Original subtitles

It's the last MasterChef quarterfinal,

and this week's four best cooks are back.

It's pretty unreal, to be honest.

I've just got to make sure that I deliver every time

I cook in that kitchen.

Everyone here can cook.

I've got a fight on my hands to go as far as I can in the competition.

It's huge -

quarterfinal MasterChef.

It's unbelievable.

The pressure today is intense.

I want it more than ever now, so let's see where it takes me.

Tonight, their toughest challenge so far...

Time seems to disappear in here, doesn't it?

...stands between them and a place in Knockout Week.

It's really agonising.

What an extraordinary group of cooks we have.

I love this pudding.

The heat is on.

It's either going to simmer nicely or it's going to boil over.

Welcome to a MasterChef quarterfinal.

Today is a day that you have to deliver.

You are going to be presenting your food not just to us here,

but to three guests in the dining room -

to a finalist and two past winners of MasterChef,

Claire Fyfe,

Simon Wood,

and Ping Coombes.

If you want to get a glimpse of what success on MasterChef

can do for you, it's waiting for you in the dining room.

Two courses, one hour and 15 minutes.

We'll only take the best cooks with us.

Make it great,

get yourself a place in Knockout Week.

Let's cook.

John, our painter and decorator from Bristol,

is out on a mission to show everybody you can cook

great food without sugar because his daughters are diabetic.

That is light, delicate, and banging on the door of delicious.

Well done.

I've been cooking a long time in my life,

and I've been looking for a bit of validation

towards my cookery skills.

Getting it from John and Gregg finally actually means

that I really can cook,

so long may it continue.

John, you are bustling and running around. You look excited.

Quarterfinal day - did you think you'd get this far?

Not in my wildest dreams.

I'm glad I'm here. And it's just a lot to do today.

We have really marvelled at your desserts,

but by the looks of it, we don't have a dessert.

No, I'm going to attempt to show you that I can cook something

other than a sugar-free dessert. I'm not a one-trick pony.

John's given himself a huge amount of work to do.

I just hope he's not being overambitious.

Time seems to disappear in here, doesn't it?

His first dish is a piece of hake, which he's pan-frying.

Hake, if you overcook, goes very, very dry like cotton wool.

He's serving it with a fennel puree and roasted fennel,

crispy fried anchovies across the top of that bit of hake.

Lovely.

The main - we've got a poached chicken,

we've got a celeriac fondant, we've got a celeriac crisp,

we've got a pea puree, we've got asparagus,

we've got girolles, we've got a hollandaise.

Mate, if he gets that done, I'll be absolutely amazed.

Is it risky attempting this much, and how risky is it?

It's very risky. I've got a lot to do.

Jack is starting to believe in himself.

And for me, he's got an extraordinary palate.

Boozer, beauty, bingo.

Absolutely brilliant, mate.

Can he keep the momentum going?

What are you making, please, Jack?

I'm making roasted duck breast with parsnip puree,

parsnip crisps, roasted parsnips,

with a duck, red wine and cherry sauce.

A dessert?

Probably tempting fate here, but a pistachio souffle

with a cherry ice cream/getato.

Yay! Jack's making a dessert that's going to be a souffle.

I want to develop.

I'm not going to say I'm going to go and win,

but I want to leave a much better chef than what I came.

The duck breast - he needs to render the fat,

and then he needs to let it rest.

Dessert - a pistachio souffle and a cherry ice cream.

Absolutely fantastic.

I tell you what, he's absolutely going for gold.

Souffle and an ice cream -

mate, that is double risky.

I probably haven't given myself any time if things go wrong.

But if things go right, I should be able to get it out,

but I'm going to be running around that kitchen.

Stay out of my way!

Endang has introduced us to the food of Indonesia.

At times, extremely spicy with chilli.

Some of it was so hot that it blew our heads off.

You gave us it from the heart.

If anybody's going to turn the heat up today, it's Endang.

Tell us about your two courses. What are you cooking for us?

Nasi goreng with prawn,

and chicken satay with peanut sauce

with grilled mango.

Nasi goreng is a national dish of Indonesia.

National dish of Indonesia, yes.

Nasi means rice. Yeah.

Goreng means... Fried. ..fried. OK.

