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00:02it's the semi-finals of masterchef the professionals after weeks of intense
00:08competition only the most talented eight remain tonight they cook off against each other for a
00:17place in the final six being a semi-finalist it feels unreal now we have to step up like big
00:25time
00:25do i really want to keep putting myself through this do i really want to have all this stress
00:30the answer is yes every time from the first day it's been a fight but it's fine i'm here
00:41eight fabulous chefs this is when they really have to dial it up we're not just looking for
00:48good anymore we need greatness let the battle commence
01:09welcome back to the kitchen chefs and welcome to your semi-finals now is not the time to be complacent
01:16now you've really got to ramp it up we have set you a brief of no waste you're all chefs
01:25you all
01:26understand cost of the ingredients that we use and how important it is to use every vital part we want
01:35to see the best and the worst of these ingredients used be creative create something stunning at the
01:43same time there's a lot at stake here today huge at the end of this we are going to choose
01:50our best four
01:52plates and those four chefs will go straight through the remaining four chefs will stay and cook again
01:59and at the end of that cook two will be leaving the competition one hour 45 minutes to create your
02:08no
02:08waste dish off you go
02:16we want to see our chefs be creative with the bits that normally get wasted nothing should go to the
02:22bin the bones the skin the offal the leaves everything we want to see you make it different
02:29make it interesting show us what you can do former pro golfer and demi-chef de party polly has been
02:39cooking for four years she has fought her way to the semi-finals creating meaningful dishes inspired by
02:46family members and memories you've made this really exciting i think it's really good thank you
02:52when i told people i was in the semi-finals i mean everyone screamed my girlfriend grace screamed
02:58my mum screamed they're the only two who know actually i don't trust my grandma she'll tell the
03:03whole village that's not happening she'll find out when she watches
03:11polly you've always coming in here with a certain kind of positivity about you feeling a bit more serious
03:17today i'm feeling a bit of a in a fighting mood so all right i want to highlight the longest
03:22my dish
03:23is a longestine tortellini longestine bisque and then on the side it's chowamushi it's kind of like
03:29a set custard which you steam which actually i first had when i came to london when i moved into
03:35chinatown
03:35literally right above the lanterns right that was my window finish work and then go just explore all
03:42the restaurants and and this is where i found this dish something i'd never ever heard of and
03:47actually i was like oh that's really good i love the inspiration behind this her time in london's
03:55chinatown so she picked up all those influences and she's bringing it here today it's great
04:00polly's using the longsteen in every way possible which i think is is great the shells the heads
04:05and of course the tail themselves i personally love longsteen
04:10not the easiest ingredient to work with because they're very delicate you've got to cook them
04:14just right
04:18langoustine biscuits should be rich in the flavors of the langoustine shells
04:22hopefully some kind of alcohol to cut through it as well
04:28on the side we have an egg shell holly has emptied out and she's doing a chowamushi which is a
04:34savoury
04:35custard she's going to put some of that langoustine bisque into it and some little lemon pearls to cut
04:41through her custard
04:45pasta making the thinness of the tortellini is very important
04:50don't normally help feeling nice today all the tortellinis as uniform as possible
04:56i'm just gonna leave them here under cling film so they don't get dry
05:04dublin-born mark has a passion for american barbecue and whole animal butchery
05:09so far in the competition he has delivered exciting dishes
05:14i love the bravery great flavors mark really good but has struggled with refinement
05:21absolutely feeling the pressure today yeah it's really on to to impress the judges
05:26i've had one cry in the competition so far but that was on the train home one day
05:30if i go in and i cook a beautiful dish and it really it sings there could be waterworks who's
05:35to say
05:40now that you are here in the semi-finals what was the family thinking they're all incredibly proud
05:44of me for getting this far they're very excited that i'm bringing some irish food to the competition
05:47now so today i'm going to make you a whole trout so i'm going to do your roast loin i'm
05:52going to cure the
05:53tail and confit the belly and the head and then also some irish seaweeds we've got some
05:58dillisk which is very similar to dulce and then we've got some sea lettuce and some laver and i'm
06:03going to use these to make a condiment that's very traditional in northern ireland called slope which
06:07is basically like a preserved seaweed and cultured cream and some uh beautiful irish stout soda bread
06:13as well i couldn't have an irish dish without giving you a beautiful piece of toasted soda bread
06:17it's probably the most irish dish we've ever going to have served in this kitchen i hope so anyone
06:21coming after me will have a high bar to clear i'm loving the sound of this and good luck thank
06:26you very
06:26much chef cheers mark we've got a lot to do but do love the little touches that he's bringing to
06:34his
06:34dish we've got some trout skins and he's dried those out and roasted them in the oven so they're nice
06:40and
06:40crispy trout sauce using the offal to enrich it i really like that idea i think they're talking about
06:48me he's got a little sort of potted trout dish with some clarified butter and herbs over the top of
