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00:01It's the Celebrity MasterChef semi-finals.
00:05And only the seven best cooks remain.
00:09Yay! Still here!
00:14It's been a lot of fun and a massive learning curve.
00:17I feel like a bit of a chef now.
00:21It's not quite tackles, scrums and line-outs,
00:24but I think I really enjoy being at my comfort zone in a strange way.
00:27It's really testing me.
00:29It's pushing me to my limits.
00:32Tonight, the pressure ramps up.
00:35Wow!
00:37As the celebrities are challenged with cooking for an Italian culinary icon.
00:44This should be absolutely delicious,
00:46and if it's not, I don't know what I've done.
00:49Before battling it out to secure their place in the final six.
00:54In the back of my mind, there is that little voice saying,
00:57you could get through to the final.
00:59I am a very competitive person.
01:03As much as I don't like to admit it.
01:07This just got a lot more intense.
01:09You're only really as good as your last cook.
01:11If I mess something up, I can go home.
01:13We've got ourselves seven absolutely fantastic cooks,
01:17but there's a huge amount of work to do before seven goes to six.
01:21They're here to make great food.
01:23It's time to front up or go home.
01:25It's time to front up or go home.
01:26Welcome back to the MasterChef Kitchen.
01:36You are our magnificent seven.
01:40This next challenge is going to be tough, but a real honour.
01:59We have invited a very special guest.
02:03Italian cooking royalty, Gennaro Cantaldo.
02:08Hi, Grace.
02:10Welcome.
02:11Thank you very much.
02:14Oh, my God.
02:15So exciting.
02:19Cooking maestro Gennaro Cantaldo has dedicated his life to food.
02:24I'm cooking so good.
02:28Widely known for mentoring a young Jamie Oliver in his passion for Italian cuisine,
02:33Gennaro's kitchen career spans over 50 years.
02:38He's also published 15 chart-topping Italian cookbooks, run his own award-winning restaurant,
02:45and his playful and positive Italian spirit has made him one of the UK's best-loved chefs and TV favourites.
02:53Are you greedy?
02:55Yes, I'm greedy for life.
02:57I'm greedy with food, but to greedy Italians.
03:00I was born in Amalfi Coast.
03:04Because the sea was my swimming pool, mountain was the garden.
03:09My father, he was a great, great cook.
03:13And one thing I learned from my father, Italian food is to respect the ingredients.
03:20I went in the kitchen at the age of 10, and I saw this love, passion, culture.
03:29So I always wanted work and cook with food.
03:35And at 76 years old, his love of cooking shows no sign of waning.
03:41It's the table, it's family, it's a celebration.
03:46And I'm still cooking every day.
03:52Each one of you, you're going to cook some of my beautiful recipe,
03:58which should have come from my heart, and there is a lot history behind.
04:04At the end of this, we will choose a cook of the day.
04:07And that person will go straight through to the next round,
04:11where the remaining six will have to cook again to secure their place.
04:17One hour, 30 minutes. Let's cook.
04:26Cooking Gennaro's food is an immense responsibility.
04:29I'm a bit starstruck, to be honest.
04:32Taking quite simple, humble ingredients
04:34and then creating something fabulous.
04:37It's Italian, so I'm hoping I'm going to grab this with both hands
04:41and give it my best shot. I really am.
04:44There's little tricks here.
04:45These aren't ordinary, everyday recipes.
04:49From what I know of Gennaro, his recipe is quite strange sometimes.
04:52He, like, puts things that you wouldn't expect together.
04:55Dawn O. Porter, author and broadcaster.
04:58She sets herself a Herculean task every time.
05:02She's impressive, she's inventive, but sometimes she overfaces herself.
05:09Dawn is being tasked with one of Gennaro's more unusual desserts
05:14that is centred around a vegetable.
05:17Chocolate aubergines.
05:18Can you imagine aubergines with the chocolate?
05:23What are you doing?
05:25Actually, aubergines with chocolate in my region goes everywhere.
05:30Aubergine slices.
05:32Are they too thin?
05:33No, they're all right.
05:35Fried till they're slightly crispy and then layered with a mixture
05:38which is almost like a chocolate mousse.
05:40Think tiramisu, without the sponge fingers,
05:43but with aubergines in the centre instead.
05:45What a great way to use a vegetable.
05:50My favourite thing that I make my kids is avocado chocolate mousse.
05:54So I like hiding vegetables in puddings.
05:56That is fantastic.
05:57Yeah.
05:58I think it's going to be great.
06:00And a little bit of crispy because they're deep-fried.
06:02It is indeed.
06:03There's magic inside there.
06:06You fry them and then you batter them and then you fry them again.
06:09I mean, I'm into double-fried stuff.
06:12Aubergines have a real habit of soaking up oil.
06:15Until they're just like mushy, caught on the wall or being undercooked.
06:20She's got to make sure they're not greasy in any way at all.
06:23I'm worried about soggy aubergines and lumpy chocolate sauce.
06:26You know, everyday worries and woes.
06:33Alan Wynn, rugby legend.
06:36He's precise and he's technical.
06:37All we asked him to do was add a little bit more flavour.
06:40It's becoming bold.
06:41It's becoming a bit brasher.
06:43He is a good cook.
06:45The Italian food, very good at eating it.
06:47Whether I'm any good at cooking it, we'll see.
06:50Yeah, it's going to be an interesting one.
06:52Alan Wynn is underway with a pork mince and salami filling
06:55for a deceptively technical dish celebrating one of the humblest of ingredients.
07:01Alan Wynn is literally up to his armpits in cabbage leaves and stuffing.
07:06Gennaro's brought a recipe which is typically made at home by an Italian nonna
07:12who's probably made it for 45 years.
07:15I like this particular recipe because there is no wastage.
07:19Stop the cabbage so you can feed on a big family.
07:22This is farmer's food.
07:24This is food born out of necessity.
07:26It's using all the things that have probably been left over.
07:29A little bit of old salami, a little bit of mince, a few spices here and there.
07:32A whole cabbage which is blanched, it's then taken apart
07:37and in between each one of those leaves,
07:40there should be the right amount of meat filling to give real flavour.
