Ten of the nation's finest home cooks are battling it out
to be the best. Wahey!
Five remain in the competition,
producing their greatest dishes to impress the judges.
That's a very nice sauce, young lady.
Last week... Look how pretty this is!
It's a cat poo in a garden.
..it was ultimate chocolate puddings...
What's that? Is it burnt?
..Katie stepped up the competition...
Hopefully, it works. I don't! ..Toby scored a hit...
Everything you want, it does.
Oh, is it... Is it one plate?
..Trevor's risky choices didn't pay off...
Tastes like disinfectant.
..and a sweet-and-sour eliminator...
..saw one more cook... Trevor. ..sent home.
Pain in the bum, you leaving.
Well, it's been bootylicious.
Really chuffed to be in the quarterfinals.
I hope I've got it in me to deliver.
I'm certainly going to try.
This is the food that I love to eat,
this is the food that I love to cook,
and I want to show the judges
this is my story, and this is the challenge where I am going to be
able to do that.
I'm a bit worried about going into the kitchen today.
I think it's going to be really sad without Trevor there.
Big hole in our team.
But I'm going to do my best and, hopefully,
do really well.
Morning, Dipa. How are you doing?
Morning, Toby. How are you feeling about today?
Bit nervous. Haven't practised at all.
Oh. At all.
The only thing I'm worried about is completing my dishes.
Because I haven't actually practised.
Roll on the quarterfinals.
Just want to enjoy it. Have a good time.
Throw down in the kitchen.
Hi. Hello.
Look at this.
Bouncy. Bouncy.
Bouncy's good. Cooks, how are we?
Good. Excited to be cooking again.
Philip, always excited to be cooking again...
I am. ..which I think is adorable.
I am. What's it like in the house? I mean, is there space for me now?
Yes. You can come in. We've got a room ready for you.
So, here's some news, you're quarterfinalists.
My God. I hope that feels quite nice.
We're going to have a lovely time today, aren't we?
We are. Good. Enormous luck.
Let's get the judges in.
There they are. Smiling.
Now, today, they would love you to make your ultimate sharing feast.
There has to be at least four dishes and they have to work as a meal
together. Are you excited about this one?
You'd better be, because we're jolly hungry.
What makes a great sharing feast?
Things that go well together.
I wouldn't like to have kippers and kedgeree, for example.
Chris? That communal eating, I really enjoy.
And why have one dish when you can have four?
So, Dan, if I was doing a sharing feast,
I would pop open a pot of hummus and I might slice a carrot.
Is that what you're after?
She's ever the innovator.
No, I think, you know, you haven't got just one dish to worry about,
you've got to give so much attention to detail to multiple dishes and
they've all got to go together, so it's certainly not easy.
You have two and a half hours.
Your time starts now.
Good luck. Good luck. Keep breathing. Yes.
In this quarterfinal challenge,
the bar has been raised and the judges' expectations
are even higher.
The cooks must showcase four individual dishes
that together make up their
ultimate sharing feast and reflect their personality
and style of cooking at home.
This is definitely upping the ante.
We have two and a half hours to make four dishes,
so it really is a challenge.
I just need to dig as deep as I possibly can.
It's all stuff I'm really familiar with doing and I've done before,
but in such a short amount of time, it's a lot to do.
I really hope the judges like the dishes.
There are bold flavours in there.
I mean, I like them, and it's what I like to eat.
All right, Mary. So, here's the deal.
Us three are coming round to your house.
You're not going to serve us individual plates of food -
you're going to do a sharing feast.
What would you do? On the round table,
I'd have it right in the middle,
and I'd have a celebration of fish.
Some smoked fish, I'd have some scallops, I'd have little fish pies,
all sorts of things.
Chris, what have been the best sharing feasts you've had?
I love that Middle Eastern sort of meze - you know, with lots of dips,
lots of lovely salads and stuff, and breads, so, for me,
this is my favourite way to eat.
Dan? I think meze's a great shout. Even Indian food.
But more importantly, I love a Lazy Susan.
Keep spinning it around. Go!
Best thing about sharing food.
It's lovely. And that's also when they try stuff.
"Mummy, what's that?" "Give it a go."
Because you're not giving it to them to eat.
Yeah, it's not just there.
You're allowing them to... ..be grown-ups.
Katie, what's your situation?
So, I've gone a little bit off-piste here because I don't really make
sharing platters. If I was going to do it, I would do, like,
salads and breads and cold meats.
But what me and Alan like to do is go out for ribs.
Ah! And chicken wings.
So I'm doing, like, a Deep South-flavoured platter.
Hold on a second, how do you and Alan - you've got four kids -
have time to go out for ribs?
Well, we tend to go out for my birthday and his birthday.
Yeah. Have you practised it? I've done it once,
when I came up with the recipe.
I know, I know. Only once?
That's OK. I've tasted it a lot.
Yeah. So, hopefully, that will see me right.
Taking a more tried and tested route,
Dipa is cooking a selection of traditional dishes passed down from
mother to daughter. Dipa, there's a sea of equipment here. Yeah!
You are doing a celebration of curries, as far as I can see.
I am, yes. You've got a fish curry.
Yes. You've got lamb chops.
Yes. You've got a vegetarian curry.
So you've got a little bit of everything.
Now, you're doing this all by judgment?
Yes. This is the way I was taught by my mum.
Even though it looks like I'm throwing things in,
I do roughly know what it's going to be like.
Is your mum really proud of you?
She is, yes. She's made me what I am today.
Love a good piece of ox cheek.
Right now, it's still pretty tough, but give it some time,
and it'll all loosen up and be nice and soft.
Along with his ox cheek stew,
Toby is also celebrating a family favourite - his mum's jollof rice -
which will be the star of his West African-themed dish.
