Northern Ireland Starter Great British Menu

This year, on Great British Menu.

-Always expect the unexpected in here.

-Whoa!

The nation's best chefs are challenged to plate up perfection.

I've got it there, I've got to put it off.

Their prize?

The chance to cook at a glorious banquet...

-You look like you are so under pressure it hurts.

-It does hurt!

..marking 100 years of the Women's Institute at London's

historic Draper's Hall, where founders of the WI once gathered.

In its rooms, the chefs must honour the custodians

of first-class home cooking...

Bring me my chariot of fire!

..with exemplary 21st-century dishes...

..that measure up to the institute's exacting standards.

Almost speechless!

And celebrate the women who've inspired them.

There will be triumphs...

Mmm. I've never tasted anything quite like it.

-..and tears.

-HE SOBS

Oh, no.

As our fearsome team of veteran chefs...

For a professional chef, that's unacceptable.

..seek WI perfection.

Pitch. Perfect.

I can really see that dish at the banquet.

I'm giving you a ten.

Going head-to-head for Northern Ireland,

the returning regional champion, Chris McGowan.

He believes he's got the edge to get to the banquet.

I've got experience and I know better than anybody

that anything can happen in that kitchen.

But he faces a tough battle in two talented newcomers,

rising star Danni Barry.

It's my first time in the kitchen, but I've the drive to go all the way.

And ambitious, straight-talking chef, Ben Arnold.

I'm confident, I'm practised, I'm ready for that kitchen. Bring it on.

To get to the finish line this year, Chris is going all out.

How many elements are there on this?

How many elements? I stopped counting after five.

But can he pull it off?

-You're really feeling the pressure now, Chris.

-If I'm not happy, I'm not going to serve it.

I think if you're serving vol-au-vents to the WI, you've got to do better than that.

In 1915, the WI was created to encourage women

to grow and preserve food.

100 years later,

the institute is synonymous with impeccable home cooking.

The chefs have been challenged to cook this year, celebrating

the pioneering women who've made British food what it is today.

They've researched the organisation's rich history...

They were true pioneers.

I really is truly inspirational, the whole story.

..visited local groups...

You think it's strong enough to get through to the banquet?

I'd really enjoy it if I was there at the banquet.

..and taken inspiration from the women in their families...

-Absolutely lovely.

-I've had some good teachers. Thank you!

-Aww.

..to create a modern dishes that honour the heroines of home cooking.

That's blooming lovely! Thank you.

Judging the region this week is one of Britain's most

respected and successful chefs.

I'm kind of nervous.

You just don't know, until you're thinking, "Who could it be?"

and will they like your food?

A former banquet winner...

At the end of the day, whoever's going to walk through that door,

is going to walk through that door.

..and holder of two Michelin stars, Phil Howard.

-Morning. Chris, back in the ring?

-Yeah.

Another bite at the cherry?

This year, hopefully trying to get one step further over the winning line.

-Danni.

-Morning, Chef.

-Great to have a woman representing Northern Ireland.

-Yes, honoured to be here.

It's going to be a tough competition.

-Ben, welcome to Great British menu.

-Thank you.

-How you feeling?

-Apprehensive, nervous, excited.

-So, listen.

Clearly, we are looking for outstanding cookery.

It's got to hit the brief.

I'm fascinated to see how you're going to show, on a plate,

a celebration of all that is the WI.

Looking forward to seeing it. Let's get in the kitchen.

-There you go.

-Big one.

-Big one, yeah!

First up, reigning Northern Irish champion, Chris McGowan,

who almost got a dish to last year's banquet.

Chris.

Well done.

This time around, Chris is pulling out all the stops.

I'm just absolutely throwing everything at it,

the kitchen sink, everything.

If I can find one, get it off the wall, I'll throw it at it as well.

-Morning, Chris. Great to see you.

-Great to see you.

Give me the inspiration behind your menu.

100 years of excellence from the WI.

Great produce, home cooking and also the women in my life.

-What's the title of the actual dish?

-"Shall I Be Mother?"

So how exactly does this hit the brief, Chris?

My mum had seven sisters and they would always get together

and have tea and sit around and discuss the family matters.

