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00:01it's the master chef the professionals semi-finals and only the best six chefs remain
00:10tonight their challenge is to impress one of britain's rising culinary stars
00:19before battling it out for a place in the final five the competition is really heating up but i'm
00:27here for the whole ride and i'm not ready to let that go i know it's going to get tougher
00:32but i don't
00:33want to go home i want to stay longer there's going to be an incredibly tight hot crucible of
00:40talent in there all we can do is head down do the best we can it's not going to be
00:44easy
00:44a faint heart has never won the competition our chefs have got to keep challenging and rising to
00:49the occasion show that you mean business show that you want to lift this trophy
01:16welcome back to our kitchen you six have set the semi-finals on fire
01:23and you're going to have to continue that we have got an amazing challenge for you guys today
01:29it's going to really enhance your food and your cooking style to the next level
01:34please welcome a very special guest chef one of the uk's rising talents the extraordinary john
01:42chantrasak
01:52john chantrasak is redefining modern thai cuisine in the uk
02:00i was born in liverpool my parents are from opposite sides of the world so my father was born in
02:06bangkok each year my dad would take us to bangkok and see our family my grand my aunties they would
02:13take us to the markets and i think that early food memory dictated my interest in thai food
02:25in my teens i was in a band i went touring in america the ambition was to become an international
02:31rock star it didn't quite wash out that way but one of the takeaways of that six-month trip was
02:38i became interested in hospitality
02:42and how its connection was to everything in life
02:47on a whim john went on to train at the prestigious le codon bleu culinary school in the thai capital
02:55i kind of felt like it might have been the last roll of the dice for me to do something
02:58creative
02:58with my life so i really poured everything i had into those 18 months and absolutely loved it
03:04after graduating john went on to work under renowned chef david thompson at the legendary thai restaurant
03:11nam the restaurant was a number one restaurant in asia at the time and david it was through his
03:18tuition and his guidance that i picked up thai food in a fine dining way and that was kind of
03:24the
03:24beginning of the story for me having honed his craft for nearly two years in thailand john headed back
03:31to the uk to showcase his food style through pop-ups in the capital in 2024 he opened anglo thai
03:41in london
03:44the ethos of the restaurant is heavily inspired by the cuisine of thailand but the focus is to use
03:51predominantly british ingredients for example if we're cooking green curry we're only using it in the summer
03:58months because green chilies only grow in the uk in the summer months you would associate rice with
04:04the cuisine in thailand we don't serve rice on our menu instead we reach for heritage ancient british grains
04:12citrus is very hard to come across so we look at rhubarb gooseberries sea buckthorn
04:18and in doing that there's some classic examples that have become main staples of our menu
04:25john's unique take on thai british fusion instantly gained recognition
04:31and within three months he was awarded a michelin star
04:39that for me was probably the most proud moment of my career
04:43and really cemented in me that if you drive for your goals and your success that you can get there
04:51hello chefs i'm really excited to give you the bold innovative flavors that i am passionate about
04:56with my restaurant in london so today i'm going to cook a couple of my dishes for you guys but
05:01to
05:01see those dishes you're going to have to follow me outside
05:07john's master class starts with one of his most popular restaurant dishes
05:11that centers around crab coconut and caviar this is actually a dish that first graced pop-up menus
05:19about four years ago and i've been refining along the way and everyone seems to love it on the menu
05:25we take whole crabs and we cook them over a charcoal grill it's very traditional in thai cooking and in
05:30southeast asian cooking to cook over charcoal and wood
05:35in the restaurant we also fresh press our own coconut cream having that ingredient set us apart from
05:40other restaurants in the uk the fresh coconut cream is combined with a marinade made from british green
05:47chilis galangal mandarin juice and honey from glastonbury
05:57that is really really good the spicy sweet salty oh my god crabs at the temperature we want it to
06:03be
06:03now the delicately picked white crab meat is then combined with a spicy coconut cream dressing
06:12and we serve that with caviar from xmoor hello and then for the other half of the ramekin we're going
06:18to cover it with the red oxalis leaves it has like sour flavor profile to it that again is just
06:23going
06:23to like balance out the dish thai food is sweet salty spicy and sour and it's about balancing those
06:31four flavor profiles together to create something harmonious oh that looks stunning the final element
06:41is a coconut ash cracker chef they're looking beautiful thank you very much okay guys so this is
06:49the finished dish and i invite you to come taste it it was really delicious you could taste every
06:56individual ingredient and for such a small thing it packed such a big amount of flavor in there so tasty
07:02but also he's managed to keep that delicate crab in there as well it's just really balanced so well
07:09okay guys so we're going to cook our second dish so the main course is a lamb dish we're actually
07:15incredibly proud to focus on using lambs from a farm in dorset we try and champion all cuts of the
07:21lamb
07:22we're actually using hoggett so like mature sheep i think has a much nicer more prominent flavor
07:28the hoggett is served alongside a lamb red curry sausage this is inspired by our sausage called
07:34sayua in the north of thailand we're just smoking all the meats now just to give them that like
07:38deeper like more complex flavor profile this is shoots bellies that we've braised pressed together
07:44and that forms like this terrine we also take inspiration from a dish called ging om in thailand
07:50which is a rural style curry that actually doesn't have coconut cream running through it curries that
07:56are cooked with stock rather than coconut cream makes them a little bit more light a little bit more
08:02aromatic this looks amazing i can't wait to get started eating this this looks absolutely incredible
08:09hopefully it's quite like big bold flavors quite rich in itself as well
08:13that was delicious thank you very much chef thank you thank you so much
08:18the challenge next you are set to cook from a lot of my ingredients that i have chosen and what
08:24i'll be
08:25looking for in your food is big bold flavors that's what i really find attractive about thai cooking
08:30and i hope you'll find like inspiration from the food that we've had today off you go thank you thank
08:36the contestants now have 90 minutes to create a thai inspired dish that showcases british ingredients
08:45chosen by john and embraces traditional thai cooking methods over coals
08:53there's a real spectrum of ingredients there's chicken pork john dory sea bass crab oysters we've got
09:02beef heart barleys and spelt lemongrass galangals fresh chilies and i really hope that they'll be able to
09:10reach deep into their repertoire and think about how they're gonna best showcase their flavors hopefully we
