Original subtitles

Oh, no. Did you hurt yourself? Guys, grab a medic.

So cack-handed, it's unbelievable.

It's all gone horribly wrong!

Oh, this is hard, man!

HE EXHALES

Look at the pressure cooker.

My life in a nutshell.

No-one ever said cooking was easy...

Ah!

Oh, no! What the heck happened there?

I don't know.

..so when you take ten home cooks...

This could either be a stroke of genius or total calamity.

..24 challenges...

Don't look, Mary, shield your eyes!

I'll try anything once.

..and three judges...

Feels very, very clumsy.

You know, this is a competition.

..it will be stressful.

Dear God, the pressure!

What these will come down to is composure.

Ooh!

Oh, sugar plum fairies!

But get it right...

That is a first-rate pie!

Oh, come on, I'm giving those a round of applause.

..and the best home cook will triumph.

Enormous luck. Blow their minds!

The time starts now.

Get in! Get in!

This house, in the beautiful British countryside...

Mm! Not bad, not bad!

..is where the home cooks will be living for the duration

of the competition.

I'm Suzie. Ayo, nice to meet you.

Did you come from far? Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland? Yeah. I suspected as much.

Arriving from all over the UK...

Wow!

..they're here to focus solely on becoming the best home cook.

I've left my PlayStation at home

and, oh, my fiancee, that's it!

I probably should have said her first!

Mwah, all right? Speak to you soon. Yeah, thank you.

See you later - love you!

I've never lived in a shared house before.

I'm Katie, hiya. Hello, Sean.

The nearest I came to was sharing a bedroom with my sister,

which didn't end well, so...

So, have you come far? London.

Just husband brought me here from Essex - close to Basildon.

OK, yeah, I know Basildon. Bas Vegas.

You ever heard of Bas Vegas? Bas Vegas?

That's what the locals call it!

You'll get used to me. Part of it's nerves, I hope.

They're right to be nervous -

the competition will kick off first thing tomorrow.

Hey, guys. Oh! How's it going? Nice to meet you, I'm Oli.

Georgia. Oh, no!

They'll have two days to cook their hearts out...

I'll just do one kiss!

..and avoid being sent home.

Nice to meet you, Elisabetta. Hello.

Oh, hello. Hi, everyone. Hi!

Be a good boy and listen to Daddy, OK?

What's your name? Kate. Kate.

Sean. Oh, a Katie and a Kate. Hello.

You're number ten.

Yeah, the last one. Last one. Yeah.

Saving the best till last.

I don't know if anybody's got a game plan, but I will let you know

as soon as I find out.

Today is when it all starts...

How did you sleep, mate?

..as the cooks prepare to have their culinary skills laid bare.

I'll probably find out whether I'm any good at cooking today,

so that's pretty big.

I have to say, I had a terrible night's sleep.

I'm a bit of a bundle of nerves.

The idea of cooking today is still a little bit mad!

But, yeah, we'll see what the first day has to offer.

I'll speak to you later and have a fantastic day today at school.

Think about me, yes?

Yes, of course.

Come on, team! Here we go! After you. Here we go!

Everybody out? Yeah, let's go. Do you need a jacket?

We're missing one! Come on, you.

There's always one. There is always one.

Are we waiting for anybody else? Woo!

They're coming!

Hi.

Welcome.

Don't be nervous. Look at you, Sean.

Oli, hello. Hello.

Got your own kitchen. This is me.

Over the next two days, the cooks will complete two challenges.

They need to perform well in both to avoid the Eliminator...

..which determines who gets sent home.

Are you ready, then, to meet the judges?

ALL: Yes. Yes, absolutely.

OK. Please, let's welcome Mary Berry, Chris Bavin

and Angela Hartnett. WHISTLING

Hello. There she is, then! Waiting for you!

Come on. Lovely. Isn't this exciting? It's so exciting!

Mary, how delighted are you? I'm really thrilled.

Everybody's smiling!

That means you're not in the slightest bit nervous.

Angela, you are a Michelin-starred chef. Yeah.

When you eat home-cooked food, are you livid?

Livid?! Yes, I only ever eat

in Michelin-starred restaurants, Claudia.

No, I love home cooking, and some of the best chefs in the world

started as fantastic home cooks.

Chris, of course, you are the king of fruit and vegetables.

In your perfect world, will people just be, like,

chopping peppers and throwing them into everything?

Would you have peas in cereal is the question.

Well, I think we want to eat as much fruit and veg as we possibly can.

But what I do want to see is you maximising the ingredients,

wasting as little as possible. OK, all right. Quite scary.

Scary, yet charming. It's weird.

So your first challenge will always be the "ultimate",

and Mary will always set it.

It's something that you might make for a fancy occasion.

You have to go to town.

Today, Mary would love you to make your ultimate pasta dinner.

And, most importantly, you've got to make your pasta from scratch.

Cooks, you have an hour and 45 minutes for this challenge.

At the end of this, the judges will pick their favourites.

So I don't want to add pressure, but it can't be revolting.

I don't know how best to say it, Mary.

Enormous luck. Your time starts now.

The cooks have all practised their ultimate dishes at home

for friends and family.

But now, they must win over the judges with their personal takes

on an Italian pasta supper.

Pressure is on.

Do you always make fresh pasta?

Not now, but I used to with the children,

because they just loved to make pasta. Mm.

And once you've got the skill right, it's very satisfying to make.

But, I mean, they're doing it for a special occasion.

It's not easy to do. Is it not easy? No. Have you got a machine at home?

Are you mad? Yeah, I've got a husband.

Pasta dough is made by mixing flour, eggs and oil,

either in a food processor...

..or by hand.

What kind of flour have you used? 00 pasta flour.

