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MasterChef: The Professionals - Season 18 - Episode 14
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00:00It's knockout week on MasterChef The Professionals.
00:05Last time, three more chefs were sent home.
00:10Now the strongest ten are being split into two groups
00:14to compete outside the MasterChef kitchen for the first time.
00:20Take a bit of elbow grease.
00:22It's all systems gone.
00:23Before returning to fight for a place in the semifinals.
00:28I'm enjoying this.
00:30There's been ups and there's definitely been some downs.
00:33Makes it fun, doesn't it?
00:36The job's not done yet.
00:37It's definitely something that you need to be 100% invested in.
00:40And I am.
00:42It means so much for me to be here at this stage of the competition.
00:46Let's do it. Let's cook again.
00:49This competition is everything for our chefs now,
00:52and no one is ready to leave.
00:54Our chefs have got to dial it up and take it to the edge.
00:56This is massive.
01:04Pop-up restaurants have become one of the most popular innovations of the culinary world.
01:10With a vibrant mix of cuisines on offer from around the globe.
01:16The pop-up industry is responsible for some of the most exciting food trends in the UK.
01:24Tonight, Mark, Anthony, Ismail, Caroline and Polly will be experiencing this vibrant food trend for themselves at Box Hall,
01:35a popular new dining venue in the heart of central London.
01:41Welcome to the MasterChef Pop-Up Restaurant.
01:44We are next to one of the biggest stations in Britain.
01:47Over 9 million people pass through here every single year.
01:52Imagine the amount of food that is served in an establishment like this.
01:56You have the opportunity to create that one dish that will impress 25 of our guests that know the pop
02:03-up world better than anyone.
02:06Chefs, this is about being creative, being brave, being bold, and showing them how good you are.
02:12We are asking our guests to vote for their favourite dish.
02:17The chef with the most votes will go straight through to our semi-finals.
02:23Chefs, you've got three hours until service. Off you go.
02:29Working in their own tightly packed kitchens, the contestants will have their work cut out to prepare their dish for
02:35today's menu.
02:37It's a very different feeling of pop-up restaurants.
02:40It's a new kitchen, different equipment. There is no time to waste.
02:44In professional kitchen, you're used to having every gadget and gizmo for everything.
02:49That's why I don't do pop-up.
02:52You've only got yourself to rely on, and having 24 covers come in to eat our dishes, we've got to
02:57get moving, get organised.
02:59I've never done anything like this before, so it's going to be a lot of pressure today.
03:05With pop-ups, you've got to innovate with your food.
03:08You've got to be stylish, you've got to be different, you've got to come up with something new.
03:12They need to be able to push this dish out at volume, with speed, and still keep it delicious.
03:19It's going to be a tough challenge.
03:20It's the first time that we are out of the MasterChef kitchen, and also feeding quite a large amount of
03:25people, so there should be a big push.
03:28Brazilian-born private chef Caroline has made her mark on the competition with her meticulous approach to ambitious classics.
03:37Caroline?
03:38Yes.
03:39Hop-up, how are you feeling?
03:41My dish is going to be a little bit tight, but as long as I get the prep going, it
03:45should be fine.
03:45What are you making?
03:46So I am making pastéis.
03:48It's like the Brazilian version of the empanadas, but they are deep-fried.
03:52So what fillings are you making?
03:54So I'm making prawn filling with chilli jam, that is more common on the north of Brazil.
03:59And then the second one is braised ox cheek, which is more from the south of Brazil, which is my
04:05part of origin.
04:07And the third one is the cheese and guava, which I'm doing with goat's cheese and guava puree.
04:13So you're going to have to make three different parcels per portion of the pastels, and each one of those
04:20pastels has a dipping sauce.
04:22Mm-hmm.
04:23Mm-hmm.
04:24I mean, I'm excited but nervous.
04:26Possibly you are too.
04:27Don't make me nervous, Chef.
04:29I need to make it.
04:36So I'm starting with the ox cheek, which is the element that takes longer.
04:40That will take about an hour on the pressure cooker.
04:43Caroline, I have to say, I love the ambition, but she has just given herself an absolute mountain of work
04:49to get through.
04:51Ox cheek filling, ooh, in this time restraints, making sure that ox cheek is cooked in time is so vital.
04:58But in the pressurized cooker, it can dry out.
05:02OK, already got a boil.
05:05With her ox cheek already pressure cooking, Caroline must now make enough dough for the 90 pastéis wrappers needed for
05:13service.
05:15I have taken the whole recipe from my grandmother, and according to her, the secret is to add alcohol to
05:22it, so it fries and it puffs nicely.
05:24So I've used some cachaça on it.
05:26Cachaça is a traditional Brazilian spirit.
05:30And what do you say about this recipe? Does it work, like Grandma says?
05:34I tested it yesterday, so it should work, I hope.
05:40It's always looking nice. Now it just needs to rest.
05:45My goal from the beginning was always to get to the pop-up grounds.
05:48So it feels amazing to be here and to be able to show off my food a little bit more
05:52in a pop-up setting.
05:55Feeling more comfortable with the challenge is Mark, who's chef patron of his own American-style barbecue pop-up in
06:01Margate.
06:02He stood out with his impressive meat dishes and is aiming to use his butchery skills to shine again.
06:09Mark?
06:10Chef.
06:10Um, you must feel at home.
06:12A little bit, yeah, definitely playing a little bit more to my strengths here in a pop-up.
06:15It's definitely a little bit more in my wheelhouse, I think.
06:17I thought it was much. What are you serving?
06:18I'd say I'm serving a cold-smoked whole hog sausage, Carolina mustard sauce, jalapeno cheese, cornbread.
06:24It's a hot dog.
06:26Not quite a hot dog. Let's not, like, drag it down too far.
06:29So the cornbread is the holder for the sausage?
06:31No, no, the cornbread would just be like a nice, like, little wedge of cornbread on the side of the
06:35dish.
06:35It's not like a hot dog in a bread or anything like that.
06:37Carolina sauce.
06:38This is a sauce that kind of predominantly is from the South Carolinas, where I've done a lot of work.
06:42So it's a mustard, honey, lots of vinegar in there, and it goes super well with pork.
06:46You generally cook on your own. You're not going to be phased by this, surely.
06:49Maybe not phased, but the pressure is a little bit higher to prove myself and to show what I'm about.
06:55Mark's first job is the all-important whole hog sausage meat.
07:00I'm cutting up the shoulder, which is mainly there for flavour.
07:02I'm using belly, which will bring, like, a nice, even fattiness.
07:05And then I'm bringing a little bit of heart to give a little minerality and a little bit of extra
07:09porky, awful flavour.
07:12Mark is making the sausages from scratch within, well, basically two and a half hours before he's got to think
07:18of serving.
07:19That sounds like a lot of work.
