Northern Ireland Fish Great British Menu

This week on Great British Menu,

three of Northern Ireland's best chefs.

Last year's regional champion Chris McGowan...

I have absolutely no aspirations to be your best friend this week.

..rising star Danni Barry...

I guess it's all in the...eating.

..and ambitious newcomer Ben Arnold...

Slippery wee devil, aren't they?

..are fighting for the chance to cook at a banquet

celebrating 100 years of the Women's Institute

at London's prestigious Draper's Hall.

Yesterday, Chris delivered an unfinished starter...

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

..but still managed a one-point lead over Danni and Ben.

Today, the fight is on for the fish course

and Chris's rivals are snapping at his heels.

Things have changed then since the starter course?

One point ahead, Chris, you know?

I hope I'll be sprinting ahead of you by the end of it.

Phil is a notoriously hard judge.

He doesn't give points away for free, you know?

Whoa!

Pressure's on, Danni. Pressure's on.

-It's a very brave dish.

-Brave or stupid?

But will the battle to reach the judges' chamber

prove too much for one Northern Irish contender?

For a professional chef, that's unacceptable.

This year, the chefs are celebrating the centenary

of the Women's Institute

and paying tribute to the women

who have helped make British food great.

Here we go.

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

The Queen Mother was our president.

-Hello, ladies.

-..visited local groups...

Pleasure to meet you.

Hi, you must be Yvonne.

This is a nice surprise!

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

Well, it's just amazing. It's all about education.

Kind of empowering women.

-..to turn home-cooked classics...

-Wow!

..into modern masterpieces.

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

Thank you very much.

Judging the chefs is two-Michelin starred Phil Howard

who served his fish course at the banquet three years ago.

For the fish course, ultimately, I'm looking for flavour,

technical ability, craftsmanship, finesse.

That's what they're going to have to do to get through.

So, guys, starter course.

Threw absolutely everything at it, even got my finger in the way.

Let's hope that it hinders you, anyway, today, Chef,

and we can claw back a few points.

I think after starter course, you know, we all want to up our game.

Either somebody gets a couple of points ahead

or it will, kind of, be nail-biting stuff for the main course.

After this course, I think it will be different.

-That's fighting talk, Ben.

-That is fighting talk, Ben!

First up is reigning Northern Irish champion, Chris McGowan,

whose menu is inspired by his childhood.

He's in the lead on seven points

despite missing an element off his starter.

My battle plan today is to go in, focus, head down.

I'm one point ahead, so I just want to go in there and smash it today.

-Hi, Chris.

-Hi, Phil.

OK, come on. Talk me through it.

What a great-looking box of goodies there.

This is an homage to my mum.

This is Imelda - Fish And Milk 2015.

My mum was a very busy lady. There was five of us,

so sometimes it was just literally a fillet of fish in milk.

For her, it was a very humble dish,

but it's something that stayed with me all my life, really.

How are you going to elevate simple fish and milk?

Well, I've got some fantastic wild turbot there.

The queen of the sea, as they say.

-King of the sea almost.

-Oh, king of the sea, as well.

I'm going to poach it in milk like my mum would have done,

slightly infused with some aromats.

And we've got some fantastic langoustines

and then I have some buttermilk to make a curd,

which I can make gnocchi from,

and make a really nice Jerusalem artichoke puree.

Kind of resonates with WI.

And then just some sea veg as a kind of homage to WI

-and the horticultural side of what they've done.

-OK.

I'm going to make a very light lemon dressing,

which is going to go in a little atomiser.

Do you think this dish is going to be worthy of a banquet?

It's what the WI were about.

They were about really championing home cooking

and, for me, that's what I remember as home cooking.

Perhaps a little bit less going on here than in the starter.

Are we going to see levels of finesse and craft?

I've just kept it to a few ingredients,

so I can really look after those

and try and get this dish to the banquet.

Chris has actually got my two

favourite ingredients in his box there.

King of the sea is the turbot.