The WI were very synonymous with afternoon teas,

so I'm doing a take on a savoury afternoon tea.

Show me what you've got in your box.

I've got some fantastic boiled rabbits here, I'll use the front legs,

and the back legs, I'm going to mince them

and make a little sausage roll.

-I'm going to take the livers and make a liver toastie.

-OK.

And then I'm just going to make a really nice mushroom vol-au-vent,

a little macaroon and a little carrot muffin.

So a lot to be getting on with today.

I can't see any tea in your box?

Well, I'm going to use little teabags

and I'm going to infuse the rabbit stock.

-So you make your own teabags to infuse the rabbit...

-Yes. In the teapot.

-Interesting.

So, Chris's dish, Shall I Be Mother,

interesting take on afternoon tea.

Lots of opportunity for demonstrating his skill as a chef,

but equally, plenty of scope for things to go wrong.

Newcomer, Danni Barry, is up next.

She grew up on a farm on the County Down coast

and is one of the top female chefs cooking in Northern Ireland today.

Hi, Danni. Look at that.

Tell me about your whole menu?

The inspiration behind my whole menu is the activities of the WI.

They've been inspiring women for 100 years now, and in my life,

my mum has inspired me, especially my career.

OK, so this is the starter.

-Tell me the name of the dish?

-"But First, Tea".

This is probably one of the first dishes I learned to cook,

working with my mum while she cooked for the farmers working on the farm.

Traditionally, the WI began the meetings with a cup of tea,

so I am making my savoury shin of beef broth, I'm going to

-smoke some bone marrow...

-So we've got another take on tea?

-Yeah.

-Game on!

-Yeah, absolutely.

-OK, what've we got here?

Onions, the big flavour in this dish,

so I'm really going to roast those onions,

get the flavour out of them. I've some dried onions

and a teabag for the tea,

I've also got some red onions

and I'm going to make a jam to serve on treacle bread.

Obviously, soda bread in Northern Ireland is a big thing, but

it's a banquet and it's quite heavy. I've added some eggs...

-To lighten it?

-To lighten it.

And you're absolutely happy that this is the brief?

-It's a fitting start to the banquet.

-I hope you cook it all correctly.

-Thanks very much.

-Good luck.

So, Danni is serving "But First, Tea".

Treacle bread sounds fantastic, love the idea of the smoked bone marrow.

It's quite a simple dish.

Has it got enough to win? I don't know, we'll see.

Last up, another first timer.

Ben Arnold also hails from County Down,

and after training in a Michelin-starred kitchens, he's now

an award-winning head chef at the cutting edge of

Belfast's restaurant scene.

Morning. Tell me about your whole menu and the inspiration behind it.

The Women's Institute were champions of home cooking,

and my mum was the champion of our home kitchen.

She cooked for myself, my three older brothers, my dad.

We were surrounded by great food growing up.

-So you're the youngest of four?

-The youngest, yeah. The baby.

-Mum's boy?

-Mum's boy.

-OK.

-For sure.

Let's hear more about this.

This is a take on a lunchbox,

food that my grandmother would have prepared on the working farm.

-What is the name of the dish?

-"Behind Every Working Man..."

-Is a hard-working woman, I assume!

-"Is a HARDER working woman".

So, using this rabbit, I'm going to take the legs and shoulders and make

a riette, then take the liver and make a parfait.

You've chosen to use tame rabbit as opposed to wild rabbit.

-Any reason?

-Yeah, wild rabbit is too strong.

-Interesting.

I'm going to make an apricot and shallot chutney,

then we're going to do a blue cheese spread.

This my mum's recipe, unchanged to this day.

-You've quail eggs here.

-We're going to take the quail eggs

with some pork salted meat and do a little Scotch Egg.

Interesting sounding dish. I hope you do it justice.

Thank you, Chef.

Ben's Behind Every Working Man,

a representation of Ploughman's, with the chutneys, preserved jams,

is such a huge part of what the WI is about.

You've really got to make sure that if you're doing it in a competition, you've got to absolutely nail it.

I like it, the competition is on.

Two doing tea, two doing rabbit, and all inspired by your mums.

Let's hope you do them proud.

Sorry.