07:46Whole stuffed cabbage, Alan Wynn.
07:49Yeah.
07:51Something you've ever done before?
07:53No, I've done the other way around, stuffed meat with vegetables
07:56but never stuffed a vegetable with meat.
07:58Interesting to see how it comes out.
07:59It isn't a sherry dish.
08:02You don't just have a cabbage with it yourself.
08:04Also, it lasts for next day as well.
08:06Not with people the size of Alan Wynn, it won't.
08:09Let's have a look, stand there.
08:11Jesus.
08:14Once you stuff it, you tidy them up, you boil it.
08:18Cabbage can take a long time to cook, also can be very tough.
08:22I don't want it to fall apart when I pull it out there.
08:23And then when you actually remove it, everything is tender.
08:28Actor Katie McGlynn has shown us that she loves a crowd pleaser,
08:33she loves comfort food and she is pushing herself as hard as she possibly can.
08:37No doubt Katie McGlynn has grown in confidence.
08:41My grandad always taught me about Italian food.
08:44He wasn't actually technically Italian, I don't think, but he acted like he was.
08:49He was always dancing around the room singing Amore.
08:52I'm the same. I dance around in my kitchen singing Amore.
08:55Katie's been challenged with Gennaro's Italian twist on a French classic.
09:02Duck breast and limoncello, it's so fun.
09:06Duck, they always like something sweet.
09:09Instead they use duck a l'orange.
09:12Let's do my portions with limoncello.
09:15As soon as I saw the limoncello I was like, yes, because I really like it.
09:19I always remember the family make a limoncello and I made this recipe.
09:26Unbelievable.
09:29The way you marinate it, that is fantastic.
09:33Oh, good.
09:34It's used to half a bottle, Gennaro.
09:36Jesus.
09:38But that's okay.
09:40Don't worry, the leftover I drink it.
09:42LAUGHTER
09:46With this we've got a celeriac and carrot puree
09:49with a sauce made from the limoncello reduction.
09:53I know you put love and passion into your food.
09:55That's what I'm about.
09:57So that's what I'm going to do.
09:59Can't wait to taste it.
10:00Oh, me too. I'm scared.
10:02That is where you have to be careful.
10:06That's going to be tender.
10:08And the skin, I want them a little bit crispy.
10:10OK.
10:11Yes, sir.
10:15I've never made duck.
10:17I've never worked with celeriac.
10:20I'm just going to have to follow this recipe to a tea.
10:29Actor Jamie Lomas always cooks nervously,
10:32as if he has no confidence in himself,
10:34but then delivers these big, hearty dishes.
10:37His food is always full of flavour.
10:39Jamie, I think, is one to watch.
10:42He's working on a dough for a dessert
10:44celebrating one of Gennaro's nostalgic favourites.
10:49Chestnuts.
10:50Oh, my God, he remembered my childhood.
10:53At the end of September,
10:55we used to go up to the mountain and collect those chestnuts.
10:57His dish is sweet chestnut-filled pastries with a coffee zabayoni custard.
11:04Desserts aren't really my thing,
11:06so, yeah, I'm going to have to pull it out of the bag for this one.
11:09What he has to do is be gentle with the pastry.
11:12If he starts to knead that pastry, it will fall apart.
11:16Slowly. Don't press it in it.
11:19Slowly.
11:21What we have is almost like a mince pie.
11:25And inside that pastry,
11:27we have chestnuts, sugar, cocoa powder, and rum and raisins.
11:31Chestnuts do go dry really, really easily,
11:33so he's got to make sure that mixture is lovely and moist.
11:37There's a huge amount of technique here.
11:41What is it about desserts that worry you?
11:43Pastry has just got a mind of its own.
11:46It depends on how...
11:47It just depends on how it feels on the day
11:49and, you know, if it's going to work for you or not.
11:52I think you're starting well.
11:54You know, mix everything together.
11:55Bank it in the oven.
11:56Hallelujah.
11:57Yeah, hallelujah.
11:5830 minutes gone, people.
12:06One hour to go.
12:10Hello, sir.
12:11Hello.
12:13Ashley Cain, reality TV star and ultra-athlete.
12:17He started this competition as a relative novice,
12:19but when he cooks the food that comes from his heart,
12:21that's when we see great food.
12:24In a round like this where the food is all about heart,
12:26all about family, all about memories,
12:28this is exactly the sort of food that Ashley loves.
12:33He's working on a cheese, ham and sage stuffing
12:36for Gennaro's reimagined take on a classic Italian saltimbocca,
12:41using lamb cutlets instead of veal.
12:44I love lamb.
12:46I just love lamb.
12:47A lamb cutlet.
12:48Come on.
12:50And then you start to roll.
12:51Oh, so roll it this way?
12:52Yeah.
12:53OK, perfect.
12:55This is all about temperature and timing.
12:57He's got to make his stuffing and let it set for long enough
12:59in the fridge so that it holds together.
13:03Then he's got to butcher his lamb cutlets,
13:05open them up and butterfly them.
13:08Fingernut from the middle as well.
13:09Go on.
13:11Yeah.
13:12So don't be scared.
13:13Don't be scared.
13:14OK.
13:15And then put a piece of stuffing between every lamb cutlet.
13:20I've been seeing you using all of your Ultraman skills
13:22to tenderise that meat.
13:23Is it tender enough yet?
13:25He had to come out and tell me to eat it harder.
13:27Don't be afraid.
13:28I was like, OK, let's go then.
13:31The secret is respect the lamb and then not to overcook.
13:35Remember, if you cook too much, OK, the fillings start to go out.
13:40And if you're not cooking up, we stay a little bit raw.
13:43And everybody likes raw meat.
13:50Ginger Johnson, our drag artist.
13:52And her love and passion for food flows out of those massive lashes she has on her.
13:57She's inventive and she's creative.
13:59And she brings all that pizzazz to the plate.
14:03Ginger's resting a dough for a component on her dish
14:06that's synonymous with Italy.
14:09Everybody makes a pasta where I come from.
14:12So when I made my first pasta,
14:14one-year-old, two-year-old, three-year-old, five-year-old,
14:17I always have.
14:20Agnolotti is filled with ravioli.