06:53that everything is being used he's taking the best of items bringing it together on one plate
07:05now living in london after growing up in brazil private chef caroline has had a faultless start
07:12to the competition magnificent is the word i'd use whilst ambitious and meticulous she has struggled with
07:21her timings let's go hurry up hurry up hurry up you were touch and go there for time
07:31caroline how are you feeling i am feeling good chef you got your clock on i have many
07:37what are you making for us today so instead of using one ingredient as a whole i chose the off
07:43cuts
07:43so i'll use um chicken wings on the sauce i'll use the chicken thigh as the main protein of the
07:50dish
07:50chicken livers i'll make a parfait and i also will do chicken feet chicken feet let me have a look
07:56at
07:56one of those things got a bit of meat on them i will cook them debone them and deep fry
08:04them debone yeah
08:05i hope i can do it i better let you crack on thank you chef
08:11caroline's dish is pretty ambitious chicken's feet which i know blew marcus's mind so that's always fun to
08:20see she's now got to debone the chicken's feet chickens are this big i've got about 300 something
08:26bones in my foot i don't know what a chicken's got but i think that's a lot and she hasn't
08:30got a lot of
08:31time my intention is to have something crispy on the dish that is not the usual chicken skin
08:38it's a bit of work but hopefully it's going to be worth the time
08:44she's got the chicken thigh personally i think that's probably the best cut
08:48it's got loads and loads of flavor she's going to comfy that garlic thyme and then she's going to
08:53sear it in a pan so it goes nice and crispy with that kind of meltingly tender meat that will
08:58be lovely
08:59she's putting chicken liver parfait in a little brick pastry cone like an ice cream bit of fun
09:05parfait it's got to be silky smooth not grainy otherwise that would be a disaster
09:10we've got charred sweet corn smoked sweet corn puree to go with it sweet corn and chicken match made in
09:16heaven i really hope my dish can surprise the judges and they can see skill but most of all i
09:24just wanted
09:24very very tasty plate of food hopefully i can make it worthy chefs 25 minutes have gone
09:37good fun guatemalan born sal has traveled and worked in over 24 countries he stood out in the competition
09:44with his creative and modern takes on dishes influenced by his latin american heritage
09:51this has flavor it has depth everything is perfectly balanced in every single way
09:57and i'm the semi-final so um yeah it's uh it's huge no waste is an ethos that you stand
10:06by when
10:06your kitchen yeah it's always good i think as a chef that you always try to you know to maximize
10:10the
10:10flavor of the of the ingredients that you use because that allows you to be creative in so many ways
10:15i'm seeing a very expensive ingredient on your bench tell me what you are not wasting i'm not wasting
10:21anything of the lobster i'm using everything the lobster today i'm going to do a scallop and claw
10:27mousse with white chocolate and then also part of the claw i'm going to use it to make a croquette
10:32and then i'm going to have a white chocolate foam i've had caviar and white chocolate that's worked
10:37lobster and and white chocolate is um i have to admit a first for me has this been tried and
10:43tested
10:44i tried and tested yes on who um well my girlfriend was the one right and she's giving you the
10:50approval for white chocolate and lobster she has a actually a very good palette i love the ambition
10:54of of this dish this is the time you know to take risks
11:01sel's got lobster tail which has got to get cooked just right he's putting the mousse over the top and
11:06he's steaming that and then he's going to grate some white chocolate over the top and then just blow
11:11torch it so that the white chocolate melts which is a fascinating combination the white chocolate very
11:17very sweet where this sits with the lobster i'm not so sure i think my dish is inventive it's risky
11:26i really hope to deliver what is in my mind and the judges get what i'm trying to do my
11:32trials
11:32i made it work so let's hope today it works as well i love the sound of it it's adventurous
11:38it's brave it's bold and if he pulls it off he's going to go sailing through
11:47junior sous chef georgia has impressed with her bold flavors and technical ability
11:52with dishes inspired by growing up in france and living and working in spain and italy
11:59sort of like that mediterranean dish that's just all dancing this is really good but when she pushes
12:06herself she has a tendency to panic this looks a little hectic
12:13so georgia i'm looking at your dish i've seen courgettes see a rabbit being taken apart there
12:18this is italian mediterranean yeah there's a lot of italian in this dish so i'm using the whole rabbit
12:24i'm going to stuff the saddle with the offal roll it up wrap it in parma ham with sage leaves
12:31that's kind
12:32to imitate a bit of a salt in boca la romana if you've ever had one yep cooking down the
12:37leg meat in
12:38the pressure cooker and mix it with some herbs and some preserved lemon and stuff a courgette flour
12:44with it okay i'm going to deep fry the eyeballs in tempura batter i can see them over the side
12:50there
12:50i mean you're you're fitting the brief have you ever eaten a deep fried rabbit eyeball to try it
12:55yeah and what what are they like crispy georgia's got quite a lot of technique and skill going through
13:04her dish but it's the amount of work that she's given herself once again it's going to be about
13:10timing there's no fat on a rabbit at all so you have to be very very careful and very delicate
13:15in
13:16in the way you cook it i have never had a rabbit eye you know what i'll let the guys
13:22try this one first
13:25i hope that they see that i'm trying to be creative with the use of the whole ingredient
13:31and it will probably give people a laugh at home to watch the judges eat some eyeballs
