Ashleigh starts with a red pepper tapioca cracker. 

Ashleigh: "The mix needs to go on first so it has time to dehydrate."

Ashleigh: "The dish is called Music on Mars. It's inspired by Gustav Holtz, who was a composer born in Cheltenham. He's most well known for his orchestral suite called the Planet Suite. My fish course is going to be inspired by Mars."

Ashleigh: "With the Gurnard, there's going to be a fish sauce, which I've used for the bones. Cornish pastis, which is like a Cornish version of vermouth. Then there's a red pepper tapioca cracker. So that adds texture to the dish and it looks like the reddish texture on Mars. And then there's a saffron, charcoal mayonnaise, a bit smoked, sort of the reddish textures."

Michael Caines: "Is it a bit fiery?"

Ashleigh: "Yes."

Later ...

Ashleigh's charcoal saffron mayonnaise is emulsifying.

Ashleigh: "There's some oil I infused with charcoal earlier, so like literally a coal. Put it in, oil smokes, but you smother it so you don't set it on fire."

And she moves on to lemon caviar for a pop of acidity.

Ashleigh: "The oil's cold, so as soon as it hits the oil and goes down, it should set. Then you'll have teeny, tiny little crunchy lemon balls. I test my patience. Nothing worse than standing here in a time competition, just dropping one by one."

Ashleigh fillets the centerpiece of her dish, the Gurnard.

Ashleigh: "It's quite a meaty fish that hands itself quite well to the dish. Cuz it's got like a nice reddish color which sort of lent into the theme of Mars. And it hit the brief. Just portion that up. Scored it. Check there's no bones. And put that back in the fridge until it's time to serve."

Michael Caines: "Have you got anything for me to taste?"

Ashleigh: "I've got some of the saffron charcoal mayonnaise for you to taste. It is a mayonnaise and then there's saffron and then charcoal infused oil. Then I've just added a little bit. I Didn't want it to be too overpowering."

Michael Caines, speaking to the camera behind the scenes

"Ashleigh's mayonnaise. The saffron was in big strands, so you're going to get a lot of that hitting in the mouth, so we'll see."

Plating

Ashleigh fries gurnard at the last minute  She plates it along with tapioca crackers and a lemon and saffron caviar. Compressed fennel.

The bowls are smoked and then good to go.