This is very typical of my style of cooking.
At the centre of it, you have some Nigerian ingredients,
Nigerian flavours, and together it makes, like,
a really colourful plate,
a really colourful table.
Toby. Hello. Talk to me about jollof, please.
It's cooked on the stove, always on the stove.
And that's all over western Africa, right? Yes. It's my mum's recipe.
Does she know you are doing it now? She does, yeah.
I have her blessing. OK.
So, rice, ox cheek, anything likely to change?
I'm going to be tasting as I go along and see what's needed.
So important. Taste, taste, taste.
Look at this one. Happy, happy Pippa world.
What are you making? I'm making dim sum.
Didn't you go with your grandpa and he took you for dim sum
when you were a little girl and went, "Right, that's it,
"I have found the only stuff I want to eat..." Yeah. .."and make"?
So, what are you doing now? I'm making a dough for my pan-fried
soup dumplings. I'm going to be making
two other doughs for two other dumplings
as well. You've got two and half hours.
I didn't say two and a half days.
A cook who loves to entertain guests with his food,
Philip is conjuring up a selection of his dinner-party classics.
Now, this is sort of on an Italian theme.
It is indeed. Is this just what you do at home? I love Italian food.
I love those flavours. And these are four dishes that I will serve to
people whenever they come over.
The chicken you're doing with asparagus?
Yes, I've got the chicken thighs, which are just stuffed with a bit of
Gorgonzola and mascarpone.
And you're doing some soda bread?
I'm going to do some soda bread
which I'm going to flavour with basil,
toasted pine nuts and little bits of Parmesan.
Are you worried about anything? I am happy with the flavours.
I'm happy with the dishes. I am happy with the sauces.
You know we're hungry, so... I know you're hungry, no pressure.
Cooks, you have had one hour. Wow!
Time flies and all that. Doesn't it just?
Ooh!
Yum.
Look at that soda bread. Oh, wow. Yeah. Doesn't it look good?
Very nerve-racking, making a bread for Mary.
It looks so tempting and, of course,
it'll go very well with all of his Italian food.
What's in there? What sausage is that?
It's just a smoked spicy sausage.
I've never seen a sausage that big.
No, I just cut it a little bit funny.
With each ultimate sharing feast being composed
of at least four dishes, the cooks are being
pushed even harder in this quarterfinal challenge.
As well as capturing their character and individual style of cooking,
the cooks must carefully balance their timings with ambition.
I am making my soup dumplings right now.
There should be enough to satisfy the judges, hopefully.
Tobi, are you worried about the time?
Yes, I am worried about the time.
Oh, no! Everyone stop what you're doing. Tobi, for the first time,
is worried about the time.
THEY LAUGH
This is my absolute favourite style
of eating, because you get to have lots
of different flavours, so I'm really excited about trying their sharing
platters. I think the one I'm most excited about trying is Dipa's.
This is the style of food that she cooks,
and also the style in which her family eat.
And then we come... To Katie. Katie.
The Deep South.
The flavour combinations really lend themselves to a sharing platter,
don't they? Ribs,
chicken wings, but I find it slightly alarming that Katie,
in a quarterfinal, is going for something that she likes eating out.
You're absolutely right.
Look around all the others, they're all doing tried and tested recipes.
None of them are experimenting. That doesn't make sense to me.
I am using some chicken livers today in my dirty rice,
or dirty jambalaya, and that's where the "dirty" comes from.
When I was researching recipes,
I couldn't decide between a dirty rice and a jambalaya, so I did a
mixture. I left the seafood out because I thought
with seafood as well,
it could be getting a bit much, you know - a lot of different things.
And I have done that in the past, so... Don't do that today.
How you getting on, Philip? Hello, all right.
Just about to coat these arancini balls,
and then fry them towards the end.
I love arancini, because they were born out of leftovers.
What's in there? That is soda bread with basil,
toasted pine nuts and little chunks of Parmesan.
So you've got Parmesan, mozzarella...
Mozzarella in there, this is a little bit of mozzarella in here.
And then you've got blue cheese in your chicken? A little bit
of blue cheese. You're a cheese fiend!
So this pineapple here, I am just going to soak in some rum,
just to give it a really nice,
rich flavour and then I will be griddling that later on.
Oh, my gosh. That's a big one.
Dipa!
I would say I'm shocked, but I think you know me well enough.
Oh, is this the pineapple salad? What's that soaking in?
Some dark rum. The judges are going to get absolutely pickled.
Has anyone got a straw?
How you doing for time, Pippa?
OK, I think. How are you? I never really know,
until a bit closer to the end.
I need to get stuff cooking.
I hope it's OK. I'm about to take the lid off the pressure cooker
and I am hoping and praying that my ox cheek is nice and soft.
If not, I may have to cook it longer.
It's looking good. Looking good. You seem like you're in your element
with this. So we've got steamed dim sum...
Pan-fried bao, pan-fried gyoza dumplings...
So you pan fry it then add a bit of stock and the lid goes on?
Yes. OK. Little crispy bottom, chewy steamed top.
Right, OK. And talk about the chicken hearts.
I LOVE chicken hearts, duck hearts.
So chicken heart skewers are really traditional in dim sum.
Really simple but really tasty. Lovely. I love them.
This is both exciting for me
and nerve-racking, so it's just about focus.
Cooks, you have 30 minutes left. Three-zero.
Oh, my, you and a pomegranate!
I'm leaving.
SHE GIGGLES
So how was your rice, then, Tobes?
Haven't finished cooking it yet.
I'm going to win, then - battle of the rice! Ha-ha!
Are you done? No. No?
In the oven, cooking. I have no actual control over it.
It's a much better way to work.