13:39chefs you are halfway through don't waste a second
13:46so far in the competition head chef ismael has excelled with his dishes influenced by his
13:52bangladeshi heritage his lamb halim pop-up dish was voted most popular automatically earning him
13:59a semi-final place i would eat that all day long 10 out of 10. ismael's dish pan-fried pusan
14:07breast
14:08he's got a little pusan lollipop which is fun and he's taking the leg and he's boning out and
14:14stuffing it with the pusan liver there's a lot of work involved here got a potato cake with a spiced
14:21pusan going through it we've got wilted spinach and pusan and mushroom sauce he's also got a
14:28little chili jam which i'm really curious about chili jam with a mushroom sauce how's that going to work
14:34out today i'm going to give the judges the best pusan dish they ever tried it's a little bit different
14:40than what i normally cook so far but i'm using all my technique to all the judges
14:46hey smile the brief how do you feel about it i was very confident when i heard about the brief
14:51because growing up in bangladesh we didn't have unlimited source of food so no wastage it was
14:56one of the big part in my in my life so my mom had to do breakfast lunch dinner with
15:01a very minimum
15:02amount of supply my mom used to come up with this amazing dish with the potato skin or or leftover
15:08rice
15:09fabulous all of his story
15:15right chefs you've got about 40 minutes left okay yes sir 40 let's go
15:27private chef gareth from manchester has impressed with his playful takes on the classics
15:34he secured his place in the semi-finals with a creative fun but technically challenging crowd
15:41pleaser i thought that was absolutely fantastic great take on cheesy chips really elevated it
15:48there's nowhere to hide with it it's trying to get all the best bits out of
15:51one ingredient but so far i'm happy cauliflower is this a crown pleaser i wanted to show that you
15:59know the most humble things you can elevate and you can deliver something really tasty
16:04i'm looking around the room here i'm seeing lobsters and
16:08langoustines and i've got a cauliflower and we've got a cauliflower steak as the centerpiece that's going to
16:13be cooked almost like a protein then we've got a caramelized cauliflower puree we've got pickled
16:18cauliflower it's going to be raw cauliflower i'm going to tempura the leaves and then anything that
16:23is left is going into a stock and then i'm going to monte some smoked butter through so how are
16:28you
16:28going to get the different dimensions you're dealing with just cauliflower that's what i want to show
16:33the skill in doing is trying to make each element different from each other so what's the what are
16:40raisins hanging around here for so this is a caper and raisin puree it just adds that sort of acidity
16:46and depth of flavor i'm very excited about cauliflower thank you good night
16:52it's not a single thing has been wasted here and i like the addition of the caper and raisin puree
16:59for a bit of sweetness and of course smoked butter sauce it does need something different
17:04on this plate otherwise everything will taste the same
17:08i remember when we lived in newcastle there was a uh a busker who's singing the song about cauliflower
17:16cauliflower cauliflower cauliflower cheese no i don't like your cauliflower cheese
17:24oh well he hasn't tried my cauliflower chefs you have just 15 minutes left wait wait
17:36portsmouth born head chef luke has wowed with his precise cookery and range of technical skills
17:42so far he's delivered beautifully presented dishes with standout flavors
17:48it's a wonderful wonderful plate of food how good does that taste soup lime
17:55i'm definitely always looking for the perfect round i want them to not be able to find any
18:00negatives and to love my dish when they don't it's sometimes quite hard to take i don't think
18:04that's necessarily a bad thing because that's what you need to focus on to become better
18:12i quite enjoyed doing this actually because i really had to think about it i took inspiration
18:17from things that were on my menu at the moment and thinking right how could i use that more i'm
18:23basing
18:23the dish around salmon i'm using the fillets the belly and the bones tried to create the rest of the
18:29dish using by-products from things that are not normally used in the kitchen or not used enough so
18:35the sauce is made from the milk that the barata comes in i've used only the pancetta skins to flavor
18:42the sauce the puree is cauliflower stalks only okay yeah luke's approach i found really interesting
18:51he's curing the salmon fillet in cider it works nicely i can see that the sweetness going with the
18:57fish salmon belly which is glazing with a little bit of mustard belly is fattier than the main parts
19:05of the salmon itself bringing that lovely rich flavor to the dish what a cream sauce that's going to be
19:11split with lovage oil he's using the brine that the burrata comes in quite unusual and so i'm interested
19:17to see how strong that flavor is once it's been reduced down he's got a cauliflower and pickled
19:23walnut puree pickled walnuts will blow your head off they are really really punchy this dish i think lives
19:32and dies on whether he can get that balance right
19:42chefs you have just two minutes left
19:49it's getting tight yeah but i think i'm gonna make it i just have to push it
20:02chefs last 60 seconds get in on the plate please
20:06i don't even know if i've done everything i wanted to do i've hardly looked at my my sheet
20:13i feel like i'm forgetting something
20:23all coming together nicely yes chef we're getting there yeah extra chicken feet for marcus please
20:28yes please
20:35time's up stand back
20:45using the whole lobster private chef's cell has served lobster tail topped with a lobster scallop
20:51and white chocolate mousse caviar and potato skins lobster bisque lobster oil lobster claw and potato croquette
