Masterchef (2010) s01e08 Episode Script

Previously on MasterChef The competition for the title heated up.
This could be a desert you could put in a restaurant.
My cupcake is horrible.
shocked the judges.
Sharone, well done.
By baking the perfect cupcake.
Absolutely phenomenal.
After a rocky start Looking a little bit embarrassing.
We're burning buns and we're not even cooking burgers.
Butter lettuce! Butter? What the hell are you asking for? The red team turned it around.
College student Slim fell short of the judges' expectations.
I'm not gonna even eat this sauce, because I don't eat garlic boiled in cream.
And for Tony and Faruq, the consequences were devastating.
Take off your apron.
Your time is done in MasterChef.
Tonight, some will make the best dishes yet.
You knocked this challenge out of the park.
This is the most unique dish we've seen in the history of MasterChef.
But what's under this mystery box will bring one competitor to tears.
Sheetal, come here.
I don't want to be on the camera.
Don't worry about the camera.
What's the matter? And it may cost her the MasterChef crown.
And now, nine amateur cooks remain.
The last contestant standing will receive $250,000, a cookbook publishing deal, and become the first American MasterChef.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Welcome back to the MasterChef kitchen.
There's nine of you left and the standard is going up from here.
We're gonna really, really expect you to put professional-level food on the plate today.
As the competition intensifies, we need to be spot-on with our dishes.
Really thinking about plate presentation, flavor profiles, especially when--oh, let me check that.
We're down to the final nine.
As always, the day begins with Another mystery box challenge.
The contestants will have only 60 minutes to create a glorious dish using a surprise mystery box ingredient.
Only the top three most tantalizing dishes will be tasted by the judges.
Now, in every mystery box challenge, usually, the ingredients are underneath the box.
Today, all the ingredients, bar one, are outside the box.
Cucumber, apple, tomatoes, prosciutto, peanut, asparagus.
There is one mystery ingredient underneath that box.
It's like what could possibly be under the box? Right, on the count of three, slowly lift the box.
One Your adrenaline's pumping.
Yo heart's racing.
Your eyes are open and you're just like, "what the heck is in this mystery box?" Two I wouldn't even begin to guess what the mystery box challenge is gonna be today.
I mean, monkey ninjas could fly out of the sky and show us knife techniques.
So who really knows? Three.
Whoo.
Ha-ha! Awesome.
I about backed up and fell over because it scared me so much.
I wasn't expecting to see a live crab in front of me.
There is the most amazing dungeness crab.
It's alive and kicking.
Now come alive in the challenge.
Put your best dish forward.
The become a MasterChef, you must work with the freshest ingredients.
But this ingredient is fresher than one competitor can handle.
I'm a Hindu.
I was raised Hindu and we don't believe in taking the life of an animal.
I grew up in a vegetarian home.
I've never gone hunting, fishing.
I've never killed anything before.
Excited? Yes, Chef.
One hour to cook the most amazing dungeness crab dish.
Starting from Now.
Off you go.
Sheetal, you okay? What's wrong? Nothing.
Tell me.
Two seconds.
What's wrong? No, Sheetal.
Come here two seconds.
I don't want to be on the camera.
Don't worry about the camera.
What's the matter? I've never killed anything in my life.
You've never what? I don't think I can kill the crab.
This whole concept is-- Don't get upset.
Come on.
You've never killed a crab or lobster? Never.
Fish? Never.
No? Okay, what do you want to do with the dish? I have to grow up a little bit.
No, you tell me what you want to do with it and I can help you.
What would you like? The hardest thing Is just putting it into the water.
Moving around.
It's moving around.
Okay.
It's fine.
Why don't I just drop it in the water for you? I'll do it.
Yes.
You sure? That'd be great if you could.
You know that? Yes.
You can do it.
You're here to win.
Yep.
Yeah? Do it, okay? Come here.
You're fine.
Come on.
You can do it.
Come on, come on, come on.
You can do it.
Okay.
Thank you.
Good luck.
Come on.
While Sheetal wrestles with the thought of killing a crab, others have no problem at all.
Bye-bye.
It smells amazing.
Incredible.
We are super excited to try these dishes.
Light years away from where you guys started.
I am gonna make a roll of my crab wrapped in fresh cucumber and that's gonna be wrapped again inrosciutto to add some saltiness into it.
I want to utilize every bit of the ingredients that I've been given, but that's dangerous because I can make it too complicated.
I can completely lose my sense of direction, so that was what I was a bit nervous about.
What do you got, Mike? What's going on? I'm doing crab kind of two ways.
A little east-meets-west kind of deal.
When I finish off the Asian sauce, I'm gonna try to use some of that crab butter in there to kind of finish off with that.
It's definitely a risk.
Fusion equals confusion sometimes, right? We talked about that.
Yeah, absolutely.
I agree with you.
What I'm gonna do is create some kind of, like, crab.
Like, a warm crab salad and I will serve that with, like, a spicy gazpacho sauce.
So I'm trying to just go all out with something that's, you know, extremely flavorful and fun to look at as well.
That's my strategy right now.
They're getting a lot of technique going out there.
I think they've got the idea and they're pushing the box a little bit.
We're gonna get some restaurant quality dishes hopefully.
Lee, I believe, is making a gazpacho and that's what I would have done with this challenge, so I'm really excited to try that one.
They have to really respect it.
Even the most seasoned Chefs can have difficulties preparing a crab dish.
Just stop for two seconds.
That needs to be cooked.
Otherwise it'll be flavorless.
You'll have a dry crab.
The minute you separate it-- you want me to cook it first? I'm sorry.
The crab is live, right? Yes, sir.
So you're torturing it now.
So not only is it inhumane, but you're gonna ruin the flavor.
See all that there? Yes, sir.
That's the goodness gone.
But the minute you start doing that, you've left the flavor on the chopping board.
The flavor needs to stay in the crab.
So if I was you, i'd get that Yes, sir.
Cooked as soon as poss, yeah? Sorry about that.
You can't separate, pull it apart, in an inhumane way and all the goodness is on the board.
So I'm expecting a very dry crab there.
In our faith, every living thing has a soul, so That's it.
So it's tough.
Clock is ticking.
I have to kill this animal.
I don't think I'm gonna be able to do it, to be honest.
Today's mystery box challenge is not for the weak of heart.
And one contestant's beliefs are clashing with the competition.
I've never killed anything before.
So seeing that little live creature and knowing that if I'm here to compete, I am gonna have to take the soul of this crab.
Okay.
Sorry.
Sorry.
If I'm going to kill an animal, I better do something really, really amazing with it.
Good.
Well done.
Big, deep breath.
Excellent.
Okay, great.
You're over the hurdle now.
Yeah.
Okay, good.
Now what are you making? What are you gonna do? I'm just making a simple Thai crab curry.
So it'll be like a nice, light, sweet crab curry? Yeah.
Good.
Keep going.
Yeah.
Yeah? Thank you.
Just under ten minutes to go, guys.
What do you got, Sharone? I'm going outside the box.
Really try to impress you guys with some sort of gourmet tartan.
What could go wrong with this dish? That thing can completely fall apart on me and not work out that-- do you have a plan "B" in case that happens? Uh.
This is the first time I think I've ever seen you actually look nervous.
Are you nervous? I just got to knock this out, man.
Who's your biggest competition here? I think Lee and I both come from the same place.
We got similar passions.
We cook with the same style and that makes me a bit nervous, 'cause I got some tricks under my sleeve that I think he does as well.
Sharone, he's a talented cook, you know, but I don't believe that he cooks from the heart.
I really don't.
I don't believe that he has the passion that I have and that is the main difference between us.
Five minutes to go.
You should now start thinking about plating it up and putting those finishing touches to that dungeness crab.
How we looking, Lee? We're looking fantastic.
Oh, he's got the ring out.
He's a pvc boy.
Ingredients are coming together.
