All language subtitles for MasterChef.The.Professionals.S16E14.1080p.HDTV.H264-DARKFLiX

It's knockout week on
MasterChef: The Professionals.

Last time, two more chefs
were sent home.

Now the strongest ten
are being split into two groups

to compete outside the MasterChef
kitchen for the first time...

Running around
like a headless chicken.

Yes, yes, yes!

Pray for Molly.

...before returning to fight
for a place in the semifinals.

I've gone through different
challenges, different tasks.

I've got this far. I just want
to win now. It's go time.

The other chefs that I'm up against,
they're unbelievable.

I'm going to give it everything
that I've got today on this.

Today is a really big day. I really
want to get to the semifinals,

it's all I'm thinking about.
It's got to happen, basically.

The competition's getting
to the cutting edge now.

This is no time to play it safe.

Two massive challenges between these
five and a place in the semifinal.

Pop-up restaurants have
revolutionised the way we eat.

With a vibrant mix of cuisines
on offer in dynamic settings,

some of the most exciting food
currently in the UK

has come from the pop-up industry.

Tonight, James, Tommy, Charlie,

Molly and Lauren

will be opening
the MasterChef Professionals' pop-up

at Market Halls, a popular dining
venue in the heart of London.

Pop-up restaurants are
a very different atmosphere

to what our chefs have been used to.

We need to see a different
side to our chefs today.

They've got to embrace
this environment.

I'm properly excited about this.

Chefs, welcome to Market Halls,
right here in central London,

one of the largest pop-up
restaurant venues in the country.

Competition amongst chefs
for residency in a place

like this is fierce.

This is a chance
for you to make your mark.

You are going to be presenting
your food to 25 movers and shakers,

not just in the pop-up scene,
but in the food industry as a whole.

We are going to give them
the opportunity to vote

on their favourite dish.

The chef who gets the most
votes will go straight

through to the semifinals.

Three hours, chefs, to deliver
something quite spectacular.

Off you go.

Having to share a work space
in tightly packed kitchens,

the contestants will have their work
cut out to prepare their dish

for today's pop-up menu.

This is completely new for me.

I've never done any pop-up of any
kind, so it's very intimidating

coming here today.

I'm confident but, at the same time,
I don't want to get overconfident

and stitch myself up further
down the line.

I'm used to cooking
in places like this cos

I've got my own hash brown
street food business.

I've done a pop-up,
but just not as much pressure.

My game plan is put my head down,

got to go for it.

All five of them will have
a burning desire to stand out here.

It's got to be smart, I want
it to be edgy, but it's also got

to be doable in big numbers.

Keen to continue to showcase
his love of Asian flavours,

street food van owner James
is making a very different take

on a Chinese classic.

The inspiration behind
my dish is prawn toast.

I love prawn toast,
so hopefully it'll go down well.

James has got a dish
that's intriguing -

two types of prawn mince, and
we've got two different flavours.

We've got jalapeno peppers,

and then gochujang,
a red pepper spice, piped out,

one on top of the other,
rolled into a ballotine, chilled,

and then that's going to be wrapped
in spring roll pastry laces.

This must feel like home to you!

It is! I'm used to cooking
in places like this.

So both of these are prawn meat,
and it's going into, like,

a spring roll? Essentially,
but with shredded pastry.

So I'm going to shred the pastry
and then roll it up

so it's like a big tumbleweed. Loads
of lovely texture on the outside.

I love prawn toast. I wanted to
kind of replicate prawn toast

a bit better. This sounds like
probably the most glamorous

and really interesting-sounding
prawn toast I think I've ever had.

It's going to have to work.
Oui, Chef.

I'm curious to see how
he's going to wrap this up.

Cos I don't want
those prawn flavours

disappearing into a deep fryer.

We've got prawn head mayonnaise,

so he's got the prawn heads
he's cooked down in the wok,

then he's going to make
his mayonnaise with that oil,

which I think is a great idea.

We've also got
wakame seaweed relish,

which is going to sit on the side.

Underneath all of
these big flavours,

we've got a katsu curry-inspired
chilli sauce.

# Spicy, spicy! #

James we know can do invention

but, like all inventions,

it's either going to be
the next great thing

or the next forgettable thing.

Once the prawn rolls get set, then
I'll feel a lot more under control.

Get them in the fridge.

There's more going on in my food
today than I've done before,

so it's a lot more pressure
that I'm putting on myself.

Sous-chef Lauren has stood out with
food from her Jamaican heritage

and is hoping to shine again
with a Caribbean spice oxtail,

served with bone marrow butter.

I'm making what is called,
like, a green seasoning.

So, like, wet marinade
for the oxtail.

I've got some garlic,
Scotch bonnet, parsley,

chilli powder, smoked paprika.

Lauren, she's adding strong
Caribbean flavours to that.

We've got a Scotch bonnet chilli,

one of the hottest chillies
on the planet.

If you use it sparingly,
it gives a fruity flavour.

If you go too far,
it will just strip your palate.

Pretty important I get it on now
so that it can seep into the meat,

so I'm going to vac-pack it to try
and intensify it, as normally

I'd leave it about 24 hours.

We've got coconut and kidney bean
puree. She's going to be

putting the kidney beans
inside the bone marrow

and then she's covering that with
the beautifully braised oxtail.

Also got a bone marrow butter
with cassava crisps.

What's inspired the dish? This is

one of my favourite dishes to cook.
I do it for people that I love.

It's one of those dishes
that reminds me of Christmas-time,

or a birthday, or some sort
of special occasion,

cos that's when you normally do it.

You've got a big smile on your face
right now. Love the sound of it.

You've got a lot of work
to get on with. Thank you.

It's a tried-and-tested recipe,
sort of recipe that she cooks

for her family, and she's bringing
this to some of the top people

in the pop-up world.

