Original subtitles

It's the MasterChef semifinals.

After six weeks of intense competition...

It's a bit stressing. Ah!

..only the eight best cooks remain.

The challenges are going to get bigger,

and the competition's going to get a little bit sharper.

Over the next week,

they will be pushed to their culinary limit.

Can't serve those. Oh, no! What are we doing about temperature?

LAUGHTER

I love everything about this. You just about smashed it.

Final eight is beyond my expectation.

I'm definitely feeling

the pressure now. Because I wasn't expecting to get this far,

now I'm, like, well, if I've got this far,

I can keep going, right?

SHE LAUGHS

This competition has fully taken over my life,

yeah, it just consumes every waking thought.

Amazing group of eight. Talent personified.

Who's got what it takes?

Who is going to shine in these next couple of rounds?

Chawton House, Hampshire,

once home to the family of one of

literature's legendary authors.

For the eight contestants, it's a chance to step back in time.

Welcome to the start of the MasterChef semifinals,

and welcome to the marvellous Chawton House.

This house actually belonged to

the brother of one of our greatest-ever novelists,

Jane Austen. WHISPERS: Wow!

It was here, in these grounds, that she wrote

and revised some of her greatest works.

This year would have been Jane Austen's 250th birthday...

WHISPERS: Wow!

..and today you are preparing a very special birthday lunch...

THEY CHUCKLE

..for the staff and volunteers that work in the house,

and members of the local Jane Austen Society.

We're going to split you into two teams.

Claire, Munopa, Harry and Sophie,

you are the Red team.

Get to know each other very, very well.

Olivia, Sam, Henry, Hazel,

you are the Blue team.

Over there are two tents stacked full of the finest ingredients.

Take some inspiration from this estate,

the beautiful grounds,

but also some inspiration from Jane Austen herself.

Ladies and gentlemen, to the tents you go.

The semifinalists have three and a half hours

to devise and cook their menu.

We want fine food.

We want something exciting, something that reflects the period.

We want something that's opulent and a little bit fancy.

First semifinal challenge, and it's on this scale.

It's fitting that it's this epic.

I love my team. I'm really happy with everyone.

Everyone's a really good cook, and I think we're going

to smash it out of the park.

Team leaders, are you happy to be team leaders?

OK, if you guys are happy with that, I'm happy to...yeah.

With retail business manager Henry

appointed leader of the Blue team,

fishmonger Harry is heading up the Reds.

This is beautiful pork. It's got loads of lovely fat on it.

They must come up with 40 portions of

a main course using eight pork loins.

The Blue team must create a main using three whole trout.

So maybe we do pan-fried trout. Pan-fried trout sounds nice.

Both teams must also come

up with ten portions of a vegetarian dish...

A vegetarian loves the mushrooms, you know,

speaking from experience here. SHE CHUCKLES

Asparagus look beautiful.

Yeah. ..and 40 portions of a dessert.

Those blackberries are really staring at me.

They look delicious. They look really lovely.

They're massive as well. Can we do

a frangipane with the ground almonds?

Yeah. Yeah, we'll do that with a gooseberry.

GREGG: They've very, very quickly

got to formulate a plan and come up with a menu.

Let's give Jane Austen a celebration that she would love,

that people will remember.

Look at these bad boys.

On the Red team,

copywriter Claire is tackling the pork main course.

The key for crispy crackling is dry skin.

They're using the pork to make a pork chop with crackling.

Bonne chance, Marie.

If they roast it as a whole, they're going to have to make sure

the internal temperature's absolutely right.

We don't want pink pork.

Good luck, boys.

SIZZLING

I've got the pork in, and now that lovely sound in the back is

the bones getting brown to make the depth for the sauce,

so now I'm on flavour central.

On the veg option, team leader Harry and colourist Sophie

have chosen to make mushroom and chestnut pies.

I don't think there

was very many vegetarians in Jane Austen times,

but I do know there was some vegetarian pies,

so I wanted to take that. But, you know,

make it a little bit more meatier, a little bit more, you know,

mushroom-y, hearty.

The Red tent are lucky to have Sophie in there,

of course, she's a veggie cook. And the vegetarian option,

the Red tent is fantastic.

The roast pork and the pie,

I think that's reminiscent of the Georgian era.

I think if Jane Austen was here, she would recognise these dishes.

Hopefully, the pastry will be the right consistency.

No-one wants a soggy bottom.

Gap year student Munopa has decided to attempt a technically

challenging dessert, making 40 blackberry babkas.

Babka's a traditional Polish-Ukrainian dish.

I make it a lot at home.

The babka dough is basically like a brioche.

They're going to need to rise for about an hour,

so it's a lot of work to get done.

Babka - sounds delightful.

Brioche, with

a fruit compote put through so it marbles,

and she's going to serve it with a cinnamon custard.

I mean, come on!

I am a massive Jane Austen fan. My mum taught English Literature,

so I read, like, all the classics growing up.

So I am having a bit of a fangirl moment.

But, yeah, I'm happy.

How you doing, mate? I'm good, how are you?

It looks lovely. Lovely texture.

The Red tent is being led by Harry,

and I think that's a really good choice,

cos Harry is not just a good cook, but a very,

very good all-rounder.

I think we have got a good plan together,

but there's just a lot of chopping, a lot of peeling.

Absolutely thrilled with my team. They're brilliant!

I wouldn't wish for better.

I love the ambition.

The only issues I can see is the oven.

So Munopa's brioche pudding in the oven,

roast pork in the oven, and the mushroom pie,

pork pie and pud all need oven space!

