All language subtitles for MasterChef.S21E13.1080p.WEBRiP.x264-DARKFLiX.x264-DARKFLiX

It's the battle for
the ultimate culinary prize.

Aargh!

60 of the country's
best home cooks...

I need to stop shaking.

..all with their hearts set...

Not really sure what I'm doing!

Flaming brilliant!

..on the coveted MasterChef trophy.

This is the sort of stuff
that dreams are made of.

That is a cracker of a job.

This is absolutely banging. Yay!

Each week,
12 extraordinary amateur talents...

SHE GASPS

..battle for a place...
Yum, yum, yum. Oh, wow, that's hot!

..in the quarterfinal.

I think it's delicious.

This is a revelation.
Congratulations.

But only the best
can earn their passports

to the ultimate cookery showdown.

A British culinary icon

is just about to enter
the MasterChef kitchen.

Are we ready for this?

Concentrate...

I cannot send it!

I like it.

I love it.

I think this year has been
an absolutely brilliant competition.

We've found some amazing cooks
so far,

but we're looking for a few more.

It's the last week
of this year's heats,

and these passionate home cooks
all think they've got what it takes

to become MasterChef champion.

But at the end of today,

only three will make it through
to this week's quarterfinal.

I'm really serious
about this competition.

It's a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity.

I just can't wait to get started.

I would love to win MasterChef,

but I know the competition's hard,

so all I can do is try my best.

I know how to hold my nerves

and show a very calm person,

but inside I'm just,
like, bricking it!

Hello. Welcome
to the MasterChef kitchen.

All we want from you is

for you to indulge yourself
in your great passion,

and that is cookery.

This, your first round,
we call Basic To Brilliant.

We want you to cook for us a dish
taking the everyday,

the ordinary, the basic,

and elevating it to something
extraordinary, brilliant.

And at the end of this,

Gregg and I will choose
our two favourite dishes,

and the people who cooked those

will get themselves
a MasterChef apron

and go straight through
to the next round.

The rest of you
will need to cook again

for the last two remaining aprons.

Your basic ingredient should be
the star of the show.

Ladies and gentlemen,
1 hour, 20 minutes.

Let's cook.

Erm...what am I doing?

I am confident.
There's a few tricky bits,

but hopefully
everything will go well.

One, two, three, four, five...

36-year-old
humanitarian aid worker Fareeda

loves to cook the food
of her Bengali heritage,

but is also influenced
by having worked and lived

in the Middle East and South Asia.

There is something beautiful

about food from
these parts of the world,

which is centred around family,
community

and basically everyone tucking in,

and I think
that's what my food is about.

Fareeda, out of all of
these lovely ingredients,

which one's your basic one?

It's spinach. I love it,
it's really affordable,

everyone can do something
with spinach.

What's your dish, please?

A spinach and prawn and
potato curry,

but it will be accompanied
with basmati rice with zeera.

Zeera is cumin,
and I brought my own cumin.

This cumin's from Afghanistan.
I used to work there.

Have you worked in many...
many places around the world?

I've been mainly working
in emergency and crisis contexts,

so Afghanistan, Pakistan,
Lebanon, Palestine...

So, yeah,
I've worked in a lot of places.

Fareeda is cooking us a potato,
spinach and prawn curry.

The prawn needs to be cooked
all the way through

so it's still got a little bit of
a bite to it.

The actual potatoes also need
to be cooked all the way through.

With that,
we've got a spinach pakora.

A bhaji, pakora, quite similar.

I need to go to the deep-fryer.

Lovely and crispy, with
lots and lots of spinach in there.

Oh, this smells so good!

A huge amount of technique.

If she can get this right,
this could be delicious.

Bit more. That'll do.

Time is of the essence today,

but I've got a plan in my head,
so hopefully we can pull it off.

22-year-old
professional musician Paddy

has played the bassoon
since he was eight,

nurturing a methodical
and improvisational style

which is mirrored
in his approach to cooking.

We're taught that it's fine
to make a mistake,

it's part of the music,

and mistakes are part
of the cooking process.

But I am very nervous
to fall completely flat on my face.

So my chosen ingredient
is 00 flour today.

Why that?

I think it makes
a really rich pasta dough.

What's the dish?

It's spinach and ricotta ravioli

with a sage and butter sauce
on the side.

There's going to be
a mountain of Parmesan tuile,

and the foundation of that
is going to be creme fraiche

with some grated orange as well.

You're a lover of Italian food?

I love pasta. Love it.

We've been to Italy as a family
many times.

Do you love Italian composers?
Obviously!

Puccini, La Boheme opera.
I wish I could play it right now.

PORCINI, but you're not using
mushrooms, so I'll move on!

Paddy's ingredient of choice
is 00 flour,

flour which is really, really fine,
used to make pasta...

Just going to flour that again
quickly.

You can never have
too much flour on this.

Sage butter on spinach
ricotta ravioli -

absolutely, very, very classic.

What's not classic is
a mound of creme fraiche on the side

with orange rind across the top.

It could be overpowering
and taste more like a cheesecake.

Yeah. OK. Right.

I think I'm good. Sorry,
I'm talking to myself over here!

38-year-old Kayleigh works
in the hair and make-up industry.

Her varied cooking style was
influenced by her Scottish uncle

and Jamaican father,
who lived in France.

I used to mess around
in the kitchen a lot

when I was a kid, making
all sorts of horrible concoctions!

So, yeah, I think I'll be OK.
I'm hoping I'll be OK!

SHE LAUGHS

Kayleigh's using carrots
in three completely different ways.

She's going to make us
a chicken katsu.

We have got a carrot pickle,

we're going to get
spiced carrot puree...

Jesus.

..but also a katsu sauce
using carrots

as one of the main ingredients
in it.

Katsu is actually
just a crumb cutlet in Japanese.

It could be any meat at all.

She's using chicken,

but chicken needs to be cooked
all the way through.

The last thing we want is
chicken katsu

with raw chicken running through it.

Bleurgh. It's MasterChef, isn't it?

SHE LAUGHS

What can you do?

What is it you love about a carrot?

