All language subtitles for MasterChef (UK) The Professionals S17E05

From across the UK...

..32 up-and-coming chefs...

..are putting their reputations
on the line

in a battle to become
Professional MasterChef Champion.

Tonight, four new hopefuls compete
to impress

MasterChef judge Gregg Wallace,

renowned chef Monica Galetti,

and culinary legend
Marcus Wareing.

Today is one of the most
important days of my life.

I just want to prove
that I've got what it takes.

I'm very, very competitive.

Love the pressure,
love the tension.

Very excited.

I want to go as far as I can

and enjoy the process,
definitely.

I just want to show my love of food.

If the people who I'm cooking
for enjoy it just as much as me,

then, yeah, I'm happy.

Who's got what it takes to set
this competition alight?

It's time to uncover
a new culinary superstar.

Right. We have got exciting talent
to meet. First of all,

they are going to face
a Skills Test.

Marcus, your Skills Test.

What are you going to get
them to do?

I would like
our chefs to cook for us

a aubergine steak glazed
with miso and soy,

and served with
a spicy peanut sauce.

I think this is a great challenge!

It's quite out there -
aubergine, miso.

This has almost become a classic
dish to enjoy dining out.

This sounds like another
great example of the versatility

of plant-based cooking.

20 minutes.
Go on, Marcus, show us how.

Right. So first thing we need to do
is to get this aubergine cooking.

Straight in half. You've got to keep
the skin on,

because it just holds it
all together,

otherwise it's just going to fall
to pieces.

By scoring it,
that just allows all the flavours

and the juices to get into the heart
of the aubergine.

A little bit of oil.

I'm just going to put that straight
down into the pan.

Aubergine is a very watery vegetable

and you need to cook it
the perfect way

that you can still retain some
of that moisture

and not completely dry it up.

What I wanted to do
at this particular stage

was just get that colour.

So, now I can put into my pan
a little bit of stock.

Miso.

A bit of mirin, rice wine,

and the soy sauce.

The aubergine's going to steam
in all of the flavours

and that's going to become the glaze

that's going to finish the dish.

It's the miso that gives it
real body

and it gives it that sort of
meaty flavour.

Just going to cover this,
a little cartouche,

a little bit of greaseproof,

and that's just going to
gently just cook away.

What you'll notice is the aubergine
will start to just gently sink down,

become a little bit flat.

Once you get to that soft stage,

then that's pretty much
when you're there.

I'd like to think our chefs

give the aubergine time to cook.

I don't want rare aubergine.

Well... Or it'll cook too much,
it'll just go to mush.

We'll have an aubergine sauce.

So, now I'm going to start
to make my spicy peanut sauce.

So I've got a head of ginger,
which I've peeled and chopped up.

A couple of cloves of garlic.

Chilli.

I'm going to make a paste.

Ginger, garlic, chilli -
I mean, it's a base

of some great flavoured sauces
and dishes, isn't it?

So, curries... Mm!

My pan is warming up and so into
that I'm going to put chilli, cumin,

cinnamon, ground coriander...

Lovely!
..and a little bit of turmeric.

Spices into a dry pan and let
the oils come out of them, right?

That's how you get the best
flavour out of them.

There's no point in sprinkling
them in at the end.

In there, peanut butter.

Good spoon of that.

So, the peanuts, the chefs can put
them in the satay sauce

if they wish.

But I've just used
the peanut butter,

which I think is perfect
for that type of sauce.

Your ginger garlic mix.

Now you can start to smell it.

Beautiful.

Now in with some coconut milk.

We've got a little bit
of sweet soy sauce as well.

There's enough flavourings
and spices on that bench

for the chefs to go
in many directions.

Yeah. I'm excited by this.

Yeah, very true. Very true.

Aubergine, as you can see,
is nice and soft.

Lift that out.

So, just take this beautiful sauce,
I'm just going to reduce that down,

just becomes a nice glaze.

I think we're ready to dress.

Absolutely yummy.

Aubergine on.

Look at that!
That is big and it's lovely!

And I've just chopped up
a few little peanuts.

I've got some little curry leaves
here,

which I've just gently
deep-fried for a bit of garnish.

I'm just going to finish the dish
off with just a little bit of glaze.

There we have it.

Soy and miso-glazed aubergine steak
with a spicy peanut sauce.

This is the kind of dish
that just makes me so happy.

Cooking of the aubergine,

it's soft.

Still a bit of firmness there.

I loved how you reduced
the glaze down,

because if it was too thick
in that pan,

this could be very salty. Mm.

The peanut sauce,
so many spices in there.

Yeah, good luck to our chefs.

Monica,
we've got to get the chefs in.

You're going to watch from
the monitor with your expert eye.

We'll see you back for the tasting.
See you in a bit.

This is going to be great.

Are you ready for them?
I am ready.

Let's get them in.

NARRATOR: First up is 33-year-old
chef patron Ritchie,

who runs his own plant-based
restaurant

in the heart of Nottingham.

Food was, you know,

a massive part of my childhood.

I was always fed well and everything
was always cooked from the heart.

Mum and Dad taught me what they knew
and then went on to start cooking

for the family quite young.

I always knew I was going
to be a chef,

I just had to get there.

I feel like what might set me apart
is my ability

to do awesome stuff with plants.

I feel like you really have to earn
your flavour with fruit and veg.

I've been cooking
for around about 11 years now.

I'm still learning every day.

I want to better myself.

I'm absolutely buzzing
and I can't wait to show the judges

what I can do.

Hello, Ritchie.
Welcome to MasterChef.

This particular Skills Test
was set by none other

than my mate Marcus Wareing.

