Wales Fish Great British Menu

This week on Great British Menu -

three of Wales's best chefs.

Phil Carmichael, executive chef to former banquet winner Jason Atherton...

I'm hoping my Michelin star will give me the edge

and I can win this competition.

..experimental chef Stephen Gomes...

I'm pretty confident. What about you guys?

..and ambitious young restaurateur, Adam Bannister...

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't petrified but I'm going to do my best.

..are competing for the honour of cooking at a banquet celebrating

100 years of the Women's Institute at London's historic Drapers' Hall.

In yesterday's starter course, Stephen landed in last place.

I think you played it too safe.

Michelin-trained Phil failed to deliver...

I'm going to give you a six.

..while Adam took first place.

An eight. That dish really has got potential.

With today's fish course, Phil is out to prove his pedigree.

Yeah, it's crunch time now.

But with Adam frantically trying to stay on top...

..and Stephen risking it all to impress...

You off diving?

..the competition is heating up.

How are we doing, Adam? BLEEP!

He's savage! All under control? BLEEP!

100 years ago, the WI was set up to encourage women to grow

and preserve food during World War I.

A century on, their hearty home-cooked

recipes are the hallmark of classic British cooking.

The chefs have researched the brief...

Pleasure to meet you. Welcome.

..and been inspired by the important women in their lives...

Is that a winner, girls? Yeah.

..to produce culinary masterpieces...

Got my approval.

..worthy of the WI.

Absolutely lovely. Thank you. LAUGHTER

Judging the chefs this week is a two-time banquet champion

and holder of two Michelin stars -

Tom Kerridge.

How we doing, Wales?

Great. Good. We all right? Yeah. Fish day. Can build on yesterday.

Yes, Chef. Definitely, chaps.

I'm sure you're all aware I have a shellfish allergy.

So just in case any of you are cooking shellfish,

I've brought a great friend in...

..to help me taste the food.

So, gentlemen, I'm sure he needs no introduction,

it's Great British Menu winner and superstar chef, Tom Aikens.

Chef. Hi, Chef. Chef. TOM: How we doing?

And I'm really looking forward to tasting some great fish dishes.

Let's smash it out of the park today. Come on, Wales.

LAUGHTER

That spices things up a bit. It certainly does.

First up, young chef Adam Bannister, who surprised his rivals

yesterday with his sophisticated take on simple home-cooked classics.

I'm not going to take my eyes of the other two. They're great chefs.

So, fingers crossed I'll keep on cooking as well as I have

and hopefully that will be enough.

How we doing, Adam? Chef. Talk me through today's dish.

What's it called? Salmon And Cucumber Sandwich.

The Women's Institute, they love a bit of afternoon tea.

So that's the inspiration, it's afternoon tea and a salmon

and cucumber sandwich. So I've got a lovely organic salmon here.

Lovely big boy, that one. Yeah. So I'm going to brine this.

This is going to go into the brine, some lovely Earl Grey tea. OK.

What is it, a cold cup of brine tea? Yeah, pour it over your salmon.

Going to make a few different elements with some cucumbers.

I've got a bit of pickled cucumber going on.

I've got some jellies going on.

Yeah, just going to wrap that in some nice good old-fashioned

bread that everyone knows.

And then I'm going to pan-fry it so it looks like a sandwich on a plate.

Sliced white bread to the Women's Institute. That is a brave man.

Brave? Foolish? You are taking a risk, here, Chef, aren't you?

So, at the end of the day, is it just a sandwich?

Well, it is a very simple-sounding dish.

How he lifts it, we have to wait and see.

Next it's Michelin-trained Phil Carmichael.

His starter underwhelmed veteran Tom.

Today he's determined to prove his star credentials

and outshine leader Adam.

I've just got to make sure that every element is absolutely perfect.

It's got to be spot on.

Yeah, if I don't get a good score today,

then the rest of the week's going to be a massive uphill battle.

The title of the dish, Tom, is LightlySmokedSeaBass

MusselsCocklesLaverbread.

And that's all written as one word as a sort of nod to

the longest place name in Europe in Anglesey in Wales which

happened to be where the first WI meeting was 100 years ago.

What is that called? The shortened version is called Llanfair PG.

OK, and the longer version is you can't even pronounce it?

I can't pronounce it, I'm afraid.

OK, it must be a long bad word if even a Welshman can't say it. It is.

Right, OK, listen.

I'm one for ingredients speaking for themselves, that is

an incredible looking sea bass.

