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00:00It's the first MasterChef quarterfinal.
00:05And this week, six best cooks are back.
00:15It's wild to be a quarterfinalist.
00:18How am I actually here? Did not call this.
00:22Seeing the caliber of the other contestants,
00:25the pressure's definitely gone up a notch.
00:27I'm so thrilled to be here, to be able to cook again,
00:30but equally nerve-wracking as well.
00:34I've never wanted something more.
00:36I have a real fire in my belly.
00:39Tonight, they face two tough challenges...
00:42Slay me where I stand.
00:44..to test them even further.
00:47First, they will have to invent an exceptional dish from scratch...
00:51You've showed tons of skill here.
00:53..before going on to cook
00:55for one of the country's leading restaurant critics...
00:59..Jay Rayner.
01:00My legs are shaking.
01:03This is exactly what I was hoping for.
01:07This week, six best cooks simply have to deliver.
01:12Who can take the heat?
01:13Who can take the pressure?
01:14Who will go through to knock out week?
01:37Welcome to your quarter-final.
01:40You're all here because clearly we saw something in you.
01:45But now you need to continue to deliver.
01:50You're cooking for a place in knock out week.
01:55This is an invention test.
01:58We want you to create a dish that's centred around pancakes.
02:01Pancakes are popular all over the world.
02:04It could be American fluffy pancakes,
02:06Japanese souffle pancakes,
02:08or even the French crepe.
02:10But you have to ask yourself,
02:11what can you put with your pancakes
02:13to make it an exciting dish?
02:16We want to see flair.
02:18We want to see interesting flavour combinations.
02:22It can be sweet or it can be savoury.
02:24We want you thinking outside the box.
02:28We don't want just run-of-the-mill pancakes.
02:31To help you create your dish,
02:33we are opening up the MasterChef Market.
02:41Whatever you need to create a show-stopping pancake
02:44is in there.
02:47You've got ten minutes to choose your ingredients
02:49and plan your dish.
02:50You then have 70 minutes to cook the best pancakes
02:53you ever have in your life.
02:55Come on up and get your ingredients.
03:02The MasterChef Market has got meat,
03:05fish, fruit, veg, herbs, nuts,
03:09all sorts of seasoning.
03:11We've spoiled them, in fact.
03:12Everyone who can cook thinks they can make a pancake.
03:15They probably do it once a year,
03:17Shrove Tuesday.
03:19But whatever they give us with them
03:22has to elevate it.
03:23We want pancakes with pizzazz.
03:26I'm hoping to go for an American pancake.
03:28It was an instant came to mind thing.
03:30And then I'm going to stack them high
03:31and cover them in stuff.
03:33I'm definitely going savoury.
03:34I quite like to make dishes up on the spot at home,
03:36just see what's in the fridge,
03:37go and grab something and make dinner for the family.
03:39So hopefully I'll be alright.
03:42I'm feeling Mexican.
03:43I hate pancakes, but I do love tacos,
03:45so that's where my mind is taking me.
03:49Whoa.
03:51This is great.
03:52I feel like a kid in a candy shop,
03:54but also my mind's running through
03:56120 miles per hour right now.
03:59So many things.
04:01You now have 70 minutes to create
04:04the pancake of your wildest dreams.
04:08Let's cook.
04:08Okay.
04:18Sabina is cooking us Bangladeshi and Pakistani recipes
04:23straight from her heritage,
04:25handed down generationally from her family.
04:30Bang.
04:31It means business.
04:35Sabina has showed us that she has a great,
04:37elegant balance of spice and flavour.
04:41I think that's superb.
04:42I can't fault it.
04:45I have to say this whole MasterChef thing
04:47is very, very addictive.
04:49Initially you start in and you're like,
04:51I'll be fine if I just get through a certain stage,
04:53and now I'm at the point where it's like,
04:55no, I'm not going to be fine.
04:56I need to go further because I'm addicted.
05:01Sabina, what pancakes are you making?
05:03I do love Korean food.
05:04So I'm making a Korean style pancake.
05:07Is this like a thin, crispy pancake
05:09with the contents in the egg?
05:12Yes.
05:12The pancake itself has a batter
05:14with some shredded potatoes,
05:17vegetables as well, and spices.
05:19And then I'm going to serve it with some prawns
05:22with some gajujang sauce
05:23and a mango salsa and a dipping sauce.
05:26Wow, that's a lot of stuff, Sabina.
05:28Well, my husband makes pancakes every Sunday
05:31and they're the American buttermilk pancakes.
05:33And I'm sorry to say, but I'm a little bit fed up,
05:35so I'm going the savory route this time.
05:38Totally doing yourself out of weekend breakfast here.
05:40At least I'm mentioning him, right?
05:42I'm so much looking forward to this.
05:43It sounds delicious.
05:45I hope it lives up to your expectations.
05:48What we want is a nice golden, crunchy pancake.
05:52But I just hope Sabina got her ratio of batter mix
05:55and vegetable correct.
05:57I'm worried how thin she'll make her pancake
06:00and be able to have the vegetables cooked
06:03at the same time.
06:08Prawns and gajujang sauce
06:10don't want them blackened and burned.
06:12I'm a huge fan of Korean pancakes.
06:15I love that Sabina is cooking outside of her culture.
06:19She's really pushing herself.
06:22You have 50 minutes left.
06:25Let's make them count.
06:30I love that Michael's showing us his pure imagination.
06:34He can bring it to extremes when it comes to creativity.
06:37The starter especially, it's a bit of a weird one.
06:39It's scallops and some cinnamon.
06:41But he is very heavy handed.
06:44You need to refine your presentation.
06:48It's a little bit like me if I've come in after a night out
06:51and just rub my eyes.
06:54As someone who usually likes to know in quite meticulous detail
06:58what's happening, going into a completely unknown scenario
07:00is very much at my comfort zone.
07:02Oh, you need a lot more water.
07:04But that's part of why I entered the MasterChef kitchen
07:08to get out of my comfort zone.
07:11Hello, Michael.