Everything's flavored up.
It's all about the plating.
Some gazpacho andaluz.
It smells and looks amazing.
Absolutely phenomenal.
Keep it going, guys, yes? I have a career in finance that I've done very, very well at, but there's a burning desire in my heart to do something else.
I want to be a Chef.
It.
I'm going all out without holding anything back.
And $1/4 million is no joke.
Keep it going, guys, yes? Ten, nine, eight, seven Six, five, four, three, two, one, and stop.
Stop.
Well done.
Everybody step away from their dish, please.
I didn't finish my plate.
Once again I failed at time management and, uh, it was not pretty whatsoever.
It looked like a pile of crap on bread.
Sheetal, how you feeling? Awesome.
Yay.
You could do it.
Yeah, I finished.
Good.
Well done.
I'm feeling extremely proud of myself for having gotten through it without completely falling apart.
Having scrutinized all nine dishes, the judges are ready to pick the three most mouth-watering for tasting.
Whoever creates the winning dish will then be in control of the next stage of the competition.
Look at my dish and go, "that's a pretty good looking dish, man.
" Like, "good job.
" I was hoping that I could get that win for sure.
First one.
Having watched the way you executed the dish, we're excited to taste it.
I'm looking at the plate and the plate's smiling at me.
Today, I'm going to be in the top three and I have no doubt about that.
That dish belongs to Sharone.
Let's go, big boy.
My eyes lit up.
I was like, "yes!" I felt great, 'cause I really put my heart into that plate.
This dish has visual impact.
Very intricate.
Dangerous thing wrapping the crab with a prosciutto.
The actual shape of the roll-- we're looking for a texture of a crunch.
A vibrant citrus flavor with the delicate sweetness of the crab.
A delicate sweetness.
Right.
And the citrus will be in the apple reduction with the ginger.
So make sure you incorporate that in there too, Chef.
I love the fact that you're now telling me how to eat.
Thank you so much, Agent 43.
I know how to eat properly, but very gracious of you.
Thank you.
Whoo.
Should I put a bib on or? No, no.
The problem with that dish Is automatically I want more.
It is delicious, fresh, vibrant.
You've respected the ingredients, but you've been very clever and very, very creative.
Love it.
Thank you.
The second dish that we think is gonna taste delicious belongs to Lee.
So basically it's a dungeness crab salad with some fresh avocado and then gazpacho andaluz as the sauce.
Your dishes haven't been the worst.
They haven't been the greatest.
They've just kind of--kind of been in the middle somewhere.
This one just screamed to me right away and I'm so excited to try it, because this is exactly what I would have been making with this challenge.
Ahem.
You knocked this challenge out of the park.
Thank you very much.
This is awesome.
You have gone from down here to jumping up to the top and now you're a force to be reckoned with, so keep on that track, okay? Thank you very much, Chef.
The third dish that we're excited about tasting-- I can't believe I'm saying this.
Sheetal.
I'm shocked when they call my name.
I thought that the third person would be Mike.
That would make sense, you know? I was feeling pretty bad.
I was like-- 'Cause I wanted to be up there.
So I'm thinking with my dish, "what could I have done? What could I have done to made it a top-three dish?" The first two minutes into the challenge, it looked like you were done, beat, defeated.
The smell, the excitement from the sauce, the aroma, and the delicacy in terms of the way you cooked the crab is what we're dying to taste.
Considering what we had asked you to do, you might criticize this dish perhaps for being too simple, but I think that it excels in its simplicity.
Congratulations.
I'm sure that crab is very, very happy to give his life for this dish.
Three stunning dishes.
Now we have to select one winner from those three.
Tough one.
Very tough.
That was a very difficult choice.
But the reason why we chose this individual is because all three of us believe this is the best and the most unique dish we've seen so far in the history of MasterChef.
And that dish belongs to The top three dishes have been tasted.
Sharone's crab cucumber roll.
Lee's crab salad with gazpacho.
And Sheetal's crab curry.
But only one can win this mystery box challenge.
I think I brought in a lot of passion and a lot of heart and that shows in the amount of flavor that was in that dish.
I think the flavors of my dish were well balanced, rustic, and I think that that's what would win for this challenge.
I don't want to lose.
This is the best dish we've seen so far in the history of MasterChef.
Congratulations Lee.
Well done.
Look out.
Lee's in town.
You've really proven to yourself and to us today that you are a force to be reckoned with.
I was pissed.
I could make a gazpacho with my eyes closed and it doesn't feel good not being in first place.
Lee, ready for your next challenge? Absolutely.
Let's go.
Good job.
Lee now gets to choose the main ingredient for the invention test.
Whatever he selects, everybody else must cook with.
As always, the theme of this challenge is in the hands of the judges.
Whoever makes the worst dish will be eliminated from MasterChef.
The theme of today Is romance.
Now listen to me.
You're tall.
You're good looking.
You know how to woo a Lady, right? You know how to seduce a Lady.
Yes or no? Well, that's how I got my girlfriend, so, yeah.
If it wasn't for her, i wouldn't be here today and I cook for her every day.
Now you're faced with a huge advantage right now, because of what you select, everybody else cooks with.
Yeah? What don't you want under these cloths? One ingredient I don't want is any kind of chocolate.
My girlfriend hates chocolate.
I'm not a huge chocolate fan.
It doesn't get anymore romantic than that.
Ready? Yeah.
Passion fruit.
I lived in Hawaii where these grew wild all over and they are intoxicating.
And from the land where love was invented, we have the finest Italian burrata.
Burrata.
One of the most unique milk products perhaps in the entire world.
Burrata.
It's mozzarella with ricotta and buttermilk on the inside.
Amazing.
Out of these three ingredients, the one ingredient you choose everybody else cooks with.
So be very clever.
It's a tough choice.
I am going to go with Okay, good.
Lee, excited? Very excited, Chef.
Okay.
The theme across today's challenge is Romance.
Lee had three stunning ingredients to choose from.
The first ingredient was the most amazing array of chocolate.
The second ingredient Passion fruit.
Passion fruit? Oh, boy.
How do you put together flavors when you don't know what an ingredient even tastes like? And the third ingredient, burrata.
Burrata cheese is delicious stuff, but I couldn't think of a romantic dish to do with it.
Lee chose Passion fruit.
Fragrant, stunning passion fruit.
Don't even go anywhere near playing safe.
One of you will be leaving MasterChef.
You've all got 2 1/2 minutes in that pantry starting from now.
Off you go, guys.
For the two youngest competitors, a romantic theme challenge may be a big problem.
I don't have a boyfriend and I haven't really dated and so I just feel like I'm going in totally blind.
I've never cooked for a guy or made a romantic dinner for a guy, but I'm gonna try to do the best I can and put passion into this.
I suck at romance.
I absolutely do.
It's horrible.
It's difficult for me to be like, "oh, hi, honey.
How are you? This is my gift to--" I can't do that.
One hour to seduce us with your dishes, starting from Now.
I'd like to play to my strengths.
I know passion fruit real well.
I grew up with it.
I have some ideas up my sleeve.
The judges are gonna be blown away.
Smell that.
I mean, it's just so natural.
Pungent and incredibly aromatic.
I think that it's one of those things that you don't really want to cook because it starts separating everything.
Once you go over 212 degrees and bring it to a boil, it starts to kind of coagulate.
You start cooking this and you reduce it down, it becomes bitter.
Mm-hmm.
You don't think it would go with lamb? Not at all.
Probably not.
Too delicate.
Pork would go brilliantly well with it.
Mm-hmm.
Certainly, for creating a romantic dish, there couldn't be a more intriguing ingredient.
Young Whitney, what do we got going on? I am gonna get ready to saute my shrimp.
And this is my passion fruit glaze.
So a passion fruit glaze and a balsamic reduction? Yes.
Now, if you were on a first date with a guy that you were into, tell me about the dinner you would cook for him.