And dessert? Marshmallow chocolate mousse with almond shortbread.

Your husband's Scottish, and you're making a shortbread. Mm-hm.

Going back to Indonesia, we always buy shortbread

for a gift to the family.

And they say, "What is it?"

"That is the national dish of Scotland!"

I love that! I absolutely love that.

Endang is making things that are really close to her heart -

nasi goreng, fried rice.

Wherever you arrive in Indonesia, it's just nasi goreng everywhere.

Even in the breakfast, they give you nasi goreng.

On the side of that, chicken with a peanut satay sauce.

Beautiful. I mean, food I really want to eat.

I can't even see.

Making the mousse with the marshmallows -

that's a clever idea, but can she make it look elegant?

Mm, wowser.

Diya's food has been really colourful

and actually quite elegant.

This is really confident, clever cooking.

She's proved to us that she can master spice.

I am making today, for starters, a met hi na got a bhaji ya,

which is a Gujarati fenugreek, sweetcorn, coriander,

mixed bhaji ya.

So we're getting a bhaji? Indeed.

For the main course, I'm making you a East African

rustic style curry.

It's very hearty, spicy, and...

...and delicious.

We knew that you... Indian parents, obviously,

but you grew up in Malawi. Mm-hm.

Where did you come across this?

I came across this at home.

I have some very fond memories of cooking growing up with my mum.

I used to stand there by the hob as a four-year-old frying puris.

That's the first thing I actually learnt how to make.

Bhaji flavoured with fenugreek.

Fenugreek to me is almost THE smell of curry.

Very fragrant.

We want it really crispy on the outside.

The first dish is something my mum used to make a lot.

I mean, it's never going to be as good as my mum's,

but I'm going to try and recreate them today.

I'm hoping that the judges do like them as well.

For main course, we have what she's calling an East African curry.

That chicken lovely and tender, the sauce being rich,

and lots and lots of different layers of flavour.

We're going to get bhaturas,

which are puffed up breads and lovely and fluffy on the inside.

It just warms you up.

It's like a hug in a bowl, I think.

First course, 20 minutes.

Life since MasterChef has done a complete 180

in the most amazing way.

I helped set up a boutique hotel,

launched the first ever MasterChef textiles range,

and I've just written my first cookbook.

Coming back is always the highlight of my year, to be honest.

It's something that you look forward to

and, you know, you're quite apprehensive

of what you're going to get.

Is it going to be good? Is it not? You know, it's exciting.

I remember this round being particularly difficult.

You're new to the kitchen, new to equipment,

in a pressurised environment,

and you have to deliver eight plates of food.

That's really difficult, even for the most accomplished of chefs,

so I wish them all the luck.

And I'm hungry, so bring it on!

Cheers, everyone. Cheers. Cheers, guys.

Welcome to your first time on the judging table.

Feels good.

You've got three minutes. You ready? Yeah.

John's starter actually really excites me.

The hake needs to sing.

The cooking has to just be spot-on.

You want that really, really crispy skin,

and it just to be glistening in the middle.

Boquerones is a marinade of anchovies with vinegar.

It's fresh, it's delicious,

but he has taken that boquerones and battered it.

I think his intention is to add a crunch to this dish,

which is quite clever.

What else is to go on here, John?

Just a lime and coriander oil.

I like the sound of the fennel, coriander and lime.

It's something that excites me.

I'm keen to see how that does come together with the fish.

You're on time, John. Perfect.

Go, young man. Perfect. Well done.

Thank you.

Hello.

Today, I've cooked pan-fried hake

with a fennel puree, roasted fennel, crispy boquerones,

and a lime and coriander oil.

Thanks very much. Thank you. Thanks.

It does smell really good. Yeah, it does. Mm.

The fish skin on mine is really nice and crispy,

and John has got it spot-on with the cooking of this fish.

It's nice and glistening.

I think the coriander and lime oil is quite lovely.

It brings colour to the plate, and also a little bit of balance

and herbiness to the fish as well.

This is supposed to be a crispy fried boquerones,

and it's not, sadly. It looks quite doughy.

The seasoning for me is bang-on, though.

Really good flavour combinations, really good dish.

For an amateur, I think that's a really good plate of food.