14:23A round of pasta with beef and port mince together in that filling.
14:31That's going to be served with a lovely, rustic, sweet tomato sauce.
14:35Making a simple tomato sauce for Italian food royalty is no mean feat.
14:42It can't be too acidic. It can't be too sweet.
14:44It has to have finesse.
14:46OK, roll out the pasta. Cut into rounds.
14:49The recipe that I've got, it's not the most complicated thing in the world,
14:54but that is a double-edged sword because it means that I have to get these key skills right.
15:02Gina's got to roll her pasta out thin enough so when she folds it and joins the two edges together,
15:07it's not too thick.
15:10Can you just remove your glasses, please? One second.
15:14It's incredible. I want to do that too.
15:18I know. We can sort that out.
15:20Is it slightly stressful cooking Italian food in front of Italian food royalty?
15:23Incredibly stressful. Don't be stressful, please.
15:26Probably about as stressful as you try to do drag in front of me.
15:29There you go. Turn the tables.
15:30Alfie Bo can hold a tune and he's pretty good with a fry pan as well.
15:39His Italian food seems to be flowing from his veins.
15:43But Alfie Bo's biggest enemy in the kitchen is his nerves.
15:50Like Ginger, Alfie's also working on dough, but for a different type of pasta.
15:55My father used to make gnocchi. He loved to invent it in many different ways.
16:02And it was really good.
16:04Gnocchi is traditionally a potato dumpling.
16:07But what Alfie's going to do is make discs of gnocchi dough
16:11which are filled with asparagus and courgettes, seal those little pasta parcels
16:16and cook them very, very well.
16:18The process here is really difficult.
16:20We want really lovely, soft, fluffy potato pasta dough.
16:23I've never made gnocchi before, but I'm hoping I can make Gennaro proud
16:28with my attempt at his recipe. I don't want to let him down.
16:32Are your hands shaking? Like crazy, absolutely.
16:36I'm trying to calm down. Do your hands shake on stage?
16:39Not when I'm singing, no.
16:41You're doing ever so well. You can see it's the right thickness.
16:46Italian food has been one of your themes.
16:48How much do you want to be cook of the day?
16:49Well, it would be wonderful, but I'm just concentrating at the moment
16:54and perfecting this.
16:56Sing a lovely song inside your mind. Ooh, ooh.
16:58Beautiful. And you do it.
17:00OK, so we're halfway.
17:0345 minutes to go, people.
17:0630 spoons.
17:08Wow.
17:09On her vegetable dessert, Dawn's moved on to the most technically
17:15challenging aspect.
17:17Chocolate aubergines with an amaretto ice cream.
17:21I've never made ice cream before, so I always said to myself,
17:25don't make ice cream on MasterChef, because I've seen MasterChef
17:28and it goes wrong all the time, so delighted to be given this challenge.
17:33Pour into a pre-chilled ice cream machine and churn for 14 minutes.
17:36Her ice cream has to be a really lovely, rich, thick custard before it gets churned,
17:41otherwise it's not going to be creamy and smooth.
17:45With his stuffed cabbage on for its second boil, Alan Wynn is focusing on its accompaniments.
17:51Little chicken bites wrapped in cured ham.
17:54Sometimes with your feces left, not with chicken, what do you do? Chicken bite? So easy.
18:03I pull up flavour.
18:07Just make sure that these bad boys don't over-cock, so I need to keep an eye on them.
18:12Alfie's working on the time-critical asparagus and courgette filling for his gnocchi parcels.
18:22Gennaro's recipe calls for those vegetables inside those little pasta parcels to be al dente.
18:30He wants a bit of a crunch.
18:32It's a tricky one, but I don't want my gnocchi to split or crack.
18:36That's got to be seasoned really well, and then cooled, because if it's not cold, the potato dough will melt.
18:46Across the kitchen, Ashley's hoping his ham and cream cheese stuffing for his lamb cutlets is set.
18:53This is a very special moment.
18:58That is class.
19:00And he now has to master the tricky technique of sealing it into the lamb.
19:05Just pull it. Pull like that. No, pull the meat. Stretch it. Stretch it. Don't worry, it will stretch it.
19:12But don't break it. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid to close it.
19:17He's going to be really gently, otherwise the stuffing will crumble and it will fall to bits.
19:22Thyme's never been my friend in this kitchen. It's never been my friend in life.
19:25I'm always late, unfortunately, but I'm going to get my lamb in the oven, make it flavoursome, tender and beautiful.
19:33How long do you have to boil potatoes for?
19:38So that's 30 minutes left.
19:41Also with timing concerns is Jamie, who's only just started assembling his chestnut pastries for baking.
19:49I don't know whether I've done it right, whether I've done it wrong.
19:51So I'm just going to hope for the best.
19:54If Jamie doesn't get them in the oven quick enough, they're not going to be cooked all the way through.
19:59I mean, I'm running out of time now. Let's do this.
20:02This isn't the first time I've seen Jamie in a real flap in this kitchen.
20:06And his pastries aren't his only worry, as he's now tackling the coffee zabayoni custard accompaniment.
20:14I'm not even sure why this is supposed to look like this.
20:17I always remember, a little child, my mother always used to make me a zabayoni with a drop of coffee inside.
20:26A couple of eggs mixed with a bit of sugar.
20:29If he doesn't cook it enough, we're going to have the flavour of raw egg yolk.
20:32I keep shaking.
20:35It become a little foamy.
20:37Yeah.
20:39Everyone loves coffee and a paste.
20:42Katie is also feeling the pressure.
20:45I still need to mash the veg and cook the duck.
20:50I don't want to do that until the last minute, because I don't want to overcook it.
20:54I'm hoping the duck doesn't take that long, but that's what I'm worried about.
20:59You cook four minutes one side, four minutes the other side.
21:04She has to get the timing absolutely right, and it's going to be well rested,
21:08so that when she cuts into it, we don't have all this blood running all over the plate.
21:11I just don't want to burn the duck. I've never cooked it before.
21:17Over on the pasta dish, ginger needs to fill and shape enough agnolotti for three portions.
21:23Right amount of filling to the right amount of pasta, all joined together in the centre.