This looks sexy to me.
So now what are you gonna do with it? I'm gonna make it as sexy as I can, so it'll be a romantic dish that you'll remember.
Right, Mike, what are you doing? I'm gonna do like a-- kind of a japanese-inspired sort of dish.
Beef tataki.
Where's the passion fruit? I'm gonna use that in the ponzu.
It's gonna be a passion fruit ponzu.
Okay, great.
Good luck.
Thank you, Chef.
Right, David.
What is that? It's a spicy saffron shrimp.
I'm making a passion fruit-mango-- it's like a fruit salad, there.
More of a salsa.
So I'm gonna have some acid and vinegar in there as well.
Proof's in the taste.
Good luck, David.
I hope there's a lot of romance being created out there.
We wanna be wooed and seduced by your dishes.
I wanna taste sexiness, sassiness! Passion, romance.
All of that should come through in what you're cooking.
You're doing lamb chops and shrimp.
And I'm actually gonna do it on skewers, so like little, smaller skewers that have, like, a little fruit fondue in the middle.
'Cause that's what I think of romance.
You take things and dip it in, you feed it to each other.
But a fondue--you think of fondue, you go to dessert.
Fondue with a protein? Yes.
Yes.
You have David, who's kind of been in the middle recently.
So it'd be interesting to see if he can actually pull something together.
Because God knows what kind of a twisted view on romance that he has.
Slim is putting together what seems to be some sort of a family-style platter.
Now, I don't know what kind of passion is in that-- none.
No, no, no, no.
Maybe--maybe she missed the mark.
Not much passion there.
Maybe it's gonna be a celebration of her going home.
She's gonna share it with everybody.
I'm steaming that I didn't win this last challenge.
In order for me to get back on top, I need to push it.
I decide to cook my dish sous-vide.
Sous-vide literally means "in vacuum.
" It doesn't allow any juice to evaporate.
And if executed well will provide you with an absolutely stunning piece of meat.
I go and try to vacuum seal my bag with my filet.
Push the button.
Okay, well, what is going on here? Sharone, what are you-- what are you doing? Sous-vide.
Trying to.
But this damn thing is like More complicated than any woman I've ever met.
Vacuum seal, right, Chef? Yeah.
Let me see.
Wait, it's gotta be straight.
But it's not-- it's sucking, but it doesn't seal.
Done this before? No.
No? No.
I'm here to push it.
I'm here to push it.
Sharone, it's a very adventurous thing to be doing, having never used a machine, yeah? On the verge of absolute stupidity or an absolute genius.
All right, guys, less than 30 minutes.
Half of your time is up.
I'm--I'm gonna have to cancel this.
This is-- a little more time.
I'm not sure what's going on over here.
I may not finish this dish in time.
This damn thing is more complicated than any woman I've ever met.
I'm gonna have to cancel this.
I'm not sure what's going on over here again.
The thing is not working.
I may not finish this dish in time.
Let's try a fresh one.
Thank you.
Okay.
There you go.
Let's hope.
Ah, very good.
It's done.
Fantastic.
I really, really appreciate it.
Yeah.
I'm supposed to have my meat done, move on to the other stuff.
Okay, 20 minutes left, folks! 20 minutes to create the romance of your life.
.
.
Yeah, I can't believe he's done that.
He needs a sous-vide machine.
Basically, he's boiling it in a bag.
In the elimination round.
Yeah.
I mean, this could cost him his place in MasterChef.
The sous-vide is very, very, very risky stuff.
Yeah, well, I mean, if Sharone pulls this off, it could be the best dish ever in MasterChef.
Ah, .
My collard greens start to crisp up.
I thought, "aw, man, I'm in trouble.
" This is MasterChef.
You know, you're not at home cooking for your mom.
Lee, what do you got going on for us? The idea behind this dish is romance and relationships.
They don't always come from where you would expect them.
And that's the whole idea behind it.
That things can work together.
So I have the beef tenderloin, which is gonna be a simple sautee sear on the pan.
Finish it in the oven.
And I have my prawns working on over here with the marinade that I made with the passion fruit juice.
And I'm just gonna have fun with it like I have fun with my girlfriend, you know, when I cook for her.
And then that's my whole inspiration behind this.
All right, make it lovely.
Okay, guys coming up to the last minute.
Let's hope that it tastes as good as it smells.
I don't have love in my heart, you know.
I have--I don't have this wonderful, romantic love life happening that I can tap into and then figure out how to plate that and create this romantic dish.
I just don't have that.
Start putting those finishing touches on that romantic, delicious dish.
Let the passion fruit shine.
Come on! There's so much at stake today.
If I got eliminated, I would feel like I let myself down.
Romance.
My fiancee will tell you that I'm-- I'm a romantic kind of guy.
Everything that I am is on that plate.
It's gonna be magic.
Come on, make it bounce! Five, four, three, two, one.
Stop! Whoo! Well done.
Whoo! Well done, well done.
Unreal! The anxiety escalates in the MasterChef kitchen.
As the judges prepare to taste all nine dishes.
The contestant with the worst dish will be leaving MasterChef.
Let's start off with the most ambitious use of machinery ever in MasterChef.
That's you, Sharone.
A sous-vide machine.
Let's go.
Are you mad? A sous-vide machine to vacuum pack your beef? Why now, when one of you is going home, tonight? 'Cause I have to step it up.
I'm here to learn, I'm here to grow, and I'm here to not look back and doubt myself.
Okay.
Tell me how you incorporated passion fruit.
So the first step was a demi infused with passion fruit.
Then I did a champagne vinaigrette with the seeds and the pulp of the passion fruit.
Here's the thing.
When you're using a sous-vide machine, there's a huge chance for you to kind of do the exact opposite of what you're looking to do.
Instead of imparting more flavor into the beef, just leaves it as a dull, Gray, boring piece of flabby protein.
The beef is--is sublime.
It--it literally does melt in your mouth.
It's like butter.
And you do pick up a lot of that sear flavor.
Some of the butter, the thyme that you were basting it in.
And I saw all that in your pan.
Great stuff.
Thank you.
Okay, Jake, let's go, please.
I think I put a lot of romance on my plate.
My dish oozed sexuality and romance.
What is that, please? This is a sexy, seared piece of filet.
And then I used the passion fruit as a vinaigrette.
So you mentioned the passion fruit as a vinaigrette.
Yes.
And that's it? Problem here with this dish, Jake, is you've missed the point.
The passion fruit didn't have to be the hero of the dish, but the passion fruit's been underused.
Truthfully, it's one of your weakest dishes.
You know, I thought the plate was very romantic and had a lot of passion in it, and visually pleasing.
You know, maybe it was a little too subtle for them.
Maybe Gordon likes it rough.
After Jake's disappointing dish, can the ladies bring romance back into the room? Whitney.
What is that? Passion fruit-glazed shrimp and frisee salad.
I think the shrimp are They're overcooked.
And I think the passion fruit doesn't really come through.
It seems very amateur.
You know, I know at the beginning I was the one that had to make the choice about you being here.
You know, and I put my neck out on the line.
AndI hope that this isn't the dish that gets you sent home.
Tracy, let's go, please.
Okay, gentlemen.
This is a beef tenderloin over fingerling potatoes.
It looks like something out of a Sci-Fi movie.
Oh, God.
I will confirm that it's-- it--it's 90% unedible.
Sheetal.
Describe the romance in your dish.
I have a very sweet and savory sauce.
I used some cayenne pepper to just give it a bit of kick.
What I can say that's good is That you chose a nice plate to put it in.
Next up, Slim, please.
Thank you.
With a series of unsuccessful dishes, it's up to Slim to turn things around.
Going into this challenge, I--oh, my God, I need to win.
I gave up graduating at loyola university, New Orleans before coming out here.
I only had two more months.
SoThere's so much at stake for me.