As cooking gets underway, reigning Northern Irish Champion, Chris,

weighs up his new rivals.

-How are yous feeling?

-We're finally here, so, yeah.

Guess it all happens now.

It's for real now, Ben, yeah?

Yeah, it is what I've been waiting for.

In last year's heats, Chris scored five points for his starter.

He's determined not to make the same mistakes.

It was a big hill to climb last year, and thankfully, I did it

in the end, but I'd like to get a better score than five

and kick-start my week rather than chase my tail.

Chris and Danni are both making broths for their own takes on tea,

to pay tribute to the Women's Institute.

Chris starts his broth by roasting rabbit bones, while Danni gets

to work on her beef shin braise.

Chris, obviously not a great start last year with the five, so what

-will you be hoping for today?

-We are all hoping tens, aren't we?

But I'd like to get off to a good start, you know.

It creates the momentum for the rest of the week, you know?

Chris McGowan has worked with veteran Richard Corrigan.

After 20 years at the heart of London's world-class restaurant scene,

he's returned to his roots.

Since last year's competition, I've come back to Northern Ireland,

back to my family network, which is very important to me

and my young girls and my wife.

Currently cooking and consulting at an historic local pub,

Chris plans to open his own restaurant.

And after just missing out on last year's banquet,

he's more driven than ever this time round.

I've got unfinished business. I got a taste of it, I was so close.

I want to be the first one over the winning line.

I think my cooking style is really honest.

And this brief for the Women's Institute this year

is absolutely right up my street.

It's about the woman's movement. I've got my sisters, daughters, my wife.

So I'm used to getting pushed around by women.

-Hiya!

-My main inspiration for this brief was really my mum.

Any success I have had, I've learned really from her.

To see how well the rabbit tea element of his starter

might be down at the WI Banquet, Chris tried it out on

the most important women in his life.

Is that a winner, girls?

-Yeah!

-We think so.

We are all so proud of him. We really, really are.

He's done so well. Do I think you can win it? Oh, absolutely.

Chris is gunning for a high score for his retro afternoon tea.

A hugely ambitious starter of six separate elements.

You want to set a marker down,

so, yeah, I've got lots to do. Argh!

He works on the teabag for his rabbit broth,

a blend of orange, ginger and spices that has caught Phil's attention.

-You've got that look!

-Yeah.

-You've got that wild rabbit in the eyes look!

What you're doing is your home-made teabag,

and my concern is that big flavours, they may be too heavy hitting.

I'm using wild rabbit, so it's quite a robust flavour as well,

in the consomme, so all I wanted to do is almost lighten that

-by giving it some floral notes.

-Can certainly smell it.

-Yeah.

Hopefully, you've a nice strong stock as the backdrop for your bag.

Yeah. Thank you.

Rival Danni is also flavouring her beef broth with a teabag.

But hers contains dehydrated lovage, onion and Lapsang Souchong.

So, my teabag's a little bit different than Chris's,

because I've actually put loads of flavour into mine.

And the similarities do not stop there.

Hoping to hit the brief by celebrating home cooking,

both Danni and fellow newcomer, Ben, are making traditional Irish breads.

Danni's baking mini treacle breads and for lighter loaves,

she adds eggs to her buttermilk, flour and yeast mix.

But for Ben's spin on a Ploughman's Lunch,

he sticks to recipe straight from his mum.

Hasn't been changed since the day I was born, I suppose.

Buttermilk, oatmeal, wheat germ, self-raising flour.

Yeah, I lightened mine because I thought it might be a bit heavy,

but I guess we'll see, then, eh?

-I guess we'll see. Battle of the breads, Danni!

-Yeah.

I know who's going to win.

28-year-old Ben Arnold trained in some of the UK's finest kitchens

before becoming head chef at Home restaurant in Belfast

when he cooks wholesome dishes with modern flair.

I cook from the heart, I cook from what I believe in.

I don't think food needs to be overly complicated,

it just needs to taste good.

-How long on five?

-Three minutes.

The restaurant started life three years ago as a temporary pop-up,

but thanks to Ben's talents,

it's now an award-winning permanent fixture.

So he believes he's got what it takes to reign supreme.