15 minutes for your main. Thank you very much.

We've got a lot of ingredients.

Yeah. That's a lot of work.

It's a bit burnt.

We've got crispy skins, we've got girolles,

we've got to make a hollandaise,

we've got to hope that doesn't split,

as well as making a pea puree and a celeriac fondant.

Poaching chicken is a skill.

To actually get that chicken breast really kind of, like, moist

and succulent with all those other things going on as well,

I think it's going to be a challenge. Yeah.

There you go, that's it. Nice.

And where's your crisps? I'm not serving the crisps.

I burnt them. Sorry.

He's trying to show loads of different skills.

It's classical cooking at its best,

so he needs to execute it to that level.

GREGG: You've got through a tonne of work.

Good man. Well done, well done.

Thank you very much.

So |I've cooked a poached chicken breast

with a pea and miso puree,

a celeriac fondant,

asparagus, a tarragon hollandaise sauce,

and some garlic mushrooms.

And there was supposed to be crispy celeriac,

but I burnt them, but there is a crispy chicken skin.

Thanks. Enjoy. Cheers. Thank you.

I'm really impressed that he pulled this off on time.

I didn't execute everything perfectly.

Maybe I gave myself a little bit too much to do.

I'm feeling elated the fact that I got it out on time.

The chicken skin is crispy. Fondant is cooked through.

But unfortunately for me, the chicken is dry. Mm-hm.

He did do a really lovely hollandaise.

The subtle flavour of tarragon came through.

Asparagus, girolles, hollandaise -

it's a wonderful, wonderful thing.

Jack, you've got ten minutes.

You all right? I think so, yeah.

Your glasses are off. That means what? Business.

Business. OK.

Jack is cooking a roast duck with parsnips, parsnip puree,

five spice parsnip crisps,

and he's serving that with a red wine and cherry sauce.

The cooking the duck is key.

It needs to have that really crispy skin,

be nice and pink in the middle, but also rested.

Happy with that? Yeah.

There's classic cookery involved here.

We've got a rich red wine sauce, silky parsnip puree.

And then if those crisps can retain a nice crunch to them,

along with the little warmth of five spice, we could be in for a treat.

Very impressed. Head down, keep going.

Well done. It looks great. Well done, you.

That looks really good, Jack.

So I've made for you pan-roasted breast of duck

with parsnip puree, parsnip crisps, roasted parsnips,

grilled spring onions in duck fat,

a herb and roasted garlic salsa,

and a cherry and red wine sauce.

Thank you. Enjoy. Thank you.

CLAIRE: I just want to get stuck in.

Oh, Jack! I love this dish.

This duck skin is super crispy.

The puree is nice and silky.

I think he's nailed it.

It's a really well-balanced plate of food,

and I want to stop talking and just keep eating.

You do get that slight sweetness of cherry

that just cuts through the fattiness of the skin of the duck,

along with the salsa, which is fresh and vibrant.

That is the best plate of food I've eaten at this table...ever.

The duck is cooked beautifully and it's well rested.

The puree is lovely and creamy, and really, really rich.

I actually think this is a fair bit of quality cookery

from the young man. I really do. I'm impressed.

How long have the souffles got to cook for?

I'd say about ten minutes.

Right. Well, you need to get that done.

Jack is giving us pistachio souffle with cherry gelato.

I love the sound of this.

Very tight, very tight.

Being someone that's been in this round of the competition

and was foolish enough to do a souffle,

Jack will be worried now.

It was probably my most ridiculous decision of the competition

to try and pull that off.

It still gives me nightmares.

It's really agonising.

You're due in 90 seconds.

I'm going to be a couple minutes late. A couple?

I'm just waiting on my souffles.

I have visions of Jack right now

just staring into that oven being like, "Please rise."

So fingers crossed it's going his way.

Right, come on. Let's go.

Whoa! We got souffle!

Look at that.

Well done, you.

For dessert, |I've made a pistachio souffle with a cherry gelato.

Please enjoy. Thank you. Thank you.

I've had enough.

Time out!

HE SIGHS

Good things come to those that wait.

It's light, it's airy,

the little crunch from the pistachio.

He's nailed it.

It's addictive, it's not overly sweet.