HE LAUGHS

On the Blue team,

full-time mum Hazel and team leader Henry

have joined forces to tackle the trout main course.

I do like cooking with fish. I do think I'm quite good at it.

I love what we've decided to make, so feeling confident at the minute.

Hazel must fillet and pin-bone 40 pieces

of trout which will be cooked just before service.

I definitely don't want

to serve people fish with bones in it.

I just keep finding more and more. But when you find them,

you're, like...

The Blue team, we've got the trout

that needs to be pan-fried in portions.

All of those fillets cooked perfectly crispy skin.

On the side of that we're getting trout and leek croquettes,

which should be nice and crispy.

Saffron veloute, a lovely fine sauce, velvet in texture.

Little pink shrimps running through it all.

There's lots of big, bold flavours on here.

I just hope that trout doesn't get lost amongst it all.

Three hours, it sounds like

loads of time, but we're used to doing, like, two,

four, six portions,

and we're doing 30, ten and 40.

That's, like, a serious amount.

Undici, dodici, tredici, quattordici, quindici.

We have 136 asparagus. Woohoo!

Talent acquisitions manager Olivia

is working on a dough for the vegetarian course.

I'm totally in charge of the pasta.

I mean, I'm the pasta queen, right?

Olivia's doing filled pasta

with ricotta and lemon. Fantastic.

You need to knead the dough

at least for, I would say, ten minutes, because it's quite

a big ball of pasta dough, and then let it rest,

otherwise it sticks everywhere.

We want plump ravioli, a wonderful rich sauce sitting underneath,

served with asparagus spears, which sit up, and the whole thing

looks really pretty.

We know Olivia can do beautiful pasta dishes,

but in volume, it's a big order.

Dessert rests with vocational trainer Sam.

I don't usually like making a dessert.

HE LAUGHS

This is really out of my comfort zone today.

He's tackling shortcrust pastry

for 40 portions of a gooseberry frangipane tart.

We've only seen Sam do dessert once before,

but he's got to make pastry,

he's got to make frangipane, gooseberries

cooked in a sugar syrup. With that,

we're getting little doughnuts on an apple sauce,

and the whole thing is going to be served with custard.

At the moment, still enjoying it.

Wait until we're pushed with the thumb,

I don't think I will be as enjoy as this.

HE LAUGHS

It's a beautiful day, though. Nice and sunny.

Right now, the Blue team seems calm, and that's troubling me.

I know that it's just early,

but just maybe a little bit more of a shimmy, yeah?

Shimmy!

Woohoo!

Born in 1775, world-renowned author

Jane Austen wrote only six complete novels.

But her timeless stories continue

to command a legion of fans globally, and have been turned

into numerous film and television adaptations.

I think he probably is the most important British female writer.

These are six wonderful stories.

They're not just great escapism in some cases,

but they're great sort of social history as well.

And they're funny in places, and we

all need a little bit of entertainment.

The 250th anniversary of Austen's birth is really important

for us to celebrate, to remind people of just how

wonderful Austen and her contemporaries were.

Red team, an hour has gone,

which means you've got two and a half hours left.

On the meat main, Claire is working on

the accompaniments to go with the roast pork.

At this period of Jane Austen, there was no waste,

and so we're doing the cauliflower and the puree,

but then we are taking the leaves

and incorporating into the dish.

I'm four short! I'm counting. I've got to do 40 dishes,

they each need one of these,

so I've got to come up with four more of these from somewhere.

Do you want the pears to have bite, or is it going to be stewed?

Yeah, if they have a little bit of bite.

With so much to do,

Harry's attention is also focused on the pork main.

So we've got some pickled pears.

We made a pickle earlier with just some cloves,

star anise, sugar and vinegar.

And then we've got some pears in the chutney that we're making.

Pickled pear is a nice idea,

and if you think, it would take the place of an apple sauce.

A little bit sharp, a little bit sweet.

Hope it's not too sharp.

On the veg main, Sophie is on track.

Her mushroom pie filling is on

to roast and her pastry dough is rested and ready to roll.

Well, I'm happy with my pastry now,

let's see if I'm happy with my pastry in three hours' time.

Yeah, I think it's going well, actually. The pork is looking really

nice, we've got the base for the mushroom pie on the go.

This sauce needs a lot more reducing,

so we just need to whack that up, get lots and lots of flavour,

we should be good to go.

Munopa is also making good progress on her babka dessert.

My blackberry compote isn't cooling fast enough,

so I'm going to let Mother Nature do its job for me.

Oh, please don't be bugs outside.

The Red team seem to be getting on with it.

They seem to be joined-up thinking.

We've got great team vibes, yeah.

But in the Blue tent, it's a different story.

Two hours. Two hours to service, please. Thank you.

Hazel's only just finished portioning the trout,

and she's now juggling multiple garnishes.

Pace is picking up a little bit, definitely.

There's a lot more elements on the go at once.

So I've got the saffron veloute on the go,

I've got my asparagus heads blanching,

my brown butter sauce is browning.

It's what I'm going to dress the shrimps in.

So, what, three different things, four different things at once?

My concern for the Blue team is the amount of pans

that are going to be on the go.

There is not going to be enough hobs on there soon.

They haven't thought this through.

Also requiring hob space is

Henry for another garnish for the fish main,

40 trout and leek croquettes.

So, basically, you make, like, a thick bechamel with leeks,

and then you lay it out on a tray and you roll it up into

a little ball and then deep-fry it.

It looks like cat vomit, doesn't it?

Henry, team leader, are we on time?