21:04and a coconut and white chocolate foam
21:18so i'm absolutely loving this this is wonderful the white chocolate when you read out the white
21:25chocolate we were all a little bit in fear but you've used it really well you've used it sparingly i
21:31think
21:31every element you've executed brilliantly as a diner you're having to put your faith and your trust
21:38in the chef and you've pulled it off really well so you know you said you wanted to take a
21:43bit of a
21:43risk and you you certainly have lobster beautifully cooked the mousse is beautiful and smooth i mean
21:48so light someone's like you've pumped it up is that it's that light coconut and white chocolate foam
21:52not getting the coconut that much but the white chocolate element of it is is delicious and your
21:57little potato croquette on the side is lovely crunchy crispy and again light this is a beautifully
22:04accomplished plate of food from you the biscuits wonderful got great texture the sweetness of the
22:10lobster the tail itself is so tender so soft just cooked no waste is what we wanted you've used every
22:17part of the lobster that's really well put together
22:22it was such a race but then hearing their feedback and they actually loved it so i just feel amazing
22:29especially at this stage of the competition
22:33demi-chef de party polly's dish is langoustine tortellini grilled langoustine tail and a langoustine
22:41claw bisque served with chow and mushy a steamed savory custard flavored with langoustine bisque
22:48and topped with lemon pearls
22:58i think it's it's incredibly ambitious and very very creative what i've got here is beautiful use
23:04of langoustines and i think the langoustine tail that you've got and the way you've prepared it and
23:08and just slightly torched it is delicious your little tortellini is beautifully made fill them up a bit
23:13more i want to really get the the longostine flavor your bisque it's light it's sweet i really enjoy it
23:20the little egg custard here it's a bit of fun but i find there's too many of the lemon balls
23:26on there it just overtakes just this little custard in terms of hitting brief i think you've absolutely
23:33nailed it but i'm not really getting custard from this it's a little bit watery i'm expecting it to
23:40be a bit more set i'm not a hundred percent on board with this and it hasn't quite hit the
23:45mark
23:48i would literally pay you like 20 grand to not cook again i really don't want to
23:55do
23:56celebrating his homeland of ireland chef patron mark's dish is roasted trout loin
24:03grilled leeks topped with cured trout tail
24:07crispy trout skin and sea lettuce potato colcannon wrapped in cabbage
24:13seaweed sloak a condiment made with sour cream and lava seaweed trout sauce made from trout bones
24:21and trout roe and dillisk and irish seaweed served with potted trout and irish stout soda bread
24:31presentation wise there's a lot going on here
24:41my trout it's lovely it hasn't dried out i like that it's a little bit crispy on on the top
24:47there
24:47so we've got the cured tail that that's nice the potatoes i think is just lost in all this cabbage
24:53and the cabbage especially where it's really dark and green you really have to cook that down
25:00and this condiment it's almost like the seaweed hasn't been rinsed through enough it's a bit gritty
25:06i love the potted trout i think that's brilliant the soda bread obviously is delicious but there's
25:13lots of seaweed going on in this plate which obviously brings its own saltiness this little
25:18condiment which i was very excited about i can't i can't eat it it's too salty
25:22your sauce is delicious got lots of body i like that a lot completely understand what you're doing
25:28and using absolutely everything in many many different ways but there's just too much here for
25:33me too many flavors just banging around with each other and none of them are marrying together
25:37unfortunately i think i have a very high chance of cooking again i think it'd be miraculous to escape
25:43the gallows for his no waste dish head chef luca served cider cured salmon fillet english mustard glazed
25:55salmon belly topped with diced apple celery and pickled mustard seeds cauliflower stalk pickled walnut and
26:03raisin puree topped topped with toasted pumpkin seeds finished with a sauce made from burrata milk pancetta skins salmon bones
26:13and split with lovage oil
26:23look salmon that's charred on there it's beautifully pink it's flaking away got a bit of saltiness that
26:30cuts through everything the mustard glazed belly has got a kick of the mustard i quite like that i love
26:37mustard
26:39i love the simplicity of the presentation i love your big bold strong flavors i did worry about the
26:45pickled walnut but you've used it sparingly this is one of the nicest dishes i've had from you i think
26:51this
26:51is just ace i could eat that all day long luke i looked at your plate i thought
26:59not very creative until i started eating it it's just delicious split sauce works well what i think
27:06is really clever using the liquid from the from the burrata because that is the one thing that you
27:12do see get thrown away it is buttery in a sauce and it's quite a different creamy flavor the use
27:17of no
27:19waste genius well done great job thank you
27:25yeah i'm really happy after that yeah that's that's what i've been looking for i think this
27:29whole time and i've got it now so i'm happy sense of relief i think
27:35brazilian private chef caroline's dish is based around off cuts of chicken and sweet corn chicken thigh
27:42confit in garlic and thyme fried chicken feet charred sweet corn panels charred baby gem cooked in chicken
27:50stock smoked sweet corn puree chicken liver parfait served in a pastry cone and a sauce made from chicken
27:59wings and sweet corn cob
28:07you did remove the nails didn't you i did yes okay
28:15caroline the thigh you've confit it down charred it and it's beautiful it's crispy on the skin