Best of all, the shellfish, the langoustines.

I'll be so disappointed if he doesn't put them to really great use.

Next up is ambitious newcomer Ben Arnold.

His menu also celebrates family recipes, but he scored

a six for a starter Phil judged too basic for the banquet.

I need to get a great score for my fish.

I want to be going in at that halfway point at least.

Level-pegging if not one or two points ahead.

Morning, Chef.

-Morning, morning. How are we?

-Good, thank you.

Get a load of that, huh? Talk me through it.

My dish is inspired by my grandmother Mrs Skillen.

Great stuff, huh?

She came from a very meagre background, a fishing village

taking meagre ingredients all those years ago.

Recipe's been passed down through generations

from grandmother to mother from mother to myself.

Cracking box of ingredients. Talk me through them.

I'm going to cook the lobster, then I'm going to refresh it,

remove the tail meat and then bring it back

in a little bit of fish stock.

-OK.

-Very similar with the brined crab.

Some poached smoked cod, razor clams.

I've also got this beautiful brill, too big to fit in the box.

So we're going to fillet this and fry it.

Who's playing the starring role here?

Is it the brill, is it the lobster, is it the crab, is it the...?

They're all going to come together,

it's going to be tied in with this beautiful, smoky fish chowder.

Chris, feeling a bit threatened there, perhaps?

It's a lot of fish to cook right under pressure.

If you nail that, then, yeah, I'm in trouble. Yeah, game on.

So, Ben's dish, Mrs Skillen's Fish Soup,

a whole range of star ingredients that have all got to be

treated in slightly different ways

and then be brought together at the end to create one magnificent dish.

That's a big call under the pressurised circumstances

that he's cooking in today.

Last up, rising star Danni Barry.

Her menu honours her mum and the activities of the WI.

Like Ben, she scored a six for her first course

that failed to live up to Phil's expectations.

Going into my fish course now, it's one of my more simple dishes,

so I'm going to have to execute this absolutely perfectly or else,

yeah, I'm going to be looking at another low score.

Hi, Danni, look at that. Title of the dish?

-This is The New Wave.

-The New Wave.

This is inspired by the new, modern, you know, more current WI.

They support causes like sustainability,

the environment, food waste, all issues that affect us all.

-So talk me through the ingredients.

-Yeah, this is...

..it's a beautiful halibut.

This is a banquet and this is, you know, a really good fish.

Also, it's sustainably farmed.

And cooking process?

Sous-vide the halibut and then finish it with a blowtorch

just to get a nice colour and flavour at the end.

OK, fantastic.

So with that, I'll serve Jerusalem artichokes.

So I'm going to puree these and also I'm going to pickle some of these.

It's an ode to the Jerusalem anthem that they would sing at the WI,

but it's also a really good flavour and it really works with this dish.

OK, fantastic.

I'm going to use as much of this fish as I can.

I'm going to roast the bones when I take the fillets off,

I'm going to roast the head,

that's what I'm going to use to make my sauce

and finish it with butter and tartare.

-The halibut is the star of the show.

-Yeah, this is it.

There's nothing to hide behind here.

It's just fish and sauce, really, and garnish.

-OK. You best cook it sharp.

-Yeah.

Danni's dish The New Wave...

It is a very simple dish, she has got nowhere to hide with it.

If she absolutely nails it, it could deliver,

but there's certainly some risk here.

With cooking under way, talk turns to Chris' lead.

One point ahead, Chris. You know, we're not far off your heels.

Hope to be sprinting ahead of you by the end of it.

I hope not, Ben.

As much as I like you as an individual, you're a nice guy,

I have absolutely no aspirations to be your best friend this week.

Don't need to be your mate.

Things have changed then since the starter course.

Yesterday Chris was so overstretched he served an incomplete starter,

a mistake he can't afford to repeat.

He works on the buttermilk gnocchi

to accompany his take on his mum's fish and milk.

-Chris.

-Hi, Chef.