Competition is good. I enjoy competition.

I'm a good cook, I'm a good chef.

And with home cooking at the heart of this year's brief,

Ben turned to his mum for inspiration.

She is a really great cook.

A lot of recipes were passed down to her from my grandmother,

and from her to me.

Mum's wheat bread has always been a firm favourite with Ben

and his three older brothers.

Coming in from school, we always had bread, we always had jam,

Chris would have half a pint of milk and then go upstairs and...

You know, Mum always used to say, "Do you boys think I have a cow in the back garden?"

Because of the amount of milk we used to drink.

Having recreated Mum's bread for his starter,

Ben wanted the family verdict.

What you've got here, Ben, is just perfect.

-I'm already on the second piece.

-The flavours go really well together.

He is very focused on what he is doing,

he's got lots of determination.

I'm confident of what I can put on a plate,

I'm confident that people will enjoy it.

I'm confident that it can win.

Back in the thick of it, it's Phil who Ben needs to impress

with his starter Behind Every Working Man.

To complement his rabbit riette and blue cheese spread,

Ben's made a spiced apricot chutney.

I see that as being a really important part of your dish.

Yeah, chutney is an integral part to WI cookery.

Not always easy to get it right

when you've only got a short amount of time to make a chutney.

-Chutney is traditionally a slow-cooked thing.

-A labour of love.

Danni's also out to impress Phil.

Hoping to add a winning touch to her beef broth tea,

she's smoking bone marrow with a mix of rice, Lapsang Souchong and salt.

-Still quite delicate, I think.

-I could re-smoke it.

I think it actually might need a little bit more.

That's your call, not mine. And then this is going in the cup?

No, this actually goes on the spoon.

Bone marrow mightn't be to everybody's taste

so they can add it in as they wish.

29-year-old Danni Barry is a former head chef

to Great British Menu winner Simon Rogan

and now leads the kitchen at Eipic in Belfast

where she cooks innovative dishes based on local produce.

We use some modern methods but we also use classical technique

so it's kind of a mix of sort of the old and new.

As a top female chef who's risen

through the ranks of male-dominated kitchens,

Danni's hoping to have the edge.

I was really pleased when I heard

that the brief was Women's Institute.

They really are inspirational women.

I think the work they do is phenomenal.

I think it'll be a fantastic celebration of British women.

-There's Mummy at home. That's a nice picture of Mum.

-Yeah.

And there's one inspirational woman in particular

who's given Danni even more reason to want to get to the banquet.

Something her sister Joanne knows only too well.

It was just recently that Mummy was given the all clear of breast cancer

and that is what is pushing Danni through this stage.

She's come out the other side now.

She's a great inspiration to us, obviously, as women.

She's a strong woman and she's proud

that her daughters are strong, as well.

To get to cook at the centenary banquet would mean loads to me.

It would be a really nice way to say thanks to my mum.

She's been my biggest fan from the beginning

so it would be a really nice way to just honour her

and hopefully make her proud.

In the kitchen, Danni clarifies her beef stock

with a mixture of onion, chicken breast and egg white,

a technique intended to draw out impurities and create a clear broth,

but she still needs to make her onion jam.

I'm really feeling it now and I'm not really where I wanted to be

at this stage so I'm a bit behind

so got to get my head down.

But it's Chris who has the most to do.

After failing to reach last year's banquet, he's not holding back,

with six complex elements to his extravagant afternoon tea.

He works on the rabbitmeat filling for his sausage rolls

and moves on to his carrot muffins

when he's stopped in his tracks.

TRAY CLANGS

-BLEEP.

-Can you get me a little plaster, mate?

I've just nicked my finger on my knife.

As Chris tends to his sliced finger,

it's Ben who's first to plate up his nostalgic take

on a farmer's packed lunch.

He brings his mini bread rolls out of the oven.

Not quite ready, they go back in.

It's my mum's recipe. I'll be gutted if I don't do her proud

and make that bread the best it can be.

Happy with his loaves,

Ben prepares quail scotch eggs before deep frying.

He combines slow roast rabbitmeat with rabbit liver parfait

and spoons the riette into jars,

topping with spiced apricot chutney.