07:12You've got three kids under the age of five?
07:14Yes.
07:14You must make pancakes all the time.
07:17Usually my wife makes them.
07:18She's Dutch, so she spends a lot of time in pancake houses.
07:21But seeing something familiar, pancakes,
07:24and the opportunity to do something a bit more creative
07:26is my wheelhouse as well.
07:28What pancake are you going to be making for us?
07:30So I'm making an Italian-inspired, like a cannelloni,
07:33but instead of pasta it's crepes
07:36and it's going to be filled with a bacon-y ricotta filling
07:40and then some nice hopefully smooth bechamel on top.
07:45Michael is making an Italian-inspired cannelloni
07:48made with a crepe instead of the pasta.
07:51That filling...
07:52He's got vegetable ragout.
07:54He's cooking down vegetables and some bacon
07:57and then adding madeira to that.
08:00He needs to really cook that out so it's super dry,
08:03so that actually it'll be held by the pancake.
08:06Oh, is that ready to flip?
08:08It's almost there.
08:11Whoa!
08:12Hey!
08:13First one's always a difficult one.
08:14Always bounce back.
08:19Jenae has shown us that she's a creative cook.
08:22Jenae takes something that she knows is a crowd pleaser
08:25and put a twist on it.
08:27What is your signature dish?
08:29A Thai green curry fried chicken.
08:32If I would eat this morning, noon and night,
08:34it's just perfect.
08:36There is a lot more pressure to deliver in this round
08:40and I'm feeling it today.
08:43I actually don't like pancakes.
08:46They're a world favorite.
08:47A crowd pleaser.
08:48Everyone likes pancakes.
08:51I have made a pancake before.
08:53I've never made a successful pancake before.
08:56They always fail at home.
08:58I cannot flip them.
09:00So I'm making Mexican taco pancake.
09:04Mmm.
09:05And then I'm gonna add spices into the batter.
09:07Whoops.
09:08Just to make it taste a bit more savory.
09:10I am gonna do vegetarian today.
09:12I'm gonna use oyster mushrooms
09:14to kind of replicate pulled chicken
09:16and then I'm gonna add homemade salsa
09:19that's gonna be spicy
09:20and then some crispy cheese on top as well.
09:24Mexican's one of my favorite foods.
09:26I feel comfortable with the Mexican part,
09:28not so comfortable with the pancakes part.
09:31I've never seen anything like this before.
09:33It's maybe for a reason, but we're gonna see.
09:35Let's see if the risk pays off.
09:39Jenay has marinated her oyster mushrooms
09:42in cumin and paprika
09:44and she wants it kind of to resemble pulled chicken.
09:47But oyster mushrooms release a lot of water
09:49and they can be a little bit soggy.
09:51I'm just gonna serve it with a pico de gallo.
09:54Mexican salsa.
09:55And she's also doing green salsa.
09:58Quite a lot of wet things in Jenay's recipe.
10:02Oops.
10:04If I pick up this pancake and it dissolves,
10:08it's a complete disaster.
10:12Guys, you're halfway through.
10:15That's 35 minutes left.
10:20Rose dip has introduced us to flavors that we've never had before.
10:24He's using really wonderful Nepalese spices.
10:28That garlic and Timor pepper has got a lot of depth to it.
10:31And that dal.
10:32I've never had a dal like that before in my life.
10:35I love that you're bringing Nepalese food into this kitchen.
10:39When I'm in a kitchen, I'm quite a free flow.
10:42So I like to believe and think that I'm quite an intuitive cook,
10:47but also take slight risks.
10:49I need more sugar.
10:50So I risk, high reward.
10:52Two to two.
10:55Rose dip, so what pancake are you gonna make today?
10:58American fluffy pancakes with masala chai flavor into the batter
11:02with some crispy bacon.
11:04And then custard with a bit of pistachio flavor.
11:08But it's a work in progress.
11:11Rose dip, I see the genesis of a great idea here.
11:14I think it just needs fleshed out.
11:16Thank you, I hope so too, yeah.
11:17Have you made fluffy American pancakes before?
11:19I actually haven't before.
11:21I've eaten a few, but no, I haven't.
11:25Of all the cooks, rose dip seems the most uncertain
11:28of what his actual end game is.
11:31A good American pancake needs to be thick.
11:33It needs to have a smooth brown edge.
11:36But the insides need to be fluffy.
11:39The battery is ready.
11:40I'm gonna need it for now, and I'm just gonna make custard.
11:43Epistachio custard.
11:45You want that really silky smooth.
11:48Ooh!
11:49Miso and bacon, marriage made in heaven,
11:51but that bacon needs to be crisp.
11:54Come on.
11:55And he seems to have brittle on the goal.
11:58But right now, rose dip is mashing an avocado.
12:00I can see aubergine on his bench too.
12:04This is going to be absolutely wild or complete genius.
12:10Jim is a music producer of Sri Lankan heritage.
12:15He showed us his grandma's curry, which was really very nice.
12:20I think the depth of flavour he's got in that curry is impressive.
12:24I'm really enjoying myself.
12:26I don't know why I'm saying that, because it's really tough.
12:28It's one of the toughest things I've ever done in my life.
12:31But you're only as good as your last cook in this kitchen.
12:34And you have to bring it out when you need to.
12:39Where's the plan?
12:41It's all up here at the moment, but I'm gonna get it down on a plan as soon as possible.
12:44Do you cook pancakes when you're at home for your family?
12:46I cook them for my daughter for breakfast, but not with these flavours.
12:49I'm gonna go vaguely South East Asian.
12:52Pancake rolls are quite big in Sri Lanka for sort of short eats, they call it, like a snack before
12:57dinner.
12:57So I've got some pork belly and some prawns.
12:59I'm gonna make a curry mix, put it inside a crepe pancake.
13:03So, simple but effective, hopefully.
13:07I love the idea of Jim's pork and prawn curry inside a pancake.
13:15I want loads of lemongrass and ginger.
13:18I want the juiciness of the fatty pork belly and a good hit of prawns.