SHE LAUGHS

How versatile it is.

And it's just a nice thing to go
alongside a katsu curry at home.

I've just been cooking it for years.
Who do you cook for at home?

My partner and my two children.
Have they offered any advice?

Yeah, but some of
my daughter's suggestions

have been a bit bonkers, you know?
Childlike.

She gave me some...
Just some crazy recipe ideas, so...

Yeah...

SHE LAUGHS

I just....
Yeah, I was just polite about it.

You have 30 minutes left, everybody.

Paddy, what's music for "go faster"?

Accelerando.
Cello ando, everybody!

Cello ando!

LAUGHTER

Thank you, Paddy.

I'm like that old swan
with the paddling underwater.

Calm exterior,
lots of paddling underneath!

Born in Singapore,

58-year-old Keith has worked
in the NHS as a nurse

for over 40 years and is also
a professional lipreader

to help overcome
his severe hearing loss.

When they first put the hearing aids
in and turned them on,

I actually burst into tears,

because I hadn't actually realised
how much I was missing.

They've been a life-saver
in many ways.

Keith, what's your basic ingredient,
please? Nuts.

Everybody loves a nut.
They're versatile,

you can use them in a main course,
you can use them in puddings,

or you can just have
a snack of nuts.

What's your dish, please?

Chocolate ganache
with a nut base, using three nuts -

pistachios, almonds and hazelnuts -

a pistachio ice cream,
a little tuile

and some honeyed pistachio nuts
with smoked harissa.

Where did your passion
for cookery begin, Keith?

I met my wife 14 years ago

and I'm not getting any younger
or any better-looking.

She's a good cook,
so I had to rise to the plate.

Keith's ingredient of choice
is nuts,

and he's using three types of nuts.

We're getting a chocolate ganache
and nut tart, using pistachios,

almonds, and walnuts.

But Keith's got some
real gambles here.

Making a tuile - that's got to be
really, really thin.

He's got to make sure his ganache
has set all the way through,

and he's got to make sure
that his ice cream has set.

Otherwise, we've got ourselves
a pistachio milkshake.

SHE LAUGHS

I'm so clumsy!

26-year-old estate agent Francesca

started cooking
around the age of ten,

and loves to make hearty
comfort food for her family.

I love feeding people.

I'm constantly cooking,

especially for my brothers!

They are literally, like,
my biggest fans, basically.

Well, that's what they tell me.
I don't know if they are, but...!

SHE LAUGHS

So I'm focusing on lemons,
because it's fresh...

It reminds me a bit of,
like, holiday.

SHE LAUGHS
Even though I'm not on holiday!

What's your dish, please, Francesca?
I'm doing a lemon meringue pie,

but a deconstructed one.

So I'm doing a lemon meringue,

lemon curd,
and your biscuit base as well.

Lemon meringue pie is
a wonderful thing.

Crispy base and a creamy curd

with a lovely meringue that sits
across the top, which is bouncy.

Come on, thicken!

Deconstructing it, I think
that becomes style over substance.

It might look great,

but food should taste delicious
first and foremost.

My biggest concern right now is
Francesca's working in a real mess.

Are you OK? Because I've watched you
running up and down this kitchen

and you've got a bit of a mess here.
What's going on?

I've already potentially...
might have cocked up something,

so I want to make sure I've got
enough time to potentially redo it

at the end. What have you messed up?

The lemon meringue curd.

I, by accident, put the whole eggs
instead of the egg yolks.

Egg white through a lemon curd
will mean it'll go stringy.

I hope she can pull it back.

Contestants, you have ten minutes
left, please.

Aargh!

No! Don't fall off!

Woohoo! Two tuiles.

Oh, God!

Back on track, hopefully.

The curd,
now I just need to cool it.

All going good. Fingers crossed.
Got a nice colour now.

Is that going to be enough sauce?

A couple of those...

The heat. Aargh!

You have one minute left, guys!

Come on, come on...

Oh, sugar!

The chicken's a little bit crispier
than I would normally have it.

Yes!

That's it!
Contestants, your time is up.

Ohhh!

Good? Uh...yeah.

HE EXHALES

Oh, it's warm in here!

HE LAUGHS

Fareeda, if you wouldn't mind,
please.

NARRATOR:
Humanitarian aid worker Fareeda's

Basic To Brilliant ingredient
was spinach.

She's cooked a prawn and spinach
curry sauce

served with pan-fried prawns
and mustard chilli potatoes,

spinach pakora,

zeera- or cumin-spiced rice,

lemon raita and pickled daikon.

You've got
a lovely crunch to those prawns.

They're cooked beautifully.

Lovely sharpness coming
from the pickled daikon radish,

the sourness coming
from the raita on the outside,

and then that pakora is delicious.

And I'll have a bucket of those,
please, for my lunch.

That curry is fantastic.

Your layers of flavouring

going from warm to bitter to heat
is lovely.

You can taste the freshness
of the spinach as well.

Your rice is beautifully cooked.
Your potatoes are beautifully cooked

with mustard seed heat
and bitterness on there.

Well done! Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.

I felt a bit emotional,
because I put a lot into that dish.

Yeah,
it was a really special moment.

I need to breathe! Breathe.

Professional bassoonist Paddy chose
00 flour as his basic ingredient

and made spinach,
thyme and ricotta ravioli

with a sage butter sauce,

creme fraiche
flavoured with orange rind

and roasted chestnuts,

inside a pyramid
of Parmesan tuiles.

Your pasta-making, rolling,

forming it into that little
pasta pocket is really well done.

Inside it's creamy and
there is the flavour of thyme.

Well done. I'm impressed
by how well this is made.

Crunchy, chewy Parmesan wafers
on the outside,

chestnuts even on top.
That's really, really good.

But the rind in that creme fraiche,

it's the flavour
of the inside of a cheesecake.

Oh, wow. Oh... Oh.

You don't have to reinvent the wheel
to be impressive.

OK.

I'm feeling OK,
but maybe I need to bear in mind

if it tastes like a dessert
or a main course!

Cheesecake with a main!