What I'd like you to cook for us
is an aubergine steak

glazed with miso and soy,
served with a spicy peanut sauce.

OK. You all right
with a bit of veg cookery?

Absolutely. Yeah, it's...
It's what I do...

Is it? ..day-to-day.

So, I'm a fully plant-based chef.

Ah, that's great! Good.

I think this will be fine, then.

20 minutes. Off you go.

I don't understand why Ritchie
has just cut the edge

of the aubergine off.

You need the skin around it
to hold it together.

Explain to me
what's going on.

I'm going to get my aubergine on.

Just get a nice bit of colour
on it.

And I'm going to make
a nice spicy dressing.

I just want to keep a bit
of texture,

similar to pesto sort of vibe.

I know you're a plant-based chef,
but is this your style, this?

Absolutely. So a lot of the things
that I do

is focused around Asian cookery,

so a lot of Japanese,
Korean influences.

A lot of spice he just threw
on there.

It's just a bit careless.

He's got to be quick, because that
aubergine will just soak up

the flavours of the soy sauce.

It will get more and more salty.

So I'm just reducing down
for my glaze.

I'm going to keep the aubergine
in the pan,

because it's like a sponge.

It's going to soak up as much
flavour as possible.

Add some miso.

I'm going to add a bit of ginger
into that.

It's a bit rough, Ritchie,
the way he's working.

It's just so rough.

I mean, the ginger is so thick.

It's rough.

Slightly a little bit too salty.

So I've just let that down
with a bit of water.

Of course it's salty.

He threw a whole lot of
soy sauce in there.

Coming up to halfway.

So you've got ten minutes left.

Tell me what you've got
to go, please.

OK, so I've roasted some
salted peanuts up

and with a little bit of olive oil,

and some fresh chilli
in there,

I'm going to make
a nice spicy dressing.

Have you been a chef since
you left school?

I haven't, actually. So the first
thing that I did is I ventured

into the realms of music.

So I've been in a variety
of different bands.

I've had a variety of different
haircuts.

You look like a
19th-century composer.

HE LAUGHS

I'll take that.

Or not very composed today,
pardon the pun. Wahey!

Thank you very much.

You've got five minutes.

I've kept some texture in there
from the crunchy peanuts.

I'm going to add a little bit
of chilli powder,

as we want it nice and spicy.

He keeps adding
the spices cold.

You need to bring some heat to it
to really open them up

and get the best flavour out of
those spices.

How's that glaze?

It's great.
It's got a little bit of heat to it.

It's nice and umami coming
through with the miso in there.

You've got a minute,
all right, my friend?

Let's finish this off.
Thank you.

Oh, my goodness,
this poor aubergine.

That's it. Time's up.

Well done. Thank you.

Ritchie.

Hi, Chef.

I actually thought the aubergine
would be overcooked.

It's actually not.
Very salty, though.

Your peanut sauce could
have been a little bit smoother.

There was some coconut milk there,

and you were throwing in
quite a lot of the spices raw,

and they do need heating up
in the pan

to get the flavours out.

So I think it could be better,
but overall it's not a bad start.

Thank you.
Well done, Ritchie.

The way you cut that aubergine,

you need to keep the skin
on to hold it together.

And the way you cooked it,
it was just so rough.

Threw spices on it,

slices of garlic onto it,
in went soy

and just let it soak up all
the soy sauce.

That's why it's so salty.

I thought the appearance
wasn't particularly good.

I thought you could have made a much
smarter, not so wet dish.

Consider the comments.

There's another round coming up.

We'll see you then.
Thank you, Ritchie.

Thank you very much.

Nerves got the better of me,
unfortunately.

The judges certainly haven't seen
the best of what I can do,

but the next round is my food

and hopefully I can show
that, you know, I can cook.

NARRATOR: Next to face Marcus's
Skills Test is 29-year-old Dan.

Working in kitchens
for the past 12 years,

he is now a senior sous-chef
at a Lancashire pub.

My food style is very modern,

but also keeps the core
of classical techniques.

The dishes you'll see from me
are very elegant,

trying to get as much flavour
as I can out of the ingredients,

what I've been given.

The best thing about being a chef
is you get to be very, very creative

and everything what you put
on the plate

is mirroring your personality.

So if it's a messy plate, nine times
out of ten, you're a messy person.

I really want to test my skills
in front of the main stage

and I'm not only doing it for me,
but I'm doing it for my family.

I know how far I can go
and how far I can push myself,

so this is really big.

Welcome to MasterChef.
Thank you.

This particular Skills Test
was set by Marcus. Hi, Dan.

I'd like you to make for us
an aubergine steak,

glazed with miso and soy,

served with a spicy
peanut sauce.

OK. 20 minutes, Dan.

Over to you. Thank you.

I like the way that Dan
is preparing his aubergine,

and it's nice and thick as well.

Dan, tell us your plan.

Where are you going with this?

So I'm just rubbing some spices
over the top of the aubergine

and then I'll fire that off
on the pan.

I think it needs a bit of oil
in that pan, Dan.

Oh, he's got some red onion.

I guess this is for
his peanut sauce.

So, why MasterChef?

There was always
quite a few people

who said I should give it a go

and I never
really had the confidence

within myself to do it.

And then, this year, my partner's
just given birth to a baby boy.

I feel like that probably gave me
a bit more motivation

to give it a go.

What's his name? Ernest.

Is there an Ernest in your family?
Yeah.

So my partner named him
after my grandad.

What have you got in that pan?

So this is just a little base
for a peanut sauce -

red onions, garlic
and a little bit of chilli.

You've had eight minutes, Chef.

Yep.

So, you put spices on the aubergine,
put it in the pan.

