Original subtitles

It's knockout week on MasterChef.

After five weeks of rigorous competition,

45 home cooks have been whittled down to the best 14.

You've let me unleash the beast.

Let me show you what I can do.

Here we go, guys.

I think this competition is forcing me

to grow, to change, to learn new things.

Scary, but I'm here for it.

My husband's made up. I'm cooking him lots of such nice meals,

so he says, so hopefully he's right.

This competition is mine, man.

Honestly, I'm taking it.

Tonight, the first group of seven return to fight for the right to cook

in a professional kitchen for the first time.

Hey, where's my red mullet?

Looking good.

JOHN: The reward today for the people who go through

is they get their chef's whites,

and this is where it gets serious.

This is where it gets brutal.

Welcome back to the MasterChef kitchen and congratulations -

you are in knockout week.

And let me tell you something - the standard this year is sky-high.

You may have noticed that someone's missing.

Sadly, Gregg is unwell.

So, to help me, we have invited in a guest judge -

chef, restaurateur and MasterChef Professional judge

Anna Haugh.

It's really great to see you all.

I am so excited to see what food you're going to create today.

We've set you a brief.

You need to create one dish that you would put in your restaurant,

that you would serve at your pop-up or even put in your cookbook.

I expect this dish to be a signpost on where you want to go as a cook.

It is about cementing your style but also, at the end of this,

two of you will be going home.

You'll have one hour and 30 minutes, ladies and gentlemen.

Let's cook.

What I love about this brief is that, in a very small period

of time, I should be able to get to know these cooks.

It should be a little snapshot that tells me about what food

really excites them.

Vanessa takes influences from all around the world.

She's willing to just try things a little bit out of the ordinary,

including blueberries in a pasta rag...

I think the brief today definitely makes everything seem more real,

like the possibility of designing a dish that you would

have in your own restaurant.

You feel like you're potentially on your way to sort of

having a career in food.

So I'm doing a take on butter chicken, but I'm deconstructing it.

I am autistic and I have a lot of sensory sensitivities

and, when I go to a restaurant, one of the things that I do when a dish

is presented to me is I spend the first five minutes deconstructing

so that the ice cream is away from my brownie.

And I just want everyone to be able to enjoy a dish the way

that they enjoy it.

So is the dream to have a restaurant?

I'd be on cloud nine if I had a restaurant.

To even have a cookbook, you know, I think this is a dish that somebody

could recreate at home. There's nothing outrageous in it.

I can't wait to try it.

Thank you.

Vanessa is deconstructing one of the most classic Indian dishes

of all, the butter chicken.

She's going to pan-fry her chicken breast in some ghee.

Her butter chicken sauce that's going to go on the side,

that's got to have lots of layers of flavour.

With that, we've got a chayote salad,

a vegetable which is quite firm.

She's going to cut it really, really thinly.

It's like a coleslaw, with apples and carrots going through it.

And then, on the side of that, some texture, with a crumble made

from hazelnuts and lots of different spices and sesame seeds.

I'll be really fascinated to see how this works.

I'm confident in the flavours for sure.

Whether or not they'll like the deconstruction,

that's another thing.

Endang grew up in Indonesia,

so her food has Indonesian influences.

Her flavours are ace but her eye for detail needs improvement.

I just love to invent a dish

and I'm hoping that I can go through to the semifinal.

That would be beautiful.

Endang is inspired by an Indonesian soup

and she's going to turn that into a kind of sauce

to sit below a pan-roasted fillet of beef.

She's going to add lots of other elements to this dish.

She's got tempeh, which is really like a tofu,

except you take soya beans and ferment them.

She's also got some bean sprouts and then a tuile

flavoured with chilli and Parmesan cheese.

On the side of that, we've got sambal.

Lovely, lovely chilli paste,

very, very strong, very, very pungent.

I just hope it's not too overbearing of that piece of beef.

Where does this dish belong?

Could be in a cookbook, because I live in Scotland 22 years.

When I just moved to Scotland, I can't even find lemongrass.

But now lemongrass is in every shop.

So it kind of makes it easier now that you can cook this dish

because the ingredients are now available.

I am very excited to taste your dish today.

Thank you.

All right, cooks. That's 35 minutes gone.

It goes fast.

Nickolas loves French technique

but also brings the flavours of Latin America.

He's now going to take a fillet of beef

but underneath that we've got sweetcorn veloute,

with a chilli going through it as well,

which is smoky but also spicy.

He's also going to serve it with a huacatay oil,

which is something I have never had before.

They might have never tried huacatay.

It's quite an obscure herb. It comes from Peru.

And the poblano chilli is just a beautiful piece of heat

that's going to really spice up the corn.

Ideally, my dream is to have my own restaurant,

and it will be Latin-inspired flavours with French execution.

I want it to be something that people from South America can go,

"Wow, we're proud of this guy. He's doing our name right."

It smells good. Thank you.

OK. So, they're blitzed.

Linda, Liverpudlian who loves the flavours of North Africa

and does really sophisticated, surprising food.

Turning 60, it's given me a boost, really,

to think that, you know, there is more to come.

I've always said I'd love to have my own bistro,

just cook every day, because I love it. I just love doing it. Yeah.

It's sort of like a Moroccan-style dish, because my husband's Moroccan,

an orange blossom Bakewell tart

with almond briouats and some Turkish delight ice cream.

Briouats. I've never had that before. What's a briouat?

It's almond paste with orange blossom water

and then deep-fried in pastry.

So we've got a Bakewell tart, which is very, very British,

these little parcels, which celebrate the cuisine of

North Africa, served with a Turkish delight ice cream.