Hello. This looks beautiful. So what have you got left to do?
They done? I've got stacked aubergines with mozzarella
and balsamic onions. They'll finish off for about ten minutes,
so the mozzarella just melts over them. Oozes.
I've just really got the seafood to do.
I need some coriander. You need some coriander.
I've got coriander, Dips.
Pippa, you're so kind. Thank you.
You sure? Yeah, yeah. You don't need this? I only need this.
You don't need any of it? Thank you, you're a life-saver.
You've still got quite a lot to do. I do. Right, Tobi, what's happening?
I'm getting into the next gear right now.
Yeah, just into second. What needs to happen now?
Everything needs to happen. Right, let's go.
I've finished my ox cheek stew.
I just need to grill my pineapples and prepare my scallop salad.
OK. Voom!
Let's do this.
The ribs are starting to char. They've got a little bit of black
on them, which normally would be a bad thing, but with ribs,
you want a little bit of that.
Dipa is tidying, everybody.
She isn't finished, but she's tidying.
Look at that.
That's fancy, isn't it? You've got five minutes, cooks.
If it's not on a plate, the judges can't try it.
Some of these elements, yeah,
it's a last-minute thing, and I'm not really a last-minute Wendy.
I am having to be with this, because I don't want these to overcook.
Are we on target?
We should make it, yes, yes, yes.
It needs to be on a plate. Do you want me to get a plate out for you?
I should be OK, I should be OK. OK.
I thought it was for eight people.
Three? I'm confused.
Done. That's it.
Please step away from your plate.
You're not allowed to touch it any more.
Mine is a sharing feast for 20.
There you go. Thank you.
With five individual takes on the ultimate sharing feast,
the judges must now decide which set of dishes is their own personal
favourite.
Well, to me, this looks like a great sharing platter.
They seem to all complement each other.
Your biryani chicken - let's try that first.
I think you know how to cook rice, don't you?
Every grain is separate. And the chicken has got
a beautiful flavour and the heat is just the right
level, I think. And this is cod, is it?
This is cod, yeah. The cod is holding its shape beautifully.
You haven't overcooked it.
Dipa, I am in heaven. Aw!
This is absolutely brilliant.
The lentils, the spicing is exactly what I like.
The right amount of heat.
Your lamb chops are a tiny bit dry, but when you're looking at your
chutneys and your raita, it brings them back to life.
Your chapatis are incredible. Look at the layers on that.
That's my mum's training. She has been training me since I was seven
years old. Amazing! She's taught you well.
And it's a perfect feast.
It's exactly what I like to eat.
Dipa, I love the way that you've used what you've been taught by your
mother, and I think she'd be really, really proud of you.
And I reckon these two boys would finish it off in one go - in fact,
I'm holding them back.
Thank you. Thank you, Dipa. Well done.
Come on, let's get in, let's get in. Start trying.
Gosh, these are crisp on the outside.
These arancini
are REALLY delicious.
The prawns and the scallops in your saffron stew are cooked
perfectly. Thank you.
And the flavours are so intense and so rich.
That is absolutely delicious.
Thank you. Philip, the chicken needed just a shade more cooking.
OK. I'm just going to take a little from the top. Yes.
The blue cheese comes through and it has helped to flavour the chicken.
I think the bread is genius. Using Parmesan and pine nuts and basil in
a soda bread works really well, and then the chicken,
it's kind of not what we come to expect from you now.
It's a bit lacklustre.
I take that point. At this stage in the competition,
we're looking for this, not this.
Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Philip.
Thank you.
Come on, let's get stuck in. Yeah, let's do it.
Straight for the hearts.
Those little hearts -
they are absolutely delicious,
and something brand-new to me.
What's in this? Pork soup dumplings.
You've got soup dumplings,
a kind of a more flatter flavour but in the greater context of the meal,
make complete sense.
Now how would I tackle that? Dip it in?
Yes, it's sweet potato and tofu inside.
The texture of the centre is just a little bit too mushy,
a little bit too samey.
Your scallop and mung bean noodles are cooked perfectly.
Your scallops have got that beautiful natural sweetness.
There are three people doing scallops today. Yes!
Battle of the scallops. Lucky, yours are just perfect.
If this is your celebration, I want to be top of the list
for an invitation. I've loved it.
Thank you, Pippa. Thank you.
The first thing that strikes me is the volume,
It's a sharing platter for three.
I mean, that is an awful lot, isn't it?
Even if I only had three people coming round,
I probably would put this much out and then just have leftovers.
And this is pork? Yeah, it's pork rib. Pork ribs.
And you've managed to get a sort of barbecued look,
even though we've no sign of a barbecue here.
You've got there. It is tender.
I think the glaze is a bit too sweet.
OK. And then what's happened is, to get the colour,
to make it look like they've been grilled,
the sugar's burnt, and there's
little flecks of bitterness in there. OK.
Which I'm not a huge fan of.
This is your chicken.
For me, your chicken wings were cooked very well.
OK. But I didn't get a huge amount of flavour from the skin.
Certainly no heat.
Oh, OK. I wasn't a huge fan of your dirty jambalaya.
It was a bit too...
..mushy. I certainly wouldn't be able to eat too much of that.
And this is your bread. Bread, yeah.
I'll just see how it is.
The flavour's there, but it is dry.
OK.
Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you.
That didn't go well.
Well, it looks beautifully bright and bold,
just as we've come to expect from you, Tobi.
I think the rice is a nice neutral flavour.
It's absorbed all those juices,
your rice and your ox cheek go together really well.
The ox cheek is beautifully tender.
It's something different, and I like it.
You're going to like this salad, Mary, it has got rum in it.
I KNEW you were going to say that.