21:29But ginger has to be really careful here, otherwise those little agnolotti will start to blow open.
21:34Too much filling.
21:39Squash it down.
21:40No, don't need to squash it down.
21:43Before it gets dry, you roll it.
21:45Yeah.
21:47And then one finger on top of the other one.
21:49Oh. You pull it.
21:51OK.
21:53And then it becomes perfect.
21:55I've just got to do this very fiddly thing about 45 times in the next five minutes,
21:59and then we'll be golden.
22:00And Alfie has a similar challenge.
22:01This potato gnocchi dough needs ample filling inside, and then clamps closed and sealed really, really well, so that gnocchi doesn't fall apart.
22:16Be careful with the flour, because sometimes it's too much flour.
22:20Too much OK.
22:24OK, so we're on our final five minutes now.
22:27You need to think about plating up.
22:37Turn in now. Turn in a little bit.
22:40You've only got four minutes on that dark.
22:41I know.
22:42Well, they only take three minutes in the water, so, and the sauce is ready.
22:52Got to wait for them to roast to the top of the water.
22:56Oh, here's one.
22:58This should be absolutely delicious, and if it's not, I don't know what I've done.
23:07OK, guys, you've got two minutes left. Just two minutes, please.
23:10I think I like the look of them.
23:13I mean, I don't know how they're going to be when I get them out.
23:18They don't really want to cut it up, so they can cut through that, and then they can celebrate my success or failure together.
23:28It's going to go crazy.
23:31Whoa, that's it. There you go. Good, good, good.
23:38Guys, 60 seconds.
23:46Don't break it. Don't break it.
23:49Wow.
23:50Hallelujah, we done it.
23:52That's it. Time's up, guys. Time's up.
23:58Alfie, are you looking back over at Sue?
24:01No, that's what I keep thinking. Did I miss something out?
24:07Hello. Hello.
24:09First up is Alfie, with Gennaro's asparagus and courgette-filled gnocchi topped with parmesan and crispy sage leaves in a butter, balsamic and sage sauce.
24:20Your gnocchi is lovely and light. Right amount of filling, so you get that real lovely sweetness and sharpness of the courgette inside.
24:33The richness of the asparagus as well, which is slightly earthy. It's a great plate of food.
24:38Thank you, Jill.
24:39What I love the most is the sage and the cheese that's on top and some of it's crispy and gooey and it's really good.
24:47Thanks, Chris. Thank you.
24:49The texture of the gnocchi is just marvellous.
24:52Thank you. Thank you so much.
24:54The filling was quite good. Asparagus inside. Well done. The butter in sage, marvellous. I love it. You made me very pleased.
25:01Thank you so much.
25:04Getting Gennaro's feedback was a dream for me, you know, because the fact I've cooked for him, you know, I've given him a proper Italian dish. I'm so thrilled. It's brilliant.
25:14Katie has served Gennaro's take on duck a l'orange, duck breast marinated in limoncello with a celeriac and carrot mash, broccoli with capers, chilli and garlic and a buttery limoncello sauce.
25:32You don't know if that duck was cooked yet because you didn't have time to slice it.
25:35No.
25:40That duck is not cooked enough.
25:41Timing's got the better of you, but the sauce is fantastic. You've taken that sauce with all that limoncello and the sharp lemon rind and reduced it with all the pan juices for the duck and that is really wonderfully flavoured.
25:59There's so much limoncello in the sauce. I feel quite tipsy. However, I love your celeriac mash. It's lovely with the limoncello over the top, it works.
26:10The broccoli with the capers, they're delicious. The duck, if it was cooked, I would say yes. What a lovely dish.
26:21I was furied about the duck. I should have trusted my gut and started it a little bit earlier, but I didn't want to overcook it.
26:28Alan Wynne has stuffed a whole cabbage with pork mince salami and herbs.
26:37Wow, that looks really good.
26:39And served it with chicken bites wrapped in pancetta and sage, a tomato sauce and a vinaigrette dressing.
26:46The cabbage is cooked to perfection with the rest of the ingredients inside. The saltiness of the salami tastes delicious. This one is so good, you cook better than mine.
27:05Your little bits of chicken, saltiness of that pancetta and that richness of fragrant sage running through the whole thing. Everything's seasoned really well. I think you've done a great job.
27:15You've got a lovely ripe blushing tomato sauce. It's glossy and it's sweet. There's bags of parsley in there. This is the best I've seen you cook so far.
27:28Thank you. I was nervous because I didn't know whether the cabbage was going to stay together. So, yeah, pleased with our performance. Just got to keep the standard up going forward now.
27:42Ashley has cooked Gennaro's take on saltimbocca. Lamb cutlets stuffed with Parma ham, cheese, sage, parsley and basil, served with garlic and rosemary sautéed potatoes.
27:58The lamb, perhaps I want a little bit pinkish inside. It's kind of well done. But the potato, they're really good. Garlic and rosemary are lovely and crispy. That is nice.
28:13The lamb filling is quite a bold whack of herbs. Tons of parsley, tons of garlic. I like it.
28:21You've got great flavours here, Ashley, of sage and the salty ham, but sadly the lamb's a bit dry.
28:29For the first time in the competition, I feel disappointed. The meat should have been rarer. So, I'd better get my hands and my heart ready for another round.
28:39Hello.
28:43Ginger has made pork and beef mince filled agnolotti in a tomato and basil sauce.
28:49The pasta, it is good, but I believe it's just a little bit thick on the sides.
29:01OK.
29:02But at the end of the day, every single one is close.
29:06So, nothing escaped.
29:09I love the flavours. There's a little bit of pepperiness on my tongue, which is wonderful.
29:13That porky smokiness inside that pasta is great.
29:17The tomato sauce, it's chunky, it's rustic and it's singing with basil.
29:21It's a good plate of food.
29:24That's been an amazing experience today. It's like getting a masterclass from a king of food.
29:35Dawn has made Gennaro's quirky veg dessert. Layers of deep-fried aubergines coated in a rich chocolate sauce with crushed amaretti biscuits and flaked almonds.
29:46Served with an amaretto ice cream topped with zesty orange and lemon.
29:55Mmm.