Now, come on. Explain to us, you - Italian accent.

Why 00...? So...it's got a high gluten content,

and it's been sieved a couple of times, so it's very fine 00 flour.

So it's very good for making pasta.

Someone just told me to use it, so I used it!

Supermarket supervisor Katie taught herself to cook just five years ago.

She's always learning and looking for new inspiration

and hopes to impress with simple food made well.

What's your recipe? Italian sausage meat,

tagliatelle and broccoli with a lovely fresh fennel salad.

And you always do this by hand, you never put it in a machine? Yeah.

Always by hand, yeah.

I'm a bit dangerous with machines, so the less I use them, the better.

Duly noted.

Not only is Angela a Michelin-starred chef,

her speciality is Italian food.

I can't believe Angela Hartnett is one of the judges.

Of all the people!

Cooking pasta for the queen of pasta is scary.

There really is nowhere to hide.

I'm making seafood cannelloni with a cream sauce baked in the oven,

like a family meal.

20 years, probably, I've been making this pasta.

A longstanding home cook and grandmother of two,

Kate is most at home in her farm house kitchen in rural Devon.

There's usually quite a lot going on in my kitchen,

people floating through and lots of dogs and cats

and...cows being calved out in the field next to the kitchen,

but not quite like this.

As long as I get this pasta in the fridge

and covered up in the next few minutes,

I'll be able to concentrate on the other parts of the dish.

This may be a bit of a workout.

Come on, boy. There...

Out of breath kneading this, but it needs...to be done properly.

But a good pasta dough should be kneaded for at least ten minutes.

He's kneading, look at it. Yeah, yeah.

It's ever so smooth. There's a technique there -

one hand and then the other.

I am making a classic crowd pleaser -

fettuccine Bolognese.

For me, home cooking is about comfort, first and foremost.

42-year-old pharmaceutical recruitment partner Sarah

loves to come home from work and make hearty home-cooked fare

for her husband and son, Austin.

This is Austin's favourite dish.

He's had a few disappointing Bolognese in various restaurants

whenever we've gone out.

So, uh, he does think that Mummy's is the best.

So I have to live up to that expectation.

Done my dough now, so I'm just going to get it into the fridge.

All of the cooks have now finished their pasta dough,

which needs to rest...

That's me, done.

..but that doesn't mean the hard slog is over.

Here's one for you.

They still have to make their fillings and sauces,

some of which are more traditional than others.

I'm quite an experimental cook, I like to try a lot to try a lot

of different flavours together.

Tell me what you're making. So it's a creamy tomato, chicken,

chorizo and prawn pasta.

So you've not gone for the less is more.

No, no, no. You've gone for the more is more. Yeah, more is more.

The more meats, the better.

When he's not working in the city,

28-year-old accountant Ayo has one thing on his mind.

I love cooking because I love food.

I just love the fact that it's almost like a limitless palate.

You can try anything, and some of it might work, some of it might not.

Food is art, you know what I mean?

Being Nigerian definitely has a part to play.

I just need flavour in my life constantly.

I don't like the idea of cooking without flavour.

The youngest cook in the competition has also put some thought

into her combination of flavours.

Morning, Georgia. Hi! Tell me what you're making.

So I'm making a chestnut and squash ravioli with a sage butter sauce.

How long have you been cooking?

I have been cooking since I was about 14.

And is Mum a very good cook?

Um, my mum and my dad, actually, are both really good cooks. Really?

Yes, it's really inspired me.

What 24-year-old model Georgia lacks in years,

she makes up for in confidence.

I've loved playing house ever since I was five years old.

Food's always been the centre of our family.

It's about the celebration of what's in front of you

and bringing people together.

More.

Smell that booze.

In the pan here, you've got... I've got fennel, garlic, onions,

which I've softened down, and now I've just put the fish in.

So we've got like a fish pie, cannelloni mix?

Cannelloni mix, yeah.

Very good. And are you having a sauce with it?

Yeah, there's going to be a cream sauce and baked in the oven.

Do you know how much longer we've got left?

CLAUDIA: Good, good.

I'm pleased you brought that up. Cooks, you have one hour left.

Is this your plan?

This is the engineer in me, you've got to have a plan.

You've got to have a plan! Can't just go in willy-nilly.

Well, you've got a big old job. Look at this.

This is a good plan.

63-year-old Robin lives in Bristol with his wife, daughter, camper van

and vegetable patch.

He's always been the cook of the house.

I am making a cheesy lasagne

with a crunchy slaw salad and garlic croutons.

My family love this dish.

If we're struggling to think, "What should we have on a Saturday night?"

This is something that you know is going to be a crowd pleaser.

Don't burn your onions.

And don't chop your fingers off, even more important.

Never mind his fingers, Robin needs to watch his back.

I am making a duck ragu lasagne.

Suzie, I didn't know you were cooking lasagne. Oh, yeah.

Oh, we've got a lasagne cook-off, have we?

It's something I love.

It does take a long time, and I usually make it in a slow cooker.

But I saw that there was a pressure cooker,

thought, "Right, I'll try this recipe." Oops.

Yeah, there it goes. I... I've... Ah. Flapping, starting to flap.

Suzie is used to having lots of pots on the boil.

As well as looking after her two young children,

she runs her accountancy business from home

and exercises in her spare time.

I do everything at 100 mile an hour, and try to fit as much in as I can.

I love cooking. It is my, kind of, calm space.

I, actually... Now I am regretting my choice of dish

because it's just...taking longer than what I expected.

All right, it's pasta.

Stiff.

Now that the dough has rested, the cooks need to roll their pasta.

That's good, it's a good dough.