I know. I just thought I'd throw it all in there.

I love a Bakewell tart - really soft, crumbly, buttery pastry.

I want that top to be lovely and soft

and taste of almonds.

Love that she's going to flavour it with orange blossom.

It's an interesting flavour to add into a Bakewell tart.

She's also going to make these little nutty parcels,

which again will have a hint of orange blossom off them as well.

And then she's melted Turkish delight into creme anglaise

to make an ice cream mixture.

That could be delicious.

Let me just make sure that the flavour is right.

You need to know what you're working with.

Miles is a graphic designer from London.

He takes really classic ideas and he completely turns them

on their head.

He's willing to absolutely go for it.

I think the problem is I've got a lot going on in my head

and I really need to sort of put a filter on that.

I don't have to put everything on the plate.

That's a bit of a worry,

because I want to put everything on the plate.

So, Miles... Yeah. ..what are you going to cook for us?

I'm making a pan-roasted grouse,

and then I'm going to carve the leg and thigh, deep-fry it.

My version of a fried chicken.

And then going to have a red wine sauce, salsify,

with girolles and a redcurrant caviar.

Sounds great. You've got a lot of work ahead.

I've got tonnes of work, yeah. You'd better get going then.

Yeah, let's go.

I love grouse

but grouse legs, they're actually quite tough

and they need a bit of time to cook properly.

Only cooking it in the fryer might result in it being a little bit dry.

Just waiting now.

With that, Miles is making a redcurrant caviar.

He's taking fresh redcurrants and some vinegar, a little white wine,

and he's going to put agar into it,

which will set, like the texture of caviar.

And then we've got salsify.

Salsify isn't bursting with flavour,

so he's going to have seaweed wrapped around it.

I'm curious to see how that's going to taste.

Got to work quickly here.

Robin fascinates me because he thinks very, very

differently from many cooks.

He takes inspiration from everyday items, including a bowl of cereal.

Part of opening a restaurant is the journey

and how your cooking evolves.

This dish is completely new to me.

It's just flavours that I like and potentially would like to grow

in, like, a kitchen garden as well.

Today I am cooking you a leek and potato rarebit pie,

because I like cheese and beer,

a fillet of beef, pickled beetroot, parsley puree,

and the sauce is done with stout and beef reduction,

with a bit of chocolate added in.

We've got a rarebit pie and chocolate?

Yeah. Basically, my favourite flavours - meat, cheese, beer...

...pastry... And chocolate.

It's all of the good things in life.

Robin is definitely going to push the boundaries

when it comes to flavour.

Parsley puree, fillet steak, beetroot -

all of these are reasonable, but all of a sudden we start

sprinkling in Welsh rarebit and chocolate.

There's a huge amount of work on that plate.

I just hope it's not too many things.

John is a painter and decorator from Bristol.

He has young children he cooks for all the time

and one of his children has diabetes,

so he's on a mission to do everything sugar-free.

I'm doing a pud. I thought I was going to have Gregg on my side,

but obviously not today.

He's making for us custard tart with lemon curd.

Custard tart - lovely, creamy filling,

usually with a pastry made from plain flour and butter,

but he's using almonds instead.

Served with that, three different types of rhubarb.

John, you're cooking rhubarb without sugar. Rhubarb without sugar.

That's tricky. Yeah, it's very zingy.

What are you using instead of sugar?

Artificial sweetener taken from a kabocha pumpkin,

a Japanese pumpkin.

We've got this little pickle, which has got bits of rhubarb, star anise

and cinnamon - that's going to be sharp but sweet -

rhubarb stewed with orange,

which is going to be citric and quite sharp,

and then we've got rhubarb which has got beetroot juice

on the outside. I hope it's not all too sharp.

And so where do you visualise this dish belonging to?

where is the dream? well, I'd like to write a cookbook

that everyone can get these recipes from, give them some ideas on where

they can go with the sugar-free stuff, and maybe if I can get one of

these on a shelf in a supermarket, that'd be nice as well.

Have you've got a name for it, like Sweetie John's?

My real name's John but my nickname's Ronnie,

so it's Ronnie's Refreshingly Unrefined.

It's quite a tongue-twister. Yeah. Thanks. Good luck. Thanks very much.

I think I need to show the judges a little bit of refinement

on this one. You know, I'm not cooking for children here.

So hopefully, you know, I've brought enough finesse and enough delicacy

that it looks like a picture-perfect plate.

You've got just seven minutes left, everyone, seven minutes.

Right.

Nearly there.

Whew!

Feisty one, that one.

Final touches. You've only got a matter of minutes left.

That's it, ladies and gentlemen. All done.

Nickolas, come and join us.

First up is delivery driver Nickolas, who has cooked fillet of beef

with a Mexican poblano chilli sweetcorn veloute,

Peruvian huacatay herb oil,

seared king oyster mushroom, chimichurri sauce

and a porcini mushroom tuile.

The dish looks beautiful.

Everything you promised, I can see it on the plate.

Nickolas, your veloute is lovely and smooth.

It's subtle with corn. Your oil around the outside,

this herb from Latin America,

it's almost sort of like a tarragon, mint flavour.

I think that's really good.

The beef is perfectly cooked.

The chimichurri kind of wakes you up.

You've got the sweetness of your sweetcorn

and then this little "hello" at the end.

It's really, really nice.

I'm an amateur cook but I just feel like I'm ready for new horizons.

I can see my restaurant, like, already,

like, I can visualise it.

I'm buzzing. I am buzzing.

