Wales Main Great British Menu

This week on Great British Menu -

three of Wales's top chefs,

experienced Phil Carmichael,

executive chef to former banquet winner Jason Atherton...

I'm used to running a kitchen with 42 cooks.

This is completely different.

..young, new restaurateur Adam Bannister...

I don't think you can ever feel confident in this kitchen.

It's the pressure that goes with it.

..and experimental chef Stephen Gomes...

You off diving?

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

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

Yesterday's fish course saw Phil plate the winning dish...

Flavour wise, it worked really, really well.

..putting him just one point behind leader Adam after he underwhelmed.

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

Stephen remains at the bottom of the table.

But is determined to bag a high score with his main course.

Stephen has come out fighting today, boys. So I hope you're ready.

And with Phil and Adam battling it out for the lead...

Adam looks under pressure, he looks stressed out.

..who will come out on top?

Still confident about getting that ten you promised?

You've got to think positive.

100 years ago, the Women's Institute was founded to help feed

World War I Britain.

Today, their recipes still stand at the heart of the nation's

great home cooking.

The chefs have explored the history of the organisation...

We are very fortunate to have Her Majesty the Queen as our president.

..and paid tribute to the pioneering women in their own lives...

Mm. Michael, that's absolutely delicious.

..to turn home-cooked classics into modern masterpieces.

Oh, it's very tasty. It's lovely.

Judging the chefs this week is holder of two Michelin stars,

Tom Kerridge.

The only chef to cook the main course at the banquet twice,

Tom knows what it takes to get there.

These chefs are cooking on around about 60-70% of their full ability.

You can feel there's more in them.

I just want them to give it that extra push towards the line.

I really want to give some big scores today.

Do you think your main course is going to be a strong dish?

-Hopefully I can pull off a ten.

-Wow.

And keep my lead and keep you boys away.

I'm heading in the right direction, I've just got to keep building on that.

Smash the main course out today.

-STEPHEN:

-With my scoring being a little low,

I've got to give my best shot now.

First up is Michelin-trained Phil Carmichael.

He underperformed with his starter but pulled back points

with his fish course and has first place firmly in his sights.

My game-plan today is just literally concentrate.

I need the main course to go perfectly

so I can storm the leaderboard.

-Morning, Phil.

-Morning, Tom.

-What's the dish called?

-A Hug For Mum.

-So this is actually for your mum, inspired by your mum?

-Exactly.

Inspired by sort of childhood memories of eating lamb

with my mother. She doesn't eat it as much as she used to

cos it's too expensive for her these days. She lives in Wales.

-Doesn't eat lamb.

-So this is going to be a special treat for her?

-Yeah.

-What cuts of lamb have we got?

-We've got the lamb belly.

So, I'm going to slow-cook this and sort of do some little

crispy ribs with that. And we've got the lamb neck fillet.

And then, lastly, we are going to use lamb rump.

If this is cooked perfectly it will be tender, it will be juicy

and it will be super flavoursome.

What other ingredients have you got?

I'm going to cook some pearl barley which is my take on a sort of

really classic Welsh stew called cawl.

And then a big risk part of the dish is I'm going to be making a lamb

and mint tea to go with it, as well.

-Like a cup of tea?

-Yeah. So I'm making a...

super flavourful lamb consomme.

So is that going to be like a beautiful crystal-clear consomme?

-It certainly is.

-OK, so there's all lots of classic flavours going on.

Big, hearty, robust cooking. Love that.

LAUGHTER

Phil's dish, A Hug For Mum, absolutely love the sound of it.

It's really hearty, wholesome kind of food.

I worry again that maybe Phil's gone down a safety route.

Wonderful ingredients but is there another level,

something that pushes himself even further?

First place Adam is next.

After his starter saw him take the lead, his fish course disappointed.

And he knows his rivals are snapping at his heels.

I've got a one-point lead going into the main course.

I really, really need to nail it today just to keep my lead up.

-Chef.

-Morning, Adam, how are you? What's the name of your dish?

