in there and just do it again, better.

I'm not done yet.

There's so many dishes that I dream of making.

Once I get in that kitchen, I'm focused.

Tonight, the first group of eight return to fight

for the right to cook in their first professional kitchen.

Watch your grill. Watch your grill. Watch your grill.

The pressure is truly on.

This is enormous!

From here on in, everything they touch has got to sparkle.

Welcome back. You are now at the start of knockout week.

From here on in, we expect you

to cook like you want to lift the title.

You've got a brief to cook for us

a dish that you'd be proud to put on your own restaurant menu,

publish in a cookbook,

or maybe even sell from your food truck.

And it's got to be sublime,

because we only have five places in the next round.

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

Ladies and gentlemen, one hour and 45 minutes. Let's cook!

Oh, my God!

Claire, throughout the competition, has wowed you and I.

Her food influences come from all over the world.

Worked and lived in Canada. Her husband is Danish.

She's different, but she's also very skilful.

There is a cookbook in my chest that is just waiting to come out.

I have to be honest and bold

and mean today, and get it right.

Claire is giving us a dish inspired by her time living in Canada,

and she wants to celebrate the salmon run.

You see them all jumping through Vancouver for about three months,

and so I wanted to celebrate that amazing event.

So we are getting poached salmon with a crispy salmon skin sail.

Fascinating.

Ooh!

I'm adding a couple of Asian flavours I experienced

in Vancouver, because it's a very pan-Asian community.

We've got sweet carrot, ginger and chilli puree.

That carrot puree needs to be lovely and smooth.

Ginger in there should be vibrant.

We're getting pickled leeks and candied chillies.

Wow!

We've got sweet and sharp and sour going on.

Let's just hope it results in a really tasty dish.

We're all good.

Paddy is a classical musician,

and his dishes are classic with a twist.

When he gets it right, it's fantastic.

I just want to see Paddy do more of the same, thanks.

This is my favourite brief because when chefs open restaurants,

they really have to put their own signature on their dishes.

So I can't wait to cook this dish.

Paddy's cooking for us

gammon, potatoes and cabbage.

Is there an Irish theme running through this?

There definitely is today.

A lot of my family are Irish,

and this was a dish that I had growing up on a Sunday,

but today, hopefully, going to be a little bit elevated.

He's got a lovely piece of gammon there,

which he's going to poach first.

He's then going to roast that with

a glaze of mustard and brown sugar and whiskey.

Oh! Love whiskey.

Lots of lovely Paddy twists here,

including char-grilled hispi cabbage, a pickled cabbage,

cabbage puree,

and then he's also putting buttered cabbage to his potatoes

to make a colcannon.

It's iconic throughout Ireland.

My great-grandad always had

a whiskey chaser with his bacon and cabbage,

so I thought I'd do a sauce inspired by that today.

It needs to be rich with whiskey,

hopefully nice and smooth and in no way wishy-washy at all.

I'm really excited about this.

Could be delicious, but how is he going to make it look fantastic?

OK.

Fay, brought up in Tunisia,

worked in China, and brings both of those cuisines together.

I think it's very exciting, and quite frankly,

I've never seen anybody ever cook like her.

Staying in the competition means as much to me

as having this dish on my actual cookbook.

But I have to say, you're only as good as your last dish,

so the pressure is on, for sure.

SHE SIGHS

Fay's making us a dish inspired by Tunisia.

She wants to do couscous, but with her slant on it.

It's my grandma's recipe. But since I moved to China,

I started using Chinese ingredients,

so I'm using Duo Jiao, which is like a pickle,

very spicy chillies.

We've got a chilli-flavoured couscous.

We've got orange and Szechuan pepper gel.

Oh! Eegh...!

SHE CHUCKLES

We're getting chunks of fennel which have been smoked.

We've also got little bits of kumquat.

Kumquats are sharp and sour,

but also have the bitterness of marmalade.

Um...

All of that served with labneh.

Labneh is in between milk and cream,

so you often eat it at Middle Eastern restaurants.

Huge amounts of flavour going on here.

But Fay is actually taking a packet of couscous,

and I'm surprised Fay's not making couscous from scratch.

SHE WHISTLES

In a room full of people making many different things,

I hope this is enough.

Everybody, you've had 30 minutes.

I'm doing OK. Everything go well!

Sam has really impressed

with his skill and his love of Thai food,

and he's so good at it

because that's where he was brought up.

That's the food in his heart.

The food that I would put in my restaurant is based on love.

My boyfriend loves mango and sticky rice.

I love sticky rice and coconut ice cream,

so it's just all about love today.

HE CHUCKLES

OK.

We have got a mango mousse with white chocolate

and coconut milk as well, so that's going to be quite sweet.

Inside the mousse there would be mango jellies.

Wow! No pressure at all!

We've got a little biscuit sitting underneath the mousse.

On top of that we've got a little tuile made from coconut.

That's being served with a rich coconut ice cream,

which is going to be slightly salty, but it can't be too salty.

A lot of my element is needed to be set,

so fingers crossed, it's all set in time.

There's a huge amount of process here.

I hope it looks fantastic and I hope it tastes brilliant.

You have 60 minutes left.

Where we've not been here for a minute,

it feels a little bit out of place. Do you know what I mean?

But...I'll be fine.

I'm always fine.

Hazel, she pushes herself.

She takes the ordinary,

makes it extraordinary.

She is a good cook.

I hope she's growing in confidence,

and I really want to see what she's got next.

I definitely think that this brief

has created a bit more excitement within me.

It would be amazing if I could get

a cookbook that helps mums out

to make delicious, healthy food.