Now what's gone in there?

So a little bit of soy,
a little bit of mirin,

and just some vegetable stock.

Then I'll just brush it
with a little bit of miso

and get it in the oven to roast.

Fine to put it in the oven,

but he should have just kept it
in the pan so that the heat

was already there in the pan.

That's going to slow
the cooking down,

putting it onto a cold tray.

What are you thinking?

So, I'm just going to
give it a blend,

mix some crunchy peanut
butter through it.

That's a lot of coconut milk.

It's looking more like a soup.

How's that?
It tastes of peanuts,

but not as much as I would
like it to.

The consistency isn't what I want.

You've got time,
you've got the pans,

you've got the cooker.
You've got plenty of time.

Fix it. Take it out.
Put it in a pan.

Where's your chef's instinct, Dan?

You know, switch into it.

What you've got to do is you've got
to think about, right,

how am I going to make this sauce?

You've got five minutes.
Yeah. All right?

Dan's starting again.

He just needed to fix the sauce
he's put into the jug there.

He could have added more peanut
through it, get the consistency up.

You've got a couple of minutes. Yep.
So be quick.

All done? Yes.
Do you want to take a breath, Chef?

Yes. You OK?

DAN CHUCKLES

All right, Dan?

Yes.

Cutting of the aubergine was nice,

a nice big steak, which is what
we were looking for.

But putting on the dry spices
and then frying it

isn't really the way to do that.

You've put it in the oven
and it's dried out.

The peanut sauce needed
big flavours, big energy.

It's bland.

Dan, I thought you got off
to a good start.

I don't mind the spices like that,
but, you know, make sure

that it's in oil and you really
sort of push it through.

It's a coconut sauce.

Personally, I quite like coconut,

but that's not
what we were asking for.

You just needed to fix that sauce
you had in the blender.

Got a nicely cooked aubergine
that's holding together.

It's soft, but firm enough
so it's not falling apart.

There's no miso flavour
coming through there,

because there's so much chilli.

And then we've got a really lovely
sauce that's slightly peanutty,

but mostly coconut.

I'm telling you, it tastes good,

but it ain't the dish we thought
you would do.

Dan, see you in the next round.

Thank you very much.

Oh, dear.

HE LAUGHS

I just had tunnel vision
and forgot how to cook.

I want to forget about that round.

It's not a representation of me.

Monica, we have two more chefs
waiting to do their Skills Test.

This one is yours.

What are you going to get
them to do, please?

I'd like our chefs to come in
and give us a lemon meringue tart

and a lemon zest garnish
to go with it.

So we're giving them the tart case
already made, nice and golden.

There's a lot here
you've got to get right.

You've got to get the lemon curd
made, set, cooled.

You've got the making of
an Italian meringue,

which is always a test.

And, of course, a lemon garnish
as well.

This is brilliant. 20 minutes.

Let's see how an expert
does it, please.

First thing I want to get
on is the lemon curd.

Juice two lemons,

and I'm going to use two
of the egg yolks.

I want this to set quite quick,

so a little bit of cornflour
into there.

In goes the lemon juice, as well.

What texture are you looking
for there?

It's going to be like
a very thick custard.

Anything with eggs and heat,
if you're not careful,

of course, you can end up
with scrambled eggs in there.

I'm going to cool it slightly
in the ice bath.

And then sort of around
room temperature,

you whisk in the butter.

So, cold butter is going in
and I'm just whisking it through,

and you're just going to see
it's even getting thicker.

What happens if you whisk
in the butter if it's too hot?

If the butter melts into it,
you're going to get this greasy

finish to the curd
and it won't thicken.

So they've got to get the
temperature just right.

Wow! There's a lot to this.

I'm going to put my mix
into the tart case

and get that into the fridge
to cool, as well.

So, the lemon curd is done.

I'm going to make
the Italian meringue.

I've got the sugar and the water
to make the syrup.

I'm bringing that up to the boil.

I take it up to 110.

Once it gets to 110,
I turn the egg whites on... Uh-huh.

..and then it should go to 120.

Italian meringue,
you take the hot sugar

and you put that
into the egg whites, whisked,

and it cooks it in there.

The most important thing
is you've got to get the egg whites

starting to raise up a little bit
before you add the cooked sugar.

If you put the cooked sugar
onto just the eggs themselves,

it'll literally cook them
straight away.

You need to get a bit of air
into there.

This is classic pastry work,

so we'll see who's worked
in the pastry section very quickly.

Yeah.

So I'm just letting that cool gently
before it's ready to be used.

So, what are you thinking
for the garnish?

I'm just making the lemon zest

and I'm candying it
in a bit of syrup.

So, all that I've had in this pan -
some sugar, some water -

a simple syrup.

In go the lemon zest,

and then I've squeezed in some
fresh lemon juice to it.

That's what we want. Nice, glossy,
and we want a stiff peak, yeah?

Ta-da!

Mm! Lovely.

I've got my lemon tart,

I've got the Italian meringue,

and now I'm just going to pipe
over the top.

Look at that.
That's absolutely beautiful.

You're creating waves.

So, I've got lemon zest
garnish there with the syrup.

Hey. Beautiful.

Absolutely beautiful.

So, there we have it.

My lemon meringue tart
with lemon curd inside,

an Italian meringue,

and a lemon zest garnish.

That's incredible!

It's a great challenge.

It's full of skill.

It's going to take a good cook
to get anywhere near this.

Marcus, of course,

please watch with
a professional eye in the back room.

Come back for the tasting.
I will.

Are we ready?

Almost. As we'll ever be.

NARRATOR: First to face Monica's
Skills Test is 23-year-old Alin.