09:15can make chef john proud you know come up with good ideas a bit worrying but after seeing chef john
09:22i'm
09:22going to try to use what we have learned in the master class and try to put that on a
09:26plate
09:34finally getting to use the barbecue today so hopefully going to make some really strong use out of it
09:40dublin-born chef patron mark has a passion for american barbecue and has shown versatility with
09:47dishes and flavors from all over the world when i came into the competition i probably hadn't intended
09:52to cook as widely as i have but has struggled with refinement i think after the first couple of
09:59challenges i realized how intense it was going to be how much i would have to push myself today i'm
10:04just
10:04going to make sure that everything that goes on the plate is like there for maximum impact maximum
10:08taste mark thai flavors are these ingredients that you're used to using no not at all i've never
10:14really cooked thai food before so really excited today to try and bring a little bit of spin to it
10:18so what dish are you cooking today mark we're going to be grilling chicken and then i'm going to make
10:22an
10:22infused crab oil that i can baste the chicken with jasmine rice a little pickle salad of mooli and
10:28potato with lots of herbs through there i'm also going to do a green curry sauce sounds adventurous for
10:32sure you're going to get that all done i'm going to work my butt off to try and get it
10:36all done in
10:37time love the idea of the crab oil which is infused with basil mint and some lemongrass there's going
10:44to be buttering that over the top of the chicken but i really want to taste that crab flavor the
10:49green
10:49curry sauce is about a great curry paste hopefully some ginger and garlic in there with some chilies and
10:55some lime leaves and coconut cream i want a curry sauce it just really embraces those beautiful flavors of
11:01thailand chefs 20 minutes of cooking time has gone yeah i've got a lot going on it's quite a bit
11:08daring but if i can pull it off it should be tasty
11:13private chef gareth has made it this far with playful takes on classic dishes showing impressive
11:19technique i've definitely developed as a chef the further i get through the competition the more
11:27confident i'm becoming in myself i really want to be in the final just have to get over a few
11:33difficult challenges before that it looks like you've got some pretty adventurous ingredients in
11:40front of you right here yes chef i'm going to do ox heart and cook that over the fire i'm
11:45going to glaze
11:46that with a black garlic glaze then i've got some farro that i'm cooking in beef stock i'm doing a
11:53thai
11:54sauce similar to how you showed us today so i'm cooking that with stock as opposed to with coconut
11:59milk and there's going to be some pickled daikon in there for acidity you asked us to give you some
12:03big bold flavors and that's what i'm going to try and do gareth he's making ox heart skewers
12:11but the ox heart is a very big muscle can be tough so he needs to be very careful when
12:17it cooks on the
12:18grill farro is a grain and he's going to finish it off with some beef fat which he's rendering from
12:25the fat of the heart his sauce is a rustic style sauce with lots of gallon gallon running through
12:30it so it's going to have a little heat and sweetness to it he's made a thai curry sauce before
12:35in the
12:35competition it's absolutely delicious junior sous chef georgia has shown her strengths line classic french
12:42techniques and mediterranean flavors but she struggles when she doesn't have a plan this looks a little
12:49hectic yes i'm sorry you're right oh gosh i've been trying to take each challenge as it comes because
12:56otherwise i do get quite overwhelmed doing an invention test that is what i'm finding most daunting
13:01hopefully won't be running around like a headless chicken in this challenge
13:07so where are you going with this dish i am going to do a take on some of my favorite
13:11thai
13:11food i really love chicken satay skewers and i really love prawn sesame toast so i'm going to
13:17attempt to make chicken satay skewers and chicken liver sesame toast don't think i've ever encountered
13:23that before like a cut like liver and then trying to introduce it into a very well recognized dish
13:28yeah i'm still kind of working out the elements of my dish it's a bit all over the place yeah
13:33okay
13:33should we stop talking sorry okay no worries
13:39georgia is definitely looking a little bit flustered in the kitchen i don't think she's got a
13:43real clear picture just yet of the dish she's chosen the chicken and she's doing the satay style
13:48skewers the chicken liver toast is inventive none of us have had that before but this is not about
13:55taking just little bits that georgia enjoys about thai food she has to create a cohesive dish here
14:03chef's you're halfway okay halfway dad of four and head chef luke's bold flavors and stylish plates
14:10have stood out in the competition i think i've had quite good feedback
14:17but i want to keep learning and i'm hoping that they can see that as well
14:26luke how are you a little bit stressed right now i love to eat thai food but it's not something
14:30i've
14:30cooked much with so i'm going to do a john dory which i'm going to lightly smoke on the grill
14:35i'm
14:35going to serve that with thai green curry sauce pickled daikon a little daikon that i'm going to cook
14:40on the char grill just trying to use the flavors as well as he did john dory is one of
14:45my favorite fish
14:46hope you're going to do it justice probably not a good time to tell you i've never cooked one before
14:53so luke is using a fish he's never filleted before so he needs to be very careful
14:58i filleted plenty of fish before so i'm hoping that i can just use my knowledge from that luke
15:03wants to smoke it this is why he's going to cook it on the higher tier of the barbecue i
15:08like this
15:09daikon is the radish what it'll do is it'll bring freshness to the plate we've got some pickled daikon
15:14and then he's also got another one that he's cut into thin slices and he's rolled it up and then
15:18he's
15:19put down to the barbecue and then just baste it with that lovely seaweed butter i'm going to attempt
15:23to make coconut milk to have john done and i'm going to use that as the base of a thai
15:28green curry sauce
15:30thai green curry sauce it's got to have a huge amount of heat running through it coconut flavor
15:33lemongrass ginger galangal it's got to have big big big flavors brazilian-born private chef caroline
15:41has wowed with meticulous and ambitious classics but often pushes herself right to the wire
15:50i'm aware that pressure for me is always tiny
15:54but you really want to go into that kitchen and give it your best
15:59so i'm doing a wild sea bass that's going to be cooked in the barbecue i'm doing a pea puree
16:05with thai
16:05basil and coconut cream my intention is to pick up the white crab meat and to make it into a
16:12croquette
16:12with like chili going through it okay how are you going to bind the crab together for the croquette
16:17filling it's a good question i'll have to figure that out i didn't get there yet and the sauce will
16:22be a red curry sauce okay caroline there's a lot going on in this dish and you always cut it
16:28fine
16:29yeah are you going to be able to pull this off i hope i'll do my best i love the
16:35sound of this
16:36she's gone for the sea bass she's cured it with kombu seaweed so i hope we get to taste some
16:41of
16:41those flavors of the kombu running through it she's making a crab croquette but she hasn't decided how