13:24This sounds absolutely wonderful.
13:33Maddie, I think, is a really ambitious home cook.
13:36Ay!
13:38Really, really delicious.
13:41But she gives herself a lot of work to do.
13:43That means that things are missing, things aren't done properly.
13:48We are missing the shortbread biscuit.
13:50I want to see Maddie being able to pare it back a little bit.
13:54I just don't have a good sense of time.
13:57Like, I feel like I just don't understand how time moves.
14:04I'm working on it.
14:06What are you making us, Maddie?
14:07American pancakes with a Black Forest-inspired vibe.
14:10So, chocolate mousse, some macerated cherries, a vanilla bean mascarpone cream.
14:15And we'll maybe have some brownies that hopefully are going to be ready to party real soon.
14:20Black Forest Gatto, that's such a retro flavour.
14:22Is that something from your childhood?
14:24I remember my dad would get them.
14:25He's a pudding boy.
14:26And I'd be like, well, it's gatto time.
14:28You'll be surprised to know, Anna, I love Black Forest Gatto.
14:32Grace, you'll be surprised to know that I love Black Forest Gatto.
14:38Whoopsie.
14:39Maddie needs to make those pancakes nice and early, because if they are hot, they are going to spoil the
14:45entire dish.
14:46That chocolate mousse, what I'm expecting to see is air bubbles and nice silky texture.
14:52Nice little bitter sweetness of a dark chocolate.
14:55And then a whipped mascarpone cream.
14:59Both of these elements, if there's even a little bit of heat, they will start to melt and mix together.
15:05A good sticky brownie is a thing of absolute exquisite beauty.
15:09But if it has two minutes too long in that oven, it's school dinner chocolate bake.
15:15There are lots of lovely ideas going on here, but this is a pancake challenge.
15:22She needs to remember that.
15:24This girl's got to make pancakes.
15:28Time's flying by, 15 minutes to go.
15:36It's not bad.
15:38We have pancakes.
15:42Guess what a crepe is meant to look like.
15:45The pancakes, they're not as fluffy as I would have liked.
15:48The flavour, hoping that will save me.
15:51We asked them to be creative and they are definitely giving us six very different pancakes.
15:58Really?
15:59Oh, man, that's fallen to pieces.
16:01The first one's always rubbish.
16:02You're just a humble pancake.
16:04Oh, my God.
16:06Slay me where I stand.
16:08It's all about detail.
16:10Creating moments of delight.
16:13Bring out the bechamelinas.
16:16It's figuring out how to make them look like tacos.
16:29You know, it's actually better than I thought.
16:31You've got 60 seconds left.
16:33Time goes quick.
16:37I have a feeling they're going to see it's not the prettiest.
16:42Tape like a taco in a pancake.
16:46Oh, gosh.
16:48Oh, and the brownie. Don't forget the brownie.
16:54Never dare.
16:55Know your audience.
16:58Time's up.
17:01How did everyone do?
17:03I don't know.
17:04I don't know.
17:06Only time will tell.
17:10Sabina, come on up.
17:13Charity consultant Sabina has cooked a Korean-style vegetable pancake with gochujang prawns served with a chili and mango salsa
17:24and a sesame and honey dipping sauce.
17:33The pancake has got much more filling in it than a traditional Korean pancake.
17:38By putting cabbage and kojie and red onion and potato into the batter, it's made it quite dense and quite
17:44wet.
17:44It's not feeling very pancake-y.
17:49The pancake itself is closer to a fritter.
17:52Your prawns are very nicely cooked and they're really well marinated in the gochujang marinade.
17:58The sesame seed and honey and soy sauce dip is really quite sweet.
18:02And my goodness, there's a punch to that mango and avocado salsa on the side.
18:07So they're all really big flavors and they're slightly clashing.
18:15Well done.
18:16Good job.
18:18I'm going to just take the feedback on board and try and cook to my best ability in the next
18:23challenge.
18:29Stay-at-home dad, Michael, has served an Italian-inspired crepe cannelloni.
18:35Filled with a bacon, Madeira, tomato, carrot and onion ragout.
18:41Finished with a bechamel sauce and fresh basil.
18:45I see we're back feeding the 5,000, Michael.
18:48We are.
18:49It's a whopper.
18:50Yes, there is. There's a hefty amount on the plates.
18:58You've made some really delicate crepes.
19:01They're nicely cooked either side and you can see about how thin the pancake is here.
19:05And it's still holding in that filling.
19:08Your vegetables, they're quite chunky and they still have a little bit of a bite, which is a very important
19:13texture with the soft pancake.
19:15These are kind of everyday vegetables and it's not always easy to inject such good flavor.
19:20But the presentation has absolutely let it down.
19:24I don't agree with Anna.
19:26The inside of this pancake is really letting the whole thing down.
19:31So I'm getting large pieces of slightly raw celery and I can't taste the bacon at all.
19:37I think half of the amount of bechamel would have been nice and more seasoned.
19:42It's not giving anything to the inside of the pancake.
19:51Despite the slight mauling that I got off Grace, I got at least some good feedback about the taste.
19:59Tech program manager Janae has made a Mexican-inspired spiced taco pancake with paprika and cayenne pepper oyster mushrooms, served
20:10with a pico de gallo, a Mexican tomato salsa and a green chili and lime salsa with a cheese crisp.
20:18Is there any way that I can eat this and not look like a wild animal?
20:21You've got to get stuck in Grace.
20:23Hands and everything.
20:24I'm a lady.
20:29Janae, each element I can taste in the bite.
20:32Initially I'm getting the green tomato salsa with green chili, then the pico de gallo comes through afterwards and it
20:37finishes with the mushrooms.
20:39And the mushrooms have this lovely smoky barbecued feeling.
20:43The paprika, the cumin, the little bit of, it's kind of almost like a warm spice.
20:48The paprika pancake has got lovely flavour.
20:51We asked you to make something that was interesting and unforgettable and I think that's what you've given us.
20:58This is a really great invention.