I think we're about a third of the way through.

I love the list, but there are

a lot of things on that list without a line through.

Yeah, we need to keep pressing.

On the vegetarian main,

Olivia also still has an extensive job list.

So these are the asparagus that I'm going to blend

to make asparagus puree

that is going on the bottom of the ravioli,

plus some extra asparagus I'm using as decoration.

And, yeah, I still have the pasta to roll out and a few things to do,

so cracking on.

On dessert, Sam's also feeling the pressure.

I make chocolate pastry before, but only for, like, four people.

But with just one element of the complex dessert made,

he needs to speed up.

Sam's dessert's not a dessert with just one component part.

There's pastry, frangipane, custard, a doughnut, and an apple puree.

At the moment, I'm doing my apple jams,

and then I will be starting some gooseberry as well,

because the gooseberry needs to be done.

You've only got two hours. OK.

You've got at least an hour and a half's work in that. OK.

You need to be quick. I'll be quick. Push, push, push. Thank you, John.

Just a little bit worried that we're not going to have a dessert,

but I'll do my best. Yeah, pushing it now.

Inside the great house,

the 250th birthday celebrations are in full swing.

When Jane Austen would come here, she would come to socialise.

They dined together, the family played charades,

and they enjoyed things like music.

And that's the sort of thing we still do today.

It's a wonderful experience to recreate.

You have just one and a half hours, 90 minutes left.

Tarts aren't in yet, ravioli's not made yet.

Argh!

Over on the Reds...

We've got pot on, we've got bubbles,

I'm so happy! Oh, man, I'm excited.

..things are starting to unravel...

Careful with this catching.

Has it caught? No, you're fine.

The chutney pears just caught on the bottom of the pan,

so probably lost about 5%.

But those had to be sacrificed

for the rest of the dish because, thankfully,

it hadn't lifted onto anything else.

..and Sophie has fallen well behind on her mushroom pies.

It's just a little bit of a fiddly job of getting them

in the tins and making them look pretty.

Those pies should be in the oven right now,

and they still haven't properly assembled them.

She's also taken her eye off her carrot side.

Can't serve those. Oh, no!

Can we get some more carrots, please?

Oh, no, here we go, the wheels have fallen off.

They've burnt their carrots, their chutney's already caught.

They've just got to make sure they stop making mistakes,

cos mistakes are going to cost them time.

The Red tent are waking up to what's going on here.

The pies need to go in now!

That's not too hot, is it? No, just check on it every ten minutes, yeah?

Ten minutes, yeah. We're on carrot batch number two.

Right, carrots are going in.

Munopa's racing to get her babkas ready to bake.

She's going to roll the brioche dough first,

cover it with blackberry puree, roll the whole thing back up again,

and then make it like a swirl. She's going to bake that.

Should be a sugary, crispy top with sharp blackberries inside.

A marriage made in heaven.

Oven space. Have you got pie and pork and pud all going

in those ovens at the same time? We will have some very busy ovens,

that's right.

Have you made your custard yet?

Not yet, but that's the next order of business

after getting these babkas into the oven.

There's only half an hour till service.

Have you seen the guests have arrived...

Are they? ..in costume... No pressure now, eh?

..expecting their dinner?

And the Blue team are nowhere near ready.

This is the filling for the ravioli. I have 60 ravioli to make,

so I'd better, you know, hurry up and start rolling that pasta.

And Olivia is having problems with her Parmesan tuiles.

They have a bit too much of a colour for me, huh?

I tell you what we'll do - you carry on making that,

and I'll do this, OK?

We can make them again,

it's fine. I need to crack on and roll the pasta now,

I have 60 raviolis to make.

The dessert is also way off track.

I am doing the frangipane.

Just going to mix some sugar and butter, egg, almond,

and flour all together.

CHUCKLES: I am stressed!

It is a lot to do!

Sam's got five whole tarts to bake blind,

and yet he's got to fill it with frangipane.

I'm concerned right now, I really am concerned.

Hazel, if you get any spare time... Yep.

..Sam might need some help rolling the tarts out. Yep.

Right, where's your pastry, darling?

My concern for the Blue team is not the main course.

Trout's on the way, the vegetables look fantastic,

that's great! But dessert is a problem.

With the dessert in crisis,

it's all hands on deck as Henry rushes

to make 40 doughnuts to accompany the gooseberry tart.

I'm just rolling out to little balls.

They're going to be deep-fried before service.

I should just get at least two in to blind bake.

Yeah. So what are we doing about temperature?

Sam is kind of relinquishing responsibility for his dessert.

Someone get a timer ready for these, please.

In actual fact, Hazel's voice now

is starting to become more amplified.

OK, we've got two in, yeah? Two in.

It's crazy. It's just, like, 400 people.

No, not 400 people, 40 people. Feels like 400.

HE LAUGHS

With the Blue team working at full pelt,

the Red team have caught up.

So we've got an Austen-themed menu here?

Yeah. Mansfield Pork - Mansfield Park.

Pie and Prejudice.

CHUCKLES: I like that!

SHE CHUCKLES

Let's hope your cookery is as clever as your menu design.

Hope so. Well done.

C-R-E-M—E, "creme".

Don't spend too much time on that, guys, both of you.

Red menu, for me, I do love

the way they have described all the menu, it's wonderful.

Pie and Prejudice?

SHE LAUGHS

So there's trout, which looks really an interesting dish.

Both menus look very exciting,

but I think I'm a little bit more drawn to the Blue.

We've all got very high expectations,

and we know that MasterChef has

an incredibly high reputation for good food,

and, yeah, I look forward to it.