I just need to try and elevate it,

just make it a little bit more "Wow!"

We've got a piece of halibut which

is being pan-fried with the flavours that come inside a Mexican taco.

I love Mexican food.

I've been to Mexico a few times, and I love the flavours.

It's the zing, the heat. Yeah, I'm with you.

We have got an avocado cream.

Going everywhere!

We've got a sweetcorn puree.

Hairy, innit?

Pickled radishes give us some sharpness.

And then we've got tempura jalapeno chillies.

Oh, God! I'm getting really nervous now.

SHE GASPS

The whole thing is going to be

served with an orange and fennel salad.

She's delivered flavour in the past,

and that's what this dish is going to be all about.

It feels strange.

It feels like I'm going back to the beginning again.

Henry, now there is someone who is very, very ambitious.

He likes to push himself.

We've had a dish from Italy, a dish from Mexico, dishes from Asia.

That makes him very, very versatile.

Although I haven't thought about my own cookbook,

I do love a cookbook, and I have got a lot.

And my girlfriend actually counted them this weekend,

and I have 126,

so I could open up a library, I reckon.

Henry's making Chinese dumplings, but not one,

not two, but three different dumplings.

We have got ourselves a lamb dumpling with a wonton skin,

and he's going to boil those, served with yoghurt,

sweet soy sauce and cumin.

When you eat it,

it's quite confusing because it tastes Asian-y,

and then you're also like,

"It kind of reminds me of a kebab a little bit."

We've got a pork and chive dumpling, which he's going to pan-fry.

That's neat.

And then we've got a prawn dumpling which he's going to steam,

which should have a clear, see-through skin on them.

The prawns being lovely and soft all the way through,

and in no way grainy.

He's giving himself a huge amount of work to do.

Guys, you have just 35 minutes left.

Phew! Goes quick.

Feeling good. Always a bit tight but, you know, I'm used to it now.

Shaun has learned Asian cookery techniques and flavours

off the internet, and he is good at it.

But actually, my favourite was when he went American and he did

the fried chicken with the waffles!

I'll tell you what, that boy's got talent.

Today I'm going to be making a seared duck breast

with ginger parsnip puree

and tempura enoki mushrooms with an orange glaze and a plum ketchup.

This is a little bit left-field,

so hopefully it should be a nice surprise to them.

Wow! A little bit of Asian meets duck a l'orange, right?

I've cooked with a lot of Asian flavours,

but I want to put kind of that little Shaun twist at the end of it.

This fascinates me.

We've got a duck a l'orange -

a classic French dish -

duck breast to be cooked perfectly...

Oh! There we go.

..with a sticky orange sauce, almost the flavour of marmalade -

bitter as well as being sweet.

We've got enoki mushrooms -

little, tiny straw mushrooms - dipped in tempura.

They can't be greasy in any way.

We've got a parsnip and ginger puree,

and a plum sauce flavoured with Chinese flavours.

He's playing with fire here.

It's daring, but he's done it before.

Very nice to be back. Can't wait to slay today.

Gabriel, our champion of Brazilian cuisine.

It's big, it's gutsy, it's bold.

He's got a good palate, passion,

and he's a fighter.

That could take him a very long way.

My cooking has been a little rustic so far, so I'm hoping

that the next round, I can show a little fine-dining experience.

Gabriel is cooking us a barbecued piece of beef, Brazilian style.

So this would definitely be in a restaurant.

I feel like my hero dish has to be a Brazilian dish.

The steak, he needs to render the fat really, really well,

almost charring to get that flavour of the barbecue.

Oh, too much!

With it, we have got a chimichurri sauce

with lots and lots of herbs and spices, and a good amount of chilli.

We've got roasted corn and pineapple.

GABRIEL HUMS

We have a palm heart,

which is going to be filled with a mushroom and bacon puree,

so it looks like a piece of bone marrow.

But he's playing here with our senses and our vision.

This is hard. I'm not fine dining at all!

You have just ten minutes.

My hands never shake. Why are they shaking?

It looks better than I expected, to be honest.

So, yeah, delighted.

For once, I'm not crying about the timing.

On time, everything coming out as I wish.

I'm a bit flustered.

Make it pretty, make it pretty.

How long left? Final 30 seconds.

Get the sail on your fish.

That's it! Time's up. Stop, everybody.

Some great dishes. Well done.

SHE SIGHS

What a whirlwind!

HE CHUCKLES

Hazel, if you would, please.

INDIA FISHER: Full-time mum Hazel has served pan-fried halibut

spiced with chilli, avocado cream,

a citrus fennel salad,

tempura jalapenos,

pickled radishes,

sweetcorn puree

and a jalapeno and coriander oil.

I think it's very attractive. I like the colours.

Your fish is cooked absolutely perfectly.

Seasoning across the fish gives you a little bit of chilli heat.

The avocado, I think, is really, really good.

You've got sharpness coming from those radishes,

but pepperiness as well, because radishes are peppery.

I really admire the work in this.

I like the citrus with the fennel.

I find it very refreshing.

That sweetcorn, I think that's delicious.

Those little tempura jalapenos, they are crunchy!

And then the sharpness and the heat.

It is properly punchy

and I absolutely love it.

I think it represented me as a person.

Lots of energy, lots of zing.

I feel good, like, I'm happy.

Copywriter Claire's dish is poached salmon

topped with pickled julienne of leeks and candied red chillies,

served with crispy salmon skin,

carrot puree spiced with chilli and ginger,

puffed black rice,

garlic courgette ribbon

and a coriander oil.