I need to make sure that
everything is on point,

stick to the plan and
try and get that pass.

SHE LAUGHS

Stepping away from his usual
classical style, head chef Tommy

has instead chosen to cook
his version of one of the world's

most globally recognised takeaways.

I'm making a ribeye kebab.

Thai slaw with that,

some crispy and pickled
shallot rings,

a kimchi emulsion,

and some pickled chillies.

Quite a mixed bunch of cuisines,
I like to think.

Hopefully it works.

Tell us about the idea
behind your menu, please.

Basically, the last time
I was in London, on the way home,

I was very hungry and the only thing
I could find was a kebab.

And eating it on the way
to the tube, I was like,

"This is actually very tasty."
It's kind of inspired by the idea

of a really delicious kebab,
so that's what I'm going for today.

Are you going to serve it
with a knife and fork

or is it going to be in a pitta?
It's going to be in a flatbread,

basically, so it's going
to be a big, fat flatbread.

I want them to eat it,
getting messy and just be like,

"Wow, that's delicious,"
you know, that's what I want.

We've got some ribeye which
he's marinating in shio koji,

which is a Japanese marinade.

Shio koji is, like, a naturally
fermented rice grain, essentially.

Very umami.

The thing is, you've got such
a delicious piece of beef,

what you put on it has got
to enhance it, not destroy it.

We've got Thai coleslaw, we've got
pickled chillies with this dish.

Kimchi emulsion, which has also got
some spice in the emulsion, too.

So kimchi is fermented cabbage,
contains a lot of chilli,

got quite a bit of heat.

It's also got that sort of natural
sweet and sour note to it.

You're going to have hot,
you're going to have sweet,

you're going to have sour.

You could have a lot of ingredients
all working against each other.

I hope this dish
is tried-and-tested.

Hopefully, some of the guests
today are hungover,

that'll probably work in my favour.

HE LAUGHS

22-year-old Charlie is a head chef
at a fish restaurant in Cornwall,

but for today's menu has decided
to create a plant-based bao bun...

So I'm making my bao mix here.

This is the key part of the dish,
getting this proved,

that's why it's my first job.

...that he plans to fill
with a tropical Asian fruit,

oyster mushrooms
and a cola barbecue sauce.

All veg-based? All plant-based.

Yeah, why are you doing that?

So, outside of work,

I optionally choose to go
on a plant-based diet.

So for me, this is
quite close to home,

something I'm quite
passionate about.

I really want to prove that you can
turn plants, fruit and vegetables

into something that tastes
exactly like meat.

Charlie's incredibly passionate
about his plant-based food,

so I love the fact he's bringing
that here to the pop-up.

I've got my bao bun on to prove now,
and I need to get every other

job done before that's ready
to go into its second prove.

So every other element to the dish
needs to be done in the next hour.

He's using a fresh jackfruit,

and he's also using
tinned jackfruit,

so the tinned will be savoury.

The fresh one will add a slight
sweetness to it, that's lovely.

He's got oyster mushroom
going through there as well.

These are nice textures.

So, cola-flavoured barbecue sauce.
Yeah. Go on, tell me about that.

So the main base mix of that,
I've got it here, is the cola,

and then it's got a little bit
of sugar in there,

red wine vinegar,
garlic, tomato paste.

And I'm going to reduce that down

over the jackfruit
and the mushrooms.

I need to just be careful.
This is quite a ripe jackfruit.

And obviously, just like any fruit,
the riper it is, the sweeter is.

Obviously, I've got a cola barbecue
sauce going on so the whole

thing could get a little too sweet.
So I think I'm just going to make

an adjustment now with how much
sugar I add into my barbecue sauce.

# Wah-bah-bah. #

Having stood out so far
with her classic dishes,

private chef Molly has come up
with a dessert combining

two recipes from opposite
sides of the world.

Right, what are you cooking?
I'm doing a take on opera cake.

Oh! So, classic French.

Layered coffee sponge, butter cream.
Yeah.

All about technique,
all about skill.

I'm making it into a baked Alaska.

I've made an orange
and coffee ice cream.

I'm going to do a disc of opera,

then a scoop of
the ice cream on top,

and then I'm going to finish it off
with an Italian meringue,

blowtorch it.

You're taking a risk with this one.

That ice cream melts,
you're in big trouble.

Got to take risks. If I can't take
risks now, I'm never going to.

What Molly's attempting, I think
is wonderful, but it's incredibly

ambitious in this atmosphere.

Remember, she's not got
to get one or two out,

she's got to get 25 of them out.

She's got a sponge.

The opera cake itself
has layers of sponge.

I just can't take my eyes off them.
If I take my eyes off them,

I might as well just go home now.

On top of that,
you've got a coffee ice cream.

Yeah.

Really strong coffee.

Then she's going to cover the whole
thing in an Italian meringue.

It'll just be go, go, go,
push, push, push till the end today.

But it needs technical ability,

a little bit of artistry and style.

Pray for Molly.

I really think we've got
five great dishes here.

This is going to be about
service and execution.

Who's the one that really
wants to go straight

through to our semifinal?

That's what it's all about.

Chefs, an hour of prep time
has gone already!

James has been busy preparing
enough shredded pastry

to encase 25 portions
of his spiced prawn mix.

Basically, just cutting it into,
essentially, pasta noodles.

So it's going to be a lovely
amount of texture on it and look

really cool as well.

You want the pastry case
to be the security that wraps

around the prawn flavours,
because I don't want the prawn

to taste of oil, especially
the oil of a deep fat fryer.

While the pastry laces chill,

James's next job is to finish
making his prawn head mayonnaise...

So I've infused oil
with all the heads,

a bit of ginger, then emulsifier.

...and the wakame seaweed relish.

I'm going to be cooking it down
with some onions, a bit of ginger,

sugar and some rice wine vinegar.

Almost like a very quick chutney.