With the 70 guests making their way to the dining room,

it's the last push before service.

I think that's perfect.

Hazel must pan-fry her 40 trout fillets to perfection.

A lot of hobs on the go, but it's needed.

It's all got to be finished on

the hob in the last five to ten minutes.

How's pasta? Pasta, Olivia? Yeah, pasta is going.

I have 60 to make,

and I've done maybe less than ten so far.

Uh-oh! Pasta is a gesture of love, you don't want to rush it,

you want to take your time and make it look pretty.

It's not ideal, but I'm getting there.

Dessert is still a concern.

OK.

I'm frightened in here right now.

I'm concerned about these tarts,

cos if those frangipane tarts aren't set,

you won't be able to slice them,

which means they're going to be gooey and oozy.

Please be good to me!

Jane Austen herself could not write

the drama that's unfolding in these tents.

Over on the Red team,

it's the moment of truth for Claire's pork.

That looks phenomenal. Absolutely brilliant.

Well done.

Pork princess.

Flippin' Nora.

Orders are going to be hitting here in five minutes, then

you've got top hats and bonnets like you would not believe!

We've got pies.

THEY CHEER

We got pies.

Claire, you look really happy about that pork.

Are you? Cos it's beautiful meat,

and I feel like I've done it justice,

so I couldn't ask for more.

Hey, ladies and gentlemen,

there'll be waiters here in about 90 seconds.

Yeah, are we good? First plates, please,

in a minute, please. Backs.

Let's go. First ones up, please. Let's go.

I'm going to start plating. Yeah, let's go, let's go.

That fish looks fantastic. Well done.

How did you get so many so beautifully?

Crumb, yeah? Yeah, I've got the crumb.

I have to tell you, that pork dish is a beautiful dish.

OK? Is that everything? Those can go, those four.

The sauce, the sauce, the sauce, the sauce! SIGHS: Woo!

Service, please!

The croquette, like, here? Go with your instinct.

Yeah. That's it. Well done. Go on, Shrimps on, carrots on.

Let's go. All right, let's go. OK, go. Go.

Service, please!

OK, service! Chef, good? Service! Come on, we're so close!

Service! Let's do this, people!

Well done, everybody.

We're good with this, yeah? Yeah. Service, please!

Service, please!

It's such a proud moment. I'm covered in pork fat.

I hope it tastes good.

For their main, Harry's Red team is serving roast pork

and crackling with white bean and cauliflower puree,

pickled pear, pear chutney,

cauliflower leaves and a pork sauce.

Mm.

Delicious. I haven't had such nice

crackling for a very long time.

SHE LAUGHS

The pickled pear was really nice as well, it was a really good touch.

I think I'm enjoying this pork so much

I might have to loosen my sword belt in order to fit more in.

The pork itself is perfect. Crackling on the outside,

proper crackly. Brilliant job!

And then that blended cauliflower

and white bean puree sitting underneath.

It's a good-looking dish. It's got flavour.

What's not to like?

The Blue team's main

is pan-fried trout with a trout and leek croquette,

asparagus, brown butter shrimp, and a saffron veloute.

The fish was cooked perfectly,

it had a really nice, crisp skin on it

The veloute was lovely, the sauce.

Absolutely delicious.

We're all saying how much we loved it,

and we want more, if there's any left, yeah!

SHE LAUGHS

The trout done, a nice job. Little bits of asparagus, great.

Lovely, crispy croquette, that's good with the leeks.

All in all, very, very good job.

I like the sophistication. A lot of quality work on here.

Look at those pies!

Beautiful pies! Come on, come on!

Come on! It's a wonderful day! Come on! A wonderful day!

Ravioli, we're waiting on. Yes, it's coming.

Pasta, please. I need a pasta really quickly.

You see my dishes at home, they look perfect. Here,

the plating is always a bit of a struggle because we have no time.

I'm well happy with the pies, I'm well happy.

Service, please.

Service on the pasta.

Sophie's vegetarian mushroom

and chestnut pie is served with mashed potatoes,

roasted carrots, pickled cabbage and a red wine gravy.

The pie's delicious. Pastry's cooked beautifully.

The mushrooms just taste delicious. I love the chestnuts,

they're really, really lovely.

This sauce is delicious. It's just the right texture and taste.

It's absolutely beautiful. The pastry is perfect,

it tastes gorgeous, it's full of flavour.

Absolutely perfect.

That pie is nothing short of fabulous.

The mushrooms are meaty, and it's flavoured

with some woody herbs in there, and it's absolutely fantastic.

Mashed potato's silky and smooth, caraway seeds across

the top of those carrots,

giving real crunch. We've done a lot of outside challenges,

and that's one of the best veggie dishes I've seen.

For the Blue team's veg option,

Olivia has served ravioli filled with mascarpone

and lemon, with asparagus spears

and puree, and a sauce and tuiles made from hard cheese.

I had the pasta. I thought it was delicious.

The asparagus was just right, yes.

The mascarpone and lemon filling was really delicious.

LAUGHS: I take my bonnet off to them as well, so, yes!

I think the special part for me was the little slither of cheese.

It was lovely.

Pasta, very, very thin indeed,

beautifully made. Creamy mascarpone,

lemon rind running through that filling.

It's actually really, really lovely.

I love that asparagus puree.

It's fresh. Salty tuile across the top, it's a great dish.

With the mains served, it's time for dessert.

Yeah, I'm happy with how they're looking.

The custard is smelling delicious.

Sam's about to find out

if the gooseberry and frangipane tarts have worked.