Running the dough through a pasta machine several times

on different settings helps to get it nice and thin.

This is where I tend to get myself in a little bit of a pickle

cos I'm so cack-handed that I end up getting in a right old state.

How's this work, now?

Oh, that looks good! Ayo! Smashing it!

I know, it's nice, isn't it? Smooth.

Taking a more hands-on approach,

Oli is the only cook not to use a machine.

The simple rolling pin and this... And so far, so good.

Tell us what you're making, Oli. So I'm making some pappardelle,

like, rough-cut pappardelle, handmade and hand-rolled.

I'm going with... That is going to be a tomato, caper and olive sauce,

and that's going to be with some king prawns and mussels.

And why are you rolling it by hand?

I'm a bit of a traditionalist. I think, like, for hundreds of years

they were rolling pasta out by hand, you know, traditionally

before pasta machines came along.

So I think... I'll just say my 85-year-old grandmother

would use a machine. Oh, would she? Just a little tip.

OK. Well, I'll take that.

When 34-year-old restaurant supervisor Oli isn't waiting tables,

he's at home waiting on his wife and daughter.

Home cooking... Well, it's the hunter-gatherer mentality of,

you know, providing for your family. Open up.

Family's everything to me. I mean, they're my everything.

Dad, I need the toilet. OK, kiddo.

You all right? Watch your little ways. Kiss, kiss. You all right?

I've been a bit wobbled by Angela a little bit,

but I'm staying on top of it, I'm listening to myself

and I'm going with it.

CLAUDIA: This looks beautiful. Thank you.

Look, that's how paper thin... Yeah. Angela, you're going to freak out!

Come, come. Paper thin. What do you think?

Looks fantastic. What, are you...? You're making it

into little parcels? Ravioli? I'm making ravioli, yeah.

OK, and how are you going to do that, turn that?

I'm not turning it over, no, I'm making big ones and doing them...

..lifting them up. Ooh, fancy. Like tortellini, really, then.

Yeah, but they're not.

Georgia's arguing with a judge. I'm very excited! They're not!

Someone who does know her ravioli from her tortellini is Elisabetta.

You know, being Italian and being in a challenge about pasta,

I just wanted to make something that little bit different.

Also going for a filled pasta, she's making squid ink tortellini.

What's in there? Right.

That is prawns cooked in with a little bit of anchovies,

capers, extra virgin olive oil, garlic.

And I've added a little bit of wine and a teeny weeny bit of chives,

just to give it a little bit of a kick.

Hailing from Milan, NHS receptionist Elisabetta

now lives in north-east London.

Her love of food extends beyond just cooking.

Did you paint this? Yeah. You didn't?! I did.

It's so beautiful! Thank you so much. You're so clever!

What's the citrus in there? Lemon? Have you got lemon in there?

Got a little bit of lemon juice, yeah.

Sean is working on the centrepiece of his pasta dish -

a rolled piece of chicken stuffed with mushrooms,

known as a ballotine.

Why a ballotine? I mean, it's quite French rather than Italian.

My style of at cooking home

is to try and put on a bit of a presentation,

and it's got to be pleasing on the eye first,

that's what I find when I go to restaurants.

Yeah. I think it just represents me on a plate, so, yeah. OK.

You're the opposite from me, I go taste first.

For IT consultant and family man Sean,

there's no such thing as a TV dinner.

I'm a bit of a self-confessed peacock, a bit of a show off.

I like to wear extremely loud shirts,

be the centre of attention a lot of the time.

And when I put my food out, I also want that to be

centre of attention on the table. I want people to say, "Wow."

CLAUDIA: Cooks, you have 32 minutes left.

I'm actually the messiest cook ever.

Shall I stick the kettle on? Yeah. Cake as well? Yeah, any requests?

Lemon drizzle, Mary Berry's own recipe. Ooh! That's what I want.

Hi, darling. How are we? Wee bit stressed. Careful with the knife.

Yes. So all I need... Sorry. I'm not trying to stab you.

No, I love you. Pasta's cooked, the meat cooked, the sauce is good.

I just need to grill it on top, technically, TECHNICALLY.

There we go. Thank you.

Some of our team here have certainly just put in too much... Yeah.

..and we've had ballotine and pasta.

I just want to make sure they cook through,

then I'll pan-fry them off and cut them.

What did you think about Ayo's one?

I find it very odd to put prawns and meat together,

because surely the chorizo will over-drown the prawns. Yeah.

You wouldn't know it was prawn.

No, I think there's too much confusion in that.

Robin's making a lovely lasagne with a classic meat Bolognese

and a cheesy sauce.

Has he got anything slightly different? To be honest,

this is probably the most home-cooked dish out of all of them.

You could say I'm playing it a bit safe.

I don't want to make any mistakes on the first round if I can help it.

And I think the key will be whose is the thickest or thinnest,

cos I think Oli's is quite thick, his pasta,

whereas the other tagliatelles seem to be a little bit thinner.

It's all gone horribly wrong.

And Kate making the fish cannelloni...

But her cannelloni's very small.

I can't see how she's going to get those big pieces and seal it.

I'm just going to have to do it like that. There's no way I can do it.

Cooks, you have 15 minutes left!

OK.

So cack-handed, it's unbelievable. Like, I can't stand it.

This is delicious. What, the raw cabbage? Mm!

You're easily pleased. I am.

What is this - crackling, bacon? Duck. Do you want some? Duck?

Oh, no. Did you hurt yourself?

Guys, can I have a medic?

Cooks, you only have five minutes left.

Not too bad under the pressure I've been under, really.

You look after her.

Don't worry, Suzie, you...you're more important.

OK, cooks, that's it. Well done. Your first challenge is over.

Woo!