-Beautiful, a little bit more in control.

It was mental at the starter, you know what I mean?

What you got happening here?

This is a, kind of, gnocchi, but I've used buttermilk.

I've just got some curd.

I've, kind of, heated the buttermilk,

so it's separated from its whey.

-What else have you got in there?

-A little bit of lemon.

-Lemon. OK.

And then it's just a case of using that as a substitute for potato.

It's an old recipe that I found in a WI book.

Let's hope we see the result of some order

and a little bit of restraint.

-Yeah.

-Good luck.

After scoring a disappointing six for her starter,

Danni's also desperate for better today.

She's pureeing and pickling Jerusalem artichokes

for her halibut dish, The New Wave, inspired by the modern-day WI.

Danni's probably got the biggest challenge on her hands.

She's got a dish that I don't completely get,

but if she absolutely gets everything right, it will be lovely to eat.

But I'm just not convinced it's going to come together

and outshine the other two.

Ben also got a low six for a starter that wasn't up to scratch.

So today, he's going all out with a deconstructed fish soup

featuring an array of lavish seafood.

Slippery wee devil, ain't they?

So, Ben, have you got any worries about this dish in particular?

Yeah, for sure. I mean, got four or five different bits of fish

and shellfish that's going to come together right at the end.

As you say, overcooked fish, what's the point?

Might as well go home.

You know, Phil is a notoriously hard judge,

he doesn't give points away for free.

Ben works on a fish stock for his veloute -

a rich chowder sauce that will form the soup element of his dish -

before starting on his crab.

-Look at those, huh?

-A whopping big claw on him.

That's just a great piece of ingredient.

How does that work its way into the dish?

We're going to finish the dish and just lightly garnish the plate

just with some picked white crab meat, you know?

Shell-free, I'm hoping.

-I guarantee it, Chef.

-You guarantee. OK.

To create a menu celebrating the WI centenary,

Ben looked close to home for inspiration.

I'm cooking for my mum to begin with

and my grandmother -

overall one of the most important women in my life.

Ben has a family fishing connection

to the seaside village of Annalong in County Down.

To check his fish course is on the right track,

he paid the local WI a visit.

Some of the main inspiration for my fish dish

is my late grandmother, Mrs Skillen.

She was born and raised in Kilkeel, not too far from here.

The ladies of the Annalong WI

have shared their tried and tested recipes with each other for decades

as Ben found out from former president Jean.

Even people who are not in WI give us recipes, fresh recipes,

soda bread recipes, jam and all the rest.

It's not just about the Women's Institute,

it's about including everybody in the community.

-That is right. We do have a great time.

-Sure.

-Come down some night to a meeting.

-THEY LAUGH

I would hate to think I was without WI

cos it means a tremendous lot to me.

Hoping to get the Annalong WI seal of approval,

Ben's served up a taster of his fish course.

There we go, ladies. Mrs Skillen's Fish Soup.

I think your soup is absolutely delicious, it is very tasty

You could cook for me any day.

My bowl's empty, first-class. Thank you very much.

Absolutely delicious.

And I wish you all the best in your event there across the water.

I think they enjoyed my soup.

I didn't see too many disappointed faces

and the feedback was good, so yeah, I'm excited about it.

With the clock ticking in the kitchen, Ben must be ready

to cook all of his seafood at the last minute before plate-up.

So you've had some tips from the insiders, from the WI?

Yeah, they enjoyed it.

But Phil has concerns about the chowder sauce Ben started earlier.

The veloute is actually the bit that's going to knit it all together.

What have you used out of the lobster or the crab or the clams

in terms of shell to get flavour to go back in?

We made a fish stock, standard fish stock and then I used...

..the juices of the clams...

and that's it.

You're happy that's going to give your chowder enough flavour?

Yeah, I am. I'm confident enough in our sauce.

It's just such a shame he's not using any of the shells for his sauce.

That was absolutely instrumental in WI, was to be thrifty

and use all components of any ingredient.