Blimey, Tobi, I hadn't even put it in my mouth and I got that hit
from the rum. But the pineapple works to sort of neutralise it.
That's...that's really clever.
I've never tasted anything like that before,
and I think I shall put an odd splash of rum in my dressing.
And think of you. Your scallops are cooked perfectly.
The beetroots are nice as a pickle
and would go well in a dish,
but that's just a bit of a weird one for me.
But your salad, your rice and your ox cheek -
well-cooked, well-flavoured, well-balanced.
I think your mum would be proud of this, Tobi.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
A huge well-done for your brilliant sharing feasts.
You know how this works.
I am now going to ask the judges to choose their very favourite, and
whoever that person or people are,
you get to choose the key ingredient that you'll be cooking with
tomorrow. So let me ask Chris.
So first of all, I'd like to say well done.
I think you all did an absolutely fabulous job
and presented us with five really, really high-standard sharing feasts,
but the cook that presented my favourite
was Dipa.
Well done, Dipa. OK, Dan.
My favourite sharing feast was one that I really didn't want to share,
it was packed full of flavour,
and it was Dipa's as well.
And finally, Mary.
I enjoyed an awful lot of them,
but my favourite sharing feast was Pippa's.
Her dim sum was quite extraordinary for me.
It was absolutely brilliant, so well done.
Thank you. Well done.
So please come and join us at the front.
Really well done.
You know what you have to do now.
We're giving you a choice of ingredients that will be the star of
your next challenge.
And, Chris, I believe you have the choices.
Yes, I do. The two ingredients you get to choose between are squid or
mackerel. Now, that's really hard.
What would you go for?
I've never done squid. Have you done squid?
I've done both.
THEY WHISPER
Let me ask you first, Pippa, what was your gut reaction?
My gut reaction was the squid, but I'm happy with both,
and Dipa's never used squid before, so we're going to go for mackerel.
Mackerel. Let's applaud.
Philip, happy about that? Happy with mackerel, yes.
Yes. Katie? No!
And, Tobi, you're happy with mackerel?
OK, mackerel it is.
Enormous luck. Go home and we'll see you tomorrow
for your next challenge. Thank you.
I'm really pleased that Dan really liked my dishes.
I'm quite amazed for a chef to like my food.
I didn't believe in myself, but my kids kept giving me
the encouragement, saying, "Mum, you can do it.
"Just do what you do, and do what you do at home,
"and you'll succeed." So, yeah, they were right,
I should have believed them.
Bye, Philip. Good luck. Bye, Katie. Bye-bye.
I'm really, really, really glad that Mary tried something
that she'd never tried before, and that she enjoyed my dim sum,
which is a very special meal for me.
Right, so mackerel, what would you do?
I would go for a smoked mackerel pate. They won't have gooseberries,
but I'd make a nice sauce.
Gooseberries with mackerel?!
What produce goes with mackerel?
I mean, Mary's saying gooseberries, but I think she's tired.
Because it's an oily fish,
you know, you can be a bit more bolder with the flavours.
Curried mackerel, I think, works really well, actually.
Curried mackerel? Yeah, perfect.
Have you all got flu? HE LAUGHS
Hello, Mum. Hello.
I just want to tell you I've made the fish curry.
All the judges liked it. I am very happy to hear this.
You're my hero. You taught me how to make it, so it all goes to you,
Mum, thanks to you.
There's little time to celebrate and rest, as all five cooks
must research and plan their mackerel recipes
before tomorrow's challenge.
I bet we're going to have to fillet it, aren't we?
I'm certain they will.
You don't like mackerel, do you? No. Wow.
I love it, I do. I love it for breakfast.
For breakfast?! Yeah.
Have some bacon - what's wrong with you?
Bacon on Sundays, mackerel on others. Ugh!
None of the disgusting head.
The eyes turn white. The eyes, best part.
Are you going to eat the eyes tomorrow?
Yes. Pluck them out and pop them in your mouth. Raw?
Not raw, no, once the fish is cooked.
I love mackerel's eyeballs, it's a delicacy.
In Manchester, it is, isn't it? Yeah.
You're not joking? Serious, do you like them? Yeah.
She's so lying. That was like, "Yeah!"
They should give us a fishing rod, put a pool in the middle.
Do you know, let's make it easier and let's just do that, shall we?
A delicate hand is required for tomorrow's challenge.
And I think that's going to be a big test.
I still know, even if my mackerel dish is
practically perfect, that
I will be in the elimination, purely because of the sharing dish.
I frankly... I don't know how to cook a mackerel.
No idea. This could possibly be the worst thing they could give me.
Especially if it's got a head on, guts in.
I know it's got to be cooked very lightly on both sides.
I just hope I don't burn it.
The bar is high.
And I want to step up to it.
Hi. Good morning. Good morning.
A huge welcome back to the kitchen.
It's mackerel day, and they look incredibly beautiful.
It's the quarterfinals,
so the judges would love you to make your mackerel two ways.
You can either do them within a complete dish,
or you can do two separate dishes,
maybe to serve on different occasions.
Dan, as well as making mackerel the star of the show,
what else will you be looking for?
As you can see, the mackerel are whole, so we're looking for them
to be beautifully filleted, with no pin bones whatsoever.
Before you start the mackerel challenge,
please go and look in your fridge, look in your store cupboards,
to see what other ingredients you have. Off you go. Good luck.
Good luck. Good luck.
Without knowing the contents of the store cupboard,
the cooks might not have the ingredients for the dish
they planned, and now they'll need to be doubly creative.
Yes! Hm.
Two ways, is it on one plate?
Either two separate dishes, so two different types of cooking it,
or on one plate. Ah.
This is a challenge, a real challenge.
Just fail miserably, all right? So I'll be OK.