Hopefully, a little bit of
sweet and sour on the side to

what's quite a spicy, rich dish.

Should be good, should be good.

Lauren's Caribbean spiced oxtail
has been marinating for 30 minutes,

and she's now started the first
of two cooking processes.

So I'm browning the oxtail.

If you want to get
a really nice, deep flavour,

you caramelise brown sugar in some
oil and then you sear your meat.

I'm just basing it on Jamaicans,
that we do this technique.

So once I've done this, it's got to
go straight into the pressure cooker

and get soft.
SHE CHUCKLES

The most important thing
about cooking oxtail is cooking it

so that the meat just
falls off the bone.

If it doesn't naturally fall
off the bone, it's not cooked.

I'm nervous about
the pressure cooker.

I'm hoping that it's perfect,
it melts in the mouth.

I've also got my kidney bean
and coconut puree on,

my rice is cooking, and now
I'm getting ready to get

my cassava ready.

Cassava is a very, very starchy
white vegetable.

She's going to slice it down thinly
and make chips out of it.

I need to also scrape the marrow
from my bones to use for a butter.

For a flavour with
those cassava chips,

she's got bone marrow,
and then she's going to whisk

that into butter.

But what she's got there
is fat on fat.

She's also got oxtail, lots of fat.

She's got to be
really, really careful here

this isn't greasy
and it's not too rich.

Tommy is finishing off the dough

for his flatbreads
to hold his ribeye kebab meat.

So I've got bread flour,
natural yoghurt, cumin seeds,

so it's quite a simple flatbread.

I don't want to
mess around too much.

While the dough rests,

Tommy has three different
garnishes to get ready.

Just prepped all of my
shallot rings for the pickle.

Just prepping the red cabbage
for my coleslaw now,

so a lot of veg chopping.

Going to have a variety of
different vegetables come together.

Got a lot to do still,
so definitely up against it.

Charlie's cola barbecue sauce is
ready to be added to his

jackfruit and mushroom filling
for the bao buns.

Literally just got to bring
that down now for the next hour,

and it'll really go into
the jackfruit and the mushrooms

and give that meaty flavour.

A lot of slaw to make,
so I've got my celeriac in there,

apple, and I've got my plant-based
mayonnaise here that I've just made

from the aquafaba of the chickpeas.

Charlie's looking very organised.
He has not stopped.

I think Charlie's just turned up the
heat on this kitchen another notch.

On dessert, Molly's making good
progress on her opera baked Alaska.

Got my sponge done.

I've got four ice cream
machines on the go.

I've made a coffee syrup
with coffee liqueur,

just to soak a bit of sponge in.

I think the risk for Molly
is timing.

This is a warm-cold dessert.

You've got frozen ice cream
on a sponge, then you've got

your chocolate and your butter cream
surrounded with an Italian meringue.

Every single layer
has to be perfect.

Just got to keep my head down

for the last 50 minutes now
and crack on.

With less than an hour
until service, the 25 guests

have started to arrive.

They're some of the UK's top chefs
and pop-up entrepreneurs.

My parents are Jamaican and Turkish.

It's a very unusual,
I call it Jurkish,

and I do international food,
but with Caribbean inspiration.

I understand what it takes
to make a good pop-up.

It's not easy, you've got a lot of
things to fight against.

Usually, you're in a small space,

you haven't got the right equipment.
You just have to get on with it.

So it's a lot about perseverance
and creativity.

We specialise in outdoor cooking,

particularly American barbecue.

The type of food that you've got
to pour your heart and soul

into to make it taste fantastic.

And I know all of these contestants
today are going to be pouring

their heart and soul
into these dishes,

and I can't wait to taste them.

Just opened my pop-up.

My focus is Asian street food,
a lot of steamed stuff,

I've got baos, I've got dumplings.

Going from restaurant kitchen
to pop-up's completely different.

You got to adapt
to where you're going.

Sometimes you're there for a day,
a weekend, and it's really intense.

So I started as a chef
when I was 14.

I set up my own business
five years ago and we cook

burgers with truffle in.

The chefs have got to
give it their all.

They've got one dish
to really make it sing,

so I think flavour and appearance
is really important for this dish.

I'm the founder of Tatale,
a contemporary pan-African concept.

Something that's really, really
important in a pop-up setting

is the ability to be able
to be really quick, fast,

and get your dishes out there,

so the pressure is going to be on,
it's going to be unrelenting.

With 30 minutes' prep time
still remaining, all five chefs

need to work fast in order
to be ready for service.

25 guests on your own
is a massive amount of work.

Anyone who's ever done
Christmas dinner for more than six

can appreciate just the amount
of work that's going on in here.

Doesn't that look yummy? 30 of them.

I'll make sure I get it nicely set,

back in the fridge,
ready for frying later.

As long as they don't explode
when frying, we're winning.

So...fingers crossed.

With her oxtail in the pressure
cooker, Lauren is pushing hard

to finish the final element
in the prep time -

a Caribbean squash called chocho.

It's going to be pickled.

The oxtail's going to be quite
soft, nice melt-in-the-mouth.

So I wanted something a bit
more sharp to break through it,

as well as keeping the theme
of using Caribbean ingredients.

Just a few little components,
and I'll leave my meat till last

cos that needs to be soft.

With service fast approaching,
Tommy still needs to roll out

and cut 25 flatbreads.

Making the dough is one thing.

Rolling them all perfectly
round without a cutter

is really tricky.

There's a lot of maintenance
behind it, a lot of rolling.

And once they are cooked,
I'm then going to brush them

in the beef dripping.

That's a lot of flatbread to do,
it really is,

especially if you're going to add
all that beef flavour to it as well.

This is a really tricky
task he's set himself here.

Charlie is also battling to finish
the dough for his bao buns.

Got a few things to do.

30 bao buns to roll, so just trying
to get them all done in time,

leave them with enough time
to prove again.