28:21and then your little parfait cone on the side there it's smooth
28:25the brief we gave you was no waste the chicken that you've used it's creative and very thoughtful
28:31thank you thank you thank you your little parfait is colossal in flavor your little chicken feet the
28:39texture of it and then the crunchy coating on the outside is great because it's fun the sauce is fabulous
28:45really lovely body got the chicken flavor in there there's a huge amount of skill on show here this is
28:50fabulous dish i love the smokiness in the puree i think that's great sweet corn panels nice fresh
28:57flavors which sort of marry nicely with that beautifully intense sauce it looks like a simple plate of food
29:04but when you get into it blows you away amazing well done thank you so much
29:16i'm so so so happy to enjoy it very happy
29:23highlighting the whole rabbit junior sous chef georgia's dish is awful stuffed rabbit saddle wrapped in sage and
29:31ham ham pan fried rabbit loin pea puree fried courgette flour stuffed with rabbit leg meat deep fried rabbit
29:42four leg topped with a fried rabbit eye finished with a rabbit sauce
29:50good
30:10georgia you've got the belly with the offal and sage and of course the parma ham around it i think
30:16that's
30:17beautifully made it hasn't dried out using bones to make your sauce it's
30:22creamy it's rich I just find that the sauce with the pea puree it sort of
30:27becomes one when I look at the play and I see the peas the courgettes the
30:32courgette flowers and the herbs it's almost like a rabbit sort of dancing
30:36around the kitchen garden nibbling all the things it shouldn't and it tastes
30:40great courgette flower with the stuffed leg in there is delicious the tempura is
30:46well made your pea puree has got sweetness to it your courgettes are
30:49fabulous I love the little crunchy front legs they're beautifully cooked I like
30:55what you've done with all the different components you managed to make them all
30:59taste very different I mean the eye was a step too far but you knew that you can't
31:04taste this and I it's just a little nugget of something in batter but you know what
31:08you can run with a brief so well done you thank you my mum even said you should
31:16have a few raisins on the plate and pretend that you're using the droppings as well
31:22so I didn't go that far
31:26London-based head chef Ismail's dish is sous vide poussin breast marinated in yoghurt poussin legs stuffed with
31:34liver spiced potato cake filled with poussin thigh chili flakes and mustard oil poussin lollipop wilted spinach
31:45chili jam with ginger smoked paprika and garlic finished with a creamy mushroom sauce
31:58like the way you've used the poussin there's lovely notes of spice your sauce is mushroomy it's got herbs
32:04in there but a mushroom sauce and a chili jam just not coming together for me it
32:10doesn't work I like the flavor potato cake but the bottom of my potato cake is
32:15slightly dark and burnt and charred and spinach is over seasoned I like the
32:20yoghurt coating on the the little poussin breast it's very nicely cooked and the
32:25little stuffed leg as well it's great you have definitely used the poussin as much as
32:32possible to avoid any wastage the offer would you put the pocket of the leg I
32:36really like that nice it hasn't dried out but the sweet chili jam and the
32:42creamy mushroom sauce they're fighting each other and no one's winning
32:48to this we're right for sure the mushroom sauce was the problem but it's not good
32:52enough in this point of the competition for his Norway's dish private chef Gareth has
32:59served cauliflower six ways cauliflower steak caramelized cauliflower puree pickled
33:06cauliflower raw cauliflower tempura cauliflower leaf caper and raisin puree and a
33:15cauliflower sauce finished with smoked butter I find the actual main part the cauliflower here you
33:32could have really maybe based it foaming butter to bring the nuttiness out of it the crispy texture
33:38of the leaves are great and the pickled cauliflower as well it's got to the bit of sharpness and and
33:45it
33:45needs it it's the only sort of point of difference but I do admire the way you've used everything on
33:51the
33:51cauliflower there's a lot of richness in this but with the puree and that incredibly rich sauce with
33:58all that smoked butter in there the balance is just a little bit off it's it's quite kind of monotone
34:04the two elements that really lift this dish is the caper and raisin puree and the pickled cauliflower
34:12yeah ignore those two I think this is excellent I think it's real skill you've taken something
34:18really simple and elevated it and that's what we're looking for your puree is delicious your
34:23cauliflower is beautifully cooked the pickling the rawness great but the sauce they'll add in touch of
34:29smoky butter into it it's like you get a good roast dinner and you've got a great gravy it's absolutely
34:35brilliant look at you I know but I think that's just added another 10 minutes onto the judging
34:43I got some good comments but it was a mixed bag you know and it's those small details that really
34:49matter at this stage I really hope that Marcus is fighting my corner this was brilliant absolutely
34:58brilliant what a fabulous start to our semi-finals huge amount of ambition a lot of bravery no waste cookery
35:04not easy shall we talk about our favorite chefs first Luke in a plate of food that didn't look
35:11much but when it came to eating it was sensational I love the sauce the burrata brine great milky sort
35:18of flavor I thought it was the best plate of food we've had from Luke I was outstanding so I
35:22think we
35:22all agree Luke goes through super brave from Sal putting white chocolate with lobster but he pulled
35:30it off it's really really good and it's amazing to come into this competition with a combination that
35:35none of us have tried before I like the fact that the white chocolate was very lightly in the dish