-Jerusa-lamb.

-Jerusa-lamb, where did you get that from?

Jerusalem, the anthem of the WI, and then a little play on the words.

-So I'm going to be making a faggot.

-OK.

-So a traditional Welsh dish.

It's a bit like a meatball but using offal. Traditionally, you use pork.

-But I'm doing a little twist, using lamb.

-A Welshman using lamb.

-That's correct.

-Surprise, surprise. Guess what? Phil's using lamb.

Didn't expect anything else.

In the centre, it's going to be a loin.

-OK.

-Hopefully, nice and pink.

The danger with that is I won't know until you cut it open.

What else are we going to be serving with this faggot?

Just going to do a pea puree

and then I'm going to make a Jerusalem artichoke mashed potatoes.

And then I'm just going to make a traditional sort of mint jelly to go with the dish.

Now, Adam, your starter, you blew me away with it.

When it came to the fish course, it was a little bit disappointing.

We're not going to be disappointed today, are we?

It's a true dish from the heart, so hopefully I'll be strong.

That's what I like to hear. Looking forward to it.

Jerusa-lamb, Adam's dish.

The loin of the lamb, that needs to be pink

but the outside of the faggot needs to be braised and beautifully cooked.

It's a big risk, this one.

If he gets it right, what a dish it's going to be.

Gets it wrong, it's going to be a disaster.

Last up is experimental chef Stephen.

So far, he's lost marks for both flavour and execution

and is bottom of the leaderboard. But he's come back fighting.

I'm just a couple of points behind.

I'm very, very confident with my main dish

and I'm pretty excited and happy because I've worked hard on it.

-Good morning.

-Good morning, Stephen. Ready today?

-Ready, Chef.

What are you going to be cooking for us today?

-It's called 5,000 Miles From Andhra.

-5,000 Miles From Andhra.

The Derbyshire WI raised £4,000 for a drought affected area

in India. They provided safe drinking water.

-Andhra is the area where the WI raised the money for?

-Yes, Chef.

-I'm making a lovely lamb curry.

-OK.

-Andhra lamb curry.

And a lamb leg works very well because it's slow-cooking

and it takes time.

Another part of the dish is going to be called idli.

It's made with white lentils, Chef. I'm using rice along with it.

So we're going to use lentils and rice. What's an idli?

Idli is like a rice pancake, Chef.

But it's a little bit harder in texture.

And what I'm doing is I'm going to be smoking it with cinnamon essence

but cold smoke, I'm going to use carbon dioxide.

What spices and things have you got going on?

This is something which I wouldn't ask you to try.

-They're called Trinidad scorpions.

-Trinidad scorpion chillies.

And these are hot?

It's like a dynamite. It's going to blow your head off, Chef.

It is really fearsome.

-You wouldn't recommend me taking a bite?

-No, not at all.

You wouldn't be able to taste anybody else's food. I win.

LAUGHTER

I love that. Stephen has come out fighting today, boys.

I hope you're ready.

Stephen's dish, 5,000 Miles From Andhra,

the inspiration in this dish is phenomenal. He's done some great research.

The Women's Institute raising money for water in Andhra is fantastic

and he really needs to lift his game up today.

Let's just hope he can pull it off.

As cooking gets underway, there is a positive atmosphere in the kitchen.

You're all cooking lamb.

-You can't not cook lamb, can you, if you're from Wales?

-That's true.

-PHIL:

-So are we all thinking the lamb's our strongest dish?

-STEPHEN:

-Everybody's got a strong dish here.

After overcooking his fish yesterday,

Stephen is sticking to more traditional techniques today,

browning lamb with curry leaves, turmeric and cumin seeds.

He's hoping his refined curry dish will be a winning

tribute to the WI's fundraising efforts in India and elsewhere.

This particular dish is very, very important to me.

-PHIL:

-Yeah?

-STEPHEN:

-I really want to make them

proud for the work that they've done for the last 100 years.

-PHIL:

-It's pretty amazing what the WI have achieved

and what they've stood for.