SHE SIGHS

That looks nice. Ah, very clever.

I promised I wouldn't cry on this.

I'm so sorry. It was my fault, wasn't it?

No, it wasn't. I was just talking too much. I'm always a chatterbox.

No, I'm sorry, baby. Are you in pain? It's OK.

The judges will now try the cooks' food for the first time.

They're looking for a perfectly executed pasta dish

for a special occasion.

OK, first judging, always the worst, but off we go.

CHRIS: Do you know, I love that element of theatre.

It looks impressive.

Up first, the filled pastas.

I think it was very original to use the squid ink.

ANGELA: And hard to cook those little tortellini.

And actually, you really taste those prawns inside.

And the sauce is... It's beautiful. Well done.

She's such a clever girl to get so much filling in. Mm!

All intact, aren't they? By the looks of it.

We didn't have a burst one, no. Unless you buried that underneath.

No, I haven't. You can go digging if you want.

I really, really, really like that. I really do. Good!

Now for the more traditional dishes.

That is a great dish for entertaining.

It's all beautifully cooked.

It's as authentic as one would hope. So I think you've done really well.

Well done. Wow, thank you.

It's delicious. Yeah.

Where you've been really clever is with your duck skin.

I think that's just genius. I really like that, actually.

I think, overall, very impressive. Well done!

SHE SQUEALS

It's beautifully constructed, but you haven't pushed yourself.

It lacks that special occasion. ROBIN: OK.

I thought I might have played it safe, and I have, but...

But you won't next time!

Also playing it safe is Katie.

It's quite simple, but it works really well.

You've got a good balance of the broccoli and the sausage

with the right amount of pasta. Yes! Cheers, well done!

They really liked it! I'm pleased with that, yeah.

Can't wait till my nan sees this. CLAUDIA SCREAMS

She's going to be like, "Woo!"

Your pasta is lovely and thin and cooked really well.

But it's a shame there's so little of it. Mm-hm.

But the result is just too much of a homely looking dish... I know.

..when you were trying to show off. I know.

And now for three less traditional pasta dishes.

It's not my style of pasta,

I'm going to be absolutely honest with you.

Cos I think there's too much going on. OK.

I don't like the idea of prawns, chorizo and chicken. Yeah.

CHRIS: Wow.

That's delicious. It's well done?

It's probably about as Italian as a game of cricket.

But that is absolutely spot on. For you. For me.

Well, I can only speak for me, can't I?

We're all speaking for ourselves. Yeah, I know.

Thank you, guys. OK.

In terms of flavour, I think it's wonderful. The sauce is good.

Yeah. But I would say your pasta is a little bit too chewy.

It's a little bit on the thick side.

I've got to be honest, Sean, I've never seen this in my life before.

Sorry, no, I mean, I haven't.

I've never seen a ballotine on a pasta before.

CHRIS: I don't know if it really works collectively as a dish or not,

and I don't really think

the truffles were necessary in there. OK.

Open wide. All right, I'm ready.

SHE LAUGHS

OK. Cooks, would you mind gathering?

It's the moment of truth.

The judges will now choose their personal favourites.

So, Mary, who made your favourite ultimate pasta dinner?

It was Georgia. When I looked at it,

I was tempted, and I wasn't disappointed.

Delicious. Thank you. Well done. Nice!

All right, Chris?

In terms of sheer flavour, I was bowled over by this dish.

And it is Ayo.

It was like jambalaya on pasta, wasn't it?

But it was absolutely delicious.

OK. And, Angela, who made your favourite?

For me, there was something that piqued above everyone,

and it was your crispy duck. Suzie, I thought that was genius.

I loved it.

Well done. Suzie, you happy? Yes.

Blood, sweat and tears!

Maybe that was the extra flavour, that little bit...

The seasoning. Yeah.

So well done to all of you. You've got through day one.

You'll come back tomorrow and you have one last chance

to impress the judges and then you might be able to avoid

the Eliminator. Dun-dun-dun!

Genuinely, you don't want to be in the Eliminator.

It's hideous. Go home, have fun, take the pasta with you.

If not, we'll eat it. Thank you. Bye.

Thank you! Are you all right? Well done, guys!

Well done, my new baby. Thank you!

Our home sweet home! Hello, we're home!

I'm so tired!

Absolutely shattered, like, beyond tired.

I don't even know what I want to make myself feel better.

I don't even want a brew or anything right now.

I'm thinking beer, now I'm thinking beer.

HE EXHALES

I can't put into words how bizarre it's been.

Well done, everyone! ALL: Yeah. Amazing.

THEY APPLAUD

Congrats! Also, can we just discuss Angela?

She scares the life out of me.

Honestly, she's been the highlight of my YouTube

for like...this week.

All I've been watching is her... Really? ..making ravioli. No way.

You'll probably recognise the recipes. Yeah. Ah!

IMITATING ANGELA: This tastes fantastic!

IMITATING ANGELA: Just like I make, mwah!

Tired but happy, the cooks are ending their first day on a high.

The buzz here is just ridiculous.

Sorry, mate.

But thoughts turn to tomorrow where, unlike today's challenge,

they have no idea what's in store.

I'm just hoping that it's going to be

nothing that...I've not cooked before.

Nobody is going to want to see anybody leave this competition,

but unfortunately, end of day tomorrow, somebody will.

I just hope it's not me!

Anyway, everyone have a good night! Bye!

Day two. Are you happy, Angela?

When I went home last night, I suddenly thought,

"You know what, we were all very kind."

Yes, and of course, that was the first day.

And I think we should be kind. Yes, of course.

But of course, today is going to be different

because they're going to have to just think on their feet.

Hi! ALL: Hi!

How are you? Good!