You want a nice fluffy bao bun,

fluffy enough to put
your head on like a pillow.

Then, while they're proving,
I've got to round off all

the other items of the dish,
head down and crack on.

Molly's coffee ice cream is churned,

and opera cake soaked
in coffee liqueur,

but she still needs to make
the all-important Italian meringue

to cover the dessert.

My meringue is the last
job on my prep list.

You've got to get the Italian
meringue absolutely spot on.

If the meringue is wrong in any way,
the temperature of the cooked sugar,

this meringue could break down quite
easily when she begins torching it.

Plenty of time for it
to cool down naturally,

make sure it's as firm as possible.

Erm, that's the plan, anyway.

James, Lauren, you're going to be
serving your dishes first, OK? Oui.

Lauren and James now have just
ten minutes to finish cooking

and serve their dishes.

I'm going to have to fry off
prawn balls, garnish them

with furikake, which is sesame,

little bit of nori,
some red pepper flake.

James, he's got a very large prawn
ball wrapped in that beautiful

pastry, deep-fried.

He's got to make sure
that they're cooked are just right.

If those prawn balls are not
cooked, he's in big trouble.

For Lauren, everything
now rests on her oxtail

being cooked to perfection.

Yes, yes, yes!

Lauren is absolutely delighted
her oxtail is just melting,

falling off the bone.

I think my main worry was the meat,
because it's something that usually

takes me four hours. So happy.
Really hot, burning my fingers,

but it'll be worth it in the end.

Right, chefs, you've got four
minutes before your first plates

leave the kitchen. Are you two
working together? Yes, Chef.

How long have you got on that,
Lauren? Give me one minute,

One minute? Yeah, oui. Ready.

James is making "not prawn toast",

so it's jalapeno and gochujang prawn

wrapped in crispy pastry.

Holding well.

It should be super-tasty.
I'm excited.

You want them to be a bit like,
you know...

The toast element is that
crispy pastry. Yeah...

Really looking forward to that.

Your bandaged prawn balls,
are they all right?

My mummy prawn balls, yeah.

They're like The Mummy, yeah.
They're good.

Prawn head and ginger mayo.

I want that really punchy
shellfish flavour.

Katsu chilli sauce,

I want that punch, but I want
to be reminded that it's katsu.

Oh, whoa!

Got too excited.

We need to keep rolling.

Just had a little accident. Give me
30 seconds there. Yeah, no problem.

There's gochujang, which is Korean,

we've got furikake and katsu,
which is Japanese.

It's a little bit
all over the place.

Hopefully it's balanced enough
that it's going to work.

They are very attractive plates.

Very attractive. Very different.

Service!

Service, please!

I'm very happy. I would order that.

They're tricky little things
to put together,

so I hope they can see the skill
and the work that's gone into it.

James's not prawn toast
was delicious, really unique,

I haven't had anything
like that before.

The filo pastry that wrapped
the prawn was really crispy,

really strong in prawn flavour.
Yeah, it's delicious.

I'm liking a lot.

The pastry was very crispy.

The prawn head and ginger
mayo were amazing.

The katsu,
which was a katsu and chilli,

I like spice, so for me it was good.

Predominantly, I could
taste the prawn head,

which is a nice flavour.

The wakame relish
on the side lifted the whole

dish completely. I got crisp,

I got texture, I got prawn flavour.
I genuinely love that dish.

The prawn ball, that's delicious,
really good flavour, and I love

the pastry on the outside.

I love the mayonnaise on top,
love the presentation.

Really liking this a lot.

We always knew James had technical
ability and we always knew

he had creativity, but this time
he has really brought some

fantastic flavours together.

First table's up, now we've got

another table of four, guys, all
right? Yes, Chef. Let's go, Lauren.

How long, Lauren?
A minute and a half. Oui.

I love the sound of this dish.

Braised oxtail should
be unctuous and soft.

Are you happy with the way
the oxtail's cooked?

Very happy. Oh, that's nice, Lauren!

This is a Jamaican-inspired
dish here.

The kidney bean puree,
I can't wait to try that out.

It sounds very street food-style
as well, so I'll be excited to see

what it's like on the plate.

And that's the rice going
on the base there, yeah? Yeah.

Bone goes on top and that's it?
And that's it. And then we've

got the crisps on the side.

All right, guys, nearly there,
final push.

Bone marrow cassava CI'iSpS,

I want to taste bone marrow,
because if you're going to say that

that's what it is...

Lauren, do you reckon you've got
the winning dish there?

I think it's only best
you think that way.

Let's go. Come on, guys.
Get these last few tables out,

customers are waiting.

Service!
SHE LAUGHS

Let's go. Brilliant job!

BOTH: Ooh! Did it!

Well done.

So the dish is exactly what
I wanted it to be - there's spice,

there's, like, earthy tones
through the oxtail,

then I've got a bit of pickle,
crunch, so I'm happy with that,

and I hope they feel the same.

The oxtail is cooked really well.

It's really soft and falling
off the bone, as it should be.

I think the chef did a really good
job to include some spicy taste

in the oxtail. Plus, they have
this pickled chocho on top,

which is a really good idea.

These are literally the best
cassava chips I've ever tasted.

The kidney bean puree, I loved that,

I just wanted more of it.

Overall, I thought
it was a good dish.

Quite liked the coconut
flavour of the rice.

The oxtail is soft,
and it's unctuous,

and it's cooked really well
in that pressure cooker.

She's used the Scotch bonnet quite
well, and it's bringing a little bit

of heat to it, but not too much.

These little cassava chips
on the side, great idea,

and I love the fact that she's
brushed them with a little bit

of beef fat as well. Fantastic!

Next up are Charlie and Tommy.

But with their service
about to start...

I'm running round like
a headless chicken.

...Tommy is nowhere near ready.