Following yesterday's win, Phil is hoping to impress again

with his complicated lamb dish designed to indulge his mum.

Phil, you're doing lamb, what are you doing with it?

I'm doing three different cuts of lamb.

-I'm doing the breast, the neck and the rump.

-A lot going on, then?

There's a bit going on but if it all comes together

it's going to taste absolutely banging.

-STEPHEN:

-Any risk to it?

-PHIL:

-I'm making a lamb and mint tea so if the clarification doesn't

work on the consomme then it's game over.

He preps his rump, cures his lamb neck,

and seals his breast with duck fat before cooking sous-vide.

He then drains stock, ready for his risky consomme.

So this is the lamb consomme base?

Yeah, I'm going to clarify this in about ten minutes.

I was going to say, it's not very clear.

-And as a base level of flavour, are you happy with that?

-Yeah.

I think once the mint's added to it it will be spot-on.

-Fingers crossed, anyway.

-Cross everything, Chef.

-Yeah.

Really looking for that extra zing that takes these dishes to the next level.

Phil's lamb and mint tea, this is the sort of thing that's going to lift

it from being an easy, homely dish into something very special.

For his starter, Adam wowed Tom with his elevation of humble

home-cooked classics but was let down by his fish course.

Today, he's pushing to score highly again with his risky Jerusa-lamb dish.

He begins by pan-frying lamb's liver

and combining with diced slow-cooked heart and minced lamb breast.

Adam, you were saying earlier you were going to get a ten for this.

You've got to think positive.

But you think you can pull it off, realistically?

Maybe some people might say I give myself a little bit much to do

but you've got to try and push yourself in this competition.

Adam's creating his own complex interpretation of a traditional

Welsh favourite, for which Neath Market in Wales is famous.

It's a real big, classic, hearty dish from Wales.

They've been serving faggots and peas there for over 60 years.

-Is your faggot going to be better than theirs?

-I hope so.

Exploring the traditional roots of his classic Welsh dish,

Adam travelled to Neath near Port Talbot.

We're here today to find out a little bit

more about faggots in Neath Market.

It's definitely a home-cooked dish that the WI would approve of.

Hopefully, I can take this and make it fit for the banquet.

Paul Cole Family Butchers have been making faggots here

since 1928 to a secret recipe.

They make around 2,000 a week using traditional pork offal.

-So how were you going to do your faggots?

-I'm doing a take on a faggot.

So it's a flavour that I'm trying to achieve

but I'm doing it with lamb, as well.

Don't tell my grandfather that, he'll...

turn in his grave if you're making a faggot out of lamb.

You've got to have the right shaped hands to do this.

Seven across and 12 down we do.

So if you get to the end and you've got 11 rows,

you've made them too big.

Having seen how they are made, Adam's next stop is Katie's Kitchen,

now run by Susannah, to taste a traditional Neath Market faggot

developed by one pioneering lady 60 years ago.

Thank you very much.

Katie used to actually make them in her shed up the garden, apparently.

And then take them into the house to cook.

-And she'd bring them down on the bus.

-Lovely.

They've got a really good depth of the offal.

This is what I want to try and achieve

but I've got to take it to a different level.

Adam wants to make sure his modern spin on the traditional faggot measures up.

There we go, done.

Mm-mm.

Oh, that is beautiful. The lamb is so tasty.

You know, it's so different to the faggots that I cook. It is delicious.

-I think you'll go far with these.

-Thank you.

I think you'll have to make these for me to sell.

Adam's lamb breast and offal faggots will encase a piece of seared lamb loin.

As he'll pan-fry his faggots before serving, he's nervous

about how much to cook the loin now if it's to end up perfect.

I haven't been able to practise as much as I'd like.

The lamb's got to be pink in the middle, fingers crossed,

because if it's not, it's not going to be good.

Tom also knows that this is the riskiest part of the dish.

-You practised this many times?

-Twice.

-Both times it's gone perfectly?

-Wouldn't say perfectly.