07:22The key right now is getting the sausage working so it has much time to smoke and get as much
07:26flavour in as possible.
07:27There's always going to be a risk that the meat inside the skin has got too much moisture and they
07:32could explode on cooking.
07:34You slippery wrap.
07:36There's just lots of steps to go wrong.
07:38But I mean, people make the sausage for sort of, like, 20-something thousand years, so I'm not the one
07:43that's going to all of a sudden find the difficulty with it, you know?
07:48I think everyone's going home with the sausage today.
07:54Having impressed so far with fusion dishes combining his Bangladeshi heritage and classic modern cuisine, 33-year-old head chef
08:02Ismail has decided to go with a dish he remembers as a child.
08:08This is very popular street food in Bangladesh.
08:11I remember when I was a kid, my dad used to live in Dhaka for his business and whenever he
08:16used to come visit us, me and my brother would ask him, can you just bring some takeaway?
08:19And me and my brother would wait until 2, 3 a.m. in the morning just so as soon as
08:23he arrived, we're not going to even say hello to him.
08:25We'd just go grab the halim from his hand.
08:28Halim?
08:28Halim. That's the name.
08:30Oh, that's a wonderful story.
08:33So, halim is a Bangladeshi porridge cooked with a lot of lentils, different type of grain, toasted and grinded and
08:40mixed together with mutton.
08:43I know when people are going to hear it porridge, they might think, oh, porridge, but then when they're going
08:47to have their first bite, they're going to see why I was waiting until 2 a.m.
08:52Well, let's hope we're not waiting until 2 a.m. for this one.
08:55Yes, chef.
08:58Halim, he says, is a bit like our savoury porridge.
09:01Made of different types of wheat and lentils, lots of spices like coriander, cumin, fenugreek, nutmeg, chilli and cloves in
09:10there.
09:11It's about 16 spices going in there.
09:16Ismail is then cooking mutton leg, again, more spices.
09:21And near the end, he will then fold in the halim to bind it together.
09:25This dish sounds like it needs to be slow cooked, especially something like mutton.
09:29So I hope there's going to be enough time to really get a nice and soft that just breaks down.
09:36Hopefully, the mutton is going to be cooked on time, and that's my biggest risk.
09:40I'm a little bit worried, but let's see.
09:44What can I get for you, madam?
09:46Yeah, yeah.
09:47I've got nothing but raw produce at the moment.
09:49Two burger and chips, please.
09:50Hold the sauce on the side.
09:5127-year-old sous chef Anthony has shone so far, incorporating flavours from his Italian heritage,
09:59and has designed a technically challenging pop-up dish using the same inspiration.
10:05So today is a tiramish choux.
10:07It's a classic choux bun with a chocolate crackling on top.
10:10Inside is going to be a chocolate and coffee ganache, a mascarpone creme patte, and an amaretto gel.
10:16Oh, wow.
10:17This is your first dessert in the competition.
10:19Yeah, it is.
10:20For 24 plus us.
10:22Yes.
10:23Maybe I haven't chosen the best day.
10:25And this dessert's been inspired by your Italian heritage?
10:28Well, yeah, definitely.
10:29But to be honest, just researching, you know, sort of pop-up vendors and street food,
10:32you do see quite a lot of these hybrid desserts.
10:34You know, I've seen a croffin halfway between a croissant and a muffin.
10:37So, yeah, I look at, you know, two different things I could bring together,
10:40so it would be a little bit creative.
10:43Anthony's making a tiramish choux, and it's a take.
10:46It's a word twist.
10:48Putting the flavours of a tiramish choux into the choux pastry is a great idea.
10:54We've got a choux bun.
10:55We've got mascarpone mousse.
10:56We've got a coffee ganache.
10:57And we've got amaretto gel as well.
11:00A lot of skill on show.
11:01A lot of different techniques.
11:03Anthony can't afford to make any mistakes on any area.
11:07It's the choux pastry.
11:08So that's going to be going in the oven very, very shortly.
11:10I imagine you'll see my face pressed up against that oven door,
11:13praying that it dries nicely.
11:19Former pro golfer and demi-chef de partie,
11:22Polly's best work in the competition
11:24has been with dishes sparked by memories.
11:27And she's hoping that that will help her today.
11:30I've got a lot of bananas to crack today.
11:3260 or 70 bananas today, easily.
11:38What are you making?
11:39I'm making my favourite dessert in the world.
11:42So I'm making banana fritters, banana ice cream, caramel sauce, salted peanuts.
11:47We used to have banana fritters when we used to go out to Chinese restaurants.
11:51I remember those.
11:52Yeah, yeah.
11:52Those are like banana fritters and pineapple fritters at the end of a Chinese banquet.
11:56Is that the idea?
11:56That's the idea.
11:57Three pieces of banana to a normal fritter, which I'm going to coat in a lime sugar,
12:02so it's still got something around it.
12:04And then one, I'm switching it up a bit, and I've got a banana fritter, tongulu.
12:10What?
12:11As well.
12:11Tongulu?
12:12Tongulu.
12:13Tongulu, what's that?
12:14So it's a Chinese street food.
12:16It's usually fruit on a stick.
12:18Right.
12:18And you coat it in a caramel, then straight into ice water.
12:23So you get this really thin, crunchy sugar on the outside.
12:27There's banana, banana, banana on this dish.
12:32Polly's making banana fritters, actually, as bananas dipped in the batter and deep fried.
12:38The batter is the main thing.
12:40It's got to be light.
12:41It's got to be crispy.
12:42It's got to be that perfect consistency, really.
12:45And on the dish also, we've got two different types of caramel.
12:48We've got a caramel that she's going to dip her bananas into.
12:50And then we've got another caramel, which is the butterscotch sauce.
12:53Caramel made, cream, and a touch of butter to finish it.
12:57And you've got to serve an ice cream as well.
12:59So you've got hot, crunchy, cold, and sauces all going together in the dish.
13:05This is going to take a bit of elbow grease, but...
13:09Sounds like a very sweet dessert.
13:11I hope there's a point of difference here somewhere.
13:14I won't show you my guns.
13:15They won't fit on camera.
13:18Chefs, one hour cooking time has gone.
13:22Mark has made good progress with his dish's key component.
13:26The sauce has come together really nicely now.
13:28But he's also promising an additional flavour profile that's achieved with a technique called cold smoking
13:34to impart flavour without cooking the meat.
13:37Ideally, I'd be doing this all over live fire, over cold,
13:40but unfortunately we're not allowed to use them here, so I'm just using a cold smoking gun to try and
13:45get that same kind of flavour.
13:48That's the one flavour I think is really important.
13:50Getting that sense that it's been cooked over fire, and that's the best bit.
13:54That is one smell, one flavour I want to experience.
13:59Is that cold smoke going to be strong enough?
14:01The dream is that it is strong enough, yeah.