Tommy, you're looking
a little bit frantic.

Just the flatbreads took a lot
longer than what I anticipated.

I'm going to do six more.

Are all your sides done?

I need to finish my coleslaw,
fry my shallot rings.

Obviously, cook my beef.

Uh-oh! So there's bit to do.

Whoa! I've got a lot to do,

I'm definitely behind. Charlie,

what have you got left to do?
I've got my buns on to steam,

I've got my shallots crisping up.

Pickled cabbage is done
and celeriac slaw's in the fridge,

so I'm looking good.
You are ready to go! Oui.

You can't cook a few flatbreads
while you're at it, could you?

HE LAUGHS

How many you got left to do, Tommy,
is that your last few?

Yeah, just cooking
these last guys off now.

Up against it. To the wire.

Tommy, he's got 20-odd steaks to
get seared, cooked, rested and cut

before he can serve.
That's a lot of work for one chef.

20 steaks, it's definitely
a challenge. There's a lot of meat.

I just want to make sure
they're all beautifully cooked.

Remember, you two have got to
serve at the same time.

Make sure every dish gets
the same attention.

Remember, these guys are voting

on which of you go straight
through to the semifinal.

How long do you want to go, Tom?

I'm going to be sort of
three minutes.

Tommy's kebab,
that just sounds amazing,

I love kebabs myself.

There's beef flatbread.

Obviously,
it's going to be home-made.

I'm just hoping it's just soft,

it's just delicious
with that ribeye as well.

Yeah, I'm happy with them.
They're tasty.

I think they'll be OK. I'm happy.

I'd like the ribeye
to be cooked medium at most.

Medium rare, ideally.

Tommy, happy with the beef?

I'm happy with the cooking of it.
Rare? It's medium rare.

Tom, how long until you're up
on the first five?

I'll be two minutes, Chef.

Yeah, two minutes
are good for me, Chef.

Thai-inspired coleslaw,
that quite intrigues me.

Crispy and pickled shallot rings,
I want a nice crisp.

Obviously, that's where your
texture's coming from.

And nice a pickle to cut through
the fattiness of the ribeye.

Chillies.

Tommy, what have you got
left to do?

So I'm just going to
add my mayonnaise.

Right, you need to hurry up
cos he's finished. OK.

Anything else?

Coriander, and then that's it.

Right, if you're ready,
call service. Service, please!

Very tough, did a lot there.

There's a lot of stuff
to get on the plate.

Things could have been better
but, overall, I'm quite happy.

The ribeye itself tastes
really on point.

It's very tender,
it's not overly cooked,

and I can taste
the Thai-inspired coleslaw.

I think the shio koji marinade,

I think that's pretty inspired,
actually.

I mean, I've not seen that before,

and I think that works
really great with ribeye.

So I think the shallot rings
worked really well cos that gave

a crispy element to the dish.

Pickled chillies,
again, that's a nice touch.

All in all, it's well-balanced,
it's good.

The beef is cooked well.

Textures of the different vegetables
and the pickles come through great.

But, unfortunately,
the overall flavour is burnt,

and it's from the flatbread.

Balance of flavours was quite good.

Just needs to be something
different holding it together.

There's great charring
on the meat and there's good cumin

through the bread as well.

I'm getting the crunch
of the shallots.

I like the pickled chillies,
I love the coleslaw.

I actually like this, I really do.

Right, we're going
to pick it up now.

At the same time, OK?
Oui! Right? Let's go, come on.

How long, please, Tommy?
Two minutes. Yeah.

Charlie's mushroom and jackfruit
bao sounds amazing!

Jackfruit, how does it taste? Good.

I've got the young tinned jackfruit,
I've got the fresh whole jackfruit,

and then I've also got the oyster
mushroom in there all together,

so I like the texture contrast
between all three.

Do you think
he's made his own bao bun?

Because that's quite difficult
en masse.

This is
MasterChef: The Professionals.

SHE LAUGHS

Charlie has made their own
bun, for sure.

How fluffy are they?
Fluffy as a pillow?

They're fluffy as a pillow.

It's a mustard slaw, so we're going
to have a vinegar taste in there.

We've got pickled red cabbage.

I hope the paprika crispy onions
give it some texture as well,

because that's all very soft.

Come on, last push!

I love a cola barbecue sauce,
but it is very sweet.

I think if Charlie pulls this off,
I think it's going to be a good one.

If Charlie doesn't pull this off,
it could be a disaster.

We're rooting for you, Charlie.
Come on, you got this.

Come on, boys, let's go.

Come on, come on, come on.
Customers are waiting.

Service, please!

Fairly happy. I think it
sings street food pop-up.

Pickled red cabbage adds the
sharpness that it really needs,

and then your crispy onions
just to kind of give it

that texture as well.

I really liked the barbecue
sauce, it was nice and sweet

with the cola. The mushroom and

jackfruit had quite a good, beefy
texture for a vegan dish.

I thought that the celeriac slaw
was delicious and the bao itself

was clearly made from scratch,

it was very fluffy and
a really good effort overall.

The jackfruit is great -
sweet, sour.

Love the little cabbage on the top.

The bao bun is actually fabulous,
beautiful and soft.

That's sensational.

That cola barbecue, sort of smoky,
but properly sweet.

This is good.

Last to serve is Molly,

but she's run into a problem
with her Italian meringue.

It's dropped cos it's been sat,
the air's dropped out of it

and it wouldn't work
if I was to pipe it on now, so...

Molly's meringue has not worked.
She's not going to use it,

she's thrown it away
and she's started again.

Said a prayer to the meringue gods.

Molly is making opera cake
baked Alaska,

topped with coffee ice cream
and Italian meringue.

Sounds like a technical dessert.

You've got different
temperatures going on.

There's a danger that it
might kind of fall apart.

Come on, come on, come on, come on.

You're the last course!