21:00I have had a lot of tacos in the past and I think that using the pancake as a case
21:07gives this lovely soft sponginess.
21:09I feel like I'm at a street food truck, I've handed over my cash, I'm sitting on an upturned bucket.
21:17And I'm a happy woman.
21:24Amazing.
21:26I honestly couldn't have asked for better feedback.
21:31I wanted to go in there and be inventive and do something that I haven't tried before.
21:37Just see what happens and I'm glad the inventiveness paid off.
21:45Digital portfolio manager Rose Dip has made masala chai flavoured American pancakes with miso glazed bacon, whipped avocado, pistachio praline
21:58and a pistachio custard.
22:01This is really eccentric.
22:09This dish as a whole doesn't go together.
22:11The pistachio, the sour avocado, the very, very salty strong bacon, they're all really big, big flavours.
22:18But when I eat it together, they're fighting in my mouth.
22:22I absolutely can taste the chai masala, but by putting that wet liquid in, it has removed all of the
22:29natural air in your pancakes.
22:30They are literally flat as a pancake.
22:34I think your bacon's great.
22:36It's glossy, miso, bacon.
22:38What is not to love?
22:40However, there isn't anything fluffy about the pancakes.
22:44The custard, although it is a lovely idea, does very little pistachio.
22:48The brittle is adding a huge, crunchy, overpowering sweetness.
22:54This dish feels like a prototype and things have gone wrong.
23:05I think today has definitely been one of those days where I'm recognising that there's still more to learn.
23:10I still believe in the flavours that I added, but having not made many pancakes, I think I had to
23:16really dig deep.
23:17But I don't think it has quite paid off today.
23:22Music producer Jim has made a Sri Lankan-inspired short-eats pancake roll, filled with a pork belly and prawn
23:29stir-fry, flavoured with lemongrass, chilli and garlic.
23:38Jim, your pancake, I think it's got a great taste to it, I think that your batter's seasoned.
23:43I love the pork, I think it's got a little bit of a bite to it, but it's fatty as
23:48well.
23:49It's really very good.
23:52Prawns are a little bit lost, I've got way more pork in mine than prawn.
23:55I think I've only got one tiny little sliver of prawn, but there's a real lovely lemongrass finish to that
24:01filling.
24:02But this was a pancake challenge.
24:04The pancake is too thick and it's a little bit doughy.
24:15That didn't go as well as I hoped, so I feel a bit deflated.
24:20I'd love to go and have another go, I would have definitely done things a bit different, but I thought
24:24the judges' feedback was completely fair.
24:28Tattoo artist Maddy has made Black Forest inspired American pancakes, served with chocolate mousse, brownie, vanilla bean mascarpone cream, amaretto
24:41macerated cherries and a cherry syrup.
24:49Your pancakes are fluffy and golden brown on the outside, moist and fluffy on the inside.
24:55Your mousse is really beautiful, nice small bubbles, very delicate.
25:00I think your chocolate brownie is excellent.
25:03The question is, is it needed?
25:06The mascarpone cream is a wonderful relief to the other elements.
25:11You've showed tons of skill here.
25:15It looks too much, it is a bit much, but I think that the individual elements really keep the soul
25:22of a Black Forest Gato.
25:24Maddy, you can really cook.
25:25I am ye of little faith in myself.
25:28Well, we need to have some faith.
25:34I feel like I went fun with it and I went indulgent, which is definitely like my vibe as a
25:39cook.
25:39So I'm glad I stayed true to what I like to do and what I like to eat.
25:46That was a tough one.
25:49Oh, I'm so tired.
25:50Anna, that was a bumpy old round in the MasterChef kitchen.
25:53We really saw them thinking outside the box, serving things you would never see on a menu.
25:59We saw six cooks really drive and push to create something new and interesting.
26:06Some of it paid off and some of it didn't.
26:09Well, I'll tell you one thing about this bunch, they're certainly not boring.
26:15One more challenge before we can decide who goes through to knockout week.
26:19Only three of them are going to go through.
26:21If they think it was hard already, we're about to give them an even bigger surprise.
26:27How does everyone feel about the next challenge?
26:29We've all had mixed feedback. We've had good and we've had bad.
26:32I need to put a fire in my belly and really bring my A game because I need to prove
26:37myself.
26:37I really need to also just up my game.
26:49This is an incredibly important day in the MasterChef kitchen and for that reason, we've invited a very special guest.
26:58Please welcome the esteemed restaurant critic, broadcaster and author, the formidable Jay Rayner.
27:16The challenge I've set you sounds very simple.
27:20I've asked you to make a salad, but we do not want a limp bowl of lettuce.
27:26We want structure, texture, we want a killer dressing, something that will rock us back on our feet.
27:32We want to see who you are as cooks, both in terms of technique and good taste through a salad.
27:39At the end of this, three of you will go through to knockout week and the other three will be
27:46going home.
27:47You have 90 minutes to dazzle us, wow us, impress us.
27:51Show us what you've got.
27:55Start cooking.
28:00Salads are fresh ingredients delivered in a way that is complementary to everything else on the plate.
28:08Potato, potato.
28:11One of the things that distinguishes a salad over other dishes is that every forkful should be the same.
28:17It shouldn't be about picking through to find the bit you like.
28:20Every nation around the world has a version of salad, even if they don't call it that.
28:26You can go almost anywhere with it.
28:29This is a really tough brief for me because I'm not a salad guy.
28:34Whoa.
28:35I've got a dish together that's pretty well balanced.
28:37I've got lots and lots of elements.
28:39I don't have a long time to get them all done, so it's going to be a push for time.
28:45Hello, Jim. Hello.
28:46Lots going on on this bench. What are you making?
28:48I'm making my take on a niรงoise salad.
28:50So I'm making a tuna steak, which I'm going to sear and keep mostly raw in the middle.
28:54I'm doing a confit potato with an anchovy crumb, some char-grilled green beans, some marinated tomatoes,
29:00hopefully a little squid ink tuile, and a good old-fashioned French vinaigrette.