Wahey, we got tarts!

Doughnuts, Henry? Yeah, doughnuts are here.

Fantastic. Tarts are done, custard's done.

Right, let's go, guys.

Good job. They are beautiful.

Well done, you. Nice teamwork,

really nice teamwork.

Munopa, I'm so impressed with these desserts.

They look beautiful. I know they're going to taste amazing.

Thank you, Harry. Service, please!

Go, then. Go on, then, keep on going, keep on going.

You're doing well, guys. Love the doughnuts,

can't wait to taste that custard. Well done, Sam.

It's better than I thought it could be, to be fair.

Overall, I'm happy with them.

This has got a better ending than a Jane Austen novel!

Yeah, happy. Service, please.

Hey, that's the last one done,

guys! Well done! YELLS: Woo!

Last two plates! Well done! Great job.

Yeah, well done. Really, really well done, yeah?

Munopa rounds off the Red team's menu with a blackberry

babka with cinnamon custard.

The dough of the babka was just perfectly cooked,

couldn't have been better.

Something to be proud of.

Blackberries went really well with the brioche,

and I liked the custard as well.

The blackberries were nice and sharp, so,

all in all, very nice.

Great flavour of rich, sharp blackberries.

And that bun is like

a finger bun you get from an old-style bakery.

It's great. It's a very, very good dessert.

I think putting cinnamon into the custard was a revelation,

a really good idea. I think that is fabulous!

Against the odds,

the Blue team have managed to serve

a gooseberry frangipane tart with a cinnamon doughnut,

apple sauce, and a turmeric custard.

The pastry was lovely,

it did melt in the mouth, and just the flavours with the gooseberry,

it was lovely.

I really liked the doughnut,

it was delicious, and it was quite light.

The custard with the turmeric in,

it sort of complemented the gooseberries,

and it just had that little tiny bite to it,

which was really lovely.

I would have this sweet any day,

any time. Just bring it on.

HE LAUGHS

I like those sharp gooseberries

across the top of that sweet frangipane.

The doughnut's fantastic, coated with sugar and cinnamon.

And underneath it, a sharp apple puree.

The custard is inspired. It is sweet,

and that turmeric has given it an almost smokiness,

but it hasn't taken over.

When you consider Sam

had no experience of making the custard,

the pastry or the frangipane,

I think what we've got here is a good-tasting dessert.

Yeah, well done, guys. Well done, guys. A fantastic effort.

Oh, my God. Guys, we're starting to get there.

Honestly, we should be so bloody proud of ourselves.

We were cool as cucumbers!

I think our eight have done a fantastic job,

I really do. Fabulous memory of Jane Austen herself,

and I think food that matches the elegance of the occasion.

You've got to actually give special credit to the Red team,

cos they were nothing short of magnificent.

That was absolutely phenomenal. The team did a fantastic job.

I could not be happier, genuinely.

This seemed impossible at the beginning,

and so to see all those plates go out is like magic.

I had a really good time. It was so energetic.

I just had a blast. Loved it.

It was intense,

it was hard, but we managed it.

So I'm proud of myself and proud of our team, really.

What a brilliant way to kick off the semifinals.

Now all back to the MasterChef kitchen, John.

Pretty soon eight is going to become six.

Welcome back. The last challenge, you were in teams.

Today, you are working as individuals.

You are now fighting for your place in the competition.

Your brief today is to cook for us

something that incorporates layers or swirls.

Layers for texture and colour,

swirls to give it a sense of beauty and opulence.

At the end of this, six of you will be going through to the next round,

two of you will be going home.

One hour, 45 minutes. Let's cook!

All of a sudden, a bit nervous. I was fine a second ago,

now I'm a bit, like, woo!

It's so quiet in here today

because everyone's wanting this so bad, you can tell.

So do I.

HE CHUCKLES

In Thai cuisine, personally,

I don't think there's many layers or swirls in food.

It's often, like, stir-fry, and soup, or salad,

which is definitely a challenge for me again.

HE CHUCKLES

Sam's making a pithivier, a pie which has got a dome across the top,

and it's a pattern of a swirl.

Inside the pie,

he is putting a minced

pork mixture spiced with ginger and lemongrass, roasted duck breast,

then cabbage, mushrooms and carrots all together.

We should be able to slice into that pie and see definitive layers.

Served in a sauce of red curry,

sweet with coconut and pineapple.

It's the balance now of this Thai-flavoured sauce

with this duck and pork pie. Fascinating.

Where's this fusion style of France meets Thailand come from?

So I have an opportunity of going to France a couple of times

with my boyfriend.

And I tasted that cuisine there, I really like.

And if John and I love this dish, how will you feel then?

I'll probably cry!

THEY LAUGH

At this stage of the competition, I wanted to bring my city,

my family history, because I truly believe

that behind good food there is always a memory.

Olivia is going for layers. Aubergine parmigiana -

aubergines sliced very thinly -

and then layers of cheese and tomato.

And then we've got a salty Parmesan.

She's got to be really careful about the seasoning in this whole dish.

This is my grandma's recipe.

We have it in Naples every Sunday. To me, it's the perfect dish,

but it is simple, you know, a few ingredients, trying to elevate them.

How do you refine that without spoiling it?

I'm making a basil foam to go on the side,

crystallised basil leaves,

so I'm presenting it in a more modern way,

like I always try to do.

But the flavour is all there, and I hope it will take you on

a Sunday lunch together with my family.

I'm sure she can make this look fantastic,

but is it innovative enough?

30 minutes have gone. You've had half an hour.

