praise than that.
Head chef Oli who cooked Dover sole in seaweed with scallops and seaweed left the judges disappointed. Although they liked the fish and sauce, Monica said she was really disappointed that the fish hadn’t cooked properly and Marcus said it had the ‘makings’ of a really good dish.
Heritier, whose dish was ‘strikingly different’, along with Susan and Chris – whom Gregg asked if there’d been a ‘national lamb shortage’ when he served – were sent home. Laurence, Simon and Oli were put through to the next round.
On Thursday the contestants were faced an interesting key ingredient: eggs.
Laurence chose to cook them slowly, for 45 minutes, in fact. Monica was initially worried about the slow cooking however the judges loved it and Marcus said it was a solid piece of cooking.
Oli also shone with his ‘posh brunch’. Marcus was impressed with his creativity and loved his eggy bread.
However Dave’s frangipane tart stole the show. Monica and Marcus cooed over the dessert which was served with cardamom custard and said they were impressed with his skills. It was hailed a sensation.
Dave was put through to cook for the critics along with Matthew, Laurence and Oli. Simon and Max, who the judges said didn’t meet the brief, were sent home.
Laurence was first to serve the critics roast canon of lamb with sweetbreads. He set the bar so high that Jay Rayner said ‘I have literally nothing critical to say about this dish’, leaving a tough challenge for the other chefs.
Unfortunately Oli didn’t impress as he’d have hoped to; the critics thought the pigeon was undercooked and Amol Rajan said he’ tried too hard. Matthew also failed to claim high praise with his soufflé which Jay said was OK although William Sitwell would have just liked a serving of ‘sublime’ basil sorbet.
Dave had a mixed service. The critics enjoyed his take on fish and chips which included halibut, tartar sauce, salt and pepper pomme purée and tempura sorrel. However his dessert was a real fondant fiasco. After overcooking his first batch he cooked another which was raw. Oh dear…
When it came down to the final decision Marcus and Monica decided it was Dave’s time to leave, meaning Laurence, Matthew and Oli as the final three chefs heading to knockout week.
By Monica Turnbull