14:05Hoping his sausages will take on enough smokiness, his next crucial job is the cornbread side.
14:11It's a huge popular thing in the States.
14:13It's like a very staple ingredient to have on dinner tables all over the place.
14:18Mark's cornbread, he's making almost like a thick batter using a mix of flour and semolina,
14:24and then he's adding into it some jalapeno as well.
14:28And he's going to cook it in a thick cast iron pan.
14:31It'll bake up like a nice, almost more cake-like than bread-like.
14:35Cornbreads are in.
14:38With three types of pastéis to make, Caroline is feeling the pressure.
14:43I've given myself a lot of work.
14:45The dough for her 90 parcels is resting.
14:48Yes!
14:49And her ox cheek is well underway,
14:52but she needs to get moving on a second technically challenging filling.
14:56At least they are big prawns, so they don't take as long to peel.
15:00It goes so fast, the time.
15:04She's peeled the prawns down, she's minced the prawn meat,
15:07and she's made a very concentrated prawn-style sauce.
15:11Then she's also then going to make a bechamel as well,
15:14which is a white sauce, then add the minced prawns as well.
15:18So the bechamel is going to be the binding agent for the prawn,
15:22which I think is a great idea,
15:23but what you don't want is the bechamel sauce to take over the flavour.
15:27With so many components to make,
15:29she's also juggling several other elements.
15:32There's goat cheese, thyme, a bit of salt,
15:36and that's it.
15:37It's very simple, very mild.
15:40Caroline's biggest concern for me is thyme.
15:43We have a chilli jam dip, a salsa verde,
15:45as well as a guava jeff.
15:50It's got a lot of work to do.
15:54Also feeling the pressure is Ismail,
15:56who's only just finished prepping the mutton to go with the halim porridge,
16:00which needs to cook low and slow.
16:04You want that lovely gelatinous flavour coming out of the mutton,
16:07you don't want it to disappear, you don't want it to be dried.
16:09It is a bit risky.
16:11He can't take his eye off that mutton,
16:13because if he does, it'll reduce down too far and probably burn.
16:19Right, chefs, you're halfway,
16:21half of your cooking time is now gone.
16:22Yes, chef.
16:23Oui, chef.
16:26Oh, there we go.
16:28Also up against it is Anthony,
16:29who is yet to get his all-important choux pastry buns
16:32for his tiramishu dish in the oven.
16:36To be honest, as soon as these choux buns are in,
16:38I'll breathe.
16:39Until then, it's all systems go.
16:42Anthony's making a crackling to go on the choux,
16:44and that's like a marble effect that you can see there.
16:47It's a mix of flour, butter and some sugar.
16:49So I'm just cutting out my crackling,
16:51little discs to go on top of the choux bun.
16:55The crackling needs to be rolled out nice and thin,
16:58because too much of it will add weight to the choux pastry
17:02and actually can stop it from rising too much.
17:05They need to go in ASAP, really.
17:12Making better progress is Polly.
17:14The sliced bananas are ready to freeze for her ice cream.
17:18It's going to be blitzed up with a syrup, some cream,
17:20and it just creates a really nice, velvety texture,
17:23frozen bananas for some reason, so, yeah.
17:26She's now half-deep frying the 50 banana fritters.
17:30It just speeds up the service.
17:33Makes my life a lot easier,
17:35because what will happen now,
17:37they'll kind of aerate a bit,
17:40they'll lose their crispiness,
17:41but literally, a couple of seconds in the fryer,
17:44boom, they're exactly the same, good to go.
17:47I'm going to have a good old count after.
17:49Make sure I don't...
17:50I'm not one sure.
17:52With the fritters ready to deep-fry during service,
17:55Polly can turn her attention to the caramel for her fritter with a twist.
17:59I'm worried about this tongulu.
18:02That's where it can go wrong.
18:04Got a caramel that she's going to dip her bananas into.
18:06This needs to get super, super hot, about 150 degrees.
18:10Colour is really important, that she gets that just right.
18:13You don't want it too dark, because then it will go bitter.
18:16Just testing one.
18:17You can see it's not quite...
18:21It's still chewy.
18:22Sugar's not hot enough.
18:25There's just one hour to go.
18:29With the use of only one oven,
18:31Mark's cornbreads must finish baking
18:33before he can cook the sausages.
18:35You're going to have to get those sausages in the oven sometime soon.
18:38Yeah, absolutely.
18:38The second the cornbreads are done,
18:40then the sausages are going to go straight in.
18:41OK.
18:42Meanwhile, he's working his way through his extensive prep list.
18:46It's all starting to come together.
18:49We've got a huge amount of detail in Mark's cookery.
18:51The Carolina sauce, he's creating flavours here of good American barbecue.
18:55Brown sugar, honey, mustard, paprika.
18:58Love these ingredients.
18:59These are the flavours for the Carolina sauce.
19:01So lots of interesting points.
19:04Hot skillets.
19:05Hot, hot, hot skillets.
19:06Please.
19:07They've come out perfectly.
19:08Nice colour.
19:09Nice bubbling around the edges.
19:10Exactly what I was looking for.
19:12Sausages are in.
19:13Sausages are in.
19:14Nice.
19:18With time ticking, Caroline's starting to panic.
19:22This is where I've got to pick up the speed, really.
19:24Her three different fillings are made.
19:25I'm just never happy about my time.
19:28But they need to cool before she can assemble the 90 pastéis she needs for service.
19:33I'm starting with the goat's cheese because they are cooler.
19:37I normally like to work a little bit tidier,
19:40but today priorities are different.
19:44This is going to be about the volume of these little pasties,
19:48these little parcels that she's going to have to make.
19:50That's all about production.
19:51And production is something that Caroline, at this size, I'm sure, is not quite used to.
19:56I don't know why I do this to myself.
19:58I just hope they taste good and I can finish on time.
20:03There's also making sure that it's all sealed through so that the mix doesn't leak out.
20:08I hope she gets it done.
20:11I know they look a bit ugly now, but once you fry them, they'll look nicer.
20:19Ismail's halim porridge is ready, but he needs to combine it with the mutton,
20:23the other key element to complete the dish.
20:26It's not melting in your mouth.
20:27It's not going to be great.
20:28So that's my biggest challenge.
20:30Let's hope for the mutton leg to cook on time.
20:32Yes, sir.
20:32He's been so focused on the mutton, he's only just starting the four different toppings.
20:39We have a bit of salad and cucumber going on top for a bit of texture,
20:43a little bit of freshness, a bit of sweetness from red onions as well.
20:47It's balanced between spice and a bit of tanginess, a bit of crunch,
20:51everything you want in a street food, really.
20:56Also running behind is Anthony.
20:59I hate pastry. I don't know why I've done this to myself.
21:02I hate it.
21:04His tiramisu buns have only just made it to the oven.