He could maybe punch in more cherry flavour in that gelato,

but I don't care, because it's really good.

Jack! I love this pudding.

Oh, I just want to eat it and eat it and eat it again.

I think that's the biggest compliment you can pay to any chef.

Mm.

I like the flavour of the pistachio nuts in the souffle,

and I really love that with the texture of the ice cream.

Lovely mild cherry-flavoured ice cream.

Quite sweet. Nice.

15 minutes on your first course. OK.

Endang's main course -

we've got a chicken satay with a prawn nasi goreng,

chargrilled mango, and spiced crackers.

That, to me, really resonates.

For me, a chicken satay has to be wonderfully spiced,

succulent, and just have the perfect char.

Nasi goreng means fried rice.

For me, a fried rice is a skill,

because you've got to fry the rice on high heat

so that it doesn't clump together.

Nice. Looking good.

I love the fact that she's doing the chargrilled mango

to bring that sweetness.

What's to go on the plate now? Satay.

Come on, Endang.

Let's see that mango go.

Anything else? No.

Well done.

Well done, Endang.

Today, I cook you nasi goreng with prawns,

chicken satay with peanut sauce and grilled mango.

Thank you. Thanks. Thank you very much.

My mouth is on fire!

Ooh!

It is actually quite spicy.

The chicken is beautifully tender.

The nasi goreng is also quite spicy.

The prawns are perfectly cooked.

The dish itself is well flavoured.

I like the seasoning.

I'm happy with the level of heat.

I've got a nice tingle on my palate.

Everything is cooked really well.

Rice, beautifully cooked.

Sweet prawns - there's a creeping heat.

The chicken is beautiful and tender, slightly charred on the outside.

I like that a lot.

We've got 15 minutes till our mousse. You all right? Yes.

Endang's dessert is a marshmallow chocolate mousse

served with an almond shortbread.

I'm intrigued by this.

For me, a chocolate mousse has to be light

and the right amount of sweetness and bitterness,

so too much of marshmallow might be too sweet.

Marshmallow chocolate mousse.

It's something that's new to me.

I'm quite keen to try it.

I'm also a massive fan of shortbread.

Yes, it's crispy!

Are you happy with this? I am very, very happy.

Are we ready to go? Yeah.

Well done. Thank you.

I made you marshmallow chocolate mousse with almond shortbread.

I hope you enjoy it. ALL: Thank you.

I'm feeling great that the challenge is done.

SHE SIGHS

For one hour and 50 minutes, you have to produce two dishes.

It's just...nightmare.

I have to say that I'm converted to marshmallow mousse making.

The texture is sublime.

That cream at the top just helps, like, kind of cut through

that richness a bit and lighten it up.

Mm. It's delicious.

This shortbread, to me, is absolutely spot-on.

I'm in heaven with this.

Mm!

Yeah!

I feel like I've walked back into my Auntie Susan's 1980s dinner party.

Chocolate mousse served in a cup

with a really nice shortbread biscuit.

Diya, five and a half minutes left.

Are you happy? Yes, I'm happy.

I love a bhaji.

Wonderfully spiced, soft in the middle,

crunchy on the outside, and you just want to go back for more.

Frying is a skill.

You don't want to overcook it and, you know, inside is raw.

They're good. Definitely very good.

Fenugreek is something that has to be used

with a delicate touch. Yeah. I agree. Yeah.

Too much and it would be like when you have too much saffron

and it's medicinal and overpowers.

One, two... Always odd number.

Well done. Very well done.

Out you go.

OK. Thank you. Thank you, both.

I have made for you today

met hi na got a bhaji ya combined with sweetcorn

and a whole load of spices,

with a coriander, mint and peanut chutney

and a tomato garlic chilli sweet chutney as well.

I hope you enjoy it. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. It smells amazing.

I think it looks very simple.

There's a lot of stuff going on in these little bhajis,

but they're too small.

They're a little bit too over fried, I feel.

The mint chutney goes really well, and you do need that sweetness,

but this tomato sauce is a bit too watery.

It's quite raw and her by,

almost medicinal kind of taste that I'm not a fan of. Mm-hm.

And I also find that the bhaji itself is a little bit too salty.

I would like more sweetcorn.

