Massimo: "I'm doing some en-croute. I like cooking proteins and pastry, so I decide to make a fish en croute that is absolutely impossible to do within two hours. This is me pulling a stunt. I have to make my dough. I have to cure my salmon. I have to make the mousseline."

Massimo: "I'm getting started on my pastry dough. That usually takes about 24 hours of rest to do properly with my fish en croute. I do not have any time to lose. I'm going to roll it out a little bit, and I'm gonna chill it in ice. A freezer will freeze the dough, and putting it in the fridge, it won't be ready in time. Big, big deal. I have to be surgically precise. One misstep will affect the whole dish. Lot of pressure."

Presenting to Judges

Massimo: "Kind of went with more of a literal sense of a stunt, so I decided to cook you a trout en croute. There's a huge variable of success that is out of your control when you cook a protein and pastry. The dough was made today. An emulsion with saffron and a fondue tomato."