21:08I'm back and forth a little bit, just keeping a weary eye on them.
21:12It's just a nervy wait now.
21:15I'll show you back to check on them in about 30 seconds again.
21:20To add to the pressure, he has three technically challenging tiramisu flavour elements
21:24to get right that would be piped inside.
21:27The most important thing is that you get the flavours of tiramisu.
21:31Cocoa, chocolate, coffee, and, of course, the amaretto gel, just to finish it off.
21:36That's very meritorious, isn't it?
21:38It's just amaretto that's been set into a fluid gel.
21:44Polly is still waiting for the caramel for her banana tangulu fritters to reach exactly 150 degrees.
21:51If this goes wrong, then I've got to start again, and it's easy another half an hour.
21:56So, it's fingers crossed that this works.
22:00We're about...we're over 150, so...
22:05Leaving the caramel on the heat, it's a race to coat 50 fritters before it burns.
22:12I can't even fix it if it goes wrong.
22:15It's just a start again type thing.
22:19The MasterChef pop-up's 22 invited guests have started to arrive.
22:27Made up of some of the UK's top chefs and pop-up entrepreneurs.
22:34I'm the founder of Humble Crumble, which is the world's first crumble bakery.
22:38To be able to create a successful pop-up, you need to make sure that it's simple to run effectively.
22:44Do your one thing and do it really, really well.
22:47We saw a gap in the street food scene where no-one was really selling dumplings, and we decided to
22:52give it a go.
22:54So, I think the contestants have a really tough job today.
22:56They're cooking in a kitchen that they've probably never cooked in before,
22:59and have to create a pop-up menu that's going to be good enough to attract people and to like
23:04it.
23:05Standard at London is very difficult.
23:08Our sort of USP, how we've sort of survived this long, has always been the quality of the ingredients,
23:12and we're just providing the best burger we could possibly make.
23:15Popping up in a sort of new kitchen that they've never worked for sort of comes in its own challenges.
23:19Obviously, they've got a first manoeuvre, their way around the kitchen, know where everything is.
23:23It's not very easy.
23:24So, the business started about five years ago.
23:27We've been doing pop-up.
23:28More recently, we've taken on this residency inside the pub,
23:31and it's central London's only Cambodian restaurant.
23:33I'd say don't make anything too fancy.
23:36We just want to see impactful, flavourful people.
23:40It's almost time for service, and all five chefs are racing against the clock to get their final jobs done.
23:46Boys and girls, let's get ready to rumble.
23:52Mark, you've got about 15 minutes, and as you can see, your guests have just arrived.
23:56Absolutely.
23:57How long have the sausages got left to cook?
23:5910, 15 minutes.
24:00Everything else, so your sauces and ganishes is all good to go?
24:03I think so, yeah.
24:04I'm going to finish my pickled salad, and then just fuss over my sausages.
24:06OK.
24:08While Mark's on track, Caroline is nowhere near ready, and is still assembling her 90 pastéis.
24:13I'm doing the prawn now, and then I have the ox-cheek still to do.
24:18Still a bit to go, but I need to do it.
24:20I've only got a few minutes to finish, so I haven't got a big window here.
24:27She will then have the challenge of deep-frying them all to order.
24:31My message for Caroline is she's got huge amounts of work to get through.
24:34She's going to have a lot of stress on her hands.
24:36I wish I had more time to work on the flavour.
24:40I need 15 minutes to wrap this once, and then I'm done.
24:45While Caroline struggles, Ismael is back on track.
24:48The thing I was worried about, Martin not being cooked on time.
24:51I think it's nice and tender.
24:53And he's ready to combine the halim porridge with the meat.
24:57I think I'm in control, but I wouldn't know until I serve the food and send it away.
25:01You never know, something might come up.
25:06My prayers have paid off.
25:08I've had my face pressed up to the glass for about the last ten minutes.
25:11It's the timing now.
25:13Yeah, happy with them.
25:14Ready and rearing to go.
25:15Shut up.
25:17On the second dessert, Polly's hit a problem with the frozen bananas for her ice cream.
25:22They're not really frozen, but I have ice.
25:26So I'm going to try and bring the temperature down with that.
25:29Why do I decide to do ice cream?
25:32She quickly blitzes the bananas with cream and maple syrup.
25:36Keep them in the freezer as long as possible.
25:38If it doesn't freeze, I'm just going to call it banana cream.
25:43Mark, your first one up, okay?
25:45Yes, chef.
25:46Are you going to be ready?
25:47Oh, yeah.
25:47Cold smoked whole hog sausage, cornbread, jalapeno butter.
25:52I think I'd really like this.
25:54They're looking good, nice and cooked, ready to go.
25:56Very interested by the idea of a whole hog sausage.
26:00How's your sausages?
26:01They've come out, okay, not as smoky as I would have liked,
26:03but under the circumstances, the best I could do.
26:06Carolina mustard, sounds great.
26:07Sausage and mustard, classic.
26:10Is this your Carolina sauce?
26:12Carolina sauce.
26:13Is the idea that you pour this over the sausage?
26:16Yeah, you dip the sausage in.
26:18So hopefully the cornbread's quite moist, not too, like, dense,
26:21and hopefully it goes all the butter.
26:23Come on, Mark, get a move on, because we want to try this.
26:26You just read my mind.
26:27Hurry up, Mark.
26:28Yes, chef.
26:29The pickled cucumber salad, that's going to be...
26:31Interesting to see how it works with the sausage.
26:34Right, Mark, the waiting staff are here, waiting for you.
26:37Service, please.
26:43Clowning through.
26:44Finish line is inside.
26:45You're doing well.
26:46You can do it.
26:48Service, please.
26:54That doesn't half look good.
26:55I hope it tastes just as good as it looks.
26:59Let's go.
27:00Thank you very much.
27:02Very happy with how everything came out.
27:03I just really hope that it lives up to the expectation of the standards of what the guests are expecting
27:08today.
27:11I think this looks great.
27:12I think this looks great.
27:12It looks like a real, tiny, southern barbecue platter.
27:16Everything is really delicious, and I definitely want to be having more of these sausages.
27:21The sausage was good.
27:22I would have liked it to be a bit more fatty, and it didn't taste too smoked, but I enjoyed
27:27it.
27:27The whole hog sausage is kind of headlined here, and it was very nice, but the cornbread is outstanding.
27:32The Carolina mustard sauce was vinegary, cut through the fat of the sausage really nicely.
27:39The sausage is fabulous.
27:41I love the texture of it, a touch of smokiness.
27:43Wow.
27:45The cornbread, so much flavour.
27:47The Carolina sauce got a little bit of heat, a bit of sharp and sweetness in it.
27:51This is delicious.
27:54It's Caroline's turn to serve.
27:57Next, we've got Caroline with a trio of pastries.
27:59Not had those before, so I'm looking forward to that.