This is actually a sweet and savory dish with lamb, shrimp, and fresh fruit.
And this is a passion fruit-ginger sauce.
What? Oh, .
When you put lamb on a stick, you've got to at least cut the fat off.
There's a lot of ginger in the sauce, right? If we're on a date, and you cook that dish for me, I'd go to the bathroom and you'd never see me again.
I'd bolt out the door.
Damn.
You gotta be kidding me.
Slim, this is like a buffet gone bad.
Go back to your station.
I'm not tasting this crap.
You guys have to, at this point in the competition.
You need to be listening to what we're telling you about what we're producing.
Because this is ridiculous.
A buffet gone bad.
I'm not tasting this crap.
This is ridiculous.
That was horrible.
Uh, that was absolutely the worst thing you can possibly do to somebody's dish is, without even tasting it, throwing it away.
Wow.
This is serious.
I could not believe that level of emotion came out of Joe.
Joe threw it in the trash.
Like, slammed it in the trash.
After that, I was like, "she's out of here.
She is going home today.
" Mike, let's go.
When Joe came over and slammed Slim's dish into the trash can, it definitely got my attention.
'Cause I was thinking, "oh, my God.
"I don't want my dish to be going in the dumps like that.
I hope it's good enough.
" Wow, look at those colors.
What I have here is a beef tataki, sort of lotus flower, with a passion fruit ponzu.
I mean, the beef is raw.
And absolutely delicious.
You've got several fruits going on.
Grapes, cumquats, strawberries, passion fruit.
And it's almost like you've sort of enhanced the flavor of the beef, 'cause you managed to take the density out of the rawness of the beef in a really clever way.
Well done.
David, let's go, please.
Okay, describe it, please.
On your left-hand side we have me, with the arrow through the heart.
The spicy, savory side.
On the left you have the delicate, gorgeous sweetness of my fiancee.
So I think together, you know, they make a perfect marriage.
I wanna keep on eating this.
Please feel free.
Amazing.
It's not fruit salad and shrimp.
It's effectively a very intellectual dish.
It kind of plays off the-- you got heat and you got the sweetness of the fruit.
A very tricky and complex dish, uh, in its simplicity, but, um, you nailed it, Buddy.
Thank you, sir.
Next up, Lee, please.
Winning the crab challenge and going into the invention test, I'm extremely happy.
I'm extremely confident.
But, um, I'm still humble.
What is that, please? The inspiration behind this plate is the imperfections of relationships.
And things that are not supposed to go together that actually do go very well together.
All of you should come up here and try this.
This is really propelling Lee to, uh, MasterChef levels.
Experience what we're experiencing, will you? All the knife and forks are in here.
Run up, have a taste.
Quick as you can.
What an honor, I mean, to be a model to follow for the rest.
It's overwhelming.
But, at the same time, it proves that I am going all the way.
I'm not gonna taste Lee's dish.
The way I look at it is I'm not here to just tag along.
I'm here to win.
Lee, really good job.
Really good job indeed.
Thank you very much, Chef.
Thank you.
After tasting all nine dishes, the judges confer on which dish won their hearts and which ones were lacking the passion.
The cook with the worst dish will be leaving MasterChef.
Let's get to our winner.
Today, we were looking for the best dish.
A dish that oozed passion.
And there was one individual that did that.
For the second time.
Lee! Congratulations.
Well done.
It's only less than a year ago that I started getting into this elevated level of cooking.
World-renowned Chefs and restaurateurs are tasting something that I produced.
And I'm getting these praises and these complements.
You've set the pace in MasterChef.
Normally, we'll call up the worst three dishes out of the nine.
Tonight, we're going for four.
This has taken us by somewhat of a surprise.
Because they are individuals we thought would deliver romance! I want all four of you to come forward right now.
They are The girls.
That's right.
All four of you.
Please, step forward.
My immediate thought was, "that sucks.
" 'Cause it's the women who were cooking for male judges.
And apparently, we suck at wooing.
If there was ever a time for all four of you to shine that would deliver romance Oozing off that plate It would have been today.
And, sadly, you delivered the opposite.
I just felt like How is it possible that four vibrant, wonderful women have no concept how to plate romance and love? It was not doing what we asked.
And the food was not tasty.
Like, nothing good about it.
I don't know what you guys were thinking.
I definitely felt like this isn't something I want the judges to remember me by.
Because this is not me.
This is not my kind of cooking that I do on a regular basis.
I mean, I don't make food that sucks.
And that's basically what I gave them today.
For you four ladies to put forth food that seemed very heavy-handed, very truck stop style, you know.
Just very heavy stuff.
Clumsy.
It's almost like we're in the wrong competition.
Sheetal.
Go back to your station, please.
SheetalWe know you can do better.
It's not a proud feeling to know that the only reason I'm safe is because the other three dishes in the judges' opinions were worse than mine.
Tracy Do not take your apron off.
Get back on your station.
We expect to see a lot more out of you next time.
Yes, Chef.
Slim, Whitney.
Your experience or lack of experience has caught up with you both.
Whitney A couple of weeks ago, you were blowing the competition out of the water.
Now you're struggling to keep your neck above the water.
The competition's taken on a completely different pace.
And, unfortunately, you're getting weaker.
A strawberry that looks half-eaten stuck on a bed of soggy salad with a semi-decent cooked shrimp right now doesn't bear the title of the first-ever MasterChef American.
I don't even want to think about being eliminated.
I know I really need to step up my game.
I really want to stand out and show that, you know, I have what it takes to be here to the end.
Slim You presented a dish today that was almost like a A welcome plate in a senior home before they go off in the box.
AndI know you think it's funny, but I don't find it funny because i've seen you cook really good.
And a lot of us stuck our neck out on the line for you.
Today, you made us look stupid.
I've been having such a crappy past few challenges.
I've been ending up at the bottom every single time.
And I have to redeem myself.
I hope this isn't gonna be the end of the line for me.
Everyone's progressing, because they're listening and getting better and better and better.
And you've stumbled on a t-junction where you're not getting better.
If I had to give you another hour, what would you make? I would actually make the same sauce but with much less ginger than I did before.
But, overall, I actually would have kept it the same.
You don't get it.
You should have changed it completely.
There was no fixing that dish.
The fact that you would recreate and modify that same dish instills no confidence in us.
I mean, that is really not the answer we were looking for.
Okay.
Please take off your apron.
Your time in MasterChef is done.
I just want to say that I thank the three of you Chefs for actually being here and nurturing me.
Um, this is absolutely a wonderful opportunity to have been here and to have learned from you.
I'm sorry if I haven't learned as much as you thought I would have.
But I actually do appreciate it very much.
You're young.
You're tenacious.
If there's one small piece of advice: Next five years, act like a sponge.
And just absorb, absorb, absorb.
Yes, Chef.
You'll surprise yourself in two years, let alone five years.
Thank you.
Good luck to you.
I accept that I'm leaving MasterChef.
I like what I've learned.
I like what's gone on, good and bad.
Because that's made me who I am today.
Honestly, with this experience, I'm gonna go work in a kitchen, and that's gonna keep me from being an amateur cook.
Coming up, the remaining eight are about to be split into opposing teams for a challenge to cater the most important day of one couple's lives.
Sharone, what in the Are you doing? Oh, my God.
But to avoid disaster Could someone get the fire extinguisher? Gordon has to take control.
What's going on, guys? You need an intervention? Got no choice.
Put it out with some finesse! It's a wedding! The team that loses will face the dreaded pressure test, where one more contestant's dream of becoming America's first MasterChef will come to a bitter end.
Slim, please take off your apron.
With one more cook out of the competition, the remaining eight are about to be split into opposing teams for a challenge to cater the most important day of one couple's life.
Sharone, what in the Are you doing? Oh, my God.
But to avoid disaster Can someone get the fire extinguisher? Gordon has to take control.
What's going on, guys? You need an intervention? Got no choice.