The ice cream has got to sit and not
melt before it hits the table.

You don't do things by halves,
kid, do you? Eh?

That meringue needs to be standing
very pert above everything.

And if it's not,
that might be disappointing.

Second attempt of meringue made,
it all comes down

to whether it holds
its shape once piped.

Nice. Well done.

God, you don't half make some work
for yourself, you know that?

Somebody get Lauren, please.

Lauren, would you mind?

It's now a race to plate
all of her desserts

before the ice cream melts.

Right, we're going to do
two tables together.

A four and a three, OK? Yeah.

Is that ice cream OK, Molly?
Yeah.

It will be if I move fast enough.

Yeah, you need to get a move on
or it's going to be melting.

Oh! we'll fix that.

Oh, aye, aye!

Come on, Molly, hold it together.

Service, please.

Thank you, Lauren. You're welcome.

Molly, that looked tough.

It better taste good! It will.

That were very, very hard.

I think every obstacle that could
have come up against me did.

I love the ice cream. The opera
cake, the layers could have been

more defined and the cake itself was
a little bit dry, but the overall

flavour was great.

It was a nice surprise
to have the ice cream

underneath the meringue.

The chocolate ganache
definitely came through.

The meringue could have been done,
well, better.

Other than that, I think
Molly's done quite well

to get everything out.

I think this is
an amazing achievement

for two and a half hours.

Unfortunately,
the meringue hasn't worked.

The second batch of meringue
has started to split

and that's just all
running off the side.

It's not the smartest presentation,
but it does taste good.

I think Molly's been
incredibly ambitious.

After a tough day in the kitchen,
the MasterChef pop-up is now over.

Five great chefs, you know,
and I'm amazed by their ambition.

No-one gave themselves
an easy time there, and there

were some stunning dishes.

I can honestly say I went
out there and did everything

I could today,
put it all on a plate.

Yeah, I think I did myself proud.

I really hope that I've done enough
to get that pass because, honestly,

it means so much
and it just validates

that they enjoyed the food.

I was caught by surprise
by the workload,

didn't particularly go to plan.

But as a whole, it went well.

I feel just on top of the world.

Like, to feed the people that
I fed today, incredible day,

an incredible venue,
incredible everything.

I'm really happy
with how today went.

For me, right now, everything
is eyes on the semifinals.

Just want to keep going
as far as I can.

It's all about the guests now.

We'll count up their votes
and let's see which chef

is going to be sailing straight
through to our semifinal.

Great to see you back in our
kitchen, chefs. I've had glowing

reports back from these two,
from your pop-up, some great food,

but now the competition
heats up even more.

As you know, we asked our guests
to vote for their favourite dish

and that chef will go straight
through to our semifinals.

We have counted those votes.

The chef that is going
straight through is...

...James.

Congratulations!

Our guests absolutely loved it.

It was a great dish.
Well done, you.

Congratulations. Thank you.

Off you go. We'll see you in the
semifinals. Very well done.

- Good luck, guys.
- Well done, James.

Great comeback.
Great comeback. Well done.

Mad! Semifinals.

That's dead cool!

I'm feeling great.

Pass at this stage is
an absolute game changer.

For you remaining four,
you've got a job to do.

The odds have now shortened.

We've set you a brief.

We want you to give us
your last dish on Earth.

If you could only have
one more plate of food,

what would it be?

Who would you share it with?

There are only three places
left in the semifinal.

One of you will be
leaving the competition.

One hour and 45 minutes for a dish
that will secure your place

in a MasterChef semifinal.

Chefs, off you go.

I think everyone wanted
to have the pass.

But I'm OK with not having it.

It's OK, we've got to cook again.

I knew it was coming, to be honest,

but thankfully,
I've got a second chance today

and hopefully I'll do well.

Got a lot to show today
in this dish, for sure.

I'm looking forward
to cooking my dish.

It's all based around Cornwall,
so that to me is quite important.

So, your last dish ever.

What's it going to be?
Cornish turbot.

I'm going to steam it in

a Cornish sparkling wine
and then finish it with

Cornish Clotted cream.

That's then going to be served
with fennel that I've pickled

with a bit of honey, caviar on top,
and then asparagus that I'm cooking

in asparagus juice and seaweed.

Naturally, being from Cornwall,
this is my tribute dish

to where I come from.
Home is everything to me.

Who are you sharing it with?

I would share this dish with my dad.
My dad's a fussy eater.

He doesn't like anything
unless it's protein and potatoes.

So with a few additional extras
that I've added on here,

this is a dish that
he would actually enjoy.

You know what's at stake, Charlie.
How hungry are you?

I'm really hungry.

I think right now, it's a matter
of who wants it more,

and I think I want it the most.

Charlie's dish is all about
ingredients from Cornwall.

The turbot is being steamed.

It's got aromatics.

It's got fennel and lemon.

As it's cooking,

the fish will take on some of
those wonderful aromatics.

He's got to make sure he doesn't
overcook it because the turbot

will either dry out
or just fall apart.

Turbot is considered the king
of the sea when it comes to fish.

So I've got to do that justice.

We've got cream in the sauce.

It's just beautiful and rich.

I opened the fridge and it fell out!

Don't spill any more, you're going
to run out of sauce. Yeah, oui!

He's got some potato which he's
roasted in the oven in duck fat.

He's also got asparagus spears.

Love the sound of this dish.

OK.

It means a lot to me, this dish,

and there's a lot riding on it
in terms of my family.

Molly, tell us, what's your last
dish on Earth going to be?

My final dish is a take
on an Irish chowder.

I'm going to serve it with Irish
soda bread and a prawn head butter.

So why would your last dish
be Irish inspired?

I've got a massive Irish family.

There's loads of us and
it means a lot to me.

And I'm doing it for
my Uncle Anthony

because that were his favourite
dish that he used to have

when we'd go over there.