29:05I love a really good niรงoise salad. Where does this experience come from?
29:09I remember going on a holiday as a kid in France and eating a niรงoise salad.
29:12Yeah, that's my memory of the first one I had.
29:14I'm excited for this.
29:16Get cooking. Thank you very much. I will. Thank you.
29:19Sorry.
29:19Salad niรงoise. We know it has tuna, it has green beans, there are olives, there has to be a dressing.
29:25I know what a niรงoise salad is, and if it isn't one of those, I'll be scratching my head and
29:30probably a little bit sad.
29:32Jay hasn't pulled any punches, so I'm going to have to make something good today.
29:34That's a beautiful piece of tuna you've got.
29:37It's huge, isn't it?
29:37Yeah, huge.
29:39Jim cannot cook his tuna for too long in the pan because we're going to get big brown rings.
29:44I want a really elegant, rare piece of tuna.
29:50A confit potato, he's confining them in duck fat, which will give it great flavour.
29:55Hmm.
29:57But should be evenly cooked throughout.
30:01Jim is elevating almost every single element.
30:05But where's his egg?
30:09Okay.
30:10Right.
30:11Cooking for Jay Rayner makes me feel a little flustered.
30:16Excited and very scared.
30:18I don't know if I can do a salad justice.
30:22Come down, Madalena.
30:25Maddy, tell me about your salad.
30:27So, the plan is a chipotle and lime picked crab with a crab bonbon, pepper, tomato,
30:34and onion type salsa.
30:36And a chipotle and lime and honey dressing.
30:39Some elote style corn.
30:41It's like a Mexican street food snack.
30:43And a tostada.
30:45I've got a three-year-old and he does love corn and he does love elote.
30:48So, you're treating us like your own three-year-old.
30:50That's good.
30:51The first time I made this for my son, because he is my only critic, I made the crab bonbons
30:55and he took a single bite out of it and said, Mummy, this is great.
31:01And came and gave me a hug and got a sticker out of the sticker book.
31:03You won't be getting a sticker to go, Maddy.
31:05Yeah, we don't have stickers.
31:07You've made a three-year-old very happy with this and now it's Jay Rayner you've got to face.
31:12Yeah, it's a step up slightly.
31:15Maddy's dressing the crab.
31:16There's a really nice balance of the sweetness of the crab, acidity of the lime and the little kick of
31:21Chipotle.
31:22That is an extraordinary amount of crab.
31:24You should expect this much crab.
31:26Yeah. The rest is for me.
31:29Who doesn't love a deep-fried crab bonbon?
31:32I really want to be able to taste crab.
31:34I want it soft in the centre and crunchy and golden on the outside.
31:40Maddy has eight elements to really nail on this dish.
31:44It'll be a bit this, it'll be a bit that.
31:46There's a Mexican thing going on.
31:48Char away.
31:48But I'm not quite sure how they all pull together to make what anybody would call a salad.
31:55The minutes are racing by.
31:58There is no room to hide.
32:00It's a salad.
32:02You can't hide behind limp lettuce leaves.
32:04You have to show all of your skill to be able to make it a MasterChef-worthy salad.
32:10I'm making a Thai grilled pork salad.
32:13It's going to have lots of fresh herbs.
32:15It's going to have a zingy dressing.
32:17And I'm doing some crispy pork skin on top.
32:20Now, I know many things about Joey Rayner, but he very much likes crispy pork skin.
32:26Crackling.
32:27Yeah.
32:27I don't want to put pressure on you.
32:28Now you've promised me crispy pork skin, if it doesn't turn up on the dish, I will be sad.
32:34What inspired this?
32:36I went on a backpacking trip around Southeast Asia.
32:39It's the kind of food that I would love to cook one day in my own pub or restaurant,
32:43so that's why I'm making it today.
32:45And do look after this pig skin over here.
32:48Bless the skin.
32:49Please work.
32:51Janae is marinating her pork and spices.
32:54She's then going to grill it.
32:55Trying not to stab myself with the skewers.
32:58And then she's going to baste it in coconut milk to keep it moist.
33:01I'm expecting sweet and salty and have depth of those spicy flavors.
33:07Thai salad dressing is about the balance of sour to sweet to salty.
33:11You've got to get all of those things in there, a bit of fish sauce, a bit of soy, a
33:15bit of lime juice, a bit of sugar.
33:16You've got to make sure that they don't cancel each other out.
33:22When it comes to the pork crackling, if she doesn't have enough time to get it crispy, everybody is going
33:27to be disappointed in that.
33:28There's a lot of pressure.
33:29I'm just watching this pork like a hawk.
33:33We are halfway through.
33:37The inspiration for this dish comes from my heritage and I'm really channeling Nepal and flavors of Southeast Asia.
33:45The salad that I'm making, it is green mustard leaves and buckwheat with chicken sadiko and lentil crisps along with
33:53tamarind and mustard dressing.
33:56I'm just picturing my mum picking those fresh mustard greens from the garden.
34:01So it really means something to me.
34:06How did you feel about this brief I've set you?
34:09I really had to dig deep.
34:11I've practiced so I feel more kind of in control and I know the flavors work.
34:15So I just hope that you guys like it too.
34:18It sounds like we're going to get an opportunity to meet you on the plate.
34:21Yeah.
34:22And that makes me very happy.
34:25Roast Dipper's pulling on his Nepalese heritage.
34:28It sounds very, very interesting.
34:30He's got this spiced chicken.
34:32He's got mustard leaves.
34:34He's got daikon.
34:35Hands are shaky today.
34:37Precision and shaking hands don't go well.
34:40These are powerful, powerful flavors.
34:43Mmm.
34:44He is cooking his chicken first and then he's going to add spices in the hot mustard oil.
34:49If he burns his spices, the whole flavor will be spoiled.
34:56Buckwheat is one of those tricky grains.
34:58If it's overcooked, it just turns to mush.
35:02And if it's undercooked, it's too crunchy.
35:0630 minutes left.
35:07They will pass in a flash.
35:10I know this salad needs to be a bit out of the ordinary.