It's a very pretty plate.

Thank you.

That's a big piece of salmon. You've cooked it really nicely.

Lovely crispy sail, I like that.

Slightly salty.

Your julienne of leek here, really nicely done.

I've got no problem with the cookery, the textures,

but that's a very sweet dish.

Carrot, naturally, very, very sweet.

Slightly sweetened leek.

Chillies, you've candied them, making those sweet!

I like that spice going through your carrot puree.

The courgettes, still with a bit of crunch,

but confited really nicely.

It is sweet.

The balance here is just a little tiny bit off,

but I think you've done some really lovely technical work here.

I'm a bit gutted.

SHE EXHALES

Sugar, sugar, sugar.

I've literally, at the last minute,

put the leeks into the chillied candy,

so that's why they will have been too sweet.

What an idiot.

Head of e-commerce Gabriel has cooked a Brazilian-inspired

barbecue beef sirloin

topped with a chimichurri sauce,

served with heart of palm,

grilled sweetcorn and pineapple,

cassava crisps,

crispy plantain

and a mushroom puree finished with woodchip smoke.

I just wanted to give it

that smell of burning and meat and deliciousness.

Big piece of beef, and very nicely cooked.

Colour on the outside, pink in the middle.

I like your chimichurri.

The herbiness and the bite of the onion.

You've got a very nice mushroom puree in there.

Slightly woody, slightly sharp.

I'm not sure you've quite pulled off presentation.

I think this is a mix between almost a barbecue and fine dining.

But all in all, this is a dish that tastes great.

Cassava has been cooked really, really nicely.

With that plantain, it's really tasty.

The palm hearts and the spike that comes from spiced corn

and roasted pineapple -

I think that's really good.

I'm very proud of myself.

SHE MOUTHS

Thank you.

I tried to do something different.

So, overall, eight out of ten.

Financial management consultant Fay has cooked couscous

flavoured with harissa and Chinese pickled chillies,

topped with roasted and smoked fennel,

kumquats poached in verjus,

dill, and a Szechuan pepper and orange gel,

served with a labneh sauce

split with a yuzu and dill oil.

The couscous, cooked nicely, still a little bit of crunch to it,

and that Chinese chilli flavour running all the way through it.

Across the top, smokiness of the fennel.

I like these almost marmalade-sharp kumquats,

but I can't find the orange gel and I think it would have

been really nice to see you make the couscous.

Your labneh has the taste of, like, a cream cheese.

I'd like a great big rustic flatbread

to soak up these flavours,

but I'm very much enjoying this. Thank you.

I knew I was playing it a little bit safe,

but this time I wanted to play more on the flavours.

Professional bassoonist Paddy

has cooked his take on the Irish classic

bacon, cabbage and potatoes.

He's made gammon in brown sugar, mustard and whiskey,

topped with pickled cabbage,

served with a colcannon pommes puree,

crispy carrot skins,

grilled hispi cabbage,

cabbage puree and a whiskey sauce.

It doesn't look smart enough. No, no.

Your ham's cooked beautifully.

Slightly salty,

sweet glaze on the outside,

slightly hot from the mustard.

Love the pickled cabbage across the top.

Your pan-fried cabbage cooked very, very nicely.

But your colcannon's a little bit wet.

And I think you probably could just do with a bit more seasoning inside

that cabbage puree.

Your whiskey sauce, mate, I could actually drink it.

It's buttery and sweet.

But your mashed potato desperately needs seasoning.

Your puree also needs seasoning. Fair enough.

There were some mistakes today.

It's disappointing, but we'll see.

Retail business manager Henry has cooked dumplings three ways:

steamed prawn dumplings in a chicken, soy and ginger broth,

lamb wontons spiced with soy and chilli,

served with a Szechuan pepper and cumin-spiced yoghurt,

pork and chive dumplings with a prawn head and chilli oil

and a sweet soy dipping sauce.

I love these!

I hope they taste like they look.

I really love the dumplings, with the pork with the chives.

I think that's great.

These dumplings with the prawn, with the lightness of ginger

going through the broth - absolutely delightful!

These lamb ones are my favourite.

The flavour in there of cumin and lamb, sharpness of yoghurt,

and then this chilli sauce across the top,

which is both sweet and chilli hot as well.

I'd pay for this.

Really good.

It feels really great.

I can't quite believe those comments.

I'm trying to stop myself being too emotional.

I'm really happy.

Digital marketing manager Shaun

has cooked pan-seared duck breast in Chinese five-spice,

honey and soy, served with tempura enoki mushrooms,

parsnip and ginger puree,

plum ketchup

and an orange and soy glaze.

I think you can be a little bit more elegant with this.

It's like your duck has dived into the pond.

Shaun, that is a lovely duck.

You've got a crispy skin on it,

and that flesh is pink and you hardly have to chew.

I don't think the tempura enoki quite work.

It feels a little greasy to me.

And you're almost making this into a dessert.

You've got sweet parsnip, sweet orange

and a sweet plum sauce.

That's a lot of sweetness.

Your orange sauce I really like -

slightly bitter, but sweet.

Almost the flavour of marmalade.

But your parsnip puree needs seasoning.

And if you're going to promise me ginger, there needs to be

a flavour of ginger.

Some good feedback. Some bad feedback.

Overall, six-and-a-half out of ten?

Could be better.

Last up is vocational trainer Sam.

He's served a coconut mousse,

with a white chocolate and mango mirror glaze and mango jelly centre,

on a coconut biscuit base with roasted hazelnuts,

served with coconut sticky rice,

a coconut tuile,

lime gel

and a salted coconut ice cream.