16:46she's going to bind this croquette which is the key thing about holding this together we've also got
16:53pea and thai basil puree looking for big flavor great color nice and smooth achieving a great
16:59thai red curry sauce is about getting the spices cooked off there's red peppers and some tomatoes
17:05and then coconut milk to bring it together it's not sauce you want to rush in the last 10 minutes
17:12guatemalan-born private chef sel has delivered with his innovative and often daring combinations
17:18showcasing flavors deeply rooted in his heritage the competition definitely has gone well but we have
17:27to push ourselves more get more creative how does the cooking from guatemala compare with the stuff that
17:34i was showing you today we can use the same flavors like coconut is something that you just drink also
17:39i have never really cooked thai food before so this is for me so i'm trying to refer to what
17:44i learned from
17:45today pretty intrigued to see how like everything's going to come together for sure makes two of us
17:49yeah yeah me too
17:53sel not really cooked thai style flavors before but he's taking the pork and he's going to cut those
17:58into chops and just finish those on the grill i'm really surprised that he's not going to add
18:03any thai flavors onto those pork chops at all which i find quite incredible because pork could carry those
18:08flavors beautifully well we've got white asparagus coconut basil puree quite an unusual combination
18:13especially the white asparagus can be quite stringy get a little bit on the bitter side as well
18:19we have grilled broccoli and a coconut sauce that's got chilies the limes and galangal ginger so he
18:26is trying to infuse thai flavors through his cooking but i just see a lot of different things here
18:35and i hope he's thought about how he's going to put this all together
18:41chefs you've got 30 minutes until the first dish is served john and i are going to head out to
18:46the
18:47dining room very much look forward to uh trying the dish
18:56it's a pretty big ask i think isn't it to take chefs out of their comfort zone
19:01if i was in their shoes i would be quite intimidated by it but i've encouraged them to try and
19:06be really
19:06bold with the flavors that they're working with from looking at everyone's benches they do have
19:10a set of ingredients that they'll be able to achieve that with if they go down the right avenues with
19:15them just starting to do my chicken mark is first up and he's in familiar ground because mark does a
19:21lot
19:21of american barbecue the great thing about charcoal grilling is it's a really really dry heat
19:25so you can get really really crispy skin i love the thought of that smoky barbecue chicken spiced crab
19:32oil could be inspired yeah depending on how he carries it off what's this so that is a herb brush
19:39with spiced crab oil i'm going to put it into the pizza oven now for a few minutes just to
19:43make sure
19:44that it's cooked all the way through and then we're done oh sizzle sizzle
19:51and he's got a sort of pickled daikon salad i think he was going to make mark you've got five
19:57minutes
19:57left happy with the chicken yes very happy with the chicken thai green curry is like one of the
20:05spiciest so i don't know whether he knows that or not but i'll be looking out to see whether he's
20:09like
20:09gone down that kind of authentic route do you think he's going to be hitting the big bowl flavors that
20:13john's looking for yeah i think so yeah thank you good luck thank you chef chef chef how are you
20:22very
20:23well thank you very much enjoy thank you very much thank you chef
20:31looks very appealing very fresh so i'm quite excited to try this
20:35i think it went pretty well i'm trying to pack a lot into the time limit so yeah i hope
20:40it's
20:40not enough to stand out the chicken of mine's like nice and moist and juicy still that crispy smoky
20:47skin is delicious i do think the crab oil does add something like in the background something umami
20:53this green curry it's not adventurous with the chili heat it feels a little bit more sri lankan with that
20:59like rich coconut flavor but i do like it the pickled daikon salad i think is delicious for me it's
21:04the
21:04nicest thing on the plate it's a nice plate of food it's just lacking that extra punch
21:09that i expect with thai food need to throw a bit of chopped chili on there maybe yeah
21:17mark's chicken has definitely got the flavors of the barbecue running through the chicken
21:23but that crab oil is slightly lost and i think his thai green curry could have had a much bigger
21:28kick in it
21:29let's um
21:32gareth's ox heart skewers for me
21:35sounds very very exciting this is a first for me beef heart on a barbecue on a lemongrass stick
21:42he's gonna quickly flash it over the charcoal which is exactly the kind of
21:46cooking that ox heart benefits from really i'm gonna glaze them with black garlic and then
21:53and they should get a nice caramelized glaze
21:56when they go back on the barbecue.
21:58I like the idea of the farro with the beef fat running through it.
22:01I think, like, the beef fat and the ox heart,
22:03there's a good sort of synergy in the dish.
22:07Gareth's a minute or two left. What is that?
22:10Pickled daikon.
22:12So Gareth is doing a chilli and galangal rural-style curry sauce.
22:17I think everyone else was reaching for coconut cream,
22:19but he's kept it quite clean and using animal stock,
22:22like the version I did today.
22:25You done? Yes, chef.
22:27Good stuff. Off you go. Take your two plates.
22:29Well done. Thank you.
22:32That's definitely him pushing really hard.
22:34Yeah. That looks great.
22:38Yeah, smells good. Thank you very much.
22:40Thank you, chef.
22:44I don't know about you,
22:45but I think this just looks like a very accomplished plate of food.
22:48It was a tough cook,
22:50but I was pushing myself,
22:52but I think that's what the challenge was about,
22:54and I loved that.
22:56I've got to say,
22:57this ox heart cooking is sublime.
23:00It's super tender.
23:01The black garlic,
23:02I'm picking up that little bit of sweetness.
23:04That's picked up all the smoke.
23:06I think that's really enhanced this.
23:07The sauce, for me,
23:08there is a nice roundness to it.
23:10I'm really a fan of the ancient grain as well.
23:13It's, like, beefy.
23:14It's got a nice, like, chewy texture to it.
23:16I love the little bit of pickled daikon with it as well.
23:18It's just beautiful.
23:19I can't really fault that plate.
23:23The ox heart is beautifully cooked.
23:25The sauce is big and rich,
23:27and you've got a lovely heat behind it.
23:28If you're talking about big bowl flavours,
23:30this is it in a bowl.
23:31This is fabulous.
23:32For me, it's one of Gareth's top dishes.
23:35I'm really enjoying it.
23:38I don't get on the barbecue very often anymore,
23:40but I do really enjoy it, usually.
23:46Georgia's got barbecue satay skewers,
23:49which sounds delicious.
23:50Yep.
23:52I'm going to base these skewers with my satay sauce
23:55with some of my curry paste in it.
23:57I'm going to finish this off inside, I think.
24:00Georgia, you've got about four minutes left.
24:03The chicken liver inspired by prawn toast.
24:08Not sure how that's going to come together.
24:09I hope it's going to work on the brioche.
24:11If she pulls that one off, it could be delicious.
24:14OK, Georgia, so you've got about 30 seconds left.
24:17You want to think about sending your plates soon.
24:19She's got an Asian slaw.
24:22I've kind of muddled through this,
24:24so God knows what it's going to be like.
24:26I think it's a bit rushed.
24:27Off you go.
24:31She looked unhappy, she looked confused.
24:34That was not great for her.