35:41Sal did a great job I thought Caroline plays an absolute blinder today what looked like a very
35:50simplistic plate of food was utterly delicious I love that smokiness in the sweet corn the skill in boning
35:57out the little chicken's foot and that beautiful rich parfait I agree she's outstanding today Caroline
36:03deserves to go through are there any chefs that we think should definitely be cooking again I think
36:08Mark is a chef that had some issues with his trout dish I really admire the use of the trout
36:14but the
36:15puree with the seaweed and the sour cream it was gritty and just very salty for you wasn't it really
36:21salty really salty I didn't think Ismail had a great day it was nice the mushroom sauce and that
36:28chili jam as well the two just didn't work I think Ismail has to come back in and prove himself
36:34once more
36:34that leaves us a conversation to be had about Polly's langoustine dish Georgia with a rabbit dish and Gareth
36:44with his cauliflower dish this is all about those finer details of cooking just the little intricacies
36:50that separate them from going straight through to having to come back it's tough one we asked you to
37:00come back into this kitchen and really up the ante and boy did you do that we've had some incredible
37:05plates of food in front of us we did say at the beginning that four of you will be going
37:11straight
37:11through and that four of you will be having to come back and cook again and we have made that
37:17decision there were three standout dishes Sel Caroline and Luke chefs that was fantastic congratulations
37:32and the fourth and final chef going straight through is Georgia congratulations Georgia Luke Caroline cell you're
37:50through to the next round we'll see you there off you go thank you
38:17we realize not one of you wants to be cooking again but we know how good you are you know
38:25what
38:25it's going to take one outstanding dish for this next challenge we're opening up the masterchef lada
38:37we want you to create that one amazing dish using this array of wonderful ingredients but there is no
38:44meat or fish chefs you have one hour and twenty minutes to keep yourselves in this competition
38:51at the end of this cook-off two of you will be leaving wish you the best of luck off
38:58you go
39:07without meat and fish there's no real immediate center point to choose you've got to then think on
39:12your feet you're going to think differently and you've got to come up something fast my wife is a
39:17vegetarian so I'm used to cooking a lot of vegetarian food or I think I can do something delicious I
39:24don't
39:24like those odds 50 50 is you know it's not particularly in my favor don't feel comfortable or relaxed in
39:31any way I saw some beautiful mushrooms and things here that's generally the vibe I'm going so far not
39:38ready to go home just yet so we're gonna go out fighting if going out at all I've got somewhat
39:48of a plan
39:50simple delicious I'm worried it's maybe a little bit too simple being a chef you've always got to
40:01make sure that like no one sees the panic that goes on underneath and no one sees the the freaking
40:06out
40:06that happens every day in these kind of extremely intense situations so one of my favorite dishes was
40:14shrimp and grits saw the mushrooms there and then I was like ferring around for other things and then
40:18eventually saw the polenta I was like oh that could be oh grits shrimp and grits so I'm gonna
40:22give you a shrooms and grits a nice selection of mushrooms a really nice cheesy polenta which is
40:27very similar to grits and then some nice fried duck eggs this is a dish you've had away somewhere
40:32presumably states yes it's a dish I've had in South Carolina and it's right on the bay lots of like
40:37nice shrimp and things like that but you know you move a little bit more inland and there they would
40:40sub out the the kind of seafood for lots of like forest ingredients like mushrooms that I'm
40:44going to be doing here today so you're feeling okay about this a lot of the dish still to come
40:48together and a lot of refinement filtering to it but um we'll see how we go you don't fancy giving
40:52us any more Irish dishes no I felt like I embarrassed my home not enough for one day I do
40:56eventually
40:57want to be able to make it back into the country Mark's dish has been inspired from trips to America
41:05it's all about mushrooms and polenta we've got oyster and chanterelle mushrooms we've got cheesy polenta
41:11going on fried kale and a green chili sauce but Mark's gonna make sure he's gonna bring some texture to
41:18this plate this could be the perfect brunch dish but it's refinement is what we're looking for it's
41:25got to get the mushrooms clean cooked beautifully seasoned we've got polenta perfectly cooked and
41:31plenty of cheese in there so we can taste it probably one of the stumbling blocks that Mark's gonna face
41:36is the
41:37presentation how do you take such a homespun dish and elevate it Jeff's you've had 20 minutes 20 minutes
41:45gone the invention test has been awful so far I'm not like them at all the last invention test I
41:59went in
42:00thinking I was cooking a Thai curry and I came out with six plums who knows what's gonna happen
42:12you've cooked things that you've enjoyed having with your family at home is this one of those dishes
42:16it's not particularly a family favorite of mine but I want to show that I can deliver big flavors and
42:22balance which I think is what I was missing in the last round and so I'm doing a Thai red
42:27curry so
42:28that's gonna be a sauce on the side there's gonna be a burnt aubergine puree I'm gonna char a hispy
42:33cabbage then there's gonna be a little tempered aubergine disc I've traveled a lot through Southeast
42:38Asia Thailand Laos Vietnam and it's a cuisine that I really enjoy eating if you pull this off that's a
42:44trip well spent I hope so Gareth is whisking us away to Thailand how nice of him let's make it