It's beautiful, isn't it? We're literally just going to pan-fry

that and then serve that with some beautiful cockles. Some mussels.

Cook some off, get all the natural juices out of there to make

a very simple veloute with that.

What else have you got going on in there? I can see this pot...

Yeah, this is the laverbread. Laverbread?

This is like a Welsh seaweed.

And then here we seem to have some sea vegetables and herbs, is that?

Yeah, exactly. So we've got some samphire there,

some rock samphire, which we are going to blanch.

Very simple cookery. Yeah, very simple.

Very similar to your sort of ingredients, just simple cooking.

No sliced white bread here, though. No sliced white.

LAUGHTER

I mean, he's relying on ingredients speaking for themselves.

It's a great marriage of flavours but on the execution,

is it going to really give us that wow factor?

Last up, experimental Stephen Gomes.

He lost points yesterday for under-spicing his starter

but is confident about taking a risk with big bold flavours today.

Usually I always have fun with my food.

I'm going to go back into the kitchen and stick to my recipes.

I'm going to put up a good show.

Back again, Chef. Back again. Feeling comfortable today? Yes, I do.

Going to take a risk? This dish is all about risk, Chef.

OK, so what is the dish? What are we cooking, what's it called?

It's called Preserving Memories.

Preserving Memories. What's the inspiration behind your dish?

It's the values and skills of the Women's Institute, Chef.

I'm going to make some mango chutney, as one of the preservation.

Then I'm going to do a mint and coriander foam.

OK, mint and coriander foam. Who have we got here?

That's my mother from India. Yeah? And is that you? Yes, Chef.

Nice hair. I still have it!

LAUGHTER

You're more recognisable in this picture.

And this lovely lady here, who's this?

She's Valerie, she is my very close friend and she is my British mother.

She's like your British mother? She is. OK.

And a nod to the Women's Institute

and strong female figures in your life. OK.

I'll be cooking the mackerel in two ways, Chef.

One way, it's my mother's secret recipe.

I'm going to cook it in a mustard sauce.

So this is the spicy way that you've learned from your Indian mother?

Yes, Chef. And we've got here another tray of spices again.

So we've got onion seeds, chilli powder.

My mother's pickled peppers. This is the secret recipe what I've learned.

So this is a secret recipe of pickled peppers. OK.

Is it safe to try or is it going to... Chef, it is. It's not too hot?

No, Chef.

Not hot for me.

LAUGHTER

He said that after I put it in my mouth. That's...

HE COUGHS

I'm sorry, Chef? No, that's beautiful. It is warm, though.

Go careful with that, it's warm. Yes, Chef.

And then the second way you are going to cook it?

The second way, it's much more simpler way.

I'm going to be marinating the fish in lemon juice and parsley

and I'm going to bake it and then use some liquid nitrogen

so it's going to be a cold feature to the fish.

So, you're going to put it in liquid nitrogen

so it's kind of like reversed cooking? It is, Chef.

In like minus temperatures? Yes, Chef.

But the beginning of that sentence you said that's a simple way

of cooking it. Yeah. Simple as in less spicy? Yes.

But quite complicated on technique. Yes, Chef, it's all about timings.

TOM: There's a lot going on. A lot of very, very interesting ingredients.

I'm intrigued. I'm more than intrigued.

What I really like is the big bold flavours that he's going with.

He's pushing those risks out there. This is exciting.

I'm just hoping he can pull it all off and make a fantastic dish.

As they get cooking, all the chefs know

they are now under double the pressure to impress.

So, guys, how are you feeling about having a second judge?

It's two different taste buds now. And it's all your fault, Phil.

LAUGHTER

Tom Aikens's uncompromising reputation is the talk of the kitchen.

Trust me, if I'd known Tom K was going to be the judge...

You never would have done shellfish! Yeah, exactly.

And then he just snuck Tom Aikens on us.

Then, yeah, I wouldn't have done shellfish. Not on your life.

Obviously, you know, bringing Tom Aikens in is sort of,

you know, raises the stress levels by about 20 notches.

For his Preserving Memories dish, Stephen marinates mackerel fillets

in his mother's secret spice mix ready to cook sous-vide.

He's also baked whole mackerel with lemon juice,

paprika and parsley.

I definitely need more than a five today.

This dish, I think, is going to make it.

Stephen is doing a very complicated dish.

He's put himself under a lot of pressure

but if he pulls it off, it will be a knockout.

Are you off? Yes, liquid nitrogen.