Ben blends blue cheese with milk and pipes the spread into mini pots

and, finally, serves everything in old-fashioned lunchboxes.

Here we are.

Behind Every Man

is a harder working woman.

Ben, you happy?

Yeah. Reasonably.

Your mum'll be proud of you?

Hope so.

Come. Let's go and taste.

Let's have a little look here.

Scotch egg. Has it come out the way you intended it to be?

Yep. It's come out runny.

I'm not sure if he'll be happy with that.

It's a little bit over, isn't it?

Would your mum be happy with the bread?

Probably not. It's slightly heavy,

slightly undercooked.

That's my fault.

That will see you through to dinner time, you know?

-Yeah, that's proper heavy bread, isn't it?

-Yeah.

You decided to use a tame rabbit rather than wild rabbit,

has that had the net result that you're after?

It's had the result, yeah.

For me, I didn't want that overriding gamey flavour.

-It is quite mild. A struggle for flavour with that.

-Yes.

-And this you refer to as a blue cheese cream.

-Yeah.

-Blue cheese spread.

-Blue cheese spread.

-Spread or cream.

-Mm.

-Mm.

-That's lovely.

-That's a great blue cheese, isn't it?

-Mm-hmm.

It's a first score. I'd probably give that a seven.

I agree, yeah. I think a seven.

-You happy?

-Yeah, I'm happy, apart from the bread.

I thought the bread was a little bit under.

Teething problems, let's hope.

Danni is next to the past with But, First, Tea,

a tribute to her mum and WI traditions.

She strains her broth

and adds teabags to her pots,

followed by flaked shin of beef

and sous-vide pickled onions.

Danni tops her treacle bread rolls with onion jam.

Danni, you've got a minute to be on the pass.

-You looking all right for that?

-Yes, Chef.

She strains her beef broth again before pouring into teapots.

Finally, she serves spoonfuls of smoked bone marrow

garnished with fresh lovage.

Well done, Danni.

-Is this going to be the WI's cup of tea?

-Well, I hope so, yeah.

-I hope it's yours.

-Good, come on. It needs to be done hot. Let's go taste.

I think we've got the bone marrow here. We put the bone marrow in.

Bone marrow in.

Are you satisfied with flavour and the seasoning?

Yeah, I'm happy enough with the seasoning.

Your tea versus Danni's tea. What do you reckon?

I'm worried about it. That's a good tea.

It's a lovely beef consomme, you know what I mean?

Mine, there's a game element to it so it'll be very different.

-Is the bread refined enough?

-Yeah, I think.

I would have really liked it to be a bit more refined with the topping

but, yeah, I'm happy enough.

It's definitely light.

Better than yours?

Totally different.

Are you satisfied with the amount of smoke on the bone marrow?

Yeah, it's not too smoked.

Obviously, because there's smoke in the tea flavour, as well.

I get the smokiness of the marrow.

I don't really get the flavour of the marrow. I'd give her an eight.

-Yeah.

-Definitely a good start from Danni.

You know, she's... She means business.

How are you feeling?

He's not giving anything away so we'll just have to wait and see.

Last to plate up is returning finalist Chris.

He only got five points for his starter last year

so he's going all out with his take on tea - Shall I Be Mother?

How many elements are there on this, Chris?

How many elements?

I stopped counted after five.

Chris fills his macaroons with rabbit riette

and fries his rabbit liver toasties.

You're running around like a madman, Chris.

I don't ever remember afternoon tea being so quite so hectic.

I just want to check my sausage roll in the oven, guys.

I'd give it another minute or so, chef.

Pull it out at the last minute, yeah?

Can I get my trolley over, please?

Dolly trolley coming through.

You really feeling the pressure now, Chris?

He prepares his rabbit sausage roll.

-Chris, Chris.

-Yeah.

Oh! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

Thank you, guys.

Turning his attention back to his sausage roll,

Chris has got a problem.

-Clock's ticking, Chris.

-Yeah, OK, chef.

I'm not happy with that. The pastry at the ends hasn't come off,

so, if I'm not happy, I'm not going to serve it.

Sausage roll abandoned, he starts his soup bowl

with rabbit loin and pickled girolles

and pours rabbit broth over his herbal teabag.