Oh! Looks like a little poached egg.

You all right? Yeah.

The white chocolate in your mousse has become grainy,

which is a real shame, because I like the flavour.

I like that mango gel sitting through the centre,

the gloss across the top, the nuts around the outside,

and a really lovely biscuit that actually breaks

when you get through the centre of that.

The sticky rice, nice and sticky, quite firm.

Nice sharpness coming from that lime gel, as well.

That's really good with that fresh mango.

I admire the process. Thank you.

I like the coconut ice cream. Slightly salty.

Coconut is divine.

There's a lot of good work there, and it tastes fantastic.

Could have kicked myself with the mousse!

But I'm proud. I'm happy.

Thank you.

I hope!

HE CHUCKLES

Our first group of eight, I think a brilliant round.

It wasn't a room with lots of mistakes.

No. But three of them leaving the competition.

Henry and his three dumplings - they were great.

Really flavoursome. Well made. Looked smart.

Agreed. Henry is my cook of the day.

Sam - he made a mousse with a gel in the middle, on top of a biscuit.

That's not easy to do.

Yes, there was a technical issue here and there, but it tasted great.

Hazel, I liked her style today.

Really good fish.

Nothing shy about it. It was punchy, and I've got to say,

I think there's lots to be admired.

Gabriel - really well-cooked piece of beef.

He went for a fine dining style that I'm not sure he pulled off,

but textures, flavours - I think he nailed it.

So we have got Henry, Sam, Hazel and Gabriel all going through.

That leaves one more place to give.

We've got Paddy...

..Shaun...

..Claire...

..and Fay.

There were a couple of issues, but who do you want to see cook again?

And who do you think actually might have

a chance of raising the trophy?

I will be devastated if the journey ends here,

but hopefully, I did enough.

If the competition was over, I wouldn't be happy,

but I've tried my best.

Hopefully they can see that my technical ability means that I can

take on the challenges that come.

I am nervous about the judges' decision.

It's going to be a tough one, standing there,

but we'll wait and see.

You can clearly see how high the standard is this year.

Very, very well done.

Sadly, we can't take all of you with us.

Paddy.

Fay.

Sorry, guys. You're leaving the competition.

Thank you very much. Thank you. Cheers. Thank you.

I'm really sad that I'm going home and I can't show more,

but it's a competition at the end of the day,

and there are a lot of good cooks, so it is what it is.

A little bit gutted,

but I've learnt so much from doing MasterChef.

It's been absolutely incredible, so I've got to be happy with that.

The last person going home is...

..Shaun.

Sadly, you're leaving us.

Shaun!

Shaun, it's been a great competition.

Thanks very much indeed. Thanks, guys. Thanks for everything.

Well done. Bye, guys.

It's not the best news,

but I'm still proud of how far I've got.

It's been an absolute wild ride and I loved it.

Well done, the five of you.

You have got a very big day coming up tomorrow.

You are going to have your first-ever service

in a professional kitchen...

THEY LAUGH

..with Theo Randall.

THEY GASP, EXCLAIM

Wow!

Oh, my gosh! We'll see you in chef's whites.

Well done, guys! Oh!

INDIA FISHER: In the heart of London's fashionable Mayfair

lies an award-winning Italian restaurant

headed up by one of the most

celebrated British culinary talents...

..Theo Randall.

I'm not Italian,

but I always say I have an Italian soul.

My mother was a brilliant cook and she loved Italy,

so she'd always cook Italian food.

So I kind of grew up with lots of Italian recipes.

I originally trained in French cooking,

and I worked with the great Max Markarian,

who was a brilliant chef.

We did everything.

It was an incredible education.

And then I went on to the River Cafe.

It was just wonderful to be in this kitchen where they were

cooking real Italian food.

Rose and Ruth had such new ideas,

they weren't conforming to everyone else.

They taught me so much. They were almost like mothers to me.

From then on,

I've always been obsessed about Italian food.

In 2006, he opened Theo Randall at the Intercontinental...

..and after 12 months was awarded the Italian Restaurant of the Year.

Italian food is an amazing cuisine.

It's 20 regions of Italy,

it's like 20 different countries.

So if you're in the north of Italy,

you get an incredible influence from France,

influence from Austria, and then southern Italy,

there's North African influence.

So there's so many different recipes,

so many different styles.

Italian food is simple in presentation,

but there's a lot of work behind it.

This is my heart and soul, what I love doing.

Oh, my gosh!

Cooking for paying customers,

I know what I would expect when I go out to eat a meal,

so...pressure's on.

I'm expecting to say, "Yes, Chef!" a lot,

and just hope that carries me through.

So, "Yes, Chef!"

I'm cooking a lunch service in a London restaurant!

It's bananas!

I am expecting a level of precision

that I can't even fathom right now.

Guys, it's going to be a tough day today,

but I'm there to guide you, so listen to what I say.

Please give it 100%.

Imagine you're cooking for your mother.

It has to be that good. OK? Are we ready?

Yes. Ready. Let's go.

INDIA: The contestants have three hours

to prepare their dishes for today's lunch service.

Gabriel has been tasked with cooking Theo's duck-filled cappelletti pasta

in a porcini mushroom sauce.

Have you cooked much pasta before? A little.

My grandmother's Italian... Aawww!

There we go! ..so I learned when I was younger.

The cappelletti is the sort of shape of a hat.

Go in one at a time, very carefully,

and then cook those for about three to four minutes.

So while that's cooking, we're going to make the sauce.

