Masterchef UK Professionals
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Pan-Fried Halibut with Caviar
Pan-Fried Halibut with Caviar, Tempura Courgette Flower Stuffed with Scallop and Smoked Pancetta Mousse, Salt-Baked Beetroot, Pickled Candied Beetroot, Pistachio Chimichurri, and Leek
{Polly}: "Definitely going all out today. Why not? My signature dish does have some different elements. If I like a flavour of something, I'll use it. That's what I like about food. It has no rules. If I want to add it, I can add it. No one's going to tell me no."
{Polly}: "So I'm doing pan-fried halibut with a tempura courgette stuffed flower. So going inside that is some smoked pancetta mixed with some scallop mousse. And also I've got pistachio chimichurri."
{Polly}: "And then I'm serving that with a leek and soy sauce."
{Polly}: "I started with the halibut, and then it just kind of evolved from there. I know I'm a young chef. I want to prove that I can do certain elements, and I love working with fish."
{Polly}: "I want to move back home on the Norfolk coast, and I want to open up a restaurant there and base it off family dishes, things I grew up with around there. Yeah, it'd just be really special to me if I can create that."
{Polly}: "Growing up around the Norfolk coast, we was always fishing with my dad. One of my earliest memories is him lining the kitchen table with newspaper, sitting me up on it, and he'd show me how to fillet fish. So I love working with fish."
{Polly}: "It's such gorgeous fish. I really hope I do it some justice."
{Polly}: "The richness of the pistachio really works with like the meatiness of the fish."
{Polly}: "The soy sauce creates this really lovely, kind of like umami base layer to the sauce as well. It works well."
{Polly}: "Of course I want to be in the quarterfinals. I am ambitious. I do push myself. Hopefully they see that."
(Marcus): "Polly has chosen halibut. You've got to beautifully trim it up, take off the skin, and perfectly cook it."
(Marcus): "With some beetroot that she's baking and candying. So we have a little bit of sweetness in there too."
(Monica): "We have pistachio chimichurri, which has been added to parsley and coriander."
(Marcus): "One ingredient that's missing that makes me question, is it a chimichurri, are the chilies. But what you want is a good green sauce packed full of flavour."
(Matt): "Polly's also got a scallop mousse going inside a courgette flower, which is then going to be tempura. You need a scallop mousse to be nice and soft, velvety. The thing I'm struggling with is the fact that there's pancetta in there, which is going to be quite a hard bite. So whether that works or not remains to be seen."
(Monica): "Also, Polly's using soy to season her leek sauce."
(Matt): "What we don't want is that overriding flavour of soy. It needs to be balanced."
(Monica): "Polly's got a lot going on. I'm just curious how everything will come together on Polly's dish."
Monica: "Polly, I like your presentation. You've clearly put a lot of thought in how you were going to dress your dish here."
Marcus: "Polly. You just need to come back just a touch on the halibut. Cookery needs to be a lot more moist. I like the beetroot you baked in salt crust. You've left it rustic. I think of chimichurri, I think of chilies. But I've said that the chimichurri is great. I like the pistachio. I love the herbal element of it. There's a bit of acidity running through it. Delicious. The soy and leek sauce is what really brings it together beautifully. A little bit sweetness to it. Works well with the fish. Really, really good."
Monica: "The beetroot is nicely cooked. You've got a little pickled beetroot on the side as well. The tempura courgette's got nice crispiness to it. The filling is smooth, and you've got pancetta in it. Does it need it? Well, it's nice, but there are things that aren't really necessary."
Matt: "Everything on this dish is very nicely done. My criticism is there's a lot of ingredients. I've got soy, I've got pistachios, I've got chimichurri, now I've got caviar, there's scallops, there's pancetta. Although clearly you can cook very well. It's more of a lesson in restraint. It's like, I can do all this, but now let's just tone it down just a little bit."
DELIBERATION - Marcus: "Polly. The halibut's a little on the dry side, but I love the freshness of the chimichurri with the pistachio running through there too."
Monica: "I like the sauce. It was sharp. The garnish was lovely. I even like the little stuffed, crispy courgette tempura. But I didn't think it was necessary to have bacon."
Matt: "There was a lot going on, and it didn't quite gel for me. Although everything was executed very well." Marcus: "Yes. A good cook. A cook trying to impress."
RESULT: Polly advances to the quarterfinal.
{Polly}: "Mix of emotions. I'm quite happy with what I put out, but, you know, if they thought it was too much going on, that's fair enough. I think Marcus liked it more than Monica and Matt, but that's food, you know."
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