28:01Will you fry them all off and then just gently reheat them if you need to?
28:05Chef, I would rather fry fresh.
28:07They don't hold as nice.
28:09Okay.
28:12Having chosen to deep fry her pastries to order, she's right against the wire for time.
28:18Prawn and chilli jam.
28:19You have to make sure those prawns are perfectly cooked and springy and moist.
28:24Braised ox cheek, if you haven't got enough time to cook it, that'll be tough as old boots, so fingers
28:28crossed.
28:29I think the zinginess and the herbiness from the salsa verde will work really well with the braised ox cheek.
28:34I think the cheese and guava one sounds interesting.
28:36I've only ever had guava as a fruit on its own, never with cheese, so I'll look forward to seeing
28:41how that tastes.
28:42It's quite clear to see, Caroline, that there's quite a lot of work to do here.
28:46Indeed, chef.
28:46In the last minute.
28:47It's a lot going on for one dish.
28:49That's going to be quite challenging, quite tricky to put together, but looks absolutely delicious.
28:55Need to really get a move on.
28:56We're starting to hold up the service now.
28:58Yes, chef.
28:58Not good.
29:00Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up.
29:01Good, chef, good, chef.
29:04Service.
29:06Oof, done.
29:07Do you get the feeling that you gave yourself a little bit too much to do there?
29:10I did, chef.
29:11Hopefully it tastes OK.
29:12That's the key.
29:14It was very intense, but it was fun.
29:16Maybe next time with a little bit less elements.
29:21I really like the corn and the chilli jam dip one.
29:25The pastry was really nice, nice colour and nice crunch, yeah.
29:29The chilli jam, I like that.
29:31I really enjoyed it out of all the sauces.
29:34I think the ox cheek is soft, but I think we've lost some of the juice.
29:38Compared to the other three, this one's probably the driest one out of them all.
29:41But I really liked the cheese one, because I like the hot cheese and then the guava.
29:45It's a really nice balance.
29:48All three sauces are delicious.
29:49All three little parcels have got interest, they've got shape.
29:52They're not perfect, but I'm enjoying it.
29:55My ox cheek is actually quite dry, but the salsa verde with it is wonderful.
30:01These are flavors of Brazil that Caroline wanted to highlight,
30:03and that's exactly what she's done.
30:06It's time for Ismael's mutton-halim savoury porridge to face the dining room.
30:11This sounds like a stand-out dish for me.
30:13Is that the whole dish?
30:15Yes, chef.
30:15Everything goes on top of it?
30:16Everything goes on top of it.
30:17Oh, OK.
30:19Saviour porridge is part of my culture on Cambodians,
30:22but I've never seen a Bangladeshi crossover,
30:24so I'm excited to see how this plays out.
30:27Are these the traditional toppings that you would get with the halim?
30:29That's exactly how they're served.
30:31With all the textures on the top?
30:33That's great.
30:33My goodness, that looks fantastic.
30:37The cucumber and onion salad is probably going to provide a little bit of a respite from any spice, so
30:41very interesting.
30:43I don't think I've ever actually tried a savoury porridge before, so I think this will be really different.
30:49What do you think Dad would think of this?
30:51I think he'd be very proud.
30:52Yeah?
30:54Obviously, you want that big flavour from the mutton, hopefully with loads of exciting spices.
30:58I'm excited to see how it's going to work with the porridge.
31:00If your dad was here today and you served in this, would he recognise the flavours of home?
31:04As soon as he'd take the first bite, he would know.
31:06Oh, what just happened there?
31:08I would just rush it and I just knocked it over, Chef.
31:11For me, if the mutton is nice and tender, I'm a happy guy.
31:17Service, please.
31:22This looks absolutely beautiful and it smells amazing, too.
31:27The chances of being the dish of the day, I think it's quite high,
31:31but I'm competing with a lot of great chef here, so let's see, hope for the best.
31:40That's something I would buy.
31:41I never had porridge curry sauce before, but it's got a nice, good balance to it.
31:46The mutton's cooked beautifully, nice and tender.
31:48Sometimes mutton can be quite dry, but it's really soft.
31:53You have different textures and different flavours, but it's well balanced.
31:57I quite like it.
31:58I would eat that all day long, 10 out of 10.
32:02The halim itself has got a texture.
32:05The lentils, the rice in there, it's all broken down, so it's giving it body.
32:09I'd wait up at 2 in the morning for that.
32:12I love the flavour of the mutton.
32:14I love the spice mix coming through it.
32:15That's knockout.
32:18It's time for the desserts to be served, and Anthony's up first.
32:23Anthony's doing a tiramisu.
32:25I think he's really tapped into what street food is all about, the kind of portmanteau of
32:30two dishes together.
32:32Tube are notoriously difficult to get right, so it needs to be baked really, really well.
32:37What's going in first?
32:38The coffee and chocolate ganache, followed by the mascarpone creme patte, and then just
32:44finish with a little bit of amaretto gel.
32:47It's going to be quite interesting to see a new tiramisu concept.
32:52It's tricky.
32:53There's nowhere to hide.
32:54Everyone knows what a good chuban should taste like.
32:56Everyone's got a favourite tiramisu.
32:58If they vote this to be the winning dish, you see this being your trademark?
33:01To be honest, Chef, I never want to make these again.
33:05Service, please.
33:09Feels good to get it done.
33:11Everything costs for those votes, yeah, 100%.
33:14See if they're enjoying them.
33:19I've eaten that in about three seconds.
33:21It was a really, really good chuban.
33:23It was well-baked, and the crackling on top was really nice.
33:26If I had a criticism, probably not enough coffee flavour.
33:29If you hadn't told me it was tiramisu, I wouldn't have got that, but it was delicious, so who cares?
33:33The mousse is very smooth, the ganache is smooth.
33:36It's well-executed.
33:37You can taste the amaretto gel, that's quite rich as well, so I think it's a well-thought-off dish.
33:42The shoot pastry's beautifully cooked.
33:44I like the crackling on top.
33:45I like the hint of coffee.
33:47It's really well done.
33:49It is delicious.
33:52Last up to serve is Polly.
33:55Polly, you've got the banana fritters already deep-fried off.
33:57Do they go back in the fryer?
33:59Yes.
34:04The banana fritters themselves, I want them to be quite light in the batter, not too thick.
34:10Two each.
34:11Three?
34:12You're not on a diet, are you?
34:13No, I'm not.
34:14You're fine then.
34:16Caramel tanghulu is going to be, I think, the element that's quite tricky, because it needs
34:20to stay crunchy on the outside.
34:22So this is your toffee sauce?
34:23Yeah, kind of like butterscotch sauce.
34:25Yeah.
34:26Sounds very banana-y, so I'm struggling to see exactly where the balance is coming from.
34:33Ah, so you put the ice cream into little pots, that's a good idea.