Put it out with some finesse! It's a wedding! The team that loses will face the dreaded pressure test, where one more contestant's dream of becoming America's first MasterChef will come to a bitter end.
Our eight surviving home cooks have been brought to an upscale malibu country club to meet the judges.
Wow, look at you guys.
Immaculate.
Well, good morning.
Good morning.
Yesterday was all about romance.
Yes? Yes.
And you did that successfully.
Well, today, you're gonna repeat that.
Because today, all of you Are gonna be cooking for a wedding.
Wow.
That's right.
Wow.
I was like, "oh, my God.
"This is the real deal.
This is somebody's wedding.
" Clearly, the biggest day of their lives.
The most important meal of their lives is now in your hands.
Have been married for 14 years.
Six months.
Six months.
Just went through this.
Trust me, from the minute you wake up, to the appetizer, the entree, it's the day that you never, ever forget.
Make them remember this day for all the right reasons.
I'm getting married six months from today.
I know I wouldn't want somebody to mess up my wedding reception, so I'm gonna really make sure that the bride and groom enjoy their food.
You'll be competing in two teams.
Lee Yes, Chef? You won that amazing challenge yesterday.
You get to pick the teams.
All right.
Come over.
So think carefully.
So, um My first choice would be Jake.
All right.
Jake and I have worked together in every team challenge so far.
We understand each other.
And, you know, I need him by my side.
Second choice.
Mike.
All right, Mike.
My third pick The heartbeat of our team todayTracy.
All right.
All right, trace.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Tracy had one of the worst dishes we've seen yesterday.
Good point.
And Sharone had one of the best.
He's been doing a great job.
Why would you be leaving him on the sidelines? Today, as a team challenge, you know, it's all about teamwork, and that's gonna play a huge part.
And I need nobody to step on each other's feet.
And that will lead us to victory.
Right, so basically, he's not good enough.
Not for today and not for team.
Wow.
You know, being a competitor, I didn't choose Sharone for my team because when we win this challenge, I want him to be on the losing side.
So there is a chance for him to go home.
How do you feel being out there, not picked? I'm getting fueled up.
I'm getting excited.
I'm getting inspired.
So I can't wait to work with my team and deliver.
Lee didn't pick me.
Great.
I'm over it, you know? If Lee wanted to win, he would have picked me and sealed the deal.
Red team, where's the leader? Who's taking control today? I'm looking at you, Buddy.
Yep.
Go for it.
I will, Chef.
You will? Absolutely.
There's no running out of food.
There's no overcooking any of the dishes.
Everything has to be right on, 100% perfect.
Each team will cook of Caesar salad and goat cheese tartlet.
Followed by 115 entrees each.
Surf and turf, mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables, and fried onions.
The judges will decide the winning team based on performance in a professional kitchen, ability to stick to the wedding's strict timetable, and, most important of all, getting the flavors perfect.
Lee Yes, Chef? You're gonna be leading the blue team and cooking for the groom's side of the dining room.
Red team, you're taking care of the bride's side, the red side, Am I nervous at this point? Yeah, I'm nervous.
It's a complicated menu for sure.
And I'm thinking, "do we even have enough time to do this for 20 people?" I'm like, "115 people? Are you serious?" At the end of this special day, there will be a losing team.
That losing team will face a pressure test.
Got it? Yes, Chef.
Okay.
And you make sure you get your game face on.
Because this Is no rehearsal.
Yes, Chef.
Okay.
Let's head up into the kitchens, yeah? And get changed.
Let's go, guys.
Break it up.
Lee's handpicked blue team and Sharone's red team will have just three hours to prepare the appetizers and entrees for the wedding's 230 guests.
You know, the way it breaks down is, uh, two teams, each responsible for 115 people.
So we had our work cut out for us for sure.
But, you know, the blue team functions as a well-oiled machine.
Jake.
Yes.
You're gonna be portioning the beef.
Mike, you're attacking the salmon.
I gotcha.
Okay, Tracy, you're gonna start portioning of the Caesar salad, okay? Lee is a born leader, you know? He's very organized, very level-headed.
And so I think the blue team's chances of winning today are excellent.
I mean, we have Jake, the meat specialist.
We have Mike, who's technically skilled.
And then, you know, me.
Keep it going, guys.
So who feels comfortable with prepping that? That is the third of the three sauces.
That was our first game plan.
Let's decide who does what so there's no confusion.
Here's the fresh whole canadian salmon.
I will break that down.
You can put my name down on that.
Including cooking it? Absolutely.
My first step is to break down the salmon.
I'm the meat guy, so I'll take charge of that.
I'll do it.
Don't worry about it.
I'm just jacked.
I'm ready to go.
I grab a Chef's knife and I start filleting my salmon.
I'm halfway there, and then, right at that moment, Chef Ramsey approaches me.
Sharone.
Yes, Chef? Look at me, look at me, look at me.
What in the Are you doing? You've now just butchered that thing.
He just starts tearing me up.
I'm like, "ah, .
" These things are hundreds of dollars worth, you understand? Don't take your whole team down.
Don't sink everybody.
May I salvage the other side of it, though? That is .
Sharone's mishandling of the salmon is costing the red team precious time.
These things are hundreds of dollars worth.
You understand? I realize right then and there, I'm like, "oh, my God, he's right.
What am I doing?" Is this unusable, Chef? That is .
May I salvage the other side of it, though? It's busted.
It's gone.
Forget it.
Okay? I know not picking Sharone was a little surprising to the judges, but after seeing him butcher the hell out of that salmon, I know I made the right choice.
I'm extremely happy with the team I picked.
They're delivering, big time.
Skinning it is easy.
Lift it up, tilt that in there Yep.
And lift up.
Bend the knife at the end.
Understood.
Chef, thank you for your time.
The red team's gotten off to a rocky start.
But with wedding guests beginning to arrive, the blue team under Lee appear to have their 115 appetizers and entrees under control.
That's a beautiful little filet.
Look at that.
Finish the tartlets.
Jake'll do the croutons.
Okay, fantastic, great.
Jakey! Yeah? Keeping it clean? We are all good in that department, my friend.
I am here to make you look good.
I was quite positive, I mean, that we were gonna kick ass.
And, uh, it just felt like the red team, they don't have that.
So that's the last thing we need; Just do that.
You know what? You need to stop yelling at me.
End of story.
Don't scream.
It's not necessary.
But just get the lemons done.
The red team, again, you know, is running around like a bunch of chickens with their head cut off.
David, David.
What are you doing? You're wasting time.
Come on, move.
Put it over there.
You're done.
I have two Jalapeno peppers.
Okay.
He says-- I mean, am I gonna cut everything else in half? With the red team in utter chaos, Sharone realizes he must pull them together if they're going to have any chance of winning.
Dave.
Come over here, guys.
Guys, Sheetal, come here.
I know this is not easy.
I know this is not fun.
But we're here.
Let's pull this together.
And let's knock this out.
Let's put our hearts-- every plate comes out of there with love.
Okay? I'm definitely feeling the pressure.
I feel like the blue team is moving a lot faster than we are.
It felt like they were always one step ahead of us.
When our dressing was done, they were already working on chopping up the lettuce.
I felt like they were always one step ahead of us.
This is the Caesar dressing? But I'll tell you one thing that we consistently made sure that everything tasted absolutely perfectly.
It tastes a little vinegary to me.
Um I mean, I followed the recipe.
You think it needs more pepper? I think the cheese will take the acid down.
All right.
With perfect flavors being a fundamental criteria to impress the judges, David has taken full responsibility for quality control of the seasoning on all the red team's dishes.
Hey, Whitney, can I steal that pepper from you? All three of the judges have been riding us really hard about the right level of seasoning.
So that's, like, what I'm really focusing on.
I just tasted David's potatoes, and they're excellent.
They're good? Yeah.
Like, really good.