It's time for the next challenge.

Chris is in charge and he's called it the... Rustle-Up Challenge.

We want you, from an ingredient, to rustle up a recipe.

Any guesses? ALL: No.

Is there anything that somebody really doesn't want, anything

that scares you? Yeah. Mushroom would be the worst thing.

Now, reveal. Reveal.

OK, so... Two bags of mushrooms. AYO: Please, Mary, no!

So today the rustle-up ingredient is a pear.

It needs to be the centrepiece

of the recipe that you're going to make.

That's all well and good, but Ayo is almost in tears.

So I'm just going to break it there. What you don't want to be

is in the Eliminator. SHE GASPS

Everything you could possibly do to avoid that would be amazing.

OK, you have an hour. Enormous luck. Off you go to your areas.

In this challenge, the home cooks are far from their home comforts,

including recipe books and familiar store cupboards.

What've we got? What've we got?

Oh, yes!

They have just one hour to create a dish from scratch

using their knowledge, cooking instinct and the limited ingredients

available to them.

So this is interesting, isn't it?

They will have to stay calm under pressure.

Ayo.

What? Have you got an idea?

Yeah, I've got an idea, mate.

A great home cook has to be adaptable.

You know, we don't always have everything you want to turn out

the perfect dinner.

You know, you have to think on your feet, you have to adapt

and you have to improvise.

And this challenge is going to force them to do that.

Whether they're winging it or not,

the judges will expect the cooks to make the pear the star

of the dish, which might be difficult for pear first-timer Oli.

I've never cooked a pear,

so I'm just literally going off my own cooking instinct,

so this couldn't be more rustled up in my mind.

And basically, it might sound really simple,

I'm going to do like a pear flapjack.

This could all go so wrong, but...

We'll see. It's quite exciting, actually.

So, what are you making for us, Sean?

So, I'm doing a poached pear, potentially with

a sort of nutty crumble,

and hopefully, I haven't looked yet,

but hopefully I've got a bit of cream or something that I can work

with, but I'm still in my head, just working with the pear

and I'm more of a savoury person.

Yeah, OK. So, we'll see how it goes.

All right. Thanks, Sean.

Poaching the pears, it seems, is popular.

So, we'll poach them. I'm going to try and poach one whole,

and I've cut two in half, too. Lovely. I've got some ginger,

I've got some star anise, I've got some cardamom in there. Amazing!

I might even try and knock up a quick chocolate sponge as well.

Ooh! So, I'm just looking for equipment at the moment.

But there is one dessert that's proving to be the go-to.

I'm thinking of making just, like, a nice crumble.

As soon as I saw a pear,

I just thought crumble.

I always put porridge oats in mine, cos I just feel

like it gives it a crunchier texture on the top.

So, I am going to make a pear and whatever this is crumble.

I think it's...

It's not blueberry.

It's a...berry of some sort.

I'm not a fan.

That's why we have alcohol.

So, I'm going to try and mix it with a bit of rum, sugar and hopefully

it will produce something good, really.

Are you going to do a crumble? Yeah, I think so.

That's a nice family dish. If I try and do anything else,

I think I'll trip up terribly.

And what proportion of flour to butter did you use?

Well, I'm going with like 100g of butter.

I think I need to put in a little bit more flour.

Butter's really cold as well,

so I'm like struggling to get it all blended up,

so I think I'm in trouble, actually.

No, you're not. You can expect to see me later.

Some of the braver cooks amongst them...

Suze, come on,

focus, focus, focus.

Peeler, peeler!

..have decided to tackle baking, where measurements

and proportions are key.

And they're doing it without a recipe.

Crumble is a little bit safe.

I don't want to say that out loud.

I don't want people to hate me.

SHE LAUGHS

Wanting to make up for yesterday's cannelloni catastrophe,

Kate is the only cook who is making her own pastry.

Ring-a-ding-ding. Impressed.

Look at you.

I'm on it like a car bonnet.

So, what are you making?

I'm making an almond and pear tart.

Is this the kind of thing you'd make on the farm? All the time.

Oh, good. All the time.

Have you got pear trees? Yeah.

Come on! Only a little one.

Yeah, but still, Kate, you're laughing.

Three of the cooks are making a cake.

A bold decision when it will need to be baked within the hour.

Yeah, this is the bit that could go horribly wrong.

Do you think you have enough time?

Well, I'm hoping.

I'm just doing it as quick as possible.

Have you done this recipe before?

Oh, yes. You know, it's the same sort of thing cos we do it

as an apple cake.

How long does it normally take?

About 40 minutes to cook. OK, so...

To cook.

So, are you doing this in one tin?

Yes, I am doing it in one tin. And it will be quite thin?

It will be... It'll be thin enough.

I might just go to the middle.

And are you putting the pears on before it bakes? Yes,

so it's going to bake with it,

so it will caramelise on top, then bake through.

So, it's a bit like a pear upside down cake,

only the right way up.

The right way up. Exactly.

Robin's cake, on the other hand, is upside down

in a more conventional sense.

Sponge with a pear top, caramel and fresh custard.

Oh, that sounds really good!

There's a few cakes going on, Mary, which I think's very brave

with you as their judge.

Well, I think, Suzie, she's put it in a fairly big tin,

but thin so it will be cooked in the time,

whereas Elisabetta has done

a very similar thing, but she's done it deep.

She was going to do it for 40 minutes.

Let's hope she had that time.

Cooks, you are nearly halfway through.

You have 32 minutes left.

Was that quite loud? Thank you, you've burst me eardrum. Nice.

And also, we've got a flan, that you've been baking blind. Yeah.

Don't know if this is going to be cooked in time!