Come on, people.

Harry, what is your dish, please? I've gone meaty today,

I've gone very meaty. So I'm going for a take on a game terrine.

Why not play to your strengths, why not, like, a fish terrine?

Why have you gone meat today?

So my brother lives out in the country,

and he was talking to the local gamekeeper one day.

And the gamekeeper said he couldn't sell his pheasants.

Don't get me wrong, I love the fish.

But, yeah, the fact that we've got fantastic

produce on our doorstep that's getting underused,

well, I wanted to celebrate that.

Harry's going for layers, but he's taking pheasant,

venison, chicken thighs

and chicken livers, with layers of port jelly between.

He's laying the whole lot together, rolling up into a cylinder.

He's using the breast of pheasant.

I hope that doesn't go dry.

That's going to be served with a tarragon mayonnaise,

showing off a bit of skill.

And then on the side, we've also got an apricot chutney.

He loves process, but with only an hour and 45 minutes,

he's really pushing himself.

I've given myself a lot to do,

and there's lots of things that could go wrong,

but if I had an easy hour and 45 minutes,

it wouldn't feel like a MasterChef semifinal.

Yeah, you've got to take risks, right?

I think initially when I got the brief, I was a little bit, like,

cor blimey, like, what am I going to do here?

But, allowing myself time to get my creative juices flowing,

I managed to come up with something that I'm happy with.

Come on, girl, like, you can do this!

SHE LAUGHS

Hazel, by the looks of this, we're going veggie.

That is correct, yes, a full vegetarian dish.

I'm making you a spiral vegetable tart

with a feta mousse and a chimichurri.

So this is actually inspired by

a dish that I make at home for my partner.

I just wanted to elevate it.

It looks simple, but there's a lot of technical elements to it.

JOHN: She's going for swirls. A large shortcrust pastry tart.

Inside there, she's putting a base of hummus.

She has carrots,

a really lovely sweet squash,

and then courgettes, all made into a swirl inside a tart tin.

She's serving Gregg and I one whole tart.

That has to be perfect. No jagged-y edges, no falling apart,

no crumbling. Hazel has got nowhere to hide.

You have one hour. 60 minutes! Guys, semifinalists,

one hour, please!

Swirls and layers, I think, is a fun challenge.

I like cooking with layers because I like making things with my hands,

so I hope I can do it justice.

Henry's making us a pie. Layers of spinach,

layers of white, squeaky paneer cheese,

and layers of potato. That's going

to be served with a blooming onion bhaji.

When I thought of onion, I thought, Shrek, I thought, Donkey.

Have you seen that? With lots of layers.

AMERICAN ACCENT: We got layers!

Yeah, exactly, yeah, "We got layers," yeah, exactly.

Taking an onion, cutting it in such

a way that when it opens up in the deep fryer,

it looks like a flower.

His pie has to hold up.

His curry sauce flavoured with tomatoes and turmeric

has to be thick enough that when the pie sits in it,

it doesn't make the pastry go really, really soggy.

Why this Indian style? I cook quite a lot of vegetarian food,

and I think, you know, Indian food is the best veggie food out there.

MUNOPA: I'm a bit of a picky eater,

so I like to keep all my food separate,

so definitely not a fan of swirls and layers.

But I think I found a dish that, you know,

I would be willing to eat layered.

My dish is a beef Wellington with some mashed potatoes,

cos there's nothing better to go with, and a biltong jus.

Biltong is dried pieces of meat. Have you seen it in a sauce before?

Being from Zimbabwe,

I had biltong in all my packed lunches, road trips.

Any excuse, really, to have biltong,

I had it. So, yeah, you know, why not put it in a sauce?

Pastry around the outside of that beef Wellington

needs to be nice and crispy.

Beef fillet, itself,

not too rare in the centre.

Lovely, smoky mushroom duxelles around the outside of that beef,

then a pancake made from herbs, so bright green.

So when we cut into it, we should get definitive layers.

Whole thing served with biltong sauce.

Biltong, it can be slightly salty, it can also be quite smoky.

I hope the sauce isn't too salty.

This is my first time making a dessert on MasterChef,

so I'm a little bit nervy.

So I'm taking two traditional dishes,

and I'm going to merge those two together, and, you know,

use a little bit of my creativity, put my own twist on it,

and, hopefully, we'll come up with something wonderful.

Sophie, we're doing plant-based today.

We ARE doing plant-based today. Fantastic.

Yeah, repping the plant-based gang.

So I'm making a mille-feuille inspired by a baklava.

So I love baklava,

and I wanted to take apparently two things with layers

and make even more layers. I'm combining things that I love, and,

hopefully, you'll love it as well.

Baklava - layers of filo pastry

with sugar syrup and pistachio nuts.

A mixture of cream

and vanilla going through the centre,

and then Turkish delight,

which she's made herself using cornflour,

water and rose water.

I hope it's exciting. I hope it's delicious.

I hope the textures work.

Listen, everybody.

You have 25 minutes left.

This is my absolute far and away favourite brief that we've had.

I think layered food is the best.

I mean, all your happy memories of lasagne and shepherd's pie

and Lancashire hotpot and good stuff comes in layers.

Claire, we're going sweet? Yeah. What have we got?

So this is a Christmas pudding trifle.

Go on. Sponge, then mincemeat, orange and brandy jelly,

cinnamon custard, Irish cream, candied oranges and almonds.

And a little bit of sparkle. And some cherries.

That sounds absolutely amazing. What are you serving it in?

I am going to back myself today that I can do

a patisserie-style unmoulded trifle for you,

one that will hopefully stand up on its own and be a showstopper.