35:14My friends got married in Madrid, so I flew out in the afternoon, went straight to the wedding venue, and
35:20then went straight to the airport after it.
35:21I wasn't able to take them anything, and I felt guilty about it.
35:25What are you making for us?
35:27A salad that's a very late wedding gift from my good friend Indigo and his lovely wife Maria.
35:32They're Spanish, so it's Ramon Andalus.
35:35So it's cod and it's oranges.
35:38And then with that, Spanish tortilla.
35:39Have you got a dressing?
35:41I do.
35:41I've got a fairly traditional Spanish dressing, but with avocado oil.
35:44And then a manchego mornay sauce.
35:48You put so much thought into these dishes.
35:50I've tried to make it glam.
35:51I've done what my mum would say.
35:52I've tarted it up.
35:53There is a whole heap of things going on here.
35:56I feel guilty keeping you from it.
35:59This is my attempt to create something that can hopefully leave a good impression with the judges.
36:05Richie boy.
36:06Michael is cooking his card in the water bath.
36:08It should just flake really nicely.
36:11If it looks like it's floury and fluffy, it means it's been cooked for too long.
36:16He's going to make a manchego bechamel sauce, a traditional cheese found in Spain.
36:22He's going to cover his tortilla with that and then place a beetroot rose on top.
36:30Michael cannot be accused of playing it safe.
36:33There's lots and lots of elements going on here.
36:36There's a tortilla.
36:38He's talking about cod with a particular sauce.
36:40He's talking about saffron and oranges.
36:43It's not quite a salad.
36:45But once the dish is pushed towards us, we'll be able to work out what it was he was talking
36:50about.
36:51You never quite know what you're going to get with Michael, but he's never boring.
36:57Stick.
37:03Cooking for Jay Rayner is monumental.
37:08I've seen him and I've admired him for so long.
37:12I actually am okay with cooking a salad because I think he's going to be introduced to some flavours that
37:17maybe he hasn't had before.
37:21Sabina, there's lots going on as usual.
37:24What are you cooking?
37:25I'm making spiced black peas with falafel and puffed rice with crushed peanuts, beetroot quail eggs and chicken skin salt
37:34drizzled on top with confit garlic mustard dressing.
37:38So we're almost going from Bangladesh through the chicken shops of Mumbai, heading into Persia and then into Egypt.
37:45Yeah.
37:46This is a very well-travelled dish.
37:48I'm calling it the harmony salad.
37:49I'm trying to create peace within the dish.
37:52I asked you to make a salad and you're attempting to bring harmony to the world.
37:55So we like people who set their goals high.
37:57Thank you so much.
38:01There's a lot going on here, but I do like the way that it draws in all these different cultures.
38:05So we've got a kind of Bangladeshi element of puffed rice.
38:09We've got falafel, which is Egyptian, Middle Eastern.
38:12We've got some beetroot quail's eggs, Persian or Iranian element.
38:18I need to fry the falafels.
38:21The trick with falafel is that if it's too wet, it just explodes and falls apart in the fryer.
38:25One, two, three, four.
38:27But if it's too dry, it's claggy and it just absorbs all the moisture in your mouth.
38:32Don't overcrowd the basil.
38:34I want a beautifully crunchy golden brown on the outside.
38:38And the nice little flecks of green from her coriander and the creaminess of the chickpea inside.
38:43I love a good bean salad.
38:46But it needs a lot of flavour and a lot of balance because it can be dull.
38:52But one thing I know about Sabina, nothing she does is dull.
38:58Sorry, can I have another time check?
39:00Ten minutes left. The end of your cook is in sight.
39:04Oh, my God.
39:07I'm under the pump.
39:08Keep the focus. You can do it.
39:09I will. Thank you very much.
39:12Yes.
39:12We've got pork.
39:15Control, control, breathe.
39:17How are the falafel going, Sabina?
39:19I think they're doing great.
39:20I look forward to eating them.
39:21I'm, like, so starstruck.
39:23By me?
39:24Oh, my God.
39:26Like, my legs are shaking.
39:28So far, everything's going okay.
39:31Four minutes left.
39:32A few of you look like you've got a fair amount to do.
39:36Zest!
39:38We're almost there.
39:41Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on.
39:46Have you done this with just food colouring?
39:48Yes.
39:49But I've done it through an airbrush.
39:51Okay.
39:51Which is a mini painter's tool.
39:52No, I know what an airbrush is.
39:58This is a very low-calorie salad.
40:01Maddy, where's your food?
40:03It's coming.
40:05Okay, guys.
40:0760 seconds.
40:08You're really cutting it tight here.
40:10Oh, my God.
40:14Okay.
40:16This is abysmal.
40:20Okay, that's it.
40:22Time up.
40:23Step away from your salad.
40:29Jim, come on up.
40:32First up, Jim has created his take on a tuna salad.
40:35Tuna niรงoise salad.
40:37Seared tuna loin seasoned with furiyaki seaweed, with confit potato, an anchovy crumb, tomato tapenade, charred green beans, basil and
40:48courgette salsa verde, finished with a squid ink tuile.
40:52So, unfortunately, the eggs didn't make counterplay.
40:59Jim, I think the seasoning around the tuna is perfectly balanced. I can get the seaweed, I can get the
41:04sesame seed on the outside. It's delicious.
41:07What's very good is your tomato tapenade has got a real punch to it. So that, with the green sauce,
41:15with the tuna, is delicious.
41:19Very much like a potato. It's cooked right through.
41:23However, a niรงoise salad without an egg is irregular.
41:27But you've given us things like the squid ink tuile.
41:30But your fish does look like it was stolen off the kitchen surface by a cat, and I've rescued it
41:38halfway down the garden.
41:41The salsa verde at the bottom lacks a depth, and your dressing is a bit acidic.
41:46Yeah.
41:47So, is this take better than the classic dish?
41:51It isn't. It's a combination of top ingredients sort of piled together.
42:04There was some good feedback, so I'm going to hold on to that, and that's a good thing to take
42:09home with me if I need to take him home.