Semi-permanent make-up artist
Kayleigh

has used her basic ingredient
of carrot

to make chicken katsu curry -

poppy-seed crumb chicken

and katsu sauce made with carrots,

served with carrot puree,

saffron rice
and ginger pickled carrot.

The use of the carrot,
I think, is very clever indeed.

Your carrot puree is lovely
and smooth, slightly sweet.

Your carrot pickle - ginger heat
in the back of your throat.

Your chicken is cooked beautifully.

I think that's a really good dish.
Thank you.

Your curry sauce is rich and smoky,

and then you get the sweetness
coming from carrots.

Really good, thick, rich sauce.
Perfectly cooked rice.

Everything I can see and taste here

makes me think
you're a quality cook. Thank you.

I'm really pleased to get feedback
like that.

So, yeah, I'm happy!

So far!

NHS nurse Keith
chose to showcase nuts.

He's serving
a chocolate ganache tart

with a base of pistachio,
almonds and walnuts,

a pistachio tuile,

smoked harissa and honey pistachios

and pistachio ice cream.

I think this tart is great.

It's almost savoury.

You haven't put a lot of sugar
in there at all.

That natural cocoa bitterness
comes in.

The nuts, almost like
oaty, toasty nuttiness.

That's really, really working
for me.

Thank you.

Your pistachio ice cream,
I think, is really good.

The rest, I feel as if I'm having

a chocolate savoury nut mixture
here.

Your nuts with the harissa
across the outside,

and then there's a couple in there
which are really hot

and just starting to burn my tongue.
But some nice skill. Thank you.

I'm...relatively pleased.

I think I split the judges
a little bit,

but I'm happy with what I put out.
It's what I set out to do.

Estate agent Francesca is serving
her basic ingredient of lemons

in a deconstructed
lemon meringue pie -

lemon curd,

burnt lemon gel,

Swiss meringue,

biscuit shards

and raspberries.

As a brief, taking the lemon,

I think you've done
a pretty good job.

You've got a really sort of sweet,
mellow flavour coming from that gel,

and you're getting a sharp flavour
also coming from your curd,

which is great.
This biscuit's lovely and thin.

It would be a fantastic tart case.

The meringue that you made
across the top is perfect.

I don't think you need
to deconstruct it,

because you've got the skill
to make one. Yeah.

The problem here for me
is one of texture.

Mm-hm. There are too many wet things
for the amount of dry things.

That's what the lemon meringue tart
would have given you.

So, looking at the skill, great.

It's just a little too wet.

OK.

I definitely showed technique.

So, yeah, just fingers crossed

I could potentially make it
to the next round.

At the start of this,
we did say that we'd choose

our two favourite dishes,
and those people get themselves

one of those MasterChef aprons

and go straight through
to the next round.

You'll be pleased to know
we've made a decision.

Two people, we think,
in a room of good cookery,

were outstanding.

Kayleigh.

Fareeda.

Well done.

Kayleigh, Fareeda, please,

come and get
your well-deserved aprons.

Congratulations. Thank you. Thanks.

THEY CHEER AND LAUGH

I've dreamt of having this apron.

You can only get it from one place,
and that's MasterChef,

so I'm loving this moment.

I'm feeling absolutely amazing.

But I want to, you know,
kind of remain humble, so, yeah!

Well done!

THEY CHEER AND LAUGH

Two aprons here

waiting for somebody's name
to be written on them.

On your bench in front of you
there is a box,

and inside that box there are
three common ingredients.

Could you please reveal
your ingredients?

Vanilla, cherries and almonds.

We would like you
to make for us a dish

using any one, two or three
of those ingredients,

and whatever you choose
from that box

needs to be the star of the show

alongside anything you like
from the larder over there.

Here's the twist -

you'll only have 45 minutes
to cook it.

Two aprons up for grabs.

That does mean at the end of this,
one of you will be going home.

Grab your trays. Off you go.

If you consider cherries
and almonds and vanilla,

they're all used in savoury things.

Can someone take those cherries
and make them into a sauce?

Cherries... I love them,
but don't really cook with them.

But, you know,
it's going to be fun whatever.

However, if they've done
any sort of baking,

they would have come across
these three ingredients.

Dessert is the obvious option.

Very challenging, but I've just
got to see what we can do.

I'm still formulating ideas
in my mind,

but my cook's brain
is saying savoury.

Where's the nuts?
Oh, there they are!

Francesca, what's your thoughts
on a dish?

I'm going to stick
with the cherries and nuts.

I want to make, like,
a cherry gravy.

Right. With my chicken over here,
which I'm using my spices.

And then I'm going to be making
roasted potatoes.

What are you going
to do with the almonds?

The almonds, I'm going to see.
I'm probably going to toast them.

Maybe give it some honey,
some sweetness as well.

Why not a dessert?
I did a dessert last time,

so I wanted to show what I can do
for a savoury dish.

Cherries and chicken together?
Not something I've had before.

A Chinese spiced chicken
with a lot of spices in there.

But does that mean the cherries
are going to get lost?

Chicken's got to be cooked
all the way through,

and potatoes,
if they're going to be roasties,

they need to be nice and crispy
on the outside.

Cherry sauce, she's got to make sure
that it reduces down

so it's thick and sticky,
so it will coat the potato

or it will coat the chicken.

It's OK, I can work on it.

Keith, have you got a plan?
I'm going to make pan-fried duck.

I'm going to make
a red wine and cherry sauce

with some small fried potatoes

and cherry and garlic savoury
compote to go to the side.

OK, fine. So are you feeling
the pressure? I am, yeah.

You're a nurse! I know!

Think about us as...well patients.
OK. That helps.

JOHN CHUCKLES

Keith is cooking
a duck breast with cherries.

That's a classic.

He's making a cherry and port sauce.
Fantastic.

Make sure it reduces
and goes thick and sticky.

Duck breast, we want the flesh
cooked all the way through.

We want it to be nice and tender.

Motoring to try and
get everything done in time.

Got the duck, which is going on
in a couple of minutes.

In fact, it's going on now.

He has got a cherry
and garlic compote.