They have to make a sauce with porcini mushrooms,

a little bit of garlic, a little bit of thyme,

the roasting juices of the duck and then some butter.

When you check the pasta, just give it a little feel.

It should just feel slightly soft. There's a bit of give in it. Yeah.

The cappelletti is then finished in the porcini mushroom sauce.

It's important that you move the pasta around so the starch from

the pasta thickens the sauce

and it'll sort of coat the back of a spoon.

It's like a dance. Always moving. It's a dance.

All the little hats have to be pointing upwards.

The sauce has to be emulsified.

Lovely sauce.

It's one of our signature dishes,

so they have to get it right.

There you have the Cappelletti di Anatra.

Now, it looks simple, but there's a lot of work in that. Yeah.

An awful lot of work. Amazing, Chef. It looks incredible.

I hope to do exactly that.

They've got a lot to do.

The duck is slow-cooked, so you've got to get it in the oven.

It's going to take over an hour to cook.

Mmm!

Once it's seared, I'm going to cook it with the veg,

and then that with the juices is going to create

the filling for the pasta.

This is very daunting.

You know, I'm cooking for a major chef,

so his name is on the line, as well as mine!

So I have to do this amazingly perfect.

Sam is also on starters.

The second dish is Capesante in Padella,

which is pan-fried scallop.

Have you ever cooked scallops before? Nope.

This is going to be my first time. Oh, your first time? OK.

In it goes.

How long are you cooking this, Chef?

Probably two minutes on either side.

You will get a nice bit of colour on them,

so caramelisation of the scallop.

But also they're going to have to blanch white asparagus.

They've got to cook Swiss chard.

Make sure you've got the lentils cooked.

Lentils on top.

Put it all together, last minute.

Two enormous, beautiful scallops,

and a bit of caper and parsley sauce.

That looks amazing, Chef.

It's going to be challenging.

Like a cat on a hot tin roof,

you've got to be jumping up and down, ready to go. Yes.

Because if you're not and the tickets come in,

you can sink. Yes. Pressure is on. HE CHUCKLES

They're going to have to shuck the scallops,

take all the coral off.

It's quite messy.

Anyone that hasn't prepped a scallop before is going to be like,

"What am I going to do here?"

I have never prepped scallop before.

It's quite tricky,

and I don't want to ruin that beautiful meat of the scallop,

so pressure's starting!

HE LAUGHS

Hazel will be in charge of Theo's beef main course.

Cor! This is like a workout, innit?!

Hazel, are you a meat eater? I am a meat eater.

I don't cook a lot of meat at home... Right. ..but I do eat meat.

This is Hereford beef. It's the most beautiful piece of meat.

It's been hung for, like, four weeks.

So the fat has got an amazing flavour.

Have to grill it so there's nice marks on both sides.

Three minutes each side, for lovely, perfect medium rare.

Also, they've got to let it rest because it's sirloin,

it's a fibrous piece of meat.

If it's not rested and you slice it,

the meat can become tough and stringy.

And that really is a no-no when you're cooking sirloin.

While the meat's resting,

we've got time now to do the fritto misto.

A fritto misto is vegetables in batter.

We've got some artichokes. These are violet artichokes.

I've got some delica squash, which is a lovely Italian squash.

And I've got some Jerusalem artichoke.

Get your hands in there. Yeah. Make sure it's really covered.

It has to be just the right amount of batter.

If there's too much batter, it will be soggy.

If there's not enough batter, it'll just be fried vegetables,

it won't be nice.

Make sure they're not too crowded and then sort of

go on top of each other. Yeah.

Nice amount of salt on top. So, let's go and plate it.

So we're going to make sure we cut it against the grain,

so you end up with this lovely, tender piece of meat.

If we cut it with the grain, it can be a little bit stringy.

The difficult thing is getting that beef cooked

and the fritto misto cooked at the same time.

You see how juicy that piece of meat is?

The orders will come in, and they'll have

to make sure they've got everything ready.

Quite a hard one to do in service.

The dish is finished with a chilli, parsley and balsamic vinegar sauce.

Nice drizzle of that sauce on top.

So, there you have it,

my Hereford beef sirloin with a beautiful fritto misto.

Amazing. Can you do that? Yeah. Give it a go! Great.

For sure. Looks unreal!

Don't want to overcook the steak.

Don't want to overcook the veg.

As long as I stay in the zone, I'll be good.

Henry is tackling Theo's turbot main.

This is one of our most popular fish dishes.

The inspiration for this dish is something I've done for a long time,

cooking nice turbot steaks on the bone,

because you've got all that lovely flavour,

all the natural gelatine in the fish.

It's the best way to eat turbot.

On service, they're going to have to roast the turbot for about

eight minutes at 180 degrees.

So they all get cooked before they come in?

No, no, no, you cook to order.

And let it rest so the residual heat carries on cooking.

If you don't let it rest, it'll become tough.

So it's very important that it's tender and it's juicy.

The turbot is served with mixed vegetables,

roasted red Sicilian peppers...

..and a caper, parsley and white wine sauce.

Just drizzle that over the turbot.

Looks delicious.

Feeling confident? Um, no, I wouldn't say that.

I think it's quite an expensive fish that I've never eaten.

It is very expensive fish! So I'm a bit nervous about the fact

that if I muck it up, you go, "You owe me 100 quid, Henry."

You've got about four different elements

that all need to be cooked at the right time.

I'm not a good multitasker, so that could be problematic.

They've got to take the head off,

take the wings off the turbot, and split it in half...

Yeah.

..and then portion nice steaks on the bone.

It's going to take a fair amount of skill,

a mallet and a very sharp knife.

