It is semi-finals week and the competition is sizzling with fresh new talent. MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace teams up with chef Monica Galetti and Michelin-starred Marcus Wareing to continue their search for this year's MasterChef: The Professionals Champion.
In this programme, the remaining eight chefs face a double-headed beast of a challenge in the MasterChef kitchen. It is do or die as they stake their claim to the competition and the opportunity to cook in some of the most influential and unique kitchens in the UK. The first challenge the eight chefs face is cooking against each other to create a dish inspired by a poignant food memory. For the judges, this dish must evoke the flavour and sense of occasion that ignited the chefs' passion for food. From fruit picking to a first taste of fine dining, the chefs need to dig deep for inspiration, cook up a storm in an hour and 45 minutes, and in turn inspire the judges to send them straight through to the next round.
The remaining chefs must return to fight again in the MasterChef kitchen to secure one of the remaining four places in the next round. They face an invention test where they are tasked with creating one unique and flawless dish. The twist for the chefs is that for those that cooked savoury in the first round they now cook sweet and vice versa. With this plate of food, the judges' expectations are high, so it is imperative that the chefs' ingenuity and skill shine through or they will forfeit their place in the next semi-final challenge. After this hard-fought battle, two chefs will be asked to leave the competition. The six who remain will continue on their path in pursuit of the MasterChef: The Professionals title 2018.