He moved to the UK from Romania
ten years ago

and is now head chef
at a luxury hotel

in the West Midlands countryside.

Food was always a big thing.

I'm originally from Romania.
Gatherings are always massive fun.

I was always helping out,

just making the mayonnaise
or cutting the tomatoes,

and that showed me
that that's a good feeling,

like, making people happy with food.

I would say I'm really passionate.

My wife was mad at me for having
more pictures of food

on my phone than of her.

I just consider myself a bit
of a nerd, I guess.

I'm most excited
about the skill test.

I really hope it's going
to be pastry.

This is one of my strengths.

I honestly can't wait.

So, Alin, lemon meringue tart filled
with lemon curd

and an Italian meringue with
a lemon garnish of your choice.

20 minutes. Good luck.

Lovely. Thank you.

Putting sugar in his water
in his pan,

so he's obviously starting off
with the meringue.

Egg whites.

What's your plan with the curd?

I'm just going to beat the egg yolks
with the sugar and the cornflour.

Then I'm going to reduce down
the lemon juice

just until it extracts more flavour,

then I'm going to mix the two.

And then slowly fold in the butter,

just so it gets nice and creamy.

So, he's got the two jobs
working at the same time.

He's got his sugar cooking,
thermometer's going in.

What temperature
are you looking for?

119-120 degrees.

He has a really good idea
of what to do.

That sugar's going into
the egg whites.

He's pouring that pretty quickly.

It's not split,
so that's a good sign,

but we'll see how it goes
once it starts to cool down.

Coming up to halfway.

So I'm just checking for it
to be room temperature.

That's when you know it's done,

it's ready to be piped.

Happy with your meringue?

Yes. Yeah, it looks great.

Got the meringue done.

So, getting on with his curd.
What is he going to do?

Put it on a bain-marie?

So, he's got his eggs,
his sugar and his cornflour

over a bain-marie to thicken it.

How do you know when to put
the butter in?

Now I can see that the sugar
is melted

and it's starting
to slightly thicken.

Just a few cubes at a time
until it starts thickening

and gets a nice consistency.

It's not going to thicken,

because he's...keep putting it back
on the heat.

He needs to take it off the heat.

You've got just over seven
minutes left.

Sweet. You doing all right?

Yep.

So, you're just cooling it quickly?

Yeah, just trying to
get it cooled down.

OK. So hopefully it thickens
a little bit.

Hmm, that doesn't look
thick enough.

But he's got it done.
It might set.

Is this for your lemon garnish?

Yeah. I'm going to make a quick
syrup with a bit of sugar

and just a bit of water,

and then going to
get crystallised.

You've got four minutes, Alin.

Sweet.

GREGG SNIGGERS

Yeah, not set.

And he knows it's not set.

Oh! Did you break it?

A little bit, yeah.

HE CHUCKLES

All that work and you just stick
your finger through the pastry case.

Are you done? I'm done.

Hey, Alin. How are you?

Good. It was going so well.

I think you got lost on
the lemon curd a little bit there.

And then just to top it off,
you stick your finger in it.

What a shame.

Alin, with the meringue,

you knew you had to take
the sugar up to 120.

If anything, just slow down
the sugar going into it.

It does sort of make it drop a bit,
but the meringue is fine.

My concern is the lemon curd.

It didn't get to that ribbon stage.

It's got to get so thick
before you add the butter.

Great garnish, the lemon peel.
Beautifully cooked.

Presentation, brilliant.

But then you decided to put
your finger through the pastry case.

Which was a shame, because it's all
about the little points of detail.

I'll tell you what, though,

I bet if you had another go
at this,

you'd probably get it
absolutely spot-on.

Oh, you're so close!

Lovely, sharp lemon.

Lovely, sugary Italian meringue.

Alin, not bad at all.

See you in the next round.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

I like to think that I did
quite well, but I broke the tart.

Silly mistake, but it happens.

Last up is 37-year-old Paule.

Originally from the Ivory Coast
in West Africa,

she moved to Paris
to train as a chef

and now works as a private
catering chef in London.

My dad was a chef and my mum
was a really good cook.

She's the one who taught me to do
traditional African food

and my dad was doing European food.

I can describe my cooking style
as a fusion,

because I've done French cookery

and I always grew up
with African spices,

food and techniques,

and I want people to know
more about that wonderful cuisine.

When I will walk through the doors
of MasterChef: The Professionals,

it will be a big excitement.

Give up is not an option,

so it's a real saying
in Ivory Coast.

Paule, how are you?

I'm fine, thank you.

Have you had some experience
in the pastry?

A little bit.
OK. 20 minutes. Good luck.

So, it looks like she's starting
with the lemon curd first,

which is a good start.

Lemon juice in, sugar in.

Would you mind telling me
the processes

that you're going to go through?

Yes,
so first I will do the lemon curd,

so I mix the cold ingredients,
and then I will do the meringue.

I will just cool down the cream.

Great.

My butter.

That was a bit heavy handed
with the butter,

on a very hot liquid.

The butter's not going to thicken it
when it's too hot.

It's just going to melt
and become a liquid.

She could have just cooled
the liquid down

and then slowly
introduced the cold butter

and it'll get rich and thick
and just delicious.

It's just too quick.

You've had five minutes.

You've got 15 to go.
Oh, OK. Good.

What sort of kitchen
are you working in now?

I just opened my own restaurant
in France.

But here, I am a freelance chef,

because I'm doing consultancy

and I'm also working in kitchens.

And who's looking after
your restaurant in France?

I have a partner,
a business partner.

Now that it's cooling down,
I will do my...Italian meringue?