34:36Yeah, just a little bit easier for me.
34:39The problem with fritters of any sort, making sure they're all hot and fresh and crispy
34:43and served at the same time, that's a lot harder than it looks.
34:47Okay, service please.
34:53I'm filthy, but that was fun.
34:56All in all, I mean, out of what could have gone wrong, I'm very happy.
35:01Yeah, nothing went that wrong.
35:04The banana fritters I loved and the dip, I'm all for that.
35:07The tanghulu was really, really good, nice, crispy caramel.
35:11Unfortunately, I think the ice cream didn't have great texture.
35:15I think unless you're a banana addict, I feel it was a bit too much for the palate,
35:19as there was quite a lot of banana in it, so, yeah.
35:23Everything is the flavours of bananas, but it needs a point of difference.
35:27I find this very sweet.
35:29I do like the crunch of the banana on the stick, the caramel's very nice.
35:33Polly has put a lot of work into this.
35:40Good start, the knockout week.
35:42A bit of struggle for some, but I think overall, I'm really impressed they all delivered it.
35:49It was very intense.
35:51I think I have packed a bit too much to do.
35:54I think I might be cooking again on the next challenge, I think.
35:59It has been a long day today, but because that food was the way I wanted,
36:05I was really happy.
36:08It was really fun doing the pop-up today.
36:10I've never done anything like this before, so I hope I stood out to the guests.
36:14It's been a pretty wild day, to be fair.
36:16I wouldn't dare try and place any bets on who's going to get that golden ticket straight through to the
36:21semi-finals.
36:23I really want to be at the top for the vote.
36:26To do well in this round would mean the world to me.
36:29We've eaten well.
36:30I can't wait to find out which dish our guests have chosen as their favourite.
36:34Who's going to go straight through to the semi-finals?
36:46Chefs, welcome back.
36:48I hear you did sterling stuff at the MasterChef pop-up.
36:51So well done, everyone.
36:54We've counted up the votes, and the chef that is going straight through to our semi-finals is...
37:03Is...
37:04Ismael.
37:08Ismael, congratulations.
37:10We love the mutton-haleem dish, and clearly our guests did too.
37:14See you in our semi-finals.
37:16Off you go.
37:19Well done.
37:23Being a semi-finalist, wow, it feels incredible.
37:29I hope the chefs don't hate me.
37:33Right, you four chefs, you now have a great opportunity to stay in this competition.
37:40We want you to cook for us a family favourite, a dish that has a lot of meaning to you.
37:47It can be sweet, it can be savoury, it is completely down to you, chefs.
37:52What it has to be is good enough to keep you in this competition.
37:57At the end of this cook-off, one of you will be leaving us.
38:01One hour and 45 minutes to cook yourself into our semi-finals.
38:07Off you go, and good luck.
38:17Huge amount of pressure on it, placing the semi-finals up for grabs is a lot to play for.
38:22The dish I'm cooking today is going to be a dandan noodles, a really traditional Szechuan dish.
38:26It's a very broad way of cooking warm broth.
38:30Chicken or pork with noodles, with some pickled mustard greens on the side.
38:35What is this dish?
38:36Hand-cut egg noodles, with a soy-cured egg yolk, crispy fried spiced chicken mince, pickled bok choy greens, and
38:44then a beautiful semi-clarified chicken dashi.
38:47What's inspired your dish?
38:48This basically came from myself and my wife being very early in lockdown, having very little to do.
38:52Found this recipe for what sounded like quite an involved noodle dish, but because of the restrictions on shopping and
38:57couldn't get certain ingredients,
38:58it kind of became a bit of a grab bag, larder situation of whatever I had.
39:03And this is something you just knock up at home if you've had a bad week.
39:07Maybe not quite at this level.
39:08Close.
39:11Mark's cooking an Asian-style dish and, of course, cooking everything from scratch, even the noodles.
39:16Welcome to Noodle Town, USA.
39:19New York.
39:19Yeah.
39:21Mark is making a broth with Korean chili flakes.
39:23We've got other spices, we've got Sichuan, as well as mirin, and he's clarifying it with some chicken mince.
39:30Oh, yeah.
39:31Delicious.
39:32So the noodle element sounds like it could be straightforward, but it really isn't.
39:36Next time, can I get a shakier table, please?
39:40He's doing them in such a way that they're going to have bites, because if they sit in that hot
39:44broth too long,
39:45they're just going to kind of carry on cooking, and you won't have that bite.
39:49He's got to get that balance just right.
39:52Soy-cured egg yolk sounds delicious.
39:54That should just break on top and add a bit of body to the broth that Mark is making.
40:04Having my name as a semifinalist would be just, you know, amazing.
40:08And I think it's a milestone for you as a chef.
40:11It really means a lot.
40:13To go through it would be awesome.
40:16Caroline, tell me, what's the inspiration behind your dish?
40:19It's not a family-favorite dish, per se, but it's things that I remember growing up as a child.
40:24So my grandmother used to live in the countryside, and we used to normally go to her house for Sunday
40:29lunch.
40:30And she would slowly cook meats in the wooden oven.
40:34And lamb was something that was not for every day.
40:36It was something special.
40:37Okay.
40:40Caroline's given us a bit of a taste of her childhood in Brazil.
40:44So countryside in Brazil, you expect beef.
40:47But no, we're doing lamb, because lamb is more of a premium.
40:51She's basically taking the loins of the lamb from the saddle.
40:53She's removed the bones.
40:54And she's just left a small amount of fat on top.
40:57She needs to make sure that it's good, because if you don't, it'll tighten up and the lamb will become
41:02very tough.
41:04Caroline's making potato cannelloni, so it's a thin strip of potato, which she's going to wrap around a tube to
41:10cook,
41:11and then fill it with braised lamb neck.
41:13The braised lamb neck needs to have enough of that cooking juice reduced down to bind it with.
41:17You do not want this to be dry.
41:20She's also got carrot puree, which will bring some sweetness.
41:23Artichokes, which is braising pickled carrots, goat curds.
41:26There is a lot going on.
41:27And sometimes with Caroline, I do question if it's necessary to have so many elements going on in a dish.
41:33You've got some, is that ricotta behind you?
41:35It's actually goat's curd.
41:37Goat's curd.
41:37I am smoking it with hay, because hay really reminds me as well of this countryside, you know, the smells.
41:45With this dish, it's memory.
41:46It's something that you do from your heart.
41:49I would really like them to taste the flavours that I remember.
41:55I don't think this is working.
41:58Chefs, you are just over halfway through.
42:02Cooking from the heart definitely makes the difference.
42:04When you are cooking food from something that has a bit of meaning behind it, it generally shows in the
42:10dish.
42:13What's inspired your dish today?
42:15When I was at school, my mum was my head teacher.
42:19And this is a school pudding, which I'd always have.