I'm not sure why he hasn't used them in his stock.

I don't know if it's a timing issue for him or what.

But, certainly, he would want to use all of those shells in that.

With time slipping away, Ben makes a last-minute decision

and retrieves the shells from his lobster and crab.

Phil's got you worried, has he?

Yeah, I wasn't using the shells, I realised I made a mistake.

I'll do what I can to try and bring it back.

One chat with Phil Howard

and there's lobster shells being roasted in a pan.

The Phil Howard effect we'll call it.

It's real.

I'm really feeling the pressure in this course with it coming together

right at the end.

And knowing Phil, he's expecting, you know, big, big things.

Across the kitchen, Chris is also pushing to impress Phil

with Imelda's Fish And Milk,

his homage to a humble childhood dish,

which pays tribute to the WI's horticultural history.

First up to the pass, Chris pan-fries his langoustine

and poaches turbot fillets in fennel-infused buttermilk.

That tastes exactly how my mum's used to.

Oh, wow.

Next, Chris prepares his special gardening presentation

filling atomisers with lemon and fennel oil

to dress his garnish of living wild herbs.

Finally, he starts his plate with Jerusalem artichoke puree

followed by buttermilk gnocchi, poached turbot,

pan-fried langoustine and langoustine sauce.

Chris, what's the dish about?

It's about my mum and an ode to the WI

about their horticultural background.

It looks amazing, can't wait to eat it.

OK, let's go.

Tell me, how am I supposed to approach it?

Just, kind of, snip and pick the herbs that you want to go on top,

so little herbal notes that you can, kind of, just pick.

-He's really tied in that gardening element.

-Yeah, it's a bit of fun.

So the little atomiser, you just point that into the bowl.

-Just a gentle...

-Yeah, just a gentle little...

I think it's a great idea.

I'm just not sure everybody will understand

like how much of that to use.

This seasoned enough, Chris?

I think so, Chef.

I think it's seasoned really well,

you know, there's nothing too overpowering.

Let's have a look at the langoustines.

Greatest shellfish in the sea, have you done it justice?

I think so, Chef.

I like the langoustine, I think it's nicely cooked.

You won't want better than that, will you?

Gnocchi's clearly a big part of your dish.

They come out how you wanted them?

There's a nice curd flavour to that that I feel is there, Chef.

Do you think you've got enough finesse in this dish

to take it to the banquet?

I believe that the quality of the ingredients are there.

I've looked after them.

I think there's a lot of theatre, a lot of interaction

I think people would love it.

He's hit the brief here, I think he'll be happy with that.

-I'm concerned.

-Yeah.

I'm seriously going to have to pull something special out of the bag now

-to match up to this.

-Yeah, for sure.

Let's have a mark out of ten for your fish dish.

An eight or above would be amazing.

-Another great dish for me.

-That's easily a nine.

Ooh, pressure's on, Danni, pressure's on.

-How do you think it went, Chris?

-CHRIS SIGHS

I don't know. Phil's got a poker face, you know?

You just don't know.

Ben is next to the pass with Mrs Skillen's Fish Soup,

a celebratory take on his grandmother's recipe.

Right, five minutes.

-So, how you getting on, Chef?

-Yeah, good, Chris.

-All I've got do is cook my fish.

-Yeah.

Fill my flasks, put my garnish on the plate,

put the sauce on the plate, put the fish on the plate so...

-Not much.

-THEY LAUGH

With the clock ticking, Ben finishes his razor clams in white wine

and his lobster in a butter emulsion.

So the, kind of, cooking times

are crucial for you now, Chef, aren't they?

Last minute, yeah, but, you know, a la minute for...

What we're trained to do, innit?

But Ben's dish should already be at the pass.

-Ben, you're one minute late.

-Yes, Chef.

Ben gets his brill fillets into the pan,

but he's forgotten all about his smoked cod,

which should be poaching in milk.

How long have you got to cook your fish for then, Ben?