Phil, what's this? Horseradish.
It's really pungent.
OK. I thought they'd be doing something.
They're always up to no good, those three.
It's quarterfinal, so it's fair enough, I guess.
What kind of dishes are you hoping to see?
When the fish is that fresh, I'd like to taste that freshness
in its raw form. They've got grapes, lemon, fennel.
They've got herbs. So you can make a really light Italian al crudo.
Have they got teeth? Teeth?
They do, they have teeth. Yeah.
And a tongue.
I think that a natural marriage with mackerel is horseradish.
Mm. So if they smoke it and make a horseradish sauce,
or if they're making a pate, I'd put horseradish into my pate.
OK, cooks, you've had time to have a look at the other ingredients,
you have an hour to do your mackerel two ways.
Enormous luck, your time starts now.
That's really heavy.
Pippa, where was the smoker?
Under here. Right in front of me.
The cooks also have the option to use an oven smoker -
a sealed hotbox that slowly burns wood chips to cook the fish -
and give the fillets a unique smoked flavour.
Instructions.
The reason you wet the wood chips is so you don't just get the flames
going up, the smoke comes off and then it disappears.
You get a slower burn.
Because the fillets are so small,
the heat is cooking the fish and you're getting the smoky flavours.
Were you thrown about the two-way thing?
Yeah. Hugely. But, you know, why not throw a curveball our way
in the quarterfinal, just to keep us on our toes?
So, yeah, my gosh!
You're such positive human being. My gosh.
It's the best way to try and be.
For goodness' sake.
Am I nervous right now?
Yes, I am.
My core filleting...
..hasn't been done for a while.
One of the easiest fish to fillet.
You go straight in at the top by the head, go all the way down,
you cut through the bones.
My God, I'm making a mess of this.
Filleting it works out about half the price,
so it's a really good skill to be able to learn.
I don't know if I filleted it right.
I don't know. I don't know
what it's supposed to look like!
All right, gang. Mary, tell them they've had ten minutes.
MARY CLEARS THROAT Just a minute.
You have had... VOICE CRACKS
All right, I'll tell you what,
Chris, be a love,
tell them they've had ten minutes.
Cooks, you have had ten minutes.
40 minutes remaining.
40? 50.
He can do his arithmetic!
I'll tell you what, I'LL do it! Cooks, you've had ten minutes.
You've got 50 minutes left.
Thank God they're not in charge of time.
Dipa, filleting... Yes. You're off.
I am. You chose mackerel.
I chose mackerel. It was more, not choosing squids.
Yes. That's why.
Do you use mackerel at home, do you like it?
I have used mackerel, but it's always been filleted for me
at the monger's.
As well as filleting their mackerel,
the cooks must also remove any pin bones.
It's like tweezing your eyebrows, isn't it?
I want to have a go. Go on, then.
I'll hold it down. Oh! There you go.
That was quite satisfying.
Sorry. What are you going to do?
I'm going to pan-fry it with a bit of fennel. Yeah.
I don't know what else yet. What do you mean, you don't know what else?
With potatoes, I think. OK. And the other one?
And the other one... Er... I'm still thinking.
God, this knife is so sharp!
Morning, Pippa. Oh, God. Morning. What's happening?
I'm trying to skin it, and I can't!
Why are you taking the skin off? Cos I'm making a ceviche.
And then what else? I'm going to do a smoked mackerel pate
with some crisps. Crisps?
Yes. Nice.
For dunking.
I'm going to do a paprika and garlic sort of paste on the top,
with some Asian potatoes.
And then the other one, I'm smoking.
I'm going to flake it into a potato salad.
And if I have time, I'm going to do some boiled eggs.
I am going to make a mackerel goujon.
So just some breadcrumbs around.
Lovely. And fry that. Are you going to smoke any of the fish?
I might just chuck some in there and see what happens.
Just chuck some in, just for fun, just for me.
Just throw it at me...
..and I'd be like a seal.
Smoked mackerel is one of my favourite things. Yeah!
I'm going to pan-fry some of the mackerel.
I'm also going to smoke, or try to smoke, some of the mackerel as well.
Aha, look, no fish.
So in the pan, I am just making a pickle.
I am actually caramelising the sugar first with a bit of the ginger.
I'm going to add some rice wine vinegar to this.
And then drop in my fish.
They're brilliant,
brilliant cooks, because I thought they'd be completely thrown.
They were like, "No, it's all right."
There are goujons, there's horseradish potato salad...
Goujons? What, is that wrong?
No, I like that. I am looking forward to tasting it.
I've never had a mackerel goujon before. Well, it's time.
I just think oily fish, like salmon, tuna, mackerel,
you rarely see in a fish-and-chip shop.
What about, like, whitebait or something?
Whole, though, isn't it? Yeah, but that's an oily fish.
That's just in flour, not in a breadcrumb.
All right, Dave. I'm just saying, there is no prejudice.
He's so strict.
HE HUMS
It's a little bit of a sauce here I'm making with some onions,
tomatoes, garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, and I've just thought,
why not do Bombay style potatoes, but really mild?
Oh, my God, I've only got half an hour.
I've got another one to do yet!
Cooks, you're halfway.
No! Dipa hasn't chosen her second mackerel dish.
Oh, Dipa!
Send good thoughts to her.
Is that cooked?
It's not particularly smoky,
I don't know why, but it looks cooked,
so I am reluctant to leave it on any longer.
How are you doing, Katie? Not great today, what about you?
It's just not enough time, is it?
Katie's not showing her usual confidence.
And it doesn't look like the smoking has gone to plan.
SHE SIGHS
Cooks, you've had 45 minutes, 15 minutes remaining.
Why one hour to do two fishes?
Yeah! My family would never demand my food in one hour.