-Loin in the middle,

you want it medium to medium rare.

-How are you going to know if it's cooked properly?

-It's just practice.

But you've only practised it twice.

Yeah.

Adam is a little concerned about his execution of cooking

the loin in that faggot, making sure that it is perfect.

I have to be honest with you, I'm a little concerned also.

All week, Tom has been encouraging Stephen to be bold with his spicing.

So he's concentrating on getting the balance of heat and

flavour in his main spot-on.

He blends toasted spices with fresh coriander to form his curry paste

and sautees onions with his fiery Trinidad scorpion chillies.

You'd better keep those dynamite chillies away from my lamb dish!

I don't need any spice in my dish.

-STEPHEN:

-Don't worry, it's just going to be an accident.

-Where are the dynamite chillies?

-Part of it, Chef.

OK, so that's only a tiny, tiny little bit of chilli there.

-That little bit of chilli will go through this whole dish?

-Yes, Chef.

-It does go a long way.

-If you know how to use them, they are perfect.

OK, so you're fairly certain that your curry dish is going to be

-better than the other two lamb dishes?

-I'm positive, Chef.

Having prepped his pearl barley,

Phil's now moved on to clarifying his consomme

for the mint tea element of his Hug For Mum main course.

He blends lamb trimmings with eggshells and egg whites...

..and ladles into his rich lamb stock.

If the consomme isn't crystal clear, Phil won't be happy in himself.

Once the mixture has solidified and risen,

he ladles it out and passes through muslin, knowing any residue

left in the liquid could ruin his whole dish.

-STEPHEN:

-How's the consomme looking?

-PHIL:

-It's crystal clear. Going to give it a quick skim now.

Infuse it with the mint and that's it, done. Consomme finished.

To finish off his faggots,

Adam delicately wraps them in pork caul fat...

..and pan-fries.

-Adam, how are your faggots looking?

-Not quite there yet.

-No?

With all the other elements of his dish still incomplete,

he's in danger of running out of time.

He gets to work on his mushy peas, artichoke mash and his mint jelly.

Still confident about getting that ten you promised us earlier?

We'll see.

LAUGHTER

I don't think you can ever feel confident in this kitchen.

-It's the pressure that goes with it.

-So, what have you got left to do?

Too much.

Adam looks under pressure. He looks stressed out.

He's doing double whisking. He's doing everything.

-LAUGHTER

-Don't do two-handed.

At the moment, it's not looking too good.

Adam is due at the pass first with his faggot Jerusa-lamb dish.

He decorates with mint jelly and, as veteran Tom looks on,

he pipes on his Jerusalem artichoke mash.

-How we doing, Adam?

-Nearly there, Chef.

He spoons on quenelles of mushy peas...

..and tops with pan-fried artichokes.

Finally, he adds his lamb loin faggots and finishes with gravy.

All served in traditional casserole dishes.

You can take a deep breath now, Chef.

It's all right, you've been running around like a madman, haven't you?

You've got to push yourself, you know. Hope it's paid off.

Disappointed if I've worked that hard and...it hasn't worked out.

Shall we go and taste it?

-See you in bit, boys.

-See you later.

Pleased with that?

It was, do I spend the extra couple of minutes making you wait

or did I maybe slightly rush on my presentation a little bit?

I like it. Simplicity can be a good thing.

As long as each component on the plate is spot-on, I think.

-STEPHEN:

-It could be a winner.

-You're a little bit nervous about whether the middle of that faggot is nice and pink.

-Yeah.

HE EXHALES LOUDLY

It is overcooked which is a big disappointment for me.

Nothing I can do about it now, though, sadly.

-For me, that loin is overcooked.

-STEPHEN:

-It is.

-PHIL:

-But that doesn't take anything away from the fact that

the flavour in the actual faggot mix is fantastic.

I think, you get, you know, a nice richness from the lamb.

The offal is there but it's not too overpowering.

And in terms of the texture of the faggots, is it too dry, not dry enough?

The mint jelly, are you pleased with the way that's turned out?