Hey, Dave! Yeah? Great, Buddy.
Good job, man.
Way to go.
Over on the blue team, it seems their speedy work on the salad leaves has led to some fairly basic mistakes.
Is that your lettuce on there? It's all done.
I was just consolidating it.
Yeah, I'd like to check it first.
Yes, Chef.
Did you prep all this? Yes, Chef.
You get 115 of the most stunning of them? Yes, Chef.
Dirty, Gray.
Yes, Chef.
It's Moldy lettuce.
For God's sake, we want a Wedding, not a divorce.
So this needs to be redone.
Yes, Chef.
Okay? Chef Gordon came back and they were looking at my lettuce.
They were like, this is terrible.
It's like rabbit food.
And it just-- it sent me over.
Hey, trace, everything under control? It was just like a lot of pressure.
I don't want to be responsible in any way, shape, or form, for somebody's wedding not coming off to the tee.
What's getting to you? Gordon is like, you know, "take it seriously.
" And I just--I'm offended.
Because I just, um Just take one second to--to collect yourself.
If you felt you were singled out for some reason, I'm sure that wasn't the case.
It's not about individuals today, you know? It's about the team.
So just do everything you can, and we just go from there.
I'll do my very best.
Thank you you know what I mean? It bothered me immensely, and I think I just let my emotions get the better of me.
And just the whole sum total of everything just kind of came, bam.
It was like the proverbial straw.
This is the most pressurized challenge they've done so far.
Absolutely.
I think two or three of them are starting to somewhat buckle under the weight of the pressure to get this right.
Welcome to the beautiful setting here for a-- for a beautiful wedding.
Tracy's disintegrated.
I mean, if it starts to go a little bit, you know, weaker, then we've got no alternative but to jump in there, Chef jacket on, and bring it back up.
It is my pleasure to pronounce you husband and wife.
You may seal your marriage with a kiss.
Hey, red team, blue team! The guests are starting to sit down in ten minutes! Come on, guys! Blue team, let's go! Oh, my God.
That's not good.
Oh, .
With just over 10 minutes to go before the wedding guests' appetizers are due to go out, both teams go into utter meltdown.
Whoa, Nelly! Take it away.
Take it away.
Here, wait.
Here, here, here.
Can someone get the fire extinguisher? Me.
Eight minutes, guys! Come on, let's get this wrapped! Come on, let's go.
Move it, move it, move it.
Graham, I'm really sorry to do this, but I'm Nervous.
That Is down.
No one's got a Clue.
Everyone's disorganized.
And I need you to get your Chef jacket on, with me now, and jump in there, yes? Let's do it.
Let's go.
To prevent ruining the most important day of this bride and groom's lives, the judges decide to step in and help.
What's going on, guys? You need an intervention? You got the coats on? Got no choice.
Gonna go in? We gotta do it.
It's important.
Top to bottom, left to right, right? Have a system.
Boom, boom.
No, top to bottom.
Boom, boom, boom.
Boom, boom, boom.
I'm feeling like the pressure's on.
This is no burger challenge.
I'm not messing this up.
I'm not gonna This up.
Red team, let's go! Let's go.
The red team is the first to get their Caesar salad and tartlet appetizers out.
And I have one more toast.
Blue team, let's go! While the blue team's setbacks with their lettuce means they've yet to have any plates leave the kitchen.
We just had the toast to the bride and groom.
Let's go, guys.
We're being called, blue team.
Keep doing what you're doing.
Keep doing what you're doing.
Blue team is .
Stop, madam.
Stop, please.
Put them down, please.
Yeah, they're burned.
They're burning the tart.
This is the blue team, and they're burning them.
They can't serve a burnt tart, look.
Blue team, Lee.
Please check these tarts.
They're overcooked.
Don't send them.
Blue team's.
Red team's.
The difference is night and day, guys.
Just touch how crispy that is.
It's overcooked.
Okay? But don't send overcooked tarts.
Gotcha, Chef.
Impossible.
I don't know what happened, but Tracy, you know, she did have that responsibility for baking the tartlets.
That's what I'm gonna do today.
Shh! Stop it! No, I'm serious.
Stop it! So .
Stop, stop, stop, stop.
Very good, yeah.
Try not to drip the sauce all over the plates, yeah? Can we have a nice spoon of sauce on the plate, not dripping everywhere? It's a wedding, guys.
Who's saucing it? Who's saucing the plates? I am, Chef.
Mikey, typical! Slow down! Our team is focused.
We're finishing our last run of the salad.
And then all of a sudden I hear Chef Ramsey just chewing out the blue team.
Put it out with some finesse! It's a wedding! All righ if Lee wanted to win, he should have picked me.
Absolutely.
With the blue team finally getting their appetizers out, they have a chance to redeem themselves with the surf and turf entrees.
Let's go, guys.
Lee Yes, Chef? You've got everything to play for now.
Okay? No one's lost.
Okay, you've got everything to play for.
Get the team together and make sure-- we have this.
We have this.
We have this.
Let's go.
Work as a team, yes? Hey, hey, hey, hey.
Come here.
Come here for a second.
Come here for a second.
Come here--trace-- look at me.
Let's calm down.
I'm good, just tell me what needs to be done.
I'm done, so-- just so you know.
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
Look at me.
We're not done yet.
Look at me.
We're not done yet.
No, okay.
No, we're not done yet.
Okay.
We have this.
We have this.
Our food is better.
We have this.
Come on.
I just sort of said, "okay, Tracy, get it together.
" Because, you know, I didn't want to let my team down.
And I didn't want, you know, to be out of the game mentally so much that it was gonna drag down my team.
Here we go, guys.
Start plating up then.
Let's go.
I don't know where the salmon is.
Anyone? David, if you don't know where the salmon is, you've got to find out where it is--come on! Right there.
It's a wedding, guys, you can't just say, "I don't know where the salmon is.
" Come on! As entree plating begins, the red team gets off to a shaky start.
Sharone, where did you put the salmon? It's right there! This is ours? Okay, well, I asked every--whatever.
Whatever, I'm on it.
Whatever, whatever.
Hold it together, red team.
Hold it together.
Meanwhile, the blue team seems to have finally turned things around.
Tracy, those plates are looking fabulous.
Thank you, Chef.
Absolutely brilliant.
Well done.
Red team, blue team.
Guys, keep it up! As the entree is served, restaurateur Joe heads back to the banquet floor.
How we doing, folks? You enjoying your dinner? Oh, it's excellent.
Is it cooked to your liking? Yes.
What do you think? Looks good? Does the food look good? Awesome.
Awesome potatoes.
The feedback Joe gets will play a part in determining the winner.
I just found out my salad's from the blue team.
And it, yeah, it's quite good.
I ate food from the red team.
I had the Caesar salad.
And not only did the presentation look nice, it actually tasted good, and that's important.
Because food better taste good.
So I was served the blue team's food.
And, uh, with the steak, it, in my opinion, it was a little bit fattier.
Almost like a New York steak.
But I tried his steak, which was a lot better.
I think he was on the red team.
My steak was great.
It was tender.
It melted right in my mouth.
The blue team cooked your beef and your salmon.
And was it to your liking? Yes.
How was your salmon cooked? Uh, the-- cook-wise, it was perfect.
It was great.
And the beef? The beef was excellent.
It was rare, but I like it rare.
Right.
So it was good for me.
Congratulations.
Well done.
Excellent.
Thank you.
That's it.
Stop.
Uhh! Good job, guys.
Good job, both teams.
I think my team managed to really come back and put the appetizer saga behind us.
The entrees went on time.
Everything was cooked perfectly.
We did it.
We pulled it off.
You guys are amateur Chefs.
Even as professional Chefs, having a wedding to cook for for 230 guests is a tall order.
For us.
Yeah.
You guys pulled it off.
Well done.
Good job.
Well done.
We need to sit Yeah.
And dissect this every ounce of the way, because right now, you're all equal.