He used to tell me
when I was growing up,

"Make sure you follow your cooking,"

so to be able to cook him
this dish today,

I'd love to show him what I've done.

Hopefully he'll see that I've
improved on my refinement

and my plating.

Molly's dish is based around
a chowder. Pan-fried cod loin,

which she has cut into
beautiful pieces.

She's curing those in a salt
and sugar mix with a little bit

of lemon zest in there, too.

These look lovely. Pretty happy.

We also got some lovely
large prawns.

She's got steamed mussels,
then using the liquid

of that to make her mussel veloute.

And then she's going to split it
with some dill oil.

I hope she captures the flavours
of a chowder, rich in seafood,

because a chowder is all about
the flavours that develop

as everything is cooking together.

By cooking them separately,
you can almost lose the essence

of all those delicious flavours
of seafood coming together.

Right, chefs, you've got
35 minutes remaining.

35.

Pop-up was a big challenge.

Things didn't go to plan.

I really feel like I need
to get a ten out of ten

in order to wow the judges.

I don't want to give them a mediocre
dish because I'll be going home.

So, Tommy, what are you doing?

So I thought long and hard
about this.

It would have to be a roast dinner.
I love a roast dinner.

It brings the family together.

What's your take on this
roast dinner, then?

So today, I'm doing a roast pork
belly, spiralised potato

to be cooked in some pork fat.

A pork and sage stuffing,
cauliflower truffle cheese.

There's a pork sauce as well,
and our apple compote.

Who are you sharing it with?

And so I've chose my son
to be my special guest today.

He loves a roast dinner.

He gets so messy, you know, he has
everything. He loves it all.

So it'd be my pleasure
to cook for him.

Hopefully be the best roast dinner
you've ever had. That's what I want.

Tommy's cooking us roast pork belly.

Hope we've got some crunchy
crackling on the outside.

Because I've only got
so little oil in a pan

and it's quite a big piece of pork,

it's only able to crisp up
a small amount of the pork.

I'm currently thinking
what I can do to make it better.

We've got pork and sage stuffing.

The potato, he's making
a large ribbon of it,

and then he's going to
con fit it in pork fat.

WHISPERS: Wow.

On the side is a cauliflower
and truffle cheese dish.

That sounds delicious.

A roast dinner, typically,
in any household,

takes three to four hours.

I don't have that time today,
so I need to really focus in

and get everything done
as quickly as possible.

Pastry made sense just based on
my inspiration for the dish.

And also I haven't done pastry
since the first round,

so I thought,
"Why not take the risk?"

I've got a lot of elements
that need to set.

I will be creating a cardamom and
orange panna cotta brulee-type

dessert with a tonka bean ice cream,
poached apricots, pistachio crumb

and a nut brittle.

My dad is, like,
my biggest supporter,

very much so in, like,
just my chef career.

He's got a sweet tooth.

As a child, he used to always eat
these, like, nut brittle snacks.

So I thought the last meal on earth,
why not share something with him...

Yeah. ..and incorporate
that into a dessert?

Lauren's cooking effectively
a creme brulee recipe,

cos it's got eggs in it, but
she's also added gelatine into it

so that she can set it so that
when she lifts the cutter off,

it'll stay firm.

It needs the taste of
the cardamom and the orange,

and it needs to be nice and smooth.

So the reason I've got
a panna cotta brulee mashup

is because I wanted to
amalgamate the two textures.

We've got rum with apricots,
the wonderful cashew nut brittle,

hopefully not too bitter
with the caramel.

That's the nut brittle, is it? Yes.

Tonka bean ice cream. We want the
vanilla notes of that tonka bean

singing through it.

I hope Lauren delivers this dish

because I am loving
the flavours of it.

You've got five minutes left, chefs.

I'm just getting
all my final bits done now,

to make sure it's nice and pretty.

Come on, Charlie.
Let's get this in and on and out.

Crackling's not crackled, has it?

No, it's not worked today,
which is a shame.

Finishing in 30 seconds.

Stop shaking!

Is that the last thing, Molly?

I've just got to get
my sauce in the jugs.

Then do it, Molly, please.

Guys, you're running out of time.
Get these dishes finished now.

That's it.
Time is well and truly up.

Stop. Thank you.

Cooking for a place
in the semifinals,

Charlie's dish is
Cornish steamed turbot

served with a roasted potato,

topped with anchovy butter,

honey, pickled fennel and caviar,

asparagus cooked
in a seaweed butter emulsion

and a Cornish clotted cream
and champagne sauce

split with dill oil.

Wow.
Charlie, beautiful presentation.

That turbot, beautifully
steamed, just falls apart.

The roasted potato with
that fennel is delightful,

and then lovely caviar
over the top.

The sauce, you've got so much
of the sparkling wine in there,

it's got the sharpness
running through it.

Rich with the clotted cream.

I think you've done Cornwall proud.

Thank you, Chef.

That asparagus is
absolutely delightful

because you've got
seaweed coating it,

so it's giving it
a natural saltiness.

I love this fennel
that's pickled and sweet.

I really like that.
That is a delightful dish.

That fish cookery is sublime.

Absolutely delicious.

Beautifully cooked potato.

The sauce is absolutely sensational.

Last meal? Yeah.

I think I'd join you for that.
Delicious.

I put a lot of love into this dish,
and it's just home for me.

And for them to say I did
Cornwall proud is, er...

...yeah, that's something.

Happy? Yeah. Oh, man...

WHISPERS: It's my best one.

Molly has served her take
on an Irish chowder.

Pan-fried cod,

prawns, steamed mussels,

potatoes and samphire
in a mussel veloute

split with dill oil,

served with Irish soda bread
and a prawn head butter.

Fish is cooked well.

My cod's flaking apart.

My issues would be skin
on those salad potatoes.

They're not new potatoes,
so that's a tough, old skin.