42:56Thai red curry sauce ginger and garlic is cooking it out with first selection of spices some chili as
43:03well he's got an aubergine puree with some miso in it so lots and lots of it strong umami flavors
43:12so
43:13he's got to get that right he's got an aubergine tempura so you need nice night crisp batter soft
43:19cooked aubergine it's using hispy cabbage which is charring and then it's semi braising it so it's
43:26got a little bit of bite a bit of texture fabulous and a perfect ingredient for a dish like this
43:31please
43:32there's gonna be the Thai curry sauce is gonna bring it all together chefs you're halfway through
43:42done a lot of competitions and you learn how to forget about the judges no offense forget about
43:48the other contestants but just get in your zone now have a little sing song of love in your head
43:54just cook
43:58Polly looking at your bench trying to understand what you're going for with the mushrooms potato sugar and
44:05onions onions it's just an inside to a chef's brain you know I started out with something with the
44:13mushrooms and the potatoes and the blue cheese but then it wasn't like a whole dish I'm actually doing
44:19one of the dishes which my head chef first kind of taught me caramelized onion tartar tan so then I
44:25was
44:26like right caramelized onions I was like cheese board cheese board sort of flavors yeah amazing
44:35there's a wow factor with the tartar tan but is it just going to be onion and caramel she could
44:40possibly put in some spices into it it's got to be seasoned and I want the pastry to be perfectly
44:45cooked she's got a goat's cheese mousse creamy silky smooth hopefully we've got a fig style chutney
44:53she's pickling the figs down so you're gonna get me sweet and sour you don't want to be too sour
44:57she's also got some candied pecans as well I'm really excited about Polly's dish she's got all
45:01those flavors in the cheese board and hopefully if she does this right this is sealed chefs you
45:08have 20 minutes left yes sure in master chef kitchen and when you are cooking in front of
45:17Marcus and Monica sometime my brain stopped working so my aim be to do what I do in a normal
45:24life and come
45:25up with the best dish I can Ismael are you comfortable cooking without meat and fish I'm
45:32very comfortable I love vegetarian food back home veggies quite big thing when we eat we always have
45:37some side dish which is veggie also I do cook a lot of vegetarian curries tell us about this dish
45:42I'm
45:42making butternut squash mango and chickpea curry so I want to bring back a lot of flavor so a little
45:48taste of home here a little taste of home today chef great what I want to show now that I
45:53deserve my place
45:53in the semi-final good luck thank you Ismael is back to taking inspiration from Bangladesh I'm
46:02excited about the button-up mango chickpea curry we've got spiced rice and lentils it's called a
46:07kichuwi then he's giving us a bhaji-esque fritter using courgettes more spices and some sweet corn on top of
46:18that we've got this cooling tamarind yogurt which would be lovely loads of spice everywhere this
46:25dish which is good it's what we're looking for I'm expecting this to be good this is your final two
46:33minutes great I've got my old dream puree ready I've got my Thai sauce we're getting there
46:53final touches on the plate we're definitely winning spicy is good that is it time's up
47:13inspired by the classic southern states dish shrimp and grits mark has made shrooms and grits sauteed
47:22mushrooms with nigella seeds grits a corn dish made with cheesy polenta and topped with a poached duck
47:29egg and pine nuts pickled apple and a green chili sauce flavored with kale hazelnuts and sour cream
47:49mark I think you've done very well here this is very inventive I've had shrimp and grits in Louisiana
47:56before it's always coming with chili or some sort of sort of hot a compliment which is what you're
48:02bringing in this little sauce you've got the kale in the sauce got a little bit of chili got that
48:07back
48:07notes of the hazelnuts all in all it builds to a very nice plate of food thank you I like
48:14how your
48:14dishes has been served it looks good I feel like I'm having a wonderful brunch dish here beautifully
48:20poached egg which cracks into the polenta I'm enjoying all the textures of the pine nuts as I'm
48:26eating this which is very much needed because it is very soft the apple does bring freshness to
48:32the dish and the mushrooms as well beautifully cooked love the little pea shoots on top I think there's
48:37this one thing missing for me here a piece of bread or something like a fried sourdough would
48:41just really help elevate the whole dish a little bit further because it's soft on top of soft on top
48:47of
48:47soft that was probably one of the hardest cooks of the competition so far thank you it's really hard
48:55to tell now if that's enough if that wasn't then at least I can go out with some pretty respectable
49:01feedback inspired by the flavors of a cheese board poly served caramelized onion tartata topped with blue
49:11cheese and candied pecans goat's cheese mousse and lightly pickled figs nice presentation but you should
49:20maybe move it a bit more to the center your onions are beautifully caramelized I like the pecans they're
49:29bringing a lovely little nutty sweetness to it problem I'm having with this is your pastry it's not cooked
49:34enough it's really really soft and I think you could have done a little bit more of adding flavor into
49:40the
49:40caramel to make it a little bit more exciting than just elaborate on your skill my tarts looks like it
49:47is cooked more than Marcus's I love the addition of the blue cheese that was a bit of out the
49:52blue curveball
49:53gives you that nice kind of saltiness let's go with the sweetness of the onions the pickled fig really
49:59works and again offsets the sweetness I wish you put more of that goat's cheese mousse because it's