It looks like he's using
half a bulb of garlic

with cherries, all stewed down.
I just hope it's not too sweet.

20 minutes to go.

I'm feeling stressed out.

It's not my usual
sort of comfort zone,

so I'm a little bit worried.

Paddy is doing a duck breast
flavoured with sumac,

that citrusy spice. He's going
to serve a cherry sauce - fine.

And he's going to put the whole
thing with fruity couscous.

It's sort of the flavours of the
Middle East, almost, North Africa.

I'm fine about this, but couscous
is really, really bland.

Put a bit of chilli in.
Doesn't harm anyone.

That might do, though!

He needs to make sure that couscous
is really well flavoured,

otherwise what we're going to have

is just a duck breast
and a sour cherry sauce.

Have you cooked
a duck breast before?

No.

Why pick the duck
if you've never cooked it before?

I've seen it being done.

If you were halfway
through a bassoon solo...

Yes. How are you doing?
How are the crowd reacting?

We're doing OK. Hopefully,
the crowd are going to go wild.

Is it Beethoven?
Is it Mozart? Who is it?

It's just contemporary...

"don't know what I'm doing"
type vibe.

All three cooks
have gone for savoury.

We don't have a dessert.
I'm virtually heartbroken.

I can see the tears
running down your cheeks!

You've got ten minutes left, guys.

God!

God, this is stressful!

Aargh!

SHE LAUGHS

Got no idea if this is right,
but I'm giving it a go.

You have just five minutes,
everybody.

Is that cooked enough?
Maybe do it another bit... Mmm!

You got fries, my friend?

90 seconds.

Think. Think, Paddy.

Are we going to get this
on a plate, Francesca? Yeah.

What IS that, Francesca?

A foam, a cherry foam.

Where's your cherry sauce?

In here now.
You threw it all in there? Yeah.

And what's made it foam up?
What have you added to it?

Milk. Milk.

Happy? Happy, yep.

How long's that been resting, Chef?

I don't know, t...

Never been called "Chef" before!

That's it, guys!
Time's up. Stop, please.

HE EXHALES DEEPLY

God, it looks so messy!

Let's see.

Francesca, if you could.

NARRATOR: Estate agent Francesca
has used the cherries and almonds

to make Chinese five-spice
chicken breast

topped with toasted honey almonds,

served with chilli-spiced
roast potatoes

and a cherry foam.

Your chicken's cooked really nicely
and you've got, like,

that sweet pepperiness
of five-spice on there.

You can roast a potato,
and they're really hot and peppery,

but you were supposed to feature
the cherries.

You lost confidence
in the cherry sauce,

and you've lost all the cherry
flavour by adding milk to it.

You should have stayed
with what you had.

I really like the almonds.

They're toasted.
That works quite well with it,

because it's a texture
rather than being a flavour.

But what I don't get is, I've got
this sort of milkshake affair,

and it's gone a bit sort of like
curdled cream.

And it doesn't work.

Not with a bit of chicken.
Thanks, Francesca. Thank you.

Obviously the main element
was cherries,

and I think I ruined that a bit.

But, yeah, I've done my best,
so literally that's all I can do.

NHS nurse Keith chose the cherries

and made pan-fried duck breast

served
with a cherry and red wine sauce,

asparagus, roast tomatoes,

cherry, honey and garlic compote

and shoestring fries.

Your duck, I'm fine with,

but for me,
I'd like a little bit more cookery.

Your fries are lovely and crispy.

Really, really well done.

Good use of the cherries.

You got cherry compote there
with garlic in it.

It's quite sharp and sour
at the same time.

Almost like a chutney.

Asparagus, great.
Your cherry sauce -

maybe a bit more time to reduce it,
but a good start.

Thanks, Keith. Thank you. Thank you.

I think I put a reasonable plate
of food out.

There's a couple of things
I would have done differently.

It's the MasterChef kitchen.
Stressful!

Professional bassoonist Paddy
also used cherries

to serve sumac-spiced duck breast

with chilli pepper
and cherry flavoured couscous,

and a cherry and red wine sauce.

The sauce is an odd colour,
but it smells pretty good.

That's a really beautifully cooked
piece of duck.

You've got chilli running
through your couscous,

cherries as well,
and roasted peppers.

There's even mint in there as well.

Paddy, I think that's delicious.

Thank you. I really like it!

That sauce is great.

You may have good
cook's instincts here,

because that's actually not bad. OK!

I didn't really know
what I was doing,

but John Torode saying
it's delicious, I...

Yeah, I'll walk away happy,
no matter what happens, so, yeah.

Three cooks and only two aprons.

That does mean
that one of them is going home.

We need to make a decision.

Today I think we should all
be proud of ourselves,

and...little pat on the back.
Well done.

Really proud that I got this far.
It's been a great day.

I've got a pick of this round,
and that was Paddy.

Paddy cooked the duck breast
pretty well.

He made cherry sauce
with blended cherries.

It didn't look right,
but it tasted really good.

Paddy goes through, most certainly.

Now, Keith...

That duck, I would like it cooked
a little bit more,

but he's got a nice little bit
of technique here and there.

A good red wine sauce
with cherry flavour.

Cherries turned to a compote
to go with that piece of duck.

Francesca cooked
a really nice chicken thigh,

but the sauce didn't work.

She ended up
trying to serve it as a foam.

Tatoes and cherry-flavoured milk
on a plate?

That doesn't work.

Keith and Francesca.

One gets the apron,
one person goes home.

Who's got the knowledge?
Who's got the skill?

I definitely feel like
I've got more to prove.

I really hope I get that chance
to just show them what I'm made of.

If I had to go home today,
I'd be disappointed.

But I think I've done enough
to get an apron.

Fingers crossed.

We only have
two MasterChef aprons left.

That does mean, sadly,

one of you will be leaving
the competition.

The first contestant getting
a MasterChef apron is...

..Paddy.

Congratulations.

Our second contestant
grabbing an apron is...

..Keith. Congratulations.

Francesca...
Whoa, it was a tight call.

Really hope that you enjoyed your
experience here in MasterChef.

Sorry. Thanks. Thank you.