Yes. Yes.

MONICA CHUCKLES

Sugar's in the pan,

water's in
for the Italian meringue.

She's got her eggs in. Turn it on.

She's getting on with it.

Paule, feeling quite chilled out?

I'm feeling well.

It's a beautiful day today, so...
GREGG CHUCKLES

What temperature do you want

your sugar before
you pour it into the mix?

121.

You seem very confident with that.

I know a bit of, like,
lemon tart, meringue, so...

Allez, allez, allez.

So, Paule, you've had ten minutes.

Ten minutes?
You've got ten minutes to go. OK.

She's pouring that sugar
a little bit too fast.

Turn it up. Quick, quick, quick.

Get some air into it

or it's going to be too runny.

And what are you thinking
for your lemon garnish?

I will do a caramel
with candied lemon.

You have five minutes left.

How's it looking, Paule?

It's looking good.

That's not whisked enough.

That's a pouring consistency.

Not how Italian meringue should be.

You should be able to
tip that bowl upside down

and that meringue
shouldn't move.

You've got a couple of minutes.

That curd's far too runny.

Right, meringue time.

It's holding better than I thought.

Still not quite the consistency
it should be.

That's it. Time's up.

All done? Thank you.

Hi, Paule. Hello.

The making of the curd,

it looked thick enough,
but then you added all the butter

while it was still hot and it just
melted all the way through.

On the Italian meringue,
you got the syrup

up to the right temperature,

but then you put
all the syrup in.

Straight away,
when you took the whisk up,

that...it was still quite soft,
the meringue.

It needs to be a stiff peak.

I think what I noticed was
that you were under control,

which was really good.

You've just done things
just a little bit too fast.

The lemon curd's delicious.
Yeah, it's a bit runny.

The meringue's got the right
sweetness.

Could have been a bit thicker.

Leave it on the machine,
just let it sit there.

Good flavours.

Not a bad start at all.

Thank you, Paule.
Thank you very much. Thank you.

I think I rushed a bit,
but they liked the taste.

I think that's the most important.

In the next round,
I have more to show -

who I am
and the cuisine I'm doing.

Out of the two skills tests,

I thought the pastry challenge
would be by far the toughest.

And, actually, the two chefs
that did that seemed

the most confident.

Overall, yeah, good.

And I'm really excited to see
what they're going to do next.

I think we're going to get some
very distinctive, unique styles.

Absolutely.

That's what I want to see.

Chefs, welcome back to our kitchen.

Set aside any issues
you've had in the Skills Test.

This is your signature
two-course menu.

Show off what you're able to do
and cement your place

in this competition.

Take this opportunity.

Show us what it is
you are all about.

At the end of this,

two of you will be leaving
the competition,

but two of you will be going through
to a quarterfinal.

One main, one dessert
in an hour and a half.

Off you go.

I'm really, really excited
to be cooking our dishes now.

Hopefully the judges will see
what I can do.

Today is a big day.

I need to showcase what my cuisine
is about.

Paule, what are you making
for us, please?

Guinea fowl roasted with a glaze
over palm wine.

African ratatouille
with cassava couscous.

What's palm wine?

This is alcohol.

It's kind of the milk of
the palm tree.

I notice over there you've got some
incredibly hot chillies.

Yes.
Is that going in our ratatouille?

It is, but not to heat up too much.

For the dessert,
chocolate ganache

and hibiscus cream,

with caramelised cashew nut
in a shell of filo pastry.

Does this reflect the story
of your culinary life, do you think?

It does, because I'm coming
from Ivory Coast

and my signature dishes are made
out of all my memories.

I'm intrigued about Paule's food.

I love the point of difference
in bringing her culture into it.

The guinea fowl,

I will pan-fry it
and then finish it off in the oven.

Guinea fowl dries up very,
very quickly.

There's not a lot of fat
underneath the skin.

Paule is making
an African ratatouille.

She's got aubergines
and Scotch bonnets in it.

Ooh, hopefully not too hot,

but I do like a bit of spice
in food.

Paule's dessert is a filo tart

and it's going to be filled
with a hibiscus mousse.

It's very floral, can be very sweet,

so she's got
to be very careful with it.

Paule is also using some
Penja peppercorns from Africa

and she's putting it with
caramelised cashew nuts.

Clever touch. I like that.

Chocolate ganache
is chocolate and cream.

She's got to make sure
that it's smooth and textured,

and that she gets it in the fridge
to set on time.

I'm pushing myself with a lot
of elements in such a short time,

but it should be OK.

RITCHIE: The dishes I've been
practising night and day.

I really, really want to impress
Monica now.

I need to knock it out the park
in this next round.

Ritchie, tell us about
your two dishes.

I'm going to be cooking plant-based.

My main course,
it's called The Pumpkin Family.

Butternut squash fondant,
a pumpkin seed puree,

braised baby gem lettuce,

quick-pickled cucumber hearts

and plant-based croquette.

My dessert - a vanilla sponge
with a whipped,

plant-based mascarpone,

pickled blackberries,

finished with a vanilla
and black sesame ice cream.

Why the passion for plants?

When I was a kid, I was asked to do
a project in school

and I thought,
"Well, I'll do that on veganism."

A week later I was like,
"Mum, I'm not eating meat any more,"

and the whole house
was just in uproar.

We're a classic, you know,
meat and two veg family.

I'm excited about
Ritchie's main course.

The squash is being cooked
as a fondant,

so it's got to be lovely and soft.

He's using pumpkin seeds
for a puree.

That's got to be smooth.

There's braised baby gem,

even a croquette made
from gram flour,

which is sort of chickpea.

So it's going to be a lot
of different elements

coming into this dish.