And there's an informal edge to the pie,

I don't mind that at all.

Yeah. The main thing is it's got to be done underneath. Hm.

Would you eat this kind of thing?

Yeah, I love a crumble. Do you?

Love a crumble and custard. Do you know what I love?

Because you are a supermodel, and everyone thinks

supermodels eat raw carrots,

but it's not true. Oh, no, hand me a sticky toffee pudding

or a crumble any day.

What is key with a crumble is the balance of fruit to topping.

You're going to need more fruit in there. No, no, no, no.

You need a two to one ratio at least.

Angela! Yes?

Come.

Can I just ask you, proportion-wise, crumble, what is it,

fruit to topping?

Two thirds fruit to a third topping.

Just remember what we're judging you on.

Star! There. OK.

That's the star.

Not flour. Not crumbs. I'll put it right there and remember it. Yeah.

Also nervous about making a crumble without a recipe,

Katie has had a change of heart.

I'm in trouble, here. I'm not going to lie. Why are you in trouble?

I'm getting too many ideas in my head.

You can see, I've started a crumble,

but I've been thrown off that.

So, I'm going to poach it in some of these lovely spices,

and try and figure out a crumble while it's boiling away.

The point of the challenge is a rustle-up. It's a pear.

Come on. Thank you! There's worst things in life than a pear.

You're right. You should be

a motivational speaker. No, it's true.

This could either be a stroke of genius or total calamity.

What temperature are you doing yours? 180.

Sean's doing a poached pear, with a bit of crumble on the side.

Are you making a deconstructed one?

Yeah. But honestly deconstructed crumble,

have you ever heard anything?

Is it Sarah that's also doing a poached pear? Yes.

And I like the sound of hers with the chocolate,

cos actually pear and chocolates are a natural marriage.

They go really well.

It's good. It's good.

Kate, she really wants to get it right.

I'm feeling all right now.

And what I quite like is she was going down one road,

she was going to do a crumble, and then just thought better of it.

Yeah. I think there's something quite home cooking about that.

Whoa!

Cooks, you have 25 minutes left!

Oh, my God.

Confident cake baker Suzie has encountered a technical hiccup.

My oven wasn't set.

Um, Oli, Oli!

I've just moved mine up. Is that at 170?

No, I've got a flapjack. Is anybody's oven at 180?

Though her cake has been baking for ten minutes,

the oven wasn't hot enough for it to cook in time.

No, his is a cake.

Anybody who isn't baking?

Anybody who's not baking?

My oven wasn't set.

Aw. Mine is, mine is.

What is yours? 180? Yeah.

Can I use your oven? Yeah. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Will it go in there? Perfect! Thank you!

The cake is not going to be done.

My fault.

I had adjusted it to 180 - they were set at 160 -

and then I didn't press the play button, or whatever it looks like.

I'm annoyed at myself.

With everyone's pear dishes now well under way, the cooks

turn their attention to any finishing touches they can rustle up

to impress the judges.

Now, how the hell do I make a custard?

Is this custard? No, no, no.

No, it's sponge mix.

Oh, Robin, that looks lovely.

They do that thing about coating the spoon.

Come on!

Look at that.

Robin, that was almost erotic.

Georgia is also a custard pro.

Just whisk the hot milk

through the egg yolks.

And then you put it back into a clean saucepan,

and just got to keep stirring it until it thickens up.

This is custard, innit? Yeah.

All right, I don't know how to make custard.

So, how did you do that?

SHE SNORTS

Eggs, sugar, milk.

And then...? Yolks. Egg yolks, and just whack them

all in, and just...? Heat milk first.

Eggs in.

My fiancee's going to have a field day, cos she told me to practise

custard over and over again.

And I just said, "Nah."

Cooks! You do it.

Tell them you've got 12 minutes.

Listen up, you've got 12 minutes left.

No pressure, then.

I know, literally, do you know what I mean?

For the cooks who are baking,

it's now a waiting game.

I don't know whether to take it out or not.

I'm going to leave it.

Pleased with that, yeah.

Robin may be happy, but for Elisabetta...

Oh, it looks beautiful!

Yeah, but it's not cooked!

..and Suzie, it's not been a piece of cake.

It's going. It's definitely going.

No, it's underdone.

Urgh!

It doesn't look like their cakes will cook in time.

Cooks, you have five minutes.

Five minutes?

We have a flopping situation,

so we're going to need a bit of support.

So, I've just got to try and make this look pretty now.

BEEPING

My little baby.

Suzie may have come up with a way to avoid disaster.

Beep, beep. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Hot!

30 seconds!

She will just serve the edges of the cake in an individual portion.

But for Elisabetta,

the proof will be in the pudding.

That is not ready.

What can I do?

OK, that's it. Time's up.

Time is absolutely up.

I'm so gutted.

Just an hour ago, our cooks were given the task of rustling up

a pear dish from scratch.

Now the judges will try their efforts.

Sarah, you're up first.

Wow.

I have made a spiced poached pear with spiced chocolate cake.

Visually, it looks very impressive.

The pear is the star of this dish.

I was getting pear that cut through the chocolate, that cut

through the cream.

You've absolutely nailed it. Thank you.

Also serving a poached pear is Katie.

It's poached in star anise and grated nutmeg.

Arguably a little bit too simple.

Yeah. But each component of that does what it should do.

It's a lovely, lovely crumble.

Considering this is plan

wherever we got to - C, D, E -

you should be really quite pleased with yourself.

What's your dish called, Sean?

I have made poached pear with some crumble,

blackberry coulis and some fresh cream.

If you put a crumble on top of cream or custard, it will no

longer be crumble. It'll be soggy.

I know.

I think the crumble's actually set your cream,

soaked into it to form this like granola yogurt.