Graphic designer Miles has pan-roasted grouse breast

and deep-fried grouse leg in batter,

served with roasted salsify coated in seaweed powder,

a redcurrant caviar and girolle mushrooms,

with shaved walnuts and a red wine sauce.

My breast of grouse is cooked really nicely.

The batter on the outside of your actual grouse leg,

I'm finding really thick.

The leg itself, because the grouse leg is so tough as a piece,

frying it in the way you would fry a bit of chicken,

it's slightly dry and I'm challenged by it.

The seaweed on the salsify, it's a beautiful flavour.

It goes really well together.

The redcurrant caviar, it's really lovely.

But you do fall short on your sauce.

It doesn't have great flavour. It just doesn't add to the dish.

Yeah, there's a couple of errors in there. But overall I'm happy.

I don't think I would be upset with what I've put out there.

I just wish it was perfect.

Anti-piracy manager Vanessa has cooked her take on

butter chicken - chicken breast pan-fried in ghee,

served on a butter chicken sauce

with a hazelnut and sesame chaat crumble,

pilau rice and a chayote salad.

You said you were going to deconstruct butter chicken.

You haven't done that at all. What you've done is you've taken

the elements of butter chicken, and then you've completely modernised it

so it's something completely different.

I think your sauce is great - well-rounded, really lovely

and vibrant. The nuts, I quite like them because actually

it's giving me seasoning.

The chicken is perfectly cooked.

The salad has lots of acidity through it.

And it's very interesting when I have the salad and your butter

chicken sauce together, I think that's really lovely.

Thank you.

I could not have had better feedback.

WHISPERING: Well done.

So I am so happy,

like on cloud nine. Super happy.

Children's rights officer Robin has cooked fillet steak,

topped with pickled beetroot and horseradish sauce,

served with a rarebit pie, parsley puree,

and a stout and chocolate beef sauce.

My piece of steak is cooked absolutely beautifully.

I love the pickled beetroot across the top of it

cos the horseradish with the beetroot and the beef -

marriage made in heaven. The parsley puree,

I expected it to be really finely pureed, but I like the texture

of the puree. I think it's really, really lovely.

The pie, for me, I love the idea of Welsh rarebit.

I'm not getting that real reduced stout and cheese umami flavour

you get from a Welsh rarebit.

But your sauce - it's delicious.

There was a few things I could have done better, and I was worried

about the sauce. But they liked that, so that's good.

Gift shop owner Endang has cooked a beef fillet,

served with cumin steamed rice,

braised spiced soybean tempeh,

a sambal sauce,

a Parmesan and chilli tuile,

mung bean sprouts,

and an Indonesian rawon soup based sauce.

The rawon sauce is so beautiful.

Thank you. You've got this fermented mushroomy flavour,

but then with this aromatic perfumes from your lemongrass

and your galangal coming through, it is beautiful.

Like, I could eat that all day long.

Your beef was cooked beautifully.

Your sambal is sort of rich and sweet with tomato,

but really lovely hot,

like right in the back of my throat hot.

And then all the other bits around the outside

just take it to the next level. Thank you.

I elevate Indonesian dish today to make it MasterChef standard.

I think I'm doing a good job today.

Medical secretary Linda has made an orange blossom Bakewell tart

and Moroccan almond briouats,

deep-fried pastry parcels filled with nuts, cinnamon

and orange blossom, served with Turkish delight ice cream.

The Bakewell tart - the pastry is lovely and thin.

There's a great flavour from the jam.

Your frangipane on top is lovely and moist, but I'm not getting

any flavour of orange blossom.

Those little nut parcels,

sesame seeds around the outside, taste great. But they are dry.

Your Turkish delight ice cream, which is creamy and smooth,

and little tiny gems of Turkish delight,

I think you'd inspire ice cream shops around the world

because that's fabulous.

I'm feeling good. Whether it's enough to get

through, I don't know. But I'm feeling good.

Painter and decorator John has made a sugar-free almond nut pastry

custard tart,

with a lemon curd, served with rhubarb three ways,

roasted beetroot rhubarb, pickled rhubarb jewels,

and an orange rhubarb jam.

There's not a lot of rhubarb on here, is there?

Usually I would have put a bit more on,

but I was trying to make it look nice.

John, that custard tart's fantastic.

Your mixture is so beautifully made. I really like that.

I like your lemon curd, but it's very, very sharp

and I don't think the lemon curd goes with the custard.

The rhubarb jewels were the one element that I was quite worried

about cos I didn't think they would really work.

But actually they're delicious. Although you only gave me two.

But the orange jam is too sharp.

The lemon curd is also quite sharp,

so I'm not sure that it's a well-rounded dish.

I tried to think outside the box. You know, it was supposed to be for

a restaurant dish, so I thought I was trying to up my game,

but obviously I've gone a bit too far.

What do you think?

I mean, the standard of the cooks today was fantastic.

I could really get the passion of them.

In fact, the atmosphere in the kitchen today was glorious.

It's a tough decision.

Two of them are going to leave the competition.

Let's start with Endang.

That sauce was just remarkable.

Beef was cooked beautifully.

The chilli spice coming from the sambal. It was a great dish.

Who else impressed you? Nickolas.

The beef was perfectly cooked.

The sweetcorn veloute was silky smooth with a lovely little kick

of chilli at the end.

I think it looked cool. I think it tasted great.

It was a great dish. Who else?

I really enjoyed Vanessa's take on butter chicken.

The actual butter chicken sauce had so much flavour.