One, two minutes. I haven't got one or two minutes, to be honest,

so I need to hurry up.

Ben finally starts his plate with sea vegetables

followed by poached lobster, brill and razor clams.

-The timing is way out, Ben.

-Yeah, I know, Chef. Apologies.

Yeah. (BLEEP)

Ben tries to fill hip flasks with his veloute sauce,

but the thick consistency makes it a tricky task.

You're six minutes out, Ben.

The rest of the dish is getting cold, Ben.

It's just time-consuming, it's just...

It's an error.

Finally, he gets his flasks to the pass,

but he's forgotten another element.

Where's my crab, Ben?

-That's ten minutes over, Ben.

-Yeah, that's not acceptable, Chef.

-Finished?

-Yeah.

-OK. So let's have it.

-What have we got here?

-OK, so...

..Mrs Skillen's Fish Soup.

Are you happy with the dish despite the time, Ben?

Yes, Chef, I am.

So what went wrong, Ben?

Pressure undoubtedly got to me,

I knew I was over time.

Chris, ten minutes over. Not great, is it?

It's a long time for food to be sitting on any pass, you know.

It's what we do. A la minute, that's what we do,

that's what we live and breathe.

I didn't give myself enough time at the end.

Clearly.

So, yeah, Mrs Skillen's family recipes,

so obviously this is inspired by his grandmother.

Yeah. I like that, it's lovely, isn't it?

It's, kind of, like a little secret recipe. It's nice, I like that.

One thing that I saw in your box that I can't see on the plate,

but there might be an explanation is the smoked cod.

Yeah, you're right. There's no smoked cod.

Why is it missing?

Pressure got to me, I knew I was over time

and I simply didn't put it on the dish.

So this is his chowder that's made into a veloute?

Yeah, I think so, yeah.

-Hmm.

-Oh.

-Is it a soup?

-No.

-Is it brill?

-Yes.

Yes. Is that how you wanted it?

Yeah, think it's nicely cooked.

Yeah, really tasty that.

Lobster.

Yeah, I think it's seasoned nice, standard.

-Not a huge fan of razor clams so...

-Yeah.

Yeah, still not a massive fan.

What would you score this dish out of ten?

-An element missing, sauce isn't right, yeah, two, three.

-OK.

-Hi, Ben.

-How are you, Ben?

How are you, mate?

-BEN LAUGHS

-Yeah, I'm...gutted, yeah.

-Yeah?

Yes.

I really believed in that dish you know? I was so happy with it.

It was coming together. Trying to fill that jug was a nightmare.

Danni is last to plate up her dish, The New Wave.

She's hoping her tribute

to the modern-day WI will push her head.

I think there's a big risk doing another simple dish

but this is my food and this is what I cook at home so...

We'll just have to see.

She takes a blowtorch to her sous-vide cooked halibut.

-The WI do this all the time.

-Do they?

-They blowtorch?

-Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Never blowtorched anything, to be honest.

Maybe a copper pipe but...

Danni finishes her fish with a brown butter glaze.

Then starts her plate with Jerusalem artichoke puree,

sea herbs and roast halibut bone sauce,

before topping with the fish.

This kind of dish,

there's absolutely nowhere to hide, is there?

The execution of everything from the fish to the pickle to the sauce...

-It's a very brave dish.

-Brave or stupid?

Danni finally garnishes with discs of pickled Jerusalem artichoke.

Have you done yourself and the women of the WI proud, Danni?

I hope so, yeah, I guess it's all in the eating.

OK, Danni. Do you think the ladies at the banquet

will understand the story that you're trying to tell?

I mean, I hope so, it's not as obvious

as maybe some of the other props that others have used.

-It's not jumping off the plate to me.

-No.

-No.

Very particular cooking techniques for the halibut,

has it achieved what you hoped it would?

Yeah, I really like the texture,

it's still really moist, as well and it's warm.

-I'm not mad keen on the texture.

-Hmm.