24:35She didn't enjoy that, and it shows on the plate, I think.
24:39I just really struggle to control my nerves.
24:42I'm just not very good when I don't have a plan,
24:44and I'm kind of winging it.
24:46I just hope that the flavours are there
24:48and that they enjoy the taste of the dish.
24:52The chicken skewer is pretty tasty,
24:54and it has got nice flavour.
24:56But unfortunately, I think one of my pieces of chicken here
24:58is actually not quite cooked through.
25:00The salad, it doesn't really bring anything.
25:03It's not really pickly enough.
25:04And the curry sauce is quite nice.
25:06It feels a little bit like a peanut satay.
25:09It does have a little kick in the background.
25:10I quite like that.
25:12The toast, the bread has got really oily and wet.
25:15I don't think it's quite worked out for her.
25:20The satay chicken skewer.
25:22Mine is slightly undercooked.
25:24The sweet brioche and then the chicken liver.
25:27That's weird.
25:28It's a combination that doesn't work.
25:29I'm not enjoying that.
25:33So, Luke was faced with this magnificent John Dory.
25:37He's never cooked before.
25:38He's never filleted before.
25:40First time cooking fish like this on a barbecue as well.
25:43The coconut on the flames is to get it smoking.
25:45Yes.
25:45Get that lovely flavour.
25:46Get some smoky flavour through the fish.
25:49Luke's never filleted a John Dory before,
25:51and I have to take my hat off to him.
25:53He did it really well.
25:55I like the fact that he is going to baste the John Dory
25:58with seaweed butter,
25:59which I think will really enhance the flavour.
26:02The barbecue daikon, actually, I've done it before,
26:04and it gets quite sweet,
26:05and it loses some of its bitterness.
26:06So I think it's a nice choice.
26:08So, Luke, you've got about three minutes.
26:10How are we?
26:11Literally just finishing the cooking with a blowtorch.
26:15Green curry sauce.
26:16Hope that he's adventurous with the chilli heat.
26:19That's it, Luke.
26:19Your time is up.
26:20I have to say, it looks good.
26:25Thanks very much.
26:31I think Luke's done a really good job here.
26:33It looks really appealing.
26:34Quite minimalist, but I like that.
26:37It was tough.
26:38I was out of my comfort zone.
26:39But under the circumstances,
26:41I am happy with what I put up.
26:44The John Dory is flaking apart,
26:46really moist still.
26:47I think the seaweed butter that he's basted it in
26:49has, like, a sort of smoky barbecue flavour to it,
26:52which is nice.
26:53I really like the green curry sauce, actually.
26:55I think it's very vibrant,
26:56has nice acidity to it.
26:58And the fact that he's made his own coconut cream,
27:00that's impressive, given the time frame.
27:02The fish, the two types of daikon,
27:05and that delicious sauce,
27:07there's a lot of positives there.
27:10I have to say, for a chef that's never filleted or cooked
27:12John Dory before,
27:13that's perfectly cooked.
27:15It's brilliant.
27:16There's a little bit of heat in the Thai green curry, too,
27:18which I like.
27:19He's taken on the challenge and delivered a great dish.
27:22Ooh!
27:24Smoky.
27:26Caroline, she's wrapping her wild sea bass in kombu.
27:30She's going to take that off and barbecue it.
27:33It should impart that sort of seaweed, saline flavour into the fish.
27:38I really want the skin to be charred,
27:40but it also needs to be cooked nicely and not over.
27:45She's got grilled vegetables.
27:47Tomatoes for some freshness.
27:49Asparagus are not fire, which is good.
27:51How's it looking?
27:52I'm very worried about my crab.
27:55Why?
27:56I won't be able to do croquettes like I wanted to.
27:59You've got six minutes still,
28:00so you might be able to break the crab blood to serve something.
28:05We've got Jasmine Rice.
28:06She's got a puree.
28:08I think you missed out the fried enoki mushrooms.
28:11I missed out the fried enoki mushrooms,
28:12so another element.
28:14Yeah, they're looking good.
28:15Just need to finish something here.
28:18I love the idea of the crab croquette,
28:21but how she's going to bind this crab croquette together,
28:23she had no idea yet.
28:25That's a mystery up until this point, really.
28:28I did pick the crab meat,
28:30and I'm serving it fresh with some chilli and radishes.
28:34I'd like it to be different, but...
28:36Well, you did have a lot to do.
28:37I did.
28:38Surprise, surprise.
28:40Red curry sauce.
28:41What are you looking for in that?
28:42There needs to be that chilli heat running through it
28:44to balance out the fact that it's got coconut cream in.
28:48Caroline, how's it looking?
28:49Final touches now.
28:50This is pea and Thai basil puree.
28:53We're going to have to go a bit quicker now.
28:54With chef.
28:55It is a lot.
28:57I definitely feel like she's bitten off more than she can chew.
29:01You're over time now.
29:02Yes.
29:03So you're going to have to hurry up.
29:07Caroline, you're done.
29:08Three minutes over.
29:09Yes, chef.
29:09I'll explain what you've done with the crab meat, OK?
29:11Indeed, chef.
29:14Caroline was up against it there.
29:16Yeah, and a lot more work than she needs to do, as usual.
29:18Again, just always doing too much.
29:22I wanted to do a croquette,
29:24but I did pick some of the claw meat.
29:26With some fresh chilli through it.
29:28Go and take a break.
29:30Bye, Scott.
29:30See you later.
29:32It was very intense.
29:34Obviously, I was very annoyed
29:36not to be able to have the crab croquettes
29:38the way I wanted them.
29:40But I'm pleased with the flavours I tasted.
29:42Overall, I'm happy.
29:46I think the sea bass is beautifully cooked.
29:48I'm definitely getting that salty seaweed kombu taste to it.
29:52I'm loving the red curry sauce.
29:53It's got a bit of kick to it.
29:55I do really like that little crab salad.
29:57I think it's delicious with the fish.
29:59I feel like those elements work really well together,
30:01and I wish you'd just maybe pulled back a little bit
30:04on some of these extra garnish,
30:05which aren't really that necessary.
30:09The fish is nicely cooked,
30:10but you've just got the barbecue flavour on there.
30:12The Thai sauce is lovely.
30:14It's got good heat to it, right spices.
30:16It's a dish that has great things on it,
30:18but it's just too much.
30:21It's not very hot, this.
30:24Let me try.
30:26Yeah, this is actually hotter.
30:28Sal is giving us a very simple, no-frills pork chop.
30:33I'm just trying to get some caramelisation.
30:35I would probably have liked to have seen him marinate it
30:38or at least talk about basting that or something
30:40while it's on the grill.
30:42What about a white asparagus, coconut, and basil puree?
