MasterChef: The Professionals

Episode 17 (7x17)

Air date: Dec 10, 2014

It's the semi-finals. First up, Marcus and Monica send the semi-finalists to Hibiscus in London's Mayfair, the two Michelin-starred restaurant of the formidable chef Claude Bosi. Opened in 2007, Claude has earned his reputation with a food style that experiments with the classics and the chefs don't have long to master his dishes before they are thrown into a relentless three-hour lunch service. With the restaurant full, they must work fast while Claude watches their every move. With so much at risk, Claude checks every dish and will allow nothing but perfectly executed plates to leave his kitchen. If that wasn't daunting enough, after the exhausting service the semi-finalists cook Claude their version of his signature dish - roast squab pigeon breast and leg, with burnt tomato puree, confit carrot and a carrot salad, syrup confit of kumquat and a mint coriander and chilli sauce. Born out of his French roots and inspired by his travels around the world, it is a dish Claude has spent ten years perfecting and the pressure is on to impress as they replicate it for him to taste. Finally the semi-finalists return to cook for Marcus and Monica in the MasterChef Kitchen. They have an hour and 45 minutes to execute their two best courses of the competition, as they attempt to outshine their opponent in the brutal battle for just one place in Final Week.