Claire's dish is all about layers.

The whole thing here has got to be the reveal.

If she can make this

Christmas trifle all stand up and look absolutely beautiful,

like a tower, and have definite layers,

we've got something truly beautiful here.

Right now, the question is, will the whole thing fall over?

It's in the refrigeration gods' hands as to

what happens whilst they're in there.

I've got a backup. It's in a glass. It's just not the way I want it.

So we'll see.

Eight minutes. Oh, come off it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Eight minutes, please!

We have two minutes. Two minutes, please.

Come on, everybody. Come on.

No, it's slid. It's slid. How gutting.

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

Well done, everybody. Stop!

That looks amazing. Thank you. That looks absolutely beautiful.

First up is Sam with his French-Thai pithivier -

a swirled puff pastry dome filled with layers of pork mince,

cabbage, duck breast and duck leg,

served with a Thai pineapple curry sauce and a Thai basil oil.

Sam, I think we can safely say we've got layers, sir.

You have really worked hard over this.

You made your own puff pastry,

which is perfectly glazed across the top. Swirls, marks in there.

That pithivier is fantastic. The duck leg itself, falling apart,

lovely and soft.

The duck breast completely cooked and wonderful.

The bottom of it still crispy.

And you've got these definitive layers.

I love this pineapple sauce.

It's properly tropical sweet with pineapple and it's got

a spice to it as well.

A little hint of lemongrass. In the world of fusion,

I think this is some of your greatest work.

I think it's went really well.

APPLAUSE

Relieved. Relieved. Good.

I'm happy.

HE LAUGHS

Inspired by her Italian family favourite,

Olivia has made an aubergine parmigiana -

layers of deep-fried aubergine,

smoked mozzarella and tomato sauce...

..topped with a Parmesan cheese sauce,

served with a basil foam and crystallised basil leaves.

I like going through the slippery aubergines into

the more chewy mozzarella and finish with the sweet tomato.

I've got one slight issue. I think you may have used a little

bit too much parmigiano through there.

It's tasting a little salty.

I love the way you've cooked the aubergines.

Got that sort of crispness on

the outside of them to give you the extra texture.

The layers of cheese - smoky. I think that's fantastic.

But what it definitely needs

is more sauce because it's become quite compacted,

which means that my mouth is going quite dry.

I'm not happy. What can I say?

I thought everything went to plan.

I wasn't expecting it to be too salty.

I make this dish all the time. It was a bit of a cold shower.

Harry has served a game terrine with layers of venison, pheasant,

chicken livers and port jelly wrapped

in swirls of chicken thigh and bacon...

..with a spiced apricot chutney,

a deep-fried egg,

and tarragon mayonnaise,

served with toasted sourdough.

The terrine is a masterpiece.

The port jelly giving sweetness. The rich venison through

the centre of the whole thing,

and then the chicken livers binding it

all together so it still stays nice and moist.

And the egg itself just cooked beautifully and soft,

and the rich egg yolk

running through that tarragon-rich mayonnaise,

which is just fantastic and smooth.

You've got clear layers running through here,

and the layers are also swirls. And that apricot chutney...

Dried fruit is sweet but sharp like

a splash of vinegar in there as well.

It's fantastic.

I'm thrilled with their comments, yeah.

And particularly on that dish.

That is my food all over - what I strive to cook.

APPLAUSE

Well done, Harry.

You know, of all the things I've cooked,

I'm so glad they liked that.

Hazel has cooked a vegetable tart with swirls of carrot,

courgette and squash...

You've definitely got swirls.

..on a base layered with hummus

and halloumi...

..served with feta mousse,

deep-fried pumpkin skin,

and a chimichurri sauce.

I like the crunch of the vegetables. They're not falling apart.

They're still firm. They are cooked.

Salty creaminess of your feta mousse on the outside.

Your chimichurri on the side,

there's all the sharpness you need.

I've never seen anybody cook pumpkin skin before,

but that works as a salty cracker. I like the concept.

I really like the colours. I think that's really,

really good. But in the base of that tart,

you've used hummus. Of course,

olive oil and heat means that what happens,

that oil will go into your pastry. It's going slightly soggy.

I'm feeling OK. I'm not, like, over the moon.

You've just got to be adventurous. And sometimes it works,

sometimes it doesn't. It wasn't a total fail,

but it wasn't the best.

Henry has made an Indian-inspired pie -

puff pastry layered with spinach, potato and paneer...

..served with a blooming onion bhaji,

a Brussels sprout and coconut salad,

and a curry sauce.

That's so pretty.

Your pastry is well made, and it's also seasoned,

so it's salty.

Love the spinach against the potato and then the salty cheese in there.

The onion bhaji is light and crisp,

and you can taste the sweetness of

the onion that you've opened up like a flower blossom.

That is an absolutely knockout dish.

This curry sauce on the outside,

sharp and zingy, almost like a pickle.

I think that's wonderful. And then refreshing-ness

that comes from your coconut and Brussels sprout salad.

I think that's a clever invention. I think it's really,

really well flavoured.

I'm feeling really good. Out of all the feedback I've got,

it's both the most surprised I've been

and probably the most happy I've been

because it was a bit of a weird dish, but they liked it.

APPLAUSE

Good job, man. Good job.

Munopa has cooked a beef Wellington - beef fillet topped with

a layer of mushroom duxelles and a spinach

crepe inside puff pastry -

served with swirls of mashed potato

and a biltong sauce enriched with bone marrow and rosemary oil.