30:45I actually love white asparagus.
30:47Pairing it with coconut cream,
30:48you can bring out a nice sweetness from it as well.
30:51Remind us what we've got here.
30:53On the side, we've got black rice,
30:54which I finish a little bit of cashew nuts,
30:56and then I put some enochemotion on top.
30:58I feel like it's quite busy, if I'm honest.
31:01I don't necessarily see why he needs
31:03all of these different vegetable garnishes,
31:06but he might present us with something
31:08that's really outstanding.
31:10What's in that sauce?
31:11The base is coconut and some chilies.
31:14Happy?
31:14Yeah, I mean, with the time given,
31:17I think I'm as happy as I can be.
31:18Choose your best plates and off you go.
31:22There's a lot going on.
31:23A bit rough around the edges, isn't it?
31:24I'll just keep looking at the broccoli
31:26and think, why is it there?
31:27Me too.
31:29Go and take a break.
31:31Go and put your feet up for a bit.
31:32Thank you, sir.
31:35I tried to catch as much as I could
31:37earlier in the master class.
31:40I just did the best I could with this dish.
31:44The pork, I think, is actually cooked quite well.
31:47I do feel like it could have had more char on the barbecue
31:50to get that kind of caramelization,
31:52but all of the garnishes just don't really make any sense to me.
31:56We've got a bit of broccoli that just tastes like a bit of broccoli
31:59and this white asparagus and basil puree with the coconut.
32:03It's neither sweet nor bitter.
32:05The coconut sauce has no real depth.
32:08It's got a very kind of muted flavor to it,
32:11almost like Thai flavors for beginners.
32:16There is not much about this plate of food that I am enjoying.
32:21It's a bit rough, a bit rustic, just not quite hitting the mark.
32:26I think it's been a great day in the kitchen.
32:29Some people really took it in their stride
32:30and produced some really amazing cooking,
32:32and others, I think, they just had a little bit of an off day in the kitchen.
32:36But you can clearly see that they pushed themselves
32:39to be outside of their comfort zone,
32:40and for that, I really applaud all of them for doing it.
32:43Our chefs have got one more opportunity to prove themselves
32:45and keep themselves in this competition.
32:48It's all to play for.
33:00Chefs, I hope you enjoyed your time with John.
33:03There was some outstanding food on show today.
33:04Well done.
33:05You are now back in here to fight, to stay in our semifinals.
33:10We have set you a brief,
33:12and that is to create one spectacular dessert.
33:16Something that is going to wow us, blow us away.
33:20At the end of this, one of you will be leaving the competition.
33:24Make this count.
33:26You have one hour and 45 minutes.
33:29Give it everything you got.
33:38The pressure of today's challenge is huge.
33:42Everything's riding on this dessert,
33:44but I want it to be one that you talk about for years after.
33:48That's what I'm going for.
33:52My family, my mum, my dad, both my sisters
33:55lived in Trinidad and Tobago for a long time.
33:57They came back to sunny Carlisle before I was born,
34:00but we visited, and those flavors and that culture
34:04has always sort of been around in our lives.
34:06So I'm cooking for you a Cumbrian classic
34:08with a Caribbean twist.
34:11Gareth's dessert is about elevating the sticky toffee pudding,
34:15and he's going to serve it with flavors of the Caribbean.
34:18We have a banana cream diplomat,
34:20which is like a whipped out mousse.
34:21I'm going to whip up some cream with a bit of rum
34:23and fold it through to make like a light banana and rum cream.
34:26Gareth is making a rum and lime gel,
34:29but he has to be careful.
34:31We've had a gel from Gareth before.
34:32It was a very smoky whiskey gel,
34:34and it was just too strong.
34:36We've also got a tuile,
34:37which he's making out of pecans,
34:39banana sherbet,
34:40just for a little bit of sugary finish.
34:43Then we've got a fig leaf ice cream.
34:45This is actually my first ice cream I've ever made.
34:47Fig leaf, just the most beautiful, pungent aroma.
34:51The fig leaves have come from my mum's garden,
34:54and my mum, she always cooks the best sticky toffee puddings,
34:58so hopefully I can deliver something as good as what she would do.
35:04The pressure will be back on now.
35:06I need to get everything perfect,
35:07because obviously pastry, there's not much room for error.
35:11But I'm feeling a little more comfortable doing this dish.
35:14It's something that I've managed to practice a little bit.
35:18Luke, we haven't seen many desserts from you so far in the competition.
35:21How do you feel about this?
35:21I'm quite excited to do a dessert.
35:23The whole dish is based around pistachios.
35:25And what is about this dessert that you find so spectacular?
35:28The cake element in particular
35:29is what I did for my first ever chef competition about 12 years ago.
35:33I won that.
35:34It must have been a good cake, Luke.
35:36Yeah, well, Pierre Kaufman thought so.
35:38He was judging the competition,
35:40and by the time I plated up,
35:41he'd eaten all of my trimmings of my cake.
35:45Guessing the best out of pistachios is very difficult.
35:49We've got a pistachio and olive oil cake.
35:50It's the slowest olive oil ever.
35:53Let's get out.
35:54The cake has got to be light.
35:56I want the nutty flavour of pistachio to come through,
35:59but also the flavour of oil.
36:00It's about the balance.
36:02And we've also got an ice cream made from pistachio as well.
36:06We've got a tally meringue.
36:07Tally meringue is about cooking the sugar
36:09and pouring it onto the egg whites,
36:11getting it to the right temperature,
36:12and that's got to be nice and firm.
36:14I'm pretty confident in doing meringue.
36:16I've done it many times,
36:16but, you know, this is the place that I'm going to screw it up, so...
36:20Luke's got a raspberry and rosewater jelly.
36:24Rosewater.
36:24That has got to be really, really carefully used,
36:27otherwise it is just too perfumed,
36:29and it's completely overpowering.
36:31Luke's got a lot of jeopardy going on with his pistachio twills.
36:34So you need to mould them whilst they're hot,
36:36and it's going to wrap around the cake.
36:37Well, I'll be quite quick with these ones,
36:39because as they cool, they literally go to brittle.
36:41Oh, my concern is the dryness of this dessert.
36:44You've got a twill that looks quite thick,
36:46and you've also got a cake as well,
36:48so I'm a little bit worried for this.
36:51Oh, God.
36:54My hand is so sweaty.
36:56I have done a dessert as my signature dish at the beginning,
36:59and I had a very, very good feedback.
37:02So I think I have very big shoes to fill.
37:08Caroline, you're looking as busy as ever?
37:10Yes, chef.
37:10A lot to do.