The next step in Stephen's technically experimental recipe

is to cool his baked mackerel in liquid nitrogen.

Interesting.

So, this fish has come out of the oven hot

and gone into liquid nitrogen, cold, freezing cold,

to stop it cooking. Cooking, Chef.

Could you not have just put it in a fridge?

You could, but you would not get the shape then, Chef.

Ah, so it's the shape that comes from the liquid nitrogen?

I mean, it's a dramatic, it all looks amazing,

but I'm really not sure what it's bringing to the dish.

Current leader Adam is feeling the heat of the competition.

The least experienced of the three, he needs to keep his calm

if he wants to stay on top.

BLEEP!

I need it quick. BLEEP!

Savage! Excuse the language.

Having seen the way Adam elevated humble British classics

in his starter, his rivals are wary

of his next very simple-sounding dish.

But I'm sure Adam is not just doing a salmon and cucumber sandwich.

I'm sure there's a lot more to it than that. We'll see.

He had a great first course

so I'm sure he's going to be running around like a lunatic

and then pull it out of the bag at the last minute like he did.

He pickles compressed cucumbers

and strains cucumber juice to make a jelly...

..before rolling sliced white bread through a pasta machine.

Yeah, he's got simple ingredients

but he's got to use technique to make this dish amazing.

Could that technique be replicated at a banquet? A different game.

It is a different game.

Adam? What is going on here?

I thought you were making me a sandwich, not a piece of pasta.

I am. It's a sandwich. It's a nice, thin piece of bread. OK.

Wrapped around my salmon. I see.

How does the bread stay together, it doesn't fall apart?

You've just go to be gentle. Gentle? That's correct, yes.

And you've obviously tried this before, have you? Yeah.

It can be a bit testing. Sometimes, it can split and crack. OK.

For his pared-down fish dish, Michelin-trained Phil

has steamed cockles and mussels

and is straining the mussel liquor to make a veloute.

I prefer the juice to the meat myself. Really? Yeah.

I'll save you a cup! Thanks.

With his sights set on the top of the scoreboard, Phil is hoping

the quality of his seafood will give him the winning edge.

I travelled up to Anglesey,

a little place called Llanfair PG.

It was the birthplace of the WIA in the UK.

So, yeah, it's only fair that that gets represented, hopefully,

at the banquet in some ways.

Situated off the north-west coast of Wales,

Anglesey is an island famous for its seafood.

Phil is meeting up with mussel and oyster fisherman, Sean Crynan.

Hi, Sean, I hear you're the man

to talk to about mussels around here? I am, yeah.

We're quite fortunate in the Menai that we have a species of algae

that imparts a lovely sweetness to the shellfish,

which is very healthy and very environmentally sustainable.

If you don't mind, Sean, I'm going to take these off. You can.

And get into the warm.

Anglesey is where Britain's first Women's Institute meeting

was held 100 years ago.

So, Phil is heading to the hall where it took place

and meeting up with Chair the Anglesey WI, Audrey Jones.

This urn here, it was bought with the building for ?2.

?2, certainly make a lot of tea with that. You would, wouldn't you?

It's rather heavy, they must have had some muscles, those ladies.

What sort of things would they have actually done

at the first meetings?

Well, there was a demonstration

on preserving fruit and vegetables.

That was actually the first meeting. Wow.

Phil's cooking up the mussels element of his dish in honour

of the women who first began the WI,

and is keen to see if Audrey approves.

They are nice.

You've got them past me and I'm sure you'll get them past the judges, too.

They are really delicious. Thank you very much, Audrey.

I can have another one? Of course you can, they're all yours.

Phil wants to let his seafood ingredients speak for themselves

but as he under-delivered yesterday, the veteran chefs

are looking for him to really push himself with his fish course.

Phil is a man of super high standards.

He won't be very happy with six out of ten for his starter.

I know he wants more.

He's got to work extra hard and get in one of those big scores.

As Tom Kerridge's seafood allergy means he won't be tasting

the dish, it's tough critic Tom Aikens, Phil needs to impress.

I had to say, it's quite a simple dish.

Absolutely, that's the biggest risk with this dish is its simplicity.

You know, I've got to get the fish cooked perfectly,

the mussel veloute has got to taste great.

Otherwise, you could fall flat on your face.

Adam is also using simple ingredients

with his afternoon-tea-inspired salmon and cucumber sandwich.

He mixes his Earl Grey flavoured brine and fillets his fish.

Are you OK with that salmon, big man?