29:57The aubergine is cooked crispy but still soft that it's began to soak in all of this lovely chocolatey sauce to become something really spongy and delicious.
30:09Love it, love it, love it, love it, love it, love it.
30:12Happiness is getting drunk on your ice cream, Dawn.
30:14Holy camole.
30:16That ice cream is unbelievable. How much booze you got in there?
30:20Follow the recipe.
30:22Well, we like to make everybody happy when they have the food.
30:27My favourite chef.
30:29Gosh, yes, I...
30:31That's good.
30:33And there's little bits of citrus running through it, giving it real freshness.
30:37I think you've done a great job here.
30:40The aubergines, the almonds, the amaretto, bringing me back.
30:44My childhood memory.
30:46Dawn, thank you.
30:49I'm so happy.
30:50He's such a nice guy, Janara, and for him to have been catapulted back to his own childhood.
30:59I'm very proud of myself right now.
31:02Finally, it's Jamie, who's cooked sweet pastries filled with chestnuts, chocolate, rum and raisin, served with an espresso zabayoni custard.
31:15The pastry, it's unbelievable.
31:28It's crumble, it's not hard.
31:30The chestnuts, with the chocolate, with a little bit of zabayone.
31:36Wow.
31:38It's excellent.
31:40You got an excellent off Gennaro.
31:42Yeah.
31:43You got a wow.
31:44Yeah.
31:45I'll give you an ace.
31:47The zabayone, perfect, sort of slightly sticky and sweet, and then that hit of coffee.
31:52It looks great, it tastes great.
31:55You've got a class act.
31:57The pastry is a work of art.
32:00This feels like it was made by somebody in the back of a posh kitchen who does this all day.
32:06Absolutely beautiful.
32:09I'm feeling a little bit overwhelmed, to be honest.
32:12The feedback was phenomenal and, yeah, I'm super happy.
32:18I feel like I've really smashed it.
32:21Thank you very much to Cucco, the recipe, my recipe.
32:26You made me very proud.
32:28At the start of this, we did say we will choose a cook of the day.
32:32That person will go straight through to the next part of the competition.
32:35The other six will have to cook again for their place.
32:39We're going to ask you to step outside and we'll call you back in again as soon as we possibly can.
32:43Thanks very much indeed.
32:44Off you go.
32:48They all really tried and pulled off some very difficult things.
32:54For me, three standout cooks.
32:56Yes.
32:57Alan Wynn with his cabbage and his chicken bites.
32:59Jamie with his chestnut and chocolate pie with zabbione.
33:03Yeah.
33:04And Dawn with her chocolate aubergines and Amoretti ice cream.
33:07Yes.
33:08I loved it.
33:09Janara, thank you very much indeed.
33:10Thank you, John.
33:11Take care.
33:13Thank you very much indeed.
33:14Such a pleasure being here.
33:15Really good day.
33:16Thanks very much.
33:20Picking one person who cooked the best is impossible.
33:25Yeah, it's a difficult decision, but there's one person today who I think just did an amazing job.
33:34Thank you very much indeed for all your hard work.
33:41It was joyous.
33:44Our cook of the day is...
33:52Jamie.
33:55Well done, Jamie.
33:56Yes!
33:57Well done.
33:58I get to go home to see my little girl, so I'm ecstatic and I miss a round, so yeah.
34:03Thank you so much.
34:04Off you go.
34:05Thank you, guys.
34:06Good luck.
34:07Congratulations.
34:08Thank you, mate.
34:09Cheers, cheers.
34:10Well done.
34:13Cook of the day.
34:15I honestly can't believe it.
34:17I'm in the final six of MasterChef.
34:22Okay, you six.
34:23Time to pick yourself up.
34:25Gennaro's food was all about stories and emotion and growing up in Italy.
34:29And your brief is to cook us a dish inspired by somewhere that you love.
34:35At the end of this, five of you will be joining Jamie in the next round.
34:39One of you will be going home.
34:42Show us all the skills and finesse you've learned along the way.
34:47Ladies and gentlemen, one and a half hours.
34:51Let's cook.
34:58This food needs to tell a story.
35:01Of holidays, family occasions, your favourite place.
35:05We want to feel the joy on the plate.
35:08I'm feeling good.
35:09It's food that I love to eat.
35:11And if I nail it, if we're going to be in a good place.
35:14All of them have got the skill.
35:16All of them have proved they've got the palate.
35:18What they've got to do now is hold their nerve.
35:24I'm nervous.
35:25What else is new?
35:26So I better get cracking.
35:28Mmm!
35:30Katie, are we going to far away, sunny climes?
35:34We're going to Lancashire, Grace.
35:37Well, yeah.
35:39I'm a very proud Naldon, I must say.
35:41Same here.
35:42What are you cooking?
35:43I am making you a lamb hotpot.
35:46It's a little nod to my time at Pro Nation Street.
35:49Obviously the infamous Betty's hotpot.
35:51And my grandmother used to make hotpot all the time.
35:54I'm baking my own bread.
35:55I'm making my own butter.
35:57Because when you have a hotpot, you want to dip the bread in.
36:01Can I say something northern to her?
36:02You can say whatever you like.
36:03Go on, Katie, lass.
36:05Go on.
36:06Thanks, Kyle.
36:07We were just speaking in our own.
36:09I'm sorry you didn't understand that, John.
36:10What does that mean?
36:12I'm really pleased with what she's doing.
36:13She's pushing herself.
36:15Wonderful.
36:16I'm glad that you two are bonding over this hotpot.
36:17Katie, one of the things so far in the competition has been timing.
36:20Yes.
36:21Are you going to get the timings right?
36:22I hope so.
36:23I'm going to go like roadrunner after this conversation.
36:27I love this.
36:28A Lancashire hotpot.
36:30Usually lamb in a sauce with potatoes across the top.
36:34And it's cooked in the oven, thus a hotpot.
36:37But what Katie is doing is cooking all the bits separately and bringing them together.
36:42She's using lamb mince, which is cooking quite quickly.
36:44With that, she's got a cannon of lamb, then it should be nice and tender.
36:47We've got a red wine sauce enriched with stock and thyme.
36:51This needs to be a really hearty dish that will make Lancashire proud.
