MasterChef: The Professionals – Knockout Week Pt. 2

MasterChef: The Professionals knockout week continues, and Wednesday’s episode really tested the chefs.

The judges wanted to challenge the chefs further by pushing them out of their comfort zone. On Wednesdays episode, the top ten chefs were split into 2 groups and were set two daunting challenges by judges Monica Galetti and Marcus Wareing.

In an on-trend challenge, the chefs were required to each make a dish for a pop-up eatery at Pergola in London. Given only limited cooking equipment and stripped of the modern gadgets, the chefs had to be inventive when thinking up their dishes.

The chefs first facing the challenge were Yann, Exose, Arbinder and Tom. After this first round, one chef will immediately secure a place in the semi-finals, whilst the other 4 will have to cook again for the judges.

Let’s see how the chef’s got on in Episode 14...

 

Yann, Private Chef

Signature Dish: Barbecued lamb neck with saffron potatoes, with a chimichurri Peruvian chilli sauce and garnished with baby watercress.

All of the guests were pleased with the presentation of Yann’s dish and loved the colours running through.

Monica was pleased with Yann and commended him for bringing the flavours of South America so well into the dish.

Marcus also loved the dishes and particularly enjoyed the saffron potatoes.

Arbinder, Executive Chef

Signature Dish: ‘Indian Street Food’ – Quinoa, avocado, mixed seed chaat, pomegranate sorbet, and a caraway crisp, garnished with micro coriander.

Monica was hesitant about the dish. She enjoyed the flavours although found it to be a little too sweet.

Marcus agreed and enjoyed elements of the dish, but similarly, found there was too much sweetness running through.

Andrew, Personal Navy Chef

Signature Dish: Plaice and pickled mussels, saffron potatoes, flatbread and tarragon oil, garnished with salty fingers. 

The guests were thrilled with Andrew’s dish and one said ‘you wouldn’t be disappointed with that if you got served that in a Michelin star restaurant’.

Marcus agreed with the guests and enjoyed all elements of the dish.

Monica was also happy with Andrew’s plate and loved the sauce running through. Monica commented ‘it’s a tasty plate of food’.

Tom, Senior Sous Chef

Signature Dish: Mustard BBQ pork tenderloin, American mustard mayonnaise, roasted onion, pickled cabbage served with a beer and onion sauce.  

The guests loved Tom’s presentation.

Monica agreed and was happy with the ‘beautiful’ plate of food that Tom had made.

Marcus enjoyed the mustard mayonnaise that Tom had made however did say the flavours of BBQ were particularly strong.

Exose, Chef de Partie.

Signature Dish: ‘Banoffee pie’; Banana ice-cream, roasted bananas and banana fritters, crispy caramel bananas, served with caramel biegnets filled with banofee cream, and fudge.

Guests were really pleased with Exose’s dish. They said it was ‘delicious’ and ‘absolutely great’.

Marcus said ‘I love this’ and felt the dessert would work well as fine dining and as street food.

Monica was equally as happy with Exose’s plate, saying ‘Exose has done really well today’.

 

After the guests had cast their votes, it was a close competition for all the chefs, but Exose and Andrew came out top. Unfortunately, only one person would secure a place in the semi-finals after this round, and it was Exose who had managed to come out on top.

This meant the remaining 4 chefs – Andrew, Arbinder, Yann, and Tom – now have 90 minutes to impress the 3 judges with their signature dish to pull 3 of them through to the semi-finals.

 

Andrew

Signature Dish: Tom yum nam sai, torched prawns served with confit tomatoes, pickled onion and poached mushrooms, with a hot and sour prawn consommé, thai basil oil, prawn oil, served with a seaweed rice cracker topped with prawn and crispy rice noodles, and garnished with micro coriander.

Gregg was happy with Andrew’s dish and said it was ‘very very pretty’ and brought some great Thai flavours – ‘really clever’.

Marcus complimented Andrew, saying ‘I think the prawns are sensational’.

Monica too was thrilled with the dish. She said ‘very well done, very well put together’.

 

Yann

Signature Dish: Poached langoustine with marjoram artichokes, poached apple, corn and saffron puree, and corn blinis. Garnished with wood sorrel, apple blossom and deep-fried corn silk and served with an apple and langoustine beurre blanc.

Monica loved lots of elements of the dish, particularly the langoustine. However, she didn’t enjoy the texture of the blinis.

Marcus found the cookery of the langoustine to be great, although said the apple didn’t work on the dish.

Gregg agreed with Marcus as he enjoyed lots of elements of the dish but didn’t feel the apple worked.

 

Arbinder 

Signature Dish: Mint and coriander crusted cod, with a spiced semolina coated langoustine served with smoked yoghurt, crispy samphire, baby carrots, radish and turnips with a raw green mango curry sauce. Garnished with micro coriander, crimson radish and red basil.

Gregg appreciated the raw mango curry sauce and said it was a ‘delight’. He did however say he felt the dish lacked smartness overall.

Monica enjoyed the cod cookery and loved the crumb. She also enjoyed all the garnishes and said the curry sauce was the ‘star’.

Marcus agreed with Gregg and said the dish was tasty but lacked ‘refinement’.

 

Tom

Signature Dish: Pan-roasted hack with courgette three ways – roasted, pureed, and lemon marinated. Served with mint and lemon jersey royals, black olive puree, and finished with a prawn sauce vierge and garnished with borage and red basil.

Marcus was unimpressed with Tom’s plating and said bluntly ‘it looks like a dogs dinner’. Although he did say there had been some good cookery in the dish.

Gregg was happy with how the fish had been cooked.

Monica enjoyed the olive and courgette flavours but was disappointed with the dish as a whole. She said she was hoping for something special, but unfortunately Tom had cooked elements that Monica said she had seen before.

After careful consideration, the judges decided the chefs going through to the semi-finals would be Arbinder, Andrew and Yann.

Unfortunately saying goodbye and good luck for the future to Tom.