Salad was really vibrant and delicious, and the little nut

seasoning around the outside. You and I were really impressed.

So now we've got Nickolas, Endang and Vanessa going through.

Two more places left in the competition.

Linda, Miles, Robin and John -

two of those stay with us and two of them go home.

Linda made for us a Bakewell tart - lovely pastry

around the outside and little tiny triangles of pastry filled

with nuts, which was sweet.

I would have liked a bit more orange blossom water in the dish.

At the same time that Turkish delight ice cream

was just delicious. Yeah.

Miles, I liked the breast of grouse.

It was cooked really, really nicely.

But the actual leg itself, it didn't work.

The sauce wasn't a really good sauce.

Yeah, I agree with you.

I think the dish was a good dish. It just needs a bit of work.

Robin, the horseradish, beetroot, parsley piece of beef - great.

He really motored very, very hard, but the pie wasn't quite right.

John made for us a custard tart and then rhubarb three different ways

alongside a lemon curd.

He absolutely nailed the custard tart.

But for me, lemon curd, which is going to be sharp,

orange jam, which is sharp, rhubarb, which is going to be sharp,

they really jarred with each other.

I mean, fingers crossed I can just about scrape through.

I've thought it before and I managed to stay, so who knows?

I don't know if I've done enough to go through.

It just wasn't as good as I wanted it to be.

I'm happy with the dish I put forward, but it's just like,

"Is it enough?”

I would be gutted if I go home today because I can see how much

more opportunity there is to keep on building and growing.

I hope that they see the potential.

What can I say but "wow"?

The seven of you cooked your socks off.

Good food needs passion and graft

and all of you brought it today.

There are three people that we believe did outstanding work.

Endang.

Nickolas.

Vanessa.

Congratulations, you're staying with us. Yes! Come on!

Yes!

Thank you.

Linda, Robin, Miles and John...

...two of you will be leaving us.

The first person leaving us...

...is Miles.

Miles, thank you very much indeed.

Thanks. Take care.

The second person leaving us...

...is John.

John, thank you very much.

Great competition. Cheers.

I'm a bit deflated that it's over. It's like a big bubble being popped.

But, you know, I got to showcase plenty of my sugar-free desserts,

which is like gold dust to me.

I'm pretty proud of myself and I know the kids will be,

so that's the main thing.

I thought I might claw it through today. I didn't think I'd go.

Gutted.

But, you know, I said I would come here and I would push the boat out.

You know, I'd try things I'd never tried before, and I did.

So I'm quite proud of that.

It's just the end of the road. That's it.

Congratulations, all five of you. What a brilliant achievement.

Next up, you're going to get your first taste

of a professional kitchen.

I suggest you get lots of sleep.

You're going to need it.

Yes! Oh, my Lord.

This is what I'm here for!

I know! I've been waiting for this one. It's so cool.

It's early morning and the five remaining contestants

are about to face the intense pressure of their first

professional restaurant service

at Decimo at The Standard hotel in London's Kings Cross.

I mean, chef whites. I feel really good.

I feel, like, professional.

Whether or not I can be, I don't know.

I'm ready to go into that kitchen and just really see what it's about.

Just want to take the bull by the horns.

I'm going to work in the professional

restaurant in London.

Oh, God!

In charge is 37-year-old executive chef

Peter Sanchez-Iglesias.

My father's from Seville,

so south of Spain.

And my mum is from Bristol,

so hence the Bristol accent.

Peter learned his craft from an early age in the kitchen

of his parents' restaurant in his mother's hometown.

Bit by bit, I got given the opportunity to be

a commie chef, a chef de partie, and then moving up to sous-chef.

I think I was like 17 when I actually started to kind of

take over the kitchen.

Within five years Peter had won the restaurant a Michelin star,

becoming one of the youngest holders of the award in Europe.

It's the first time where it really then made me feel, you know,

"You could do this, man, you could really create

"a great restaurant and keep pushing it forward and don't hold back."

In 2019, he opened his first London restaurant Decimo,

serving Spanish dishes with Mexican influences.

I've spent a bit of time in Mexico, never really knew what to do

with the things that I learnt and the flavours I tasted.

So when I had this opportunity I was like, "Perfect.”

Central to the restaurant is the open kitchen

with live fire cooking.

You cook meat on it, you cook fish, simple ingredients,

they just become better in flavour.

Those notes of smokiness and wood.

But the heat what comes from that grill is pretty immense.

Having amateur cooks come into the kitchen,

it'd be interesting to see how they get on.

Good morning. Today you're going to be cooking quite a few of the dishes

on our menu. Quite simple, but there"s lots of technical bits

what are going to be quite difficult for you all.

But at the same time, you know, with a bit of hard work, dedication,

hopefully we'll have a good time. So follow me into the kitchen.

The contestants have three and a half hours to prepare

their dishes for today's five course tasting menu.

Vanessa has been tasked with cooking a dish simply titled "pork taco".

Even though the name of the dish is quite short, there's actually quite

a lot of elements into it. So we have a pressed belly of pork.

This has basically been cured for about 48 hours

and then it's cooked again for another 24 hours.

So we're going to pop that onto the grill.

The pork itself, it's just making sure that you put a bit of love

when you're caramelising it and not drying the meat,

cos you don't want to render too much fat away.

As well as cooking the pork to perfection, Vanessa has to juggle

deep-frying a pork belly skin that's been cured for six hours.

Once you see it start to pop a little bit...

Yeah. ..that's it, you want to grab it out. Take it out.

Just the most crispiest thing ever.

Vanessa must then assemble all seven elements of the taco -

refried black beans on a corn tortilla...

