MasterChef: The Professionals is a BBC television competitive cooking show which aired on BBC Two from 2008 to 2019, transferring to BBC One in 2020. It is a spin-off from the main MasterChef series and features professional working chefs. Introduced in 2008, Gregg Wallace and India Fisher reprised their roles as co-judge and voiceover respectively. Michel Roux Jr., a two-Michelin-star chef, was a judge, assisted, from 2009, by his sous-chefMonica Galetti. Since 2011, Sean Pertwee has held the voiceover role.
In 2014, Roux Jr left the show due to "a conflict in commercial interests".[1] He was replaced by Marcus Wareing.[2] In 2022, Galetti announced that she was taking a break from the show; she was replaced as a judge by Anna Haugh for the 2022 (Series 15) season.[3] On 23 March 2023, Galetti announced on Instagram that she would be returning to the show as a judge for the 16th series, which was broadcast from 23 October 2023 onwards.[4]Matt Tebbutt is due to replace Wallace as a judge from series 18.[5]
Format
Typically, the show runs for seven weeks and twenty-one episodes (reduced to eighteen for Series 15) transmitted from early November until Christmas, although the precise number of shows per week, number of contestants, the running order and nature of the challenges and the number of chefs eliminated at each round has varied from series to series. There are four weeks of "heats" (the final show of each week being a quarter final), a "knockout" week, a semi-final week and a finals week. Below is a synopsis of a typical series:
Heats
Each heat week begins with six chefs per show (this was cut to four per show in Series 15). The three (or four) remaining chefs then participate in the quarter-final at the end of that week.
Skills test (Series 2 onwards): The professional judges demonstrate the preparation of a specific dish, or the preparation of an ingredient. The contestant is then required to reproduce that dish in a specific time limit – typically 15–20 minutes. The judges then taste the contestant's attempt and give feedback. In Series 2–4, Monica Galetti would eliminate 2 of the 6 contestants at this stage, meaning only four went through to cook for Michel Roux Jr.
Signature dish: The contestants are then given one hour to prepare their signature dish which will showcase their skills and abilities. This is then scrutinised by the judges, who then eliminate three of the six (two of the four from Series 15 onward) contestants, based on their performance in both this, and the skills test. From Series 15 the chefs had to cook a main course and dessert instead of one dish.
Quarter final
Invention test: The three surviving contestants from the heat are given 1 hour to invent a dish from a set larder of ingredients. The contestants are then given feedback. In Series 1 the invention test took place during the heats (before being replaced in Series 2 by the Skills Test, with the invention test being moved to the quarter-final). In some series four chefs competed in this round, which was reduced to three in the next round.
Cook for the critics: The four (or three) contestants are required to prepare a three-course meal for a panel of three restaurant critics – typically Jay Rayner, Tom Parker-Bowles, William Sitwell, Grace Dent, Leyla Kazim and Jimi Famurewa. The meal is also sampled by the professional judges (but not Gregg Wallace). The contestants do not get feedback from the critics directly. Based on this challenge and performance in the invention test, one chef is eliminated, and the remainder go through to knockout week or the semi-final
Knockout Week
Typically 12 chefs are left by this stage. The precise challenges have varied over the series. In Series 15, Knockout Week was dropped and the competition progressed directly to the semi-final, but it reappeared in Series 16 onwards.
Knowledge test (Series 1–7): Michel Roux Jr or Marcus Wareing demonstrates the preparation of a classic dish which requires a high degree of technical skill and ability. The chefs are then required to reproduce the dish themselves using only a basic recipe lacking in precise details of the cooking methods involved. Typically, the larder supplied included "rogue" ingredients that were not actually used in the dish, intended to probe the contestants' palates and knowledge of flavours.
Cook for a guest chef (Series 1–6): The contestants are required to cook a dish for a mystery renowned chef who visits the MasterChef kitchen (in Series 5 & 6 this was Marcus Wareing). The guest chef did not participate in the usual judging discussion between Roux and Wallace, and it would result in an elimination.