OK. 30 seconds.

Chris ices his carrot muffins with buttercream

and finally serves them

with his toasties, macaroons and mushroom vol-au-vents.

-You made it to the finish line, Chris. Are you happy?

-Yeah, well,

I'm not happy with the sausage roll. That's why I didn't put it on,

but, other than that, I hope the flavours are there.

-Shall we take ours with and we'll pour it when we...

-Absolutely.

One of the challenges - to make a consomme

that's got enough depth of flavour in a relatively short period of time.

-Are you satisfied with the flavour?

-It's quite intense, yeah.

What do you think of the broth? Better than yours?

Certainly more beef flavour in my broth than I get rabbit from that.

We've got here a little vol-au-vent.

Yeah, it's the same pastry as the sausage roll

but it's a lot lighter, so I'm relatively happy with that.

I think the pastry's pretty undercooked. What do you think?

I think, if you're going to serve a vol-au-vent to the WI,

you've got to do better than that.

-This is what you call the liver toasty.

-Yeah. It's not too livery.

It's very garlicky.

The muffin has definitely got sweetness in there, in the icing.

Are you confident that it's not going to outplay the consomme?

Maybe a little bit less of the icing on top.

That's quite sweet.

Do you think it's a dish that's fit for a banquet?

I think it is. I think, if I was being brutally honest,

I probably didn't do it the justice that it deserved.

If I was going to score this, Danni, you know, I think it's sevens.

I think it's a...a six.

-All right, guys? One down, three to go.

-How are you feeling?

Obviously, having a bit of an incident in the kitchen

-with my finger threw me off kilter a little bit.

-How are you feeling?

Yeah, I'm definitely apprehensive. We'll see.

-I mean, he's Phil Howard.

-BOTH:

-Yeah, exactly.

Hello, chefs. How's everyone feeling?

Mixed feelings, I think.

Ben, I'll start with you

and your Behind Every Working Man.

I really like the idea of the dish.

I think you hit the brief

and I really like the idea of using a family recipe. That was a nice touch.

But,

overall, the dish didn't quite have the finesse

that you need to see to get it all the way through to the banquet.

I felt that serving the chutney inside the pot

meant that it was a little bit fiddly to eat.

And the bread was a bit heavy.

On to you, Danni, with your But, First, Tea.

Great story on the plate.

Really like the idea of a savoury tea.

Your take on a traditional Northern Irish treacle bread

was light, delicious. It was spot on.

But, like a good cup of tea,

consomme has to be piping hot.

There were quite a few processes from the pan to actually consuming it

that actually meant that, by the time I got it,

it just wasn't hot enough to do it justice.

I loved the bone marrow

but I wanted more of it

and probably in a slightly different format.

Chris, for your Shall I Be Mother,

with rabbit broth,

mushroom vol-au-vent,

savoury mushroom liver toasty

and no sausage roll...

I enjoyed eating the dish.

I thought the liver toasty was outstanding.

I thought the consomme was absolutely spot on.

Very clear flavour of rabbit.

And I think you nailed the brief to a T.

But...

the sheer sweetness of the icing and the quantity of it on the muffin

was too severe for the dish.

The mushroom vol-au-vent lacked a bit of seasoning

and, obviously, there's no hiding from the fact

that there was one component missing from the overall dish.

Because you've given yourself so much to do,

you didn't actually manage to execute anything

quite as well as you could have done.

So, to the scores.

Ben...

..I'm going to give you six points.

I felt the dish was just, overall, a bit simple for a banquet.

Danni...

..I'm going to give you six points, too.

I was somehow hoping for a little bit more from the dish

and from you given the brief I'd had at the start of the day.

And Chris...

..seven points.

I think, had you got the dish right, including the sausage roll,

it would have definitely been an eight.

ALL: Thank you, Chef.

Well done, chef. Thank you, chef.

Slightly disappointed with my starter.

-I gave yours an eight/nine.

-Did you?

-Seriously!

Mixed feelings. Not really happy

but, you know, plenty of time to claw it back.

I'd rather be one point ahead than one point behind

but I know that one point is nothing.

There's all to play for.