How it all comes together
is what I'm trying to see here.

Ritchie's dessert, everything again
based around vegan ingredients.

It sounds interesting.

I think sugar is going to be the key
to this dish,

because there are certain
ingredients

that will lack in flavour

that you need to bring out.

So we've got our sponge
that's just come out of the oven

and I've made a pickled
blackberry mix

to soak the sponges
so they're nice and soft,

almost like a golden syrup
sort of sponge cake vibe going on.

The mascarpone cream has got
tonka bean and miso paste

running through.

Tonka bean,
it's quite mild and bland.

You've got to cook it
to bring out its lovely flavour.

I'm battling with time a little bit
at the moment.

It's a bit hectic,
I'm not going to lie,

but I'm enjoying myself
and that's part of it, surely.

It's not all pain.

HE LAUGHS

You've got one hour left, chefs.

60 minutes to go.
I know, rapid.

I'm really pushing myself
with this dish just because,

being young, I feel like it shows
that I've got good initiative.

I can do great things even though
I don't have that much experience

as maybe other chefs that are older.

For the main course,
I have duck breast,

smoked carrot puree
and a duck leg cabbage roll.

It's one of the dishes
that I firstly cooked for my wife

before we got married.

Where did you meet your wife?

I met her at school.

So we grew up together,
basically, yeah.

She's one of your biggest fans,
is she?

Yes, definitely.
Biggest critic as well, so...

Alin's got a lot of work
going on here.

He's taken the duck breasts
off the crown.

I think it's fine as long as
he cooks them gently

and makes sure the fat's beautifully
rendered down.

We've got duck leg mousseline
wrapped in cabbage,

and mousseline
is about blitzing up the meat

and making sure that it's not split.

The cabbage has to be
perfectly cooked,

otherwise it's just going
to be too chewy.

This is one of the classic
Romanian things that you would have

at Christmas or Easter.

Normally they're filled with pork
and rice and spices and stuff.

I've just made a duck one.

Alin's also serving carrots,
which he's smoking.

Hopefully he's using a strong bark,

because sometimes the flavour
of the smoke just evaporates.

We have a pancetta
and apricot sauce.

Fruit works beautifully with duck,
so I'm happy with that.

Alin, what's your dessert?

Hazelnut mousse,

hazelnut sponge
and a thyme ice cream.

Alin's dessert,

the hazelnut mousse has got
to be smooth.

Also got a lovely nut liqueur
in the sponge.

Hopefully, big in flavour,
but very, very light.

I like the sound of
the thyme ice cream.

It's a point of difference
in Alin's dessert,

because it'll bring a sort of
savoury

and sort of floral note to it.

I've got so much to do.

I'm a bit behind, so hopefully
we'll get time enough

to push everything out.

Dan's a classical cook.

He's cooking roast venison loin.

He's trimmed it really nicely.

He's caramelised it lovely.

There's three different types
of cooking on the venison,

so if I overcook it in the oven
then it's game over.

Beautiful-looking beetroot.

He's made long, thin ribbons
and then rolled it back up

and he's going to soak
that beetroot using verjus,

which is like a really tart
grape juice.

Very important to make sure
the beetroot's not too acidic

with the verjus.

Beetroot ketchup,

it's got to be beautiful and smooth,
bright and vibrant in its colour.

Got some freshness on the plate
with the pear and with the garlic.

There's no fuss about it.

It's minimalistic,
and with all good classical cookery,

the ingredients
should just sing for themselves.

Dan's dessert is about chocolate
and calamansi lime.

He's making a salted chocolate
ganache.

It's dense, it's bitter, it's rich.

We've also got a calamansi
lime syrup.

It's an interesting-sounding dish.

I think it's exciting.

The bitterness of the chocolate,

the sharpness of
the calamansi lime -

there's got to be the right balance.

People who know me know I'm not
the most confident person.

I definitely think that this
competition is a massive step

out of my comfort zone.

Yeah.

HE LAUGHS

Are you a humble man?

Do you hide your light
under a bushel?

I don't have the masses
of confidence in myself,

but I try
and let my food speak for myself.

Since I left school,
I've just been in hospitality,

so no official college training.

You learnt on the job
from a very young age? Yeah.

No, a lot of great chefs
have done that.

Chefs, you've got ten minutes.

There's a couple of you here

look like you've got
quite a bit to do.

At the moment,

I need to do my whisk
for the ganache.

Let's go, let's go.

You on time?

Good man.

Wish it was a bit more rare,
but I'm happy.

You have just five minutes.
Five minutes.

Paule? Yes, Chef.

Is that the last touch on the main?
Yes, Chef.

You can do this, Paule.
You can do this.

That's it. Time's up.

Everybody stop.

WHISPERS: That went quick!

Head chef Alin's signature
main course is roasted duck breast

with a cabbage-wrapped
duck leg mousseline,

alongside a smoked carrot puree,

baby carrots
dressed in duck fat,

and a soy maple glaze,

with an apricot, pancetta
and coriander duck sauce.

The duck is nice and pink,

but you can see that the fat needs

to be rendered down
much more than that.

The baby carrot is nicely cooked.

I love the crispy duck bits.

They're really nice on here.

What you've got here is
a nicely cooked duck breast

with sweet flavours that work.

You've got apricot in the sauce.

I like that carrot puree
with the smokiness, but it's subtle.

I think the puree's great,

but I'm really struggling
with your mousseline.

You know,
it's just not cooked enough.

I'm not enjoying your sauce.

It's cooked too heavily.

It's just been boiled
and boiled and boiled.

It's almost gravy-esque in a way,

rather than actually
a really refined sauce.