I think some more sweetness would balance out the flavours.

It's... Yeah, it's just...

It's really not for me.

That mint chutney that she's got there with a little bit of coriander

going through it and more cumin is really, really lovely,

but those bhajis are very bitter.

It's very, very salty.

When you compare it to other dishes in the room,

the amount of work on the other plates,

it's looking a little simple.

Right, 15 minutes, yes? Yes. OK.

We've got a chicken mchuzi, which is an East African chicken curry,

and a kachumber salad with a pilau rice.

And we've got some bhatura bread as well.

There seems to be different influences in here.

There's East African spices being used,

and bhatura and kachumber is of Indian origin.

Well done, chef. There's a lot of work here.

Right. I'm good to go, guys.

OK, we're ready to go. Let's go, let's go, let's go.

There you go. Thank you.

Thank you.

I have made you an East African curry with a pilau rice

and a bhatura, which is like a puri bread,

and a kachumber spicy salad.

I hope you enjoy it, guys. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Diya. Thank you so much.

Oh, my God!

Yay, I did it!

I'm not the biggest curry fan in the world,

but, Diya, you've converted me,

because this is absolutely banging.

The rice is nice and fluffy, the chicken is so moist.

And this, the bhatura bread - I've actually never had one before.

It's fluffy, it's light, even though it's fried.

The chicken is succulent.

And just when everything gets that little bit too spicy,

you've got that great little salad to dip into,

refresh your palate, before you go again.

She nailed this one.

Beautifully cooked chicken.

That's a great sauce.

It's garlic, ginger, turmeric, coriander, smokiness.

It doesn't look that sophisticated.

The breads haven't quite worked,

and it is still a little bit doughy inside, which is a shame.

We knew this was going to be a hotly contested quarterfinal.

We know the standard of cooks so far

who've gone through to Knockout Week.

Who's going to join them and who's leaving the competition?

I think John pushed himself.

Really good fennel puree,

really good roasted fennel,

nice array of flavours, a lot of work.

The main course - chicken breast, crispy chicken skin,

a celeriac fondant, a hollandaise. HE LAUGHS

The list just went on and on and on.

He put a lot of work into that.

If there's one thing that you, me, and everyone in the dining room

agreed on, and that was the quality of Jack's cooking

with that duck breast main.

The souffle, I think, was just perfectly made.

Endang cooked for us nasi goreng.

That rice was cooked beautifully and really well seasoned,

the chicken falling apart off those lovely sticks.

It's easy to mess up. I think she cooked well.

All of us loved her mousse.

Glossy, shiny, thick, sticky.

Not too sweet.

You, me, and the dining room loved Diya's curry,

were underwhelmed by the bhajis.

I found those balls really quite salty.

I've done the best I can. I've put everything into it.

Just have to wait and see what happens.

I want to carry on, but I just... You just don't know.

I think I've done enough.

I can't do anything better than that.

Whether it's good enough or not, I don't know,

but let's just be optimistic about this and see what happens.

You and I need to make a decision.

A big decision.

Who makes it through to Knockout Week?

A MasterChef quarterfinal, as you've now learned,

is a very tense affair, a lot of pressure.

And decisions can come down to the finest of margins.

At the start of this,

we did say we'd only take the best cooks with us.

We have decided that three of you

are going through to Knockout Week.

That does mean that one of you is leaving the competition.

The person leaving us...

...is Diya.

Diya, sad to see you go.

Thank you very much for all your hard work.

Thank you very much, both of you. Thank you, guys. Thank you so much.

I feel upset, of course, it's a very natural feeling,

but I'm happy. I couldn't have done it any better.

I can call myself a quarter finalist, so I'm happy.

I'm very happy with that.

Endang, John, Jack,

congratulations. You are through to Knockout Week.

Very emotional, yeah.

I just literally can't believe it that I've made it.

So, yeah, I'm very, very, very pleased.

I think I can tell everyone that I'm a good cook.

I am. I'm a good cook. Yeah.

Knockout Week. Wow. I just can't wait.

If you could bottle that feeling, honestly, you'd make a lot of money.

Next time...

...it's Knockout Week.

The best 14 from the heats fight to stay in the competition...

That's fabulous.

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

Where's my red mullet?