No! Time is proving to be a cruel mistress. It is!
I want to see more refined stuff from Philip.
He can be a bit clunky and a bit rustic,
and I want to see him taking on board that feedback.
I'd like to see, you know, a bit more prettiness in the food.
Oh, that just hit me.
I love the sound of Pippa's ceviche.
I spent some time in Peru, and I love ceviche, but...
..an oily fish doesn't necessarily lend itself particularly well
because it's got a natural barrier
to all the acidity of the lime or the lemon.
So I don't know how well that's going to do.
My second dish is going to be pan-fried mackerel -
very simple, very plain -
on a bed of fennel with a bit of dressing
and some creamy potatoes on the side.
Cooks, you've four minutes left.
Please give us more.
Dipa. Yes?
Come on!
Oh! Do you like that?
That's amazing.
I've lost my potatoes, I've lost my potatoes.
Where are my bowls?
How are we? Tight, very tight on time. OK.
Are you going to be all right? Erm, yeah, let me just get these in.
WHISPERS: Well done, Tobi. Oh, that looks gorgeous!
What are you doing? My potatoes. Quick, get them on your plate,
you're not going to get them on. I will, I will. Quick, get 'em on.
Final touches, and then you have to step away from Mackerel Land.
Come on, come on.
TIMER BEEPS And that's it.
Time is up, please step away from your plate.
Well done.
That was hard.
With a place in the semifinals at stake, the cooks now need to wow the
judges with their mackerel two ways.
Pippa, please bring your plates forward.
Thank you.
So I've made a mackerel ceviche and a mackerel pate.
Everything go to plan?
So the mackerel was supposed to be smoked, but I have never used
one of those smokers before,
so it's more like a wood-steamed mackerel.
I think that is a very clever,
very beautifully balanced dish,
and I would be delighted to eat that
in Peru or Croydon,
or anywhere in between. Manchester. Manchester!
MARY: They're similar!
This pate, to me, is very disappointing.
It's very, very creamy.
It's not seasoned enough.
I know the mackerel's there,
but there isn't any depth of flavour for me.
These are a little bit salty for me. OK.
And that's a little bit under-seasoned,
so I get if you eat them together, it would probably make sense,
but eating them separately, it doesn't, it hasn't really worked.
Thank you, Pippa. Thanks. Thank you.
Philip. Gosh, here we go.
I have made pan-fried mackerel
on a potato, horseradish, beetroot salad.
A little bit of lightly smoked mackerel fillets around the side,
some pickled radish, a grape compote and some horseradish cream.
And some crispy shallots.
I find this a little bit twee around the outside. It is. Do you know,
I have moments of twee, and I think today was one of them.
The mackerel appears to be well filleted,
cooked on slightly a lower heat than I'd have liked,
so you get a crispier skin...
Yeah. ..whilst maintaining that integrity of the flesh.
I think the radish is a bit too sharp.
Fennel's nice, but I feel like,
if you were to mix everything together into one big mix,
and have a spoon of that with the fish, it would work.
But in the current format, it's a bit strange.
It's a bit psychedelic, almost. OK.
Your grape compote...
..I didn't think I was going to like, but it works really well.
Good. Very clever. Thank you.
Your centre mackerel, I really enjoyed.
I love the beetroot, the potato goes beautifully with it,
but the frills round the outside, I would forget.
That's fine, that's fine!
Katie. Here you go.
Thank you. What have you made?
I have made garlic and paprika rubbed mackerel fillet
with Asian-flavoured potatoes and a smoked mackerel potato salad.
Your smoked mackerel salad, as a dish, tastes lovely.
I'm not getting any smoke,
but the overall flavour of that dish, for me,
is perfectly fine. If you served me that for my lunch, I'd be delighted.
OK, thank you. It's going to be your lunch, I should think!
Then, I'm delighted.
I really like the paprika flavour.
It's not a strong spice, but it has given it a real lift,
and I really enjoy it. Oh, thank you.
If you're going to serve mackerel with the skin on...
Yeah. ..it needs to be the other way round. Right, OK. Otherwise,
it could have been crispy, but we'll never know,
because as soon as the fish rests,
the juices go back into it, rehydrate it.
OK. And it's just a bit soft.
I think you should be proud of yourself.
I am proud of myself, yeah. It was really hard, so....
It's supposed to be hard, isn't it?
No fish any more.
I don't want fish! What's wrong with you?!
Thank you very much. Well done. Well done. Thanks. Thank you.
Tobi, please come forward.
I've made a mackerel goujon with a lightly pickled fillet of mackerel,
some new potatoes with smoked garlic,
a radish and ouzo salad and roast tomatoes.
I think that goujon is a great success.
Sometimes when you're doing it in deep fat, you overcook the fish.
You haven't overcooked the fish.
That's very original and, I think, very good.
I was very dubious about a mackerel goujon, but it's worked really well.
You've got a lovely crunch on the outside and the two fish
go side by side together, the two different techniques.
So your pickled mackerel cuts through the richness
of the fried mackerel beautifully.
But the garnishes have really let that down. Yeah.
Dipa, please bring your plates up.
I have made a pan-fried mackerel
served with fennel and creamy horseradish potatoes,
and a pan-fried mackerel with spicy sauce,
some salad and Bombay potatoes.
The fish in both dishes, they're cooked the same way.
Maybe a fraction over on your mackerel with Bombay potatoes,
but the fennel has a great flavour,
lovely, lots of lemon coming through.
Your horseradish potato salad is far too creamy.
Having said that, the flavour is nice.
The potato salad, I think it could take a massive green on top,
it would have given you a bit more contrast.
But I love the fennel salad, and you cracked it with the two fish.