Get yourselves a glass of champagne And relax.
Champagne's on us! And we'll see you in the morning.
For the verdict.
Good job.
I think we kicked butt.
We nailed it on every, single point.
We got it done.
If we got into a pressure test, I'm not gonna be happy.
Morning, guys.
Morning.
The red and the blue team arrive back at the MasterChef kitchen, awaiting the news of which team served up the win in yesterday's wedding challenge and which team will face today's pressure test.
So far on MasterChef, that, for us, was the most demanding, the most difficult, and the most pressurized challenge we've ever done.
And you did it.
You both produced the goods.
And it could have gone either way.
There was one small difference that we all agreed, and it helped propel that team into the premiere league.
Congratulations To the red team! David Miller.
You started off in a sort of panicky fashion.
But the attention to detail was phenomenal.
Yeah.
The seasoning on the onion rings, the seasoning and the texture of theashed potato, the pomme puree, you really stepped up.
You were the hero of that team.
Wow, like, for the first time, I'm the guy that saved the day for my team.
Um, you know, as a result of, you know, a little salt and pepper.
How do you feel? Biggest complement I've ever gotten.
Thank you, guys.
Okay, red team.
You're gonna be watching from up there.
Off you go.
Whoo hoo! I experience the gutting agony of defeat.
And I have to snap out of it and just think forward about the pressure test.
Good luck, blue team! I was shocked, because I had just, like, lost the last team challenge.
So I'm still, like, sort of recovering from that.
Now I've gotta Go face another pressure challenge.
So, obviously, this judgment does not sit well with me.
So for today's pressure test, you will be making fresh pasta and sauce to go with it.
You could do flat pastas-- fettuccine, parardelle.
You could do filled pasta-- raviolacci, tortellini.
But at the end of the day, we're really asking you to bring together two independent techniques that culminate into one incredible, authentic dish.
Off you go.
Back to your stations, please.
Okay.
This is an individual pressure test.
Today, there's added pressure.
Because The stakes have just doubled.
Two of you will be leaving MasterChef.
The stakes have just doubled.
On the back of this pressure test, two of you will be leaving MasterChef.
When I found out two were going home, I was definitely having a lot of self doubts.
Just feeling like, you know, "this may be the last time, I'm cooking in here.
" That's right.
Half of you will be eliminated.
That sent an extra little bit of anxiety through me, just to know that half of us were gonna stay and half of us were gonna go.
to cook a stunning pasta dish.
Starting from now.
Off you go.
Guys! Good luck.
Making fresh pasta is never an easy task.
But to do it successfully under this type of pressure and in just 90 minutes is a big test for any cook.
I'm not worried right now.
So Tracy is making mirepoix.
She hasn't even started with the pasta yet.
Which is curious.
I mean, I don't think it's tragic yet.
But I would certainly jump on the pasta first.
The longer resting time, the better the result in terms of the texture-- more to play with, right? Yeah.
You see Jake working the pasta with with the glaze.
Thing is, you have to have the heat of your hands.
That's how you put the love in it.
That's why when you watch an Italian woman make pasta-- this is for real-- when they knead it, they're not just kneading it, like, with their hands.
They put their hips into it.
You know, it's all about the full body motion.
And that's what makes it sensual.
I think he's still angry.
Definitely, you can-- you see that coming through in his actual working.
The way he was mixing the eggs and just-- yeah, he's very angry right now.
I was still pissed off at the fact that I was in this position.
I just focused on making some really good pasta dough.
You seem a little bit disappointed at the loss.
Are you gonna be able to put that aside? 'Cause I can tell that you're angry, and-- you know what, Joe, I'm-- that will permeate your cooking if you let it.
I know, and I totally believe that, man.
When I'm in a bad mood, my food's gonna taste like .
So you gotta, like, be able to-- I'm not angry.
I'm let down.
Whether one person or two people going home will not affect the way I cook.
And, you know, I always cook to be on the top.
So it doesn't really matter to me.
And, Lee, what are you doing? Just finished my filling for ravioli.
Some roasted eggplant there.
Some garlic.
Some ricotta.
Yeah, mm-hmm.
A lot of garlic in there? A lot of garlic, yes.
And I'm, you know, I want that bite.
I want that-- that fresh garlic kick.
Yeah, just be careful of the garlic.
It's very strong on the garlic.
Yep.
So you haven't even started making pasta yet.
Are you worried about that? I need to do-- get my sauce on, because it has to cook down for quite a while.
I'm gonna try a lasagna with a, like a ripply sauce.
Lasagna bolognese.
Yeah, yeah.
Courageous.
One hour to go.
Oh, .
Mike, what are you making? I'm making, basically, just a-- I don't know, actually, what I'm making.
This is the first time I'm making it.
I got these beautiful shitake mushrooms and these dried porcinis and garlic, and just trying to build this recipe in my mind, 'cause it was like my brain wasn't really working.
So you're just kind of on the fly? on this challenge, right? Are you gonna use this as a filling or as a garnish over the top? Is it gonna be part of a sauce? I think, like, looking at it all, I mean, you know, I'm not sure.
Look at that.
Okay, guys, half of you are going home.
So we're looking to have the best pasta i've ever had.
You've had one hour.
Just 30 minutes left.
Make it count, guys, yes? I don't believe this.
I got onto, um, making my pasta, that didn't go really that well.
I do not believe this.
Can you manage? It goes down to-- right, okay.
Okay, thank you, sir.
Yeah, and what are you doing with it? I was gonna do a lasagna, but with the time factor, I'm gonna change and do ravioli.
Ravioli.
Yes, with a meat sauce.
Meat sauce.
What's going inside the ravioli? Ricotta cheese, and I think I may just flavor it up a little bit, since I went in a different direction.
Jake, so what do we got? I've got this fairly simplistic sauce.
That's a good sauce.
I just, uh, threw it over two stuffed calamari tubes into the oven.
What'd you stuff it with? Uh, just a crazy mix, you know.
Herbs, fresh stuff, a little bit of pepper, garlic, a little bit of wine.
The stuffed calamari is part of the sauce? No, that's like-- that's like the main component.
Yeah, that's the protein.
Yeah, Jake's sauce tastes good, but I'm kind of thrown off by the idea of the squid.
I don't understand.
We asked him to make a pasta dish, and he's doing stuffed squid, which is like a protein.
So is the pasta a garnish? Does that even qualify as a pasta dish? Tracy's pasta's looking anemic.
It's looking very white, and it's looking sort of almost like there's no egg yolks in there.
Right.
What is she doing? She's now doing a ricotta with a bolognese sauce.
Have you ever made a bolognese that needs to cook less than three hours? No.
It's a big risk.
And Mike seems a little bit all over the place.
He's got some kind of, like, poached garlic and onions in the pan.
I don't really understand what's going on at his station.
Very confusing.
It's got some flavor, but I don't know-- i don't think the dish is gonna come together.
Ten minutes, guys, yeah? Last ten minutes.
With ten minutes left, my pasta noodles are all tangled and drying out.
And they're gonna stick.
Mike Yes, Chef? When you hang pasta, it's really important that you lightly flour it to stop it from sticking together, so as it dries, it dries separate.
But if you hang wet pasta and it starts sticking together, you're screwed even before you start cooking that.
Oh, .
The clock was just speeding down.
Uh, panic definitely-- it stuck itself in me pretty badly.
Last two minutes.
For two of you, it's your last two minutes cooking on MasterChef.
Come on, make it count.
MikeAre you happy with that pasta? I am happy, yeah.
Okay.
Jake's plating the pasta without saucing it.
So it'll congeal.
It'll come-- there's nothing coating it.
One minute.
Un minuto.
I was feeling at least relieved that I got everything done.
And I have to say, I was like, that looks butt-ugly.
I don't know how to plate it.
Oh, no.
Oh, no.
Okay, guys.