The lovely crispy belly of pork.

The pork is then topped with a spicy al pastor sauce, Mexican salsa

and a Spanish aioli.

And then pieces of the chicharron.

Amazing. I'm excited to get stuck in.

I mean, there's a lot going on.

There's a lot of different elements.

I'm terrified of ruining three days worth of work on that pork,

but I think with, like, my methodical nature,

I could do well once I'm in the swing of it.

Vanessa's first task is to prepare her ingredients for the salsa.

I mean, this is what I've got to aim for.

Precision cutting at very minuscule levels

of jalapeno, onion, tomatillos.

Yeah, basically perfection.

Linda will be responsible for pork ribs in a mole glaze,

a traditional Mexican chilli sauce,

served with artichokes and pardina lentils.

Her greatest challenge will be to cook both components

over the 300 degree wood-fired grill.

Don't be scared of it. OK.

It's a hot environment to work with, but at the same time,

the processes of these are quite simple.

The pork ribs have been cured for 48 hours

and slow-cooked for 12 hours

and will be finished off on the fire.

The idea with this is we want the flame just licking it.

When you're caramelising it over the grill, make sure

you don't burn it too much. You just want it to be nice and golden.

This is now what's going to give you a flavour

and going to give you the colour.

The lentil dish can be easily, easily overcooked on the fire.

They have to go really gentle.

I'm worried that I will burn some stuff. For me,

you already saying you're conscious about burning it... Yeah.

...shows me that you're going to take care with it. Yeah.

So that now is cooked.

Then we just glaze it with the mole sauce.

This is to essentially create real sticky barbecue ribs.

We've got the lentils now, artichokes on top.

So here you have it.

The mole glazed ribs with the lentils and the artichoke.

How do you feel about that?

OK.

I mean, if it was just one and then you can take it and plate it,

but if you've got about three on the go when you're running

backwards and forwards, I'm slightly a bit stressed about that.

It's hot on here as well.

I'll be having me hot flushes.

Linda gets straight to work preparing the artichokes.

You have to pull up all the leaves off the bottom,

then you have to pull the petals off until you get

to the lighter colour.

And then cut it, like just over halfway.

They are a lot of work for one little thing, yeah!

Cooking directly in the fire, Robin will be charring and steaming leeks

in foil to serve alongside a dish of red mullet fillets

with chickpeas and a Spanish romesco sauce.

Cos the embers are so hot, it's going to start blackening

the outside and this is going to create like a smoky

characteristic inside it.

So basically into the foil, wrap it up.

Put it back in.

Keeping one eye on the leeks,

Robin will also need to prep his dish's

main component - red mullet fillets.

Give it a light little blowtorching

cos that would happen under the grill.

But what it's going to do now is start to relax.

The fish will be cooked under a salamander on top

of chickpeas in prawn sauce.

When they're cooking the fish under the grill, it's essential

that they just get that little whisper of colour onto it as well.

But then if you don't time it correctly,

you can easily, easily overcook it.

So, right then.

So that's the fish. OK?

So real delicate cooking. Yeah.

So if you feel that, feel it's tender.

Yeah. We're going to trim from the root all the way there.

So not cutting through it, but just below it?

And then we're dressing it with olive oil...

.salt...

Yeah. ..and pepper.

So here you have it. Chickpea with the red mullet,

with the leek and the romesco sauce.

It's going to be a bit of a run around, but I think

you're confident. I'm looking forward to it.

I've never cooked much fish before and I've never really done

much Spanish or Mexican foods.

But it all looks like it's got a lot of heart and love in it,

so I'm just looking forward to cooking and I'm excited to use

the fires, too. That's going to be cool. Yeah.

Robin's first task before service is to fillet and pin bone

the red mullet.

The key thing for me in fish

preparation is the filleting of the fish.

It's a skill a lot of amateur chefs can easily, easily fail at.

It's the first time I've ever filleted a fish, and I'm doing

it in a top London restaurant.

Quite a lot of pressure, but hopefully I'll get quicker

with each one and I'll get these out.

Also sharing the grill,

it's another first for Nickolas.

I've never worked with a pigeon before, so it's a new meat for me.

The breasts are cooked as a crown, so they need to go really,

really delicate when they're cooking it. Not overcook the bird.

Nothing worse than dry pigeon.

The legs need to be browned as well.

Nickolas will also be using the flames to heat through white

beans and Spanish sausage that the pigeon will be served on.

And to finish, a carrot side.

What we want to do is to add a bit of charred-ness,

so we are purposely blackening it a little bit on the outside.

So you're carving that in the middle and then you just want to cut

it into pieces, like so.

Place your legs on top, the carrots.

You dress over the top like this and you finish

with a little bit of orange zest.

So there you have it. The pigeon with the white beans

and the morecilla, and the carrots with orange.

Looks amazing, Chef. Can't wait to make it.

Enjoy it, man. Have fun.

Oh, man. Tasting it

is making me feel a bit more scared cos it's so delicious.

So I need to make sure I've got it to this standard.

Mm.

With 15 pigeons to butcher...

A bit daunting, really, the tray full of pigeons there.

...Nickolas also has to take out the wishbones to make the crown

easier to carve.

I've worked on lots of poultry, but I've never took the wishbone out.

I didn't even know that was a thing, so I usually take it out

while I'm eating it for good luck, you know?

Endang will be tasked with the dessert -

apples, burnt meringue and vanilla crumb.

I'm not looking forward to making dessert because I'm not

a dessert person.

The dish centres around compressed apples.