It adds a little bit of acidity and helps cut through all the fattiness.

That, I like. Again, he's pulled that one out of the bag.

In terms of the amount of gravy you've got on that plate?

Seeing this, I think I'd need to put a lot more gravy on.

I wish there was a little bit more gravy in the whole dish.

-PHIL:

-I think you're right.

Overall, are you pleased with this dish?

No, I'm not. Pressure got to me and it shouldn't get to me, you know.

It's a big disappointment.

Phil's next to plate up with his Hug For Mum lamb dish.

And he is hoping his Michelin star pedigree

will pull him ahead of his rivals.

Having concentrated so hard on getting his consomme right,

he's also left a lot to the last minute.

He pan-fries his sous-vide rump...

..colours his lamb breast,

and glazes his lamb neck.

-You all right, big man?

-Not great.

-No?

-No.

Just left myself too much to do again and maybe less is a bit more.

This could be a bad score, this could. How are you getting on?

Under the cosh.

Few last minute things to get done.

Already running late, Phil finishes his pearl barley

and serves in individual saucepans.

After failing to heat his plate properly yesterday,

even in his rush he knows he needs to focus.

-Plates coming up hot today, Phil?

-Yeah.

He tops the pearl barley with deep-fried strips of lamb breast.

OK, Phil, how long?

-We're already quite late to the pass.

-Yep, coming now.

Onto a wooden sharing board goes his slow-cooked lamb neck.

Then slices of rump and crispy lamb breast.

He adds butter-braised turnips,

blanched baby turnips and raw turnip slices.

His lamb and mint consomme is ladled into a teapot

and his sharing platter is ready to be served.

-Got it up eventually.

-Eventually. Little bit late, sorry, Tom.

Today, maybe I'll give you some leeway.

If you get through to Friday and the judges, they don't give leeway.

-OK, shall we go and try it?

-Mm-hm.

-It's a nice sharing platter.

-Do you think there's a story on the plate?

I think getting a story across is difficult.

So this is the lamb and mint tea.

Sort of sip it as you're eating your lamb.

-In terms of clarification, is that OK for you?

-Yep.

Can you see your hand through it?

-Does it pack a punch?

-It does.

-For me, it does.

-I think that's...

I think that's spot-on.

-So this is a breast of lamb?

-Yep.

-On the bone.

It's a little bit drier than I was hoping. But it's still... OK.

OK.

Start on the neck, then. Falls apart.

Always a good sign.

And then here we have the rump of lamb. Is that cooked enough for you?

Yep, for me it is.

I would have preferred the skin to be a little bit more crispier.

It's very dry. The dish itself is pretty dry for me.

It would definitely benefit from a consomme going all over.

In terms of moisture, are you quite happy with it being

a cup of consomme on the side?

I didn't want sort of sauce just poured over the plate.

There's quite a lot going on on that plate.

You were late coming up to the pass. Is this doable for a banquet?

I think it might need a little bit of simplification.

I think there might be one or two elements that he might not

be 100% happy with.

I would give a comfortable seven.

Stephen is the last to plate up his lamb curry dish inspired by the WI's

fundraising efforts to provide clean water to villagers in Andhra Pradesh.

I've really worked hard. I hope I can just deliver the right thing.

He blends lentils and soaked basmati rice for his idli pancake mix...

..and spoons into a steamer.

Is there anything that can go wrong with this?

You never know, anything can go wrong.

As they cook, he heats hot tandoori stones that will keep

the curry warm when serving.

-All right, Chef, pleased?

-Not really, no.

I thought it was a good dish.

Big thing for me was the presentation.

How it all came together.

If I get through to the judges' chamber, that's what I'll change.

Presentation is also on Stephen's mind as he constructs

his model village serving platter, using pea shoots for grass

and placing a ceramic well at the centre.

He ladles his lamb curry onto the hot stones...

..and adds cinnamon essence and dry ice

to the bottom of mini wooden huts.