Thank you so much.
Thanks, Francesca.

So I'm a bit gutted
that I didn't go through,

but all I can say is,
take this into a positive,

and, you know,
I'm still going to carry on cooking.

I love it,
and I'm going to keep going.

Gentlemen, please come up -
richly deserved - grab your aprons.

Well done, mate.
Well done. So good, so good.

It feels absolutely amazing
to wear this apron.

It's really, really cool.

Hopefully a long road ahead.

Absolutely brilliant.
Really chuffed. Chuffed to bits.

I'm coming back fighting.
I'm here to prove myself, so...

Ready for the next round.

Welcome back.

You are now cooking
for a place in a quarterfinal.

We have invited three special guests
into the dining room.

The final three from 2010 -

Tim Kinnaird,

Alex Rushmer,

and of course, the champion,
Dhruv Baker.

We want from you two courses
in an hour and 15 minutes.

There are just three
quarterfinal places up for grabs.

That does mean one of you
will be going home.

Ladies and gentlemen, let's cook.

I'm calm on the outside,
but inside I'm like,

"I need to get this all done!"

SHE GASPS

SMASH!
SHE GASPS

Plates are down. Sorry!

Excited, nervous, under pressure.

Producing eight plates of food
in 1 hour, 15 minutes is insanity.

I don't know how I'm going to do it,

but I'm feeling
super-competitive, actually.

What are you making, please,
Kayleigh?

Herb-crusted loin of cod,

green herb pomme puree,

a tarragon creamy sauce
split with parsley oil

with asparagus.

You're going to serve green mash?

Yeah, I am. Right!

THEY LAUGH

Is it about colour
or is it about just flavour?

I always make sure
things taste good,

but then I want them
to look nice as well.

And then for dessert, I'm doing
a lemon, lime and pineapple tart.

You've planned your timings?
Yeah, yeah. Good luck, Kayleigh.

Kayleigh's giving us all
a piece of cod.

Make sure there's no white bits
around the outside -

that's protein coming out -
that means it's overcooked.

We've got tarragon,
we've got chives,

we've got parsley.

They are very, very strong flavours.

Yes, I do love herbs!

What we've got to hope is that
they blend and they don't clash.

Dessert -

a tart with lemon mixture inside.

But they're not individual tarts.

Now, if that tart doesn't set

or something happens with
the pastry, we've got a problem.

Ahhh, Jesus Christ!

Come on!

Butter! The secret to success
is more butter.

Keith, what are your two courses,
please?

Pan-seared loin of venison
with a Stilton and broccoli puree,

hasselback potatoes,
girolle mushrooms,

some carrots and a red wine sauce.

And your next course?

Vanilla panna cotta
with pineapple mint salsa

with some rum
and some ginger and lemon.

You told us that your good lady wife
was a fantastic cook.

She's a brilliant cook.
Has she tried these two dishes?

She's tried these two dishes, yeah.
Verdict was thumbs-up.

And the grandchild
particularly likes the panna cotta.

I have been making
rather a lot of panna cottas,

because my three-year-old
granddaughter asks for it

every time she comes each week.

But we've not gone there
with the rum!

There's so much going on here.

Pan-fried venison,
we want it crispy on the outside,

nice river of pink
running through it,

but not jelly-like in the centre.

Everything tastes better
with butter!

Potatoes need to be cooked
all the way through.

We don't want hard carrots.

Just want these carrots done
a bit more.

Want a lovely glossy sauce,

nice and thick,
that coats the back of our spoon.

Vanilla panna cotta -
we want a slippery,

wobbly little cream dome.

He's serving that
with a pineapple salsa.

If it's going to be a salsa,
it should be even.

I don't want big hunks of pineapple
and little tiny bits of pineapple.

We need to see a bit of style.

Which way is the blast chiller?

That's the fritter done...

There are so many ingredients
on here!

Are you able to get all this into
your dishes?

I really hope so. A lot of
these ingredients are from friends

that have passed me their spices
from travels. Lovely.

Interesting menu there for Fareeda.

First off,
you've got a meze from Turkey,

a fattoush, crispy bread
that she's going to fry,

she's going to spice up.
We've got a lentil fritter.

Labneh, which is a type of yoghurt.

She's got a kind of
green, spicy chutney,

so she's got quite a bit of work
going on.

For main course,
we've got aubergine stew.

OK, that's the lid on.

Walnuts, pomegranate, molasses,
za'atar all going in there,

which is lemony and sherbety.

I'll whack it on now...

Aubergines stewed down nicely...

All right, go in.

..they should become
like a lovely, tender piece of meat.

And with that,
we're getting some rice as well.

I hope she can get it all done.

What is that book of yours? I don't
really follow recipes through text,

but through pictures.
I note the stories

around where I've been travelling,
friends that have influenced me,

and then I do a little doodle.

Taking part in the MasterChef
experience means a lot to me,

because it's really
about betting on myself.

So I'm really invested.

BLENDER WHIRS
SHE COUGHS

Oh, just splash yourself
with chilli?

COUGHING: Yeah.

You OK?
Yeah. Brace yourself!

Oh, I like that!

We're doing all right.
Come on, Paddy.

Cooking is also another passion
on the side of bassoon,

and it would be really cool
combining both careers together.

A cooking bassoon player
could definitely work out.

Paddy's two courses are risotto -
classic creamy rice porridge -

but he's going to flavour it
with a pistachio pesto.

Looks nice, looks nice.

That's going to be really,
really rich. And on top of that,

we're going to get breaded prawns.

To put the prawns
on the top is unusual.

And if they are crispy
and the risotto is wet,

what's going to happen
to the crispy prawn?

This has been inspired by
a recent family trip to Venice,

where we went to loads
of cicchetti bars,

and I had a pistachio pesto
pasta dish

and I was blown away by it.

Tell us about
a cicchetti bar, Paddy.

A cicchetti bar is sort of
a tapas bar in Italy,

where there's small plates
being served.

Me and my family travel a lot,
and it's really inspired my cooking,

and I've been very lucky
as a child growing up.

Dessert - he's taking
a classic chocolate fondant.