37:13The main element of dessert is the fig leaf
37:15and white chocolate parfait,
37:16which is then spraying with white chocolate.
37:18But the frozen parfait is obviously going to heat up,
37:20so she needs to do that really, really quick.
37:23If I don't move fast, it's a danger that, you know,
37:25it might just melt too quickly,
37:27and I don't want that.
37:31Caroline's using a verju, which is made from grapes,
37:34to marinate her peaches,
37:35so there'll be a bit of sweetness in it.
37:37We also have a peach consomme.
37:40I blitzed some fresh peaches with a little bit of sugar
37:45and froze it down,
37:46and I'll just let it very slowly drip.
37:51We've also got blackberry sorbet.
37:53We've got a little sablé biscuit as well
37:55that's got the essence of almond running through it.
37:58So what's inspired this?
37:59Peaches are one of my favorite fruits,
38:01and blackberries.
38:02When I was a kid,
38:03my mom used to take me and my brother for a walk,
38:06and she let us just go and pick them and have them fresh,
38:09and we would come home, like, covered,
38:11so it's a fun memory for me.
38:13She's doing an awful lot,
38:15but if she gets it right, it'll look incredible.
38:19Chefs, 45 minutes cooking time has gone.
38:22Definitely going to be pretty busy today.
38:23We've got a lot of stuff to get on and moving for this.
38:26Yeah, show-stopping dessert,
38:27a lot of work to live up to.
38:30It demands ambition,
38:31and I think I've tried to bring as much ambition
38:33to this dish as I possibly can.
38:37Mark, what are you putting together here?
38:39So, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich,
38:40it's, like, one of the first things a lot of kids learn to make.
38:42We want to, like, take those kind of flavors
38:44and, like, elevate it into, like, a really amazing dessert.
38:47So I'm making for you today
38:48a peanut butter and jelly cheesecake.
38:50What part is the jam?
38:51The jam is going to be bourbon cherry gel,
38:53some poached cherries.
38:54That's going to bring that kind of sweetness,
38:55that little bit of acidity to it.
38:57We've got a salted pretzel base
38:58and then some burnt honey meringue over the top.
39:04Peanut butter and jelly cheesecake.
39:06It sounds delicious.
39:08It's got a little bit of goat's cheese in there
39:10for the acidity.
39:11I love the pretzel base.
39:14But peanut butter, big, strong, quite cloying flavor,
39:18so he's going to need enough of that cherry gel
39:21to really cut through it all.
39:23We've got a peanut brittle twill,
39:25a burnt honey meringue.
39:27Basically making Italian meringue,
39:29but instead of using a normal sugar syrup,
39:30I'm using burnt honey,
39:31and then piping that into beautiful little matchstick strips.
39:35He's also giving us a caramelized puff pastry ice cream,
39:39which is a new one on me.
39:42I've caramelized puff pastry,
39:43and I've infused it into an anglaise base.
39:45OK.
39:45And then I'm going to churn that into ice cream.
39:48Interesting.
39:49The ice cream, you don't want to over-churned and grainy,
39:52and I want to taste the caramelization of the pastry.
39:55This is a great idea.
39:57But this food can be rustic on the eye.
40:00I'd like to see Mark refine that today with his dessert.
40:04I want it to look good as well as taste good.
40:07But this is about pushing the boundaries today,
40:09so I'm really pushing the boundaries with the flavors.
40:13I'm confident on my dish because it's very unusual,
40:16but I know it works.
40:18The most important thing here is just to keep focus.
40:22Today, I took inspiration, actually, in a forest.
40:25As a kid, we used to wander around, like, with the dogs,
40:27and, you know, like, just collecting stuff.
40:29In this case, I'm trying to recreate, like, a fallen tree,
40:33like a log.
40:34What is the log?
40:34The log is filled with matcha mousse,
40:36and then on top, I'm going to add chocolate cremeux
40:39to create, like, the bark of the log.
40:41Then I have a white purple ice cream.
40:43Big flavors.
40:43Wow.
40:44Very big flavors.
40:45OK.
40:46Adventurous.
40:47It's time to take risks.
40:52We've got a frozen matcha mousse,
40:54which is inside a chocolate shell.
40:55They're frozen.
40:56That was my biggest worry with this,
40:57if they wouldn't freeze on time.
40:59Then he's making a chocolate cremeux,
41:00and he's putting that on the outside.
41:03Trying to make them look like little logs.
41:05We also have matcha mousse.
41:08So it's a cake batter that's been cooked in the microwave.
41:11It puffs up.
41:12It just makes it very light and fluffy.
41:16Yes.
41:17Ha!
41:17We've got truffle ice cream.
41:19I have to say, out of everything that's on this plate,
41:21truffle is the one thing that concerns me the most.
41:24It's big and bold,
41:25and sometimes can be slightly overpowering.
41:27I just hope that the truffle ice cream
41:30is mellow enough to complement everything else.
41:32Cel is throwing himself out there,
41:35because his flavors are slightly mad.
41:39I'm taking you to the sunny and healthy coast today.
41:42I've got my bandana in my hair,
41:44wishing I was on holiday rather than in the kitchen.
41:48I didn't feel like myself in the last round.
41:50I felt so nervous.
41:53But I feel a lot more confident.
41:56I know what I'm doing.
41:59I want to show the judges
42:01that I can keep my cool a little bit more.
42:05We're seeing lemons, limoncello, basil.
42:08This seems like your happy place.
42:10It is.
42:10Lemon is my favorite thing,
42:12and it's in all of my cooking, basically.
42:14So I'm doing a classic French lemon tart,
42:16some Italian meringue on the side,
42:17and lemon sorbet.
42:19Is this worthy of keeping you in our semifinals?
42:22I hope so.
42:23This is me on a plate, so I had to do it.
42:29Georgia is a chef who's very happy when she's cooking dessert.
42:32But there's a lot riding on this for Georgia,
42:35because a simple lemon tart
42:37is a very complicated thing to do.
42:40You need it to be just set.
42:43If she overcooks it, it's going to crack.
42:45If she undercooks it, it's just going to be soft,
42:48and it'll melt away onto the plate.
42:50It's got to be perfect.
42:51A limoncello curd cream is about the curd being cooked out just right,
42:56of course, the limoncello being quite strong, vibrant, the cure.
42:59So that in the cream should be delicious.
43:02Oh, it's looking okay so far.
43:05We've got a little bit of sorbet.
43:06I'm just filling my little lemon shells with my lemon sorbet now that it's ready.
43:11We have basil and lemon curd.
43:13But there's a lot of lemon going on in Georgia's dessert.
43:16I think where you've got to balance this dish
43:19is the acidity of the lemons running through everything,
43:22but also the sweetness as well.