Now, taking both rounds into account,
the judges must decide who's safe
and who will have to cook again in the elimination challenge.
A huge well-done to all of you for your beautiful mackerel dishes.
Please go into the cooks' room,
where tea and coffee and biscuits await.
Well done, off you go. Judges, I will leave you to decide.
Well done, everybody.
Well, boys, it's the quarterfinal,
and I bet they are very nervous round the corner there.
And doing two... Yeah. That's like double trouble, isn't it?
It was the time. When we had that sharing platter,
it wasn't quite what we imagined.
We had some of them that were a bit like a buffet and some that were
absolutely perfect.
But if there was any doubt
of perhaps what the interpretation of the brief was,
the second challenge equally divided them, I think.
I can't believe they made us do two.
Yeah, that was... That was shocking.
I think I went...
They used the fish, they cooked the fish, I think,
pretty well. Your goujon was amazing, Tobes.
Cheers, love. Well done. Although I don't think I'm safe.
Why? Why?! Last week has shown me that no-one is safe.
The smoking wasn't really up to scratch, was it?
And I don't think anybody
completely nailed both of their mackerel dishes.
You know, thinking of all these together,
they've all had their bad moments, haven't they?
Yeah. So what do we do about that?
Lovely cooks,
will you follow me to find out who has to cook again and who doesn't?
Yep. Good luck, gang.
Good luck, everyone. The filleting five.
So, cooks, as you can see, there are five trays.
Dan? So there's been elements of your cooking that's been
really good, but equally, you've all made mistakes,
so we'd like you all to cook again.
Mary, what would you like our cooks to make?
I would like them to make chicken Kiev,
served with mashed potato and tender stem broccoli.
You have a beautiful chicken breast, which you've got to bone out there,
leaving in the bone of the wing.
Then you put a good stuffing of butter and flavourings,
encase it in crumb and fry it to perfection, and when we cut it,
we want that butter to flow.
Quite a challenge. Yes!
You have 50 minutes,
and you are cooking for a place in the semifinal.
Enormous luck. Come and get your tray.
Your time starts now.
Good luck. Good luck, guys.
Ooh, this is heavy. It is.
For the first time in the competition,
no-one is safe, and all five cooks
are taking on the elimination challenge.
A place in the semifinal will be judged on this dish,
and this dish alone.
All that has gone before no longer counts.
I couldn't do this if you gave me five days!
There's so many things that can go wrong with this.
It's very easy to undercook, very easy to overcook,
very easy for your sauce to come out prematurely.
"Cut the tip..."
"Cut the tip?" I don't get this.
In this exacting challenge,
the cooks' butchery skills are being put to the test.
I don't get this at all.
They must separate the breast from the breastbone and ribs,
trim the wing tip and remove the skin and any excess fat.
Have you ever boned a chicken?
I have, but usually from the full carcass, so because...
Right. It was a bit disorientating having it...
Already a bit... Yeah.
This is your first elimination.
Yes. Really relaxing, isn't it?
Yeah, really relaxing! It's like a spa break.
It's like a hot chocolate and a foot massage. Yes.
So our cooks have started to prep their chicken with varying degrees
of success, I would say.
Obviously, the most important thing is removing that bone,
leaving the wing on,
because you can use that bone to help control the cooking,
in turning it over. Then we make a nice long slit,
open it up and we flatten it with a mallet.
Never used one of these before.
It tenderises the meat, but it also creates the stretch in the meat,
so when you put your butter inside, it can be re-encased.
Mash, you're fine with.
Mash, I'm fine with. Tenderstem broccoli, the dream.
Yeah. Have you boned your chicken?
Yes. I have, I have. All right. Tobi, I'm not being funny,
but I don't sense I'm getting your full attention.
HE LAUGHS
You can have it later! SHE LAUGHS
So I know I'm looking for a garlic butter,
I make that all the time for garlic bread and things, so...
Just not inside a chicken!
More familiar with the safety of the stools,
this is the first time Katie and Pippa have cooked
for their survival.
How are you finding it, Pip?
Er... It's weird, isn't it?
Yeah, it's really weird. This could have been the best way
to do a first one, though, with us ALL in it. Yeah, definitely.
It's nice not having to sit and do nothing and watch while your friends
cook-off. So it's quite nice that we're all in it together this time.
This isn't the style of cooking that I would usually do at home,
but it's exciting to try something new.
"Form into a log and freeze."
Getting in, getting it chilled, getting that temperature down
is important, isn't it? If it's soft when it goes in,
it will start to melt way too quickly, and then it can seep
into your crumb, and then you're going to have all kinds of problems.
I thought that was a particularly good boning situation I saw you do.
I do spatchcock chickens quite regularly.
OK. That's something that I like to do.
Much more than filleting fish, actually.
Yeah, strangely.
Hm.
I'm just stuffing...
..the Kiev with the garlic butter.
Interesting.
It's quite hard to squish it down, because it says to...
..press to flatten and reseal with your hands,
but I don't know what it means by "reseal".
Once the butter's in the chicken, we go flour, get rid of the excess,
egg wash, scrape it off.
Then we repeat that process twice,
and that creates the perfect sealant,
if you like, to keep everything in, and then we go into the breadcrumbs,
to get that nice crunch.
I want my chicken to cool down before I fry it.
You're cooling it? Yeah, in the fridge, so the butter goes hard, no?
I've never cooked any of these, have you? I've not.
If the chicken are all cooked well, it comes down to the mash,
the broccoli, you know...
Small mistakes. Imagine not seasoning your mashed potato,
or not getting that creamy consistency is what costs you
a place in the semifinal.
But it could come down to something as simple as that. Yeah.
How're you doing, Phil? Erm, all right, I think.
All right? Yeah, just trying to get the timings right.