Pretty robust fish!

HE CHUCKLES

It's not easy.

It feels nerve-racking, but I just need to follow the instructions

and keep to what they told me to do.

Claire is making a lemon-and-orange-flavoured pastry...

Pastry is so much about precision.

There's no room for manoeuvre.

SHE EXHALES SHARPLY

..for one of the restaurant's most iconic desserts...

..the Sicilian ricotta and chocolate tart.

The reason they use ricotta is they don't really use cream

because there are no cows in Sicily... Yeah! Yeah.

..so they use ricotta in all the desserts.

Look at how that cuts.

So beautiful.

I'm looking for really crisp pastry.

You want to make sure there's just the right amount of filling.

I'm going to put that in the middle of the plate. Wow.

We're serving that with some pistachio gelato.

Can you see how lovely that gelato is?

It's really smooth.

Spooning that gelato, so it's just the right temperature,

and putting it on the plate, so it's not dripping all over the place,

is going to be difficult.

And we're going to finish off with the candied orange.

It looks so beautiful!

If you get any of these elements wrong,

like the pastry is overworked... Mm-hm. ..it won't hold.

The filling in there, the gelato, if it's cooked too much,

it'll be a disaster. It'll be grainy. There's a lot to do on this,

and the preparation is quite intense. OK.

That is pastry like I've never seen before,

and certainly never produced before,

so that makes me nervous.

I've got to believe I can do it.

So, fingers crossed.

There's 90 minutes until service.

Gabriel's all-important duck and veg filling for his pasta

has made it to the oven...

..and now he has to roll out enough pasta dough

for the 75 cappelletti parcels he'll need for service.

Whew! Pasta rolling.

Hey, Gabriel. Hi, Chef. How's it going?

It's a lot of work to do,

but the end result is going to be a beautiful cappelletti shape.

You've got to be careful.

The pasta can't be too thick, because remember, it's folded over,

and if you've got too thick a pasta when you're cooking it,

the outside will cook quicker than on the fold.

So it's very important you get the right thickness.

Yeah. I think I'd better leave you, because you're going to

need to concentrate. Thank you, Chef. Head down, get on with it.

Gabriel's very confident -

I worry a little bit too overconfident.

This pasta is going to be...amazing.

It's all very nice and easy to be rolling out pasta,

but actually finishing it off is the hardest thing.

Sorry, Chef.

With half the prep time gone,

Sam has only just finished shucking his 50 scallops

and he still has all four of his garnishes to prepare.

Just prepping my sweet chard.

Have to keep an eye on it because I cannot overcook them,

otherwise the stem is going to go black, and we don't want that.

The pressure has now started.

So, what have you got still to do?

Lentils. Yeah. And the sauce. Yeah.

So, yeah, quite a lot to do. You've got a lot to do.

On the beef main...

So far, so good.

..Hazel is also starting to realise the sheer amount of prep

that's involved for her dish.

I am just peeling the artichokes at the minute.

I have never prepped this much veg before.

Family of three, so, um, nothing close.

Hazel's still got quite a lot to do.

She still needs to scoop out the core of the globe artichoke and

start making the sauce.

I'm scratching my head. I'm a bit nervous for her.

HE LAUGHS

We need to get the chillies done,

and then we're going to need to get...do the beef.

Yeah. OK? Yep. So I think you'd better, um... Speed it up.

Yeah. Yep. Please. Yes, Chef.

Faring better is Henry on the fish main.

His turbot is prepped,

and he's making good progress

with his Sicilian red pepper garnish.

They're quartered, and we've blanched some tomatoes,

and they're going inside.

In that, there's anchovy, garlic,

and then we're going to roast that in the oven.

So it's almost like sun-dried tomato vibes, I think.

Henry seems very confident. His pepper's cooking at the moment,

but he's got to finish the sauce off

and he's got to make his greens.

I definitely want to get it right.

I do like to get things precise and I don't want to make errors.

I've not done very well there.

Chard on my top...

Claire's tackled the fiddly job of lining her tart case...

Making sure that I've got it into the corners.

..but now needs to make the crucial filling.

Hey! I just need to get all the excess moisture out of this ricotta,

otherwise it'll leach into the pastry and make it soggy,

which I don't want.

It's vital she measures out

the icing sugar and dark chocolate precisely...

Whew!

..to achieve the right texture.

What consistency do I want to get? Does it need to be firm, or...?

As long as it doesn't split.

THEO LAUGHS As long as it doesn't split. OK.

It just has to hold that beautiful filling and stay together.

Also requiring precision is the pistachio gelato.

Whoa!

CLATTERING

Sorry, everybody!

That has to come up to 82,

so that it'll cook the egg, so that we don't kill the diners.

It's always a good idea.

I've still got to churn the gelato.

Oh, my gosh, there's so much to do!

SHE EXHALES FORCEFULLY

Guys, I don't want to panic you,

but we've got half an hour till service.

Yes, Chef. Yes, Chef. Yes, Chef.

So we've got to get on with it now. Yes, Chef.

With service fast approaching,

Gabriel has only just started assembling his cappelletti.

It's going to be a popular dish.

There's going to be at least 15 portions of cappelletti.

Eeee!

So he's got to make 75 in quite a short space of time.

Oh, the stress!

It's finally kicked in.

Sam is still racing to finish off the last of his garnishes...

Ah!

..but as his starter will be one of the first dishes to be ordered,

Theo's concerned about his speed.

I'm going to have to give Sam a little bit of a hand

because he's got things still to do.

So, Sam, I've just cooked your lentils for you.