Look at that!

But we're having it flavoured
with ancho chilli.

Ancho chilli, not really hot -
more smoky in its flavour.

And then we're going to get
the whole thing flamed with tequila.

The problem could be that
when he flames the fondant,

the crispy outside
could become soggy.

I believe in these pieces...
Erm, pieces?!

I believe in these dishes. So...
Still thinking as a musician!

But maybe I've got to think of
that today. It's a performance.

It's no exaggeration to say that

MasterChef changes lives,
and I think the three of us

sat around this table today
would agree.

We've all worked in food,

and it just goes to show
how many different careers

and career opportunities
are available

to the guys who are
in that kitchen today.

21 years of MasterChef now,

and that standard raises.

That base level
understanding goes up,

new cuisines are represented,

so the expectation
gets higher every year.

I just want them to do

as well as they hope they can do,
because I think

the contestants that do that,

they can get into that zone of
cooking for themselves

to make it how they want it to be.
The deliciousness sorts itself out.

You've got 15 minutes
on your first course.

OK.
We've got herb-crusted cod loin.

What temperature's that?

50.

Well, I wanted it at 62.

Turn it up a bit.

I have.

Don't want it overdone.

Nice sort of translucent flesh
in the middle of the cod.

I would hope in the pomme puree
there's loads and loads of butter.

Do you like a bit of potato
with your butter, Chef?!

SHE LAUGHS

Yeah!

Kayleigh, you've got two minutes.
OK. OK?

And it's got to be beautiful
and silky and smooth.

Nice!

We're having a green party!

We are, yeah, it's turned out
that way!

Now we've got sauce and oil.
Right! Let's go, let's go, let's go!

I mean, I think this dish
is going to be held together

by the tarragon sauce.

If it's too thin, it just sort of
washes away on the plate.

OK. That's a good looking plate.

Lots of good cookery. Let's go!

Get back for your dessert, you.
Mm-hm.

Hi!
ALL: Hello. Hiya!

Thank you. You're welcome.

Nice.

So I've made for you

a herb-crusted loin of cod

with a green herb pomme puree,

a tarragon sauce split with
parsley oil and asparagus.

Thank you. Enjoy! Thank you so much!
Thank you. Bye!

Wow! It's a celebration of green.

I think it looks amazing.
I'm utterly blown away.

I genuinely don't think

it's possible to cook a piece of cod
more accurately than that.

It's exquisitely cooked.

And then I keep going back for these
little bits of charred asparagus,

which, again, itself
is perfectly cooked.

Lovely little notes of herbs
with that crumb.

You've got mint, there's parsley,
there's tarragon.

The mash is buttery.

The tarragon sauce
brings it all together.

It's absolutely spot-on.
It's a tremendous plate of food.

She's done incredibly well.

The fish is nice and soft.

I actually think she's got
the balance pretty well right

with all those herbs.
I like that sauce.

It's quite sharp and quite tangy.

Can't see any pastry rolled out
for your tart yet.

Nor can I.

Kayleigh hasn't lined her tart tin
with a pastry.

She was going to give us a tart,

but you can't do that
if there's no tart tin.

I was thinking about
maybe cutting it out

and just leaving it flat
and baking it like that.

Deconstructing? Yeah.

Get it in the oven quick.
You've only got just 15 minutes.

OK. Go, go, go.

DHRUV: So, Kelly's lemon,
lime and pineapple tart.

You want that pineapple
to have a little bit of texture.

Just watch your pineapple,
because it's cooking fast.

Come on!

DHRUV: You want it
to be cooked through, though,

so you don't want to be chewing
through crunchy bits of pineapple.

Cook, biscuit, cook, biscuit,
cook, biscuit... I know!

SHE LAUGHS

And it's cooked!

Kayleigh's tart will succeed or fail
on how good the pastry is.

All done? Yeah.

Come on, let's go. Good on you
for getting something out.

Well done. I know!

Hello again. Hello again! Hello!

I've made for you

what has now turned out to be

a deconstructed lemon,
lime and pineapple tart.

Didn't have time to make my case,
so... Yeah.

Well done for... Had to improvise.
Yeah,

well done for getting it on a plate.

Yeah. Thank you very much.
So, yeah. I hope you enjoy it.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

There was obviously
an issue in the kitchen,

but she's got a dessert out
and it smells fantastic.

You know, once you break into it
and you break up the pastry

and the pineapple and the cream,

it's perfectly delicious.

I'm pleased that she's rescued it.

That pineapple is
beautifully cooked,

pastry's light, and then the cream

with the promised
lime zest through it,

and they all come together
and they work.

Kayleigh will be
kicking herself for this,

but I really don't think
she needs to.

It actually tastes
really, really good.

That pineapple's lovely.

It's very refreshing
and it's not oversweetened.

A couple of things
didn't quite go to plan,

but I got it all out.

I'm glad about that.

15 minutes, Keith.

Keith's main course
is loin of venison

with broccoli and Stilton puree.

What I'd like is
a nice bit of caramelisation

around the edge of the loin, and
sort of nice and pink in the middle.

You're happy with the venison?
Yeah.

Hasselback potatoes -
you want texture on that,

crunch on the outside,
sort of soft in the middle.

And a red wine sauce.

It needs to be reduced.
It can't have split.

I can't quite see
how the Stilton fits in with it.

I don't think I've ever eaten
venison and cheese,

but I'm super-excited to taste it.

Mate, you do so much stuff!

Whoa! We ready to go?

Yep. Thank you very much.
Point me in the right direction.

Through the doors.
Through the doors!

Thank you very much.
Let's go! Venison away!

Hello. Hello. Hello, hello.

I've cooked for you
some pan-roasted venison,

Stilton and broccoli puree,

a hasselback potato,

water-bathed
and then roasted carrots

and girolle mushrooms for you.
I hope you enjoy.

Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you so much. Thank you.

The venison is well cooked.
Still pink in the middle. Tender.

The carrots, I think,
maybe could have done with

another couple of minutes or so.

The hasselback had
the right texture.

The mushrooms were cooked well.
The sauce was great.