36:57I'm trying to prove that you can make a hotpot look pretty.
37:02Flavour and good looks, which is everyone from Lancashire.
37:05I'm surprised that I'm still here.
37:06You know, every time I show up in that kitchen, I just think, what am I doing?
37:15But I could actually probably open a restaurant after this. Crazy.
37:19You could have an Ashley Kane cookbook. Anything is possible.
37:23I'm worried about getting everything done.
37:25I've got a lot of sauces, a lot of salads, a lot of things to do.
37:29And not a lot of time to do it.
37:31Ashley is drawing on his West Indian heritage.
37:35He's cooking jerk chicken.
37:36For me, good jerk chicken has a kick.
37:39It needs a judicious use of scotch bonnets.
37:42I want that jerk sauce to be rich and zinging.
37:45He's got little chickens called a poussin.
37:47And there should be lots of marinade around the outside of that chicken.
37:53Ashley's really pushing himself, and we're also getting some flatbread.
37:56I've never had a flatbread before with jerk chicken.
38:00I usually would have rice and peas, some tea.
38:03It might work, but it might just all be a bit dry.
38:07My favourite place in the world is my home.
38:10And a huge part of my home is the Caribbean roots and culture.
38:15Where in the Caribbean are your family from?
38:17St Vincent and the Grenadines.
38:19Ashley, I've got to say, right now, if you can take me on holiday
38:22to a Caribbean island, I'm going to be very, very excited indeed.
38:27Celebrities, 20 minutes gone.
38:31Oh yeah, time flies when you're having fun.
38:36Alfie's cooking us food from a place that we know he loves.
38:39He's talked about Italy all the way through the competition.
38:43I was about 22 when I first went to Italy.
38:45I did a concert over there, and I tasted Italian pasta for the very first time,
38:50and it was just out of this world.
38:56Alfie, I found your straw. Have you brought your guinea pig with you?
38:59That's the salad.
39:01Maybe a squeeze of lemon in there.
39:02I mean, it looks delicious. I am on the high fibre.
39:05Alfie, you've just cracked a joke on MasterChef.
39:07I have, I know, I know.
39:09I must be enjoying myself!
39:11Yippee! Get relaxed!
39:14There we are, there we are.
39:15It's a great round with Gennaro.
39:17Is that giving me the confidence?
39:18It has.
39:19And I thought I would take you on a trip to the Amalfi Coast,
39:23where I remember being up there at this gorgeous kitchen,
39:26a place called Mama Agata's,
39:29and she cooked this incredible lemon chicken with garlic and herbs
39:35and wrapped in straw.
39:37So I'm going to try and recreate it for you.
39:40Alfie's huge bag of hay.
39:42He's going to put it round the chicken and try to get all that lovely,
39:45rustic, farmyard flavours all into the meat.
39:51With his chicken, a salsa verde, really rich, quite sharp,
39:56made from parsley, eggs and capers.
39:59Fantastic.
40:01However, Alfie's going to serve his chicken whole,
40:04and that means that he will not know if that chicken is cooked
40:07all the way through until such time as we open it up.
40:10That's a big gamble.
40:13I want to make sure that that chicken is super done.
40:21Alan, where are you taking us to today?
40:24We're going to the south of France.
40:25I had a second home in France, right on the coast,
40:27because I was working there for six months,
40:29and that's where I finished my career,
40:31so that's why I'm doing a lobster linguine.
40:32You could sit and see the lobster come out of the ocean,
40:35and within an hour or so it would be on your plates.
40:37It feels like you walked into this kitchen at the beginning
40:40and said that you just didn't really cook at all.
40:42And now you quite casually seem to be working with the lobster.
40:45Well, hopefully the lobster's going to work with me as well,
40:48so we'll see what happens.
40:50From that whole lobster, he's going to have to get a huge amount of flavour to make a sauce.
40:57He's using the head for stock.
41:00He's got his own pasta on the go.
41:02It's a really complex, delicious thing that he's making here.
41:07I've done the pasta before, but there's a couple of things here
41:11that I'm probably doing for the first time on national television,
41:14which isn't great.
41:16I'd never prep for a game like that.
41:18Cooking and prepping the lobster.
41:20I was a little bit worried about it.
41:22What's a bit more pressure?
41:26Celebrities!
41:2850 minutes gone, 40 minutes left.
41:36The main thing I learned from Gennaro was that his food is really emotional.
41:41It's all about stories and heart and emotion,
41:44and I need to try and bring a bit of that into my cooking, I think.
41:47We're in New York.
41:49We've had the most gorgeous day.
41:50We've been shopping. We've had cocktails.
41:52We've been to an art gallery. We've had more cocktails.
41:54We've been to Broadway. We've seen a gorgeous show.
41:56Now we're absolutely starving, and we're going to Koreatown,
41:59and we're going to have delicious Korean-American food.
42:02Love it. What time do we go?
42:03And then we're going to have more cocktails.
42:04And then a club, why not?
42:07Cool! Thanks!
42:09What are you going to cook for us?
42:11I am cooking bao buns with lemon pepper beef,
42:13cheesy corn, and a non-fermented kimchi.
42:16New York's my favourite place in the world,
42:18and it really is a 24-hour city.
42:20You can go and eat this food at 2 o'clock in the morning,
42:22and be transported to Korea in the process.
42:25It's magical.
42:29Ginger's making her own bao buns.
42:32Wow!
42:33She is a machine in the kitchen.
42:36Those bao buns need to be nice and soft and pillowish.
42:39I've got no room to put anything in here.
42:41With that, we've got our kimchi,
42:43which is a spicy cabbage salad.
42:45Usually it's brined first, and it's left in a jar to ferment.
42:48She doesn't have time to ferment it,
42:50but I hope it has bags of flavour.
42:51I'm very pushed for time, but it's all happening,
42:55and if it all keeps going, it'll go.
42:57So there you go.
42:5925 minutes left.
43:0125 minutes left.
43:02You and me are not friends any more, Grace.
43:03We're not friends.
43:0425 minutes left.
43:05You and me are not friends any more, Grace.
43:0625 minutes left.
43:0725 minutes left.
43:10Fillet the mackerel.