42:13Hello.
42:1430 seconds to go. Nothing on your plates.
42:19Maddy has recreated her son's favourite dish.
42:23Lime and chipotle-picked crab, paired with a crab bonbon,
42:28elote-style charred corn, and a fresh tomato and cucumber salsa.
42:33Finished with a lime avocado crema, a tostada chard, and a honey and chipotle dressing.
42:45Let's be honest, the word salad is hovering over this in very pronounced inverted commas.
42:51It's sort of a plate of hors d'oeuvres, isn't it?
42:53That said, your chipotle lime and honey sauce has depth and power.
42:59Your white crab meat's delicious. I like the salsa.
43:02It's not a salad, but it is a bunch of very lovely things on a plate.
43:07Oh, my...
43:09Maddy, this eats very well.
43:12The elote corn. I could understand why your child cries out for you to make that.
43:17I love what you've done with elevated guacamole.
43:21It's so Moorish.
43:24However, it's elevated Mexican ingredients, not a salad.
43:29A crab can take a huge amount of spice and acidity.
43:34Your bonbon, they are under-seasoned and they are undercooked.
43:38I can't taste the chilli in it, and I can barely taste lime.
43:43I think you got very distracted with trying to do lots and lots of things, and the real star of
43:49the show is quite lacking.
43:53I did think I'd cooked the worst plate of food I've ever cooked in my entire life.
43:58I didn't think I'd get it thrown on my face.
44:00What did you serve me?
44:02Oh, heavens.
44:05Janae's dish is Thai-inspired grilled pork, marinated in soy, ginger and honey, with crispy pork skins,
44:14on a salad of sugar snap peas, lettuce, mint, fennel and Thai basil, topped with a deep-fried rice paper
44:22and served with a lime and sesame dressing.
44:29Janae, I think the presentation was very clever.
44:31By presenting it that way, it kept your cracker crunchy.
44:34You marinated your pork really well.
44:37I can get ginger, I can get coriander.
44:40I think you've done a really fantastic job there.
44:44You are really masterful with flavour and texture.
44:49You have here the crunch of the pork and then the slight spongy crunchiness of the cracker,
44:53the vibrancy of the mint and the fennel.
44:56If I was out at a great Thai restaurant and this was served to me, I would think that somebody
45:02who really knew their stuff was at the stoves.
45:08This is exactly what I was hoping for when I set the salad challenge.
45:13You've got two ways with pork, one of which is crispy crackling and it is crispy.
45:18This dressing, I could take a pot of this and have it as a sipping dressing.
45:22It's sweet and it's sour and it's hot.
45:25It's everything you want from that kind of Thai fish sauce dressing.
45:29Janae, you've done everything.
45:32I'm running out of pork belly so I'm nicking some of the...
45:34You can have that pork belly.
45:36I'm nicking Grace's.
45:37You can have it. Thank you.
45:44Well done.
45:47Not only have I cooked for Jay Ray now, he actually enjoyed the food that I served him.
45:53I've won. That alone is just an incredible achievement.
45:58I feel like I left everything on that table, like I had nothing left to give.
46:04Rose dip salad is inspired by his childhood in Nepal.
46:09He's served a mustard leaf and buckwheat salad with chicken sadeko,
46:14turmeric and cumin lentil crisps and a tamarind mustard dressing.
46:21Really beautiful and effective presentation.
46:28Rose dip, the thing about a salad is it's always about balance.
46:33And there's a lot of buckwheat which I think has slightly unbalanced it.
46:37Occasionally you get the crunch of the lentil crisps,
46:40which aren't quite as crisp as you'd hoped for
46:42because they've been sitting in the salad and picking out the moisture from them.
46:45Yeah.
46:46It's going to give me my five a day.
46:48It's going to give me my 12 a day.
46:50There's so much going on here.
46:52I think your chicken is crispy.
46:54I think it's seasoned nicely.
46:56But for me, the dressing is very mustardy.
47:00And I don't know if that 100% works.
47:05Basically, you have two sides of your salad,
47:06some elements that are really zingy, really interesting.
47:09And then you have a group of vegetables that are undressed
47:12and they're not complemented by anything.
47:17The feedback I received today, it's a mixed bag.
47:22I still believe in the flavours and the elements that I added.
47:28I think maybe it's just fine-tuning.
47:37Michael has made a Spanish-inspired dish.
47:41Saffron, honey and mandarin flavoured cod
47:44with a Spanish tortilla coated in purple airbrushed Mornay sauce
47:48and topped with a beetroot rose
47:51with boiled eggs, olives, spinach and romaine lettuce leaves
47:56and an avocado mustard dressing.
47:59I've never seen anything like this before.
48:02And I can't wait to taste it.
48:10Michael, your cod is under-seasoned and it's overcooked.
48:15Your vinaigrette is really tart, really bitter and under-seasoned.
48:22I never want to criticise a cook for having too many ideas.
48:26However, there's maybe four or five too many ideas on this plate.
48:31I'm not quite sure if the egg goes with the mandarin.
48:33And it's my first time eating a lilac tortilla.
48:37It was quite difficult to get past that when I went to eat it
48:41because egg and lilac are quite off-putting.
48:46I've never eaten anything like this before.
48:49However, if you were to ask me for one bit that I like,
48:52beetroot rose is really very lovely.
48:54It's earthy and prettily arranged.
48:58I think more work went into the narrative
49:00than into thinking about how these things were going to balance up.
49:04Because on the plate, I'm afraid they don't work.
49:06I'm so sorry.
49:14Obviously, it's disappointing when you put something out there
49:16and it's not quite how you wanted it.
49:19I think I got too focused in trying to make it look as good as possible.
49:24If I would have reined it in and gone with something a little bit simpler
49:28and focused in on that, it would have been better.
49:31I'm not a salad person.
49:32I hope I feel that way.
49:37Sabina has made what she calls a harmony salad.
49:41Spiced black peas with falafel, gem lettuce, carrot and pomegranate.