42:22And my mum loved it so much, she nicked the recipe, and we've grown up with it ever since.
42:28So to stay in this competition, you're making school dinners?
42:31School dinner, yeah.
42:32So what makes it so special?
42:33So the dish at school was a ginger and pear cake, which you poured hot custard over.
42:39But I've made it a bit more fancier.
42:41So the dish is a sticky ginger cake with custard, a whiskey poached pear.
42:48We've also got pear inside the cake.
42:51And then, because there's so much flavour in this poaching liquid, I'm going to make a little glaze from it
42:57on top of the cake.
42:58And you pour the hot custard over, and it melts in.
43:04So Polly is giving us her old school dinner cake, which I love.
43:08So we've got that pear and ginger cake.
43:10You want that heat and that spiciness of that ginger, so that needs to be there.
43:15The dessert, I think it's a bit trickier, but I'm excited to cook this for them, so...
43:22The texture has to be soft and delicate.
43:24It's not a dry cake we're looking for, it's a moist cake.
43:28Polly is reducing her pear poaching liquid, which has got all of the flavours of a very classic whiskey cocktail.
43:35But she needs to be really, really careful about the sweetness of that.
43:38Because the more you reduce it, the sweeter and sweeter it's going to be.
43:42Cake should be just a part of a beautiful dessert.
43:44It can't be the focus.
43:46It needs to be more to bring this dessert together.
43:48I hope Polly has got that in the bag.
43:52Cooking something that I used to eat in the school canteen for a place in the semifinals.
43:56It sounds a bit ridiculous, but I promise you it's brilliant, like, it's really good.
44:03Ready and rearing to go.
44:05Definitely not ready to call their day just yet.
44:08Right, Anthony, what's the inspiration behind this dish that you're cooking today?
44:11So this dish is called Nanny Rita's Packet Trifle.
44:14So we're a big family, and no matter the occasion, Christmas, Easter, you can guarantee Nanny Rita's rocking up with
44:18a packet trifle.
44:19Was it good?
44:20Nostalgia-wise, it goes a long way.
44:22But, you know, unfortunately Nan passed away about this time last year, actually.
44:25So I said to my girlfriend when we were sat at home, and a family gathering was coming up, we're
44:28going to be without a trifle.
44:30And she sort of escorted me to the kitchen cupboard and showed me the packet she'd bought so we could
44:34sort of fulfil the compulsory trifle.
44:36But lo and behold, fast forward to the day of, and four or five of us had had the exact
44:40same idea, and so we were drowning in trifles on the day.
44:47Thankfully for Anthony, we're not getting a packet trifle.
44:49We're getting inspiration from Nanny Rita's trifle, which is basically strawberries and elderflower in the form of a jelly.
44:54We've got an egg custard, which is lightly whipped.
44:57We've got sablé biscuits, and we've got jantilly and a strawberry sorbet just to sit on the side.
45:01I want the layers.
45:03I want the jelly perfectly set.
45:05You want the sablé biscuits crumbly.
45:07This dish means an awful lot to me.
45:09It really, really does, and to my whole family.
45:10I know for a fact, as soon as I said Nanny Rita's trifle, my mum's crying.
45:15Everyone's got somebody in their family who's made the trifle.
45:18For me, it's my sister-in-law, and I absolutely love it.
45:21Trifles can be good, or they can be amazing.
45:24And he's got to hit that top note.
45:28So this is the whipped custard.
45:31It's the finished product, ready to go.
45:33It's getting that bagged up and a bit closer to building the actual trifles.
45:36Everything else is setting, churning, doing what it needs to do.
45:40Going through his chantilly cream, he's got long peppers, quite floral.
45:44Not as sort of heavy and sort of in-your-face as black pepper.
45:49I like the sound of the pepper through the chantilly, but it has to be enough to make a difference.
45:53The strawberry sorbet has also got some star anise running through it.
45:57That with the pepper and the chantilly is a nice twist on Nanny Rita's trifle.
46:03Still not cold?
46:04One minute.
46:05One minute more?
46:06Yes, chef.
46:06You are taking this to the wire, chef.
46:08Warm sable and jelly.
46:10I just thought a nice contrasting temperature with the warm sable and the cold jelly, chef.
46:13It might work really nicely.
46:14Ha!
46:15Hot.
46:16Chefs, you've got 12 minutes to bring your family favourites together.
46:21Oui.
46:23You going to be ready, Mark?
46:25Yes, chef.
46:29Caroline, you're doing a lot of running around at the moment.
46:31Are you a little bit behind?
46:32No, I am.
46:33I think I'll be on time.
46:34Yeah?
46:35It's just the finishing, chef.
46:36But it's all last minutes, is it?
46:38Yeah.
46:39Sorry, chef.
46:43Ah, biscuits are still hot.
46:49I don't quite know how much longer, about 10 minutes to play it, so that's what I wanted.
46:54I think you've got one like seven.
46:56That's okay.
46:57That's fine.
47:00I was going to say.
47:01Easy.
47:02Sorry, chef.
47:04Chefs, three minutes left.
47:07Me, chef.
47:13Oh, they're gone.
47:15Quick and get them in the fridge.
47:17Oh, no!
47:20Hot biscuit sandwich.
47:21Quickly, get that in the glass of tulip.
47:23Amazing.
47:24Great, great, great.
47:29I'm getting all sticky.
47:33Now, crispy additions.
47:35I think we've got away with it.
47:38Just...
47:41Chefs, your time is up.
47:43Down tools, please.
47:48Mark's family favourite is inspired by a Dan Dan noodle dish he discovered during lockdown.
47:54Hand-cut noodles served with crispy Sichuan chicken mince.
47:58Pickled bok choy, spring onions, soy-cured egg yolk, a chicken dashi broth, and crispy nori seaweed on the side.
48:17Mark, I'm absolutely loving that broth.
48:20I mean, the depth of flavour in there.
48:22It's quite something.
48:23Deep, it's rich, it's satisfying.
48:25It's like a very modern take on a really good chicken soup.
48:29From the fresh noodles to the broth, it's absolutely fabulous.
48:32It packs a lot of flavour, a lot of punch.
48:35The broth has got all the right notes in it.
48:37The Sichuan pepper is there.
48:39I love the little crispy chicken that's slightly crunchy and mellows out.
48:43It's a beautifully tasty plate of food.
48:46Really is.
48:46Well done.
48:47Thank you very much.
48:48The texture of the noodles, it's got the elasticity that it can take the broth with it.
48:54I really like that.
48:56The soy egg yolk here, it's got a dense thickness, almost like mayonnaise.
49:04And enjoying the little crunchy seaweed cracker on the side here.
49:09Impressive.
49:10It's a dish inspired by what you enjoy eating at home.
49:13It's a family favourite, and I really think you've brought that to the table.
49:18I'm enjoying this.
49:19Thank you so much.