Yeah. Just trying to sort of stop, read, stop, think, do.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's... Would you cook the broccoli and then put it in
ice water? No, I wouldn't, because...
All right. No, I wouldn't either.
I don't even know why I said it. Forget I mentioned it.
You're not listening to me. No, if you want to do it ahead...
It's because I made a mistake. Yeah.
Are you listening? Yes. If you want to do broccoli ahead...
Yeah, then ice water, but otherwise, no.
Did your mother put up with you?
No... I know. She did.
You've got about 16 minutes.
Maybe 15. I'm not an expert.
It's literally the only reason I'm here.
I wouldn't do this in the house, but, you know.
But for here... Quarterfinal and all that.
You happy? I am, so far.
Kiev is still in the oven.
OK, you've got five minutes.
About...two minutes to go.
OK, brilliant. Do get that done.
Yeah. If you want.
Cooks, you've three minutes left. Three minutes.
Make it like a little garden of broccoli.
I don't do plating.
Oh, look.
Pippa and Katie are going together, as a team.
You can go first. That's all right.
Thanks. Well done, you did it.
Your first elimination.
Let's hope Pippa goes home now.
SHE LAUGHS
Philip joins the group.
Tobi, you all right? Yeah.
Wow.
High five, Phil.
Ten seconds, that's it.
Well done, Dipa.
Tobi, good boy.
Well done. Ooh, look at Tobi's.
Well done.
Wow. Looks beautiful.
Well done, Dipa. Thank you.
Given the same ingredients and detailed recipe to follow,
how well the cooks have executed this single challenge will determine
their place in the competition.
The dishes will be tasted in silence and then judged behind closed doors.
Thank you.
Oh, good.
Thank you.
Well, a huge well-done to all of you.
Judges, you have a really difficult decision to make.
Thank you. Thank you all.
Thank you. Thank you. Thanks.
I feel like dropping on the floor!
Everyone lie down on the floor, lie down!
That was a tricky challenge for them.
I think they were terrified when they came in,
but I think on the whole they did well.
From one recipe, you get
five completely different executions of it.
Katie's coating was dark, indicating it had been slightly overcooked,
or almost caught.
The sauce, you could actually see fairly coarse bits of garlic.
It was in big pieces, and, you know, that is not pleasant to eat.
And I think the chicken was...had been beaten a little bit too much,
so you saw the fibres breaking down a little.
It was a bit torn inside.
Her broccoli was good.
The potato lacked flavour.
It just needed seasoning.
Yeah. It was bland, and such a shame.
Pippa? There wasn't an abundance of the sauce,
but the seasoning was on point, the crust was good,
the chicken was perfectly handled, and it was a well-seasoned mash.
Dipa? In terms of appearance,
it had definitely been overworked and didn't look great,
but in terms of that garlic, buttery lemony sauce, it was actually OK.
Philip? There was a bit of butter oozing out there and his crust was
right. Yeah, his chicken Kiev looked like it had been in a long drawn-out
boxing fight as well. Yeah.
It was... It looked like it had taken quite the pounding.
And his mash was too wet.
And then we come to Tobi.
Now, it looked the part, wouldn't you agree?
Absolutely. The bone had been cleaned as well.
He was the only person to do it,
and it adds that little element of presentation to it.
He'd got the flavouring right in the main centrepiece,
which was our Kiev,
but his broccoli was awful.
So where does that leave us?
It's hard. I mean, we are talking tiny, tiny margins here.
The ones that aren't seasoning properly
are at the forefront of my mind,
because it's such a simple thing.
Yeah. And it does so much to a dish.
Let me just remind you that we are deciding
the one person who will not be going through to the semifinal,
just on this dish alone.
This is really difficult, isn't it?
I reckon it was pretty close.
Guys, good luck. Good luck.
Good luck, guys. Oh, God.
So, judges, sadly, somebody's got to leave.
Chris? You cooked something that most of you had never cooked before,
and it was so hard to judge, that it came down to the most minute detail.
But I'm afraid the cook that will be leaving us today...
..is
Katie. I'm sorry.
It's all right, men. Well done.
My friends and family have always said that I was a good cook,
and I never really believed them, cos, you know,
your friends and family are never going to say, "You're rubbish!"
So, yeah, hearing it from Mary Berry and Dan and Chris has been lovely,
and I've made myself proud, so...
You moved away from everything, being Welsh,
and you're so proud to be Welsh. Yes, I am.
And we've enjoyed some very good things.
Thank you. She came very much doing the things that she knew well,
but she soon found that she could branch out and tackle things
that she'd never done before with great enthusiasm,
and I think she's done really well.
We're very sorry to see you go.
Well done. And listen, your claim to fame,
you introduced Mary Berry to laverbread, didn't you?
Yes, I did, I did. You can always have that.
I hope you've left some of that blue cheese in the fridge for us.
No, I haven't! It's mine! I think Katie personifies a home cook.
She cooks from her heart, she cooks well.
Throughout the competition, we've given her lots of feedback,
and she's taken it on board and she's tweaked what she does.
It's just a shame to see her go.
Come on, then, escort me out.
Our cooks are improving all the time.
The standard of the dishes they're presenting us with
are getting higher, and as that happens,
judging gets much, much harder.
We're going into the semifinals now.
It's getting serious.
Next time... On the menu, it's ultimate canapes.
It's like my own little Lilliput.
Never made canapes at home, ever.
I'm not that posh!
Pips, nettles? Are you trying to kill us?
How on earth do you do little onion bhajis?
It's a risky game to play.
Pressure's on. I hope it's going to be pretty.
The flavour is fabulous.
Come on!
Rustic. It's the semifinals, there's got to be a twist.
It's going to be a bigger twist than last week.