Marcus Wearing Impressed by Sous-Chef's Skills | MasterChef UK: The Professionals | MasterChef World

You've got two minutes, Sean. Going to make it? Yeah, just got to get it together. Sean, love watching you work. You've got 60 seconds. First to face the skills test is 29-year-old Sean, who is a senior sous chef at a fine-dining restaurant in London's Covent Garden. I became a chef out of pure accident. I originally wanted to do art. I was working part-time in a pub restaurant, making sandwiches, and fell in love with it. I definitely think that art is a big part of my food. I love my place to look immaculate, clean, with a little bit of theatre. The skills test, no matter what level of chef you are, you can walk in there and there could be something that you haven't touched for years. So I think it will be a lot of pressure, but hopefully make it through. Service. Hello, Sean. Hello. It's not often we have a chef with three stars already. Cheers. This, of course, is the skills test. This one was set by Marcus. Sean, welcome. I would like you to take off the four fillets of the place, poach them, serve it with a beurre blanc sauce and a garnish of your choice. I'm going to give you 15 minutes. Off you go. Cheers. So you've clearly done this before, Sean? Yes, absolutely. I worked in a seafood restaurant for about four or five years in London. So, yeah, feel comfortable with it. You've had five minutes, you've got your fillets off and you've skinned them. So now, what do we do now? I'm going to start working the sauce and then start getting together a poaching liquid. Just over halfway, OK, Sean? You've got seven minutes left. So you've still got a fair amount to do, haven't you? Yeah, absolutely. You've got two minutes, Sean. Going to make it? Yeah, yeah. Just got to get it together. Sean? Yeah? Love watching you work. You've got 60 seconds. Come on, son. Come on, come on, come on, chef. Finished? Yes. Well done. Your approach to the challenge and the way you worked was excellent. The filleting of the fish, you removed the fillets with ease and with beautiful flair. Preparation of the sauce was good. Overall, I think you've produced a very good plate of food. Sean? I think that was excellent. My only criticism is that I think there's just too much vinegar in the sauce and a little lack of seasoning. But overall, that's a very, very good attempt. You clearly know what you're doing, but you also, you know, got a bit flustered, and that's normal, first test in. So, good start for you. Sean, you are obviously a chef who knows his craft. I'm very much looking forward to seeing you cook again. Off you go. He did well. He did brilliantly well. Good lad. When I walked in the room and I saw the plate on the table, I was extremely happy. So, I couldn't have asked for a better skill, sirs. Next, it's 27-year-old head chef, Mark, who works at a traditional country pub in the Lake District. I've always wanted to be a chef. I was in kitchens from a young age, 13, 14, as soon as I could. I absolutely love it, yeah. Yeah, can't beat it. I am inspired by the countryside. Cumbria is fantastic for food. I do a lot of hunting and forage when I can. The whole county is just a big pantry. It's brilliant. My style of food is really tasty and appetising, but also filling. At the end of the day, when people are paying good money for something, it's got to be right. Mark, I'd like you to fillet the place and poach it, served with a beurre blanc sauce and a garnish of your choice. Done some fish work before? Yeah, lots, yeah. I live on the coast, so, yeah, can't beat it. 15 minutes, off you go. I've never seen that before. I've never seen it filleted and skinned at the same time. Where did you pick that up? I don't know, it just seemed to work quite well, so... So, what got you into cooking? Something that I did with my parents. I didn't really want to go down the line of tool-making and machining like my brother and dad, so I can cook, so I followed that, really. You've had five minutes, OK, so you've got ten minutes to go. Yeah. How are you thinking of making your sauce? Classic beurre blanc, so we'll go with a little bit of white wine vinegar and sweat down some shallots, and then cool it a little bit with some water. You've got three minutes to cook your veg and plate up, yeah? About ten seconds left, come on, let's finish it up. You done? Done. Well done. Positive point is, you've got a dish up. The not-so-positive points are some of your working methods. Right, OK. When you're filleting a fish, taking the fillet off and the skin at the same time is silly. It's wasting time. Take the fillet off and skin it when it's on the board. The time that it was in the poaching liquid, far too long. And secondly, all the water now is coming out onto the plate. You don't really want to serve garnishes, pan-fried in brown butter when you're serving a poached dish. You're serving a poached dish, poach the garnish. I've made many a beurre blanc. I've never, ever had to add water to it. Got some great ingredients, white wine, there was some lemon, stock. It's actually starting to split. It's far from perfect, but then it's also far from a disaster. Fish is slightly overcooked and your sauce is a little too sharp. However, watching you work, I think you know what you're doing. Mark, I actually think it is a bit of a disaster. Do you? Yeah. Oh, OK. I think there are working methods in here that if you're working in my kitchen, you'd get told off for. It's the first time you've been in the kitchen. You've still got your signature dish to go. And I hope it's going to be a little bit better than this. Thank you, Chef. Cheers, guys. See you soon. I'd like to see him come back fighting. I think he'll come back fighting. Yeah. Yeah, I do. I do. Yeah, it's just gutted, really. I know fine well that I can do that better. Oh, silly mistakes.