43:26Chefs, you have just seven minutes left.
43:32I've got a lot going on.
43:33I need to start moving.
43:36So why are they not connected?
43:37Maybe I could have measured them differently.
43:39Ooh, they look gorgeous.
43:42I'm really happy with the tart.
43:45My parfait has defrosted.
43:47I don't know what to do.
43:51Chefs, this is your last two minutes.
43:54I've managed to put everything in the plate.
43:57I'm really not happy with my cake.
43:58The mix is too wet.
43:59It's dense.
44:00It's dropped.
44:02Oh, chef, it's all melting.
44:04It's all melting?
44:05It's all melting, and it's not nice, which is not ideal.
44:08Okay.
44:10Chefs, you've got 60 seconds left.
44:12Come on.
44:12Let's get it on a plate.
44:13It looks like a donut on the plate.
44:15It's horrible.
44:15Oh, no.
44:18Plate what you can,
44:19and ask to keep these maybe in the freezer
44:22until it's time to serve.
44:24Or don't give up.
44:28Chefs, that is it.
44:29Time is up.
44:30Step back.
44:38Gareth.
44:43Gareth's show-stopping dessert
44:44is a Caribbean-inspired sticky toffee pudding
44:47with a miso-caramel sauce
44:49served with a pecan tuile
44:51dusted with banana sherbet
44:53caramelized banana
44:54lime and rum gel
44:56banana and rum creme diplomat
44:59and a fig leaf ice cream
45:01smoked in a cherry wood aroma.
45:11The sticky toffee pudding sponge,
45:12it's not lifted to the heights it should have done.
45:15The mix wasn't quite right.
45:16You can see that little thickness at the bottom.
45:18But having said that, it's still delicious.
45:20I like the diplomat cream.
45:21That's very nice.
45:22And, of course, the gel, big cake of alcohol.
45:24It's lovely.
45:25The fig leaf ice cream
45:27is absolutely delicious.
45:29And when you eat that
45:30with the ever-so-slightly salty miso caramel,
45:34it works perfectly.
45:36That pecan tuile
45:38also has a hint of banana running through it.
45:40I think it's very clever
45:41you did a banana sherbet
45:42and dusted that with it.
45:43It's a delicious dessert,
45:45and I'm loving that fig leaf ice cream.
45:50I had bad juju with the sponge.
45:52The mix didn't seem right.
45:54But overall, I think it was pretty positive.
45:57If it's enough to get me through,
45:58that would be great.
46:02Luke's dessert is a pistachio and olive oil cake
46:05wrapped in a pistachio tuile
46:07topped with an Italian meringue
46:09and rose water and raspberry jellies
46:11and a pistachio and olive oil ice cream.
46:19The pistachio sponge is lovely.
46:21I love the lightness of the meringue sitting on top.
46:23Your tuile around the outside,
46:24it is slightly overcooked.
46:26I question why you cut the length of it
46:27shorter than it needed to be.
46:29They should be connected.
46:30They should be together.
46:32The sponge is delicious.
46:33It's got a really good flavour of pistachio.
46:36But for me,
46:37there's not enough sharpness of raspberry.
46:39I really want more of that.
46:40If you're dealing with something like pistachio,
46:42which is oily,
46:44you need something to cut it a bit.
46:48The ice cream flavours of pistachio,
46:50yes, I definitely have that.
46:52But when you're using something like pistachio,
46:54like Matt is saying,
46:55you know, having pistachio, pistachio, pistachio,
46:57where's the point of difference?
46:59And it has to be there.
47:04It was terrible, wasn't it?
47:06It's definitely my worst round so far,
47:08and at the stage in the competition,
47:09it's not a good place to have it.
47:12Caroline intended to serve a fig leaf
47:14and white chocolate parfait.
47:17What went wrong?
47:18Temperature, chef.
47:19By the time I sprayed,
47:20it started melting quite instantly.
47:22It's accompanied by compressed peaches in verjoux,
47:26an almond sablé,
47:28caramelised white chocolate,
47:30peach gel,
47:32blackberry and lemon verbena sorbet,
47:34and a peach consomme with fig leaf oil.
47:42The parfait, it has its set.
47:44We all know that.
47:45You know that.
47:46But the peaches or the verjoux,
47:48it's got a freshness to it.
47:49It's sharp.
47:49It's delicious.
47:50And with the white chocolate flavours of this parfait,
47:53it's really wonderful.
47:55Your sablé biscuit is slightly overcooked,
47:58but your blackberry sorbet,
48:00I love the flavour of that,
48:01the lemon coming through there,
48:02and your little peach water with the oil running through it is lovely.
48:05And I think what you do have is the makings of a really good idea.
48:09But it's quite obvious to see what's really wrong here.
48:12The peach consomme with the fig oil,
48:15I think it's a showstopper.
48:17And I know you're disheartened,
48:18but you, like Marcus said,
48:20have got the makings here of a fantastic dessert.
48:26Is it the way I wanted it to be?
48:28No, it's not.
48:31But at the same time,
48:32I'm happy the flavours worked together.
48:35Like, it made sense.
48:39Inspired by a peanut butter jelly sandwich,
48:42Marcus made a whipped peanut butter and goat's cheese cheesecake
48:45with a salted pretzel biscuit base
48:48topped with poached cherries and cherry bourbon gel.
48:53Peanut brittle,
48:54burnt honey meringues
48:55and a caramelised puff pastry ice cream.
49:03I don't like your presentation.
49:04I think it's messy in your piping.
49:07Peanut butter, cheesecake,
49:08it doesn't even taste of cheesecake to me.
49:10I can't get that cheesy sourness
49:12with the goat's cheese that's in there.
49:14But I love your burnt honey meringue.
49:15I think that's fabulous.
49:16I love the pretzel base as well.
49:19There are things in here that I do like
49:20and there's bits that I'm looking for that aren't there.
49:23It's not your best plate.
49:24There is so much richness and so much sweetness
49:27going on in your cheesecake.
49:29I love that toasted, sort of caramelised puff pastry ice cream.
49:33Oh, that's really clever.
49:34I've never heard of that before.
49:36The peanut butter cheesecake,
49:39you do need more of the cheese running through it.
49:41It is a little bit too sweet.
49:43I like the cherry with the alcohol running through it,
49:45but I want more of that.
49:46So there are issues here.
49:51The feedback was pretty mixed.
49:53It felt like it was kind of all over the place.
49:55And I really didn't have time to really plate
49:57to the level that I would have liked to have plate it.
50:00So, yeah, tough.