Do you think that blowtorching the fish has added anything?

Well, because I chose to cook it in the water bath,

I think it's nice to get that colour, that...

you know, a slight charred flavour.

Jerusalem artichoke, why have you chosen it for this dish?

Obviously, an ode to Jerusalem was why I chose it for this dish,

but, you know, you could use any other vegetable, I guess but...

-It's really good.

-Yeah.

-That's really good.

-Texture's beautiful.

-Yeah.

-Smooth, silky, seasoned really well.

-Yeah.

You called the sauce a roasted bone sauce.

Am I going to be able to detect that when I taste it?

It's not like a normal fish stock reduction.

You should get a depth of flavour there.

I really like that sauce.

-Yeah, she's got the balance right.

-Let's have a mark out of ten.

I think it's a seven or eight.

I'm going to go straight in there and give it a nine.

That's a high score.

I'm giving it an eight, it's a strong eight.

-All right, guys?

-Yeah. So, how was that? Who knows?

-We'll just have to wait and see.

-Yeah.

I hope I executed the dish as I wanted.

I felt that I did but, I mean, you just don't know.

You don't know what he's looking for.

How are you feeling, Ben, after...?

I...bit deflated, to be honest. Yeah, for sure.

I don't expect it to be good.

The fish course is over. How did you find it?

I found it hard, all right, Chef.

-Tough.

-That was evident, Ben.

Chris, I'll start with you for your Imelda's Fish And Milk 2015

with turbot, langoustine, buttermilk gnocchi.

I thought this was delicious.

It was fun, I liked the theatre.

I thought the langoustines were every bit as good

as they should have been.

Texture of the turbot was immaculate.

I'd have to say, the turbot, I thought,

was a little bit underseasoned.

The flavour of the gnocchi was very good,

but the outside was a little bit tight.

Danni...

..with your The New Wave of halibut fillet,

roasted bone sauce,

foraged sea herbs and Jerusalem artichokes.

I thought the texture of the halibut was fantastic.

I thought the pickles and pureed artichokes

served the exact purpose that you intended them to.

And I liked the idea of representing the contemporary, up-to-date WI.

But I thought the flavour of the halibut

was just a little bit lacking.

I think you could have given it some additional seasoning

and also perhaps have been a little bit more robust with the blowtorch.

And I'm not convinced the guests at the banquet

will able to work out exactly what the relevance to the brief is.

Finally, Ben.

With your Mrs Skillet's Fish Soup, veloute,

salted shellfish,

sea vegetables and croutons.

I think this dish could be a great dish.

The lobster was absolutely immaculate.

I thought the overall flavour of what I got to taste in the end

was wonderful but...

..the timing was shocking.

And for a professional chef that's unacceptable.

You forgot not one but two elements -

the crab and the smoked cod.

The veloute was way too thick.

And, I'm afraid, I thought the razor clams were a little bit tough too.

Chris.

I'm going to give you a score...

-..of eight.

-Thank you.

-Great plate of food, but it still needs a bit of refinement.

-OK.

Danni. I'm going to give you a score...

..of seven.

It was well executed.

But I still don't feel you're pushing yourself.

To get a dish through to the final or to the banquet,

you've just got to raise your game.

Yeah, will do, Chef.

Ben.

I could argue the dish warrants a four.

But...given the fact that I think

buried underneath that shocking delivery

there's actually a great dish,

exceptionally, I'll give you...

a five.

You cannot be late to the pass again or serve incomplete plates of food.

There we have it. Next course, main course.

-Wish you the best of luck.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-Well...well done. Eight, very good.

-Thank you, Chef.

That wasn't nice to listen to but...

Yeah, for the main part.

It was a catastrophe, to be honest.

So, with two courses down, Chris is in the lead on 15 points.

Danni is two points behind on 13

while Ben's in last place on 11 points.

I'm elated that I got an eight.

I feel like I'm still in a good position.

I have two strong courses to come,

so I'm by no means out of the game.