Pastry's fantastic. Buttery, rich, crispy on the outside.

You made a pancake. The duxelles - that's great.

Well flavoured. But the thing about a Wellington,

it needs time to rest.

And what's happened is you've cut it in half.

The blood's coming out,

and that's made the bottom of your Wellington go soggy.

Nicely made mashed potato. However, jury's out on this sauce.

You've put oil in there and you've put bone marrow in there.

So it's very, very fatty. And that biltong is very,

very salty. It's unusual.

I think I've had better cooks.

You know, I was happy I got a full Wellington out,

but I think the sauce just didn't quite make the cut.

Sophie has made a baklava mille-feuille -

puff pastry soaked in sugar syrup,

filled with layers of plant-based cream,

crushed pistachios and pomegranate gel,

topped with lemon-and-rose Turkish delights.

I think it's a really pretty little plate.

Definitely got layers.

And on top you might even have a few swirls.

Getting nice, crispy, crunchy layers

and then a cold cream, hint of vanilla.

And the sweetness comes from the pomegranate, which is sharp.

I am really, really enjoying this.

Love your chewiness coming from your Turkish delight.

That's great with

the flavour of rose water and the sharpness of lemon.

And then the whole thing bejewelled with little bits of pistachio nuts.

I think that's a really, really lovely dish.

I'm really happy with how it all went.

I had a great time cooking,

and I think that probably showed when it got to the end.

So, yeah, I'm happy.

Last up is Claire.

She's served a Christmas pudding trifle -

a Genoise sponge base with layers of mincemeat,

orange and brandy jelly,

cinnamon custard

and Irish whisky cream...

..topped with spiced clementines,

freeze-dried cherries,

almonds and gold dust.

Where's our free-form tower?

It fell over like me after three glasses of wine.

But like any good mum, I've got a backup in the bag, so...

Oh, mate. You don't give this to the kids, do you?

No. No wonder it fell over.

If I ate a whole one, I'd fall over.

Wonderful soft sponge. Jelly - nice and soft.

That lovely richness that's coming from the custard

and across the top. And that crispy orange there as well.

That's great. You know what? I like a trifle.

But that's not any ordinary trifle.

That sort of swagger-down-the-street, you know,

after-a-few-drinks-type trifle. It's having a lot of fun.

I'm disappointed we haven't got the tower,

but well done you for having a backup plan. Oh!

The jelly's got little raisins in there,

so you get those chewy bits of raisins.

You then get into the cream, which is as much whisky as it is cream.

It's a Christmas delight.

That is my favourite cook I've ever done,

and it's the moment I really wanted. Well done.

Oh...! Woohoo!

To bring some unadulterated joy to the judges...

And I've done it.

There were some absolutely stunning dishes in here.

It was a load of work. They pushed themselves really hard.

Five cooks really stood out in this round.

Harry with his terrine.

Henry with his Indian-inspired pie.

And I have to say, Sam...

Pork, duck and pineapple in a pie. Absolutely fantastic.

Claire's Christmas-inspired trifle.

It was a boozy Christmas in a bowl, and it was beautiful.

Sophie's a really clever veggie cook,

and I loved her mille-feuille baklava idea.

Layers and swirls aplenty.

So Hazel, Munopa or Olivia - only one of those goes through.

Hazel is pushing herself, but it wasn't perfect.

There were problems there with the pastry.

Munopa cooked the Wellington quite well,

but it bled into the pastry.

And I've got serious question marks over her biltong sauce.

I like Olivia's style,

but that dish was far too salty.

And it needed more sauce.

Wow, this is a toughie, this one, John.

If I was to go home, I would obviously be gutted,

but I'm also proud of how far I've come.

I'm kicking myself a little bit at the things that were wrong,

but I've done the best I could.

I really want to stay in the competition. And most of it,

I don't want to go home because of a dish that I made 400 times

all of a sudden comes out like this. It's very frustrating.

MUSIC: The Dying Light by Sam Fender

All eight of you have surpassed our expectations

and should be very proud of yourselves.

There were three people who were truly impressive.

Harry...

..Henry...

..Sam...

..congratulations. You are staying with us.

There were two other people we feel have done enough

to keep their place in the competition.

Claire...

..Sophie...

..congratulations. Well done, guys.

Great job.

We've only got one place left in the next round.

The last person staying with us is...

..Hazel. Yes! Oh, my God.

I'm so sorry.

Olivia...

..Munopa, sadly, you're both leaving us. Thank you.

I'm absolutely proud of

the type of Italian food that I have shown here,

but, I mean, I am very disappointed. What can I say?

I really enjoyed the competition.

I had lots of fun in that kitchen.

Coming this far, I'm really proud of myself.

And, yeah, I think it's just an incredible experience.

It's taught me a lot.

Guys, top six. That sounds good. Congratulations, you guys.

You are through to the final six.

I knew there was, like,

a high chance that I could be on the chopping block,

but I'm absolutely ecstatic that I'm still here.

I'm feeling elated.

Final six. Not a bad day in the office.

It was, um, exhilarating, exhausting.

I'm like, "Oh, really? Like, wow. Like, thanks."

Like, it feels like a privilege. Yeah.

I say I'm not going to cry, but... SAM LAUGHS

..what the MasterChef done to me?

Next time, the semifinals continue...

POPPING

Oh!

..and the final six will have the honour of cooking

for a world-renowned culinary genius.

Knowing Heston, if I'm half a gram out, he'll know.

They have got to become part chef, part scientist.

You clever boy!

I love everything about this.

I think that's fantastic.

Spot-on.