Once at the pass, he pours warm water onto the dry ice to create

a cinnamon mist and places his idlis inside.

-Happy, Stephen?

-Yes, I am. I worked hard on it.

-PHIL:

-Looks absolutely amazing.

And the smell coming off it is pretty intense.

-Shall we take one through, Stephen?

-You guys enjoy.

-Come on, then.

See you in a bit, boys.

"5,000 Miles From Andhra is inspired by a project

"undertaken by the Derbyshire WI."

I'm assuming this is Andhra...

-with the well that the WI built for them.

-Nice touch.

-Stephen, you promised me big flavours with this dish.

-It's got a kick.

It's not over the top, Chef.

The balance of all the different flavours is coming through.

He's definitely upped the level of spice.

In terms of using the leg of lamb meat,

is there enough fat content through that? It's not too dry?

-PHIL:

-I thought the meat was going to be a little bit more juicy.

When you eat it with the sauce, you can get away with it a little bit.

-So this is kind of like a starchy pancake?

-Yes, Chef.

And then the idea of this is to dip into the curry.

I'm not too sure if I like these.

They're a little bit gelatinous for me.

I think they're nice but, yeah.

Nice is about as far as I'd go.

So the cinnamon smoke, Stephen, did it bring anything to the flavour?

I didn't want it to taste like cinnamon rice cakes

or it would have overpowered the curry.

The presentation when it came out was, yeah, fantastic.

-But it doesn't blow me away.

-The flavour in the curry sauce is nice.

So, yeah, I'd give it a six.

HE SIGHS

Hi, Stephen, how do you think you got on there?

-STEPHEN:

-I'm pretty happy. There was plenty of flavours in the curry.

More than that, then nobody would be able to eat it.

I think there's going to be a change at the top of the table today.

I think it will go down to the wire.

Wow, boys.

Everyone wants to get the main course on to the banquet, believe me, I know.

I'm going to start with you, Adam, and your Jerusa-lamb.

I had really high expectations for this dish.

The faggots, they had a great flavour.

And the mint sauce, that was quite special. But...

..the loin was a little bit over.

The minced lamb in the faggot, I thought, was just a little bit dry.

There was not enough gravy, either.

At the minute, I don't think that dish could get to a banquet.

Phil, for your dish,

A Hug For Mum...

..the rump, for me, was a touch undercooked.

I felt that it needed a sauce

and I know we had a cup of consomme on the side but how we mix it

all together, I think there's a problem there in the serving of it.

But...

the breast of lamb, really crispy on the outside, delicious flavour.

The consomme, I thought it was beautiful.

You could tell you worked really hard on that.

Stephen, 5,000 Miles From Andhra.

The sauce was absolutely fantastic.

I've been asking for you to up the spice all along and you did it.

The presentation when it came up,

it really embraced a whole story that you were trying to tell.

But the dry ice vapour is icy cold and the idli rice cakes,

well, they became stone-cold and they were quite gelatinous.

The lamb itself was just a little bit tough and perhaps a little bit dry.

So, the scores.

Adam...

I'm giving you...

..a seven.

-Thank you.

-Didn't feel like you were in control at all.

Phil, for your dish...

..I'm giving you...

..an eight.

But, if you're late for dessert course,

I will have to think about deducting points.

Stephen...

I am giving you...

..a six. It was a great sauce.

But the final execution of your dish, you really do need to work on.

Guys, desserts is the next one up.

Let's make sure we can get some more eights, nines and tens.

-Wasn't expecting that.

-I wasn't.

With only one course remaining, Adam and Phil are in joint first with 21

and Stephen has 17.

I need a massive score now.

I've got to work a little harder on my desserts. I'll come back.

-PHIL:

-Level points, isn't it, big man?

-It certainly is.

Going into the last.

I've lost my lead to Phil.

Pressure got to me, I suppose. Silly mistakes and, you know, it cost me.

HE EXHALES LOUDLY

Absolutely gobsmacked to get an eight. Massive relief.

But there's still ten points up for grabs

in the dessert course so anything can happen.