OK? Thank you, Chef.

You think you've got loads of time, but it all suddenly bites you.

Hazel is also feeling the pressure.

I've still got a lot to do.

I've still got to portion the meat.

If I'm honest, I'm not confident at the minute that I can get it done,

but I'm going to give it my bloody best shot.

The prep I'm actually enjoying. I feel like we're on top of it.

But the looming thing is service.

That's when, uh, it's going to hit the fan.

I don't want to let anyone down,

and I don't want to have prepped all this delicious food

and then muck it up at the service.

It's 12.30, and the diners are arriving.

That makes it very real!

JOHN: What an extraordinary place to be.

This is no ordinary lunch.

I'd like them to feel as though it's

an honour in that kitchen and just perform.

SHE GASPS

Don't drop it now!

Can't have one diner with no ice cream.

I kind of got the feeling there was

a little bit of nerves from a few people.

All of a sudden the tickets are going to come in and that's when

the pressure starts.

Wow!

OK, Sam and Gabriel, you're going to be up first, OK?

Yes, Chef.

While Gabriel races to finish his cappelletti...

Oh! The pressure!

..Sam's first orders are in.

OK, guys. New order. Two scallops, please. Yes, Chef.

Where are your scallops? In the fridge, Chef.

Let's get them out of the fridge.

He'll now need to cook his scallops first time to perfection...

Don't cook those scallops too quickly. Turn the heat down.

That's it. That's lovely.

..while also juggling his other garnishes.

You got your lentils hot? Yep. You got your chard?

You've got your asparagus there? Yep. OK. Oh!

You need to make sure you get everything out in time.

One minute to plate. Yes, Chef.

Scallops cooked... Come on! Ooh!

..he must now execute the presentation.

That's good.

Not too much chard. That's it.

Nice and neat plating.

OK, so put the scallops on.

Nice fat one there. There we go. Another one there.

Nicely cooked. Thank you, Chef. Service, please!

OK.

The pressure is definitely there.

Two cappelletti, one scallops. Yes, Chef! Yes, Chef!

Orders are now in for Gabriel,

but having only just made enough cappelletti...

I'm very worried.

..he can't afford to make any errors.

How are you doing for pasta? Do you have enough cappelletti made?

Ah, yes, I hope so, Chef. So do I. Argh!

I need to keep an eye on everything.

Nothing can go wrong.

The secret is, go, go, go!

Gabriel, ready to plate? One minute, Chef.

Person coming.

Ah! Sauce on.

Gabriel, you need to be a bit tidier with your plating.

OK, yes, Chef. Service!

I'm a little bit stressed.

There's a lot of components.

Plated beautifully.

It's a lot to think about.

Henry and Hazel are up next with the main courses.

All day is five beef and four turbot.

Yes, Chef!

Hazel now needs to master cooking five sirloins over

the intense heat of the grill.

I'm feeling nervous, but I've just got to get it done.

Yeah. Turn it over.

Oh! It's hot, isn't it? Yeah, very hot.

That looks good to me.

While her steaks rest... OK, right, let's get the fritto misto.

We've got five fritto misto.

..she needs to work quickly to deep-fry her vegetable garnishes.

Don't put too much in one basket. Use both baskets, yeah? Yeah.

I'm a bit nervous.

I feel like I'm sort of just taking a crack at it.

OK, so let's put another. This lot covered... Yep. OK.

Just can't work out this grain.

OK. You've gone from being straight to a bit of an angle.

Come on, come on! Faster, faster, faster!

Come on. You've got people waiting.

OK, so let's start plating.

Make it look really lovely and generous.

That's it. Nice. And then sauce on top.

That's it. Service, please!

It is really tough. I feel like a deer in the headlights.

Henry's first four turbot orders have been roasting in the oven...

They look great. All right. Very nice. Yeah.

I can see you've cooked them carefully.

..but he still needs to bring together his garnishes.

Got your greens ready?

It's hotter than the sun's core in here.

I'm basically burning my hands,

uh, just stirring things!

Get a little bit more parsley in there, please.

Get the plates ready.

That's a bowl. That's a bowl. We don't want a bowl. We want a plate.

That's it.

Do the chard and the peppers.

Yeah, yeah. Nice and tidy.

Bit more? Little bit more.

We could improve on the plating, but we'll get there.

Service!

I think I'm doing OK, yeah.

Chef said the fish has been cooked well,

which is the most important thing.

Attention to detail on the plating is key,

so that's what I'm aiming for.

Oh...!

How amazing!

OK, desserts are on. Yes, Chef!

Let's smash it.

For Claire, it all comes down to whether her tart is perfectly baked.

Please don't break. Ah!

Oh...! Is that going to go through?

Oh, gosh!

I have to say, it looks very good. Good!

It's immaculate. Nice colour on it.

Brilliant.

She must now work fast... Argh!

..to plate the pistachio gelato before it melts.

OK.

Stay, stay, stay.

Service, please! That looks excellent. Very good.

Your pastry looks absolutely fabulous. Well done.

I'm really happy. I'll be back in a second, darling.

As the checks mount up...

Oh...!

..Sam's trying to keep up with the volume of orders.

Let's get the scallops on. Come on.

So you have three pans on, six portions. Six portions.

How many is that? 12, Chef. Hey-hey!

Two. Four. Six. Good man.

OK, turn the heats down.

The heat is intense!

Let's get those scallops out of the pans.

Yeah. Come on, Sammy!

Yeah.

Careful, you're getting sauce... You've done so well.

Don't muck it up. Keep concentrating.

Yes, Chef. OK. Let's go.