Dieci secondi.
Dieco, nove, Otto, sette, sei, cinque, quattro, tre, due, uno.
Finiti! Stop there, guys.
As the winning team watches safely from the balcony, the four who faced the pressure test await their fate.
The judges have convened in the MasterChef restaurant, where they'll taste the pressure test dishes individually.
Ready for the first one? Let's do it.
The two worst cooks will be sent home.
This is the real deal.
There's no do-over, "oh, you know, give me five more minutes.
" If you're off, you're going home.
Hello, gentlemen.
Hi.
Hi, Tracy.
Thank you.
What is it? It is a, um, ravioli bolognese.
Do you think this dish is worthy of you staying in MasterChef? I'm not necessarily, um, super-proud of this dish.
Are you done in MasterChef? Do you want to go home? No.
You don't? No.
The sauce from here smells delicious.
Don't be so hard on yourself.
Nice.
Rich, thick.
I love the idea of the red wine in the bolognese sauce as well.
Thank you.
Pasta's very thick.
Thank you, Tracy.
Thank you.
Thanks.
I walked away from my career as a physician to be here.
I left my son.
I don't know about other people, but I certainly wouldn't do that for something that I was casual about.
She didn't saute the pasta with the sauce at all.
You know, she just kind of poured it on top.
She focused too much on the sauce, and then the pasta was an afterthought.
Although the sauce is not a true bolognese here, but it's maybe the best sloppy Joe I've ever had.
Ready for the next one? Let's do it.
It's always very unnerving when you gotta go present to these judges.
I mean, now there's two people going home, so obviously that intensifies everything that much more.
How you feeling? I think I'm presenting you with a great dish.
What is it? It's stuffed calamari over handmade, fresh fettuccine.
I used classic sicilian marinara.
And how did you cook the squid? I started the sauce in the pan, reduced it down, let the flavors sort of meld, and then put that over the squid and just baked it off, you know? Interesting.
Thank you, Jake.
Thanks.
The reaction or lack of was definitely unnerving.
But I wasn't like, "okay, because they didn't respond, I'm going home.
Quite frankly, the pasta, the fettuccine, are quite good.
And if he'd just done rings of calamari and quickly poached them in the tomato sauce, it would have been a winner.
I thought the exact same thing.
'Cause the only thing that kind of gets me is the fact that, by not tossing it with the sauce, we're now left with this right here, which is a-- a cake of pasta.
That's the first clumsy Clumsy is right.
Really clumsy dish that I've seen him cook.
And I can't think of a more severe time to produce a clumsy dish.
Two down.
Two to go.
Okay.
My mind was going crazy.
You know, I don't want to go home.
I definitely don't want to go home.
Mike.
Hi, Mike.
What is it? Fettuccine with a mushroom cream sauce with red and yellow Bell peppers.
It seems a little heavy-handed, a little bit much.
But I guess we'll taste it.
I was just praying that This is not the last time I'm presenting a dish to them.
Please, no.
Okay.
Thank you, Mike.
Thank you, gentlemen.
Cream is far too over-reduced.
It's gone greasy.
Okay, but at the end of the day, in three tries, this is the first one that's a complete pasta dish, from sauce to pasta, cooked together.
But there's a bit of confusion going on there.
You know, it almost seems like there's two kinds of dishes.
You have the mushroom and the cream sauce, and then on the other side you've got fresh basil and roasted peppers and I dis--I disagree.
I disagree with you guys.
I think it works.
It comes together on the palate.
And it's a dish you might expect to get in a restaurant.
Last up to face the judges, Lee.
Two people are gonna go home.
ButI'm--I'm pretty sure thatI'll be okay.
What'd you make for us today, Lee? Today, we have ravioli stuffed with roasted eggplant, garlic, and mint ricotta.
How did you cook the stuffing and the ingredients? The garlic is minced and is raw, andThe cooking of the pasta itself together with the ricotta and the pine nuts really give it a milder garlic taste.
Let's try it.
All right.
Thank you.
Thank you, Lee.
Thanks, Lee.
Thank you.
The garlic is far too strong in there.
Aside from raw garlic, I think the dish has some merits.
I think that it has a very, very southern mediterranean profile of flavors that I like.
It's a shame, because he has that level of bravado and arrogance that he thinks that, inside, "I've tasted it.
It's good enough.
" Well, , sorry, it's not Good enough.
'Cause it just stinks of garlic.
The contestants wait while the judges determine their fate.
This is just really drawing the pain out.
This is Killing me.
It's time for the elimination, and two out of the four contestants will be leaving MasterChef.
On a scale of one to ten, ten being the most, about how scared I was, I was probably like a 10,000, you know? That was a very tough pressure test.
90 minutes to cook the most amazing pasta dish.
Sadly, two of you with now be leaving MasterChef.
Mike You made a simple fettuccine with peppers and Mushrooms.
Mike You will not be taking your apron off.
Congratulations.
And I think my knees buckled.
And I just felt relief and gratitude.
The dish really surprised me.
I doubted it in its inception, i doubted it in its creation.
On the plate, it blew me away.
Wow.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Well done.
Congratulations.
Thank you so much.
To give me another chance to be in this game, I mean, you know, I want to stay here forever.
Three of you left.
Two of you will be going home.
Tracy Yes? You made a bolognese sauce over Two raviolis.
You will not Be participating in MasterChef any longer.
Please take your apron off.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, gentlemen.
You have done so many amazing things, from the desserts to that hearty dish.
And more importantly, you've shone.
Thank you.
It's been an honor cooking for all of you.
Thank you.
Go home and keep cookin'.
All right? Thank you.
Keep cookin', and know that, as you cook, you got your mom right there next to you.
Great job.
Well done.
Yeah.
Thank you.
One thing that this competition has shown me is that I have a bright future ahead.
And I have a lot to offer to the culinary world.
I love to bake, and so, you know, there could be a little bake shop in my future.
I have my mom's cookbook.
I may just need to get some inspiration from that.
The point is that the world has not seen the last of Tracy.
Lee and Jake.
I expected, on a personal front, to see you two in the final.
So I'm a little bit Pissed, to be honest, that you're both standing there.
Jake Yes, Chef? You will be Jake Yes, Chef? You will be Taking your apron off.
Yes, Chef.
Your time is done in MasterChef.
All right.
Well, dude, good job.
All right, Buddy.
Nice work.
You have been a huge source of inspiration.
And do you know what? Stay away from construction.
Because you are a talented guy.
Thank you, Chef.
Sorry I let you down, Graham.
I put my neck out for you, and I would do it again in a second.
I will vouch for him.
I will make this guy better.
I think you've done an incredible job.
You've got a ton of potential.
Thank you, gentlemen.
Thank you.
All right.
Lee, tonight, you danced on thin ice.
You're a smart guy.
You are so Smart.
So raw garlic inside that-- you just nearly blew it, Lee.
You nearly blew it.
My old life, being just a working class stiff construction worker, yeah, those days are over.
You know, it's all about food for me.
And this has really driven it home.
This experience has really opened my eyes to-- I need to do this.
I need to be in this environment.
What's next for Jake is just learning.
I mean, who knows? I could end up with the cordon bleu in France.
You know, my fire is lit.
I'm super pumped up.
And I'm ready to cook, man.
Next time, on MasterChef The pressure is building as six amateur cooks become four.
Game time, baby.
Game time.
Your souffle wasPerfect.
Absolutely perfect.
Venison is cooked beautifully.
I mean, it's cooked by an angel.
That is gonna taste like Gandhi's flip-flop.
It looks like a walk through a crime scene.
They'll take on their most difficult challenge yet.
You think we're tough.
Wait to see who you're cooking for.
They'll face the culinary world's most feared restaurant critics.
Where did you find fresh tomatoes? I actually used the tomatoes out of the can.
Only four will make it through.
And the results are shocking.
The lowest-scoring dish, that person is