49:21It's normally just a big bowl of noodles that we eat on the couch watching a movie with our cat.
49:26Jeepers.
49:28So that kind of feedback is mind-blowing.
49:31Caroline, come on up.
49:32Inspired by her grandmother's cooking in the countryside of Brazil, Caroline has pan-roasted lamb loin
49:38and served it with a potato callelone stuffed with braised lamb neck.
49:43And a thyme cumin-spiced carrot puree, braised artichoke, hay-smoked goat's curd with chervil oil
49:51and a rosemary-infused lamb jus.
49:58My lamb was beautifully cooked.
50:01Artichoke, I like a little bit of the pickling that's running through it.
50:04Carrot puree, it's lovely, it's got its sweetness.
50:07And the sauce is good.
50:08The loin itself, it's nice.
50:11Kale, it's beautiful.
50:12Your carrots on top, they're crunchy, they're pickly.
50:15Very, very nice.
50:16Well done.
50:16The whole story is on this plate.
50:19The element of the farm and the hay, and that's given us that smoky taste within the goat's curd.
50:26I do like the braised lamb's neck inside that potato cannelloni.
50:30It's nicely braised.
50:32Overall, this is a delicious plate of food.
50:34Thank you very much.
50:35Thanks so much.
50:39I feel at peace with myself.
50:41I'm happy they like the execution.
50:43There's nothing else I can do.
50:45It's just weird.
50:46So, hopefully it works.
50:48Polly, come on up.
50:54Polly's family favourite is her take on an old school dinner recipe.
50:59Pear and ginger cake, with bourbon and poached pear, stemmed ginger crumble, candied nuts and orange, and bourbon gel, served
51:09with caramel sauce and creme anglaise.
51:16The ginger pear cake, you've cooked them individually.
51:18I like to have it dried out.
51:20I like to have it dried out.
51:20The cake has been covered by the reduced poaching liquid.
51:24I find it's just making it really sweet.
51:27I think everything here is executed very, very well.
51:31The overriding flavour is sugar.
51:34It's very sweet.
51:35You want that real kind of pepperiness, you know, of that ginger.
51:39And I'm not really getting that.
51:41Otherwise, I think it would have been really nice.
51:43I love the pear, beautifully cooked.
51:45The custard is well made.
51:47The cake is well made.
51:48The caramel sauce is beautifully made.
51:50There's a lot about this dish I actually do like.
51:52It's just a touch heavy on the sugar.
52:06Anthony has created a dessert inspired by one of his family's most iconic dishes.
52:12Nanny Rita's Packet Trifle.
52:14A layered trifle of strawberry and elderflower jelly, whipped egg custard and Sablé biscuit.
52:21Topped with long pepper chantilly cream and a strawberry and star anise sorbet.
52:31Trifle is made in many different ways, up and down the country.
52:34All families have their own different styles.
52:36But there's one thing about a trifle that is mirrored across everybody's trifle.
52:41Is you've got to get from the top to the bottom with your spoon.
52:44And you've got to get a little bit of everything.
52:46And you get that layer upon layer.
52:48You can't do that with this.
52:49The Sablé's too hard.
52:51It's overcooked.
52:52It's not crumbling.
52:53So it's preventing from getting to the bottom.
52:56You've got to crack your way and knock your way through it.
52:58I'm enjoying the flavours, but it's not working as a dessert for me.
53:03The sorbet, very, very punchy strawberry taste.
53:07I do like that a lot.
53:08I love the whipped custard.
53:10And I'm getting all those hits of strawberry without overpoweringly sweetness.
53:15The chantilly with the long pepper, it's not there.
53:18It's not evident.
53:19I wanted to taste more of the star anise as well.
53:22It's nice, but I think you could have taken this to a while.
53:29It wasn't ideal, to be honest.
53:30I think I've left myself a few too many things, sort of, that I had to do very late on.
53:36And, yeah, I just suffered for it.
53:43Big decision.
53:45This is for a place in the semi-finals.
53:47A lot to take into consideration.
53:49I think there's one chef that's really stood out to the floor today, and that is Mark.
53:56His understanding of flavours is really, really something.
53:59I mean, that depth of flavour that he had in that broth, the clarification of it.
54:03I agree.
54:05I think Mark was the standout chef today.
54:07The crispy chicken that had all of the flavours of the chillies and the sour notes running through it.
54:11Great dish.
54:12So that's Mark through to our semi-finals.
54:15Caroline.
54:16Lamb was very nicely cooked.
54:18Sauce was delicious.
54:19The crispy cannelloni was delicious.
54:21The puree was good.
54:22I loved the smokiness in that goat's curd.
54:26I thought it was good.
54:27I liked it.
54:28That leaves us with Polly and Anthony to discuss.
54:32Polly gave us the dessert.
54:34The ginger cake, wonderful texture, but the syrup over the top, just really sweet.
54:39I thought the custard was beautifully made, the pear beautifully cooked, it hadn't discoloured.
54:44I liked everything about her dessert today, it's just slightly too much sugar.
54:49It was too sweet, we all agreed on that.
54:52Anthony's trifle, I really enjoyed the jelly and the elderflower elements.
54:57I loved the whipped custard, and especially the sorbet.
55:01It was nice, but I wanted more of the star anise and possibly the black pepper to make a difference.
55:08For me the sablé didn't work, you couldn't get through it, it was overcooked, and so they were too crunchy.
55:12Loved the idea, but it just wasn't quite working.
55:16Sadly one of these chefs has to leave us, but who's it going to be?
55:22We all just, you know, went in there and did our absolute bests, and I don't want to be done
55:28yet.
55:29I'm sort of preparing myself for the worst, but yeah, I can always hold out hope.
55:44Chefs, well done on today. We know what this competition means for you.
55:48At this stage of the game, it's really tough to say goodbye to any of you, but we have made
55:53that decision.
55:59The chef leaving the competition is Anthony.
56:10Anthony, you've had a great journey in the MasterChef competition.
56:14You should be incredibly proud.
56:16Thank you so much.
56:25This is a tough one to take, but I've really enjoyed the whole experience.
56:29It's been incredibly positive.
56:30It's something I can be proud of, definitely.
56:32Just need to get over it a little bit.
56:37Congratulations.
56:38Well done.
56:39Well done.
56:59I'm just going to come all guns blazing the next round and hopefully show them that they did
57:09make the right choice.
57:10I will show them that they made the right choice.
57:16Next time, knockout week continues, and the second group of five chefs will compete out
57:22of the MasterChef kitchen for the first time.
57:25Right, chefs, start clearing down and getting ready for service, OK?
57:29Your customers are hungry.
57:31Before returning to fight for their place in the semi-finals.
57:37It shines a light on using the simplest of ingredients.
57:40I think it's delicious.
57:40MasterChef salad is delicious.
58:06I think it's delicious.
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