Invention test with a difference (Series 5–6, 8): The chefs are required to invent a single dish, but must only use basic cooking methods, for instance they are prohibited from using the sous-vide cookers. In Series 6, three of the chefs gained automatic passage into the next round, whilst the remaining three must cook off against each other to avoid elimination, where one chef was eliminated.
Mass catering (Series 8): The chefs are divided up into two teams where they have to demonstrate their ability to cook low cost, high quality dishes in large quantity in a short timeframe. Typically they are sent to a large workplace canteen, or a major sporting event. This is then followed by a cook-off in the studio in which one further chef is eliminated.
Semi-finals
Service in a top restaurant: The six surviving contestants are divided into either pairs or teams of three and are each sent to work in an acclaimed British restaurant under the supervision of the Head Chef, or Chef Patron and work a lunch service. The chefs must then prepare the restaurant's signature dish, and then receive feedback from the Chef Patron on their interpretation of the dish. They then return to the MasterChef Kitchen were they cook against each other, and one chef is eliminated, based on their performance in the cook-off, and from the feedback from the restaurant test.
Invention with leftovers: The five remaining chefs are presented with scraps of food along with a basic larder and are instructed to produce a dish using them. One further chef is eliminated at the end of this round.
Pop-Up Restaurant Eight chefs (four chefs in two episodes) must design their own pop-up restaurant and run a service for a panel of critics consisting of other pop-up restaurateurs. After the challenge, the chefs return to the MasterChef kitchen for a cook-off where one is eliminated, leaving six chefs going into Finals Week.
Finals Week
Showstopping dish: The six surviving contestants are asked to produce a high quality dish that will showcase their knowledge and skill, and justify their presence in the final. Two are eliminated here to leave the final four.
Chef's table: The four surviving contestants are required to work as a team to cook a banquet for a party of top British chefs, most of whom possess Michelin stars. Each chef is given responsibility for a course (starter, fish, main, dessert). At the end of each course, one of the guest chefs gives the contestant feedback. No elimination takes place at the end of this round.
Michelin starred restaurant: (Series 1-14, 16-) The finalists are sent to a restaurant of international acclaim, either in the UK or abroad, which typically holds at least 2 Michelin stars. The chefs participate in a lunch service in that restaurant, and learn how to cook the establishment's signature dishes and receive guidance from the Chef Patron. They also create their own dishes using the same techniques used in that restaurant. The chefs return to the MasterChef kitchen where they cook off against each other and one is eliminated to leave the final three.
Cook for the Critics II, (Replaced the 'three starred restaurant' challenge in Series 15), the four chefs competed in a two stage challenge where they cooked off against each other by preparing a showstopping dish based on an exotic place they had been to, then each had to prepare a three course meal for the same panel of critics from the quarter-finals. Based on their performance in the two rounds, one chef is eliminated at the end of this round to leave the final three.
Final cook-off: Returning to the MasterChef kitchen, the three finalists are given two hours to cook a three course meal for the MasterChef judges where one will be crowned Champion for the series.
MasterChef: The Professionals: Michel's Classics – 30 minute master class episodes; aired 8 November 2010, 9 and 16 December 2011, 17–18 December 2012[7]
MasterChef: The Professionals Uncovered – A look at the highs and lows of the past five series; aired 27 February 2013
Masterchef: The Professionals Rematch – Five finalists return to the kitchen to show the judges how much their food has evolved; aired 27 December 2018 and 23 December 2019
MasterChef: The Professionals: A Festive Knockout – Four of the most memorable chefs from previous series return to show how their skills have progressed since they took part in the show; 2 episodes; aired 29 and 30 December 2020.[8]
4 October 2016 – 13 December 2016 (Season 1) 5 September 2017 – 5 December 2017 (Season 2) 21 August 2018 – 11 December 2018 (Season 3) 13 September 2022 – 8 November 2022 (Season 4)
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