43:13I'm quite used to filleting fish now.
43:17What's cooking today, Dawn?
43:19Where are you taking us?
43:20Taking you up to Scotland,
43:21which is one of my favourite places in the world.
43:22It's where I was born.
43:23It's where my dad lives.
43:24He'd always take us out on his boats,
43:25and we would catch line after line of fresh mackerel,
43:27take them home and eat them.
43:29And we'd always stop off at the supermarket
43:30and get a jar of pickled cockles
43:32and eat them in his car with a toothpick.
43:33So I am making you pan-fried mackerel
43:37with clap shot, which is neaps and tatties,
43:39and a pickled cockle escabash
43:42with a Cullen skink sauce.
43:45That's a fish feast.
43:46It is.
43:47I mean, ambition is one thing,
43:48but reality is another.
43:49If she wants to cook four dinners at once
43:52and put them on the plate, we should let her.
43:57These are some of my favourite flavours.
43:59Cullen skink, for example.
44:01Creamy smoked haddock flavours.
44:04Escabash is a way of pickling things.
44:07Onions and carrots cooked down with vinegar,
44:09but she's actually putting in cockles,
44:11which are coming out of a jar.
44:13Cockles are quite salty.
44:16We have got lots of big powerful flavours in this plate.
44:19I hope it's not all too overpowering.
44:22These are very familiar Scottish flavours.
44:24Do they all work together?
44:25I think so.
44:26But if I messed this up really badly,
44:28I could be going home today
44:29and that would absolutely devastate me.
44:34You've got just four minutes.
44:36Four minutes.
44:40I don't really know how to do this.
44:43Basically just need to add the sauce to the meat.
44:50I'm trying to make a quenelle because I'm a fancy pants.
44:53I've not made one before.
44:54I've just watched lots of videos on how to make one.
44:56So, here we are.
45:01Just burnt the flatbread.
45:03She's not good.
45:04It's a bit of a struggle.
45:0530 seconds.
45:18I don't know whether it made my pasta a bit too thick.
45:20My balls have turned out really well.
45:21I'm so, so pleased.
45:25That's going to have to do for that.
45:27Time is up.
45:28Step away from your benches, please.
45:29Yes!
45:30I've done it!
45:31I don't know how it tastes, but I've got it ready.
45:34Jobs are good, isn't it?
45:37I'd eat it.
45:40Celebrating her home county of Lancashire,
45:42Katie has cooked a lamb hotpot.
45:45Diced lamb cannon and lamb mince
45:48with potato, carrot, swede and red cabbage.
45:51Served with a red wine sauce.
45:54Homemade soda bread and butter and crispy lamb fat.
45:58This is not looking like a hotpot.
46:00This looks like a work of art.
46:08The lamb cannon is overdone and it's going slightly chewy,
46:12but what's wonderful is the amount of mince lamb in there.
46:15Fried really well.
46:17Little bits of potato across the top and the red cabbage
46:19giving sharpness, which is good.
46:21Soda bread, a little bit dense, I don't mind that too much
46:24because I appreciate all the hard work and you didn't run out of time.
46:27The lamb cannon, although it is a little bit over,
46:31the richness of the gravy is just outstanding.
46:35Whack of salty rendered down lamb fat to go on the bread.
46:39And your butter, creamy, silky and just goes beautifully on that bread,
46:44dipping it into the lamb.
46:46Good.
46:47Thanks, Katie.
46:48Thank you very much.
46:49Thanks.
46:50Apart from a tough lamb cannon, my main goal was the taste and the presentation
46:55and just to show that I can do different skills.
46:58Ashley's Caribbean menu is jerk chicken with an orange pineapple sesame seed salad,
47:08flatbreads and a lime and coriander yoghurt sauce.
47:13It looks the part, but when you start to eat, it hasn't got that fire and oomph that you need from jerk.
47:24Can't taste the chilli.
47:26This fruit and salad thing is really fascinating for me because you've got sharp, sour pineapple in there and sweet orange.
47:34It's really refreshing and really light and actually it goes nicely with that little bit of crust on the outside of that chicken.
47:41The breads are nicely made, but you've cooked them just a little bit too long and they're starting to go a little dry.
47:47I'm slightly disappointed that a little thing like spice could have made all the difference, but I've just got to keep my fingers crossed to see if it's enough.
47:57Inspired by living on the coast in the south of France where he finished his rugby career, Alan Wynn has served lobster linguine.
48:05Linguine is really thin. It's that sort of more fettuccine.
48:09In a lemongrass, ginger, chilli and star anise sauce dressed with a lobster claw.
48:20The lobster is perfectly cooked. What I love about this sauce, there's lemongrass and there's ginger and there's star anise and there's a kick of chilli.
48:29It's got real depth and it keeps building the more that you're eating it. It's outstanding.
48:35With lobster pasta, it can go one of two ways. It can either be really flavoursome or it can be bland and creamy.
48:42Congratulations. You've got it absolutely bang on.
48:45Oh, thank you.
48:46This is fantastic.
48:47Your pasta is beautifully made. It's got a nice little bite to it. It's skilled. It's delicious. I like it a lot, Alan Wynn.
48:57Happy with that. I haven't done that recipe before and, you know, actually, you know, it came out good.
49:02At least they know I was a cooked lobster now.
49:05Ginger.
49:09Hello.
49:11Ginger's trip to Koreatown in New York is bao buns filled with lemon pepper beef, pickled ginger shallots and coriander,
49:20with fresh kimchi marinated in anchovy sauce and cheesy corn.
49:26The star of the show is your bao bun, which is lovely and soft and pillowy light, which is really difficult to get right.
49:41And inside that, bits of beef which are really thin and ferocious amount of pickled ginger and the shallots as well being sharp with all the herbs.
49:50Very, very clever indeed. Thank you.
49:53I didn't think you'd get all this flavour into this kimchi in a short amount of time.
49:58Using anchovy almost to fake that funky fermented taste is lovely.
50:05This cheesy corn, it's a big plate of stodge.
50:08It's exactly what it's meant to be.
50:13I love it.
50:15I am over the moon.
50:18The gods of bao buns were on my side today and they were perfect, so I'm so chuffed.