We compress them in a stock syrup made out of sugared water,

and then we add arbol chilli to it as well,

so it's quite a hot chilli.

OK? OK.

They're topped with Italian meringue and lime sorbet.

Then we want to hit it with coal.

It needs to be red hot, glowing. OK.

If it's not hot enough, it will stick to the meringue

and then you would just end up with a sticky mess.

And as you can see, it's starting to burn.

It's trying to capture that smoky,

almost barbecued marshmallow kind of flavour.

I'm going to finish it with apple caramel and the crumb,

it relates to people's heads and nostalgically

it's like apple crumble. OK. There we go.

How do you feel about it?

Very nervous because of the details.

Yeah, you've got it! Come on, be positive.

Yeah. I will do. I will do. Let's go. I will do.

Endang's main priority is to ensure the sorbet is set

in time for service.

I measure the water just now.

The lime sorbet,

it's really important to make sure that you capture the right acidity.

And I need the lime.

No matter how you work on a recipe,

sometimes you need to do it by taste, because from lime

to lime, acidity levels can change.

Has the recipe come out all right? You're happy with it?

I'm happy with that. Yeah.

Yeah, nice. Thank you.

There's now 90 minutes until service.

With Vanessa's salsa completed, she now has the job of making 50

tacos, which she will have to master using the restaurant's

Mexican tortilla press.

You need to catch some of them when they come out the back,

flip them on here. And some out the front? Yeah.

And there's no order to that? It's just... No, it's very random.

I wish I could tell you why.

Ah! One out here.

Aw, wow!

Not good at this.

OK. Half the tacos are on the floor.

This is terrible!

Oh, dear.

Taco machine - one. Vanessa - nil.

Linda's got her artichokes prepped, and she's moving on to portioning

the pork ribs.

Ooh, I'm not really sure where to cut this bit.

Chefs?

They've got to make sure they cut those bones right,

so there's a bone in each of the ribs.

You want to try just letting the knife do the work for you.

Because you want to serve them as single ribs where people

can just pick them up and eat them.

Working with these ingredients is all new to me.

I haven't cooked really any of these,

so it's an experience and something to learn, really.

Across the kitchen, Nickolas is making good progress

with his pigeons.

I've took all the wishbones out and removed the wings.

And, yeah, they're all prepped up now, ready to put in the bags

and you put the garlic and you put the thyme.

Yeah, I think I've done it quite quickly, so I'm trying to impress

them a bit, so I'm trying to work quite swiftly.

After gentle cooking in a water bath, Nickolas will finish them

off to order on the grill.

I've got the sous vide set to 56 degrees and they're going to be

in here for 40 minutes.

I've never used these things before. It's really exciting.

Robin's got his red mullet filleted and is now working on a prawn sauce

to go with the chickpeas.

So in here I've put some spicy ancho sauce,

the stock that's made from the kombu, the prawns

and the red mullet bones, and some aioli which is like emulsified

through it to add a creaminess. It's good to see how

all the different components go into the sauce.

So trying to get that balance. I'm just hopeful I do them proud.

On dessert Endang's lime sorbet is in the freezer

and she's now prepping apples

to be compressed in a sweet stock syrup with spicy arbol chilli.

The stock syrup can become way too spicy,

so balancing the chilli in that is paramount.

I'm not sure about the time,

but I don't want to do over it or under it.

But it reminds me like in Indonesia

we eat fruit with the chilli sauce.

So it's kind of, "Ooh, that reminds me of home."

There's just 40 minutes until service.

Having finally mastered the tortilla press,

Vanessa's made her 50 tacos,

but each one must now be cooked off on the griddle.

Press it down.

And they start to come up.

It's literally no different from making a chapati.

Linda's working on her Mexican mole sauce...

It's quite strong on your throat. SHE COUGHS

...that contains over 30 different ingredients.

I know it's got a lot of ingredients in it, but I don't really know

what it is. I've never heard of it.

That's the truth. I've never heard of it.

With time running out, Robin's got his prawn sauce made,

but he still has to prep all his leeks

to cook directly in the fire.

I was lucky, my mum took me and my siblings to Italy and we grew

up in the countryside just north of Rome.

We had a little kind of ramshackle wood fire pizza oven outside.

So it's taking me back. Well done, guys.

20 minutes before first course. Yeah?

Yes, Chef. Yes, Chef.

With service fast approaching, Nickolas's prep is complete.

Hey, Nickolas. How are you getting on? These have just come out

of the sous vide. They're all ready.

Yep. Cool. Can we have a look at the carrots?

Yeah, sure. Just to see the texture.

Yeah. They're done. Nice. So you're all up together?

Anything else to do? No. That's everything done at the minute.

Unless there's anything else you want me to do?

Can you do mise en place for tonight, please? Yeah.

On dessert, Endang's racing to get her all-important Italian

meringue made before service.

This is my first time making Italian meringue.

And I'm terrified.

We don't want to mess up.

She needs to heat a sugar syrup to exactly 121 degrees

so it cooks the beaten egg whites.

She needs to be quite precise.

There's lots of details where you can go easily, easily wrong.

Oh, this is serious.

Labour of love.

It's midday and the restaurant is filling up for lunch.

With the service about to start,

the nerves will now be bubbling.

Think of a rock concert when they're just about to open up the curtain

and everybody is waiting.

Slightly frantic, maybe a little bit apprehensive,

but right now I hope truly excited and ready to rock and roll.

Right then, guys. Service has begun. Two tacos away, yeah?

Yeah. Off and running.

Key to the success of Vanessa's dish is the caramelisation

of the slow-cooked pork.

