Over centuries, chefs have created dishes in honour of great people that have inspired them, from the peach Melba to the beef Wellington. This year's five finalists must each create a dish inspired by a public figure or an artwork, film, song, TV series or book. This plate of food must tell a story, and the contestants must strive to make it as extraordinary as the inspiration behind it. At the end of this challenge, one of them will be eliminated from the competition.
The second challenge takes the remaining four cooks to the Emerald Isle. Situated in the south west of Ireland, Ballymaloe House and Cookery School is where chefs from all over the world come to learn the philosophy put forth by the late, great patron of Irish cuisine, Myrtle Allen. Led by the school's renowned founders, Darina Allen and Rory O'Connell, the contestants get an incredible whirlwind education in local Irish produce and the ethos of ‘farm to table'. Then they must use everything they have learned to prepare a celebratory dinner for some of Ireland's finest food producers and food historians, and for relatives of Myrtle, all of whom are continuing her legacy.