Service, please.

Oh! Chef, I just burned myself. You burnt yourself? Yeah.

You automatically just grab the pan and then forgot

that the pan would be really hot.

Oh, there we are! Cooked beautifully.

The flavour of the scallop prevails, which is wonderful.

There's the woodiness that comes from that asparagus,

a little bit of a crunch of those lentils,

and the Swiss chard giving an iron bite.

I think that's great. That is an incredible job, mate.

I need six cappelletti, all day. OK? Yes, Chef.

Gabriel's hit with his largest order yet.

Popular dish, huh?

It's vital all six dishes reach the pass at the same time.

The heat in the kitchen is getting hot, baby!

Whew!

Ready to plate in one minute. OK.

Ah!

He now needs to prove he's mastered presentation.

Nice and clean. Well done.

As you've gone on, you've got better and better at plating.

Service!

Whew!

JOHN: The pasta, beautifully made, lovely and thin.

Duck's been shredded beautifully. It's got a lovely,

rich filling inside.

That porcini sauce is absolutely fantastic.

GREGG: That is rich and it's delicious,

and it is expertly done.

Orders are flooding in for Hazel's beef.

THEO: We've got 11 beef on order. 11 beef. Yes, Chef.

Come on, Hazel, it's all you. They're loving your beef today.

Yeah.

I'm really starting to feel the pressure,

and I feel like I'm flapping a bit.

As well as keeping an eye on all of her steaks...

Watch your grill. Watch your grill. Yeah. Watch your grill.

..it's crucial she deep-fries enough vegetables to plate alongside them.

Oh, my God!

I'm right in the thick of it. I'm in the heat of battle, basically.

Henry's turbot dish is also proving popular.

We've got a lot of tickets here now, so we've really got to push.

But with two dishes for the same table as Hazel's beef,

coordination is key.

It's a really busy kitchen. The orders are coming in thick and fast,

so just got to make sure you're on top of it, basically.

She hasn't plated yet. OK. Keep going. Come on. OK.

You work as a team.

It's my main task to time it with the beef.

That's the trickiest part so far.

OK, go, go, go.

With Hazel now ready to serve,

Henry can replate his dishes.

Yeah, let's go. Plate up.

It's a nice big bit of turbot there, isn't it? Whew!

Doing really well.

That's your best steak so far. OK. Thank you, Chef.

Very nice. Very nice.

Almost there, almost there. Yes, Chef. OK.

Service, please. It looks very nice. Well done, Hazel. Thank you, Chef.

Honestly, I don't know what just happened.

Like, I just felt the pressure coming at me

from all different angles.

Excellent. Well done. Looking good, Henry.

Thank you, Chef. Lovely. Two beautiful turbot.

Very nice. Yes, Chef.

JOHN: Hazel's dish, the steak's beautifully cooked.

I really like it. Medium rare.

Batter on the outside of the fritto misto, really wonderful,

lovely and thin.

The vegetables all cooked very, very well.

GREGG: That fish is soft like butter.

The sweet pepper is lovely.

Love that sauce.

Well done, Henry, that is absolutely beautiful.

OK, new order. Five Sicilian ricotta tart.

Oh, man! OK.

Make them really good. Yes, Chef.

Come on!

I've not done that well. I'm going to do that one again, if I may.

I've taken too much pastry off the bottom. Just be confident.

Don't forget the gelato. Get your spoon in. Oh...!

Come on. Speed this up. There's some people out there

waiting for dessert. Yes. Yeah? Yes, Chef. Don't fall, don't fall!

Quick, quick, quick, quick, quick.

OK, so don't forget the orange.

Service, please!

JOHN: Rich, creamy ricotta,

bits of bitter chocolate running through the whole thing,

buttery pastry across the top,

lovely crust around the outside.

The ice cream, magical.

I think Claire has done a great job here.

It's very, very, very good.

The last orders are coming in.

Come on, we've got three more tables to go. Yes, Chef!

OK. Next one. Four scallops. Come on.

Four, straight away, Chef.

Good job. Thank you, Chef.

Plate one cappelletti straight up, please. Yeah, coming.

Woof!

Ah!

Nice and clean. Well done. Thank you, Chef.

What a day. Thank you.

THEO CHUCKLES

OK, this is the last ticket going out. Yes, Chef.

That's good. That's very nice. Yep. It's OK.

GASPS

Doing great.

Last plates. Come on, let's go. Make them really good.

Yes, Chef. Best ones you've done. Yes, Chef.

Service, please!

Job well done. Clear up your section.

Yes. OK? Thank you, Chef.

After seven gruelling hours,

the amateurs' first restaurant experience is finally over.

That was great. I enjoyed it.

It was nice to see the passion in the kitchen,

and there was five really good cooks.

No-one really panicked.

I think they did a really good job.

Oh, my gosh. First professional kitchen.

You can see the order coming in like a train.

"Next scallop. Next scallop." Even though I burned myself,

just have to go hard. It was amazing.

The pressure was the prep, the cooking -

the pressure was everywhere.

I don't think I could have done any more.

I've learnt loads.

That was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

It's not glamorous. It's hard work.

But it was exhilarating.

We've done it! Well done, guys. It's done.

JOHN: Truly impressive start to knockout week.

Five absolutely fantastic cooks,

and they have now learnt a big lesson.

GREGG: Next up, we see the second group of eight.

Can they be as good? Can they be better?

Next time -

knockout week continues,

and the second group of eight return to fight for their chance...

..to cook in their first professional restaurant.

OK. Last two.

Not only is it clever, it tastes great.

Boom!