For his dessert,

Alin has made a hazelnut
and chocolate mousse

with chocolate praline
and thyme crumb,

a hazelnut liqueur-flavoured
sponge,

and a thyme ice cream.

That nut mousse I really like.

Not too sweet.

Finishes with a proper
hazelnut finish.

Your chocolaty crumb is too sweet.

It's more like a crushed sugar cube
than it is chocolate crumb.

The ice cream with the thyme
is my favourite thing on this plate,

but the mousse itself is not right.

It's got the texture of a creme pat
before you whip the cream into it

to make it a lighter mousse.

The texture of the ice cream
is fabulous.

It's smooth and silky,
tastes of thyme,

but your sponge doesn't have
any flavour of anything,

which is a shame.

Great ice cream, though.

I'm a bit frustrated.

Not the best results
that I was hoping for.

I'm definitely kicking myself
for the stupid mistakes.

HE SIGHS

It is what it is, I guess.

Private catering chef Paule's menu

is inspired by the Ivory Coast.

For her main course,

she's made roasted guinea fowl,

a ratatouille made from tomato,
onion, aubergine,

and Scotch bonnet chillies,

cassava couscous,

and a palm wine glaze.

The guinea fowl, though beautiful
and golden and crispy on the skin,

mine is slightly dry.

It's over.

The ratatouille is delicious,

but I didn't get any chilli in mine.

The guinea fowl's
beautifully coloured.

I love the trimming of the bone.

Your couscous,
I love the neutral element of it.

It's sticky, like steamed rice.

And the ratatouille has got
great flavour to it too.

What I get here from you
is the flavour of home.

What's missing in this is just
that little bit of that chilli.

You are giving me textures
and flavours I haven't had before

and I think they're great.

That ratatouille with that slightly
bitter aubergine

and the sweetness of onions
I find divine.

This sauce here is finished
with palm wine.

It's almost honey sweet
and then sharp at the end,

and it's really lovely.

For her dessert,

Paule has served a filo tart

filled with hibiscus mousse

and topped with chocolate ganache,

caramelised cashew nut

and Penja peppercorn brittle,

accompanied by hibiscus
and mint syrup.

This looks rushed,
which is no surprise.

With three minutes to go,

you had nothing on the plate at all.

The hibiscus syrup,

that's the nice, floral,
slightly sweet finish.

The hibiscus mousse,

I find it too sweet,
and then your chocolate has split.

I do like the notes of the pepper
through the dessert.

There is the bitter chocolate,

but the hibiscus, for me,
is so sickly sweet.

The syrup here is also sickly sweet.

I like the shape of
your filo pastry.

The chocolate ganache is just
a little bit on the grainy side,

but it's still got a lovely,
delicious chocolate flavour,

which is really beautifully
counterbalancing the floral essence

of the hibiscus flower.

There's some lovely ideas here,

but I think the magic here for me
is the floral essence

of the hibiscus and the heat
of that pepper.

Good work, well done.

Paule, you've split the judges.

OK. Thank you very much indeed.

I am feeling a bit disappointed

of my performance,

because I didn't make it taste

and look how I wanted to.

I know that I could have
done better.

Chef patron Ritchie's
plant-based menu

starts with
a butternut squash fondant,

topped with braised baby gem lettuce

on a roasted pumpkin seed
and truffle puree,

alongside a chickpea, gram flour

and yeast croquette,

fresh cucumber ribbons,
diced cucumber,

pickled mustard seeds,

and crispy fennel and shiso leaves,

finished with a cucumber
and tomato consomme,

split with mint oil.

Good-looking dish here, Ritchie,

the way you've got the fennel

and the herbs over the top of it.

The pumpkin is nicely cooked,

and when the pumpkin seed
gets into that sauce,

it gives it a nice body.

The flavours of the croquette,

I love it with the chickpeas
running through this.

That croquette made out of yeast

is like a mild Cheddar cheese.

I really like that.

I like the crunchiness of the gem

and the puree that's across it

has got like a little hint
of truffle.

You've got some great flavours.

This consomme, the cucumber,
and, of course, the tomato,

I think it's great.

One of the hardest things to impress
people is plant-based cookery.

This is quality cookery,
this, Ritchie,

because you've got
beautiful little elements

singing all the way through this.

This is balanced.

It's got harmony.

Very, very good indeed.

For his second course,

Ritchie has served a vanilla sponge

on a blackberry coulis,

topped with pickled
fresh blackberries,

whipped tonka mascarpone,

and served with a black sesame
ice cream made from soy milk.

It's quite a firm vanilla sponge.

Lovely vanilla flavour.

The blackberries are sharp
and sweet.

It's a very sweet dish.

I'd love to see more of that
tonka mascarpone, please.

I just think that would be
a contrast to all the sweetness.

It's a dinky little dessert,

but boy does it pack flavour.

MONICA CHUCKLES

The blackberries,

I really like that you've put
some yuzu throughout this,

bit of vinegar through it,
and red wine as well.

I enjoyed that.

The blackberry on the bottom
is delicious.

I love the sweet and sharpness
of it too.

I think the sponge is great as well.

I love the vanilla essence of it.

But what I'm really enjoying
is the ice cream.

You know, the sesame flavour,
the dark colour of it.

It's unusual, it's different.
It's a point of contrast.

Very nice. It's really good.

Thank you so much.

That feels amazing.

I'm really proud of what I've done.

RITCHIE LAUGHS

I'm not going to lie,

I was just dreading,
like, going to Monica.

Seeing a smile on her face
was just, like,

it's made my year.

Senior sous-chef Dan has made
roasted venison loin

with a beetroot ribbon roll,

poached pear, wild garlic,

beetroot ketchup,

and a verjus venison sauce.