Sure you've left enough on the bone?

Fighting talk, chief!

Meanwhile, Stephen is making a mango chutney for his mackerel dish.

So, Stephen, how are you getting on?

Your dish sounded super complicated, if I'm honest.

I'm in a complicated situation.

Veteran Tom criticised Stephen for under-spicing his starter.

So today, he's going all out with strong flavours.

It'll be interesting to see if Stephen ups his spice level today.

I think he should, and just cook how he cooks normally.

How is the sauce? I'll taste it.

Ooh!

What have you put in the mango chutney?

It's got the onion seeds, chillies, coriander.

You said you were going to lift the spices, you certainly have.

Yeah, I have. That's going to be hot. Hot. Wow!

Determined to demonstrate his modern approach to presentation

as well as bold flavours, Stephen is the first to plate up.

He decorates the plate with mango and mint coulis

and spoons his hot, spicy mango chutney into jars,

along with cold coriander and mint foam.

He garnishes his mackerel in spiced curry sauce

before smoking with aromatic cinnamon and hickory.

Finally, he adds his whole cold mackerel

frozen into shape with liquid nitrogen.

All served on special plates

paying tribute to the women who've inspired him.

Dramatic, isn't it? It is. Looks great. Indeed.

Memories down here, preserving things going on there.

Come on, then, do you want to carry it, Chef? Let's go.

Hit it.

Sweet, aromatic. Yeah, beautiful.

Yeah, the mango chutney he's made definitely works.

The foam is quite rich.

Yeah, nice depth of flavour.

So with the hot mackerel, do you think you got the flavours right?

The balances? Yes, I did think it worked well.

I've also increased the spice level a little bit, if you have noticed.

I have.

HE LAUGHS

That's delicious.

Yeah, it's not too spicy.

That's the level I like. Yeah.

So, Stephen, are you happy with the way that the cold mackerel

has been cooked? Are you happy with it? Yes, Chef.

It's not overcooked, undercooked?

I think I'm pretty happy with it, Chef.

For me, the mackerel's a little bit overcooked.

You can see it's gone a little bit like sort of cotton wool.

TOM: You've got the head, you've got the bone.

I mean, do you think that's suitable for the banquet? Yes, it is.

Yeah, it's definitely a step up from his starter dish... Definitely, yeah.

..apart from the little bones.

I'd give that a solid sort of seven out of ten.

What mark out of ten would you give this dish, Stephen?

A good eight, Chef. So I'm pretty happy,

at least I'm doing something which is different, Chef, something out of the box.

Current leader Adam is next to plate up with his dish,

inspired by a traditional afternoon tea.

He wraps his tea-brined salmon fillets and cucumber jelly

in his shop-bought sandwich bread

and pan-fries to add crispness and texture.

Hi, Stephen. How do you think that went? I think it went pretty well.

What do you think? Yeah, I thought it was good. Yeah.

ADAM: Really nice.

Running out of time, Adam needs to toast his pickled cucumber pieces.

You got a blowtorch that works?

BLEEP!

Can you see if there's a better blowtorch than this, please?

Lads? How we doing, Adam?

Good, Chef. All under control? Yes, Chef.

It's working now.

Got it? Yeah, yeah, thanks.

Adam layers on cucumber strips

and slices his sandwich.

Then adds crispy salmon skin

and pickled cucumbers filled with cucumber jelly.

Finally, it's ready to serve.

Oh, right. Happy, chef?

Glad it's finished. Glad it's finished, OK.

Let's go. Enjoy it, boys.

Thank you. See you later.

In terms of presentation, you're happy with the way that

that's come across, it contains that impact that you're looking for?

Yep.

I don't think it really fits the brief.

No, I didn't get the connection either.

The flavour in the salmon you said has been brined with tea.

I like it.

That is delicious.

You're happy with the bread around the salmon?

Personally would prefer the bread to be a little bit more crispy.

PHIL: Yeah, to me it's gone a little bit soggy so when you eat it

you're left at the end with just a mouthful of bread.

And are you confident you can replicate this dish for the banquet?

Jelly needs to taste of cucumber

and then you're looking at a sort of an eight, nine dish again.

Yeah, it's a proper seven.

What would you score your dish?

I'd give it a seven.

How was that?

Definitely a lot scarier with two judges stood next to you

asking you questions.

PHIL: Yeah, confident now?

The bread could've been a little bit crispier for my liking.

Last to plate up is Phil.

His starter disappointed

so he's taking a risk by keeping it simple with his fish course.