Maybe a little bit more
reduction on it,

but all in all,
I think Keith's done really well.

But the Stilton is
a little bit annoying.

It's a bit over-present,

the strength
of the flavour of the cheese.

I'm happy
with the cookery of the venison.

But the carrots are undercooked,
and that sauce is very, very salty.

Hey, Keith!
All good. Look at the smile!

Loving the smile! Ohhh!

15 minutes to the panna cotta. Yep.

ALEX: Keith's panna cotta -

it's either perfectly set
or it's not good enough.

Come on, wobble, wobble, wobble.

So you've got
that variance of texture,

you've got that variance of heat,

with that rum against
the cool panna cotta.

It's all about the rum now.

So I'm really excited to try that.

This is the worrying bit.
Can we get it out?

MasterChef is strewn with
the corpses of failed panna cottas!

Away you go. Great.
So good luck to him.

Let's go! Thank you. Go get 'em!

That does the job, son!
That does the job.

Hello again.

So for dessert,
I've made a vanilla panna cotta,

pineapple chunks with some mint,

a little bit of rum
and some lemon and ginger.

I hope you enjoy.
Thank you. Thank you so much.

HE EXHALES HEAVILY

Really pleased with the panna cotta.
It had a wobble.

Almost had a wobble,
thinking it didn't have a wobble,

but it had a wobble!

I feel that
this hasn't quite worked.

The vanilla seems to have
clumped into the bottom,

so you haven't got
that lovely flecking

of vanilla beans throughout.

So, for me, the panna cotta
wasn't sweet enough.

I think I'm mostly disappointed
with the pineapple.

It isn't kind of sweet, rich...

It needs a bit more kind of life.

I think one of the issues is a bit
of acidity and a bit of booze

from the rum has just made
the whole thing curdle.

I can't taste the vanilla, but I
can't see any specks in there

at all. That pineapple salsa
is not pineapple salsa.

That's pineapple chunks,
but it's the texture of

the panna cotta
that's concerning me.

It's like mozzarella.
It's going a bit stringy.

Oh, beautiful.

Come on!

This is the fattoush crisp
that I'm making.

Once these are done,
I'm ready to plate up.

So, Fareeda's starter.

There's so much there
in terms of flavour,

- in terms of texture.
- Three minutes, please.

Three minutes.

Lentil fritter...
Anything that's deep-fried...

Oh, my God.

..hot oil and then drain
so it's not greasy.

Yeah, I'm happy with that.

If you're roasting a carrot,
I think it's important to roast it.

Nice and soft on the inside.

And then I've got
my little lentils for you.

This just sounds, you know,
bit crunchy, bit fried,

bit creamy. It's just going
to be delicious, isn't it?

Happy? Yeah.

Off you go. OK.

Well done, you. Thank you.

Hi! Hello. Hello. hello.

I have made whipped labneh
with roasted carrots,

a red lentil fritter,
fattoush crisps

and a green shatta,

which is a chilli,
vinegar and garlic dip.

It is very hot, so be mindful.

Or if you enjoy it, go for it!
No problem.

Thank you. Thank you so much.
Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Enjoy.

Crikey! This is an absolute
flavour bomb, isn't it?

I was very vocal about
not wanting a medium-rare carrot.

They're really nice
and perfectly roasted.

This shatta dip is super-hot,

and it just brings
the whole thing together.

I absolutely love this dish.

The labneh is rich with garlic.

A bit of acidity through it.

The fattoush - wonderful crunch.

Those red lentil fritters -
light, pillowy.

It's outstanding.

It's packed full of flavour.

The textures are spot-on.

This is tremendous cooking.

There's a lot of spice.

There's nothing shy
about that dish at all.

I think it's well done.

I like her food.

Fareeda. Yes.
15 minutes on your next course.

Great.

Feels soft. You do the job.

Beautiful!

There's a simplicity about
an aubergine stew

with walnuts and rice.

Why am I shaking?

But I think
this is going to deliver,

like, bags and bags of flavour.

We're getting
an aubergine each, right?

Yeah. Good, good, good.
Leaving the skin on? Yeah.

So, aubergine, I really like it

stewed down and kind of
nice and silky,

and I hope that's what this is.

In Farsi, it's called bademjan.
Farsi?

That's the national language
of Iran.

It smells great. I like your style.

And then loads of freshness
from the salad as well.

I think it sounds like
an incredibly well-balanced dish.

Thank you. OK, shall we,
shall we, shall we, shall we?

Yeah. We're good to go.

All right, give 'em a big smile.
Yeah.

Proud of your dish? Thank you.
I'm super-proud, thank you.

Well done. Let's go, Fareeda!

Hi again!
ALL: Hello.

So, for the main, I've made

aubergine in pomegranate
and walnut stew,

white basmati rice,

and then a Persian salad
with tomatoes, cucumber and sumac.

Thank you. Thank you. Enjoy!

WHISPERS: Oh, my God!

I've never put eight plates of food

in an hour and 15 minutes
in my life. Ever!

So I'm glad it's over.

It's delicious.
The aubergine is cooked through.

It's meltingly soft.
It's quite silky.

The rice is well cooked.

There's a gentle warmth and spice
running through that sauce,

and there's quite a lot of
cinnamon and walnut,

and that's delicious.

This salad, this is brilliant.

This is flavoursome,

this is packed full of acidity
and freshness and herbaceousness.

I've really enjoyed eating her food.
It's really exciting.

Nice, slippery aubergine.
Perfectly cooked.

I think
it's a really well-balanced dish.

There's sweet, there's sharp,
there's sour. Just fantastic.

That just oil in there, Paddy?
Yeah, that's just oil.

Paddy's main course...
A perfect risotto is one

where the rice just has
a tiny bit of texture.

JOHN: Right, risotto done?
Risotto done.

DHRUV: Garlic prawn risotto -
delicious.

Pistachios - start to be a little
bit dubious how that fits in,

but I'm certainly curious
to find out.

You got cheese in there as well,
right? Yes, some pecorino.

And then I'm going to put a grating
of Parmesan just on the top.

Prawns -
you've got to get them just right.