CHRIS: The texture isn't right. The consistency isn't right.

I don't really know what it is,

which is a shame.

Georgia is serving a more classic crumble.

The texture of the crumble is lovely,

and I do think the stem ginger's good. I think that ginger and pear -

absolute classic combination.

Really delicious.

Ayo, let's be having you.

How will Ayo fare with his pear and blackberry crumble,

and copycat custard?

Well, it's a first for me to see a crumble in a pudding basin.

But it tastes very nice indeed.

But can you see down in there

the ratio of crumble to pear? Yeah.

They'd get an awful lot of crumble and very little pear.

We did have a chat about it.

And the truth is I didn't know the answer.

Well, you're not here to give advice, are you? No.

Your custard actually is very, very good.

A lot of people would be immensely proud to have done that.

Now for the cakes...

..starting with Robin's pear upside-down cake.

That's a bit of all right, you know.

That is a first-rate pudding.

Elisabetta.

I made a pear cake with toasted almond shavings.

You've made this before, you said, or a similar recipe?

Yes, in my oven, it takes about 45 minutes, 50 minutes.

It's a shame, really.

It tastes wonderful, but it's just not done in the middle.

Yep.

Suzie, please bring your pear creation forward.

Oh, wow.

This is a pear and blackberry sponge with a creme anglaise sauce.

What I like is

you made a disaster

into something that looks a success.

But it was a disaster. It was a disaster.

That's all I can say.

The layers of pear come through nicely.

In a disaster, you've made a success.

Listen, I've cooked at wrong temperatures and oven's off,

so we've all done it.

Don't worry, it happens!

Well done. Thank you, well done. Thank you.

The only cook brave enough to make pastry is Kate, with

her pear and almond tart.

Turn it upside down.

See if it's done underneath. Don't turn it upside down!

Nearly. Just a shade longer. Yeah.

But even so, you have got it thin.

It's very, very tasty.

To make a sweet pastry, which in itself

is not the easiest pastry, in an hour,

I think that's really well done.

Phew!

Hard act to follow.

Finally, pear newbie Oli with his flapjacks

and vanilla custard.

If you look at the underneath of your flapjack, it isn't done.

Not very good, unfortunately. No.

I don't really get pears.

I don't think that's the standout ingredient.

My six-year-old son can make... Fair enough.

..quite a special flapjack as well, so...

Thank you.

Thank you.

It wasn't the best dish, by a long shot.

The two main elements, the flapjack and the custard, were both raw.

It's not his best effort, Oli.

Yeah, it's fine. It is what it is.

The cooks were lulled by a soft start, but the judges have

certainly toughened up since yesterday. And with the Eliminator

ahead of them, it doesn't stop here.

Cooks, the judges are going to deliberate, and when they come back,

they'll let you know who has to take part in the Eliminator.

Let's go, mate. Let's go.

Taking both rounds into account, the judges must decide who's safe

and who will have to cook again.

So there's probably two cooks that have delivered two good dishes,

and that's Sarah and Georgia.

I mean, I look at the dishes yesterday, and for me

Robin needed to up his game.

But actually, today he did - his dessert was brilliant.

And the cannelloni, which was really appalling for poor Kate,

again, she knew where she messed up yesterday and she made sure

she did... I think it was such a shock for them to actually

think on their feet.

Mm. Yeah, absolutely.

And, I mean, two of them had disasters, but one of them -

that was Suzie - that disaster came into a very presentable plate.

Yeah.

Nobody's walking straight through as the...

No. ..star of the show, I don't think.. I'm going to have

to cook again, and I just think I'm too stressed to do it.

You never know. Like, anything can happen, so...

Yeah. Anything can happen.

Katie, she chose to change, but she changed so that it was

a little bit simple.

Yeah. Her nerves so got the better of her today.

But the human in me wants to sort of give her a bit of a pass

because, actually, you know, I quite liked the... You're an old softie!

I am, I... Really. Don't tell anyone.

No, they're going to get to know this - they're going to get

to know this.

But I do, I like the fact that she sort of picked herself up,

brushed herself down and went down a different route with it. Mm.

But I think there is certainly two or three that we need to

see cook again.

Yeah.

Yeah, just gutted...

THEY CHAT OVER EACH OTHER

Hello.

ALL: Hello.

Are we all all right?

Yeah. Fine.

This is the first time, so it's a bit yuck.

The judges have deliberated, and they've decided

who they would like to take part in the Eliminator.

So, Oli...

..and Sean, please follow me.

Good luck, guys. Good luck. Good luck, guys.

I'm so surprised.

So, Angela, this is your challenge.

What would you like them to make?

I think it's a great home-cook dish -

cod fishcakes with a parsley sauce and some spinach.

You've got a really detailed recipe,

make sure you follow it.

You will be judged on this plate of food alone.

And not only that - the judges will judge this blind.

They won't know who's made what.

Enormous luck.

You have an hour.

Your time starts now.

Thank you.

Let's let them get on with it, shall we?

Yeah.

It's just horrible.

I'm not watching.

Surprised to be here?

No, not really. OK.

Just... I'm going to let you follow this, because there's nothing

more annoying than somebody talking while you're reading.

I'll just get my mash on...

Oli... Hey, Claudia.

Are you all right?

Yeah, yeah, I'm all right. Did you expect this?

I totally expected this.

This was an inevitability, to be honest with you.

I have to say that neither of them is surprised.

They shouldn't be surprised.

Those two boys were sort of level pegging in that position, and there

was a bit of a gap for the next one that we chose. Yeah.

I think Sean probably tried too hard and didn't execute it well enough,

and then Oli probably didn't quite do enough.