49:47Served with salted chicken skin, beetroot quail eggs,
49:52a side of puffed rice and curry leaves
49:54and a comfy garlic and mustard oil dressing.
50:03This, I think, absolutely fits the mould.
50:07Everything's going on in here.
50:08Crispy chicken skin, puffed rice,
50:10the nuttiness of the beans dressed in a sweet, sour chutney.
50:14It's an amazing salad. It really is.
50:17I love that you called it a harmony salad
50:20because it is harmonious.
50:22To get the quail eggs nice and soft and runny is quite something.
50:28You have a ton of garlic and you've made it all into this really potent dressing
50:34that just marries everything together.
50:37To me, that's a success.
50:41The spiciness from your black chickpeas.
50:44The little pop sweetness from your pomegranate.
50:48Your falafel is beautifully golden brown on the outside.
50:51You gave yourself so much work to do.
50:53But you've produced something really, really fantastic.
50:57Well done, Sabina.
51:02Wow. Well done. Well done.
51:06To have Jay Raynor eat my food and to say it's good, so, so shocked.
51:14You never think to yourself as an amateur cook that you're really a good cook
51:18until these things happen.
51:20I want your falafel. Yeah.
51:22And I want your dressing.
51:23I want you all of that. God, thank you guys.
51:25And when they do, you have faith in yourself.
51:28And you must be slightly good.
51:34I mean, it was a tough challenge asking them, make a salad.
51:38Some of them embraced it brilliantly.
51:42Jay, tasting your food is scary for chefs.
51:44For home cooks, it's, like, unbelievable.
51:48Well, Jay, thank you so much for that wonderful brief.
51:52Thank you for having me.
51:53It's always nice to be in the MasterChef kitchen.
52:00Who knew a humble salad could be so exciting?
52:05Two really tough challenges.
52:07A few of our cooks really struggled today,
52:09but a couple of them really soared high.
52:12Only three can go through to knock out wheat.
52:16Janae, smashing through that fried rice paper
52:20with that really punchy Thai dressing.
52:24She is one serious home cook.
52:27Her invention test, light, feathery pancakes.
52:30There's mushrooms in paprika and the pico de gala sauce.
52:34She really understands flavour.
52:36I think we're both agreed.
52:38Janae absolutely deserves her spot in knockout week.
52:42Another cook who knocked our socks off was Sabina.
52:46Sabina really struggled with her pancake, but she came back fighting.
52:51I really enjoyed Sabina's harmony salad.
52:54Sabina is a wizard when it comes to spice.
52:57So Sabina joins Janae in knockout week.
53:00I think one cook that really struggled today was Michael.
53:05And I think he lost the run of himself in the style over the substance of his dish.
53:09We've asked him time and time again to refine his presentation.
53:13I think we've come to the end of the road with Michael.
53:16One place left.
53:18That leaves us a discussion between Rose Dip, Jim and Maddy.
53:22Rose Dip really struggled in the pancake challenge.
53:26He needed to come back with an absolute blinder of a salad.
53:31I enjoyed the chicken.
53:33There was quite a few elements that just had nothing.
53:36They were bland.
53:37They did lack balance.
53:39Jim tried to put bells and whistles on a very well-known and popular Niswa's salad.
53:44There was buckets of flavour.
53:46That tapenade was absolutely sensational.
53:50His tuna was really well done.
53:53It was delicious.
53:54I do think he has great skills and a good feel for flavour.
54:00I really enjoyed Maddy's fluffy American pancakes and had Black Forest flavours.
54:05But she struggled in the salad challenge.
54:08I'm not sure that Maddy's dish fulfilled the brief.
54:11Maddy's eloticon was really delicious.
54:15However, those bonbons were undercooked.
54:18She's a good cook.
54:19But time is not her friend.
54:23I would obviously be really sad to go home now just because I've enjoyed this so much.
54:30I would love a place to knock out with. I just want to keep doing this. I'm having the time
54:34of my life.
54:35It would mean everything for me to get through, but I will also be equally proud to have come this
54:42far.
54:43I think these three cooks have all struggled over the last two challenges, but there's one that I think might
54:50have a little bit more to give.
54:59There were two cooks today who surprised and amazed us. They'll be going through to knockout week.
55:07Sabina.
55:09Janai.
55:10Congratulations.
55:16We only have one more place.
55:19The final cook going through to knockout week is...
55:28Jim.
55:33Well done.
55:38Michael, Maddy, Rose Dip. You should be so proud of yourself. Thank you so much.
55:46I would have loved to keep going. My disorganisation got the better of me.
55:51Whatever happens, I want to move forward with food. This is definitely not the end of my story.
55:57I've got a huge amount from this competition.
56:00It's enhanced my willingness to take what I like and make it better.
56:07It's definitely bittersweet, but I hope I've done Nepal and my Nepalese community proud.
56:13You're through to knockout week. Congratulations.
56:16I can't wait till my wife and family, they're going to be so proud of me.
56:20The sharp end of the competition now, so I'm going to have to up my game.
56:23I got to serve food to Jay Rayner. Not only did he eat my food, but he liked my food.
56:29I'm going to knockout week. I cannot believe it. This is unbelievable.
56:34I thought I was an okay cook, and my kids say I'm a good cook.
56:39I never thought that I was at the level where I would be here.
56:43I'm just going to try and celebrate this knockout week achievement and just breathe and live that for a second.
56:53Next time, six new hopefuls.
56:57Spectastic being here.
57:00Compete for the right to wear a MasterChef apron.
57:04Chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop.
57:05Before battling for a place in the quarter-final.
57:09I would pay good money for this in a restaurant.
57:12There's something quite Dracula about this dish.
57:17ML explore or would be a fan or ะบะพะผะผะตะฝัะฐัic.
57:21It may be a surprise, but it might be impossible.
57:30Harriet Moore is still on average.
57:30Clap, chop, smith!bulae,
57:31TJ It might be
57:33a time, or is it soon who wears it? Let's touch์
57:40on facebook. Fascinating! Hence,
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