50:02Sell's dessert is a dark chocolate log
50:05filled with matcha mousse
50:06and coated in a milk chocolate cremeux,
50:09sat on a cherry puree,
50:11served with white truffle ice cream,
50:14matcha moss,
50:15raspberry and blackberry compote,
50:17chocolate walnut soil,
50:19and a chocolate tuile.
50:26The matcha mousse,
50:28I like the bitterness of this
50:30because of the cherry puree underneath.
50:32That works very nice.
50:33However, this truffle ice cream,
50:36once I had that,
50:37I could not taste anything else on the plate.
50:40It is so strong.
50:41It is overpowering.
50:42So the balance of this overtakes the whole dessert.
50:46So I've just taken a slither of the matcha mousse.
50:48I've taken an ever-so-tiny amount of the truffle.
50:53Weirdly, that combination.
50:54It's not unpleasant.
50:56It's the amount of white truffle in that ice cream
50:59and the sheer amount of that ice cream on the plate,
51:01which is just offsetting the balance of everything here.
51:06The cremeux, I like that.
51:08The cherry works very well with dark chocolate,
51:10but white truffle oil is such a big, big, big, big, big flavour.
51:14It's an essence and it's very strong.
51:15I know you love unusual combinations,
51:17but it's too big for me.
51:18On a plate like this.
51:25Upset.
51:26I knew I was taking a bit of a risk.
51:29Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
51:33Last up is Georgia.
51:35She's made a lemon tart
51:37served with torched Italian meringue,
51:39lemon and basil curd,
51:41limoncello cream,
51:43amaretti biscuits,
51:44and a lemon and basil sorbet,
51:47served inside a frozen lemon skin.
51:51Presentation?
51:51Great.
51:58Brave thing to do, a lemon tart.
52:01The simplicity and the purity of a lemon tart.
52:03But you've nailed it.
52:04The lemon tart mix is wonderful.
52:06I love the basil and lemon curd.
52:09I'm really sort of getting that basil.
52:11I like the meringue.
52:13It's very sweet.
52:14These amaretti biscuits are cute,
52:16and actually it's needed
52:16if you're going to have that much meringue on there.
52:19That sorbet is a star.
52:20It's just got a lovely hit of citrus in it.
52:24I love this.
52:24The tart is beautifully lined.
52:26The lemon itself,
52:27I love the texture of it.
52:29And if you've got too much sweetness going on,
52:31you just go into your little
52:32lemon and basil sorbet on the side here,
52:34and you just freshen up the palate.
52:36This is a cracking dessert, Georgia,
52:38in every way for me.
52:39You've done it very, very well.
52:45I felt a lot more confident going into that round.
52:52I'm just much better if I've been able to practice
52:54and prepare and plan.
52:56So I'm really, really happy with that.
52:58Really happy.
53:04That was a horrendously difficult challenge.
53:06For sure.
53:06It was not an easy round.
53:09I think some of our chefs struggled today.
53:13Who in this room really stood out?
53:16I'd say Georgia for me.
53:17I thought her dessert was the best of the six chefs today.
53:20It was full of flavor, full of life.
53:22It was vibrant.
53:23It was delicious.
53:24And what a turnaround from the last challenge.
53:26She's come back fighting.
53:28Gareth gave us the sticky toffee pudding
53:31with the miso caramel sauce.
53:33Sponge, you just didn't quite get it right.
53:35But overall, it was hitting the right notes.
53:37And that ice cream was fabulous.
53:39That's Georgia and Gareth through.
53:41After that, it gets a little bit trickier.
53:44Luke, I think the pistachio cake with olive oil was good.
53:46I was quite surprised at how light the salé meringue was on top.
53:49But there wasn't enough pop from the raspberries just to take it from just being pistachio.
53:56The twill, we all know there are issues with it, and I think Luke knows that as well.
54:00Mark's presentation was a little bit clumsy.
54:03I didn't think the cheesecake had the cheesiness flavor that I was expecting.
54:07But the pretzel crumb at the bottom was good.
54:09Loved the ice cream.
54:10I really enjoyed the cherries.
54:11I wanted more of it.
54:14Salad, the matcha mousse I didn't mind.
54:16But once I got into the truffle ice cream, I could not taste anything else.
54:21It was just overpowering and had no place on being on this plate.
54:25He does come up with different ideas.
54:27He's made them work before, but with this dessert, it didn't work.
54:31Caroline, the peaches marinated in verjoux were really lovely.
54:36Blackberry sorbet was sharp, not too sweet.
54:38That peach consomme with the fig oil was good.
54:41It would have all been wonderful had it not been for the parfait not setting.
54:47Such a shame.
54:49It would be very sad to go home.
54:51But I've struggled with the challenges today, so let's see.
54:56If it was the end of the competition, I'd be guided, but I didn't do great, so it's what it
55:00is, isn't it?
55:02Honestly, at the moment, I don't know where I stand, but I might still have a bit of chance.
55:09I think I'm on thin ice.
55:12Do they have too much white truffle for me to go home?
55:16I would say.
55:31Chefs, two massive rounds.
55:34We have made a decision.
55:35We can only take our strongest five chefs through.
55:41The chef leaving the competition today.
56:01It's Sal.
56:03Sorry, Sal.
56:04Sal, your time in the kitchen has been fabulous.
56:06You've brought some great stories, some fabulous dishes, and of course, some very different combinations.
56:11Thank you so much indeed.
56:13Thank you, Sal.
56:18It's not a nice feeling, but it's a competition, so I understand, but this has been a great experience.
56:25It's the end of the road for MasterChef, but it's not the end of the road for me as a
56:28chef.
56:34Chefs, massive congratulations.
56:36You are our final five.
56:41I don't even really know what to say.
56:43I can't believe I'm still standing.
56:45I need to let it sink in, I think.
56:47Final five is a big deal.
56:50Definitely feel the pressure racking up.
56:52You've got to be better practised, and then really just hope for the best.
56:56Honestly, I thought there was going to be me going to do it.
56:59Going home.
57:00But it really feels very special.
57:02I'm very glad to be here.
57:04I was super proud of myself.
57:05I never imagined myself in the final five, but now I'm here.
57:08Yeah, I'm in it.
57:09Let's go.
57:17Next time, it's the last of the semifinals, and the remaining five face the heat of a two Michelin star
57:27kitchen.
57:28Yeah, it's tough.
57:29You need to start going like the clappers now, all right?
57:32Before battling it out for a place in finals week.
57:36I think he's really out there, and I think he's really brave.
57:38When we talk about next level cookery, this is it.
57:56Bye.
57:59Bye.
58:02Bye.
58:03Bye.
58:03Bye.
58:05Bye.
58:11Transcription by CastingWords
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