So it's fair that they're both cooking again,

but it's in their hands - if they execute this fishcake well,

they don't need to go home.

It doesn't need to be the end.

What could go wrong?

They've just got to make fishcakes and a parsley sauce.

I mean, isn't it quite easy?

There's an awful lot to go wrong.

I mean, you've got to get the fish broken to the right size,

because I want... Mm. Personally, I like to see -

I don't want it all mashed... No, you're right. ..to puree.

I want to see nice pieces of fish that are well seasoned.

And we don't want a parsley sauce that the flour's not

been cooked out. They're making a classic roux -

you don't want it lumpy, you don't want it watery.

You want the fish cooked nicely, but not overcooked. Yes.

You want a crispy, crispy shell.

And I want spinach that tastes nice.

So that there's lots of elements of this that can go wrong.

What this will come down to is composure.

Are you all right?

Yeah. I've just made a mess.

Don't worry. A bit nerve-racking, that's all.

Don't be nervous.

The key - look at me -

breathing.

Just...you can do it. Yeah, cool.

Thank you. Don't worry about anything else.

OK, it's going to look really weird now, but I'm going to have to peel

my potatoes after cooking them, because I stupidly did them how

I do them, with the skin on, because I like leaving the skin on

with the mash, but I'm an idiot.

Sean and Oli, you have 33 minutes left.

You feeling all right?

Ah, so far, so good.

That's all I'm going to say for now.

I'm not really much of a recipe reader.

You've read it through all the way? Yeah, yeah, I'm just making...

That's why I'm taking my time a bit more, just making sure...

To the end, please. Yeah.

I should have enough time, I hope.

I know it says do three minutes a side, but I'm just going to cook

them the way I do them, just, like, gradually get a nice brown on

so it's like an even colouring.

Oli has made his fishcakes.

He's actually frying them at the moment.

And Sean has not made them yet.

This is hard, man.

Come on, Sean.

This is hard.

I don't know why I'm crying.

It's OK.

Are you having a cry?

No.

Did you want to be in the Eliminator?

I think so.

No, don't be silly. Why?

Instead of those two, man. Do you not like this bit?

Man, that's horrible. It is horrible. I'm so sorry.

I should've flagged this up.

Cooks, you've got ten minutes left.

Sean and Oli still need to make a parsley sauce and prepare

the wilted spinach.

Are you happy?

Yeah.

I'm just starting my sauce, which I'm going to...

And I read my instructions, I kept my milk. Good boy.

There was a lot of milk! That was a lot of milk.

Sean, Oli, you have five minutes.

Babe, make your spinach.

Pardon? Give me a breakdown.

My spinach?

Yeah. I want it just in the olive oil.

In, wilt, season, serve.

Fine.

I have to move away.

Yeah, it doesn't say how to wilt it, but I think I'm going to wilt it

with a bit of olive oil and just salt and pepper.

Oi, oi... What you doing?

You have about 40 seconds now.

Choose whichever place mat you like.

Well done.

OK.

Done!

Come here!

Well done.

Well done, well done.

Sean and Oli, go into that coffee room while the judges

judge your food.

The judges will taste their dishes and make a decision without knowing

who has cooked which plate of food,

while Sean and Oli wait out of earshot.

They're going to be close.

I hope we've given them a hard decision, I really do.

I really do.

Shall we start with this one?

Yeah.

That poured nicely.

Yeah. Nice crunchy crust. It looks it when you cut it, doesn't it?

Listen to this. Yeah.

I like the crunchy outside.

It's a nice flavour, I like the flavour.

Good flavour. A bit too much salt in that spinach. Yeah.

The fishcake is seasoned nicely. Mm, mm.

It is, and that's a difficult thing to get just right.

Good consistency in the sauce.

The sauce is delicious, actually, and it's nice and smooth.

Slightly thicker sauce. Mm.

Hasn't got much gloss on compared to the previous... No.

I mean, in terms of the coverage of the cooking and the colour... Yeah.

The spinach is really good, isn't it? Mm.

The spinach is delicious, actually.

It's a thumbs up.

I think they've both done tremendously well. Mm.

Yeah. And there's not a great deal in it. It's pretty close.

I'll go and look at that just for a sec. Yeah.

It's got a bit of lemon in that one, hasn't it?

A little bit of undercooked spinach just there.

So are we saying what we think we're saying?

Yep.

So, judges, have you made your decision?

Yes. OK, all right.

Sean and Oli are recalled to hear the verdict.

So, first of all, I'd like to say well done.

You both presented us some really fabulously tasting fishcakes.

We all thought that it came down to the finest of margins,

but the dish we liked the least was this one.

OK. Sorry, Sean!

That's fine.

I'm sorry. Thank you.

I'm so sorry.

It'll be good to see your little boy, though.

Mixed emotions to be leaving the competition.

But I've actually enjoyed every minute of it.

Even to the point where, you know, you're putting out an intense

fishcake that you've never done before - it's been fantastic.

And, you know, I'm never going to forget the opportunity

that I've had.

It was really, really close.

Thank you. And it was delicious spinach.

OK, thank you very much. That's great.

And go and see your son, yeah?

100%, I've dodged a bullet.

The only thing I said to my missus there was just,

"As long as I don't go out in the first round, I can be proud myself."

And I didn't go out in the first round, even though I cooked like

a six-year-old at one point.

Good luck.

All right? Yeah.

We're going to miss your shirts!

See you later, mate. Take it easy.

Bye, mate. Love you loads. Bye.

Next time...

There we go.

Something's burning.

Something is burning.

..things are heating up.

I think it needs a warning.

And it's not just the cooks who are in trouble...

I just want you to have a long, hard think about what you've done.