I don't want to ruin the pork

cos somebody spent 36 hours on it.

How's the pork looking? Really good.

Yeah, that looks nice and golden.

As well as the cooking of the meat...

OK, taco.

...she also has to bring together six other elements of her dish.

Cheque on, another two tacos away.

But as the orders come in fast...

And cheque on, another two tacos. Six all day. Yeah.

...the pressure to get them all done quickly mounts.

Just try and move a little bit faster with the tacos, yeah? Sorry.

Looks good, though. Thank you. Looks really, really good.

Just make sure the beans are a little bit looser

cos they're a little bit dry, all right? OK.

Service. Let's go.

Learning as I go along, the beans could be a bit looser.

Pork was cooked perfectly, so...

Yeah, I remembered everything. I'm happy.

We've got our pork belly tacos. Ooh! Oh, wow.

Cheque on, six tacos away.

So that's ten all day. OK.

As the orders start to increase for Vanessa...

Right. Cheque on, Linda.

You've got two pork, two artichoke away. Yep?

Yes, Chef.

...Linda is also under way, juggling her pork and lentils

on the live fire.

Ooh! And another two ribs on top, yeah?

More going on.

Yeah, Linda's going. She's on the grill now.

Ah!

I'm a little bit concerned about the heat right now for her,

but, yeah, she'll get through it.

It's just so hot. It's really hot.

As well as getting the correct char on the ribs,

she has to plate and season the artichokes

and lentil dish correctly...

If you get them all like that, it's perfect.

...and coat all the ribs in the mole glaze.

Oh!

I don't know if that's OK.

Right, that's not a bad start.

Just got to remember, just to compose yourself.

But we're good, we're good. OK.

It's a lot of pressure but it's the heat.

It's like being in hell, like literally the devil's home.

Cheque on, two mullet away.

Oui! Yes, Chef!

With his first order in,

timing is key for Robin's dish. As well as cooking the leeks twice,

first charred in the embers and then wrapped in foil to finish...

...he must also cook his red mullet to perfection.

Right, bro, let's have a look at the leeks.

That's raw. It's raw?

Wrap them back up in the foil and put them on the fire.

I haven't put them in yet. Oh, don't cut them, then.

So cut them at the very end.

It's the very last thing you're doing. OK. Sorry, mate.

Apologies.

Robin is jumping a few steps, so he's already slicing it in half

when really that should be the very last minute.

It's one of those things we caught before it went out.

While Robin finishes cooking his leeks...

Cheque on, one pigeon. And cheque on, two pigeon.

Yes, Chef.

...Nickolas has his first order for his pigeon and white beans.

I'm just trying to get maximum colour

and not to overcook it, really.

Sorry, guys. Squeeze through.

Robin's first dish has finally made it to the pass.

Just go careful on the leek cos that's about as cooked

on the edge as possible, yeah?

A little bit less cooking on these, yeah? A little bit less cooking.

All right, service.

It's just when you learn at the beginning, then you're trying

to do all the prep afterwards, you just forget some of

the tiny processes. Hopefully this time round,

this order, I'll be there.

Back at the grill, Nickolas is ready with his pigeon dish.

These are the two here, Chef.

Wicked.

I like your little hiding trick of the burnt leg there.

It just kicked up all of a sudden, and it just started catching.

Just never try and hide something away from the pass.

You know, it ain't going to get past me.

I'm going to see it. Yes, Chef.

Service.

A little bit of the leg got caught on flame and went a bit too dark

and I tried to hide it underneath the other leg and he's like,

"Don't do that." Lesson learned.

Right, cheque on. Two apple away. Yes, Chef.

Endang's first orders are in for her apple, meringue...

Oh, messy. Messy.

...and lime sorbet dessert,

which requires a deft touch with hot charcoal.

It's very cool, blowing while it's on fire.

Oh!

So, Endang, the apples are great, the meringue is great,

and then the crumb, try not to place it too much to the side.

Yes, Chef. Good job there. Good first start. Thank you.

527!

Cheque on, another pork taco and another two pork tacos on top.

So 16 all day. 16.

On the first course, Vanessa is swamped with orders.

So now this is the real challenge. Just has to make sure she keeps

up with the pace, keeps her calm as well.

I don't feel like I'm working fast enough,

like the pace here is like nothing else.

She's done really good.

Right, then. The only thing, Vanessa, we've just got to be

quicker on it. Ten? Ten now, right?

Yeah, you've got still ten away.

Pork belly taco. Thank you.

Wow!

Such a simple-looking dish

has so many complicated elements.

Like, it is not just a taco.

I think Vanessa has done a really good job.

Nice thin taco. And the pork itself - delicious.

A really well made dish.

Over at the grill...

It's too hot here. I can't do it. It's too hot.

...Linda is struggling.

I feel like I'm cooking.

So, Linda, you've got nine pork ribs on all day, yeah?

Nine? Yeah. Sorry.

Another nine?

Orders for Linda's pork rib are starting to back up.

You all right, Linda? Yeah! Do you want some help,

just from one of the chefs? Just to give you a bit of a push. Yeah.

Honestly you're doing so well. Dom, are you happy to help?

Yeah. I'm over. Right, let's go.

Thank you.

You're good to go on that one.

OK.

Yes, Linda.

Lovely. That looks nice.

Right, service. Let's go.

Ah, I feel like I've been in the sauna for about a week.

The ribs of the sweet soft pork covered in a spicy sauce,

the lentils themselves really smoky, artichokes cooked beautifully.