Take it off.

And the skin on the cod,
you will never crisp that up

unless you take it off
and cook it separately.

I'm disappointed
with my piece of cod.

Mine's actually cooked
on the skin quite badly.

It's leaving that
bitter, burnt flavour.

But I love the way
the mussels are cooked.

The prawn is beautifully cooked.

The sauce, I wish it packed more
of the seafood flavours

that you get in a chowder
when it's all cooked together.

The soda bread is nice.

I think it's missing a bit
of seasoning in there.

Prawn head butter needs more oomph.

There are some highs and lows
in this dish, for me, Molly.

A chowder is when the fish
is cooked in it, and it all absorbs

the flavours. Everything's
all cooked separately

and when you put it together,
it has to become one,

and it's not quite becoming one.

There's things that were picked
up on that I knew were coming.

It's a shame, but I just tried
to refine it a bit, you know?

So, yeah.

Tommy's dish is roast pork belly
with a pork and sage stuffed

cabbage, spiralised potato
deep-fried in pork fat,

cauliflower truffle cheese,

carrot and swede crush,

apple compote and a pork sauce.

Were we supposed to have
some crackling?

Unfortunately,
it's not worked today,

so I've decided to take it off.

Pork, I don't mind it pink,
but I think another 15, 20 minutes

just to tenderise it a bit more.

I love the take on
apple sauce on there

and how it's been
diced so perfectly.

There's still a bit
of texture in it.

To make the con fit potato
the way you did,

it's beautiful.
It's got the crunch.

And, honestly, I could do
with a bowl of those on its own.

That pork is a little
too pink for me,

but your cauliflower
cheese is delightful.

And the truffle
on the top is heady.

That is seriously creamy,
rich, indulgent.

The sauce, there is a slight
sharpness and a meatiness

to it that I'm really enjoying.

Very good.

Pork that looks like this will
always divide the audience.

Is it cooked? Yes, it is.
It is cooked.

Your swede and carrots,
really delicious.

Love the little pork stuffing ball
with the sage running through that.

If I was served this roast
dinner anywhere in this country,

I'd be very, very happy,

cos that is
a roast dinner elevated.

Well done. Thank you so much.

There was a few errors
on my dish today.

The pork divided the room.

Marcus seemed to really enjoy it,
which really picked me up.

I needed to hear that.

Last up is Lauren.

She has made an orange and cardamom
creme brulee panna cotta

with rum-poached apricots,

a cashew nut brittle,

pistachio crumb

and tonka bean ice cream.

Love the creaminess
of the creme brulee.

Delicious. Love the little
caramelisation on the top of that.

The tonka bean ice cream,
it's rich, it's delicious,

tastes of tonka bean.
But that brittle,

it's so bitter
cos the sugar, it's black.

I really struggled to eat that.

I'm intrigued by that creme
brulee panna cotta.

It's like a set custard with
an absolute ton of vanilla in it.

Apricots I like because that rum
in there has enhanced it,

giving it some more sweetness.

I love that ice cream.

You have taken the brittle too far,
but I'm very happy with this.

Well done.
Thank you.

The creme brulee,
the texture is smooth.

I like that you managed
to get the orange flavour

through that as well.

And I love that you managed
to capture the flavours

of the pistachio in that crumb.

The brittle,
it is overcooked, it's bitter.

That aside, I've enjoyed
everything else on this plate.

I'm OK.

I made a stupid mistake.

And it's like, "Now is when you
want to do that? Really, Lauren?"

Like...

So, yeah, it's annoying,

but I was happy that the rest
of the dish worked out.

That was a great cook-off today.
Good food on show.

Question is, who joins James?

Big call, chefs. Biggest call
of the competition so far.

Chef of the day,
there definitely is one,

and that is Charlie
with his flavours of Cornwall.

Absolutely lovely.

Beautifully executed cooking
that tasted outstanding.

Charlie's in the semifinal
with James.

I think this is now
very, very difficult

because you've got
Molly, Lauren and Tommy,

and all three of them had issues -

small issues,
but issues nonetheless.

I really don't want to think
that I'll go home today,

because I really am enjoying it.

I want to go further
in the competition.

It is my first error, so I just hope
that that's taken into account.

To get through to the semis,
it would mean everything.

This is all I'm thinking about
all day, every day.

It does mean a lot to me.

It'd be cool to get through
but, I don't know,

I think I've had one too many
wobbles now, but we'll see.

Welcome back, chefs, and well done.

Just consider for a moment
how far you've come

from the first time we met you,

what you've achieved.

You should now be considering
this competition

with a great deal of pride.

Only three of you can go forward
and join James in the semifinal.

The chef leaving us is...

...Molly.

Thank you. It has been a joy getting
to know you in this competition.

And we hope you've enjoyed
the journey.

- Sorry, Molly.
- Thank you.

Take care, Molly.

WHISPERS: Good luck.

Thank you.

I'm gutted not to get through.

I am happy because I got
further than I were expecting.

I put my heart
on the plate every time,

built my confidence
more than I could ever expect.

Just incredible.
And I'll never, ever forget it.

Semifinalists.

THEY CHEER

James didn't get one of these.
THEY LAUGH

To make it in the semifinals,
I'm buzzing.

The stress is really full-on.

It's a big challenge, but I'm just
excited to smash my next dish.

It's definitely
getting more difficult.

I need to be
on point for everything.

I know there's no room for error

and I'm going to prove
I can do this.

The last two weeks,
my whole life has stopped.

For me to be here and be able
to call myself a semifinalist...

...I couldn't be prouder.

Next time...

Knockout week continues and
the second group of five chefs

will compete outside the MasterChef
kitchen for the first time...

Feel like I'm washing me hair.
And I haven't got any.

...before returning to fight for
their place in the semifinals.

I'd say that's probably your best
dish so far in this competition.