50:25Representing Scotland.
50:27Don O'Potter.
50:29Got your little gift.
50:30Right.
50:33Wonderful.
50:36Very nice.
50:43Ginger, we're in the club.
50:46Beautiful.
50:47Welcome to the family.
50:49Does this make it taste better?
50:50It does.
50:51OK.
50:53Showcasing her Scottish heritage, Dawn has served pan-fried mackerel on buttery leeks,
50:59with mashed Sweden potato, pickled cockle escabash, and a smoked haddock potato and cream Cullen skink sauce.
51:14I love mackerel.
51:16Perfectly cooked.
51:18It's a very strong, slightly bitter taste, but then you've got the smooth, silky softness of the haddock creamy sauce,
51:25which just takes the edge off it.
51:28Getting neeps and tatties into Cornell.
51:31I don't know what Scotland will make of it.
51:34But you did it.
51:37It's Bonnie.
51:39The escabash is inspired.
51:41Sharp sweetness coming from that vinegar with the shallots, the sweet carrot mixed together, and those little cockles tasting of the sea.
51:49Some really complex flavours, big bold flavours, and you've made them dance quite nicely together.
51:54Good on you.
51:56Thanks, Dawn.
52:00You know, when you get that seal of approval from John and Grace, it's so validating.
52:05I want my dad to be watching this episode smiling his head off up in Scotland and feeling proud of what I've done.
52:09Last up is Alfie, with his Italian hay-baked lemon chicken, served with purple sprouting broccoli, an anchovy caper and parmesan salsa verde, and a chicken sauce.
52:24You don't know if that chicken's cooked all the way through?
52:25No.
52:27Until I open it up?
52:29I can't breathe.
52:34Good job.
52:36The chicken's cooked beautifully, it's so lovely and moist, and slightly woody and smoky from that hay around the outside.
52:45Sharp, rich, fragrant lemon, with that lovely buttery, crispy skin on the outside.
52:51The sauce, rich saltiness coming from the stock, all the juices going in there from the chicken, it's delicious.
52:59You have convinced me to add a bag of hay to my online shopping delivery, because it really works.
53:04But then you've got this lovely, chunky salsa.
53:09It's so heavy with parmesan and anchovy and caper.
53:13I could just eat that by itself on toast.
53:16Thank you so much.
53:18I was so pleased that that chicken was cooked all the way through.
53:24That was great feedback from John and Grace.
53:28I loved that round.
53:30I think Gennaro gave them a gift.
53:32He's truly inspired them.
53:33That was some of the best dining that we've had of the whole competition.
53:37I loved Alfie Beau's chicken.
53:40It was so clever.
53:42Lemon and garlic personified.
53:44It was bags of flavour.
53:46Ginger pushed herself in this round with her Korean beef and kimchi.
53:52How do you make bao buns when you haven't got a lot of time?
53:54It was fantastic.
53:56Alan Wynne. Lobster and pasta.
53:59That's a difficult thing to cook.
54:01He really pulled it off.
54:03Dawn O'Porter and a celebration of Scotland with mackerel and a cullenskin sauce.
54:08I loved it.
54:10All of those four were exquisite today. Very impressive.
54:14That leaves us with a conversation about Katie and Ashley.
54:18Beyond doubt, Ashley wanted to take us to his happy place.
54:22And he really put effort into this.
54:25His flatbreads, as well made as they were, he'd overcooked them, they'd become quite dry.
54:29But that jerk chicken could have done with a lot more chilly heat.
54:33Katie, a lamb hot pot, made from the heart, representing Lancashire.
54:38And the gravy, exquisite.
54:40She made her own soda bread, she churned her own butter,
54:43and we had a really dainty looking dish.
54:45But some bits of lamb were chewy.
54:49Everybody in that room is just gold standard, and it'll just be sad to go home.
54:57I'm loving it. Fingers crossed, I get to stay in.
55:01I never knew how much this competition would actually mean to me.
55:05I've been brave enough to push myself, and I'm just sitting here hoping that I've done enough.
55:11Who's joining Jamie in the next round?
55:13This is a heartbreaking part of the competition.
55:23Celebrities, thank you so much.
55:26You took us to places that genuinely meant so much to you.
55:31We experienced some exquisite cooking.
55:33But even so, only five if you can go through to the next round.
55:39The celebrity leaving us...
55:40..is Ashley.
55:53Ashley, thank you so very much indeed. Great competition.
55:58It's been an absolute pleasure to be in your presence.
56:00What a man. Thank you so much.
56:03I want to give you a hug, yeah?
56:05Thanks, Grace. It's been lovely.
56:08It's been a pleasure, thanks so much.
56:12I'm going to take so many positives away from this.
56:18The confidence that I can cook, I can make great food.
56:22Food isn't just fuel.
56:24And I feel like I can take all these skills back home and make everybody smile when they're eating dinner at my house at the weekend.
56:29Congratulations, you find.
56:31For you, the competition continues.
56:35The trophy is still up for grabs.
56:38I cooked with a lot of passion today, so I'm happy.
56:43I'm loving it.
56:45The ability to lose yourself in the kitchen and, you know, getting a few decent plates out as well.
56:49Which is, you know, it's quite nice to have that feedback.
56:52To get to the final now, you can't drop the ball.
56:55You've got to keep bringing it to the table.
56:59The standard is so high.
57:01Here I am in a really fiercely contested competition, so it's thrilling, though.
57:06I love being in the final six.
57:08It's a nice number, isn't it?
57:10I need to get my thinking cap on.
57:12I don't know if there's much left up there, but we'll find some out.
57:20Next time, it's the last of the semi-finals.
57:24John and Grace are looking for perfection.
57:28And the six remaining cooks battle it out.
57:31I have to go in with every ounce of focus that I've got.
57:34For their place.
57:36In finals week.
57:38Out of chaos.
57:39Beautiful things did happen.
57:41You actually could pursue a career in cooking, because that is how good this dish is.
57:44It's not what this dish is.
57:45I have to go in with every ounce of this meal.
57:46It is what this dish is and what this dish is.
57:47It is a myth that you have to do it, and you have to take me to try it out.
57:48Transcription by CastingWords
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