Wow, that is elegant and beautiful

and I'm just keeping
my fingers crossed

that tastes halfway near
as good as it looks.

Beautiful piece of cooked venison.
Lovely sauce.

Your ketchup, beetroot - delicious.

Not too sharp, not too sweet,
just right.

And complementing the dish wholly.

I'm really, really impressed
with you. Well done.

I love the little pear slivers
on the side.

Venison can take that sweetness,

and the hints of the wild garlic,
because you've blanched it,

it's not as harsh
and it's not as strong.

Venison - colour on the outside,
pink in the middle.

The venison sauce just enhances
the venison flavour

and makes it meatier.

Earthy beetroot, beautiful.

I love it, I absolutely love it.

For his dessert, Dan has served
salted chocolate ganache,

topped with a chocolate meringue
mousse,

mascarpone, calamansi syrup,

sugared hazelnuts,

and a black sesame tuile.

I've got an absolutely stunning
chocolate ganache.

Cold, really quite bitter,

and as smooth as you like.

And then I've got that calamansi -

really sharp,
like a very sharp marmalade -

is stunning.

Dan, I like the presentation
of your dessert.

I like the mousse on the top
with the Italian meringue.

The mascarpone,

I like the freshness from it,

and your sesame tuiles
got a lovely little crunch on them.

Your Italian meringue on top
is sweet,

on top of a very delicious
chocolate ganache,

which has got
the bitter elements of it.

And, of course, the hazelnuts,
which have been candied as well.

And your tuile is a little
neutral flavour.

It's skills.

There's lots of them on show
here in many, many different ways,

so you've really done
a great job, Dan.

Both dishes for me has gone to show
that you are someone

to reckon with in this competition.

Welcome on board.

Thank you.

I'm really happy with the comments
I got.

Today, I feel like the emotions
have been all the way to the bottom,

and now they're real sky-high.

I'm really... Yeah, wow.

Some really interesting flavours

and I think definitely some talent
starting to peek out

with our four chefs here.

Can I sing Dan's praises?

Cos he is a cookery force
to be reckoned with.

Beautifully cooked venison,
great sauce

and the beetroot that went with it.

To have the confidence
to put so little on the plate

with so much impact,
thoroughly enjoyable.

Dessert - rich, full of flavour,
sugar, acidity, everything you need.

I thought it was delicious.

Can you see any reason why Dan
shouldn't become a quarterfinalist?

Dan, welcome to the club.

You're a MasterChef quarterfinalist.

I thought Alin had some great ideas,
but not all of it worked out.

Alin's main course was the duck.

I loved the crunchy duck fat

that was over that baby carrot.

However, the duck cooking,
though the protein itself was fine,

the fat needed more rendering
and the skin more crispy.

The duck leg cooked in the cabbage
leaf I wasn't sure of at all,

but the carrot puree
I thought was great.

The dessert, there were bits
of it that were great.

Ice cream was delicious,
but the mousse didn't set.

The sponge, very sweet.

No other flavour to it.

Ritchie cooked
two plant-based dishes.

I liked his main course.

The pumpkin, I really liked
the way it was cooked.

I loved the mustard seeds on it.

That dessert was too sweet for me.

Just a little bit more mascarpone
in that dessert

and I think we would have been
on a winner.

The flavours that Paule brought
to that guinea fowl dish

I thought were fantastic.

That sauce, I thought
that was delicious.

The guinea fowl,
it had just dried out

and the aubergine-style ratatouille,
I enjoyed it,

just didn't get
any of the chilli through that.

Dessert I thought was delicious.

Chocolate mousse was not quite
smooth enough, but crispy pastry,

beautiful hibiscus cream.

The pastry was nice and crispy,

but it was also sweet with hibiscus.

We've got good cooks.

We can't take them
all through to the next round.

We can only take two.

I love the idea of actually
getting through

and cooking for the judges again.

This is not good enough,

so basically I just want to
show them that I've got way more.

All the adrenaline is on
and I'm in the starting blocks.

I hope I make it.

I hope.

I feel like I've done the best
that I could possibly do.

If there's somebody better,
then so be it,

but I gave it my all
so I can be proud of that.

Chefs, I want to start
by congratulating you.

Great personality
shone through today

and that's what we want to see.

We have made a decision.

Two of you are going through
to a quarterfinal.

Two of you, sadly,
are leaving the competition.

The first chef going through
to a quarterfinal is

Dan.

Congratulations, Dan.

That was solid.

The second chef going through
to a quarterfinal is...

..Ritchie.

Congratulations, Ritchie.

Thank you so much.

Alin, Paule,
sorry to see you go.

Thank you so much for your efforts.

Thank you, both.

It's been great being
in the MasterChef kitchen.

It's hard leaving now, just cos
obviously I wanted to go further.

I feel a bit sad.

The most difficult part of leaving
the competition now is that

I didn't have a chance to showcase
what I'm really capable of.

Well done, brother. Yes!

Congratulations.

You are quarterfinalists.

I'm massively proud
of what I've achieved.

I'm super happy.

I can't wait to tell my partner
the good news.

I'm absolutely buzzing.

MasterChef quarterfinalist.

Well, it's one of
the best days of my life.

I'm absolutely hungry for more.

It's going to be super, super tough,

but bring it on.

Next time, it's the quarterfinal...
CORK POPS

..and this heat's most talented
chefs

return to face two tough challenges.

Oops. Oh.

I'm not going to let it go
until I've eaten it all.

That's how good this is.

Only the best will earn their place
in knockout week.

This is one of those dishes
that can change minds.