How are you getting on, Phil?

PHIL: I've got the sea bass in the pan. Yeah, it's crunch time now.

Here we go.

He fries sea vegetables and laverbread

and adds the meat from his shellfish before topping with sea bass fillet.

Happy with the fish?

Yes. It's going to look like a lovely restaurant dish.

Last of all, Phil covers the dish with a glass cloche

filled with hickory smoke.

OK, Phil, well done. You're up. Yep. Happy?

Tsh...yeah. "Tsh, yeah!" OK.

Come on, then, let's go. Thank you very much.

See you soon.

Is it worthy of a banquet

or is it edging towards a bit of a restaurant dish?

Erm...

..I...

Erm...

Do you think the smoke has added any element to the dish?

I don't want the smoke overpowering it.

I don't know if he warmed his plate.

Temperature of the bowl.

Yeah.

Should be hotter. Should be.

The sea bass is pretty well cooked. It's nice. It's nice.

TOM: And the balance of all the flavours with the sea vegetables,

do you think that's worked?

I think all the vegetables accompany the whole thing pretty well.

The mussel veloute, are you happy with the flavour?

Yeah, I am, you know, you can taste the mussels,

you can taste the cockles. Will it impress the WI at a banquet?

I think so, you know,

it's a celebration of where the WI started in the UK.

What score would you give it?

Erm...

If I had to mark it out of ten, I'd probably give it a six or a seven.

Give it an eight. I'll give a good, respectable seven for this.

Is there anything you would change on this dish

if you were able to do it again?

Serve it on a hot plate.

How was that? Yeah, there's a couple of things

I'd sort of maybe do slightly differently but overall, yeah,

I was happy with the flavours.

It did look amazing...

for a restaurant.

But that salmon did taste fantastic.

Yes, but is it a banquet dish?

Fish in liquid nitrogen, it was very dramatic.

Yeah, it's quite frightening, you know, we had the two of them today.

Yeah, that was a nasty little curveball they threw us there.

All right?

Stephen, I'm going to start with you. Yes, Chef.

And your dish is of preserving memories.

Amazing presentation.

The story that it told,

it looked beautiful.

I asked you to take a risk and you definitely did that.

You pushed those flavours more.

The fabulous spice mix that came from your mother's recipe was wonderful.

Thank you, Chef.

But...

..I think the cold mackerel let the dish down.

The texture for me, well, it was overcooked

and it was slightly unpleasant.

The fact that we served it all on the bone,

I'm not sure that that's perfect for the banquet.

Adam...

..for your dish, salmon and cucumber.

Now, the salmon in the sandwich was perfectly cooked.

I thought it was a beautiful bit of cooking. Thank you.

The pickled cucumber on the plate, delicious.

Really lovely, a wonderful balance to the dish.

But...

..the bread around the sandwich, it wasn't crispy enough.

The presentation of the dish, well, it was nice.

Was it special enough to go all the way?

Not at the moment.

Phil...

..for your lightly-smoked sea bass, mussels, cockles, laverbread.

This was a plate of simple ingredients,

your challenge was to execute them perfectly.

The bowl that you served all the food in...

was cold. Everything was just a little bit tepid.

For a chef of your calibre, Phil, that shouldn't be happening.

But...

the sea bass itself

was perfectly cooked.

That was an amazing and incredible-looking piece of fish.

The cockles were very nicely cooked.

Now, I thought the dish looked beautiful...

but for a restaurant, not for a banquet.

And so to the scores.

Stephen...

..I'm giving you...

..a six.

Those big, bold flavours are coming through

but you need to push that even further.

Perfect.

Adam...

..I'm giving you...

..a six.

I was just a little bit disappointed after your strong starter.

And for Phil...

..I'm giving you...

..a seven.

Flavour-wise it worked really, really well.

Tomorrow is the main course day.

You need to push yourselves more.

It is great food, just a bit more.

Good luck tomorrow. Thank you, Chef. Thank you. Thank you.

Gutted. Gutted. Come catch me.

With two courses down, Adam is still in the lead with 14.

Phil is now only one point behind and Stephen has 11.

Stephen and Phil are both in touching distance

and I really need to keep the lead.

PHIL: I've managed to have cut the deficit on Adam.

There's still everything to play for. I'm still in the game,

I still have two more dishes to go and those are my strengths.

The knives are sharpened and the heat is on. It can only mean one thing.

I've never, ever seen that!

Britain's best chefs are back in town.