50:06delicious and it is needed there's a lot of onion you need that mousse to finish this tart at like
50:12this level you need all three then this is amazing if you have one who doesn't no
50:24yeah Gareth has served charred hispy cabbage flavored with lime and ginger aubergine tempura with a lime
50:32glaze burnt aubergine and miso puree and a Thai red curry sauce flavored with lemongrass galangal and chili
50:48the cabbage is perfectly coated really is when I cut into it I can see the bottle just in there
50:53I can
50:53see the shine of it coming through and then just to really bring the whole thing together you've got
50:58this beautiful Thai sauce here with the right level of heat you've got the right balance of the
51:02lemongrass in there and it's a beautiful dish thank you chef the charred hispy just drowned in this red curry
51:10sauce for me is delightful and even the aubergine it doesn't look like much but the fact you've got
51:17you know a bit of citrus through that tempura it's a cut through the richness it's delicious I really like
51:24this thank you I love the miso and the burnt aubergine puree you basted the tempura aubergine with a
51:30little glaze quite heavy on the lime but it really is needed against the richness of that sauce and it
51:37just brightens the whole dish I think it's very clever like a lot water I'm feeling happy I mean
51:45there couldn't have been better feedback the feeling of relief is outrageous to secure his place in the
51:57competition Ismail's made butternut squash cashew and chickpea curry rice with lentils spiced with
52:05chili flakes crispy kale and chili served with a courgette and sweet corn fritter topped with tamarind
52:13yoghurt Ismail I like your presentation it looks great
52:23I like the curry you've got the sweetness of the butternut squash in there I really like the fritter
52:29there's the sweet corn you've used chickpea flour to bind it the yoghurt on the top's got a bit of
52:35sharpness on there so citrus like and yeah it's it's a nice little treat on the side the curry's delicious
52:41you've got a fantastic level of heat just right lots and lots of flavor in there without being
52:47overpowering so well done you for that I'm finding the rice a bit on the soft side if I'm honest
52:52with
52:52you your curry and your your squash are very soft as well the kale crispy kale it's lost its crispiness
52:58that's really soft where's that next level cookery that I was looking for
53:05mix common I cooked with my heart and the flavor was there but I don't know if it's good enough
53:11to
53:12keep me in the competition
53:19these chefs came back in fighting and they created something wonderful not one of them wants to go home
53:26at this stage Gareth gave us the hispy cabbage chard and they glazed of wonderful garlic and butter the red
53:34curry sauce has a lemongrass and spice in that and it was delicious I loved that little lick of sweetness
53:41with the lime over the tempura which was super light the cabbage was fantastic I thought it was
53:48wonderful I agree I think out of the four chefs Gareth's dish was the best that leaves us in
53:54discussion with Mark Polly and Ishmael is my I'll give us a butternut squash cashew nut curry I love
54:01that little fritter that sharp addition with the yogurt and the tamarinds we can't deny it had great
54:07flavor but it's just a little bit too soft Polly gave us her red onion tart tartan love the goat's
54:14cheese but I thought she should put more on the plate Marcus your pastry was slightly undercooked
54:19compared to ours tartan pastry it's got to be crispy caramelized and delicious it didn't quite hit that
54:26I really liked Mark's dish I think it was very inventive the polenta was rich with the parmesan
54:32running through it I quite liked the sauce with the green chili I just thought personally I would
54:37preferred a little bit of sourdough on the side this is a difficult decision there's not a lot that's
54:42separating these three chefs I would be very upset if that was the end of my competition but on the
54:49flip side I've done what I came here to do I feel like I've cooked lots of things that mean
54:52a lot to
54:53me of course I want to stay but everyone here is incredible chefs you can go home doing good dishes
55:03I'm worried I don't want to go home but that's the part of the competition sometimes you win and
55:07sometimes you lose we did say earlier on that two of you will be going home we have made that
55:26decision
55:29the first chef staying in the competition is Gareth well done thank you the second chef staying in the
55:51competition is Mark well done Polly you've been great to have in the competition and every step of
56:00the way no matter how tough it's got you've done it with an amazing smile on your face just quite
56:05a
56:05rare thing in kitchens Ismael your flavors your passion outstanding you two have been amazing
56:15unfortunately it is the end of the road thank you very much indeed thank you
56:22I'm a little bit sad but made it to the semi-final I think it's a big achievement so I'm
56:27happy about
56:27that I can't put into words how difficult this competition is but I'm super proud of myself watch
56:36this space
56:40Gareth Mark congratulations you live to fight another day thank you thank you I feel really good
56:48today was the toughest day in the kitchen so far it's getting to that stage where everyone's pushing
56:53themselves everyone's going above and beyond and it's just becoming a real real strong head race
56:59I'm really really happy bring it on final six baby
57:10next time the six remaining chefs smoky are challenged to impress one of Britain's rising
57:18culinary stars John Dory is one of my favorite fish probably not a good time to tell you I've never
57:23cooked on before before fighting for a place in the final five my parfait has defrosted and it's not
57:34nice this is a cracking dessert in every way for me you've done it very very well
57:59you
58:00you
58:00you
58:10you
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