Not overcooked and chewy.

You want a bit of bounce,
a bit of texture.

Happy with those?
I'm happy with them.

I think the colour's OK...

But I trust in Paddy.

There you go, Chef.

Oooh!

Ooh, lovely. Off you go.

OK. Come on, Paddy! Come on!
Well done, mate.

HE EXHALES

Hello! Hello! Hello.
How are we doing?

Good, thank you. How are you?
Good. Yeah, not bad!

HE LAUGHS

So today I've made you
crispy chilli and lemon prawns

and a pistachio pesto risotto.

Great. Thank you. Thank you.
Cheers.

Mainly it's the pesto that I taste,

and the pistachio's
just kind of more texture.

But I'm actually quite enjoying it.

It's tasty. The prawns in particular
are very well cooked,

and the crumb on the outside of them
is properly tasty.

I like the doneness of the rice.
I quite like a bit of bite to it.

Pleasantly surprised.

The prawns crumbed nicely.

Nice bit of seasoning
on the outside.

He's actually cooked everything
well.

DHRUV: So Paddy's chosen

probably one of the most notoriously
risky desserts on MasterChef.

They're looking OK.
They're looking OK.

They're...

rising...

..ish.

Chocolate and ancho chilli fondant.

I have two minutes
on those fondants, so...

Nerve-racking, isn't it?
It is nerve-racking.

I've got one minute
until they're going to come out.

HE EXHALES DEEPLY
Chocolate and chilli is fantastic,

and adding those Mexican flavours
of tequila and lime,

it has the potential
to be pretty good, actually.

There it is. Fondants a-go-go.

Happy? Y-e-e-e-s.

Let's hope they're gooey
in the middle.

Well done. Hadn't stuck at all.

There we are!
I'm really impressed, Paddy.

That's it. Go on, then, torch it...

Wahey! You got flames.

Flambeeing it, just to roll
the dice a few more times!

Well done, Paddy! Right...

Amazing. OK. Right.

Let's go through. Go, go, go!

Mate!

Hiya. Hello again. Hello.

Oh, dear!

Thank you. Thank you so much.

For dessert, I've made you
an ancho chilli chocolate fondant

flambeed with tequila

with a lime mascarpone.

Hope you enjoy. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. Cheers.

Ooh, yeah. Yeah, beautiful.

Technically, this is the best
fondant I've eaten on MasterChef.

I like the ancho stuff.
I think it works quite well.

Tequila-wise, I think we're getting
more of an aroma of tequila

than a flavour of tequila.

I didn't get the mascarpone.
Mine is sort of split.

It's sort of gone slightly granular.

But I do applaud the fact
that the fondants all came out

with a molten centre, as promised.

GREGG: That is an absolutely perfect
example of a chocolate fondant.

I like the chilli in there.

The tequila works,
because it gives heat.

The boy done good.

Ahhh!

I didn't realise
how hard it would be doing that.

Like, really di...
really difficult!

Four really interesting cooks,
I think.

We've got to decide who's going to
go through. But I tell you what -

I mean, I think
these could hold their own

amongst the best of the competition.

I'm impressed with today.

The dining room's
Cook of the Day was Kayleigh.

The cod with all the herbs -
good dish.

For dessert,
when it was all going wrong,

she pulled it back
and it worked wonderfully.

Kayleigh's got herself
a place in the quarterfinal.

I'll tell you who else
I think deserves a place,

and that's Fareeda.

A Turkish-style meze
with the labneh

with that really ferocious
green chilli dip.

It was fantastic!

Main course - an aubergine, walnuts,
pomegranate molasses and some rice.

And it was delicious.

Fareeda's going through
to a quarterfinal.

Now we have to make a decision
between the two boys.

Keith - the venison
was cooked really nicely.

The carrots weren't cooked properly.

That sauce was too salty
and also too thin.

Dessert - the panna cotta itself
was almost stringy,

like mozzarella cheese, and
I don't know what happened there.

Paddy's an interesting cook.

It was a well-cooked risotto.

The prawns were perfect!

For me, the dessert
was the star from Paddy.

A really good chocolate fondant,
crisp on the outside...

..and then flambeed with tequila.

I thought that was exceptional work.

Who's going to join Kayleigh
and Fareeda in the quarterfinal,

and who's going home -
Paddy or Keith?

I can hold my head up high
thinking I've done my best,

and I hope they can see
a cook in me.

To get a place in the quarterfinal,
it'd be a dream,

a childhood dream come true.

I just want to keep going.

I think all four of you really
stepped up to this challenge.

But there are just
three quarterfinal places,

which does mean, sadly,
one of you will be going home.

Our first quarterfinalist is...

..Kayleigh.

What a fighter. Well done, you.

Our second quarterfinalist...

..is Fareeda.

Well done, you.

Our third quarterfinalist is...

..is Paddy.

Paddy, congratulations.

Keith, thank you
so very much indeed.

We hope you've enjoyed
the competition.

Good luck. Well done. Thank you
very much. Thank you very much.

HE EXHALES DEEPLY

I'm really proud
to have got this far.

It's been a great experience.

This isn't the end of
my cooking journey.

I'll still be there, cooking away!

Kayleigh, Fareeda, Paddy...

Congratulations.
You're MasterChef quarterfinalists.

Yay! Amazing...!

THEY LAUGH AND CHEER

I'm really, really shocked.

Holy moley! You were so good, babe!
Oh, thank you!

Honestly,
I'm absolutely dumbfounded!

It almost made me cry.

SHE LAUGHS

Well done, well done, both of you.
Yeah, and you. Honestly, so good.

I'm so delighted!

I was really worried that
I wouldn't be getting through,

but I'm ready for what's to come,

and I'm just going to keep working
harder.

I feel really tingly
and shocked, actually!

I'd definitely like to continue
going as far as I can possibly go.

Next time...

..six more home cooks compete...

Go big or go home, I guess! So...

..for the right to wear
a MasterChef apron...

It's far from being cooked.

Triumph!

I think it's a great dish.

..before battling
for a place in the quarterfinal.

This is absolutely banging.

I'm really impressed by it.