I know she's going to be stressed, but it's delicious.

Is that OK?

While Linda gets help catching up on her orders,

Robin is still trying to master cooking his fish.

Where's my red mullet?

It's coming. Sorry, Chef.

There's your mullet, Chef.

Uh, Robin, that's raw.

I was trying to do it for less time.

Yeah. I'm going to go with the one. I've got two more.

And then there's the two away, all right? Right, service.

Cooking the fish under the grill is difficult cos you can't see it.

You're constantly trying to squeeze through

to get to the leeks, which have got to be soft.

So, just trying to juggle it all.

I hope this is better for you, Chef. Thank you very much.

Olive oil, salt, pepper? Olive oil, salt, pepper.

Pepper on that one? Should be, maybe a bit more needed. A touch more.

OK. Excellent. Thank you, mate.

Lovely job, Robin. Thank you, Chef.

I would like everything to be perfect

and sometimes things haven't been perfect.

They're just slightly under, slightly over.

It's difficult. It's really difficult.

That sauce around those chickpeas tastes of the sea,

like a really good bouillabaisse. Across the top - soft, beautifully

cooked bit of mullet. That leek is really lovely

and charred on the outside and slightly bitter.

But inside it's steamed and it's lovely and soft.

It's great.

Across the kitchen, Nickolas is thriving under the pressure.

There you go, Chef. Yeah. Wicked.

Service. Right, let's... Let's... Yeah.

We've got nine on, so I've got to crack on.

They've all come in at one time. Got to make sure the standard

is high though, cos when you're trying to rush things,

it's never a recipe for success.

Should have a two and a one coming up. Yep.

Chef, there's the single. Right, service.

You know, I think practice makes perfect.

The more I make, the better I get, I suppose.

I'm loving the experience, though. It's just manic.

But I like it. The adrenaline's rushing.

I've got to say, I think the cooking of the pigeon is absolutely perfect.

I think Nickolas has done a great job. Wonderful, soft

beans sitting underneath that pigeon, but the flavours are dancing

all over the place. Absolutely fantastic.

Cheque on, another apple.

Apple coming.

Endang's also got multiple orders on for her dessert.

So that's seven all day, yeah?

Oui, Chef. Should be two now.

Yep. Great job. Right, service.

But the heat of the kitchen is causing problems

for her lime sorbet.

That's probably just getting to the point where

it's a bit too... Quite wet, isn't it?

The next one, make sure you start from scratch.

A nice, fresh one. Yes, Chef.

Yeah.

You know, you're doing that meringue amazing? Thank you.

Beautiful. Service.

524. Right, cheque on. One apple, oui?

Yes, Chef!

Enjoy.

Presentation's been, like, really, really good.

Thank you very much. Keep it up, though, cos we want to finish

the way we started. Yes, Chef. Thank you.

Endang is back in town.

There's chilli in there, that's for sure.

The meringue itself is amazing.

That flavour of like smoke, then you get refreshed

by lime sorbet. It's amazing!

Service is almost over.

This is your last two, what you're doing. Let's make

these the best you've made all day. Oh, they will be!

Final two, just as I was getting into the swing of it as well.

It's so annoying.

Yeah, Vanessa's done really well.

Bit more refinement in a few places, but I think

it's just because of the quantity of what she had on.

It was a lot to deal with.

Lovely. Thank you. Well done.

You've done great, so great. Thank you.

Service.

I mean, that was an introduction into a professional

kitchen, wasn't it? And it's definitely something

that I think with a bit of practice would be right up my street.

Yeah, Linda, you got the last two plates? Nearly there!

I was sort of enjoying it, but really that was hard.

Excellent. Look, you've done really well.

That grill is brutal.

I'm proud of you, all right? Thanks, Chef.

I'd just love now a big glass of lager, cold. It'd be lovely.

All of them are meant to be the best, really, so they

all should be at a high standard.

But, yeah, we'll give a big push on this one.

Literally get a buzz being in here.

Like, I love the adrenaline rush that I get.

I think I'm a bit of a high energy person anyway, so I love it.

It's just... I feel at home here.

Brilliant, thank you very much.

Be proud of yourself, all right? Yeah, thanks, man.

It's very exciting, very intense.

A learning curve, for sure.

It's looking good. Right, service.

All in all, an excellent experience. Yeah.

Right, then. It's the last two, finishing off the service. Woo!

Yeah, you're there. See? Yeah.

Excellent day. Excellent day.

I could do more.

Not full time.

Excellent. Perfect. Great job.

You captured that dish perfectly. Thank you very much, Chef.

All right, service. Going to 525.

The last one. High five?

Yes!

After seven hours in a professional kitchen, the amateurs' first

restaurant service is finally over.

I feel a sense of relief.

I knew it would... It was going to be a big challenge for amateur chefs

to be able to cook in this kitchen, with fire, the heat.

So in the end, I think it's a bit of an eye opener to me to what level

an amateur chef can cook at.

And I think that speaks volumes.

I'm so happy. That was just such an incredible buzz.

And I really hope that I did Chef proud.

It was tough. But, yes, I still want to have my own little restaurant.

Absolutely, yeah. Not a charcoal grill in it!

There won't be one in sight.

A fantastic start to knockout week.

The food's been delicious, but it hasn't been without hard toil

and real difficult grind.

Next up, the other group are going to have to prove

they've got what it takes to actually do the same.

Next time, the second group of seven

are back to battle it out...

Don't panic. This is a joy.

...for the chance to work in their first professional kitchen.

I know the pressure's on. We are busy, but we need to pick up

the pace, please.